Help! I don't want to NTR the protagonist!



As Lucius said this there was a quite obvious wince from a few members.

The death of Sirius had left the organisation with a gaping wound that still hadn't properly healed even to this day.

"I can't let that happen any longer. From now on the revolutionary army will no longer remain dormant. We will show the world that the flames of revolution aren't over, they are only just beginning!"

Damien didn't object to Lucius's passionate speech and just asked curiously.

"So what are you planning to do? Attack the imperial family? One of the heroic families or maybe even sanctuary themselves?"

"It's none of the above." Said Lucius with a light chuckle.

"This time the Revolutionary Army will be attacking somebody else. Ever heard of the Cult of the First Flame."

"What, those lunatics?!" Cried out Barton.

It wasn't just Barton who was shocked Damien, Agrim and even Albert were shocked by Lucius's words.

For a cult to be called lunatics by even the revolutionary army were openly in bed with demons their actions could only be even more deplorable.

The Cult of the First Flame were a bunch of lunatics.

They believe that before everything was created the world was just void and emptiness but in this void, there was an endless burning flame, the First Flame.

From this first flame, all things were created, it was the thing that gave birth to the spark of life in all creatures.

Tragically the first flame withered during the process of creation wearing out from an all-encompassing inferno into a small ember.

The teaching of the Cult of the First Flame is that one day the one to reignite the first flame, the Ember Lord will appear once again allowing the first go we to sweep across the world reverting everything into the original flame, with no more fighting, no more sadness just eternal peace In the embrace of the first flame.

Such a teaching was a problem in itself but what made the Cult of the First Flame public enemy number one was that they would routinely kidnap people or sacrifice them to the first flame in hopes it could give birth to an Ember Lord.

The cult claims that there have been Ember Lords before in ancient times but with none so-called 'Ember Lords' appearing in the modern records, all view them as a lunatic cult.

If it wasn't for the abnormal fire affinity and magic the members of the cult have they would have been ignored on the wider stage.

But just like you would expect from a cult that worships fire itself, their temper was explosive.

They would repay any slight or attack with raging fervour making them a problematic cult but one that people try to avoid fighting.

In addition, the cult is extremely secretive more so than even the Revolutionary Army and because they don't even oppose the empire directly like the Revolutionary Army or the Demonic Kingdom, they always stay on the back burner.

At most, it would be a collection of nobles or smaller kingdoms doing a crackdown.

Hearing this Damien frowned as he stood up.

"Lucius you're being too impulsive right now. The Cult of the First Flame isn't a small organisation and now you want us to get engaged in a full on conflict with them? Instead of finding allies for the revolutionary army you as the head of the army are out here creating enemies."

"I'm not creating enemies for no reason, the first flame is real."

For a second everyone here was too stunned to speak.

It wasn't until Agrim spoke that they came back to reality.

"Lucius, are you  talking about the first flame from myth?"

"There could only be one first flame I'm talking about." chuckled Lucius.

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"Haven't you found it strange that the cult shows an abnormal level of fire manipulation? It's because the blessing of the first flame is a real thing.

Think about it like the power of light granted to the priests of the goddess or the power of evil granted to the believers of the demon gods. It's something similar to that. If we can claim the first flame for ourselves the power and uses it could grant the revolutionary army would be unrivalled.

Hearing Lucius speak, Agrim became enticed. The limit of a Master Magician has had him tied down for several years now. Maybe this blessing of the first flame would be enough to loosen this bottleneck.

But whilst Agrim was enticed, there was still someone with doubts.

"Even if the first flame is real, such an object would be more carefully hidden than any base owned by the revolutionary army, it would be impossible to find it-"

"I know where it is ." Said Lucius 

Damien's eyes instantly twitched

"It's impossible for you to know that, we both have access to the same information gathering sources from the revolutionary army and I've not received a report that the base of the Cult of the First Flame has been discovered."

This time Lucius just tilted his head as a smug smirk appeared on his face.

"You don't believe my only information source would come from the channels of the revolutionary army."

"Oh, so where is the base then?" Asked Damien.

Lucius wasn't fazed by the question and calmly replied.

"It's quite shocking really. The location of the first flame is within the territory of a pretty big noble within the empire. Count Sterance is a member of the Cult of the First Flame.

And not just that, the house of Count Sterance  has been a loyal member of the cult of the first flame for hundreds of years!"

Everyone was left quiet. They didn't know what to say. 

"H-how can that be possible? Count Sterance isn't some small noble. As a count, he would have to encounter the royal family every so often and you're telling me a family of that leek of influence has secretly been a loyal untidy for hundreds of years?"

Hearing this Lucius just looked at Damien stupidly.

"You do know I, the head of the Revolutionary Army, am currently in Sanctuary studying as a future hero for the empire?"

All of a sudden Damien became a little embarrassed, his rush to oppose Lucius had left him in quite the embarrassing situation.

Damien took a deep breath and calmed down.

He was a hot head. Damien would be the first to admit that. If he wants a raging hothead it would be impossible for him to be the leader of such a crazy group in the revolutionary army known as the radicals.

Even so, his rage was solely directed at the nobles and their regime.

He wanted them to burn to the ground to suffer complete annihilation as they watched their reality explode and experience the suffering they cast upon regular people for generations.

Damien didn't fear the Cult of the First Flame, he just didn't believe they could afford to fight a war on two fronts.

The second they touch the First Flame, they would then form an irreparable life and death grudge. It won't end until either one of them is completely annihilated!

"Lucius, you're still too immature. As the leader of the revolutionary army, you can't be too hasty. You  still need time to mature fully into your role."

Although this was the first time Lucius had heard this it pissed him off to no end.

Something deep inside his body was becoming enraged.

He suddenly had an Illusion that he had heard these words countless times over and over.

It was as if All his efforts and hard work in months of planning would be thrown away by just this simple set of words.

Although this clearly didn't happen for some reason it was almost as clear as any other memory 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lucius's finger tapped along the table with ever increasing speed as his anger began to bubble.

Before the original Lucius may have stifled his breath in an effort to calm the division between the opposing factions but Lucius couldn't care less.  Conflict? He wasn't afraid! He wanted to control the entirety of the revolutionary army in his hand and that couldn't happen without a bloody purge!

"Damien."

Lucius called Damien's voice coldly without any honorifics like he usually did.

Looking at Lucius, Damien could see a pair of infuriated crimson eyes but unlike usual this time they were shaped in sharp serpentine slits.

"I am the head  of the revolutionary army, correct?"

Damien was a bit shocked by Lucius's tone but still ended up replying.

"Yes you are the leader but that means gang you have to be even more cautious so -"

"So what? " snapped Lucius cutting off Damien mid sentence

"My decisions  are always with the best interest of the revolutionary army in mind, when was it your position to oppose the best interest of the army!"

As Lucius spoke his words boomed like thunder as a terrifying draconic aura burst from his body covering the entire room like the giant wingspan of an ancient dragon, causing goosebumps to break out across the skin of everyone here.

'Is…. Is this still the same little Lucius?'

Regardless of their previous thoughts, This was the current thought shared by the adults at the table.

It was like they were in the presence of the old Sirius, no, if it was even more than that.

It could only be compared to that monster.

Unlike Sirius They had only met him once but it was an experience that had been burned into their minds. He was being they  could never forget 

The Demon King!

The enemy that could face five heroes at once, the being that was the greatest threat to humanity's existence. And yet they are getting the same kind of trans-human feeling from the little boy that grew up running around their legs!

It was a shocking experience that left the jaws of the upper echelons of the Revolutionary Army hanging for a while.

Seeing that he was being taken seriously Lucius finally spoke up again.

I'm no tyrant, the laws of the revolutionary army would still be upheld, we cast the opinions up to a vote."

"All those who abstain raise up your hand."

For a brief second there appeared to be no movement until Agrim hesitatingly raised his hand with a conflicted expression.

Lucius sighed a little but it was to be expected.

All this time during the power struggle, Agrim has been a neutral party. Although it may be possible that the Cult of the First Flame could benefit from his magic practice it was just a possibility based on Lucius's unproven claims.

Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but it was clear as day that this was becoming a  conflict between Lucius and Damien so for someone in Agrim's position who was focused on maintaining neutrality, it was best to just abstain altogether.

Fortunately, Lucius had been expecting this so he wasn't all too disappointed and moved on.

"Next, all those in favour of the attack on the Cult of the First Flame, raise your hands."

It went without saying Lucius raised his hand followed by Albert.

See, although Albert had moved himself into a near butler-like role for Lucius, this was all voluntary out of his loyalty and dedication to Sirius, his father.

Albert was still a powerhouse fighter that had been with the revolutionary army since its very inception so he had every right to vote at the panel.

In fact, if when Sirius was assassinated, Albert rose up himself to compete for power it's very likely that Lucius's own loyalist faction wouldn't even be half as big as it is now!

With the current dynamic Lucius's vote always counted for two since Albert would unhesitatingly follow his vote.

Even if Albert was opposed to his decision he would always talk to him and advise him in private and with the relationship between the two, Lucius often listened. But no matter what he would always follow Lucius's vote.

So with now two votes cast, Lucius looked to the remaining voters.

He skipped right over Damien. He knew no matter what happened he couldn't get Damien on his side, instead, Lucius seated rested on Barton 

Feeling Lucius's burning gaze, Barton was left a little uncomfortable 

Truth be told,  Barton wanted to object.

As a businessman, he knew the truth about having more friends than enemies.

Normally he wouldn't even consider something as stupid as attacking a powerful cult over a mythical first flame that may or may not even exist.

By all logical means, Barton would have objected to this decision.

But now it wasn't his logical brain that was buzzing now but the instincts he had honed over his many years as a businessman m.

The one setting off his instincts now was none other than Lucius 

The aura of the boy was just too shocking 

That overpowering confidence and transcendent aura was different from what he had seen from Lucius before.

The Lucius from before could still be classified as a little kid in his mind.

He was always running around, desperately doing missions for the Revolutionary Army and he was always doing the most to prove himself to him and the other meme ears of the board, but now he was different.

He seemed confident and overbearing in his actions.

If before Lucius was obviously trying deeper to have an aura of leader like his father Sirius now his aura had been completely formed but it wasn't just the aura of leader, no, now it was more similar to that of a king!

Barton only had that thought for a second before quickly shaking out of his head.

He was there when Lucius grew up and he knew just how much Lucius was influenced by the revolutionary philosophy and just how much he hated the nobility and its power structure. The Lucius he knew would rather kill himself than see himself become king!

Barton looked around and laughed at himself, he was clearly overthinking things right now.

When it came to a gut feeling all thoughts were useless.

You just have to go with the decision you are most confident in

Barton took a deep breath as alight flashed in his eyes.

Raising his head, Barton stared straight into Lucius's blazing crimson eyes and spoke 

I…. I chose to…