He still had no idea just who he sat before but he could already figure out the most obvious.
This was no man, but a god.
No average man would possess an aura even a wealthy king as himself cannot withstand. As a matter of fact, no man in all of Aldon had the audacity to stand in the same vicinity as him, not to talk of staring into his eyes with not a single atom of fear.
No, this was a god.
A god who had taken his physical form.
He had heard gods existed in stone ages and they stayed in sacred places no eyes of a mortal man could behold.
Powerful beings of the highest and lowest rankings, who cursed and blessed without batting an eye.
During the dark days, gods of shadows, gods of light, and the greatest of them all, gods of the elements.
The stories great kings who had ruled passed on to younger generations, warning them about the might of these beings.
He never believed in them. From a young age he chose not to believe that gods once ruled these lands.
Which was why during his inauguration, he made rules that went against any form of sacred practices and even slaughtered men who went against his words.
And yet now, right before his eyes, he sat before one.
One powerful enough to curse his generations and himself into decades of endless torture.
He was not one to fear, if anything , he was the most feared man in all of Aldon. But right at that moment, he trembled before those eyes that stared directly at his soul.
Who is he?
He had asked this question but the god never answered him, he only gave an order which had trapped him in a single place.
His heart raced. He knew that whether or not he would be leaving this place depended on this god.
Ceriuss's eyes moved relentlessly, strolling down the glistening throne before him, then to the mountain pile of gold treasures and rubies. He didn't even mind that both his hands were trapped to the chair... He eyed everything before him with the thirst to possess, leaving the god grinning from ear to ear.
He wanted to question him with words that would confuse and bring him to denial, but after seeing just how power-crazed this mortal was, a sudden rush of excitement drifted into him.
This greedy king might just be the key he had been searching for so long for. The key to his endless days.
Maybe if he showed him what he was capable of, he could woo this mortal into a lifetime transaction.
With a lifted brow, and an amused grin on his face, the grounds began a shift. A sudden crack on the walls, then the grounds where his legs rested rumbled in a quake. But this time, it wasn't a quake, but a shuffle.
Ceriuss's eyes widened in terror as he lost his composure. The torment of the last days drifted into his memory... He began to plead for his life.
"W-wai wait... W-wait, please don't send me back there... I-I beg you, p-please".
With both his hands trapped to the chair, there was nothing he could do, he could only use his mouth.
He tried to break free but it was all but futile, eyes following the movement of the soil as the earth tore open, revealing it's depths...
The emperor saw his life flash before his eyes. He began screaming atop his voice, begging with tears to the god who sat gracefully with sophistication on his throne watching him with total amusement.
"Please spare me... Please spare me!!" He cried. "I'll do anything, I'll-I'll do anything! His voice trembled. "Ju-Just tell me, just tell me what I can do! Please!
He was willing to do whatever it took to live... His eyes pushed out tears effortlessly, his pants already soaked with freshly warm urine. But as he opened his mouth to beg again, a deep laughter of mockery echoed throughout the Chambers of the god, sending series of chills down his spine.
"You call yourself an Emperor but portray weakness, and yet, you yearn to own all these?" The god questioned in mockery, all the while moving the soils of the earth into order, pushing out treasures large enough to leave the once wailing emperor jaw dropped and in trance...
"HOW DARE A WEAKLING DESIRE THE POWER OF A GOD?" He questioned in pride, eyes glistening like gems.
The emperor trembled...
Treasures his eyes had never seen before... I mean treasures towering the heights of the gigantic halls of the gigantic god.
Ceriuss's greed bubbled like fire. All his tortures and pains were completely forgotten.
... What was this?
"Ju-Just wh-what are you?" He stuttered in confusion, erupting another laughter from the prideful being.
"I..?"
Yet another grin on the face of the god.
"My name... Is Cáishén". He smiled. "The older generation called me 'The Root Of All Evil'... But your people call me The god of wealth and Prosperity".
Instantly, Ceriuss's eyes opened wider as recognition dawned on him.
His memories drifted to the younger version of himself when the kingdom was in utter chaos and whaling... When his father sat before his council of ministers completely devastated as they tabled a rising matter that he was unable to solve.
How could he? It was out of his hands.
The gods had finally abandoned them.
Famine had befallen the land... The god of prosperity no longer answered to their requests.
He left the lands thousands of years ago but it was said that Aldon was where he resided amongst other lands, so even though he was gone, his presence still bestowed prosperity and the people still prayed to him.
Well, until it didn't anymore.
Once again, he was out of breath as his eyes remained in disbelief.
"I-It cannot be... Y-you left... W-we prayed but you..."
He stuttered reluctantly but was cut off by a mocking scoff from the god.
"Prayers? Of what use are your burdens to me? He questioned, staring at the tiny figure before him wryingly .
"Demands and requests with no audacious mind to desire more and no ambitious one to aspire more than a platter of gold made me sick".
Ceriuss stood speechless. He was short of words.
Suddenly all the thoughts he had to flee with the little treasure he had acquired dissipated into thin air as a fresh fire of greed burned within him.
Why have pennies for wealth when he could acquire the whole world with the source of wealth right by his side?
"Emperor of Aldon..." Cáishén's voice rumbled, causing the emperor to look up without a single delay.
"Would you like to make a deal with me?"