The final syllable of the order had barely dissipated into the air when something utterly unimaginable unfolded before everyone present.
Right in front of Sebastian Hawthorne, whose face had already frozen in disbelief, the senior commanders of Kingsley City—high-ranking officials from the War Department, the armed command structure, and the metropolitan enforcement bureau—moved almost in perfect unison.
They knelt.
One by one, then together.
The sound of knees striking the stone floor echoed sharply through the vast hall, crisp and unmistakable. It was not loud, yet it carried a weight that crushed the heart far more effectively than thunder. In that moment, dignity, authority, and arrogance collapsed simultaneously.
This was no ordinary submission.
This was obedience to a military
