Lord of Annihilation

"Oh, it has everything to do with Lucius becoming a criminal!"

Flashing a toothy grin, Ka'lor'ah then suddenly went on a tangent and asked, "Which is better; to be a chess piece or a player?"

Unhesitatingly, Olivia answered, "Player."

"Why is that so?" Ka'lor'ah continued with a smile.

While feeling unsure of why this topic was being discussed suddenly, Olivia still answered.

"A chess piece is constrained to the rules of the board and lacks the freedom of choice to dictate its participation. Whether it is willing to or not, the chess piece is forced to play the game."

"A player, on the other hand, has the power to dictate the game. While he is also bound by the rules of the game, he still possesses the freedom to choose whether he's willing to adhere to the rules or not."

"Very good," Ka'lor'ah appreciated. "Seems like you've read my textbooks very well. Still, there is one thing that you missed. Something that I intentionally didn't include in those textbooks."

Clasping her hands and placing them under her chin, Ka'lor'ah concluded with a mysterious smile. 

"A player has the power to benefit from the game while the chess piece is doomed to remain just that; a chess piece."

"Mankind's current situation can be summed up with this argument." 

"It is at a crossroad where it has to make an important choice; whether to submit to its fate and remain a chess piece, doomed to be made use of by the others and disposed of when they see fit, or to rise up and seize the seat of a player and join the game in its play!"

Slowly realizing the meaning of Ka'lor'ah's words, Anya and Reyna wore expressions of worry and excitement, while Olivia sported an expression of caution and thought.

"But how?" the latter asked. "We don't have the power to forcibly intrude into the already ongoing political turmoil, nor do we have the influence to join one of the better factions in the war!"

"Our connections are mostly with the small and middle-scale organizations. Sure, some of the larger organizations have taken note of our potential and see upon us favorably, but it isn't to the point where they are willing to let us join their side as an equal party."

Shaking her head, Olivia resigned, "I don't understand your plan."

Hearing her disciple's words of resignation, Ka'lor'ah gently shook her head and spoke with a smile, "To reiterate what you just said; Mankind doesn't have a faction, that has a winning chance in the succession, within the Grand Alcana Empire to support, and that all of the existing factions already have sufficient strength backing them up to the extent that they wouldn't necessarily need our support, am I right?"

Olivia nodded her head and asked, "Your point?"

"What if I told you, that there is a faction within the Grand Alcana Empire with no support and an equal, if not, a greater chance at winning the political war and succeeding the throne?" Ka'lor'ah answered as the smile on her face widened.

Seeing the completely confident smile on her teacher's face, Olivia felt the skepticism within her heart simmering. But still, she was confident in her own analysis from the plethora of data that she had just gone through.

"Impossible. I just looked through exabytes of data and cross-referenced them with every news article, tabloid report, and even popular rumor within the last five years. There is no faction within the war for succession that isn't already backed by a large organization or conglomerate."

"Well, obviously," Ka'lor'ah scoffed at her answer. "How could a man, who's been locked up in prison for all this time, have the ability to make waves in the universal paper?"

"You mean—" A sudden realization seemed to have struck Olivia as she absentminded stood up from her seat.

"Ding, ding, ding! Exactly! You, my friend, just won a hundred points!!" Ka'lor'ah exclaimed before breaking into an excited laugh. 

Watching the dumbstruck faces and absentmindedly expressions of the people before her, filled her with boundless joy and perverse excitement. It was, in fact, orgasmic for Ka'lor'ah.

After reveling in their dumb-looking faces for a few seconds, Ka'lor'ah wiped the tears from her eyes and explained in detail.

"The only way that Mankind can enter this contest and even possess a chance at winning it is by supporting the one person that everyone else completely forgot about. A person, who not only is the most suited person to be the Emperor but also…"

"…it's legitimate successor!!"

BOOM!

A mini explosion seemed to have taken place within the minds of the three ladies as they simultaneously let out a piercing cry.

"WHAT!?"

------------

It took a few minutes of silence before the womenfolk around the table calmed down. Anya and Reyna still wore expressions of shock and unbelievability, while Olivia had more or less calmed down.

Having spent some time rationalizing the new input, Olivia was struck by a stream of new questions.

"I don't understand. It's been five years since the previous Emperor's passing. If the Empire already has a legitimate successor, why wasn't he already crowned?"

Having expected such a question, Ka'lor'ah explained with much gusto.

"Oh, you know how it goes. It's a tale as old as time itself," wearing a reminiscent look on her face, she continued.

"The Emperor's lifespan is looming to an end and his 'legitimate' children don't exactly see each other in the eye. Not to mention, they aren't that competent either."

"So, being an Emperor who did not want his life's, and that of his ancestor's, work be passed down to an incompetent son who them squanders it all away within a few years, he did what any sane Emperor would do, choose someone competent and talented even if he/she isn't part of his 'official' children."

"And well, he found him; an illegitimate son who was not only widely competent but possessed a talent that could only be described as 'peerless'!"

"But, as you can probably guess, this didn't sit well with the other children and officials of the court. I mean, would you, a rightful heir to the throne, simply wait and watch as the Empire is being passed down to a brother that you never knew you had, much less met?" Ka'lor'ah paused for a moment.

Completely drawn into her narration, Reyna leaned forward and impatiently asked, "What happened next?"

"They revolted!" Ka'lor'ah exclaimed.

"The instant the previous Emperor died, the various princes and princesses broke into their respective factions, dividing the royal court and its ministers. The rightful successor was caught in a plot and was made to 'disappear'."

"With the throne now becoming a 'free for all', it leads us to the current situation where the remaining factions are trying to grasp it for themselves."

"How come there was no news or even rumors about this 'rightful' heir to the throne?" Olivia asked, having gone through literally every piece of information that had been available.

Hearing that question, Ka'lor'ah showed a bitter smile and shook her head, "I'm afraid that even I don't know the answer to this. Strangely enough, even though the previous Emperor decided on a rightful heir to his throne while on his deathbed, he never made any official declaration to the public. It's almost as if he didn't want to expose the rightful heir to the public eye."

"How do we know that he actually exists? No offense to you, teacher, but it's just that there is not a single piece of information which conforms to what you said," Olivia apologetically spoke.

"Oh, none taken," Ka'lor'ah simply shrugged. "As for the validity of my statement, Lucius here can attest to it." She said while pointing to Lucius.

Immediately, the eyes of the three women turned to land upon Lucius. 

The latter, still maintaining his lazy posture, simply nodded his head and replied, "It's true. I've seen him." After saying so, Lucius turned silent once again.

Inwardly, however, he was recalling the memories and scenes from his previous life. 

Even during his previous life, the Grand Alcana Empire had gone through this exact situation of political turmoil. Much of the Universe's forces were concentrated on the Empire with nearly all of the heavyweights participating in the battle for successions.

Lucius even remembered a scene where the Heavenly Sovereigns and Abyssal Rulers publically came out to voice their support of their respective factions. The conflict at this point had intensified to an absurd degree with many Stage 5 beings personally participating in the battle and dying!

The death of a Stage 5 entity was no small matter and could even be said to be a historic event! After all, there were less than a thousand such beings within the entire Universe!! 

Still, this wasn't Lucius' most memorable memory of the entire ordeal. Having come from the future, Lucius knew exactly how the political turmoil would come to an end if he did nothing to intervene.

Unlike what the others thought, the war for succession within the Grand Alcana Empire did not end with a single faction winning. 

In fact, it could be said that nobody won in the end.

How could nobody win? 

Well, it was because the Grand Alcana Empire itself had ceased to exist! Even such a mighty, powerful, nigh-invincible organization within the Universe was brought to an end. And this end was brought upon by a single man.

The rightful heir to the throne of the Sigilers. 

A peerless genius who saw no equal across the entire Universe and even in its history. 

A person whom even Lucius, in all his wisdom and glory, respected from the bottom of his heart.

Recalling that fantastical scene of the Empire's main planet exploding into innumerable, irrevocable pieces and the face of the man who stood at the very center of that explosion, Lucius inwardly muttered a name.

'…Prometheus.'