Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

Returning to his seat, Valdour asked with an expression that stated that if I were to order him to run head first into a wall, he would do it with absolutely no hesitation "What are your orders?"

"For now, nothing too important. Simply focus on building me Orhan's new cannons as fast as possible." I calmly replied.

"Consider it done, sire. I'll have their designs perfected and shipped to all the armies within a month. I guarantee it." He vowed with unshakable confidence.

"No, the first few shipments will all be headed for the southern army headquarters at the Broken Gate Fortress. Also the Chimera Knights and the Shade Corps will be the ones responsible for their transport.

We must keep information about them a secret for as long as humanely possible." I warned gravely.

"I understand, but why only send to the southern army? Shouldn't we instead focus on the northern or western armies? Or do you intend to test their effectiveness in the south away from prying eyes?" Valdour logically questioned.

Realizing that he was still not privy to such sensitive information, I quickly explained to him the plans to invade the lands beyond the Hadrian Mountains, which seemed to be a great shock to him as he weakly uttered "I see..." before quickly recovering and saying grimly "I will have my most talented and loyal smiths moved to the Molten Forges, where we used the Volcano's fire to forge our greatest weapons of war in ancient times.

I will also have the best of the Brimstone Knights stand guard around them at all times."

Stunned at the mention of the Molten Forges, Qayan's most holy site, which was thought to have been razed to the ground during the final acts of the war between the Kingdom of Qayan and the Eclipse Kingdom.

"Are you sure that would be enough?" I asked with a tone full of skepticism, knowing that although the location of the ruins of the Molten Forges, which was at the mouth of the volcano, was a difficult place to reach and very well guarded, it would still be very noticeable if suddenly the ruins were being rebuilt to be used by hundreds of people, for unknown reasons.

Especially since, every now and then, a few smiths from all around the world would journey to those very same ruins in a form of pilgrimage to pray to the God of the Forge.

"HAHAHA..." Laughing heartily, he confidently replied "Please worry not, my liege. Those ruins are nothing more than a clever ruse my ancestors employed to hide the real Molten Forges from any invaders who had come this far."

"What?! But it's said that the people of Qayan cried for years for the loss of the Molten Forges. It would be impossible for the people to continue to act for years on end without breaking character even once, while my ancestors occupied it." I exclaimed in complete confusion.

Smiling, Valdour explained "Yes it would be impossible for people to maintain an act for that long perfectly, that's why my ancestors convinced not only your forefathers, but also the people.

For hundreds of years my predecessors told the people that the Molten Forges are at the mouth of the volcano, while only letting their most trusted subjects enter the real ones.

And to further make sure their secret remained untarnished, the instant you enter the Molten Forges you could never leave again. Even in death you would not escape, as we would cremate their bodies and carefully bury their ashes in urns deep beneath the earth."

Staring at Valdour, I say "I see. Then am I right to assume you know it's location?"

"Of course. After the defeat and conquest of my ancestors kingdom, they destroyed all entrances to the Molten Forges, bar one. The location of which is passed down to the inheritor of the Forge God's blood on his fifteenth birthday." He honestly revealed.

"And am I right to also assume that you won't tell me where it is?" I asked with a small smile.

Valdour simply replied by nodding his head. Already expecting this, and understanding that trust could not be forged in a single afternoon, I no longer bothered with the issue, until he decided to show me himself.

And so our conversation continued for a few more minutes, before remembering, just as the sun completely retired from it's station in the sky "Right! I almost forgot. I have a special commission for you personally Valdour." I said as I handed him a stack of folded papers I had in my breast pocket.

Taking them from me, he quickly scanned them before simply replying "Hmmm... These are some oddly specific designs, but it shouldn't be a problem. Though it might take me a while to collect all the resources for them."

"It matters not, you can take as much time as you need. As for the resources, just send me a list of everything you couldn't acquire and I'll have them shipped to you from the Palace." I reassured, while casually waving my hand.

"Very well." He nodded.

And with that, our long talk came to a close for the day, with each of us heading in our separate directions, but little did I know at the time that further to the east, beyond the Juren de Yachi Mountains, and in the great port city of Appethus, the greatest and last remaining stronghold of the Noble Faction, a pathetic looking Zadkiel stumbled drunkenly through the corridors of his opulent mansion with a half finished wine bottle in each hand, while his arms hooked around the waists of two scantily dressed women, giggling and complementing him on whatever crossed their minds with each wobbly step taken towards his bedroom.

Throwing open the doors, Zadkiel unceremoniously stripped what little fabric the women called clothing of their charming bodies, before tossing them on his massive round bed, before quickly joining them in nudity upon it, as their cries and moans of delight began to bounce against the gold encrusted walls of his expansive bedroom.

But their fun wasn't meant to last this evening, as an impatient, gruff voice sounded from the door they casually left open "Is this what you've been doing while everything we've built is destroyed around you?"

Yelping out in fright at the unexpectedness of the voice, the two women raised their head, with no attempt to hide their own nakedness, and gazed at the owner of the voice, only to see not one but four people before them.

The one who had obviously spoken was a barbaric looking man, with wide shoulders and wild unkempt auburn hair and eyes, while two double bladed axes menacingly clung to his back.

Next to him stood two women, one was beautiful, and wearing luxurious clothes and jewelry, with a proud and haughty air around her.

While the other possessed normal looks, and wore nothing but common clothes and no accessories what so ever, with the sole exception of a single, ordinary and low quality silver ring on her left ring finger.

And finally next to them, but slightly more to the rear of the group, almost out of sight, stood one last average sized person, the gender of which they couldn't determine due to his large black robes.

But what was truly odd about this person, was the fact that it was difficult to detect his presence, even as they sat there staring right at him.

Twirling his head around in rage at the audacity of interrupting him, Zadkiel wanted to rip who had dared do so to bloody ribbons, but the instant he saw who had spoken, his eyes, which had been clouded by wine, lust and wrath quickly regained their clarity as he said in apparent irritation "Oh, it's you bastards.

Leave, I'm busy."

"I'm afraid that's impossible, Lord Zadkiel. My mistress has poured far too many resources in this place to simply accept what your nephew has been doing. A satisfactory answer must be given." The beautiful woman said with a cold smile.

"Exactly! The Mercenary Kingdom has supplied you arms and armaments for years! My lord Maximillian is expecting his investments return, so you either hand it over or I'll carve it out of your flesh." The barbaric man roared with a bloodthirsty snarl.

"The same is true of the Luminous Empire. His imperial majesty and lord Nerva are running out of patience. You promised to internally obstruct your nephew, but all you have done is waste precious time and money on nothing." The black cloaked figure added coldly.

The last woman simply nodded, and stated with ruthless apathy "Not to mention that that false emperor has recently gotten word of our recent activities, and has already sent his hunting dogs of the church after my precious flock.

Already I had to sacrifice so many of my loyal sheep to temporarily escape."

"AAAHHHHHHHH!" Zadkiel bellowed out in anger and frustration "What do you want from me then? My wealth? It's yours! My life?

Come and claim it! Better you take it than that monster my brother called son! In a mere couple of months, if that, he destroyed decades worth of effort and toil!

The old and great houses obey his every command like they were the words of the Gods themselves, most of the middling houses that once supported me have all either defected to his side, or have been utterly exterminated and their lands redistributed to his liking!

And don't even get me started on the low ranking houses and nobles! Those bastards that used to grovel at my feat the instant they saw me, now avoid me like the plague! Even in my own damned city I can already feel my power slipping away, AND YOU BASTARDS ARE NOW DEMANDING ANSWERS!!!

Well this is my answer, as long as that monster sits on the Black Throne, no one can force him off of it."

Zadkiel finished his long monologue in a defeated and melancholic tone, like that of a man who saw his dreams crushed before his eyes, before turning around to continue his debaucherous deeds.

But before he could a red slash sped past his cheek and ferociously bit the throats of the two women, ending their fragile existence in an instant.

Feeling a sting where the slash had passed, Zadkiel touched only to see his own blood trickling down his face "Then I shall collect my lord's payment in blood." He heard the barbaric man declare maliciously, as he suddenly appeared directly behind him, with axe in hand.

Dread consumed Zadkiel instantly, as he struggled to muster up the courage to match his earlier words, but before his executioner's blade could reach him the black robed man cried out "Wait!"

"What is it runt?" The barbaric man, his arm still raised, asked impatiently as all eyes turned to the man in black robes.

"I have a message, or more accurately, a proposal from lord Marius Nerva in case our plans happened to fail beyond salvation." He calmly stated.

Frozen from the mention of such a legendary figure, they all focused their entire attention at him. "Ohhh? And what does his lordship propose?" The beautiful woman asked with a charming smile.

But instead of answering the woman the black robed man looked at Zadkiel instead, who still held a ghost of dread in his eyes, and asked "Tell me lord Zadkiel, your dream of becoming an emperor may have been dashed unexpectedly by your nephew, but would you like being a king of your own new kingdom instead?"

***End of Volume 1***