Chapter 67: Empires on the Move

A trick of the mind, a message from my esteemed ancestor, an anomaly with the divine flame or something else entirely that I haven't thought of, I didn't know.

But what I was certain of was that it was a warning against my increasing sense of hubris and complacency at how fast the empire's strength, as well as my own power have been multiplying in a sliver of a fraction of the time it took me in my past life.

And despite me still wanting to figure where that image in the hell fire materialized from, I couldn't keep contemplating it as a deep and mighty voice bellowed out from the depths of my mind.

"Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!" The awakened monster roared insensately in my mind, drowning all the other voices of my splintered mind around him in a swirling whirlpool of madness.

"Calm yourself." I said, as I began restraining my rampant insanity and blood lust, that momentarily broke free of my hold under the influence of his crazed howl.

"NO! We must kill him. Kill him now, and the world will be ours!" He refused with a vengeful and greedy tone.

"I said calm yourself you blood drunk fool!" I yelled back in impatience.

"Nicholas is not only the sole son and heir of the current and old master of the northern most empire; the son he has been desperately trying to sire after his wife only supplied him with daughters and still births, but he's also all the way across the globe, and in one of the most defended castles on the planet that is guarded by one of the largest militaries in the world, and that's doubly so for Nicholas who has a tenth rank guardian next to him at all times, since his father would never allow any harm to come towards his only son.

Even if I send Isaac along with every single member of the Shade Corps to assassinate him, we won't be able to even cut a single hair on his head!"

Roaring in protest, he growled back with a cunning tinge in his voice "When has the notion of seeming impossibility ever deterred us from achieving our goal?

When the world declared the Eclipse Empire a thing of the past and impossible to reclaim it's former glory after the death of our father and the fracturing of the nation, did that stop us? When they said that..."

"You dare lecture me?!" I darkly asked, before continuing calmly "And what has that done for us in the past? Except becoming a pariah and endless war."

"Don't pretend we didn't enjoy it." He remarked with a crooked grin.

"My personal satisfaction and pleasure can't dictate my actions again in this life, or I'll just end up losing what I hold dear yet again." I reasoned, as flashing images of faces raced through my mind, culminating in the angelic face framed in golden hair and adorned with two amethyst eyes.

He finally seemed to slightly simmer down and return to his slumber after hearing that, although begrudgingly so.

Standing up with a new found resolution burning in my heart, I make my way to the still locked door.

***

But while Alexander was racing to accelerate the implementation of his plans, other powers, especially those in the white city of Solis Luxuria were not idle either, as Marius Nerva the reinstated prime minister of the Luminous Empire was currently playing a seemingly ordinary game of chess with a man sitting opposite him with blazing red hair and matching colored eyes, and wearing luxurious red armor with white accents, with golden rings adorning every finger and encrusted with every precious gem imaginable; such as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, lapis lazuli and many many more.

"That was an excellent game lord Marius. You put me on the backfoot several times there." The red headed man said smilingly, as he delivered the finishing blow to Marius' king.

"There is no need to humble yourself so lord Maximillian, I never had a chance from the beginning." Marius replied as he slumped back on his seat.

Still smiling the man argued "No, no. Please don't think I'm patronizing you lord Marius, I truly mean it when I say you are an exemplary player, it's just that you're too passive. Too cautious and never seem to fully commit to your attacks.

Though this might seem heartless to say, but you must be more cruel, more ruthless and be willing to disregard the lives of your men to achieve your objective."

Marius glanced at the board and realized that Maximillian did indeed have a point, since even though he still retained more than double the pieces that Maximillian still processed, he still couldn't weather his brutal assault that eventually claimed the life of his king.

But Marius was also able to catch on to the true meaning of Maximillian's words, as he asked "So you have chosen to accept our proposal?"

"That depends. Have you chosen to be ruthless?" Maximillian countered with a question of his own.

A frown couldn't help but momentarily immerge across his brow, before he quickly regained control over his expression and said "Regrettably not, since after our recent double defeats in the desert near the Iron City and in the Melting Mist Plains, our emperor has decided to forgo your suggestion, as the southern army still needs time to recover."

"Hmmm... Time to recover, eh? But I heard the Eclipse Empire's northern army has already been fully restored."

A wry smile tried to emerge on Marius' lips as he fought to ignore the annoyed feelings rising from his heart "You know as much as I, Lord Maximillian, that the Luminous Empire doesn't have the human resources of our rivals, and so it's impossible for us to fully rebuild an army from near oblivion in a short six months."

An uncomfortable silence then descended on the two, a silence which worried Marius that Maximillian might reject their deal, something he couldn't let happen as he calmly said "But we have decided to double our offers to two hundred thousand Darr upfront, if you agreed cooperate with us this time."

But despite that, Maximillian still didn't show any reaction for a few more minutes, before finally a wide grin broke past his cold expression and he declared as he drew his hand forward for a handshake "I, Maximillian Verak, as the High king of the Mercenary Kingdom, hear by accept the employment of the Luminous Empire."

Quickly shaking his hand, Marius drew a massive sigh of relief internally, as he finally managed to secure this fickle man's support after months of bitter back and forth.

But his happiness was only short lived as he suddenly felt his impeccable poker face finally crack, as the corner of his lips slightly quivered, after seeing Maximillian rearranging the pieces to start another round, for the seventh time today!