Chapter 72 - R'hllor's Second Form
The war was over, or at least that was what Maximus thought. As his army gathered in the ruined capital city of Valyria, a crack appeared in the sky above.
From within, a glow seeped through, casting a light over the ruined capital of Valyria. The gathered legions stood in stunned silence; their victory now cast in doubt. A rumble emanated from beyond the opening, and then came the scream, a sound so loud that it shook even the most hardened warriors to their core.
A storm of fire and shadow poured forth as a large number of demons, greater in number and horror than before, spilled into the sky. These were not the remnants of the previous demon army; this was a completely new force summoned by R'hllor. They came with twisted forms, nightmarish visages, and an intimidating aura.
From the sky a colossal figure emerged. Larger than before, wreathed in blackened fire, R'hllor had returned in his new form. His new form was still a weakened version of his main body, but stronger than it was before, his body was engulfed in an endless fire. His eyes gazed down at Maximus with contempt.
"I warned you, mortal." R'hllor's voice sounded throughout the area. "I am eternal. You are but a speck of dust that has ruined my plans for the last time."
Maximus clenched his fists, preparing for this next battle. When he killed him before, he felt that the battle was too easy, and now he knew why.
The Imperial Legions reformed, their ranks tightening together in formation as the demons landed all around the fortress and charged ferociously at the Imperial Legions. Achilles and Alexander roared commands to their Legion, leading the Myrmidons and Dawnborn into the fray. Olorin channeled his magic conjuring barriers of light to repel the incoming enemy forces.
Dáin II gathered his dwarven warriors and worked together with the Swordmasters of Hoeth to form a defensive line. Nyxena and the Valkyries took to the skies once more, aimed towards the aerial demons. Merlin and Lilith unleashed their sorcery, forming defensive walls to block the demons and allow their legions to get into a proper defensive formation.
Maximus himself leapt into battle, his Dual-swords, Dawnshear and Duskfang glowing with black flames. He cut through the demonic horde, his strikes cutting through both flesh and bones. But R'hllor was already descending, his form crashing onto the battlefield with the force of a falling asteroid. The ground split apart beneath him, veins of hellfire spreading like roots, consuming everything in their path.
R'hllor extended his hand, and the sky itself turned red. Meteoric fire rained from above, crashing into the Imperial ranks, reducing entire battalions to ash. Maximus barely evaded a falling attack, rolling to his feet in time to see R'hllor striding toward him.
"Even with your demi-god abilities, you can't be a god," R'hllor growled, his form constantly expanding. "Your defiance is meaningless and once I'm done with you, the Lord of Light will be the only thing the world knows."
Maximus raised his blades. "I won't allow that to happen."
Maximus launched himself toward R'hllor, his blades aimed at his head. The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield as R'hllor blocked the attack with his own demonic sword made of nothing but pure fire and countered with an eruption of hellfire. Maximus absorbed the flames, using them to fuel his own attacks. He used his strength pushing his sword against R'hllor's forcing him back a few feet.
After that, the battle went to another level. They moved at impossible speeds, striking across the battlefield in bursts of light and shadow. Each clash of their blades sent ripples of destruction through Valyria, toppling what little remained of the ruined city. The legions fought beneath them, locked in their own desperate struggle against the demonic forces.
R'hllor's rage grew. He used his blade of pure fire and slashed through reality, rupturing the air as he swung at Maximus. Maximus dodged, barely escaping the strike which would have probably killed him and managed to recover quickly. Raising Dawnshear and Duskfang, he swung back, his blades clashing against the fire sword once again.
The exchange was relentless; neither giving nor gaining ground. After a few clashes back and forth, Maximus managed to deliver a cut to R'hllor's chest. His blood spilled onto the ground, hissing as it touched the ground. "You wound me, mortal," R'hllor admitted. "But I do not bleed as you do."
He swung again, and this time Maximus felt the full force of a god's fury. The blow sent him hurtling through the remains of Valyria, crashing through the stone walls as he dropped both his swords. He groaned, pushing himself up just in time to see R'hllor standing over him.
"You cannot stop what is inevitable," R'hllor declared, raising his blade for the final strike.
But Maximus did not just sit there and take that. Maximus caught his blade with his bare hands as he started to burn his hands despite how strong he was.
He pulled the sword towards him which also pulled R'hllor closer. Using his free hand, he poured a ton of his power into his hand as he shoved it directly through R'hllor's abdomen.
R'hllor let out an extremely loud scream, cracks appearing across his body. He had unleashed his magic power through R'hllor's body, weakening him even more.
Using this chance, Maximus grabbed both his swords again and turned to face R'hllor who was struggling to stand up.
"You..." R'hllor hissed, his voice trembling with fury and disbelief. "You dare..."
Maximus wasted no time. He dashed forward, both Dawnshear and Duskfang igniting in black and white flames. With a single hop, he closed the distance, carving an X-shaped arc across R'hllor's chest.
He staggered back, his body beginning to break under the damage he had taken, spilling a ton of his blood on the ground. He let out another scream, this one not of rage, but of realization.
"No... I am R'hllor! I am eternal! I CANNOT BE DEFEATED!"
Maximus didn't let him speak further. With on final leap, he brought both swords down, driving them straight into R'hllor's core. The impact sent a massive shockwave across the battlefield, forcing even demons and legions alike to halt their fighting.
A terrible silence followed. Then R'hllor exploded.
A pillar of fire erupted from his form as his body collapsed inward, pulling the remnants of his mortal form. The above, once torn open by his arrival, began to close. The demonic forces, sensing the fall of their master, screamed in agony as their bodies crumbled into ash.
The Imperial Legions stood in silence. Achilles and Alexander, bloodied, lifted their weapons high. Dáin and his dwarves shouted in triumph, their war-horns echoing through the ruined city. Olorin, Merlin, and Lilith lowered their hands, their magic no longer needed.
He hoped that this was the end. A few seconds later, his question was answered as a system prompt popped up:
[Defeat the God R'hllor and prevent the demonic invasion of the world]
Rewards:
-1,000,000 system points
-100,000 Free summons (May choose to summon any number of any type of soldier for free without spending system points)
The 100,000 Free summons was something as he could literally summon any powerful soldier he wanted. In fact, he would say that it was better than the 1,000,000 system points because it was free.
Putting the prompt away, he turned towards his army who was looking at him in silence. They were waiting for him, their emperor, to speak.
"We have won!" he roared. "We stood against a god and emerged victorious!" A wave of cheers erupted from the legions, their joyous shouts shaking the earth beneath them. They had seen death, went against demonic creatures and survived. Now they were celebrating their victory.
Now that the war was actually over, Maximus ordered a count of their casualties and issued orders to start claiming the island for their own. The ruined capital of Valyria had lots of things from hundreds of years ago during the age of the Valyrian Freehold.
He wanted to find these riches and claim them for himself. In addition to this, he also planned to turn Valyria into a massive new citadel. It would be like a secondary capital for the Imperial Union, a new Commercial hub for ships before they head to Qarth and the rest of the East.
After a week had passed, the final number of casualties was placed upon Maximus's desk. The number was a lot more than he expected a total of 247,521 were dead out of the 600,000 people that Maximus brought with him. 123,432 were injured leaving only 229,047 active soldiers to guard the region.
The injured were not a problem as they could be injured back to full health with the use of magic and other things. But to honor those who died, Maximus sent out an order for a part of the city to be dedicated to the dead warriors. A massive monolithic structure would be created and would house every single dead warrior's body alongside their name and the warriors code signifying that they willingly risked their lives to defend the world from evil.
Tens of thousands of stonemasons and carpenters were already on their way to Valyria to start the re-construction of city and the surrounding islands.
Having been away from the going ons of the rest of the world, Maximus had a pile of papers reporting on what happened in Westeros and Essos.
In Westeros, a tourney had taken place in honor of Prince Joffrey's 12th name day as the crown prince. Maximus was invited to this, but he respectfully declined as he has other more important matters to attend to.
In the North, Robb Stark had just returned from his studies in Heaven's Reach to Winterfell. He had spent the last 6 years studying at Heaven's Reach, learning some great skills in swordsmanship and leadership. House Stark was a great trading partner of the Imperial Union, importing most of their food from the Imperial Union, because of how cheap it was.
Dorne had sent a few coins and ships which contributed to the war effort, not that Maximus needed it, but he could see that they were trying so hard to befriend him. Arianne had reached the age of 22 and she was getting more desperate by the day to hear his response to the proposal he received years ago.
Since things were relatively calm now, he decided he would accept their offer and visit them personally to discuss who would be a part of his Imperial Harem. He had yet to have any kids but now was a good a time as any to settle down and embrace the more lustful sides of being an emperor.
The rest of Westeros didn't have anything of value, so he moved on to Essos. Migrants from the far East had arrived in Vaes Dothrak in tattered clothes and with malnourished bodies, claiming to have run away from their Lord who was slain. They fled their city out of fear for their new Lord but were cut off by his army and forced to flee further West where they met with the Imperial Border patrol and sent to Vaes Dothrak.
The migrants were given refugee status and given food and clothing while an emissary and investigation was launched into what was going on in the Far East.
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In Qarth, the House of the Undying has begun moving their forces to combat the spread of the Imperial Union's influence. They began searching for allies in the Far East from amidst the war lords of Yi Ti.
This was not a significant problem, but it was still something to keep an eye on, so he put Faraday and his Shadowhand agents on a mission to monitor Qarth and all of its movements.