Is this really a Game?!

Adrian, shocked and enraged, clenched his fists. "Uncle Avargan, I didn't expect you to actually show yourself. The truth will be revealed, and your schemes will come to an end."

Avargan chuckled, his voice resonating with a sinister undertone. "Schemes, my dear nephew? I prefer to call it playing the game. You know how the saying goes – 'all's fair in love and war.'"

Reign, Nayle, Aragos, and the rest of the group remained on guard, realizing the gravity of the situation. The presence of the elusive Avargan and his association with Elyndor added layers to the complex conspiracy they were unraveling.

Elyndor spoke, his tone mocking, "You were always so close to the truth, Adrian, yet blind to the realities around you. Your kingdom, the Elais Kingdom, are both mere pawns in the grand design."

Reign, with a stern expression, demanded answers. "What is this 'grand design' you speak of? Why manipulate two kingdoms into a senseless war?"

Avargan grinned, his eyes gleaming with malevolence. "Power, my dear friends. Power is the ultimate currency, and I've been playing the game for far longer than you can fathom. The war served its purpose – weakening both sides, allowing me to exert my influence discreetly."

Aragos, struggling to come to terms with the betrayal of Elyndor, spoke with a mixture of anger and disbelief. "Elyndor, I trusted you. We all did. Why betray us?"

Elyndor's expression shifted for a moment, a flicker of something resembling regret, but it vanished quickly. "Trust is a fragile thing, Aragos. It blinds people to the realities they refuse to see. I was merely following the currents of fate."

Avargan smiled his demeanor still as calm as before. "And you have done it splendidly, son."

Reign and the others widened their eyes as they stared at Avargan before switching to Elyndor.

Aragos, his emotions in turmoil, demanded clarification. "Son? What do you mean, 'son'? Explain yourself, Elyndor."

"It is as my father has said, I am his son," Elyndor said with a smile as he stared at Aragos.

"As are you, brother."

The revelation echoed through the clearing, leaving the group stunned. Aragos, as they had suspected, was indeed the son of Avargan. He finally knew the truth, without a shred of doubt, he had learned the truth of his lineage. The air grew heavy with the weight of the family dynamics that had remained hidden for years.

Adrian, still seething with anger, addressed Avargan, "So you truly are Aragos's father, but why, why make the Elais kingdom believe it was my father, your own brother?!"

"You deceived everybody, you made our kingdoms wage war against one another for 2 entire decades, and why, so you could try and become the next king?!"

Avargan chuckled, relishing the chaos he had sown. "Deception is a matter of perspective, dear nephew. The complexities of family ties often elude those not privy to the grand tapestry of fate."

"It was my fate to be king, your father simply got in the way of it, stole it, and took it for himself."

"I am merely setting the tapestry of fate on the correct track."

"That is how it was supposed to be, that is how dear mother had told us, your father simply never believed in it, he defied it, took my fate from me, and what did he do with it?"

"Nothing!"

"He did nothing, our kingdom stayed the same, it never grew, it didn't become more powerful, and he became content with it!"

"He took my destiny, it was me who should have been king, the one to lead the kingdom into prosperity, to make it bigger, better, stronger!"

"And he took it after being lucky enough to evolve just two days before me!"

"Fate is not something a mortal should mess with, had I not done what I had done, our kingdom would have been in ruins sooner or later, and I shall not let that happen."

Everybody stared at Avargan as he spoke of fate and destiny. Nobody understood what exactly he was saying, nobody except for Adrian, who was staring at him with his eyes wide open.

Elyndor, standing beside Avargan, watched the unfolding drama with a detached gaze. The bond between mentor and mentee shattered, revealing a darker truth that Aragos had never fathomed.

Reign, gathering his composure, demanded answers. "Enough riddles. What do you hope to achieve by pitting kingdoms against each other? And why involve Aragos in your schemes?"

Avargan, ever the puppet master, began to unravel his grand design. "The kingdoms were tools to an end, pieces on a chessboard. The chaos of war allowed me to amass power in the shadows. As for Aragos, he was essential to my plan. A key to unlocking forces beyond your understanding."

"Forces beyond our understanding?" Reign asked before Adrian suddenly took a step forward.

"Fate, the angels of fate, you are trying to call them?"

"What?" Reign and the others stared at Adrian who was staring at Elyndor in shock and disbelief.

"Ah, so it seems my good brother did tell you some things at the very least," Avargan said with a chuckle before he glanced at Reign and the others.

"Let me explain to you, otherworlders."

"My mother was a gifted person, it was thanks to her that my father became king, even though he was the least talented child of my late grandfather."

"She had an uncanny ability that allowed her to tell my father what to do to gain the best result for the future, it was as if any action he took when under her guidance, no matter how seemingly simple or useless it was, would result in great reward."

"You see, there are beings called the 'Oracles' in the universe."

"Beings that can see the future, have a glimpse in the tapestry of fate and see what future a person, or even an empire, a planet, even an entire star system has."

"My mother, on the other hand, was not exactly an Oracle, she was a 'Weaver'."

"Oracles can glimpse into the tapestry of fate, which is fickle and can change easily, but Weavers, they can glimpse into it, and see what would happen if they changed certain parts, and my mother was able to do so."

"My father was never supposed to be king, and yet, she made him become one."

"And I was supposed to be the next one, as she had told me, I was supposed to be the great ruler that would make the kingdom prosper, not that moron I call brother, but me!"

"And he took it from me, he rose to become king, and look at what happened, nothing but stagnation for decades!"

Avargan shouted in anger, his face turning red before he took a deep breath.

"That is why I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"I will do as was foretold, I will become king and let the kingdom prosper, as it has always been my fate to do so."

"And the first thing I will do is help the kingdom defeat the Elais Kingdom and double its territory, after that, no force that is close to us will be able to withstand our military might, and in only a couple of decades, I will do what my unworthy brother was never able to do, make this kingdom into a true empire, one that rules over a vast territory."

"And for that, for your own sake, you decided to plunge it into chaos and have it go to war for 2 decades?" Reign asked, his face calm, but his expression cold.

"Yes, after all, for change to occur, people will need to suffer, they will need to go through difficulties."

"You see, once I take the position that was supposed to be rightfully mine from the very start, the war will have already reached its peak, with my brother assassinated by unknown assailants, which we all know will come from the enemy, none will be against me temporarily taking the position."

Avargan said with a smile as Aragos continued staring at Elyndor.

Aragos, struggling to accept the reality of his lineage and the role he unknowingly played, questioned Elyndor, "Why didn't you tell me? All these years, I thought I knew who I was."

"It was not yet the time, brother, but now it's fine, you can finally join us, you can finally fulfill your destiny," Elyndor said as Avargan nodded.

"Yes, with you and the rest of my children, we will easily be able to remove those two idiotic kings from this world and then take what is rightfully ours."

"The rest … what do you mean … the rest?" Aragos asked as Avargan suddenly smirked.

"Not good." Reign suddenly said as the others glanced at him, before staring behind Avargan.

Tens of figures suddenly appeared behind him, all of them standing calmly and staring at them.

Some of them were people that they recognized.

The informant that Reign had gotten Avargan's location from, a royal guard in the kingdom of Irason, a general of the kingdom, as well as plenty of people that Aragos, as well as Nayle and her team, recognized.

None of the people present were ordinary individuals.

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