Kael stood before Emperor Regulus, his golden eyes burning like twin suns in a void of darkness. Each pulse of power emanating from his form made the marble pillars of the throne room shudder. "You require my strength," he said, his voice resonating with ancient authority. "I require your absolute obedience. Question my will, falter in your devotion, and your empire will not live to see another sunrise."
The emperor's fingers dug into the gilded arms of his throne, knuckles white beneath paper-thin skin. Sweat beaded on his temple despite the chamber's deathly chill. "We—we honor our agreements, Lord Kael. You have nothing to fear from the Empire of Ingrassia."
A sound like grinding mountains escaped Kael's throat—a laugh devoid of mirth. "Fear?" The word dripped with contempt. "No, Emperor. Fear is the tribute you pay to beings greater than yourself. The gods played with this world as children play with clay, molding it to their fleeting whims. I exist to shatter their influence, to break their toys, to erase every trace of their touch from this realm. Your war?" He waved a dismissive hand, the gesture somehow making him seem even more inhuman. "It is nothing but a single stone in an avalanche of my making."
Regulus managed a stiff nod, unable to still the trembling in his hands. The crown that had felt so heavy moments ago now seemed laughably insignificant. He had not allied with a man—he had opened his gates to an apocalypse given flesh and purpose.
Later, Kael stood atop the imperial palace's highest tower, his dark cloak rippling in winds that seemed to bow to his presence. Below, the sprawling city of Ingrassia stretched like a supplicant at his feet, its citizens oblivious to the being who now held their fate in his grasp. The bargain had been elegantly simple: in exchange for his intervention, the empire would grant him unrestricted access to everything—their hoarded magical artifacts, their libraries of forbidden knowledge, their armies of soldiers who would now march to his commands. Their petty politics and mortal ambitions meant nothing to him. They were merely tools, means to an end that stretched beyond their comprehension.
The gods had abandoned this world long ago, yet their fingerprints remained—in every sacred grove, every blessed blade, every whispered prayer. Kael's lips curled into a razor-thin smile. He would ensure their remnants were purged, their influence scorched from existence. If mortals had to bleed for that cause, if nations had to burn—he considered it a small price for liberation from divine chains.
In the depths of the imperial palace, Emperor Regulus huddled with his most trusted knights in his private chamber. Shadows danced on the walls from guttering candles, as if trying to flee the weight of their conversation. Their voices barely rose above whispers, each word heavy with dread.
"He is no man," Sir Roland, the most veteran of his knights, breathed. "Kael is devastation given form, catastrophe wrapped in skin. They call him the God of War, but that title falls short. He is what war fears, what destruction bows to. He has no loyalty, no allegiance—only purpose, only the void-dark goal that drives him."
Regulus pressed his fingers to his temples, age-worn face lined with exhaustion. "And yet, what choice do we have? Without his power, Eridell's forces would crush us like insects. But if he turns on us..." The thought remained unfinished, too terrible to voice.
Sir Darius, youngest of the gathered knights, clenched his fist until steel plates creaked. "This was never truly a bargain, Your Majesty. Not a real choice. Kael came to us not offering a deal, but pronouncing our fate. We follow his will, or we perish. Those were the only paths before us."
Silence fell over the chamber like a funeral shroud. They had not allied with a savior or even a necessary evil. They had shackled themselves to a force beyond mortal comprehension, a being who viewed their entire civilization as nothing more than a stepping stone toward his inscrutable goal.
And the chains of their bargain would hold only as long as Kael deemed them useful to his cause.