NOVEL WEB An Empire Reborn
September 10, 1808.
Vilnius, Lithuania
In the vibrant city of Vilnius, where merchants thrived and travelers came with their carriages, horses, and various other modes of transport, the Grand Royal Museum stood as a beacon of history and art.
Within its grand halls, awe-struck visitors witnessed an extraordinary scene: a swarm of heavily armed royal knights, each adorned with omega crests and wielding strange, mysterious weapons of unknown metal, marching into the museum. They were guarding a regal and imposing figure who exuded the aura of a mighty king.
As they ventured deeper into the museum, they entered a vast room filled with ancient statues, paintings, and artifacts. The heavily guarded individual was revealed to be none other than Percival Ashford, dressed in luxurious and elegant attire.
"Are we going to do the summoning here, my Lord?", one of Percival's knights asked curiously.
Percival replied with a smile, "Of course! Where better to summon him than here?"
"You're right, my Lord. It is a splendid summoning point," Another knight agreed.
Percival then ordered one of his knights to place a briefcase containing Jonathan's heart and the Fable Stone on the ground and unpack its contents. As the knight complied, Percival turned to a mysterious hooded man and asked with a grin, "Are you ready?"
The hooded figure nodded and approached the Fable Stone, which lay near Jonathan's heart. Percival then began casting a spell in the ancient Language of the Runes of Eldora, causing the Fable Stone and Jonathan's heart to levitate and slowly fuse together.
Meanwhile, the hooded man enveloped Percival with a thin, cold energy, shielding him from the dark haze that began to form, instantly killing all of Percival's men as it touched them.
As the Fable Stone and Jonathan's heart merged into the artifact known as The Dreadful Fare, Percival uttered his final chant in the Runes of Eldora: "Oh dreadful Lord, I call upon your name to return to the land of the living. With this sacrifice, you are hereby freed from the shackles of death."
At that moment, a monstrous gate appeared on the ground, opening and swallowing the Dreadful Fare as flames burst forth.
The flames vanished as quickly as they appeared, leaving the room in dead silence. Suddenly, a whirl of ominous energy erupted from the gate, and a dark, watery substance began to flow out, filled with skeletal remains and ominous souls.
A deep, terrifying voice echoed, instilling fear and madness in everyone in the city, "Fall!"
Instantly, Percival and the hooded man, including everyone in the city, were forcefully pushed to the ground, compelled to obey the voice.
From the dark pool, a man drenched in water emerged, an omega symbol forming on his chest, making him scream in agony.
In a burst of anger, he swung his hand, instantly killing everyone in the museum and slicing them into pieces. Luckily, Percival and the hooded man survived by shielding themselves with their Auras, though they still sustained some injuries.
Percival, panicking, tried to calm the man. "Wait! We are not your enemies nor are we here to fight you."
The man, still irritated, asked, "Are you the one who brought me back from the dead?"
Percival, with a proud look, replied, "Yes, I am! And I sincerely apologize for any discomfort."
The man remained silent, examining his muscular yet lean body, short dark hair, cold black eyes, and slightly tanned white skin. Noticing the omega crest on his chest, he thought, "What is this degrading and disgusting appearance?"
Percival and the hooded man bowed deeply, and Percival said, "I welcome thee back to the world of the living, Lord of Apocalypse, Harbinger of Havoc, the Grand Herrscher of The End, Emperor Julius von Audrius!"
As Julius walked through the dark waters, more knights appeared, carrying clothes but terrified by his dreadful aura. Percival yelled at them to dress Julius quickly, as he might be cold.
As they hurriedly dressed him, everyone saw how big the clothes were for Julius. But Julius calmly moved his fingers around, shrinking the size of the clothes, before examining the clothes and ripping off his shirt and shoes, stating, "Not my kind of taste."
"That must be one of his numerous abilities the legends spoke about", Percival nervously said, sweating.
Percival then apologized, "I wasn't expecting you to be revived in a more human form. But I must ask, why's that? You don't appear as the legends describe."
Julius replied, "It seems the resurrection brought me back to my original human form before I ascended to godhood."
"Oh, that explains everything," Percival said, understanding now.
Julius, with an intimidating look, asked, "Why have you brought me back from my slumber?"
Percival, slightly nervous, replied, "Your Majesty, I resurrected you because I have a proposal."
Julius scoffed, "You resurrected me from the deep pits of hell to propose something? What kind of fool are you? What makes you think I would want anything from you or work with you? What's stopping me from killing you right now?"
Percival smirked, "Because you and I are very alike. You desire to fight beings of ultimate power like the Supreme Beings, and I seek absolute power above even The One Above All."
Julius, speechless, said, "You wish for power above The Absolute One? Have you lost your mind?"
Percival boldly replied, "My goals aren't impossible. One can achieve any desire if they put their mind and being into it."
Julius, now intrigued, asked, "Cut to the point. What do you want from me?"
Percival happily answered, "I want you to join forces with me."
"Join forces?" Julius asked, confused.
"Yes," Percival replied. "I want you to help me achieve my dream of conquering all of creation itself."
Julius, baffled, asked, "Conquering creation?"
"That's right," Percival answered. "I plan to kill every ungifted being across creations and destroy and conquer all four of the Four Great Races. This means you would get the chance to fight and kill many powerful beings."
"It's a win-win situation for both of us," he continued.
Julius, after thinking for a moment, grinned and answered, "When you put it like that, I would love to."
"Fantastic!" Percival replied, delighted.
Julius then walked toward one of the museum's large balconies, revealing a higher view of the beautiful city of Vilnius. Looking down at the crowded streets, Julius asked Percival, who placed a coat around his shoulders, "Where am I?"
Percival replied, "We're in Vilnius, in your home country, Lithuania. The museum we are in is one of your grand palaces from your reign. Though it has been over 10,000 years since your death, it's quite normal that only a few of your belongings remain."
Julius noticed several strange machines moving below and asked, "What are those metallic structures?"
Percival replied, "Those are steam cars. I invented them, but they're not fully available yet, so some still use horses and carriages."
Julius questioned, "You invented these steam cars?"
"Yes," Percival answered. "Technologies have advanced rapidly in the thousands of years you've been gone."
Percival then showed Julius a firearm. To which Julius asked, "What is this?"
Percival replied, "This is a flintlock, another of my inventions."
"Does everyone possess that as well?" Julius asked.
"No," Percival answered. "It's a secret weapon I created for my army. Only my soldiers have them."
Julius, after examining his very being, said, "It seems like I'm weaker in this form. My power output is currently at the level of an Administrator, nowhere near my original strength."
Percival said, "That's just a repercussion of being brought back to the living."
Julius added, "That makes sense. I did become even more powerful while dead, so it's normal that the Dreadful Fare couldn't resurrect my full power."
Julius then remembered that to revive the dead, one must sacrifice the heart of a loved one and fuse it with almost limitless energy to be able to begin the resurrection spell.
He then said to Percival, "You sure are a monster in disguise. Killing a loved one just to achieve your deluded goal."
Percival replied with a sinister smile, "A goal is a goal. I even had to force myself to feel something for my brother for the spell to work."
Julius chuckled and asked, "How did you survive the spell's aftermath? Isn't one supposed to die after using it?"
Percival replied, "True, but there's a way around it."
The hooded man then suddenly appeared before them, bowing down and lowering his head in respect. Percival then explained that the hooded man, one of his special henchmen, used his family's unique abilities to shield him from the spell's lethal effects.
As his expression changed to that of surprise yet excitement, Julius delightfully shouted, "Never in my life would I imagine that one of the descendants of the Great Heroes would betray their fellow race and work with someone who planned to destroy what their ancestors gave their lives to protect.".
The hooded man remained silent, not speaking a word, as Julius laughed in amazement.
Julius then noticed the statue of the 7 Great Heroes from afar, slowly turning his head and gazing at it with a serious and cold expression.
-Saint Sebastian Akintola, the Great Hero, Grand Herrscher of Frostbite, Father of Ice, and wielder of the Holy Blade Excalibur.
-Merlin the Wise, the Grand Herrscher of Time, Princess of the Empire of Korea, and one of the Great Heroes.
-Cecilia the Mana, the Grand Herrscher of Magic, Lord of Fate, and Queen of the Elves.
-Kasla the Reaper, Grand Herrscher of Death, Rabbi of the Dead, Eldest Son of Count Dracula, and the Vampire of Death.
-Aelion Swiftblade, Grand Herrscher of Swordsmanship, Master of Blades, Oh Great Swordsman General, and the Best Swordsman in All of History.
-Leviathan the Sea Beast, Grand Herrscher of the Cosmic Sea, the Azure Dragon, and General of the Wyverns.
-Thalindra Stoneheart, Grand Herrscher of the Unbreakable Spirit, Defender of the Weak, and Grand Shieldmaiden.
All of them were the 7 Great Heroes, who led the mighty army formed by all of the Four Races to war against King Julius's Empire and defeated him after a pyrrhic, arduous, and grueling battle that resulted in the deaths of almost all the heroes.
Julius then calmly pointed one of his fingers at the statues, and at that moment, a small, faint spark appeared at the tip of his finger, which Percival saw.
In an instant, Julius unleashed a tremendously powerful attack that wasn't visible to the naked eye and that sliced through and utterly destroyed the statues of the Great Heroes, including many other houses and buildings that were in front of them.
"That looks better," Julius calmly said after his invisible attack annihilated half of the entire city of Vilnius, taking many innocent lives.
Suddenly, the sky cracked with divine light, and a choir appeared. A gigantic, levitating black and gold ship emerged from the heavens that looked like something out of this world.
Percival then extended his hand to Julius, saying with a smile, "I've brought one of my Starlight Voyagers for you. Let us return to my Grand Empire so you can rest and recover your power, Oh Great King of Varmints."
To which Julius thought to himself, "What sorcery has granted this man such knowledge of me?"
Julius and the hooded man were then suddenly teleported into the ship by the Starlight Voyager. Afterward, the Starlight Voyager ripped open another portal, which it used to travel through space and time.