Far from the great centers of power on Aeterna was not the Sunlit Emperor’s favorite place to be. He would’ve much rather been buried in nubile female flesh or listening to his researchers deliver him good news, but ever since the damned Sky Devils started this war, his time had been increasingly taken up by matters in the underdeveloped south, standing upon a hill far from even a modest village with nothing but a military camp at his back, staring out across the Veins of Vigilance at the Sword, the current thorn in his side.

The war had been fairly quiet in the past couple months, thankfully, with signs of internal instability among the Sky Devils. Unfortunately, the sudden recall of a number of powerful mages was so sudden and so quickly rectified that he hadn’t been able to capitalize on the temporary weakness of the Sky Devils occupying the Sword.

That fiercely chafed. He’d been in Thunderhaven, his capital, at the time, cracking the whip on his researchers, and hadn’t been in the best of moods to begin with. Leading an assault on the Sword would’ve done much to alleviate his stress, at the very least, but now the cost of doing so with the Sky Devils back at full strength was simply not worth it.

If he had it his way, he would simply go to the Sword and personally slaughter every Sky Devil he came across before delivering their rotten corpses to his researchers.

‘… Maybe with enough raw material, they’d actually show me some good results!’ Sunlit bitterly thought as the idea of dumping the corpses of thousands of bearers of Inherited Bloodlines on his worthless researchers.

But even that thought was transient, and when it left, his frown returned. Years he’d given his researchers for this project, and a mountain of silver, and they had yet to give him any positive breakthroughs. They’d taken so long that the raw material he’d gathered for their experiments had deteriorated, leaving them with little save for theory and the occasional Ascended Beast that Sunlit could get his hands on to experiment with.

If they wanted to achieve some kind of breakthrough, they’d need more raw material.

They’d need more blood.

Sunlit grimaced in anger as he stared across the stormy seas. He’d rather cave in their skulls and give the task to a new research team, but he knew that these people were his best bet to achieve his goals. That left him with one option: get more raw material.

But acquiring someone’s blood is no easy thing, especially when they’re powerful, highly ranked, and have the attention of some of the most powerful people on the plane.

If Sunlit wanted more raw material, he’d need to get Leon Raime back into his Empire. The brainless moron, Anastasios, and the frigid bitch, the Grand Druid, were both staying in Leon’s villa, essentially preventing him from accomplishing his task.

‘Something to thank my ‘ally’ for,’ Sunlit thought, his mind turning to the Keeper in the east. If Keeper hadn’t attacked Leon Raime’s villa, then it would’ve been a much simpler task to get the boy’s blood; his guard wouldn’t have been up, and the spineless, ambitionless idiots in the west and north wouldn’t be bothering with him as they had been.

But now, Leon Raime was not only being personally guarded by a pair of tenth-tier mages, but he’d also married into one of their families! And even if he were in Occulara, he was still a Chief in Heaven’s Eye! Sunlit couldn’t make a good move against Leon right now… he just had to find some way to get him into his Empire, then he’d be able to do what needed to be done.

Unfortunately, his invitation had been rejected, and Leon Raime hadn’t been seen in public for weeks. Busy with some secret project, or so everyone assumed given his occupation. The response indicating that the Sunlit Emperor was more than welcome to come to Occulara himself to handle his business had him shaking with rage.

He thought back on his ancestry and felt like he was about to be sick. Power beyond his imagination lay in his blood, he just had to find a way to unlock it. Leon was the key, but he couldn’t touch him!

It was maddening. Sunlit was almost to the point that if Leon hadn’t been missing, he might’ve gone straight to Occulara anyway and tried his hand at bringing Leon back to his Empire, one way or another.

But now even that was beyond his ability. His attention was needed here in the south, and he couldn’t spare the time to track down Leon Raime and drag him back to Thunderhaven.

As he stared out over the dark waves, scowling at the storm that wasn’t his, he sensed the final approach of a half dozen war arks, led by one that rivaled his largest in size and armament. It was an ugly thing, built with no thoughts for elegance or aesthetics, and only for performance. The flagship of the Sentinels, bringing much-needed resupply, reinforcements, and most of all, the Keeper himself, who had sent word ahead of his journey.

Apparently, he had something important to discuss…

Without a word, Sunlit turned from the hill and flew back to the camp, followed closely by his personal guard. His pavilion in the camp wasn’t hard to spot: his best magic engineers had constructed a large, three-story place out in the wilderness along the Pegasi coast, but it was only large enough for Sunlit to have brought fifty concubines, a tiny fraction of his harem and barely enough to quiet his lusts, let alone satisfy them.

In one of his rear courtyards, surrounded by gardens of rare flowers and a peristyle of golden pillars and arches, he landed. He negligently cracked the floor mosaic depicting the glories of his forebears, made of marble and precious stones, though he didn’t notice, let alone care.

“Have Keeper brought to me in the central conference room,” he ordered the nearest maid, his eyes wandering up and down the scantily-clad woman and lingering on her enormous, nearly-exposed breasts.

The maid, as her training had taught her, curtsied low and slightly thrust her chest out, giving him such an eyeful that he had half a mind to make Keeper wait while he took the girl right then and there. The look of barely-concealed anxiety and desperate need to please on her face further stoked his ego, making him truly feel like he was the Emperor in a way his power never had, making his decision all the harder.

He turned away from the girl, though not without making a mental note to have her visit his bedchamber later, and to have her bring straps, chains, and whips to keep her there until it was time for him to leave.

Reluctantly, he made his way to the conference room. It had none of the golden statues of beautiful women in various states of undress that he enjoyed back home, but it had at least been decorated with friezes and mosaics, all depicting him and his—current—favorite concubines mid-coitus, no details spared, and some perhaps slightly exaggerated.

Sunlit ordered his guards to remain outside, entering the conference room alone. Unlike more typical rooms of such sort, there was no central table, but instead a small ring of chairs with side tables in the center of the room. It took little more than a wisp of intent to have most of the chairs hurled across the room, leaving only two and their accompanying tables. He sat in the larger of the two and adjusted himself so that his padded shoulders didn’t wrinkle and his large codpiece didn’t vanish beneath him.

And there he waited. Only for a few minutes, but that was more than enough time for his impatience to nearly get the better of him.

But before he angrily stormed off, Keeper was shown in. The rest of the Sentinels were kept outside, leaving the two tenth-tier mages alone to talk about tenth-tier business.

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Sunlit had to suppress a chuckle as Keeper’s perpetually-closed eyes momentarily narrowed in anger and disgust at the way he was sitting and his choice of attire, giving him an intense thrill that lost only to sex in intensity.

“Keeper,” Sunlit said in greeting.

“Sunlit Emperor,” Keeper responded as he took one look at the remaining chair, disintegrated it with a snap of his fingers, and conjured a rough boulder to sit cross-legged upon.

As usual, he was dressed in roughspun rags, his dangerous aura the only thing to mark his status as one of the most powerful and dangerous men on the plane.

Without any preamble and with characteristic bluntness, Keeper said, “The Lord Protector and Grand Druid have betrayed us.”

Hot wrath coursed through Sunlit’s veins, though that was hardly a difference compared to how his mood had already been.

“Explain,” Sunlit spat.

“You likely haven’t yet been informed since you’ve been away from Thunderhaven for a couple weeks,” Keeper said, and Sunlit stifled his instinct to literally growl in displeasure at the reminder, “but each announced an end to support for hostilities against the Sky Devils. They are publicly calling for peace.”

“Peace?!” Sunlit practically roared as he shot to his feet, his aura becoming so chaotic that the chair he sat upon was obliterated and the polished marble beneath his feet shattered. A few bolts of gold lightning shot out from his arms and eyes, burning the walls as he instinctively sought anything to make him happy. “Peace?!” he repeated angrily. “Peace?!”

Keeper sat in the center of this storm, his attention never wavering from Sunlit, the only sign of his displeasure being the slight tightening of his brow.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “Peace. Granted, neither Empire has made any official announcements regarding an end to war preparations, but with both the Lord Protector and Grand Druid making these announcements…”

“Like good whores, Ilion and Evergold will do as they’re bid,” Sunlit snarled.

“Anticipate a need to expand your supply lines,” Keeper said, ignoring his crude metaphor. “Resources from Ilion and Evergold will soon dry up, and their fleets and armies—small as they may be in this theater—will soon leave.”

Sunlit couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The enemy of them all, as they were so recently reminded, was the Sky Devils, and yet the Lord Protector and Grand Druid both were calling for peace between them?

But then something occurred to him, something that had stoked his anger months ago when it had happened, though had mattered less to him as the days passed.

“Leon Raime married the Evergolden bitch,” he said.

“He did,” Keeper neutrally stated.

“Where has he been these past few months?”

“Occupied with some personal project as far as I’ve been able to ascertain,” Keeper replied.

“I said where,” Sunlit spat.

“And I responded with what I know,” Keeper coolly replied, his anger made known by a noticeable drop in temperature as his killing intent momentarily flashed through his aura. That was more than enough for Sunlit’s hair to nearly stand on end, and he quickly controlled himself.

“The Sky Devils have been preoccupied with something,” he said, moving on without acknowledging Keeper’s anger. “Whatever it was, it seems to have been resolved, but for a few days, the Sword was undermanned. I nearly arrived in time to take advantage, but the cunts returned before the assault could be launched.”

“A shame,” Keeper said.

“Leon Raime is on that island,” Sunlit declared.

“What is your proof?” Keeper asked.

“Proof? You need fucking proof?! His Clan’s history with those degenerates is all the proof you need! His alliance with the Lord Fuckboy and Grand Shrieker makes sense! They betrayed us long before now! They’re working with the Sky Devils!”

“You’re jumping to quite a few conclusions,” Keeper said.

Sunlit paused, his wrath seeming to freeze in his body for a moment as he regarded the Keeper with something akin to disbelief. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded.

“That question is better asked of you,” Keeper replied. “You have been out of sorts since this meeting began.”

“Of course I’ve been out of sorts!” Sunlit roared, the room shaking in his irritation. “Away from home and nothing going right! What reason have I to be calm and composed?!”

“You are an Emperor,” Keeper stated.

“I’m surprised you remember that,” Sunlit said. “With the way you’ve treated our ‘alliance’ these past few years, one would be forgiven for thinking you’ve abandoned me! Is Leon Raime still your enemy? Are the Sky Devils?”

Keeper’s eyes opened, filling the room with bright white light. His aura skyrocketed, momentarily even oppressing Sunlit’s own. Sunlit knew he was strong, but as far as tenth-tier mages went, even his pride couldn’t deny that he was likely the weakest of the four. He shut his mouth.

“My enemies haven’t changed,” Keeper said.

“Then shall I expect the Sentinels to increase their support for this war?” Sunlit asked. “It’s unorthodox for those in our position to lead from the front, but shall we invade the Sword together and finally push those goat-fuckers off of our land?”

“You know why we can’t,” Keeper replied.

Sunlit fought the urge to chuckle and call him a coward. As tenth-tier mages, they were their Empires’ most dangerous assets, and their most valuable ones. Without a clear heir, risking any in anything less than an existential battle was completely out of the question, for the risk of their loss was just too great.

Besides, the Sky Devils had at least one tenth-tier mage of their own, and many ninth-tier mages. Personally fighting out on the Sword was a risk.

“Then what do you suggest we do to counter this?” Sunlit asked. “If I’m right and Ilion and Evergold have allied with the Sky Devils…”

“Then we shall respond appropriately,” Keeper said. “For now, I’m interested in having an update on the situation directly from you, who should be more knowledgeable on the subject than anyone.”

Sunlit scowled but acquiesced. “Fighting around the island is nearly constant. Pegasi ships are preyed upon with impunity and skirmishes happen between our respective flying scouts daily. We’ve reported killing more than five hundred enemy combatants and their war beasts in the past week, while sinking three of their dread ships and half a dozen escorts.”

“And the cost for inflicting such wounds upon our foe?”

Sunlit’s scowl disappeared, replaced with one of stony seriousness. “Two hundred and thirty of our flying scouts now feast with the gods. Five of our warships and one of our war arks were damaged, but none were rendered combat incapable, and all have been repaired and returned to service. Six warships were likewise damaged, but only one was heavily damaged enough that we scuttled it.”

Keeper’s eyes narrowed. “And Pegasi casualties?”

Sunlit scoffed and replied, “Why would I keep track of those?”

“They’re our allies,” Keeper frostily replied.

“They’re useless out here,” Sunlit shot back.

“And have died for the cause. How many?”

“Ask someone else and maybe you’ll receive an answer. Alas, you shall find none with me.” Sunlit elaborately flourish with his hand, his smile making it clear that his statement was all Keeper would get on the matter.

“What about Dreaded Shadow?” Keeper asked, and Sunlit’s heart rate accelerated.

“Hmm?” he inquired. “The ark? Perfectly fine.”

“So it didn’t get shot down over the Veins of Vigilance three weeks ago?” Keeper asked. “That fleet I see out there even now fishing out debris are just… what are they doing, then?”

“Salvaging one of the enemy arks,” Sunlit smoothly replied.

“I’ve never seen a Sky Devil ark plated in gold.”

“You betray your own ignorance of our enemy, then. Perhaps if you were out here yourself, you’d know more about the situation. As it is, I am alone out here—soon to be even more so, apparently. Judge me all you want, old man, but you’ve been next to useless against the Sky Devils. Perhaps you ought to step up more?”

“Perhaps the young ought to have more respect for their elders.”

“Perhaps their elders ought to earn that respect instead of demanding it for nothing.”

Keeper stared at Sunlit, who smarmily smiled back. Eventually, Keeper stretched his legs and returned to his feet.

“I will have additional supplies sent your way. Anything more will have to be discussed when I return home.”

He pulled the boulder back into his soul realm and left without another word. Sunlit watched him go, his eyes boring furious holes in the man’s back as his smiling lips tightened into little more than thin lines.

‘If I had the power…’ he thought as he momentarily turned his attention to the storm in the Veins of Vigilance. He didn’t finish the thought but instead turned his attention to the force he’d assembled and staged for an assault upon the Sword. It would’ve assaulted the island from several different directions, and his camp was only the largest staging ground.

It seemed he would have to call off the attack, though he’d direct his generals and admirals to step up the raids and patrols. For now, it seemed he had bigger problems in the west and north.

And in Occulara. If Leon Raime thought denying his invitation would be enough to get him to leave him alone, then he was sorely mistaken. Sunlit would burn that entire damned city to the ground if he had to, he was going to unlock the secrets in his blood, and Leon’s was the key. Sunlit would’ve said that nothing else mattered, but now that Keeper’s news had placed the idea in his head, Sunlit was convinced that Leon Raime was doing… something on Sky Devil’s Hell.

Sunlit’s expression darkened as he thought once again of the power his great-grandfather denied him in one of his last acts nearly two thousand years ago, but it quickly brightened as he realized he’d be able to not only leave this desolate camp for Thunderhaven, but he’d be able to blame the failure of this assault to launch all on the Lord Protector and the Grand Druid.

He rose from his chair, his cock already hardening at the thought of seizing the first maid he saw outside of the room, as well as the second and third. He was going home, where his concubines were waiting, and then he would get the blood he needed, no matter what he had to do.