‘’Milord, the soldiers have been halted and are awaiting your command.’’

The man that was addressed as Lord was standing at the head of his army.

‘’Tell the men to build up camp, our enemies shall meet us here in one day.’’

Having remained silent for a few seconds the man questioned his Lord’s actions.

‘’Milord, if we were to advance for half a day more the land would work in our favor. Fighting at our current position would hold no advantages whatsoever.’’

‘’Laure, I have told you the tale of the one person that ever defeated me did I not?’’

Digging through his memories the man named Laure glanced at his Lord.

‘’As you command Lord Falak.’’

Ignus Pyralis Falak, once nobleman with a title of duke, now Great Lord of the country of Falak.

Due to his family being of royalty, his childhood had been spent studying for when he inherited his parents lands.

Being of such high rank he would naturally be well thought in the art of battle.

People around him quickly noticed his potential, as he was sent out to the battlefield Ignus quickly mounted one achievement after another.

Thanks to his many accomplishments the influence of the Pyralis family became significantly greater.

His name was famous across all the lands, even those in the other countries were aware of this threat.

With the passing of the previous Lord it came as no surprise that Ignus had been crowned the next Great Lord.

When he first appeared on the battlefield to demonstrate his new power there were but a handful of foes that could tell the story.

This feat earned him the name Emperor of the scorching land.

But no matter how many achievements he earned, not a single one was able to satisfy him.

While he was undefeated for many years at a young age, Ignus felt as if no one was able to rival him, which became his downfall.

In the war of Madow versus Nivalis, five years before Ignus had become a Great Lord, Falak had allied with Madow.

As fate would have it, that was when he met the future Lord of Nivalis.

Though he was able to put up a better fight than anyone else had against Nivalis, he still ended up losing.

The image of that battlefield never left his mind, a vast open field, no mountains, forests or even hills.

Perfect condition to see who possessed the greatest skills with only using the man at their command and their own strength.

Laure had turned his back to Ignus and gave orders to the squad commanders.

Having finished setting up the Lord’s tent first, a meeting was called forth.

Ignus opened the meeting expressing gratitude towards his men.

First off, reports about the state of the army were given by the commanders.

Having all finished their reports the only thing left to discuss was the plan for the upcoming battle.

Everyone held their breath as they locked their eyes on Lord Falak.

So as to not keep them waiting, Lord Falak began explaining his plan.

What they heard next was unbelievable, it was perfectly calculated down to the tiniest detail.

‘’I won’t expect all goes according to my will.’’

He raised his hand only to slam it down on the table.

‘’However failure is not possible, even if your performance reaps the lowest possible outcomes we shall not fail.’’

The commanders started murmuring.

‘’Could this really work.’’

‘’Lord Falak’s strategies have never been wrong before.’’

‘’Nivalis is as good as concurred, without their Great Lord they’re no longer a threat to us. Afterwards Izumu as well has no chance of surviving’’

While the commanders where talking to one another, Ignus declared the meeting over.

With everyone but him and Laure out of the tent, he got down to serious business.

‘’…How is the state of the new beast, is it battle ready yet?’’

Laure walked towards the doorway but did not exit just yet, his expression was somewhat troubled.

‘’Please follow me milord.’’

Laure took the lead, the two of them walked towards the most outer part of the camp.

They stood in front of a tent that was larger than a general tent. At least twenty meters in diameter and five meters in height.

It looked more like a performance tent more than those that belonged to an army.

Before the two walked inside the guard outside handed them a set of candles.

Entering the tent they were overtaken by darkness.

Having taken a few steps forwards, the light of the candle illuminated an object in front of them.

An Iron cage of some sorts, in the middle a blue and yellow ball of fur, it’s thickness made it close to calling it armor.

Having noticed another presence the ball of fur stood up and produced a faint light.

Laure stopped walking as he noticed it’s agitated mood.

‘’As you can see it still wishes to do violence to any person that gets close to it.’’

Ignoring Laure’s warning, Ignus kept walking towards the cage.

The beast stood up and it’s eyes met with Ignus’s.

Lightning sparks flew around, some striking at the ground in front of Ignus.

‘’Milord please be cautious.’’

Not wanting anything to happen to his Lord, Laure stood between him and the beast.

Ignus put his hand on Laure’s shoulder and shoved him to the side.

Laure could do nothing more than look as Ignus now stood in front of the wild beast.

Almost within reach, the beast swiped with his claw at the air between the two.

Though there should have been at least one meter between the two, a yellow light almost hit Ignus.

‘’Hooh, you are able to clad lightning to your claws and extend it’s reach as well, huh? That’s quite the skill you have. Such a feat is the be expected as the leader of a troop of Raiu.’’

[Raiu are a type of wolves that evolved due to living in the lightning plains of Thandela. More commonly known as the thunder devouring wolves. Thanks to their thick fur’s they were able to live in these highly dangerous plains. With years they learned to channel these lightning bolts for their own, and eventually create these themselves.]

Extending one of his hands in the cage, made the Raiu warry, normally it would have snapped at it but for some reason it’s instinct told him to distance himself. But instead it’s body remained frozen.

Ignus’s hand made contact with the Raiu’s fur.

Following it’s instincts the beast presented it’s stomach to Ignus.

‘’Good, it seems you understand, I am the one in command here. All you have to do is obey me.’’

With the hand that was previously stroking the Raiu’s fur, a red glow started to appear.

Moving his hand on the lock of the cage turned it into a liquid.

As soon as the former lock hit to ground it reconstructed into a solid plate, like it never changed to begin with.

With the cage open the Raiu was now free, or so one would think.

Suddenly the ferocious beast from before was nowhere to be found.

‘’Laure try approaching the Raiu.’’

‘’As you command.’’

Without even the slightest hesitation Laure walked up to the Raiu and stroked it’s head.

Receiving the petting made the beast give of a pleasant sound.

The way it acted was odd, like it had been raised by humans since it was a pup.

‘’Commendable as always milord. A wild beast that showed no improvement over two months was tamed within mere minutes by your hand.’’

Laure who had remained dignified through this entire period showed a fragment of a smile.

To him Ignus was the preeminent of what a human being should be. An achievement of this caliber would please Laure more than anything he himself had ever achieved.

Ignus headed towards the exit, but not before giving out one more task.

‘’Laure I put you in charge of the thunder devourer, make sure he is battle ready any time.’’

Laure stated ‘’I live to serve.’’ with his right hand on his chest.

Ignus was still looking at the Raiu, which seemed odd to Laure.

‘’Is something the matter milord?’’

‘’No nothing, but such an outstanding companion is deserving of a remarkable name.’’

Laure bowed down before Ignus and requested of him.

‘’Milord please allow me to perform this task in your honor.’’

Without changing from his default expression Ignus gave a bland answer.

‘’Do as you wish, I know it will please me.’’

While still bowing Laure expressed his gratitude.

‘’Words cannot express what joy I am filled with. Raiu you have the honor of being an ally of Lord Falak, and even receiving a name that would please him, henceforth your name shall be Sanda.’’

Ignus nodded with his back to the other two as he walked away.

When he returned at his tent, Ignus was greeted by the guards in front of it.

As he entered the dark room and set upon a royal chair, within the wood were carvings of a phoenix.

When he sat down with his eyes closed, the candles which were resting on his table suddenly lit up.

‘’You felt it too haven’t you?’’

‘’This power, it is on a deity level.’’

Standing next to the faint light of the candles a red devil roughly the size of an adults upper body.

Only the side that was illuminated was visible, his other half was clad in shadows.

‘’It seems like everything is going exactly as you want.’’

The devil walked to the opposite side of the table and sat down on a vacant chair.

‘’I would have never thought that, that man would be such a good diversion.’’

‘’He was a blatant fool, to use him as a pawn was but a simple task. Fortunately he was quick to move and rile up those bandits. My scouts gave me more than enough information to know how to deal with him.’’

The devil started to chuckle as Ignus’s explanation.

‘’Truly remarkable, half a year you have been planning for this one single moment. Every single move you have been went exactly as you wanted. But dare I say not entirely.’’

Ignus took a bottle of wine and two challises, while poring the drinks he kept speaking.

‘’He might be an anomaly and in other cases a worthy adversary, but we already know the limit of his strengths.’’

Having finished pouring the wine he handed a chalice over to the devil and returned to his seat.

After the first sip of wine the devil revealed a twisted smile.

‘’Indeed he is dangerous but not the one you should be most warry of.’’

‘’Who is it you speak of?’’

‘’…Always remember no matter how strong the old generation is, it shall always be toppled by the next generation.’’

Ignus made a irritated expression while drinking his wine.

‘’As long as the next generation cannot flourish, those of the old will never fall.’’

‘’Kukuku excellent, challenge the rules of this world and deny their very reason.’’

‘’Heh, is this not the reason why you chose to make a contract with me? Going against the rules of this world sounds a lot like what the legends have told about you, doesn’t it Lucifer.’’

While still maintaining his twisted smile the devil known as Lucifer became transparent.

‘’That foolish old man that calls himself the one true god refuses the nurture of anything that does not please him. I have seen the most beautiful beings sprout out of the most vile places. Where he turned a blind I, I listened to their prayers. In your words my actions would be called a coup d’état.’’

‘’But in the end you failed nonetheless.’’

‘’What a nasty remark. But it is true my original plan failed. Though it is not like our war has ended just yet.’’

At those words the devil known as Lucifer had faded away.

Staring at the chair where Lucifer sat until just a few seconds ago, Ignus recalled his words.

Do not think that I will end up the same as you. His life, his country, this entire world, I will change it all according to my will.