In the continent of the glorious empire, the rising of the sun was always met with a blare of horns. Like clockwork the citizens of the empire would trail out in their numbers, excluding the old and aged, the young and the youths would lead the processions in whatever city they resided in, gathering on their fields and awaiting the presence of their advocates to arrive. The empire ran on a hierarchical system of government, the emperor and his generals were at the top, with four generals each for the four cardinal points of the empire. Each general was at the peak of advocate and were trying their best to break through to expert, although with no apparent success. Below the generals were the lords, each in charge of a city, the lords were also advocates, although mostly mid-tiers. Then below the lords were their retainers, all peak acolytes, and would stay that way till they ascended to advocate and undergo a trial to see if they’re deserving of a city. Should they pass, they were given the dungeon cores to create one within the unexplored and sprawling landscape of the empire, however, should they fail, they are to report to the general army of whatever cardinal point they originated from.

The lords of each city would lead their people in the art of fighting every morning, irrespective of their fighting styles. It was a decree of the emperor, the same emperor that the empire had seen been disgraced by the mythical being known as the titan blade, the first and only expert of the world. Immediately after the news and video had been revealed, the powers that ran the empire had moved quickly to restrict the knowledge of the incident, and they did, to the best of their power. That day a decree had gone out from the palace, on the legs and speed of the advocates that worked at the palace of the golden sun itself. Any city that replayed the video or spread the knowledge would have its advocates killed, their retainers killed or imprisoned and the city itself torn down by the general of that cardinal point.

It had worked like a charm, the news had died down into absolute silence, and while the people whispered about it in hushed tones, it was effectively dead to the empire. They had all heard of the crimes the emperor and his western ally had tried to perpetrate on the other continents, and even the transport tele hub to the other continents apart from the union had been cut off, merchants wailing as they accumulated losses, while access to the union had been having issues these days, something about a change in government and the new powers having frictions with the empire. With these thoughts, general Ba Ji, an advocate on the path of the eight arms, landed at the palace of the golden sun.

Dark hair tied to the back, he was a tall and broad-chested man, dark short beards with a muscular figure that spoke of training, years even before the archailect had arrived, behind him, hanging in the air were four arms on each side with different weapons. His path of the eight hands was a strict martial art style that could use eight different weapons to a terrifying degree, he had avoided the tournament, same with the other three generals as they had been ordered not to by emperor Han himself, and the empire had suffered for it, performing woefully in the tournament and losing out on the legendary core that had been used to set up an explorer’s society for independent ascenders. He still felt rage at the thought, that the empire could have used the legendary core to create a city so magnificent, like Bastion of the clan in the red zone of the continent of Asa, but they had not even conquered their red zone, known as the zone of death.

Nodding to the advocate guards that bowed at the waist to him as they opened the door, Ba Ji walked into the golden palace itself, passing by maids and man servants that bowed till he passed in silence, he felt a chill creep up his spine at the meeting he was about to attend. Advocates couldn’t feel cold, or rather they did, but their bodies had such immunity to extreme weather that it hardly mattered, but somehow the thought of entering the halls of the main courtroom drove the hair on his body to stand on end. With a resolute look on his face, he got to the doors of the main court and stood, watching the guards in animal masks and black clothes stare passively at him. The empire had a lot of secrets, starting with the guards that stood at the doors of the main courtroom, all peak advocates, they were loyal only to the glorious empire and the shadow that lurked beneath the empire, the true ruler of the empire itself. Ba Ji glanced at the guards who he was sure could take him down in a fight, and that was saying a lot since he was pretty sure he was among the top ten strongest in the empire itself.

Making sure not to do any suspicious moves, he spoke in his deep baritone voice,

“I have been summoned to the court itself by the golden sun”

Ba Ji had met the golden sun only once himself, and it was enough to make his advocate self-shiver in pure unadulterated terror. The thought of those eyes staring down at him again was not a feeling he hoped to experience again, but the golden sun was not an existence to ignore, it was not a being you could feign ignorance for, it was an absolute being and the last wall of defense for the empire, in existence he had tied his very soul to with an oath to the archailect itself. Any utterance of the name in public would lead to instant death for the person, for no one in the entire empire apart from the generals and the emperor himself knew of its existence. The guards made no reply, simply staring at him with their cold dead eyes, till Ba Ji heard the voice in his head, same with the guards as they fell to their knees in supplication, heads bowed and pressed to the ground so reverently as they shook in adoration,

“Come in Ba Ji,” it said,

Never should it be said that a general had come close to pissing himself at the sound of a voice, but Ba Ji steeled himself, even as the guards opened the doors to the court proper. Ba Ji marched inside and immediately knelt to the ground, bowing as he shut his eyes,

“This lowly general greets the golden sun, ruler, and god of the empire” he shouted,

He could hear whimpering and an occasional splat on the ground, the room smelling with the thick ooze of blood, even still, Ba Ji never raised his head. Then he felt the presence of the golden sun, pressing down on his advocate strength like a burning fire with an ant thrown into it. It could turn him to cinders with a mere thought and Ba Ji knew that deep down in his soul. As he lay there, waiting for a command, he felt the presence of the other generals as they arrived, kneeling and repeating the same words he said with their names, even then he didn’t raise his head. When all the generals were accounted for, he heard the words resonate around the room,

“rise” it simply said,

They rose as one, with practice to lay their eyes on the most grotesque scene they had ever witnessed. Han, the emperor of the great glorious empire had the skin of his body flayed away, his limbs had been cut off at the elbows and the knees and he laid on a rack, eyes wide with no eyelids, his throat somehow removed with the precision of a surgeon and laid on a table beside him his flayed skin had been dried and rolled up like a scroll also on the same table. Ba Ji held in the bile and vomit that threatened to spill from his mouth, his expression devoid of signs of any emotion. And behind the emperor sat a coiled golden serpent, a mythical dragon with red-slitted eyes and a forked tongue that tasted the air, its shimmering scales glittering in the sunlight that came from above, it its sides were two women and traditional Chinese robes, a wide smile on their faces as they carefully examined the tortured emperor.

The dragon turned its eyes to the generals and they crashed to their knees from the overwhelming power that surrounded them, the power that could crush an advocate as easily as a hammer crushing an egg,

The power of an expert,

The empire had been founded by this being that the entire world was unaware of, it had been the sole creator of the empire during the early days of the stronghold when it was still on the continent of the titan blade, but it had disappeared, most attributing its disappearance to death in a dungeon as was the case of many powerful warriors during the early days. Even Ba Ji had believed so, not until they had moved to their continent known as Taiyang, the empire had settled and its system of government established with Ba Ji and the other generals ascending to the rank of peak advocate with the honor of the position of generals. Then the existence of the golden sun had been revealed to them, the staggering realization that it had broken into the level of an expert, the titan blade no longer the only one of such level any longer.

Ba Ji had no idea how it had hidden from the eyes of the titan blade and his sect, but he suspected the realm of experts held many secrets known to only experts themselves. Ba Ji stared at the dragon that uncoiled itself before shimmering brightly and becoming an elderly man that floated to the ground, the maids draping a silver robe over his body. He walked quietly towards the body of Han in its brutalized state, using one finger to touch the bloody flesh and putting it in his mouth, Ba Ji was sure Han’s eyes widened, but with no eyelids, it was hard to tell, and with no vocal cords also. The golden sun turned to them and spoke quietly while staring at its sharpened nails, every word sounding like a decree from the heavens which it might as well be,

“The empire has been disgraced, your emperor has dragged our empire and name through the mud, what is befitting of such crime, hmm?” he asked,

Ba Ji shook with terror, praying the question had not been directed at him, not that he planned on answering anyways. He felt a shuffle beside him, glancing discreetly to the side to see the general of the south, a woman with a serpentine smile, and took a step forward, Ba Ji wasn’t sure if she was mad or daft, but powerplay was no new concept to him, she was hoping to win the favor of the golden sun,

“Great dragon of the empire, the golden sun that never sets, lord of- “she began as her head abruptly exploded in a shower of gore and blood, Ba Ji was sure a little of the piss he had been holding in leaked,

“What I asked was a simple question, not for groveling, anyone else, hmm?” the golden sun said repeating himself,

Ba Ji was as still as a block of ice, his eight arms were frozen also, it seemed they had been called to die. Another general, this time the general of the east moved forward slowly before falling to his knees,

“The ways of the golden sun are not meant for mere mortals to understand, whatever path the sun decides is and will be the best way,” he said as he visibly shook,

The dragon stared at the shivering general for a few seconds before speaking,

“You are the general of the east, lu zi, are you not?” he asked,

“Yes, my god” the general replied,

“And when addressing a superior, is it customary to ignore the sight of one’s superior?” the golden sun asked,

The general froze, mouth open before peeking up in confusion, the dragon sighed, and waved his hand as the general exploded in gore and blood. At this point Ba Ji was close to running, his human instinct for survival shouting at him to claw his way away from the presence of the monster in front of him, but his rational mind knew well enough that he would not have taken two steps before he too had exploded in a shower of blood and chunks of meat. The third general though had reacted on reflex and made a run for the door, the general of the west had not taken three steps before he too had become a painting on the walls. And so Ba Ji was left, shivering like a leaf in the wind, staring at the golden sun who kept staring at him passively, one perfectly done eyebrow raised,

“Well, general Ba Ji, what says you?” he asked,

Ba Ji had gone past the point of terror, his mind and body accepting the fact that he would not leave this room alive, and so he spoke, devoid of emotion, but his mind calculating the best possible answers,

“His crime was not plotting against the titan blade, his crime was moving too soon and with an ally who held all the cards” he started,

“oh? do continue, an interesting theory” the golden sun replied,

He had passed the first test, he was sure of it, but it meant nothing in reality,

“The clan have full control of their continent, the empire has just started its subjugation move for the continent of Taiyang, no act of infiltration should have been carried out till the empire had its borders secured and an expert on standby to weather the consequences,” Ba Ji said,

“Do you mean I am not enough to protect the empire?” the golden sun asked with a quiet tone that spoke of worse fates than death,

“The golden sun cannot be bothered with trifle matters such as the game of leaders, the goals of the golden sun transcend our world” Ba Ji replied and awaited his fate,

The golden sun laughed in a loud voice,

“Amusing, amusing! please continue,” he said,

“As such, the emperor has displayed a poor knowledge of control and wisdom, as such, he should be removed from office and disposed of in whatever way or form the golden sun decides, his position given to another who would win the trust of the world, while putting in mind that the goal of the glorious empire and the golden sun is the total domination of the world,” Ba Ji said,

The golden sun clapped slowly, turning to Han,

“And I wonder why I made you emperor,” he said softly,

“Damage has been done to my long-term plans, but it can be rectified. The main reason the titan blade and the clan should not be touched is what they represent” the sun said,

“They are the face of the resistance of our world against the archailect as a whole, should any…. monster come from the archailect, they would take the fall for it forces are watching the titan blade, forces which even I answer to myself, forces that would defend the empire should it reach that point”

Ba Ji didn’t want to consider what that meant, his mind could hardly wrap itself behind the thought of entities stronger than the golden sun, even knowing full well that there were ascension stages higher than expert, it was not his business and he wouldn’t think of it, that was info way above his level and of no immediate importance to him. The golden sun walked closer to him and his body felt like a branch of a tree caught in the force of a moving river, fighting just to stay alive,

“Han has failed the empire, he decided to play his games despite my warning, you, however, I believe would not,” the golden sun said,

Involuntarily, Ba Ji found his head turning to the golden sun, eyes wide as he hastily bowed it,

“My god?” he whispered,

‘” congratulations emperor Ba Ji, you are now the first Sun of the glorious empire, you know what to do,” the golden sun said,

Ba Ji fell to his knees in silent supplication, not before glancing at Han who still had a comatose look on his body that failed to heal, for whatever the golden sun did to him prevented his body from doing so,

“Oh, don’t worry about Han,” the golden sun said, noticing his sharp look,

“We have a lot to talk about before I send him on his way to the afterlife”

Seeing as the fate of his former emperor had been sealed, Ba Ji awaited his instruction to leave,

“You may leave emperor Ba Ji, but remember my words, eyes are on our world, and very soon the titan blade would leave our world for a tournament, that would be the best time to mend bridges when the clan is without the aid of their expert,” the golden sun said,

Ba Ji stood swiftly and walked outside of the room in a daze, the guards sealing the doors behind him. He stared down the longs walkway to see the royal army and advisors bowing to him,

“Long live the emperor Ba Ji!” they shouted in unison,

How had they known? he glanced back to the courtroom to see the room glowing gold and his name written above the structure in mandarin, realization in his gaze, the golden sun had decided from the minute the generals had entered the royal courtroom. With a swift bow towards the closed courtroom, Ba Ji turned to the members of his new court and began walking down the steps.

********************************

The soldier acolytes of the union stood in front of the nest, formerly known as the white house. Arrayed in their green military uniform, they numbered in their thousands, all stood at attention under the hot sun as they neither flinched nor twitched. Above them, on a platform stood the shining 20, the twenty advocates that belonged to the union, all with a number to state their rankings and all in charge of cities. They stared stoically down at the acolytes below them, then drums began to beat as the soldier acolytes snapped their heads upwards and saluted like well-oiled machines, gazing towards the position where the advocate leading the union should appear. Footsteps announced the arrival of the advocate and a female form appeared, dragging a man bound in chains beside her who turned out to be president frank.

The soldiers neither the advocates flinched at the sight of the man, they had all seen what he had done, and unlike the glorious empire, the video had not been banned, it had played live in all the city-states that made up the union, the citizens of the state in arms at the blatant method and act of the president in orchestrating a shadow take over of other continents, especially towards the beloved titan blade. Unlike the glorious empire, the titan blade was loved here, if not for any reason than his military might. He had displayed it well enough against the invaders during the landing and as such, he had cemented himself in their minds as the protector of the earth, the only expert and their protector against any incursions into the world. Therefore, the sight of former president frank beaten to a pulp by a woman whose hands glowed red and white as the colors changed was a welcoming scene.

The woman who stood before the gathered powers that made the union was one whose pure might and brutality were known throughout the union, Cassandra of the burning wrath as she was known was an advocate on the path of the raging fusion, and true to her name, she wielded the power of a literal nuclear reactor in her body, blazing through dungeons after dungeons, she had climbed her way to the peak of advocate on record time, setting a precedent that was rivaled only by president frank. The only reason she hadn’t taken that position was that she didn’t want it, she had no bone in her body for playing the intricate games that were politics, and only the dire situation they were in had made the burning wrath step in, the advocate generals that ruled each city-state gladly letting her take control of the union.

She dropped him like a sack of potatoes, folding her arms, the soldiers dropped their arms at the same time,

“At ease,” Cassandra said, her booming voice echoing around the giant square that served as their mustering ground, the flag of the union flying above the nest itself,

The soldiers relaxed as they stared at her,

“As you all are aware, we’re gathered today to see the fate of a traitor who betrayed our beliefs, our mandate, and our will” she started, pointing to frank,

“This excuse of a leader, connived with the eastern glorious empire to bring down the governments of the world, taking from the same books our immediate past leaders before the advent of the archailect did”

Kicking frank as he groaned and coughed,

“He has cut us off from the world and support, but we are the union, we are America, our will is unbendable, our strength is indomitable, we will persevere and our name that has been dragged through the mud will be made clean again, but first, we must exercise the filth from our midst,” she said,

Grabbing him by the throat, she raised him before releasing him as he wobbled,

“Well, any last words?” she asked,

Frank stared at her and turned to the arrayed soldiers, croaking before spitting blood to clear his throat,

“Long live the union, long live the real union, not this farce about to be set up, run by a government that loves some black-skinned- “frank said, hanging as a hand suddenly burst forth from his chest, his heart in it,

Frank stared wide-eyed, his mouth opening and closing in shock before his body went up in a blazing bright white light, leaving nothing behind as it cleared, the advocate of the raging fusion having wiped him from existence, stepping forward,

“We are humanity! we aim to protect humanity! it doesn’t matter what tribe or country or color, we are all that’s left of our world! we turn on ourselves and we’re dead! So we will toil, we will fight, we will make sure the world is nothing but a safe place for humanity, am I clear?” she said,

“Ma yes ma!” the voices of the acolytes shouted,

“So spread the news, inform everyone, I am in charge, this is a new dawn for the union, the eagle will spread its wings, our star will shine and the world would recognize the union as another defender of humanity, dismissed!” she said,

The soldiers saluted and marched away, Cassandra watching, a general walked up to her, saluting before speaking,

“we’ve established contact with the clan, they sent someone,” he said,

“That was fast, I was expecting the titan blade to decline our request, even the explorer society’s leader hasn’t been forthcoming” Cassandra replied,

“Perhaps the titan blade isn’t one to hold grudges” the general replied,

“Perhaps, who did they send?” Cassandra asked as she walked on,

“The leader of a sect, the hands of Anansi, a madam Martha,” the general said as Cassandra stopped,

“Who?” she asked confused,

“I believe it’s Mrs. Martha” a voice said as they turned immediately to see a woman who stood, arms behind her,

“How did you…. never mind, it seems our security is lax, excuse us, to penetrate this deep into our territory without our awareness, I will rectify this” Cassandra said as she shook Mrs. Martha’s hands,

“Oh, don’t blame the poor acolytes, it’s not like we advocates make it easy for them,” she said,

“True that, so, I believe by your presence here, it means the titan blade is open to negotiations? besides, why take the risk of coming here yourself?” Cassandra said,

“Oh, I’m not alone, advocates of the entire alliance are nearby, and quite possibly, the titan blade himself,” Mrs. Martha said,

Cassandra sucked in a breath,

“You mean- “she said as a flash of power blazed through the entire lands of the union and disappeared the same instant it showed itself, but they had all felt it, the overwhelming feeling of a mountain coming down to crush them all, like the hand of a god,

“Show off, he knows I can handle myself,” Mrs. Martha said as she shook her head, a smile playing on her lips,

“Wow, he’s…strong” she muttered,

“True, but that by the wayside, impressive execution, does that mean the union has given up its plans of world domination?” Martha asked,

“It was never the union’s aim, it belonged to a few advocates and former president franks who have been…. disposed of” Cassandra replied with a tight smile,

“Good, then we can proceed with the talks,” Mrs. Martha said.