The Empire of Entelessa was the greatest empire the world had ever known. Unfortunately, it was run by old men, or rather, old fools. The Senate, the other generals, even the Emperor himself, were all old fools.
General Allobor Erasthmus loved the Empire, and was indeed even fond of the people who were in charge of it, the other generals, the Emperor and, even the Senate. Erasthmus acknowledged the fact that these people had done great things for the Empire, had helped to make it the greatest empire that the world had ever known. Erasthmus loved them for this, but because he loved them he wanted to break them, to tear them down before they tore down the Empire.
Erasthmus marched down the halls of the palace, heading towards the War Room, heading towards the meeting that he had called with the old fools. He stopped before the doors, and signalled the servant waiting outside to announce his presence to the others waiting inside. The members of the Emperor and the other generals would already be waiting inside. Erasthmus was NOT late to his own meeting. Due to tradition, he had to arrive last, and give the invitees time to prepare amongst themselves and compare all the information that I had delivered them. this was seen as politeness, not trying to ambush the invitees, as if calling a pre-arranged meeting didn't already show that he was not trying to ambush anyone. This was a foolish tradition, one that should be over and done with as soon as possible. Tradition is great, but nothing must be accepted without thought, as thoughtlessness is far, far worse than godlessness.
Erasthmus thought like this, not because he was godless, although he was, privately of course, but because he was a man of thought. Everything he had ever achieved, every success he ever had came from his ability to think, his ability to ignore things that everyone else placed too much weight on, and his ability to consider things that everyone else ignored.
The servant opened the door, bowing quickly before ushering Erasthmus in. Erasthmus walked into the chamber, and faced the dignified old men gathered before him. Men who had earned hteir glories, but were on the cusp of outliving them. Erasthmus bowed before them, and without further ado, he began his speech.
"Honoured Generals, I encourage you to continue our campaign against the kingdom of Kours. If we stop here, after a single defeat, other nations, and our own subjugated people will begin to lose their fear of us. They will think that since this small kingdom can defeat us, they themselves will also be able to defeat us. There will be near constant wars and internal uprisings as we struglle to regain our lost honour. For our own safety, we must carry onwards, and bring the Kingdom of Kours utterly to heel, with no remorse and no mercy. We cannot allow any nation nor any people to believe that they stand the slightest chance against us," Erasthmus declared. Now he just needed to wait for someone to ask the question that everyone was thinking of.
"What about their pet demigod?"
Erasthmus silently congratulated General Seashimus. If Erasthmus had anyone to bet with, he would have put money on Seashimus being the one to call out. He would be Erasthmus most determined foe in this meeting, determined to cover up his own cowardice that came from retreating after a single Magic Knight of his were killed. But Erasthmus was being unfair, and he realized it. Many times, Seashimus's careful nature had saved his armies from what would otherwise be fatal battles, but in his old age he was...slipping. It was a quiet tragedy.
"Are we anywhere near certain that this is a true demigod? How could this be? There were no signs or portents at his birth, nor at his killing of the Magic Knight," called Erasthmus. He knew that this was no demigod because he knew there were no gods, but he was not willing to reveal his godlessness to the public just yet. So instead he came up with a different reason why he did not believe in this supposed demigod. "Do we truly believe that the gods would allow one of their children to walk among us without giving any true indication of their status? We as humans are meant to worship the gods, and thus we should be meant to worship their children as well. The gods are wise, and thus would know that we would need signs to recognise these children in order to give proper respect and adulation. Since we have recieved no such signs, we must assume that there are no such children. The only conclusion we can draw from this, is that this man is only a skilled and lucky warrior."
Seashimus argued, "Can any mere warrior, no matter his skill and luck, defeat a Magic Knight in his prime? Can any mere man overcome the difference in strength, speed, and skill?"
Erasthmus smiled to himself quietly. Seashimus was perfectly playing the fool for him, setting up the Erasthmus's next point in the most fitting and natural way possible. "Of course not," Erasthmus said, "But what if the skill was not a factor?" The surrounding generals remained expressionless, but Erasthmus can tell that they were confused, and interested. "Even the most skilled soldier would not fight much differently from an untrained child if he does not take the fight seriously in the slightest bit. And by contrast, even a starving man will fight with incredible strength if he is desperate. Why would a skilled Magic Knight would take fight against a mere warrior seriously, and who could be more desperate than a mere warrior against a skilled Magic Knight? Our dear Magic Knight was not defeated by this warrior, he was defeated by himself, by his laxness and arrogance."
"...Seakrea," came a quiet mutter. "He was my son, and I will not allow you to speak ill of him, especially after his death," continued General Seashimus, with increasing intensity, "You claim that he was arrogant, but do you honestly think you are any better, you damnable fool. Who else on this earth could demand a meeting with the greatest generals of the empire, and claim to know more than all of these generals, indeed everyone on the continent because he does not think the killing of a Magic Knight was enough of a sign. You, Erasthmus, are far, far more arrogant than my son ever could have been. If he failed due to his arrogance as you claim, than how could you achieve anything more."
"I have supported my point with logic, so I do not think you can claim that my argument comes from arrogance," Erasthmus said, "But if you insist on this, I will have no choice but to prove my point. I am entirely willing to show that this man we speak of is just a person, rather than a demigod."
"How will you do that?"
"Quite simple," Erasthmus smiled, "I intend to kill him, and break his kingdom. And I will stake my life on this."