Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire

"what news have we received?"

The young emperors request echoed throughout the grand hall.

Ministers and nobles scrambled to answer the emperors request.

"Sir, The herald kingdom has fallen entirely, the imperial army has the situation almost completely under control at this point."

"So the 4th can be brought back then?"

The emperor of course was referring to his 4th warlord, the greatest of his fighting forces, worth an entire army all on their own.

"Yes, your majesty, the army should be more than capable of dealing with the remaining rabble even without the 4th to lead them."

"Good, now what about the news on him..."

The him referred to was the up and coming nuisance Julius Aquitania, or as he had started calling himself Julius Ceasar.

Whose story was like a bards tale sung in the taverns to the commonfolk about a man rising up from nothing to reach for the heavens.

He was a simple backwater noble who accomplished a few feats and before anyone could blink declared himself a Grand Duke at the culmination of the 2nd Lunan war.

Then while Visigoth was busy securing the conquered territories and launching their next war against the Herald kingdom, the upstart swooped in and conquered what remained of the Lunan kingdom for himself, though still internationally declaring he was not a king.

This stance made everyone view him as a non-threat having only conquered an already defeated people.

Picking at the scraps at Visigoth's imperial feet.

But then something shocking happened.

A wall...

A great wall was erected cutting off north from south.

Spanning the entire border separating the visigoth empire from the new Grand Duchy of Aquitania.

"Sir... there is news however we are unsure just how reliable the information we've receive actually is, as most of our spies have failed to report in, so this information was instead collected from travelling merchants."

"Go on."

"It seems that behind that accursed wall of theirs, Roserun has all but been taken over by the duchy after the King there tried to rise up against the upstart before they could recover and present a threat to his rule, since being defeated only the capital and some surrounding areas remain 'free' while the other territories have all be annexed."

"So things are stabilizing quickly?"

"There is more sire... It seems they've established diplomatic ties with the Dacian's and Germanic hordes and performed a joint war against the Greecian peninsula, it seems the war is still ongoing but the expected outcome is a victory for the united forces over the Greecians..."

"..."

Bang

The grand hall door slammed open and a soldier came running in before quickly taking a knee and presenting a scroll.

"Your excellency, a new report has just come in, it's marked as urgent."

The prime minister nearby snatched the scroll breaking the seal after giving it a quick glance and reading the contents, before his face blanched and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"What is is?"

"You highness... it seems The Parthian Commonwealth has fallen due to economic instability and had readily agreed to become a province of the Romanus Kingdom."

"Romanus...? Kingdom...?"

The emperor scratch his head trying to think of all the nations that made up the continent but nothing like this came to mind, certainly not in the south where the commonwealth was located.

"Oh, er ummm... it seems that some time ago after their recent conquest the Grand Duchy of Aquitania renamed itself the Romanus Kingdom after their Grand Duke Julius, announced himself to be a successor to the former Roman Empire, as the Aquitanians are descended of the old Imperial line."

"Hmph, a dusty bloodline with no real claim to the throne long bereft of lordship, and yet after rising ever so slightly as a upstart he thinks he can just so easily lay claim to that which is no longer rightfully his?"

"It would appear so."

"So then, the south has a growing rival one we could wipe off the map if we could only get beyond their walls, but first we would need to assemble our forces, but for now it would be better to keep on with the plan rather than stop them and waste all of our planning and preparations. The grand invasion will proceed, make sure the Eastern and Northern invasion proceed and come out successfully, we don't need this new upstart kingdom forming alliances to create a coalition to stand against us."

"Of course your majesty."

"Now what else has changed this last few months?"

The advisors and ministers carried on explaining the happens of the continent as they had been informed by their various sources.

-Germania was invading and slowly conquering the People's State of Achae, seeing as their allies in Greecia were under assault by the mercenary army and Romanus forces.

-Francia was building up for war but had not yet made any moves to suggest a specific target, most likely preparing for possible further German Agression.

-Brittania had started a war to the south targeting Celtica and securing a staging point for the invasion of Francia.

- The east was a powder keg, seeing the fall of the Herald kingdom many nations had started to vie for greater control of the region and to bolster their own powers to attempt standing against the dominant Visigoth Empire.

-Lastly in the south news about the total collapse of the Carthaginian Kingdom a the hands of the Ramie Kingdom, and Principality of Christendom though at the cost of the Grand Fleet was confirmed (Mistaken to mean it was destroyed not stolen)

Once everything had been reported and the emperor aprised of the situation, the emperor leaned forwards in his chair peering at the map that was being hasitly redrawn by scribes to reflect the new information smirked.

With the volatility of the east, their armies should have little to no issue conquering the entire region under the command of the warlords, while the smaller targets in the north likewise should be simple so long as the Slavic Union stays out of the conflict.

But the big question mark was still, should they really leave the upstart alone, he was a great thorn in their sides, having killed on of their greatest warriors a warlord in single combat, and defeating their greatest strategist, not only in battle but also in single combat.

Before pulling out what could only be reported as a draw-win against the greatest of the warlords herself, though that report itself seemed shaky as the girl clearly was not fighting properly but rather underestimating her opponent like usual.

But a retreat is still a defeat in the emperors eyes.

Could it be that only he, only his own supreme might could take down this newly appeared upstart?

Only time would tell, but for now he would get stronger, and so would his empire, could Julius grow even greater in the same amount of time?