Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 199: The Quest of Crowns 1

After nearly two weeks of mind numbingly dull silence within the gloom casted corners of the northernmost wing of the Thuella Fortress, Eve's surveillance of the Boreas Imperial family had finally paid off, and it was a payment worth fortunes.

Something so precious it brought an inexorable smile upon my features, when she excitedly returned to my side later that morning and informed me of her catch, just when the rest of us were finishing up our final few preparations before we head out with the rest of the gathered party of foreign royalty and dignitaries, gathering outside the Storm King's castle, preparing to depart into the Stenna Mountains for the final event.

The Quest of Crowns as revealed to us yesterday night by the king and queen of the Astrappi Kingdom, would once again change venues, this time leading us deep into the wild peaks that stood to the back of the ancient city, and from whose bosom they gathered the stone, timber, food, and iron that fuelled their civilization for as many millennia as their are books to describe it.

Specifically, we were headed towards the Erymanthion Peak, the supposed land where the progenitor of the royal house of the Astrappi Kingdom, the Storm God himself, first descended upon this mortal foil, much like the Hill of Genesis where the Royal Mausoleum stood in my own nation.

But the religious sanctity of the place was not the reason for our visit to those lands, but for the beasts that roamed it; the Erymanthion Boars, beasts the size of bears with the form of wild pigs, with the temperament of rumbling thunderheads and the ferocity of lightning, while being armed with tusks the length of spears and hides as thick and hardy as crude iron, dyed the colour of wrathful storm clouds.

True monsters that the parents of Katai-Verta used the name of to scare their children into behaving, quite understandably so, as those Suidae-like beasts required no less than a company of third rank martial artists, or a single fourth rank, to safely hunt down.

And as for the truly long lived ones, those whose hides had weathered enough anguish to gain enough resilience to mimic plate mail, and whose personalities had grown even more sour and volatile with age, would require the intervention of a fifth rank to cull their numbers, or else even a small squadron of fourth ranks working in tandem with one another would need to pay a hefty price to bring down the berserk animal.

Legend has it that they gained all these peculiarities of theirs from the Storm God himself, as both a curse and a blessing to his future descendants, for the body of a felled Erymanthion Boar was a veritable tressure trove of rare commodities and ingredients, be it their flesh that functioned as the most immaculate of feasts, their tusks that were used as priceless ancillaries, or even their waste, which worked as a near miraculous fertilizer, able to bring to life even to the most barren of fields.

An exchange that some still found to be wholly inadequate, as the beasts slaughter dozens every month of the year, with a few hundred more added in the early days of the second month of spring, which is when both the kingdom commences it's annual hunt against them, and the animals give birth to their offsprings, rendering them weak but highly more aggressive.

A time that just so happened to perfectly align with the current Banquet, allowing the Storm King to make use of the perfect pretext to both relieve his people of their yearly tithe of sacrificial souls, as well as entertain his guests by hunting exotic game they would otherwise never be allowed to pursue, as despite the danger these beasts present, they were still under the protection of the crown, and are still seen as sacred creatures who had received the Storm God's grace by the people of Katai-Verta, not to mention that they're the nation's unique commodity, with nearly fifteen percent of their annual revenue coming from the sale of these animals.

An idea that worked perfectly for him, as nearly everyone, especially those like my brother Cyrus, found to be absolutely enthralling, while others like Nizam, who cared little for such sports were also encouraged to partake in the event, for one simple reason, from which the name sake of the event was born, and that was the stroke of genius that underlined the entirety of the event, that both set it apart from being just another hunting expedition, and lit the young blood of the hot headed men, while captivating the dreams of the young maidens.

The Quest of Crowns is, in simple terms, an exaggerated form of a tressure hunt, where in the kingdom had designed and casted a unique crown for nearly every single participant in the Banquet, and then scattered them across the vast mountain range, at which point the 'hunters', who were primarily compromised of the demi-Gods and their attendants, would venture into the dangerous terrain to both retrieve them for their intended recipient, while simultaneously hunting down a few of the boars, who would then be used as the main course for the event.

And though I found the idea to be entertaining, I would've preferred not to squander time playing in the mountains when so much else was at stake, if not for one simple detail.

And that was the fact that Eve too was designated a crown within the mountain, and I would be damned if I allowed some random runt to present her with it, so I along with my brothers formed our own hunting parties, under their instance.

Which I eventually agreed to under the condition they be escorted by a dozen Palace Guard, as well as a guard of my choosing; which ultimately left the three teams being as such; Abraham, Horus and I would constitute as the first team, while the veteran Leonid would ensure to cover for the less experienced Nizam, and finally Cyrus would take to the mountains with the level headed Darius, who would be sure to contain his fire.

This composition also served the purpose of allowing both my brothers to gain more experience in their preferred fighting style, close quarters with a sword and at range with magic, since their primary guards were respectively adept in the opposite field, as Darius specialized with a bow and Leonid with his war scythe.

It was under these terms that we arrived at the campsite, an hour by carriage after departing from the fortress, where we beheld the massive clearing, that was chockfull of orderly placed tents of different colours and sizes, with the flag of each country clearly displayed on all our sides of them, so that there could be no confusion.

The whole array was designed in a square like formation, with the centre of it all, being a massive fire pit, filled to the brim with yet unlit tinder, and surrounded with dozens of large tables and seats, clearly meant for the night time feasts.

Additionally, there was an all encompassing wooden wall surrounding the entire area, built from thick timber trunks, and further reinforced with century towers at fixed intervals, while hundreds of additional guards patrolled both at the top of the wall, and the surrounding parameter.

It was in this faux military encampment that we would stay for the next ten days, but just as we entered through the wooden gates, that Cyrus could no longer contain the thought that has been swimming around in his head the last few days, spurred on by the sudden sensations he felt once inside the campgrounds.

"Brother why do I feel more... disgruntled eyes on us as of late? I've been trying to ignore them, but they just seem to keep multiplying."

"Pay them no mind." I dryly replied, as I looked outside the window "For that is all they can do as the weak, to appease that annoying itch in the centre of their chests that burns with a sense of shame and grievance, against us, the strong."

"Indeed." Nizam spoke up in agreement, as he casually continued to flip through the book in his hand.

"If they're so upset at their own poverty and frailty, then they should focus on bettering themselves, rather than waste more time uselessly staring at us." Cyrus replied indignantly.

"You are correct." I responded with an amused chuckle, before continuing "But you seem to have misunderstood why they despise us so, little brother."

"Huh? What else is there?" Cyrus asked in confusion.

"They're dislike of us is not born out of mere jealousy at our positions and power, after all, we were always their betters in that regard; no their newfound hatred of us is born from the boons each one of us, especially you two, have recently garnered for yourselves." I answered, as they looked at me in surprise. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"What do you mean by the new boons each of us gained?" Nizam asked with narrowed eyes, having caught an inkling of what I meant, but disliking the insinuation all the same.

"Your bride is a beauty, who was never lacking in expectant suitors and secret admirers, wouldn't you agree brother?" I teasingly asked, looking at Nizam, as he furrowed his brows in restrained rage, before then turning to Cyrus and saying "And your newly born reputation as the Lion of the Eclipse Empire, if properly fed further, is one that would undoubtedly last the test of time; something they would unhesitatingly kill for if offered the chance, so how could they not resent you for achieving their lifelong dreams, in a meaningless faction of their age?"

They remained silent, but they did not leave my questioned unanswered, as their eyes shouted their reply to me, far louder than their mouths ever could, but I could also see the signs of a question within their gaze as well, so I answered.

"That is the result of the power we've bred so far." I calmly explained, before a small sadistic grin took hold over my lips, stretching them back ever so slightly, as I emphasized "They dare hate us, but they dare not bow to us when we pass."

All the while, they remained quietly enraptured as I continued "Do you think we walk so comfortably in these gilded halls of proudly posturing peacocks, lust crazed lunatics, and greed stricken men, due to some abstract concept, such as honour and dignity? Do you think that prince of the Sky Bridging Mountains bowed in defeat to Weixiao because he wanted to?"

"No." I answered my own question before they could. "They bowed because they must. They bow because they could not afford otherwise. They bow because they fear us. They fear the offense of a witless whisper, they dread the decree of an unintended deed, and avoid the promised end of an accursed action, done not even in intended malice but in unconscious envy. That is why they hate us, but dare not act upon it, and that is exactly how it must remain."