Mercy stood silently, gazing out at a sea of soldiers as she waited. Hundreds of thousands of men and women stood assembled in the desert sand that surrounded her home. Like her they stood at attention as everyone who had gathered waited for her father to arrive.

It had been almost half a month since the duel with her father and despite losing miserably he had honored his part of the deal, and so there she stood on the morning of the invasion, on a large hastily constructed stage next to a veritable horde of officers.

Looking around she could see a few of her siblings dotted among the officers. Lazily, she looked out on the crowd, waiting patiently until her gaze was suddenly drawn upwards by a loud screech. Eyes snapping up to the sky she saw a burning comet streaking towards the stage from the heavens. It caused no damage upon landing except a small circle of scorched stone and slowly resolved into the form of her father, Virtue Senecar Wyrmheart the ‘Sun of the Sands’. He stood silently for a moment, glancing towards those assembled behind him, before turning to face the soldiers and speaking, his voice filling the open air despite his soft tone.

“Today we are at peace, but tomorrow, like all good things, that peace shall end. A war unlike any we have ever known shall soon consume the world in its furious blaze. But will we lament a thing as common as war?”

Taking a short pause, he waited as the gathered armies responded in unison: “NO”

“Indeed, a soldier does not fear war any more than a farmer fears his field. But be warned, despite our welcoming, this will be a conflict unmatched in our history and our enemy one never encountered inside the Imperium’s border. Their armies rival even ours and they make use of strange and evil magics”

Mercy stood at attention as her father spoke, matching the forms of the officers surrounding her as a small seed of doubt started to bloom within her. The speech was a fairly standard ceremony as far as military affairs went but the more her father spoke the faster it bloomed.

“For over a hundred years our majestic empire has held dominion over Rioke under the emperor's watchful eye. Fifty years ago the last nation to deny our banner was crushed to gravel, and over the past ten more than a dozen rebellion attempts have been quashed before they could begin. But the emperor is dissatisfied, despite our power the fact remains that most of our world is barren with little to offer.”

As her father paused for a moment Mercy felt her stomach start to turn over as the true nature of the war started to become clear. In front of her Senecar raised his hand causing a ball of yellow flame to appear.

“We may prosper now but should we do nothing this shall be our world’s fate. With every war the empire has grown but the lands have suffered and if we remain idle they shall continue to do so”

With a flick of his wrist the ball of yellow flame shifted to a beautiful mix of green and blue. “This-” he said as he raised the multicolored flame aloft.

“This shall be our future, the emperor in his infinite wisdom has devised a plan. The seers of the Temple of Mirrors have found a source of life that we may deliver unto the world that has provided for us for so long. Away for these endless deserts to once more teem with water and life”

Senecar’s voice slowly faded as held his hand in the air and the globe of flame started to grow in size, he allowed it to grow until it towered over the assembled armies emanating waves of heat.

“In service to his imperial majesty they have pierced the veil of dimension and found not just a source of Origin Energy but an entire planet filled with it. It is this planet we make war on, it is this vile deed that we commit in the names of our families. It will never be a noble act to destroy someone's home to build your own but nevertheless we shall not spare them a single nail”

Finishing his sentence he clenched his fist causing rivers of crimson flame to wrap around the imitation planet as he resumed speaking, this time in a violent shout.

“THEIR WORLD SHALL DIE THAT OURS MAY LIVE, THEIR CITIES WILL BURN FOR OURS TO GROW. IT IS NOT FAIR, BUT NEITHER ARE THE HEAVENS. AS ALWAYS THE WEAK SHALL YIELD TO THE MIGHTY AND THE MEEK WILL LAY SILENT AMONG THE DEAD. FOR OUR FAMILY WE FIGHT AND FOR OUR FAMILY WE DIE. TONIGHT WE GRIEVE FOR THERE WILL BE NO TIME AFTER, AND TOMORROW WE FIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE!”

Shouting each word louder than the last, her father finished his speech before turning over his shoulder and whispering something to a general at the front who nodded succinctly before pointing a finger in the air. Immediately a black arrow made of crackling energy left his raised finger prompting the most awe inspiring thing Mercy had ever seen.

Following the bolt of energy six mages shot into air leaving similar trails of energy in their wake. They rocketed into the air until the bolt froze and they stopped upon reaching its altitude, spreading out each one began to cast what Mercy recognized as [Gate] causing hazy black swirls of energy to begin forming in the air before them.

Normally the spell would cause the whirlpool of black lines to accelerate before resolving into a portal between two places, however before the six Gates could form the six mages suddenly cast out their right hands which crackled with the same energy as the gate. Following this gesture the gates began to destabilize, turning into long bands of mana that began to fly wildly through the air.

However before they could travel too far the black bolt that had remained still began to pulse with mana, each pulse drew the band of mana in slightly until a new gate, incomparably larger to the ones composing it, began to form. This new massive gate began to undergo the same process of resolving into its destination until a wave of mana suddenly washed through the area causing it to shudder.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Shivering at the raw power she felt as the wave passed over her Mercy turned to look where it had come from, jaw dropping at what she saw. Far in the distance, towards the direction of the imperial palace was a black dot in the sky eerily similar to the one she had seen the general create, the only issue was that the palace was impossibly far away meaning if that was truly the source it must be ridiculously large.

Nodding to herself that she must just be seeing things Mercy was nearly thrown off her feet as ,another wave of mana washed over the army, this one fully destabilizing the mega gate and confirming she wasn't hallucinating. Shell shocked she watched as the massive amounts of mana overhead followed in its components footsteps and turned into a mile wide and unimaginably long band of black energy

Slowly at first but with rapid acceleration the band began to whip across the sky, joining others that she could faintly see in the distance as a gargantuan gate began to take shape in the sky. Spinning faster and faster until the sky was a sheet of black and wind roared across the desert until the wind suddenly disappeared.

Before Mercy could even register its absence, the sky split open with a terrifying scream, revealing their world's target in the most striking scene she had ever seen. In the sky far above her there were now two Suns shining brightly in the sky, but what really grabbed her attention was the planet, bigger than anything she’d ever even dreamed about it was a vibrant blue and green that she found absolutely mesmerizing, And as Mercy stood transfixed she heard the apathetic voice of the System whisper in her ear:

[World Usurpation Initiated]

[Energy Threshold reached]

[You have been deemed a Worthy Candidate]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six hours later Mercy stood next to a few other minor officers as they watched her sister Petra argue with Rick. Her father had followed through on his promise to make him her commanding officer but due to extensive nepotism and her sister's freakish strength Petra was in charge of them both.

Rick was a general's son, he had trained in warfare and combat from a young age and was by all accounts an accomplished warrior. At least he was nearly a dozen years ago, the talent he had shown at a young age had resulted in an overabundance of support from his family. Support that had gone straight to the head of an impressionable young man, over time confidence became arrogance and a rapid ascent in power had turned to relative stagnation.

Now backed by the blind support of a family that covered any mistakes he made he had gone from a bright and outstanding child into a bitter, petty man who was unable to tolerate anyone even slightly talented, like her sister..

But nonetheless her father was extremely adamant about trying to have them betrothed, apparently he was old friends with Rick’s dad, and she was long tired of it. Shaking her head she returned to the conversation as Petra was finishing her tirade

“-GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHO YOUR DAD IS. I’M FASTER, SMARTER, STRONGER, REALLY JUST ALL AROUND BETTER THAN YOU, YOU MISERABLE LITTLE TWAT. AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH I'M ALSO YOUR DAMN COMMANDING OFFICER SO IF YOUR NOT GONNA LISTEN GO AHEAD AND LEAN DOWN SO I CAN SNAP YOUR THIN LITTLE NECK”

Petra slammed her fist on the table they were standing at, cracking it in half as she stood there glaring at him. Rick in response put his hands up and walked backwards out of the tent muttering indignantly as he went. As the flap of the tent closed behind him she stepped forward to place a hand on her sister's shoulder as Petra shook with anger.

As Petra felt her hand she raised her head, face still twisted with anger, and took a deep breath before her face became suddenly still and she spoke in all to calm voice:

“Well, I think that this has been a pretty productive meeting, you all have your orders, we leave at first light”

Mercy and Petra watched the remaining officers file out in silence. For a moment neither said a word, before Petra sighed, her face returning to normal as she spoke.

“First things first, I’m sorry Mercy”

“C’mon Pet, there's nothing to apologize for that guys an asshole”

“That’s not what i'm apologizing for sis”

Mercy tilted her head in confusion as her sister cringed slightly while she spoke

“Then what are you apologizing for?”

In reply Petra turned to the items that had been scattered across the floor when she broke the table. She eyed them for a second before plucking a sheet of paper from the floor and handing it to Mercy.

“This”

Taking it from her sister she began to skim through it. ‘The hell does she mean “this” its just a bunch of officers getting transferre-’

“SON OF A BITCH”

“Hey, hey, i said i was sorry” Petra said hurriedly as mercy took a swing at her, the paper still clenched in her fist. “Listen, I know you’re mad, buuuuuuuut, there is a reason for this”

“Nope. Don’t wanna hear it. I’ll go fuck off into the middle of this empty ass forest with Rick and his shit squad but only because its treason if I don’t” Mercy snapped at her sister and began to stalk towards the exit only to be stopped by a tangle of crimson vines shootig up from the ground in front of her.

“I said to wait” Petra said sharply from behind her, turning around, Mercy sighed as she crossed her arms and waited for her sister to continue

“As I was saying, there is a reason I sent you back to Rick’s ‘shit squad’ as you so aptly put it, a pretty good one at that if you ask me.” As she spoke the vines blocking the door receded and new ones sprouted around her, rising from the floor of the tent they grew into a blood red throne, the outside bristling with thorns.Grinning she sat down upon it and stared Mercy in the eyes as she finished

“You’re gonna kill him big sis”

Uncrossing her arms slowly Mercy stood in silence for a long moment before responding.

“Alright fine, what’s your plan?”