They're coming from the sky general!"
"Take cover!"
On the ground close to a large intimidating chain of mountains, one of the fourteen kingdoms reigning over the Eastern world was being attacked. The lands were being showered with a rain of falling stars. Those stars were no bigger than a large boulder who would dwarf any normal man. However, with the flaming aura engulfing them due to their extreme speed, exceeding anything seen from the beginning of this world.
The sky was painted with an orange tint, the sun was no longer visible because of the fumes coming from the half destroyed cities of the Yu Kingdom. The casualties were only going up since the debut of their war against the Wa Empire which began only a month ago. Although the war had just started, the end was already close enough for a winner to be seen. Hope was lost for the Yu Kingdom, their forces were nothing in comparison of the 1000 immortals army of the Wa Empire. And that without counting their general (who was also the Emperor).
"We can't keep going, general! Almost all of our manpower is unusable! If we continue, the entire Kingdom will fall in bloodshed! We should at least abandon to save all that is left of the people..."
"You don't get it don't you you fool?! Even if we surrendered they will exterminate us all! We're doomed anyways so we can at least die fighting with honor instead of giving up for nothing."
"I see... General there's one coming our way!"
Once all of the stars landed on the Yu Kingdom, said astral bodies began breaking into pieces. There were cracks appearing on the stars. Those same rips let out beams of a pure white light blinding everything that was still alive in the radius of the impact. Then, they all exploded simultaneously with great power, strong enough to erase from the map of the world everything in the blast range. Now, there was only a quarter of the lands of the Yu Kingdom still not completely destroyed.
And as if things couldn't get worse for the Yu Kingdom, a gigantic flash of a bright red light had been summoned in the middle of the devastated landscape. There was no sound, only this beam coming from the sky which no one missed.
Coming from this light, only one man was. It was the general himself. The aura emanating from this singular individual shook the soul of all living beings that were inhabiting the lands across the entire Yu Kingdom.
"All of those souls, they'll come handy to my path towards ultimate power." The figure told himself in his heart.
"My Lord you have come on the battlefield we see. What may we do for you?"
One of his 1000 immortal soldiers came to him amongst the rumbles and the ashes of the destroyed landscape. All of those feared people had an undying loyalty for their Emperor, not by fear but by gratitude. He was the one who gave them a strong body, a strong soul and a place to live.
The Emperor turned his head to face the kneeling soldier.
"Rise, daughter of the Sun."
The soldier followed the command without hesitation, not a millisecond wasted.
"How many people of Yu are left, approximately?" Asked the General.
"With rough estimating... About 300 thousand, my Lord." Replied the immortal soldier.
The Emperor was old of fifty years, but his body remained the same since the peak of his youthful strength. His hairs were as dark as a night with no light. The length was about the same of the average size of a newborn red fang snake (around 1 meter). The proportions of his face were said to be perfect. Some described him as an objectively beautiful man. Although he was most certainly one of the most attractive men of the whole world, he had no spouse due to priority management.
In his black iris eyes, one could see the despair of all of his victims, every lives that he had taken. He had an imposing presence, inducing respect in the heart of everyone who saw him. His expression was most of the time tensed due to the amount of tasks he had to do every day of his life. But it was when he was relaxed that he struck fear in the soul of his enemies, a fear of an unknown outcome from a calculation he might've done in his head.
As ruthless as he was in the tales told about him, the people of the entire Eastern world knew that he was a great leader. Although his tactics in war were brutal, in society, the Emperor was really civilized. He responded to the needs of his people, such was the duty of the Emperor of the second largest country of the globe.
But he couldn't do everything alone, and that he knew. And so the Emperor had chosen 1000 random civilians of the Wa Empire to bestow them immense power. The army that he would afterwards create the day after granting such strength was named the 1000 immortal army (so original). All of the soldiers were equally as strong, only their intelligence on the battlefield and overall was different. Those soldiers are strong enough to lift up a mountain bare hand. Those soldiers are capable of summoning the power of the sun on the earth.
Although there were some of them that abused a little of their power, most of them remained smart and responsible with their new body. This body of theirs that had been blessed by the Emperor was as his, it could not age. But that doesn't mean that they are entirely immortal. Their soul is as fragile as when they were powerless. Only certain living beings were bestowed a special kind of ability that let their soul become stronger. The Emperor was one of them and he did not waste his potential at all.
"Well then, have they capitulated yet?" Asked the Emperor.
"No, but it's probably because they can't do anything with all this destruction going on, my Lord."
"I see... We'll give them one day to send a message. If they continue to fight, we'll finish off the sacrifice. If they surrender, we'll need to finish all that is left. The ritual has to be completed before the new moon. You know that, no?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Tell your brothers and sisters to rejoin me. Afterwards, we'll wait until the sunset of the next day. I will personally talk to the leader of this country (if he's still alive in all of those ruins)."
The soldier nodded to signal she understood the assignment. She flew off to the East to go tell her comrades to come to the Emperor. They were going to set up a base probably.
The Emperor looked at the setting sun. Then he turned around to see the rising moon.
"Soon, very soon, the ritual will be completed. Perfection is so close I can almost grasp it with my hands. I will ascend, soon." He thought out loud.
He laugh a little. It all seemed so strange how a lifetime of someone was going to amount in the birth of a new god. One small life was worth nothing in the grand scheme of the world. However, when you put ten lives, now it begins to matter a little. Give the earth a thousand lives now and it'll rejoice. The life of someone being a unit of measurement was truly a bizarre way to see the world.
"Now then, let's see if Lord Yu is still alive. I am eager to see him. He may not know this but I too want to end this war. Just not randomly, I have conditions that need to be respected."
The Emperor, such as everyone else, looked forward for an end to this bloodshed. However, he couldn't stop it all without fulfilling his goal. The ritual needed a certain amount of lives to work. If not done correctly, the ritual is useless and all of those lives will be sacrificed for nothing. The only reason he waged war in the first place was to succeed in the ritual and become a being of a greater realm.
He flew over the devastated landscape of the 1000 stars massacre. When he finally found the palace of Lord Yu, he was greeted with a giant shower of arrows. The only men of the Yu army were there, with the sole goal of protecting their kingdom's ruler. The arrows, upon contact with the Emperor's orange aura, all became ashes. The light hallowing the ruler of millions was of a eye blessing color, the same as a sunset over a mountain.
"Lord Yu, I have come to speak with you. Allow me to enter your domain, or else."
The arrows stopped as the sound of slow paced steps came from the palace's balcony (of which some archers were positioned onto). The king that represented the very soul of the Yu Kingdom was old. He was an elder with a long (very long) beard that touched the floor. He wore yellowish clothes which looked like gold.
The two rulers had already talked a lot before and during the war. They knew each other really well. But not as friends though. There always has been a certain tension in between the two since the first day they met as leaders. Defying gazes.
From the shadows of the balcony, a deep but frail voice came.
"You can come now. But do not except tea, Shen."
They walked in the hall of the throne. There there was a small round ceramic table and two ordinary wooden chairs already put. It was as if this discussion had been planned since the beginning of today.
The Emperor and the King sat down slowly without taking their eyes off the person in front of them. The Emperor was looking with a strange expression, it was impossible to discern the content of his mind. The King on the other hand was gazing with hatred at the man that was sitting on the other side of the table.
"He killed so many of my people... And he's still not satisfied?!" He thought to himself.
"Well then, how do you want your kingdom to end, Lord Yu? Will it be with bravery or with acceptance?" Asked the Emperor.
"Your plan will not end well, that I can tell you. You truly have no idea what the consequences will be! The ritual won't work and you'll end up with useless deaths on your shoulders."
"Ah. So you think I won't succeed? What if I do then? Will their death become justified? I don't care about those lives being taken for nothing or something. I only care about my own being. You know, Zheng, I thought you knew me better... But you're still as foolish as when we were young. And now, look at us. You're an old man with some years left to live (or maybe not) while I am still thriving."
"Well at least, Shen. I still have the heart of a human. You betrayed your humanity for a foolish dream!"
The Emperor stood up suddenly and angrily. He looked annoyed.
"This foolish dream that you speak off will be the birth of a new god. And you will be the first to kneel down. Now if you'll excuse me I have my army waiting for me there in the East."
The Emperor then disappeared into thin air. He reappeared where his troops were setting up the encampment. His tent was already done.
"A foolish dream huh. He doesn't know what he's talking about..."
He grinned with the smile of a mad man.