Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 91: Grace and a Meeting of Dragons

Clutching Fallen Nemesis with my right hand, while softly running my fingers over it's cold edge, I honestly say, my enthusiasm and wonder displayed for all to hear in my voice "You've truly outdone yourself this time Valdour!"

'Even my most prized weapons in my past life could not hold a candle before this treasured blade.' I thought in satisfaction, still admiring it.

"Your gratitude is an honor, but I believe I should be the one who offer's his thanks in this occasion, my liege." Valdour replied, his tone not one of illusionary humbleness, but of true and honest fact.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The designs of all these children were all highly unique and intricate, were any flaw or error in any of the production phases would lead to instant failure. So it forced me to approach them from different angles, which ultimately aided me in refining my craft even further, giving me a few new ideas and an added boost of confidence for when I challenge my sixth gate. Besides it also offered me the chance to better understand my newly gained Grace." He explained.

Most of who heard his words didn't fully understand the meaning of them, but I naturally did.

All demigods, no matter who, must pass the Trials of the Gates to grow their divine might, but not all trials are the same. The lords of the Astrapi Kingdom for example, who possess the divine blood of the Storm God must suffer the full might of the most primordial maelstroms, such as the harrowing of hurricane winds, the sundering of ravaging lighting and the baleful wave of endless hail and rain.

And such is the case with the sons of the Forge God, but instead of having to endure the ever increasingly sadistic tests of our ancestors, such as my family, the Forge Lords of Qayan must instead create an item that would even qualify in the eyes of the Forge God. Which is by no means an easy task, since satisfying the expectations of the Divine Blacksmith is a more time consuming and frustrating form of torture than any hellish trial I, or any who must suffer similarly will ever experience.

As for what Valdour meant when he mentioned 'Grace', every demigod when they cross what we call the Great Bastion, the fifth gate, their ancestorial god will award them with a divine gift known as Grace. And these have all kinds of uses and abilities, most of which are kept secret, including those of the house of the Forge God, so even though I don't know what he specifically did, just the fact that he managed to gleam further insight into it by forging these weapons was already amazing enough, since all Graces, regardless of which house and who holds them, are terrifyingly powerful abilities that could make the impossible, possible.

Returning back from my thoughts to the present, I notice that the tent was now dominated by an awkward air, as everyone stared at the last piece of arms in the final crate, the blood red lance; the weapon which was obviously meant for the Storm Lord of the Empire, Sodarus; whose fate along with his entire army remains unknown.

Sighing, Valdour slowly covered it back again with the crate's lid, saying regretfully "It seems High Talon is going to have to wait a little longer to meet his destined partner."

"But not for too long." I said with half hidden meaning in my words, as a dark smile danced across my lips.

"No. Not long at all. I'll make sure of that!" Valdour replied, a grin matching my own crawling up his lips, as he stood up, crate in hand about to take his leave.

"The supplies you require are going to arrive a few days after I've left. Make sure that everything goes to plan." I said as he was half a step out the door.

"Fret not, my liege. We Qayanians are famously light on our feet." He replied jokingly, as he pulled his hood down, before continuing his exit.

And with that we returned back to our monotonous rhythm of trekking through the unforgiving deserts. We swiftly passed through Qayan's lands without pause the next morning and continued north east until the third day when the time for a historic meeting came. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

It had been exactly two weeks since the messengers of the rebellion came to the capital and I agreed to meet Maximillian. I, donned in my armor with Dark Majesty and Fallen Nemesis in hand; as Horus, Abraham, Leonid, Hekan, my two brothers and my most senior generals and officers, along with five thousand of the finest troops in the army, which included my one hundred Palace Guards; rode hard against the desert dunes to reach the designated spot by noon.

And just as the sun had reached it's zenith, we beheld the small city of Appox; a usually unremarkable and quaint blip in the enormous empire, but today it was to be the witness to one of the most significant discourses in history; or so the future historians would write.

Appox was situated on the banks of the Vitar river, and home to around eight hundred thousand men and women, most of whom being farmers, fishermen and port laborers. But what somewhat helped to distinguish Appox from the hundreds of other towns and cities who were basically the exact same all across the river were the large hills on it's southern flank that helped shield it from the horrendous sand storms of the Blistering Desert; and it was upon those very hills that Maximillian awaited.

Instantly the five thousand men surrounded the hill, making sure nothing came in or out for the duration of our talks, as my usual retinue and I made our way up the slope. But upon reaching the summit we found ourselves face to face with an odd sight, that only grew more bizarre when we looked to our own grand entourage.

Because upon that hill stood only a single red tent, with only three people occupying it; one man with fiery red hair and eyes, draped in the finest silks and jewelry; obviously being Maximillian, while the other two were ravishing beauties, one was seated opposite him, her eyes furrowed as her gaze remained fixated on the chess board between them; while the other was sprawled flirtatiously on his lap, playfully toying and swirling his hair, as she planted soft kisses across his jaw and neck every so often.

"Sorry sweetheart, but checkmate." Maximillian said with a triumphant smile, as he moved his queen directly in front of her king.

The woman audibly groaned in frustration, shutting her bright blue eyes as she hung her head downwards, causing her long night black hair that reached her mid back, to perfectly frame her beautiful pale face.

"You're such a tease darling. Bullying Sophia like that." Coquettishly replied the other woman, charmingly batting her brown eyes, while her olive skin pressed even further against him, as a gust of wind elegantly blew her knee length silver hair.

"Well then, you should've done a job better and distracted me more." He playfully replied, before continuing in a commanding tone "We'll continue this later my loves, but I'm afraid my guest has arrived."

The air around the two immediately changed from frustrated and playful to stern and resolute, before swiftly rising to their feet and standing behind Maximillian like stalwart guards.

It was then that I and Maximillian locked eyes and a dreaded silence engulfed the hill top. Non moved or spoke, until a barely perceptible, mysterious smile emerged upon Maximillian's lips, as he looked down to rearrange the board, while saying in a seemingly annoyed tone "You're late, emperor."

Walking over and taking the seat opposite him, I reply "No, I'm right on time. But why do you sound so displeased, lord? Did you get bored?"

"Indeed I did. But no matter, thankfully my wives were present to relieve my tedium before I decided to indulge my curiosity of how that city below would look when it's on fire." His words were gentle, almost soothing, but their meaning was anything but.

Abraham and my brothers frowned, while Horus unconsciously gripped his spear tighter, but my amused smile only grew wider, as I replied "Then you should give thank your wives, dear lord. Because if you had succumbed to your darker urges, you wouldn't have left this place intact."

Maximillian showed no reaction, continuing to calmly rearrange the final few pieces back to their original places, but his wives were the exact opposite, as they unleashed their nineth rank aura without restraint, their picturesque faces contorted into masks of outrage.

But before their auras could reach us, the twin auras of Abraham and Leonid met them halfway, stopping them in their tacks, like a breakwater before the stormy seas.

But Maximillian and I cared not for that, as we once again locked eyes, our grins growing more and more deranged with each passing breath.

"This will be fun!" Maximillian delightedly exclaimed, his smile fanatic and his eyes blazing red.

"Shall we get to the main points then?" I replied, as our competing followers quieted down.

"I'd be happy to. Please, you may begin first." He said like a gracious host, his hand extended,

"We will end it in one battle. No more no less. I have no interest in a prolonged campaign." I coldly demanded.

"Hmmm..." Maximilian made a pondering sound, as he leaned back in his chair, before continuing "A shame really, but not unexpected. Very well then lord of the Eclipse Empire I agree to your first condition. But in return no one possessing above ninth martial, mage or priest arts may interfere at any point during the game." He said, as his eyes drifted momentarily to Hekan, who despite eyeing us like a hawk this entire time, has remained perfectly quiet.

I simply nod at this, already knowing what he would demand, since he has always done so, in every game he has ever played. The man was simply obsessed with the euphoria of outsmarting his opponents.

Clapping his hands once, he enthusiastically responds "Perfect! Then that is it for the special rules. And for this game's theme, I was thinking of a simple offence and defense style. What do you say?"

Cocking my eyebrow I ask "Offence and defense? What do you mean?"

Smiling he explains "Simple. Each day we flip a coin, if it's heads I will attack while you defend, and if it's tails it's vice versa. What do you say?"

"...And if the attacker refuses to take action on his turn?" I ask after a momentary pause with a devious look in my eyes.

"...Then we simply stand idly by on that day, since only the attacker may initiate the battle." He replied with an equally cunning look, as he smiled in amusement.

"Very well the lord Maximillian, I agree to your proposal." I calmly affirmed.

"Perfect." He beamed.

"Then that just leaves the issue of choosing where our board will be played, correct?" I asked?

"Exactly. Honestly, it's such a joy to converse with intelligent people." He remarked as he bent to the side to pick up a geographical map of the empire, before he gestured to a point on the expertly drawn parchment saying "What do you of think of having it here? In the Anazoi Canyon."