Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Rising Storms

The winds of change swept through Lucian's empire as a looming sense of conflict began to stir on the horizon. The peace, fragile and tentative, was about to be shattered. Reports of new rivals forming dangerous alliances had trickled into Lucian's war room, and the gravity of the situation could no longer be ignored. In the aftermath of the Church's fall, these opportunistic factions had seen an opening, a crack in Lucian's defenses, and they intended to exploit it.

Lucian sat at the head of the large table in the council chamber, the flickering candlelight casting shadows across the faces of his trusted advisors and newly acquired allies. The former inquisitor, Gaius, now stood by Lucian's side, a symbol of the strange turn his empire had taken. Once an enemy, now an invaluable asset, Gaius was proving his worth — but trust, Lucian reminded himself, was still a delicate thing.