The story of Emperor James "The Great"

Well now that we've gotten you acquainted with some of the inhabitants of Rengard, I think it's time to share with you the story of one of the greatest humans to ever live.

This is the story of a boy who claimed this throne at the top during a time before the gods, that boy would grow into a powerful man whose downfall would not come from an enemy, rather it would come from his closest friend who he even once called brother, this is the story of Emperor James "The Great"!

...

during the age before gods or more commonly called, The Godless Era, kingdoms weren't a thing yet, you had many different clans and tribes vying for power and more hunting land and territory.

in one such clan there lived a boy named James, now James was the son of the clean head, Jeremiah, Jeremiah was one hell of a powerful and charismatic leader, he led the unification of the endless gorge and would create the almighty Lionheart Clan.

while Jeremiah was a remarkable man, his son James wasn't, you see, James had been born sickly and had always had a weak body and for the first 13 years of his life, he was seen as a disgrace, until that fated day when everything changed.

one day when James had gone out to train, he was ambushed by a group of kids from the clan who had hated James, the leader of the group was Thomas, you see Thomas was the son of the head of a clan that James's father had conquered and when he saw his father get killed by Jeremiah he was filled with grief and hatred, so he bided his time and when he realized James was an easy target he pounced.

Thomas and his gang of friends had jumped and severely beaten James and when he was an inch away from dying they stopped and headed back laughing, once Thomas had gotten back to the clan he started boasting about how he had beaten the heir to the clan to a bloody pulp, when Jeremiah heard this he was infuriated but he couldn't do anything since it would destroy his image to hurt a child, so he waited, hoping for James to come back however after a few hours had passed, nothing.

so, he sent out a search party and they found James in a pool of his blood and rushed him to the clan mage to try and heal him and that's when Jeremiah had gotten the worst news he had ever heard, the mage said James would never be able to walk again.

now in this era that was practically a death sentence, so the elders convened and talked about putting James out of his misery, but Jeremiah wouldn't let them, so he waited and for a week James was in a coma, and on that faithful day, something amazing happened.

in the hut where James was sleeping, a pillar of light burst down from the heavens onto James, enveloped his body, and started "changing" him.

at first that changes weren't visible, it started with James's mana capacity greatly increasing and then moved to his body changing, he had grown from 175 cm to 185 cm! not only that but the once scrawny boy started to fill out his shirt and developed muscles that looked like he had trained every day of his life.

after two more days of rest James had finally woken up and to Jeremiah's surprise he seemed like a different person, the way he talked acted, and even walked had changed, he seemed more confident and even had a sense of authority in his voice.

...

after another week something happened that changed the power dynamic in the clan, James had gone and killed the kids who just two weeks prior had beat him an inch away from death, when the clan first got news of this the elders wanted to punish James and some even called for his execution however before anything could happen, James had gone and beaten two of the clan elders in a battle and from that day forward became the second strongest fighter only inferior to his father in the clan.

...

after 7 years, on James' birthday, his father had gone out to war with another big clan, the howling wind clan, and that day James was told something that changed him forever, his father the mighty Jeremiah lionheart had lost in a battle where the other clan had laid a trap and ganged up on him after James had heard the news he was so enraged that he marched with reinforcements to the other clan and did the unthinkable, he had used magic and his skill with a sword to completely wipe out the whole clan, now keep in mind this clan numbered 5000 with 2000 of its people being combatants, nevertheless James had gone and wiped them out in a sea of flames, he spared neither women nor children during his aimless slaughter.

and so, at the age of 20 James became the clan head, and on the day, he inherited the clan he led a massacre against 5000 people, this event was one of the main events to happen that earned James his first nickname, James "The Ruthless".

after another 5 years of conquering and consolidating, James had built a clan that was more than twice the size of his fathers, under the leadership of James in just 5 years he had conquered so much territory and people that the clan numbered 40,000, while also having 8 different towns under his control, now that may sound strenuous but James had come up with a solution that shocked the elders when they first heard it, he would keep the main town and one other under his direct control while granting 2 towns to 3 of his most trusted advisors and comrades, in a sense they became smaller vassal clans to the mighty Lionheart Clan.

and so, another 10 years passed, and the clan now amounted to 200,000 people across 20 fledgling cities, it was at this point James had declared himself, King, now since he was the first man to do so many of his people were confused at first until he explained what that meant, he said as follows, "now that I king each "zone" of cities I had granted will become full-fledged clans who will remain vassals under me and the new Lionheart Kingdom." and so from that day forward James was henceforth known as King James "The First Monarch"

on James 50th birthday he had done yet another unexpected feat, he successfully extended his lifespan by another 100 years allowing him to live to 200, now the only reason he could accomplish this was during the godless era the mana in Rengard was much denser and hence there was more for the people to use and work with.

now in this next part of the story, James has already lived for 150 years and now he can live up to 500 years, during this turbulent time in his life he would fight in many unification wars, these 400 yearlong campaigns would be called the "Northeastern Dreylin Unification Wars"

...

a quick side note, I would like to explain the geography of Rengard, Rengard there is technically one supercontinent named Dreylin, think Pangea, however, every thousand years parts of it split from each other like tectonic plates shifting, due to that, mini oceans have formed between the different areas of Dreylin, for example, because of that the area humans mainly lived in during the godless era had a mini ocean that spanned roughly 400 miles from coast to coast, that part being Northeastern Dreylin.

...

and so, after 450 years, the war for the sub-continent was officially over with the new Lionheart Empire reigning supreme, the new empire had roughly the same amount of land as the U.S.A.

James who was now called Emperor James "The Great" had finally accomplished his hidden ambition of taking over the whole of Northeastern Dreylin, and so for another 200 years James ruled as emperor and consolidated his realm as well as setting up several governing zones governed by "The 4 Archdukes" who he had recently appointed.

Devin Blitz was the first Archduke to be granted their title, Devin had fought by James's side for 600 years now and was a veteran of the "Northeastern Dreylin Unification Wars" or the "NDU Wars". he was a skilled magic swordsman who would clad his body in lighting and use his almost light speed to cut own his enemies in a flash, hence the name "Blitz Knight" that name is also what made James give him the surname Blitz.

The second Archduke was Elric Frostbane, Elric had been the head court mage for 400 years and had fought by James's side for half of the "NDU Wars" Elric was proficient in multiple kinds of magic however he excelled at ice and water magic which earned him the nickname, "The Ice Age Mage".

the third Archduke was Albert Terran, Albert was a swordsman who utilized mana differently the normal, during the years of James's reign he had discovered a new way for knights to utilize mana without having to have the reserves a mage would have, that power was called "Aura" in a sense aura was a sheet of mana you enveloped yourself in to strengthen your attacks and speed and things like that, some masters can even give their aura an elemental attribute, like Albert who had the Earth attribute added to his aura, he had fought by James's side for 200 years and was still growing.

the last but certainly not least is the fourth Archduke, Samuel Emberson, Samuel had been by James's side since the day he became clan head all those centuries ago, he was the son of Ember a powerful fire mage and Samuel lived up to and even surpassed his father and became the greatest fire mage in the known world just behind James who was the top of everything, Samuel was also a prominent member of the new upcoming church of light who 200 years ago was established after their founder Grant Lingen was given an oracle from the goddess of light Yelena.

with these four areas now under the Archduke's governance James was able to relax some and focus on the over well-being of his empire and the efforts to cross the "Leviathans Pass" which at the time was called the western ocean.

in the blink of an eye, another 1000 years had passed, and the exploration efforts paid off as the empire came into contact with many new civilizations and kingdoms, 300 years before the empires scouts had come into contact with the Beastmen Kingdom of Wolfsrun who was ruled by a royal family of Wolfmen.

after those 300 years had passed humans and beastmen relations improved to the point where people from both sides were migrating to each other's kingdoms and empires.

once another 500 years had passed James had finally taken a wife who bore him 2 sons and 1 daughter, their names are lost to history, but the evidence shows James cared deeply for them, over time Elric, Albert, and Devin had all either been killed in wars or had just died of old age due to not being able to increase their lifespan anymore, due to the grief of losing his friends James had ceased his extending of his life span and settles only to live another 200 years, he wanted to watch his kids grow up and take over the throne before he died.

although three of the four Archdukes had died, Samuel was still kicking albeit in not much better shape than James, and so they went on for another 50 years until something that would forever change history happened.

one day the gods had come down and finally confirmed their existence to the people of Rengard, before there were churches who believed but they didn't have any solid proof besides the scriptures, so they started to stagnate, and so those children- I mean gods had decided to make their presence known so they would receive more praise and offerings, I had never once told them to make a church however they managed to make one centered around me but who cares.

anyways back to the story, for the longest time, James had suppressed the churches to where they wouldn't dictate people's lives and for the most part, he was successful, as far as he knew the separation of state and church was going well, well that was until that faithful day when it all came crashing down.

one day Emperor James had awoken in his quarters to a bed half-empty, at first, he thought it was weird that his wife wasn't in bed until he was notified by a maid her, and the children had left for a walk around the capital, and so he went on with his day while walking through the halls with his chancellor Otto, James was discussing matters of importance.

"Well Otto how are things going with the church, has there been any more uprisings lately?"

"No, your Majesty, the churches have been weirdly quiet lately."

"Hmm, I see, make sure the intelligence squad tails the pope to see if there is anything strange going on."

"Of course, your majesty, I'll get on that right away!"

as James turned the corner to go towards the dining hall a creepy smirk spread across Chancellor Otto's face.

"Fool, soon your precious Empire will crumble under the feet of the church, Praise the gods!"

and so, James walked into the dining hall without the slightest clue about the conspiracy unfolding around him.

as James walked in, he saw his best friend and Brother-in-arms Samuel sitting at the table waiting.

"Good morning, Samuel!"

"Good morning your majesty."

"So what's the schedule for today?"

as James was served his food Samuel started talking about the plans for the day as well as the sudden quietness of the church.

"Yes, it is quite strange how the church has been so quiet and passive lately, this flame boar steak is to die for! would you like some Samuel?"

"Ah no thank you, your majesty."

"Well, that's too bad!"

as James went back to eating Samuel had one thought...

"I hope the food truly is that good since it'll be your last."

After James had finished eating, he started to feel a little ill and Dizzy, and then suddenly the emperor fell fast asleep.

"Ha fool, the mighty Emperor James "The Great" was incapacitated by a drug, granted this drug did use ingredients from a dragon and unicorn, but nevertheless the plan is finally in motion, HAHAHA!"

After a couple of hours, James had finally woken up and looked around, the first thing he noticed was his family tied up and gagged on some type of wooden stage, then he tried to move to them but his knees where weak arms were sweaty, and that's when he saw his so-called best friend walk up to the podium and utter words that shocked James to his very core...

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today we have the imperial family on trial for heresy!"

as the people heard this they were confused, however, the church accounted for this and planted priests to yell in the crowds...

"Heretics, kill them, they dare defy the gods!"

as the people heard this the overzealous ones immediately started chanting for James and his family's execution, and soon most of the crowd was calling for their deaths.

while this may seem extreme you have to remember this is an era where the god's influence was at its apex and most people go to the church for help with many things.

after a few minutes of this, Samuel motioned for everyone to quiet down...

"Because the imperial family has committed these crimes, it pains me to say this as the emperor is my dear friend, however... They must die for their crimes against the church and the gods!"

while this was going on James was infuriated, the people who he strived to protect and make an environment for them to flourish had just turned on him in a blink of an eye as well as his long-time best friend was the main conspirator behind this, James was a very smart man so he began to piece two and town together, he knew that Samuel had gained the fire god's blessing but he never knew how deep the corruption had reached into the empire, and now because of his incompetence he and his whole family were going to die for it.

"Because of the emperor's treacherous acts against the gods, we will first execute his family in front of him."

When James heard that, something inside of him exploded, he wanted to tear every one of those church bastards into pieces, alas he could not, the poison coursing through his veins not only knocked him out but also stopped him from using his mana.

and so, while being able to do nothing about it, James watched his wife get dismembered in front of their children, then he watched his two sons and daughter get beheaded by Samuel himself, although he couldn't do anything about its James was cursing the existence of the gods and of every follower who believes in them.

After James had finally calmed down Samuel then walked towards him and kicked him in the stomach and said...

"hahaha, the once almighty Emperor James "The Great" is now lying before me with tears in his eyes and beaten up like a dog, to think this is the man who was once called James "The Ruthless" Pathetic, Ptoo!"

while Samuel was raving about how powerless James was at that moment, James finally felt some mana coming back into his body, while he waited, he was continuously kicked and spit on by not only Samuel but also the priests and executioners.

after a few minutes, there was finally enough mana in him to break free and mount a counterattack, and so James used fire magic to create an explosion around him to get free, then he used lighting magic to kill all of the priests around him, and finally, when he got to Samuel since he caught him off guard, James was able to plunge a sword made of ice into Samuel's heart killing him.

as the slaughter unfolded around them, the people started panicking trying to run away so they don't get caught in the crossfire, too bad their efforts were in vain.

before any of the people were able to get away, James had launched several fireballs with the strength of a 7-tier spell into the crowd. (p.s. magic is split between 10 tiers and 3 levels for each tier, early - middle - peak)

once the screams had died down James tried to leave the capital to run but as one final fuck you, Samuel had seemed to set a barrier around the capitol which would strip the mana from your body if you passed it, and so once he passed the barrier the holy order of the church of light found him, and they carried him back to the podium and promptly cut off James's head before he could regain any more power.

and so, the tale of Emperor James "The Great" ended just as abruptly as it started, it all started on that faithful day when a new soul entered the body of James. The End.

As James's consciousness faded away, he had just one thought...

"If I ever get a chance to kill every last one of those damned gods then I'll do whatever it takes!"

although James had been betrayed by humans, he ultimately blamed the gods for even sticking their noses into the mortal's business.

once James had finally died, he entered an endless void floating in the forever nothingness, that is until he heard that voice, the voice that would change his fate forever...

"Hello James, what would you say if I told you I could sed you back and give you the tools to enact your vengeance?"

when James heard this, he laughed and said...

"Well of course I'd say sign me the hell up!"

before he knew it, James found himself sitting on the floor of a white floor, he looked around but could only see a white empty expanse.

hello James, nice to meet you, my name is Shin, and I'm the God of Creation.

standing in front of James was a man who looked to be in his mid 20's, he had dark black hair that was like a Midnights sky, he had steel blue eyes that pierced you when they looked at you, this man was around 6'3 and was of relatively muscular build but not too muscular but also not too skinny, the man seemed to personify perfection, but one thing that perplexed James was this man looked an awful lot like an American, although James had come to this world from earth it has been so long that he thought he was going crazy.

after James snapped out of his daze, he finally realized what the man- no god named shin said, he was the god of creation?!

although James had heard of a chief god who ruled over the rest, he had never heard of a church centered around them, so with this thought, James was conflicted, should he hate this god even though he doesn't have any followers who participated in his death or should he hear him out.

after some thinking, James decided to hear him out.

"Good, it seems you've finally calmed down and made a decision, well first things first, let me introduce you to Ellis, the Demon God."

"What now!"

and with that, a girl who could be a day over 15 came out and stood right in front of James and smiled and said...

"fufufu, so this is the candidate to kill those gods and bring chaos to the world huh?"