Lord of Annihilation

Chapter 390: Victory Condition.

"I'm your father," the man solemnly declared. 

Silence remained after his declaration which was then quickly broken by Lucius.

"Unfunny," he replied, his face and gaze as indifferent as ever.

"Yeah, I don't know why I said that," the man, agreed by nodding his head. "It's weird. Sometimes, I open my mouth and say these odd lines, after which I'm like 'why did I just say that?' I'm not a dad. I don't have a wife either. Hell, I'm still a virgin! And yet, I said those words!"

"Take it from me, grasshopper. Control is an illusion. None of us are truly in control of ourselves. Free will is a lie invented by your brain to save you from the pain of existential dread. It is to hide the truth that all life and existence are meaningless."

"We are simply illusions conjured by some Great Unknown to satisfy its boredom. Formless objects were created and then thrown into oblivion once our purpose has been served. Serving only as random pebbles for the river of time as it erodes us into nothingness until everyone and everything is but a lie."

After concluding his rousing speech, the corpse-like man froze for a second, before wearing an expression of confusion.

"What was I saying?" he asked, before widening his eyes with realization, "Right! You asked me who I was!"

Coughing twice to clear his throat, the chained corpse-like man looked at Lucius with a mysterious smile and spoke.

"Before I tell you who I am, why don't you try and take a guess?"

"You are Prometh"

"I AM PROMETHEUS!" The chained man interrupted Lucius' answer and loudly exclaimed.

Hearing his answer, Lucius sighed quietly. 

Contrary to what one might expect, Lucius wasn't thrilled or excited upon meeting this legendary figure from his previous life. To sum up his feelings at this moment, Lucius was simplyannoyed.

'He talks too much. Was he like this in my previous life too?' he wondered.

Unfortunately, Lucius wasn't familiar or close with Prometheus during his previous life. Much like the majority of others, he simply knew the man from the stories and recordings that he had watched about him.

While the Prometheus in those recordings was certainly queer and excitable, it wasn't to the degree that Lucius was personally experiencing right now.

"Now! I know what you're thinking!" Prometheus suddenly started his monologue after seeing Lucius in thought. "Who is this handsome looking gent who's so learned and eloquent?"

"I wasn't think"

"I'm the bastard son of the 17th Emperor of the Grand Alcana Empire, born to a lowly maid who had a one-time tryst with His Majesty," Prometheus answered with a grin on his face. 

"Of course, none of that is relevant in the grand scheme of things since I have a bigger, even greater identity! For you see, I am the RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THE THRONE!!"

"I know that," Lucius softly replied.

"Are you shocked!? You didn't see that comin"Prometheus, having not caught Lucius' reply continued on with his excited chatter. However, he abruptly stopped his monologue as his brain finished processing the answer received by his ears.

Looking at Lucius with widened eyes and an open mouth, Prometheus cried out, "YOU KNEW!? HOW!? NOOOO!!"

In response, Lucius gestured to the ruby-colored gem dimly shining on Prometheus' forehead and answered, "You're magic organ."

"Ah! That's right! I totally forgot about this little thing." Understanding flashing within his mind, Prometheus clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction. "Dammit, now the big reveal is ruined."

---

The rhombus-shaped gem embedded in the foreheads of every Magi is called a Magic Organ and is pivotal to their growth as a Magi. And as explained before, this organ is necessary for the conversion of soul power into magic power, which is the basis for all Magi's strengths.

However, there is another aspect to these magic organs apart from the conversion of energy. It is in regards to their class separation.

The Magi, or the Grand Alcana Empire to be precise, is a monarchy. The segregation of people into the 'ruling class' and the 'working class' was tradition, with the fate of each individual decided from their birth.

To keep things simple and not delve too deeply into the matter of politics, the political climate of the Grand Alcana Empire shall be summed up as such.

There is a single Emperor, who is the absolute ruler of the state. The Emperors have a ruby-colored magic organ which is symbolic of their power and position amongst the Magi. No other person apart from the Emperor possesses the ruby-colored gem. This includes the Emperor's direct family and children.

However, life is limited and no single Emperor can rule forever. As such, it is necessary to pass on the symbol of the 'Emperor' to the subsequent generation. This is done so willingly and through an elaborate series of rituals by the previous Emperor. 

It is impossible to forcibly steal the 'Mark of the Emperor' and no person, at least in the history of the Grand Alcana Empire, has managed to succeed in doing so, so far.

Below the 'Emperor' class is the 'Nobility' class. The 'Mark of the Nobility' is in the form of a sapphire-colored gem. 

The 'Nobility' class was further split up into multiple levels, namely: Baron, Viscount, Earl(Count), Marquess, and Duke. (in ascending order)

These 'noble' classes filled up the government of the Empire and were the henchmen of the Emperor. These were the people who controlled and handled the day-to-day functioning of the Empire and worked in a strict hierarchy. 

Moving up this hierarchy order was very difficult, and only (legally, I,e.) possible through marriage. However, even marriage had many rules in order to prevent the consolidation of power.

The Grand Alcana Empire had an unspecified number of Barons and Viscounts, around 63 Earls, 21 Marquesses, and exactly 11 Dukes. The latter two were the true power-holders of the Empire, and whose voices carried the most weight.

In short, the reason none of the factions (headed by the various Princes and Princesses) were unable to claim an outright victory in the ongoing political war was because, none of them held the 'Mark of the Emperor'.

With the mark-bearer (who was Prometheus) missing from the scene, the various factions could only try to consolidate power and try to win the support of the various Marquesses and Dukes. 

Thus, the victory condition in this political war was to gain the support of a MAJORITY of the Marquesses and Dukes. 

Only by doing so, will the participating faction manage to form a firm foothold and take in charge of the Empire without having the 'Mark of the Emperor'.

Unfortunately, however, a fair portion of the Marquesses and Dukes of the Grand Alcana Empire were old-fashioned, 'loyal only to the Emperor' kind of people. As such, none of the factions were able to yet succeed in gaining their support.

Still, if the person bearing the 'Mark of the Emperor' was not to come forward soon, the Marquess and Dukes will cast their support towards the faction they deem most fit, all for the sake of the Empire's continuance. 

After all, the country cannot forever wait for the arrival of a single man, especially so, if the identity of the man wasn't even publicly known.

---

"Now that my revel was ruined, that kinda leaves us in a lull," Prometheus despondently said. "I was really looking forward to doing it too." He drooped his head, sadly.

Seeing that the ever-talkative man was finally being quiet, Lucius pondered for a second before asking a question that had been on his mind for quite a while.

"How do you plan on getting out of this place?"

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AN: To those confused by the exposition regarding the Empire and the Political War, let me simplify it for you.

Imaging each Earl to be worth 1 point, each Marquess to be worth 5 points, and each Duke to be worth 10 points. 

Now, what each faction has to do is to collect these people and bring them over to their side. This is not easy and there is a lot of interference by the other factions. 

The faction with the highest amount of points, in the end, wins the political war and is crowned the Emperor of the Grand Alcana Empire. 

Hopefully, that simplifies it for those still confused. Of course, you're welcome to ask me any questions in the comments below if you're still baffled by anything.