Green Lake Town, at the border of Faerunia and the Empire. The Emperor Yong Sheng Long.

Madness.

That's what it was.

The three of them had just exited the secret hideout of the red temple. The emperor himself, Vearon Seablaze, and their host, the high priest Lucifer. The things they were shown.. the possibilities, the horror.

'Do as you are told, I will protect you from your mana contract, and you shall be the emperor of the greatest empire in the world.'

The familiar voice spoke to him again. Sun God, they called him.

Long before, Yong Sheng had heard that voice. 60 years to be exact. When the fire of war burned him and sent him to this world. He was reborn in a young teenage body. Then this voice guided him and rewarded him with a method to gain a unique skill. In exchange for a promise.

It had been years since he heard this voice again. It was a reminder. It was time to fulfill the promise.

The promise of returning the great favor of life. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Damian and Stormcaller were not bad people, but the sanctuary had slowly become an unavoidable issue. 23% of Empire's civilians had migrated to Sanctuary despite Empire's strict anti-migration rules in the last decade. Still, Yong Sheng wouldn't go to war just for that.

But he owed the Sun God. More than his past promise, the promise of his children's powerful blessings, which would make them worthy to rule one day, made it necessary for him to participate. The promise of a great land beyond the sea was not bad either.

His wife was a devout member of red temple. The Sun God was their patron god.

Damian was powerful, even more so after ascending, but a god's favor superceded all of that. Besides, the timing was perfect. Damian was absent, and so was Landbreaker. His spies in the exploration crew had informed him of that already, and the god just confirmed it.

They had to do this now. Even without Damian, Sanctuary was formidable with all the runic inventions, powerful transcendents, and adventurer guilds. But even that issue was resolved. All the resources of the red temple were his if he remained loyal to the faith.

The show of power he and Vearon had just recived from this hidden transcendent priest had cast out all doubts.

Not just one but two gods were against Damian and his sanctuary. Yong Sheng had no idea what the guy did to deserve such hate, but it was good. The empire needed to make a move. He himself had considered doing this long ago, but it was not feasible. Damian was too strong, and Landbreaker was there as well.

'Maybe killing multiple transcendent might be just the thing I need to ascend. These recently awakened weak Highswords transcendents are exactly the enemies I need.'

He was the favored one. The most talented in this world. But that was before Damian came along. A fourth ranker from barely a first ranker under just twenty-five years was beyond ridiculous.

"We have the necessary force, I will give you that." King Vearon said, "But it's all meaningless if the Sanctuary sees it coming from far away and sends those monstrous brutes. They can see even our castles with those damned runic things."

"We have prepared for that as well. Both the surveillance and logistics issues have been solved. By the will of almight, the Sun Empire will rise. It is inevitable." The tall priest answered.

Yong Sheng's instincts told him to stay away from the guy. He reeked of violence. The crazy bloodshot eyes and that misshapen face didn't sit right with him. Yong Sheng was a transcendent as well and had been for the past three decades. He had reached the level cap and upgraded all his main skills.

The number of individuals that could face him in direct battle could be counted on a single hand. The pressure he felt was only from Landbreaker and Damian. Who was this man hiding so well for centuries? How could an individual with so much power be satisfied living in shadows?

But after all that he had seen today, all the things the temple was keeping as secret, the power of one such individual was barely of note.

The King of Faerunia glanced at him, a question held in his eyes, 'I am in, are you?". Normally, they were enemies. Years they had spent spying on each other, trying to raise their armies, and fighting small battles here and there. It was so odd to be on the same side. But their time will come as well.

The Emperor said, "Very well. We will be prepared. You keep your end of the bargain, and I will keep mine. Sanctuary will be split into three parts."

It felt unfair to give Eldoris a share, but just the promise that they won't join the war made it a sure victory for them. The gods had decided. Only a fool would go against them.

———

Sanctum Building, Sanctuary, Elias.

The mundane guards took their positions in the corridor. And he was given a signal to move ahead.

Elias pushed open the door to the keeper's office and stepped inside. He expected to see some guild members or merchants who had issues with his guild, but the person or thing that came into view pleasantly surprised him.

That explained why Sam and others were so anxious earlier and left in a hurry. The Sanctum was still under code blue. The Highswords trapped in those colorful spheres were finally free!

The golem of Damian had changed. Elias felt a similar pressure from him, just as he did when standing next to Sam or Lucian.

A transcendent golem.

"You sure have grown, kid." An artificial, deep voice said as the metal golem smiled.

"And you have changed. You can even talk now?" Elias replied, shaking the metal hand with a bright smile on his face.

Jacob was all kinds of weird. And then all those giant androids, his tolerance for his brother's weirdness was high. The Sunblade estate had all kinds of odd runic machines. Elias, his mother, and Lumi often visited there and had seen all kinds of things.