Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix also known as the Holy Emperor stared outside of his magnificent palace which overlooked the capital of the united human nations. E-Rantel — who would have thought that such a fortress city would be the headquarters for the leaders of such a great nation.

There were 6 cardinals who exercised executing power as well as several bishops who dealt with the judicial branch. The rulers of each individual nation were allowed to keep their titles, however they had next to no influence in the face of the cardinals who had laid down the foundation for their rule the moment the nations melded into one.

However, even they couldn't see it coming when the Emperor of the Baharuth overthrew their reign. It was a devastating blow to their pride, but even he couldn't eradicate the carefully laid down foundations of their power. Soon the Emperor would be overthrown by his own son who would later become known as the Holy Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix.

They didn't anticipate such a move and so the cardinals were left in the dust. The new emperor was also cruel and exceptionally cunning. He had preceded every scheme of theirs with one of his own, and thus he was able to grab all the power to himself and secure his superiority.

The armies of the united nations were solely under his command. Though the cardinals still had the god-kins under their command, they couldn't win against the Holy Emperor who had half a million soldiers at his call.

If they were to move against him their only hope would be trying to assassinate him discreetly, for even humanity's strongest would tire out and eventually falter before the endless armies of the united empire.

At last, they had come to an agreement, they would give up any attempt on the emperor's life, and in exchange the Holy Emperor would grant them the power they so desired. Of course, the Emperor still held the final saying in any matter that concerned political or military interventions.

…

Jircniv let out a sigh. Whenever his mind emptied the images of the grand catastrophe resurfaced.

He was but a young child back then — when he saw the first crack appear in the sky. The fabric of space was torn, and it led to carnage never seen before in the world. The wound expanded rapidly encompassing the boundless sky. Earthquakes accompanied the unexplainable phenomenon, although it had claimed countless lives, it wasn't what made that day an unprecedented catastrophe.

Huge creatures pushed their decaying bodies through the rift while fire rained down below.

That day humanity was challenged once again. This time however, the rifts did not close, they did not disappear. They had remained open even after the waves were eventually halted.

Jircniv new that it had signaled nothing good, on the contrary he was sure that one day the abyss creatures would return and be the undoing of humanity. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let it happen, he was born a ruler and as such he couldn't rule above rubble. For that purpose, he hastened his plans of overthrowing his father, and gathered all the powers in his hands. He was convinced that with his intellect, and humanity's united might they could weather the storm.

He recalled Fluder speaking with such glee about the legendary 8 Sacred Flames who had saved humanity. Truthfully, Jircniv had only seen such craze in the old man's eyes once before when he spoke about a living God. He told Jircniv of things for which the old man would surely be accused of blasphemy. But there was only a select few who could rival the old caster, even fewer who could hold him accountable for his actions.

Those few were found among the elite scriptures of the cardinals. They were rumored to be descendants of the 6 Great Gods and if it were truly the case, then it would be only logical that they have the potential to rival humanity's greats magic caster. Both the flames and the god-kins could be a great asset to the empire, and thus he had endeavored to inspire loyalty with more or less success.

He was deep in thought as he stared into the distance, — a storm was rising on the east.

It has been over a decade since the last abyss monster was slain by humanity's combined efforts. It was a grueling battle where the armies of the Holy Empire served as little more than fodder while humanity's strongest fought to deliver a killing blow.

No new cracks opened in the past decades, but sometimes there were some monsters that found the rift between space and passed through to their world.

Thankfully, the elite black scripture dealt with those nuisances. Although the monsters grew in power, but that was only the case for new rifts. Old ones which were defeated only spouted weaker monsters that could be exterminated with a small elite squad.

It was a terrific realization, but the monsters entering the realm through new rifts had been getting stronger and there was no sign that it would stop. Fluder confirmed for him that the rate new portals opened also became more and more frequent as time marched forward. There would come a time when humanity could no longer resist the endless assault of the abyss.

Jircniv had to find a solution until then to save his nation from total annihilation.

He had dwelt deep into the matter. In the past he had repeatedly skimmed through hidden records, provided by no other than Fluder — he was sure of it then, his thesis was correct.

A messenger burst through the double doors leading to his chamber sweating heavily as he lowered himself to one knee before calling out.

"Your imperial highness, Defender of the Realm and Holy Emperor, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix! Your presence is called for in the church of the six!"

Jircniv dismissively glanced at the knight. 'What on earth do they want? I have my hands full as it is.'

He had already told his personal entourage that calling him Emperor Jircniv would suffice, however it seemed that this knight didn't get the message.

'What a bother.' He thought, as his expression hardened.

"Did they say why?

"Th- There are monsters tearing down the fortress lines set up around our borders! They are cleaving through our forces without resistance! Your imperial highness, we are in need of your intellect-"

Jircniv cut him off, as he began walking towards the doors.

"Lead the way."

Hope and admiration shone in the eyes of the knight. This was the Holy Emperor! Such a situation and he was able to remain calm and collected. What fortitude! No wonder all of humanity was united under him, if he leads us, humanity cannot fall. The knight hastily obeyed after bowing once more before he led the emperor to the meeting where the high officials of the kingdom were discussing their best course of action. On the way the emperor had called for several individuals who served as royal guards to accompany them, while he had also issued several orders to contact the nobles.

…