Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

Aldrich felt like he couldn't breath, he finally understood. There was no False Saint, two brothers were actually chosen. They both had five crests to prove their legitimacy.

This is why the people were divided, this is why Voarian and Melowar rebelled, they had an equal right to their claim as the Imperial citadel. This is why many forces including the inquisition decided to sit on the sidelines.

There was no right answer.

"But, why, why did they have to fight? If both of them were the rightful rulers then why not rule together? Wouldn't that be best for everyone, the empire would have another being of the same level as the emperor."

It was difficult to say how strong the empire would be today with two beings of that level. After all, one emperor alone could suppress the entire continent, what about two?

It was not even a question. With that kind of power, destroying the Republic and the Dominion was not a difficult task. Conquering the new Crimson Dynasty in the Eastern continent was the same.

Then, the empire wouldn't just be back to the glory days before the Age of Dread but even better, even beyond that. It could have been the beginning of a new golden age of prosperity and glory.

But, reality was cruel.

"The biggest problem was the night of weeping skies, the extermination of the Henthwyne of the five families overnight was a declaration of war, no it was even worse. How could there be any talks afterwards?"

Aldrich had to admit that he underestimated the impact of such an event. It was highly likely that he was going to lose his mind if he was an adult when these events were happening.

No, it was even bigger than that. The extermination of one of the five families meant that there was one less bloodline that could give rise to a new emperor.

This was an incredibly dangerous notion, the empire revolved around the emperor, without him there would be no empire.

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,m And now because of that war, the empire was put on the defensive and lost so much influence. Vorian became a shithole and the scapegoat for any problem that happened in the empire.

That moment, that day, it could have been different.

"It wouldn't have been different," Ayemon said as if he read his thoughts, "even if the night of weeping skies never happened and the Henthwyne family still survived, the war would have happened either way."

"Why? That wouldn't make any sense? Why go so far?" Aldrich didn't understand, he couldn't put his hand on it.

"Why? There can only be one emperor, there can't be more, only one!" Ayemon suddenly raised his voice, "he who rules the empire, rules the world. Would you share that power?"

Aldrich didn't know how to answer, he had never even considered this possibility to begin with. It was a concept beyond his imagination but still, he could understand what Ayemon was getting at.

"Even your flesh and blood?" Aldrich asked indifferently, he was beginning to comprehend what happened.

"Yes, indeed. No one c would share that power, it's too great. Can you imagine, you speak the words of god? When you stomp your feet the world shakes in fear, tens of millions worships you day and night."

Aldrich's mouth was dry, he knew the answer. It disgusted him and he hated himself for it but he knew he was no better than them. To share that power? That glory? Only a truly great man would do so.

But he was not such a great man. The throne was too powerful, too great, too glorious. Only one man at a time can rule the world.

What kind of tragedy was the False Saint's war? How many had to die for such reasons? How ridiculous! Blood brothers, both chosen to be the greatest in the world and yet…

They had no choice but to fight and kill one another.

One could say it was inevitable, or rather it was the only possible conclusion. But somewhere, in his heart Aldrich couldn't help but think that maybe there was another way.

What if it didn't have to be like this? What if despite all the odds the two brothers stuck together and shared the power?

Wouldn't Altunan have wanted to see that? Is that not why he sent two emperors in this age? He couldn't help but feel that something went horribly wrong somewhere along the way.

"Enough questions for today." Ayemon declared, "don't forget to come over tomorrow, we're going to the tailor for some suits."

"Sounds great, I'll be on my way then." Aldrich had to leave with a somewhat heavy mood, "I will meet up with my friends and then we're going to report to the guild, any advise?"

"No, you're fine. Next time don't forget to tell me what happens next. I can't wait to hear of what triggered your ignition."

Opps, Aldrich almost forgot what they were originally talking about, but throughout the conversation they went on a tangent and lost sight of the original topic.

The next part was heavy, it included his encounter with the inquisitors and the Aberrant acolytes. It was an exciting tale to be sure.

Aldrich arrived at Dane's coffee house and had to take a double check, the place looked new, the old paint was replaced, the dented wooden floorboards were too.

New curtains and moss lamps gave the place a completely revitalized look. The waitress didn't recognize him and she just lead him to the second floor.

It was natural since he showed up here three times before.

He was the first to arrive so he spent his time going through the menu and asking the waitress about the changes around.

"This place looks much better than it was last month, what happened?"

"Oh, its all thanks to the new owner, he made all these changes and finally we got a better fitting uniforms. The owner decided to fix the decore, the last one was taking all the money and didn't spend anything to fix the place."