Peace settled across the realm under Ryu's silent rule.
Crime fell. Famine ended. Trade flourished. The people lived well, even if they didn't know who ruled them.
It was too perfect.
And Ryu knew—peace was always the calm before something worse.
---
One night, deep in the crypts beneath the Red Keep, one of his elite shadows vanished.
Not killed.
Erased.
Not even a trace of mana remained.
Ryu narrowed his eyes.
Something—someone—was moving against him.
And they weren't from this world.
---
He traced the disturbance across the Narrow Sea, where the ruins of Valyria still festered like a scar.
No one dared go there.
But he did.
In its heart, beneath broken towers and molten stone, he found a gate.
Not like the dungeon gates he once summoned.
This one pulsed with ancient power. Not of the Shadow Monarch…
But of another Monarch.
---
A voice echoed through the dead city.
"You climbed too high, Shadow King."
A figure emerged, clad in gold fire and light.
A Monarch of Radiance.
One who had ruled before time began—and who had watched as Ryu consumed power that was never meant for men.
"You were born to watch, not reign."
Ryu said nothing. His eyes glowed deep violet.
---
For the first time in years, he summoned not just shadows—but the true army of the Monarch.
Giant knights of void. Wolves of shadow. Fallen kings who walked behind him.
The golden being smiled.
And from the light behind him came an army of his own.
---
Ryu had ruled Westeros.
Now he had to defend it—from gods.
A new war had begun. One not of thrones…
But of Monarchs.
---