Arcail IV struggled against the ropes that had bound him tightly to the stake that had been erected in the center of town. The branches and tinder at his feet and the solemn air should have made it clear that this was the end of the line. His God, Solinaye, had told him that there would be a chance to take back what had been lost. He had almost thought himself mad when he heard the voice of an actual God, but the blessings of the Golden One and the stories he had told him about how he actually had come to be and what his true purpose was for being convinced Arcail IV that either he was speaking to the actual Solinaye or that he was truly batshit insane.

Seeing as his body was fitter than the day it was locked up despite being fed near-starvation rations and left in a filthy, stinky, trash-filled cell for quite a while, Arcail IV chose to believe that he wasn’t mad and yes, that Solinaye had indeed chosen him.

“Ironic. That fool of a usurper wants so badly to be the chosen of his desired God, he wants so dearly to elevated Solinaye to the heights he feels he should be at, but every action he takes just makes things worse for everyone truly loyal to him…”

Arcail IV would have said those lines aloud, but there was a gag in his mouth that was held in place by a bit of cloth that also held his blindfold down. He could not see beyond the vague and mostly obscured light of day, and he could not hear more than the hushed noises of those who had come to witness his death, either by their own power or by force. Arcail IV could only barely hear what was being said, his God had granted him a healthier body and with that seemed to come a superhuman level of hearing, at least in certain situational circumstances.

He could tell that the vast majority of these people who had come here to watch him burn were none too happy that their previous Sultan was going to be executed in such a way. Death by beheading was an execution method for someone of his stature and setting him on fire in a public place was just needlessly cruel and unnecessarily spiteful. Still, Arcail IV had some small amount of hope. He wasn’t sure, but he figured that his God would have some kind of plan, as it was not like someone whose main goal was to keep the true Sultanate around and make sure that legitimate Sultans were in power would just let all their hard work be wiped away like this.

Of course, Solinaye had allowed everything prior to transpire, so perhaps the God’s words were not mere humility, and he was far from perfect. Either that or he was just a bit lazy, which could be why he had called himself imperfect. Before Arcail IV could continue his current train of thought, he felt something enter his body. He knew the presence immediately but was confused as to why Solinaye had chosen to die with him. Was the situation really that hopeless? Arcail IV didn’t dwell on this for long, however, as the God’s existence fused with his. In a flash, neither Arcail IV nor Solinaye existed as they once did any longer.

They were both and yet were neither, they were a mortal tiefling and yet they were a God. They, he, was one who could take the mantles of both, the names of both, the authority of both and still be capable of so much more. But, along with this new power and form came something else, something a bit sinister. If one could see a line of control from every being to their ultimate master, the new version of Arcail IV (or Solinaye, if you want to call him that) had a tether that linked them to a being back in the cursed and dead lands of former Ititlis.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, just like his master, the new version of Arcail IV wanted to show off a bit. It was too bad that his ‘greatest worshipper’ and his cronies had left to use the Gate that they had managed to not just unearth but also get running. It was a pity that his new master would have the fun and honor of offing them, but at the very least he could make the ones who stayed behind regret their decision to violate the will of their own God.

…

“Now, as the will of the One God demands. Burn!”

A single torch was dropped onto the mixture of sticks, logs, and kindling that lay at the former Sultan’s feet. The flames quickly spread, and the fire began to roar with intensity as though something was stoking it beyond what the firewood was naturally capable of. The crowds had to hold back tears as their last hope of a return to normalcy was made invisible by the mass of flames and while they wanted to leave and try and banish the sight from their minds, they were forbidden from doing so.

The fires burned for seconds until they seemed to be pulled into some unknown place. The masses of civilians and fanatics alike could not believe their eyes when the last of the fires were sucked into the body of the previous Sultan and the form of their former leader could be fully seen.

Arcail IV’s body was the color of gold with rays of light formed around his head like a crown. His hair, which had been shaved prior to his intended death sentence was replaced with a flowing mane of pure fire, and the horns that his race possessed now gave off less of an infernal vibe and more of an angelic or heavenly one. The post that he had been bound to disintegrated to ash and the Golden Sultan hovered in place above the pile of ash that now was just inches below his feet. From his bac came a brilliant radiance that coalesced into a fusion of the holy icon of the Solinaye Church and the main cion on the flag of the original Arbiana Sultanate.

Arcail IV looked around at all the people, and almost as if they all bore a single mind the whole crowd dropped to its knees. Arcail IV could have stopped there, but he needed to make sure people knew which way he swung regarding the whole fanatic/ extremist situation. His reach extended all across the Sultanate, both the current wreck that it was now and all the lands it had prior. He waved his hand as if to dismiss someone, and the extremists who remained began to burn alive from the inside out.

He knew that this was just the beginning, but for now, there needed to be a return to what once was. He would make sure that something like this whole debacle would never happen again, and if that meant that he would never leave office then he was fine with being both the Second-to-Last Sultan while also actually being the Last one as well. There was much to do to prepare for the new way things would happen but seeing as he was a literal God in the Flesh, he figured it would be far easier than it would otherwise be.

He would set as much right as he possibly could before those who served his master came to help things settle. He was, however, still rather miffed that he would not get to exact his vengeance on the ones responsible for all of this nonsense, but he really had no other choice but to hope Kain would dish out the appropriate punishments.