The war had been brutal, rciless.
From its very first day, the Empire had lost millions of lives ..
most of them to the Church, but the greatest pressure ca from the Ultras,
whose relentless assaults decimated the Empire’s finest soldiers.
Now, at last, the war’s end was sothing to take pride in ..
a mont that marked the closure of centuries of suffering.
And so, they cheered.
They shouted.
They rejoiced.
All of it unfolded beneath the watchful gaze of Prince Aegon Valerion,
who stood on high ground, silently observing every detail of the battlefield.
Aegon seed satisfied.
Everything had gone according to plan ..
every piece had fallen exactly where he wanted it.
As he watched from afar, two beams of light descended before him.
One revealed Sir Alon Valerion,
and the other, Maekar Valerion.
The grandfather, the father, and the son ..
all present, standing together under the banner of an empire that had just claid one of its greatest victories.
"You have my gratitude for your efforts," Aegon said with a smile.
"Thank you—for what you’ve both done for the Empire."
Maekar said nothing, his mind clearly elsewhere.
But Sir Alon nodded, contentnt visible in his aged eyes.
"You’re the one who deserves the thanks, not us," Sir Alon said,
placing a hand on Aegon’s shoulder.
"You led this army magnificently.
What you’ve shown today is enough.
I can now step away from this madness knowing that the Empire has found a capable emperor ..
one who will lead it for many years to co."
He looked up toward the sky, relief softening his expression.
"For many years .. better than I ever did...
and far better than your father, Maekar."
In that mont, in that place,
Sir Alon Valerion officially passed the title on to Aegon.
The prince had now beco the Emperor.
Aegon smiled faintly in response.
"What you’ve just done, Sir Alon Valerion," he said,
"will change the course of this Empire forever."
Slowly, he removed Sir Alon’s hand from his shoulder.
"I’ve spent many years studying humans," Aegon continued softly,
"examining every detail, observing every flaw, every brilliance.
And during that ti, I’ve discovered many... fascinating things."
"Humans are truly... remarkable. Different."
"They are living works of art ..
pieces that must be guided carefully,
ruled by soone who understands their worth."
His words were strange, unsettling even.
Neither Sir Alon nor Maekar understood what he ant.
But Aegon had always been known for his eccentricity ..
for his twisted way of seeing the world.
It wasn’t entirely surprising to hear him speak like this,
even if it felt out of place in such a mont.
After all, Aegon had always hidden his true face from the world ..
at least outwardly.
This was the first ti he let it show.
And why not?
They had won.
He could afford to show it today.
That’s what Sir Alon thought.
But Aegon kept talking ..
and with every word, his tone grew stranger, darker.
"Sothing... interesting happened to recently," he said.
"Interesting... and pitiful at the sa ti."
He turned toward both Sir Alon and Maekar,
his gaze sharp and unreadable.
"Tell ," he asked,
"what do your eyes see when you look at ?"
It was a sudden question—
cryptic, heavy with aning.
Sir Alon frowned, confused.
"What are you talking about?"
He wanted his grandson to explain.
But Aegon didn’t intend to.
"Just answer."
He insisted, stepping closer—slowly, deliberately ..
until he stood almost face to face with them.
"What do you see... when you look at ?"
The question was the sa,
but this ti,
sothing changed.
Both Sir Alon and Maekar felt it ..
a weight behind his words.
A pressure, strange and suffocating.
It forced them to answer.
Sir Alon spoke first.
"I see the next emperor of this land."
Maekar’s answer ca after a mont of silence.
"My son. Nothing more, nothing less."
Two answers.
From two generations of emperors.
And they could not have been more different.
Aegon smiled.
"Fascinating," he said, laughing softly.
"Such difference—between two n of the sa blood."
There was deep amusent in his tone,
as if their words revealed a truth only he understood.
To him, one of them held great value ..
and the other, none at all.
It proved once again how deeply humans differed from one another,
even when they shared the sa blood.
"That difference," Aegon murmured, "is what makes humanity so fascinating."
He nodded to himself, as if agreeing with his own conclusion.
And in those few quiet monts ...
the three of them standing at the summit while the soldiers roared beneath them ..
Sir Alon and Maekar both began to feel sothing strange.
For a fleeting instant, the sound of cheering seed to fade farther... and farther away.
anwhile, Aegon’s smile widened ..slowly twisting into sothing else entirely.
Sothing that, for reasons they couldn’t explain,
sent a chill down both of their spines.
And amid all the heat and fire of the battle that had just ended ..
ca the mont that changed everything.
The turning point no human would ever forget, the mont that would be engraved into history forever.
Aegon Valerion raised his hand slowly.
And in the very next second ..
a strange explosion erupted beside Maekar.
He turned instinctively, trying to comprehend what he had just heard.
But all he saw was red ..
as Sir Alon collapsed to the ground,
a massive hole torn through his chest by an unseen strike.
An attack so sudden, so precise,
that neither he nor his grandson had even perceived it.
Just like that ..
the Iron Emperor, Sir Alon Valerion, who had lived far too long and fought far too many wars,
was dead.
Instantly.
Without warning.
Everything happened so fast.
Maekar stood frozen in his armor ...
the armor of Sunfire ..
staring in disbelief at his father’s lifeless body.
Before him, Aegon still had his hand raised,
that sa smile carved into his face.
In those brief seconds, a storm of thoughts tore through Maekar’s mind ..
desperately trying to make sense of what had just happened.
And then Aegon turned toward him.
With a single look, Maekar understood.
He knew who had done it.
He knew exactly what his son had beco.
Aegon took a step forward.
Maekar instinctively took one back.
"What’s wrong, Father? You look surprised," Aegon said, stepping closer,
his voice carrying a strange warmth that only made it worse.
Lightning began to crackle around Maekar’s armor.
"You hated Grandfather, didn’t you?" Aegon continued.
"You did. You must have wanted him dead—at least once.
Co on, admit it... Father."
With each word, his tone shifted ..
his voice changing, deepening, warping into sothing else.
Then, without warning,
his golden eyes turned crimson.
A deep, bleeding red that froze Maekar’s heart.
Panicking, Maekar lunged forward,
thrusting the Sunfire spear with all his might ..
a strike of fire and thunder ant to obliterate anything in its path.
The devastating blast reached Aegon—
and stopped,
re centiters from his face.
Maekar’s expression went blank,
his blood turning to ice.
"Why are you looking at like that... Father?"
Aegon’s voice was no longer calm.
It was mocking .. inhuman.
A thin crack split across his forehead,
and from it a third eye opened,
emitting a terrible crimson light that made Maekar’s very soul tremble.
"Tell , Father..."
"What do you see .. when you look at ?!"
Aegon’s scream no longer sounded like his own voice.
It was sothing else entirely ..
sweet and venomous at the sa ti.
Two shadowed hands erupted from the air,
grabbing Maekar by the head.
The figure before him began to grow ..
taller, broader, monstrous ..
until it towered more than two ters high.
Before that abomination, Maekar looked tiny.
Helpless.
Face to face with the creature,
he finally realized what stood before him.
"Father... oh, Father," the creature sneered.
"That look on your face... priceless."
A flood of mories crashed through Maekar’s mind ..
flashes of a past he had buried deep.
A past where a being once appeared before him,
taught him forbidden things,
and allowed him to preserve the body of a man he had once obsessed over.
And now, in this mont,
Maekar understood the truth.
That being ..
had been beside him all along.
It had been his son.
Then ca the laughter.
Loud. Twisted.
Wesker ..
laughed.
Above him, the sky began to turn scarlet.
"Ahh... how delightful."
As he spoke, Maekar’s eyes, nose, and mouth erupted in blood.
His vision drowned in red ..
consud by the gaze of that third, blinding eye.
Within seconds, Wesker released him.
Maekar fell lifelessly to the ground.
Standing atop the summit,
he had just slain two SS ranked warriors in re monts ..
while, below, the soldiers continued cheering, unaware of anything.
To them, he was still Aegon.
But Aegon Valerion no longer existed.
Sothing else had taken his place.
Sothing unspeakable.
"Shall we begin, then?"
Wesker spread his arms wide,
his dark, monstrous form towering under the blood-red sky.
He raised his head, smiling .. welcoming what was to co.
And then ..
Frey Starlight descended upon him, Dark Sister in hand,
with Snow Lionheart beside him in his Anointed War State.
Both of them struck as one,
their faces grim, filled with disbelief and fury ...
for the enemy they sought had been behind them all along.
At that very mont ..
the true battle began.
And the War of Darkness entered a Chapter far blacker than anything that ca before.
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