Blecker x Kingohger

The kings numbers

The Bugnarok attack came swiftly and without warning. Despite Racules' presence and the eventual arrival of the other kings, the battle was fierce. Cross, now the King of Agriculture and the In-Between, fought valiantly, but the absence of one king was keenly felt. The Bugnarok forces pressed hard, exploiting every weakness.

**Cross**: "We're holding them off, but just barely. We need more firepower!"

**Racules**: "We're doing all we can. Focus on the defense!"

As the battle raged on, the kings coordinated their efforts, but the strain was evident. Cross's dual roles stretched her thin, and the Bugnarok seemed to sense their vulnerability.

**Rita**: "We're missing a crucial piece. We need to regroup and rethink our strategy."

After a grueling fight, the Bugnarok retreated, leaving the kings to assess the damage. Cross, exhausted and frustrated, approached Racules.

**Cross**: "Racules, we need to talk. This attack showed our weaknesses. If any more powers consolidate into me, we may not have the strength to repel the next assault."

**Racules**: "What do you suggest? We can't afford to lose any more ground."

Cross offered her hand. "I know there's something big coming. I can sense the unease in your mind. Open your thoughts to me, show me what we are facing, and lend me your sword. I believe the secret to success will come from knowing the full picture and being able to compare your sword to mine. If I am to continue consolidating power, we may need princes, not just kings."

Racules did not like this in the slightest and directed his ire at the Kings of Technology, Medicine, and Justice: "If you all had fallen in line when this started, we wouldn't be in this situation where my vassal Cross would need to take your power by force. What happens from here on is on your heads, not mine."

Cross tried to reason: "You speak of a great conflict, and yet I still know only fragments of it. Please, sir, share what you know with me at least."

Racules snarled, turning to leave. "You have your loyalty. Come with me back to the castle, and I will tell you what you need to know. But these traitorous kings will have to deal with the blood on their own hands."

Cross nodded, handing her sword back to Kaguragi. They had already established that he could no longer use it, but as her associate, he could carry the sword and continue her policies in her absence.

As Cross retreated to the castle with her king, Racules laid bare the threat of the Galainsect Empire and Derdor, even offering his own mind to her for her to truly see the depth of how destructive this looming threat was through his own eyes.

Cross, in companionship, offered visions from her own past of a great galactic empire that had once assaulted the Earth. It took the assemblage of all kings past and the latest generation, who possessed the power to become every past king, to repel this force, and even that came at a great cost. She shared memories of a mad Titan who could bend the Earth to his will, of a mad ninja who sought to draw from the power of the very dead to make himself immortal and unstoppable, and legions of demons and devils who tore free of hell and beset her Earth.

For a moment, Racules wondered why she was in their lands and not defending her own war-torn home. The answer came to him not much later as he saw through her eyes the very Earth, the very planet itself, sucked into a vortex of darkness and gone. Cross, the King of the In-Between and Agriculture, had no home to return to, and so she traveled the stars seeking to prevent that from happening to others. It was harrowing for the king to see a world lost as he watched on helplessly. He couldn't fully process it at that moment; it would take him quite some time to even come to grips with a fraction of such a loss. But it did reinforce his ideals: if he were to lose, it was not just his kingdom that he could lose, but all of his people. It was solemn for both of them.

Racules' confidence cracked, his voice soft and harsh: "Thank you, Cross. I know that could not have been easy, and I know now I cannot show any weakness. But I know that you will stand beside me, for you have faced even worse than my darkest nightmares. So again, I thank you."

With that, he handed his sword to her as well as revealing a hidden crown.

**Racules**: "These treasures lie at the center of my kingdom, the center of my power. If you can find some ancient secret within them, I turn them over to you for the time being."