Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 619: Fifth Empire

After over an hour of meticulously admiring and carefully checking every single thing he possibly could, Asher let out another long and weary sigh before levitating steadily into the air where Malrik stood with a calm and composed smile, silently watching his approaching little brother with quiet amusement and interest.

"So?" Malrik asked, as though patiently waiting for Asher’s compliments, reactions, and words of awe to finally come.

Asher met Malrik’s gaze for a brief moment, his mind rapidly running through a series of layered and complex questions. After a short pause of consideration, he decided to ask the one that had been bothering him the most from the very beginning.

"How large exactly is the world of Crymora?" Asher asked. "I’m sure there are dozens of Crownstar Life Rankers across all the Empires, maybe even up to a hundred or more, so how come the world hasn’t already been destroyed by such overwhelming power?" He paused briefly again, as though carefully arranging his thoughts, then continued, "how many endless, ever-expanding forests even exist that no one seems to care about or even attempt to count?" To Asher, this entire planet made absolutely no logical sense at all, it simply didn’t.

Malrik remained silent for a moment, a faint yet knowing smile resting on his face, he could clearly tell that this was the question that troubled Asher the most, which was perfectly understandable. In fact, only individuals with sharp and inquisitive minds like Asher ever thought about such things, most people never did, after all, who would truly care about something like the size of the world?

"Actually, nobody truly knows," Malrik began to speak in a calm and measured tone, "nobody has ever seriously bothered to go around measuring the size of the world, nobody is that free or that bored, everyone is simply far too occupied with the pursuit of strength and power," he stated as his eyes slowly shifted towards the endless and distant horizon.

"But, a certain madman once claimed that Crymora is endless, or rather, according to his own words, Crymora is ever-expanding and constantly adapting, which does sound somewhat reasonable when you think about it deeply, but there is no concrete evidence to support that claim, and once again, nobody truly cares enough to investigate it properly," he paused briefly, as though giving Asher enough time to process and understand the weight of his words.

"But with the sheer size of Crymora, there is more than enough land to establish another Empire entirely," Malrik continued, "and indeed, people have attempted such a thing in the distant past, and every single time they have been completely wiped out by us and the other existing Empires. After all, no one would ever sit back and idly watch another rising power grow strong enough to contend for resources, no one desires the emergence of a Fifth powerhouse, the world is already more than balanced with just the Four Empires as it currently stands."

Asher didn’t utter a single word in response, he simply listened with full attention.

"When I was younger, during one of my bedtime stories, Father once told me that one of the old Wargrave Primarchs had actually planned on establishing a Fifth Empire, one that would be made entirely of individuals possessing the Wargrave bloodline," Malrik continued smoothly, as though recalling an old and distant memory.

Asher’s thoughts abruptly came to a halt, he found it difficult to believe what he had just heard, he simply couldn’t imagine their father sitting down and reading bedtime stories to anyone at all. The man had always seemed like an unmovable and emotionless rock every single time he encountered him.

’Maybe he was different back then, after all, Big Brother is the first child, he probably understands Father better than anyone else,’ he thought quietly to himself.

His thoughts then shifted back to what Malrik had said earlier, ’damn, an entire Empire of Wargraves would be absolutely ridiculous, surely they would have been wiped out almost immediately, it’s literally them against the entire world,’ Asher thought to himself with a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"Of course, I don’t actually know whether that story is true or false, I could easily verify it by accessing our family’s historical records, but I never really bothered to do so, the thoughts and ambitions of an old Primarch have nothing to do with me in the present," Malrik added casually.

Asher gave a slow nod, ’is Crymora truly endless, or is it constantly adapting and expanding... perhaps it is adapting to the very monsters it continues to birth so that it doesn’t end up being destroyed by its own inhabitants,’ Asher thought deeply to himself.

"But, there is something I can tell you with absolute certainty," Malrik’s voice sounded out once more, drawing Asher’s attention back to him, "when the Star Fragment fell twenty thousand years ago, we certainly weren’t the only ones that benefited from it, naturally, with our evolution, it would only make sense that the world itself also underwent evolution as well, which would imply that it increased in size, but by how much, or what other changes accompanied that evolution, I truly do not know," Malrik stated as his eyes slowly moved away from the horizon and up towards the vast sky, as though he was attempting to peer beyond it and into outer space itself.

Asher’s mind instinctively returned to what Cindralis had once told him about the World Barrier and the possibility of something existing beyond it. Seeing Malrik staring up at the sky in that exact moment, Asher couldn’t help but wonder if Malrik knew something more, or if he had also arrived at a similar theory as Cindralis through his own understanding.

’Surely, at least one individual in the entire history of Crymora, throughout these twenty thousand years, must have successfully stepped beyond this planet,’ Asher thought to himself, although he wasn’t certain at all, he was merely making an educated guess.

"Any other questions?" Malrik asked as his gaze returned to Asher.

Asher remained silent within his thoughts for a moment longer before finally asking, "at what sub-Life Rank of the Crownstar Life Rank are you currently at?"

He genuinely wanted to know the answer, was Malrik at the Radiant sub-Life Rank, or was he nearing it, or was he still at the entry-level stage known as Dust?

Malrik smiled faintly before replying, "when you reach the Crownstar Life Rank yourself, you can spar with me and find out directly," his words carrying a clear hint of amusement.

Asher simply shook his head lightly at Malrik’s antics, what exactly was so special about his current sub-Life Rank anyway, couldn’t he just say it plainly and be done with it without turning it into a mystery?

"Besides, who exactly said that I’m even at the Crownstar Life Rank?" Malrik added with a wide and dangerously playful smile.

Hearing those words, Asher’s mind seemed to falter completely, he didn’t dare question whether Malrik meant he was below the Crownstar Life Rank, and he didn’t dare entertain the possibility of the Voidstar or Soulstar Life Rank either... which left only one terrifying implication, a level of power that stood far above all known classifications within the world.

Asher stared at his brother with eyes filled with undisguised shock, no words came out of his mouth, he was simply far too stunned and dumbfounded to speak at that moment.

Seeing his little brother’s reaction, Malrik casually waved his hand as he spoke, "I’m joking, there’s no need to be so shocked or surprised," he shook his head lightly, his wide grin slowly fading back into his usual calm and confident smile.

Asher continued to stare at his brother suspiciously, was the man truly joking, or had he unintentionally let something slip due to the moment and was now simply trying to cover it up as nothing more than a joke? After a moment of silent contemplation, Asher shook his head slightly, there was absolutely no way for him to know the truth with certainty.