I Want It All

Chapter 5 : The Great Calamity

"You called for me Your Holiness ?" Emric asked respectfully.

Inside the Grand Temple of the Church of Light, the third Prince of the Empire was meeting the Pope in his officer. He had been his pupil for a few months since now.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid I have got some very bad news" The Pope replied, showing a lot of worries over his face.

"What's wrong ?"

The Pope didn't immediately replied, he instead gestured him to take the seat in front of his desk, which Emric did.

"Have one of my brothers took over the Throne in my absence ?"

Emric wasn't an idiot, with the death of his father and the crumble of the noble's faction, a huge power vacuum had appeared for anyone with a rightful claim to take.

Yet, despite this knowledge, he was certain to be the only one his people wanted to see on the Throne.

Sure, he was very loved by the people of the capital, but more than 95% of the Empire's population had no idea of who he was. They were too busy trying to survive the famine and monster's attacks.

"Your Highness... The Empire as you know it no longer exist" The Pope announced.

His answer left Emric bewildered "W-What do you mean ??" His voice trembled.

The Pope showed him an envelope and handed it over "I have received this letter from the Archbishop of the Empire, we both know he isn't the kind to lie or joke around about this kind of thing. Plus, he swore on his faith that everything written inside was true"

As he was reading the letter, Emric's face became progressively more shocked.

The letter wasn't saying everything about the Empire's situation, only that the Imperial capital had been devoured by a city connecting the earth and sky, that the Imperial Army had been annihilated by an unknown force and that two Kingdoms made secession from the Empire.

Nothing related to Aether or Cobra was mentioned, the religious capital of the Empire hadn't been in contact with them yet after all.

"IN WHAT WORLD DOES THIS MAKE SENSE ??? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO MY PEOPLE NOW ???"

Although Emric was a little too arrogant for his own good, he genuinely cared about his people.

He agreed on the fact that the Archbishop wasn't the kind to fool around, he didn't believe he was lying, but this was too big to be true. So instead he believed the Archbishop had said his perception of the truth, which mean there is in fact something unusual happening in the Empire.

"This make much more sense than you believe Your Highness" The Pope interrupted his thought, rosing up from his chair and inviting him to follow him.

His mind still being an absolute mess from trying to comprehend what truly happened within the Empire, Emric followed his lead without much questioning.

At the North-West of the central continent of the known world, were another continent about three times smaller, but controlled by a single faction, a single State : The Church of Light.

While very close to the central continent, the two being separated by as much water distance than France and England on Earth, the religious continent was magically extremely fertile.

Even if not everyone were able to use magic, anyone born on the religious continent was guaranteed to at least possess latent magical capabilities, allowing them to use artifacts and practice some very specific profession.