Three men landed simultaneously within the vicinity of the manite mountain.
The first was fit and full of muscles, but with a height of 5 foot 7, he was a bit on the short side.
His skin, short hair and short mustache were light brown in color, and he radiated a feeling of vigor.
At the right side of his chest armor, lay a crest that wasn't big, but wasn't small either.
Depicted on this crest was a floating sword with its edge pointing downwards and radiating yellow light.
This was the guild master of StormBane, Getrahan, who held the alias of Firehammer.
Another had a handsome face but hosted a dead look and dark circles below his brown eyes.
His body was lanky and a bit skinny, and he wore black cloths layered on each other like a mummy, but in a much smoother way.
Finstor Deneris, aka Metal Bane had landed.
The guild master of Evercroft was here.
And then, for the third, a man who looked not bad, but not that good either, came along with his black hair tied into a bun.
His skin was white, but a bit on the darker side, and he wore an armor covered entirely in a dark blue sheen.
This would be Raven Westagen, aka Marked Light, Varent's guild master.
Surprisingly, Deneris was the first to speak.
"Heh? What do we have here? Raven came out to play?"
Raven was about to reply when suddenly, all three men looked behind them.
Far into the horizon, dust started erupting on a linear path.
Something too fast to be seen was incoming, but it could be followed cause it was…shining?
Moments later, a person abruptly stopped in front of them, coughing up dust right into their faces.
With a swipe of their hands, they wiped the dust away while holding nonchalant faces at the sight of another Grandmaster.
Before anyone could strike up a conversation-
*Crackle!*Spark!*
-white lighting erupted from within the cave and the Emperor spoke immediately.
"What brings Orion's greatest force for such a visit?-"
His gaze swept over each one of them as he spoke their names.
"-Getrahan, Deneris, Raven and Jebas"
At the call of their names, each gave a slight nod.
As equals, that much was enough respect for the crown.
The last man, Jebas Mavista, had his body covered in dark brown clothes with many small jewel's attached to it.
His neck hosted an indigo chain that held a red marble in the middle, while his ears had five cerulean blue marbles attached to them.
His skin was light brown and his eyes were blue.
With a height of 6 foot 2, he wasn't short, but he wasn't that tall either.
Known as the Striding Bolt, this man, as you can probably infer, is also a Grandmaster, the youngest of them all at just 28 years old.
A certified prodigy indeed, and he loves almost anything that shimmers and shines.
"But I have to ask for the aim of this unrequested visit?"
Now, as Grandmasters, they couldn't possibly say they had come to make sure the Emperor didn't devour whatever bounty he found alone, now could they?
Raven just stared in the opposite direction without a word.
Getrahan suddenly coughed, before looking to the side and saying…
"What do you mean by that? We simply came to see if the Emperor needed any help"
The Emperor simply nodded to his shameless answer.
Deneris, though, scratched the top of his ear a bit and replied with his uninterested expression and low tone…
"You flew above cities, something you specifically banned. Destroyed about half of this entire monster region, along with the nearby ecosystem, doing who knows what…and you're asking what we're doing here? That question has to be a joke, right?"
Had it been some other person, the Emperor wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson by sending them to heaven, but since it was a fellow Grandmaster, he could only calm his bulging veins.
"An emergency call came in. I arrived to see the Avillian King slaughtering my people. I think you understand what happened next"
Deneris nodded nonchalantly.
"Ok, so…where is he?"
"Over here"
It wasn't the Emperor who spoke, but Jebas.
He had long since moved from his former spot and was now crouching down beside something.
It was Valin's head.
He had no qualms picking it up as he faced the Emperor.
"Is this what I think it is?"
His tone was clear like water, and a bit fast too.
The other Grandmasters' eyes widened, while the Emperor simply nodded.
"It is"
"What have you done to him for him to die with such an ugly face?" Jebas asked with a raised brow.
Seriously, you could tell just from the man's head that he was filled with grief till his end.
Rather than answering, the Emperor's mind whirred and something which he had swept over in his haste for the stones came to him.
"They trespassed and slaughtered without warning. Raven, you will be compensated for the death of your subordinate" he announced.
The Emperor turned to see Raven still staring into the horizon.
Only after being called upon once more was he shook out of his reverie.
Raven turned to them and said…
"I had come for my subordinate. Yet now, I find him buried in the soil"
He wasn't just staring at the horizon.
Rather, he was staring at the makeshift grave Westin had built for Grenald.
He turned towards the Emperor with his face utterly calm and let out a sigh.
"We are laying claim to Avilla" the Emperor promptly announced.
The King was dead, and he had every justification to do so.
And what would you know, with four Grandmasters with him, it was more than enough.
Without waiting, he shot forth in Avilla's direction and said…
"Follow me. We'll be using capture and keep tactics, and we'll do it as fast as possible"
With their Emperor leading the way, the others promptly followed.
Deneris' clothes dismembered, revealing another underneath, before reforming them on his back as wings. With them, he took off, but at a speed far slower than the Emperor.
Getrahan jumped high into the air, while Jebas and Raven took to their feet.
Onwards they went, towards Avilla.
Meanwhile, the Emperor's mind was already running calculations on the repercussions of his current actions.
What would he do to hold onto Avilla? How would his enemies, along with the nearby powers, react to it?
Within seconds, he understood that his action would call forth a storm. Whether it would lead to a war or not was uncertain.
But that wasn't going to stop him in the slightest.
'Things were becoming a little too peaceful and boring this past decade. And I'll get to stretch my muscles'
Capturing Avilla's land with its king dead wouldn't be much of an issue. The issue would be what came after.
Without further ado, the Emperor removed an item, a red crystal with a rhombus shape as big as medium sized rock with runes carved all over it with gold.
The Emperor infused it with his mana, causing it to shine, before saying a few words…
"The Avillian King is dead. I have moved to lay claim to its lands. You know what to do. I expect them to arrive as early as possible. Glory to the Empire"
With that, he crushed the crystal to dust and let it waft away in the wind.
Like so, war was now set in stone.
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