56. 2-36 The Throne That Dances on Fire: Prelude to Rebellion

1. The First Victory – A Nation Trembles

Edwin's rescue from the execution block sent shockwaves across the kingdom.The capital was thrown into disarray, the royal court seething with fury.Yet the rebels didn't rush recklessly toward the capital.

Instead, they moved with precision—seizing key strategic positions and slowly tightening a noose around the kingdom's throat.

The northern fortress fell.A critical military outpost, it crumbled under the weight of the rebels' swift and surgical assault.Caught off guard by the speed of the rebellion's spread, the royal army stumbled, their supply lines severed and their movements sluggish.

In the western territories, the noble houses grew uneasy.Some, long loyal to the crown, began to hesitate.A few even sought discreet contact with the rebel faction, weighing survival over allegiance.

The foundations of the kingdom began to shake.

In an emergency meeting held in the capital, the king summoned his royal guard and issued a grim decree:

"We must stop Edwin before he reaches the capital."

That night, the kingdom began its counteroffensive in earnest.

2. The Wizard Guild – A Moment of Reckoning

As Edwin's rebellion escalated, fierce debate erupted within the Wizard Guild.

"We must remain loyal to the crown.""But what if Edwin becomes king?""If we back him now, we may control the new magical order."

The guild split into two factions—The conservatives clung to the existing kingdom, while the reformists saw opportunity in the collapse.

But with neither side gaining the upper hand, the guild chose duplicity:Play both ends.

Some wizards allied openly with the kingdom.Others quietly reached out to Edwin, hedging their bets.

But there was a problem—Edwin was no one's pawn.

When emissaries from the guild approached, Edwin looked them dead in the eye and said:

"What you want is simple. Power."

Silence fell.

Edwin had learned the games of politics while surviving in the kingdom.He saw through the guild's veiled ambitions.He might accept their support, but he would never serve their interests.

And then, a new force appeared.

3. The Sorcerers – A New Alliance

The Sorcerers saw opportunity in the chaos.Long marginalized by the guild, they had lived in the kingdom's shadows.Now, with the order crumbling, they saw a path to the center.

Several Sorcerer leaders met with Edwin in secret.

"The wizards want to use you. We don't.""We want to build a new magical order."

Edwin listened quietly.He knew the wizards only supported him to preserve their own power.But the Sorcerers were different—They were outcasts, hungry for change.

Edwin made his decision.

"Fight by my side."

And so, the Sorcerers became his new allies.The Wizard Guild began to panic.

4. The Guild Splits – Straddling Both Sides

The Wizard Guild reached a breaking point.Support the kingdom?Or hedge their bets and align quietly with Edwin?

They chose neither.They tried both.

One faction supported the crown's forces.Another maintained backdoor ties with the rebellion.But in refusing to commit, they forfeited the future.

The balance of magical power was already shifting.

Edwin no longer trusted the guild.He was forging a new order—with the Sorcerers.

Whether the guild backed the kingdom or the rebellion,One truth was clear—The era of wizard dominance was ending.

5. The Rebellion Has Begun – And Victory Leans Toward Edwin

The rebellion had tasted its first victory.The guild was fractured, its grip on power slipping.

The Sorcerers were rising.The kingdom prepared its counterattack—but the ground beneath it was unstable.

And in the eye of the storm stood Edwin—The man who had once lost everything to Damien.

Now, he led the flames of rebellion.And they burned brighter than ever.

***

Episode : The Throne Dancing on Flames – Memories of the Past

When Edwin first faced him at the grand banquet hall, he instinctively realized—

This man walks the same path as I do.

It was a warrior's intuition.

"Fight me."

Without hesitation, Edwin drew his sword.

The nobles murmured in alarm, but he paid them no mind. A strong man always challenges the strong. That was the only law he had ever known.

Damian shrugged and unsheathed his blade.

"Suit yourself."

The moment their swords clashed, the air froze.

Edwin's swordsmanship was swift and brutal. Honed on the battlefield, forged only for real combat.

But Damian's blade moved even faster, sharper.

His movements read the flow, predicted the next strike.

And with a single stroke, Damian's blade met Edwin's neck.

The duel was already over.

Edwin, breathless, stared at him.

He couldn't understand.

Couldn't accept defeat.

In that moment, something deep inside him wavered.

A hero who had never known loss was now facing the truth—

There exists someone stronger than me.

He would never forget this defeat.

And that defeat… would lead him down a different path.

1. Defeat in War – The Abandoned Hero

The war had ended.

In the most brutal way imaginable.

Black smoke blanketed the skies. Thousands of corpses littered the battlefield.

The royal army had fallen. At its shattered center stood Edwin.

The general who always expected victory.

The man they called a hero of war.

All the trust and expectation—shattered in a single day.

"Retreat!"

His adjutant's voice rang out.

But Edwin didn't move.

He should have won.

He always had.

Why not now?

Around him, his soldiers fled or lay dead.

There was no path left to retreat.

A few remaining soldiers tried to pull him away.

"Sir Edwin, if you stay, we'll all die!"

"We have to withdraw!"

But he wouldn't listen.

He couldn't accept the defeat.

That's when the royal cavalry arrived—too late.

And they weren't there to rescue him.

They had come to mop up the remaining survivors and report the situation.

They looked at Edwin.

"This time… even the hero failed."

That whisper pierced deeper than any blade.

2. The Forsaken – Rejected by the Crown

There was no place for a fallen hero to return to.

He survived the battlefield, but the air in the capital was frigid.

He tried to attend the royal council, but his name was not on the list.

The kingdom was quietly casting him aside.

Wherever he walked, the nobles whispered.

"A general who loses the war has no place left."

"His time is over."

The kingdom he had trusted.

The nation he had bled to protect—

No longer needed him.

Edwin realized, for the first time,

There's no longer a reason for me to exist.

And something inside him cracked.

He was no longer the kingdom's hound.

He needed a new path.

That's when they came for him.

3. The Wizard Guild – A New Proposal

"A hero must become a king."

The leader of the Wizard Guild said quietly.

In the darkness of night, soft magical light filled the space.

They had sought him out—

The defeated hero.

The castaway general.

Their goal was clear: to seize the kingdom, they needed the right figurehead.

They couldn't rule directly.

But they could crown a king they could control.

Edwin glared at them.

"You're just trying to use me."

The wizard smiled.

"We're proposing a partnership.

You need us. We need you."

They understood his wounds.

His unease.

His fury.

"The kingdom threw you away."

"But we can make you king."

Edwin slowly closed his eyes.

It was obvious they were trying to use him.

But…

What if he did become king?

What if he opened a new era?

He wouldn't be their puppet.

He would be a true king.

He opened his mouth.

"Fine. But I will not be your pawn."

The wizards smiled again.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

4. The Rebellion Ignites – And the Present

A new banner flew.

Edwin's army grew by the day.

While the kingdom continued to ignore him,

Some nobles began to seek him out.

The northern fortress fell.

Portions of the royal army joined his cause.

And thus—

War began.

The kingdom tried to suppress the uprising swiftly, but it was already too late.

Edwin was no longer just a general.

He was a man destined to be king.

The Wizard Guild watched quietly.

But Edwin would not crumble from a single defeat again.

He was not merely a rebel.

He was the founder of a new kingdom.

And now, beneath his feet, flames surged.

The Throne Dancing on Flames.

And at its end—what would he see?

***

Chapter : The Law of the Strong – The Moment of Choice

Even amidst the swirling storm of politics, the path of the strong never wavers.Damien had no intention of choosing a side.The conflict between the Wizards and Sorcerers, the chaos within the kingdom—It wasn't much different from the power struggles of the Gangho.

But eventually, he had to choose.

1. The Lingering Threat of the Wizards

The Wizard Guild tried desperately to maintain balance between the kingdom and the rebels.They couldn't decide whether to remain protectors of the realm, or to leverage the rebellion to create a new order.But—Not all within the Guild desired balance.

The hardliners among them began to move."If the kingdom collapses, what happens to the order of magic?""We do not want a world where Sorcerers share magic freely.""The rebellion must be stopped. If necessary, we'll act ourselves."

Some Wizards began forming independent forces, separate from the kingdom.To protect their authority in the magical society, they resolved to eliminate the rebels directly.Their goal was singular—Eradicate Edwin, his allies, and the Sorcerers once and for all.

2. The Sorcerers and Leanne's Doubt

Leanne was conflicted."What happens to magic after this war?"

For the Sorcerers, long oppressed by the Wizards, this rebellion was more than politics.It was a struggle for liberation.But—If the Wizards truly disappeared, could magical order survive?

If the kingdom fell, could a new magical society take its place?

She couldn't see it.As the "Seer of Fate," she had always read the future.But this war clouded everything.She realized one thing:

"This isn't just a war.""This is the rebirth of magic itself."

3. The Kingdom in Chaos

The kingdom trembled.The king scrambled to crush the rebellion,But the nobles were already calculating who would win.

Some defected to Edwin.Some sided with the Wizards to preserve the magical order.Others clung to neutrality, just trying to survive.

But one thought echoed among them all:"When this war ends, the kingdom will never be the same."

4. Damien's Choice – The Law of the Strong

Even in chaos, Damien upheld one truth:"The strong follow the strong."

Watching Edwin lead the rebellion, Damien didn't see politics.He saw a warrior—One who refused to fall, who forged his path with his own hands.

The kingdom had cast Edwin aside.The Wizards played both sides for gain.The Sorcerers moved toward a new age.

But who, truly, was strong?

Damien chose.

"I don't care who sits the throne.""But if someone can carve a path through this chaos—""I'll follow him."

He gripped his sword silently.And he joined Edwin.That was the Law of the Strong.

5. One Step Toward a New Order

The flames reached the capital.The Wizards' final move was near.The Sorcerers gathered to usher in a new age.The rebellion surged forward.

And in the center of it all—stood Damien.Still on the battlefield.The outcome was undecided.

But he knew one thing:

"There is no turning back."

The path of the strong is carved by one's own will.And he would walk it to the very end.