Ever since the Emperor gave the order for the hidden pillars to investigate the small desert city, Sharin knew the Empire's future stood on a cliff's edge.

She's tried to caution the Emperor against an aggressive approach toward any discoveries, but she ultimately knew it would all fall on deaf ears, the empire's typical response towards anything they view as a threat was to strike fast and strike hard. Now look where fast had gotten them.

It was one thing for the Empire to flex their vast power towards the many kingdoms sharing the same continent with them, and even beyond. None of them could do anything other than go on high alert or try a diplomatic approach; they all feared a confrontation with the empire. But to try the same intimidation tactics towards the grey-eyed demon was to expect a quick response, a violent one. In the entire history of the Empire, no single individual has ever caused as much damage as the grey-eyed demon. his power was such that it usually took half a dozen pillars to stand any chance of fending him off, and that was without him summoning his full image. She shivered at the thought of that man at full power.

Looking back at that day, she cursed Elora for leading them into position. Sure, the emperor had given the order for the swift destruction of whatever threat they found, but any Spirit lord with a brain should have known to steer clear of that man. Now they were facing the repercussions.

When the Emperor had mobilized the entirety of the pillars—with the exception of Samon— as a response to the death of a pillar and the spiritual impairment of another, she'd become resigned to their fate. The grey-eyed demon never forgave an attempt on his life.

The attack on the first defensive fort cemented the future of the empire. She'd heard the report of an intruder on the first defensive fort, the fort which was created as a first line of defense for the capital. Capable of immediate response to threats and armed with a flotilla of ships and enough armed personnel to repel an army, the military bases in the capital shouldn't have been needed. But when word came back a few minutes later that the fort and its ships were decimated, and their soldiers were running in terror, she'd known that their attacker was very determined.

Usually, only a show of force was enough to deter would-be attackers, and the knowledge that there was more to come further in turned them around. But this attacker didn't retreat, instead, they pushed closer to the capital, triggering the city-wide alarm which instantly awoke all offensive and defensive installations. Those installations alone were the equivalent of two spirit lords, combined with the presence of Samon the bulwark, himself, only a very few beings on the planet could contend with that.

The Empire boasted the largest and most equipped Sky force on the entire planet, capable of sailing thousands of ships. Since the inception of the Empire, they'd lost dozens of land battles, but the Solarian Empire had never lost a battle in the sky.

Sharin was a Monarch realm cultivator, so she was able to watch as the Sun fleet—the emperor's fleet molded with the capability to repel spirit lords, and deal devastating damages if necessary—was decimated.

In all the battles since they were founded, the Sun fleet had never lost a battle before, their legend was known all over the planet. Maybe it was the fact that they were always supported by two Spirit lord commanders instead of the single one they were now reduced to. But Samon was a Spirit lord capable of holding back at most two spirit lords on his own—as shown when he'd single-handedly repelled an army of a hundred thousand adept and lord foot soldiers while simultaneously withstanding the assault of the two spirit lord commanders leading them. With all those facts, it shouldn't have mattered at all whether he had any spirit lord backup or not, he should have been able to swiftly crush their attacker, but instead, the opposite happened. Sharin had watched as Samon was constantly toyed around with while the attacker picked off the Sun fleet little by little, while dodging the tracking attacks from the Capital.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Before anyone knew it, over half the Sun fleet was either destroyed or too damaged to continue, the installations created to unravel Spirit lord techniques were turned into collateral damage, leaving the overall defence of the Capital in shambles.

Somehow, without anyone knowing, the attacker had managed to slip past Samon and get into the capital.

She had been in her scrying room, a large oval room with half the space taken over by a large pool which she used for far scrying. She'd watched as a young-looking man with short blond hair that shone gold in the sunlight, coupled with bright blue eyes that were like a doorway into the bluest oceans. He wore a leather armor, probably made by the best crafter on the planet since it was capable of withstanding multiple Spirit lord attacks. Coupled with the battle spear held in his hands, he looked like the definition of pure handsomeness, if she had anything to say about that.

Watching the battle, she'd wondered how a man so young could rise so fast in cultivation. They all knew him as the brother of the grey-eyed demon, and he was also a powerful cultivator in his own right that the empire had wanted for years. Unfortunately, any place for diplomacy had been squashed years ago when the empire had tried to kidnap his brother, resulting in the first casualties in a long line of cultivators sent after the brothers.

She had been watching the battle when a presence had descended on the room, calm yet with an undertone of catastrophic danger. Turning around had put her face to face with the same man fighting outside, only this one was green and made of wind. A manifestation.

She could have tried to fight or at least sound an alarm, but the way he looked at her gave her the intuition that any resistance was futile, so she'd gently surrendered. Besides, she'd already divined her future and nothing had come up fatal. She didn't want to push her luck.

The moment the manifestation had laid hands on her, space had immediately warped, taking them away.

Now here she was, standing in front of probably the most powerful individual on the planet. He didn't act like how she'd pictured him in her mind. Forgoing the brutalistic nature she'd always envisioned for a more carefree smile, like everything around him was amusing.

"Any problem?"

"Aside from one pissed-off cultivator, I would say it all went very well, though I almost got caught by their returning force. Just managed to snag our visitor here before I ran for it."

The grey eyed demon nodded, "Come, let me fill you in on our newest arrival."

***

Emperor Solar walked down the hallway towards his Throne room, the guards at the entrance bowing at his appearance while pushing wide the large double doors. He ignored them.

The throne room was a two hundred feet large room, embellished with colorful murals of Emperor Solar during his conquering days. The whole room was illuminated with bright sunlight streaking in from the glass dome on the ceiling, with the dome setting arranged to reflect light down on the sunburst mural set at the back of his throne.

He walked in, ignoring the Spirit Lord pillars who had their head bowed low as he walked up to his throne and took his seat, his son moving to stand at his right, with no complaint about Solaris taking his throne. As expected.

Outside, his face was impassive, his body posture, regal. But deep down, he was fuming with wrath, at the insults received from a mere Spirit lord. Had the boy not proven his talent, Solar would have slain him there and be done with it. Instead, they'd had the gall to insult him. The audacity.

Soon, he would teach them a lesson they would never forget, and that insolent boy would come crawling at his feet begging for mercy.

"Prepare the legion. We go to war."