Unexpected Circumstances

"Treason? No... not my dear brother, this is not treason... this is advance! I saw! The might of the seas, the depths of the oceans! I heard the calling of the deep ones from the Drowned God, the Great One Chthullhu! So, here the war beings, and let the fleets of the Empire shatter the holds of Westeros! We will take it all! The Arbor. Oldtown. Citadel. Stepstones, all would be conquered as the will of the Gods dictate!"

Euron Greyjoy, Lord Admiral of the Imperial Fleets of Holy Arcadia Empire

***

Codex: Nobility of the Empire - Lesser Houses

Grand Paladin - Is the lowest Noble Title of The Empire.

It is specially reserved for the Grand Knight Houses. Grand Paladin is a Non-Inheritable Noble Title and is personally tied to the martial might of the Head of the House. Most Grand Paladin Houses will strive to produce as many talented and powerful Knights as possible to ensure that they will maintain their noble status for the next generation.

Baron - Members of the Lesser Nobility that usually ruled Barony, territory smaller territory within a Province. Barons are typically either under the Viceroy or directly under the Elector Cout or Lord High Magistrate.

Viceroy - Members of Nobility with actual power and responsibility within The Holy Arcadia Empire and are required to be the best warriors, knights, wizards, administrators and professionals to serve their homeland.

Viceroy Houses usually rule large territories within the Grand Provinces of Elector Counts and are typically in charge of Territorial Cities or other essential points of interest.

***

Even though the Holy Arcadia Empire was tremendously power compared to that of Westeros, the thing was, even if the Holy Arcadia Empire wanted to attack Westeros, they could mobilize only a very small part of their armed forces to do so...

Most of their military was tied to the things on the Lordran... the endless hordes of Greenskins, Daemons, barbarians to the south, Heretics, and other enemies that were lurking within the Lands of Ancients.

Thus, the Holy Arcadia Empire actually didn't really have any interest in expanding beyond their already owned land, without significant reason, as it would be a very costly decision. In truth, Westeros and neither Essos didn't have things that would warrant such a decision.

Naturally, Westeros has proved to be of strategic interest for the Holy Arcadia Empire of Lordran because of Lacrimas and Dimeritium, and the Great Ones know what they would find underneath the mountains.

While the last condition would be problematic for the Lord Paramount of Westerlands, there was nothing he could do to prevent the spreading of the Religion of the Great Ones...

Sicne the fight between Emperor Karl-Franz and the Daemon Lord on the streets of Lannisport that left parts of the outskirts of the port city entirely destroyed, the people already started whispering about supernatural powers and people blessed by Gods.

So, pragmatically speaking, he decided to make use of the Religion of Great Ones; if possible, if he was lucky, he would get a prolonged Lifespan by a few centuries. At least, he would watch over the House Lannister until somebody who was worthy of Lordship appeared.

His son Jamie wasn't interested in being Lord even a bit, which was a great disappointment on his side, and Tyrion couldn't be Lord; he was an Imp who would be ridiculed by everyone else.

"Very well then, Your Majesty... we have an agreement."

Tywin then formally agreed to the conditions because if the Faith of Seven made any problems, he had enough means to deal with some unruly Septons and even the High Septon.

During his time as Hand of the King, evidence about corruption in the Faith of Seven was only flooding in. From what he understood, the Healing Church had a very powerful standing in The Holy Arcadia Empire and they controlled one of three Holy Cities in The Holy Arcadia Empire.

Basically, they were a force to reckon with and having a good relationship with them would be only beneficial to the House Lannister. Apparently, from what he learned from Kevan, the Healing Church would help their believers when they had problems, be it commoners or nobles.

As long as they believed in the Healing Church, they could always get help from the Healing Church.

"Splendidly, then soon enough, the Minister of Foreign Relationships will arrive to discuss matters in more detail. I need to return back to the homeland as it seems, cutting my trip short, unfortunately."

Karl Franz sighed in a sad sigh because, in truth, he wanted to remain a bit longer at Westeros, as it was a nice vacation. But unfortunately for him, he needed to transport the corpse of Daemon Lord back home personally.

The corpse of Daemon Lord was a peerless treasure for The Holy Arcadia Empire because they could learn much from it, not to mention its Blood, once purified by the Healing Church, could be used to strengthen their troops.

Even in The Holy Arcadia Empire, it was very rare for beings on the level of Daemons Lords to materialize on the material plane freely, and thus, they were considered rare resources. When such a thing happened, all Hunters and all Level 6s would gather across the entire Empire and hunt it down.

For sure, the Scholars of Byrgenwerth are now shaking with excitement because the last time they obtained a specimen like this was around three hundred years ago when a mighty Beast was born in the Grand Duchy of Fenris.

"There is one more thing that I would like to ask Your Majesty, or rather it is more like request..."

Before Karl-Franz could leave the office of his host and return to organize his men, there was another topic on the table as he motioned for the Hand of the King to follow.

"As you already heard... Seven Kingdoms are undergoing a hard time under King's madness and he may or may not see the act of you being engaged to my daughter as a direct challenge to his authority..."

Indeed, Karl Franz heard that the King was mad, and his madness was getting worse and worse with each passing day. To the point where all the Nobles of the realm were walking on tiptoes around him because nobody knew when Wildfire would burn them.

"And you want support in case such a thing happened, right?"

While such an act would undoubtedly be the start of the civil war, nobody knew what sides the rest of the Seven Kingdoms would choose, but Tywin Lannister, due to his reputation, indeed had very few allies in Westeros.

"Consider it done... father-in-law, I will leave a few Wizards here who can contact us back home in case of trouble and also leave here a small consignment of the Silver Knights, approximately one Chapter numbering 5,000."

He stated that he knew that sooner or later, Robert's Rebellion would happen, and this would give him the opportunity to rob some things from Westeros, ranging from the Valyrian Steel that was of crucial interest to The Holy Arcadia Empire and especially the King's Landing...

The Targaryens survived Doom of Valyria and ruled Westeros for three hundred years, Great Ones knew what treasures they must have gathered, but the real object of his desires was the Citadel.

Organization old for millennia, gathering treasures, knowledge, and other things across Westeros and even Essos and other parts of the known world, manipulating everyone like puppets.

Not to mention, at least they could kill a few of the magic-hating Maesters when they would be robbing the Old Town.

"Then I must thank you, Your Majesty."

While Tywin was surprised at how easily the Emperor agreed to his request and even left him five thousand top-notch Knights to protect the Westerlands, his instincts were telling him that there should be another reason.

Because nobody was this generous without reason...

"I will introduce you to Chapter Master Agamemnon Atreides, who will remain here; he is a splendid soldier and highly competent one as rest of the commanders within our armed forces... I am sure that you two will like each other."

Karl Franz chuckled at that because, indeed, Agamemnon Atreides was the epitome of a strict, unrelenting, and fiercely loyal commander who would do the job right at any cost.

***

MC POV

Sometime later, the chambers of Karl Franz at the Castle of Lannisport

Before we left, I called to my chambers several people with whom I needed to have some talks. While I was returning back to the homeland, our people would remain here with various tasks that they needed to complete.

"Now, please sit, gentlemen... I have some final orders before I depart back home together with loot, victory and my beautiful fianceé..."

I said jokingly, but apparently not as funny as I thought I would be... but whatever, not that I cared about it; at least nobody is forcing himself to laugh.

"Chapter Master Atreides, you will have the task of protecting and helping Lord Lannister and protecting the interests of the Empire at Westeros. As you have been briefed, King Aerys is mad and our close relationship with House Lannister may or may not be seen as a hostile act."

Agamemnon was a young-looking man with long blonde hair and wearing heavy armor of the Silver Knights. He was the son of the current Elector Count of Grand Duchy of Caladan, Lord Atreus Atreides, who was also General-Kommandant of the Reiksgarde.

"Of course, Your Majesty, you can consider it done. Do you have any further instructions?"

He asked with not much formal tone, as I was not very fan of formalities when it was private, especially among soldiers with whom I often fought side by side.

"Yes... in a year or two, there would be Rebellion here, and during the ensuing chaos, you will raid and obtain these things for the glory of the nation."

I then passed him a list of things, names and locations.

"Cooperate with Wizards from Byrgenwerth and Imperial Battle Wizard Legion in his task."

Then I turned my sight to High Scholar Jinfarah, who was sitting there absentmindedly, probably thinking over the corpse of the Daemon Lord I killed.

"Ornstein, you will remain here until the Churches of the Healing Church are finished and Priests and Holy Knights are not settled. Afterward, you will depart to North of Westeros and scout the place for any traces of Magic or anything of interest."

Because I knew what dwelled behind the Wall, I was cautious not to mention, as this was a vastly different world from the canon I barely remembered; I had a hunch that the Night King would be a frightening entity...

"Also, I will inform Ciaran to send some of his spies to create a spy network in Westeros and Essos; this would take a few months, so coordinate everything on this matter."

Ornstein wordlessly nodded because no words were needed; he was a man of action. He knew that he was a very powerful power and that if I spent him personally on a scouting mission, then it must be for a very, very good reason.

"High Scholar, how much time do we have until the corpse starts reeking?"

One of the main reasons why I needed to transport the corpse of the Daemon Lord personally was because, after some time, the corpse of Daemons started leaking very dangerous Miasma.

This Miasma will, in turn, attract various types of monsters, beasts, and other creatures, including the other Daemons, because this Miasma was very nutritious and they could get more powerful.

Not to mention, if some lower-ranked Daemon managed to devour the corpse of a Daemon Lord, then it would experience a very fast level-up among the Daemon Ranks.

"Probably week and with the Seals we put around it to contain it, we have approximately two weeks, maximally eighteen days when the Miasma from the corpse will start leaking to the outside world."

For that reason, we needed to transport the corpse back to Faust, preferably because they had the best equipment to deal with it and to contain it properly.

"Ts... we would need to sail at maximum speed. Fortunately, we installed those experimental engines so that we will put them to the test."

I grimaced because it was a much lower timeframe than I anticipated, but at the same time, Daemon Lord Demogorgon was one of the more powerful Daemon Lords in the Abyss and close to the Daemon Prince.

And for that reason, we needed to secure and transport his corpse as a top priority. Many things could be gained from it; the blood of such powerful beings was always in high demand once it was purified.

"We are sailing right now."

I made the final decision because we needed to act fast and I gave them around three hours to pack up the things for the people who would be leaving back to the Lordran, and I also sent someone to inform Lord Tywin about this development, as Cersei would depart with us back to the Lordran.

She needed to advance her education and convert to the Faith of the Great Ones at the grand ceremony, which would be more like a show of power, but it was tradition for those who were not of our religion.

***

3rd POV

One hour later, Lannisport Castle, the Lord's Solar

"The times are changing, Kevan..."

Tywin Lannister stood in his solar while observing the fleet of The Holy Arcadia Empire, who were packing their things and preparing to return home. One hour earlier, he got a message from Emperor Karl Franz, who had already called him father-in-law to tickle his ego, that they were returning back sooner than planned.

The reason was the corpse of the Daemon the Emperor killed.

"He even left us 5,000 of his Silver Knights... a worthy show of power, protection of his interests and... there is one more thing, does he anticipate the civil war here?"

Tywin muttered as he went over the possibilities; simultaneously, he was particularly pleased because it seemed that his newest ally or family was a good Player. But after centuries of ruling, that was to be expected.

"Kevan, go and find Chapter Master Atreides, who is commanding the Silver Knight Chapter that is remaining in Westeros and cooperate with him for their accommodation. Also, how is Cersei?"

Now, the most important thing was the proper accommodation of the Silver Knight Chapter; because the Empire was a very militaristic nation, army commanders sometimes had an even bigger influence than most of the Lesser Houses within the Holy Arcadia Empire.

"She is good, even looking better after the witch and Daemon were both killed... should I send for her?"

The Lord of the Casterly Rock nodded and Kevan then left to do his duties; as his brother was Hand of the King, he spent a little time in the Westerlands and most of the responsibilities befall on his shoulders.

"Something is not right... should we speed up the militarization and perhaps even openly support the Healing Church? The Old Blood is tempting..."

Like every other person in power, Tywin was very tempted by the possibility of living for centuries to come, but at the same time, he was hesitant.

He heard what happened to the people who consumed the Old Blood in their great, would sooner or later succumb to their inner beast, becoming nothing more than a Beast, losing every bit of their previous sanity.

The only fate that awaited them was to be cut down by the Hunters of the Workshop... For him, the Holy Arcadia Empire was a fascinating place, and as old schemer, as he was, he was already preparing to create a branch of House Lannister within the Empire.

He learned that in the Empire, establishment of the Noble Hosues was at the same time easier and harder than it was in Westeros. Noble Houses could be stripped of their land and titles and even face execution if they were not upholding the standards of the Empire.

He didn't have the illusion that one of his grandchildren would sit once on the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder; he knew that chances were low, considering how the Succession worked in the Empire.

But at the same time, he knew that his grandchildren, if they were talented and capable enough, won't have a problem inheriting either the Elector Count of Reikland title similar to the Wardens in the Seven Kingdoms or they would find their own Houses.

Several minutes his daughter arrived; this time, she was already wearing clothes of the Imperial fashion. Contrary to the long lady dresses that were worn in the Westories by high-born ladies, women in the Empire wore much less complicated clothes.

She wore something that appeared to be a several-piece uniform slash suit of white color. Even though it was no dress, it still appeared very luxurious and more importantly, it subtly radiated authority and power.

"You called for me father?"

Her hair was tied into a ponytail as she finished dressing with the help of two female apprentices of Healing Church's Holy Knights. For Cersei, while she enjoyed wearing dressed that enhanced her beauty, she had to admit that these clothes were more comfortable and she looked more powerful in them.

Like a soldier or military officer.

"Yes... sit down."

He ordered as they sat down across each other.

"How are you feeling?"

The past few hours were hectic and very stressful...

"Good; Father Galahad said that I would be alright after some recuperation."

Now that Maggy the Witch and the Daemon Lord Demogorgon were killed, Cersei could feel that something was better; it was a very obscure and indescribable feeling that she had...

But it was a very pleasant feeling like the burden she was carrying was finally lifted and gone.

"As you were informed, you would be departing to the Lordran for further healing at the Healing Church..."

Tywin Lannister said slowly as he observed his daughter. She needed some further recuperation at the hands of the Healing Church from the Blood Curse and it was the only place that was capable of providing it.

"Another piece of news is that Emperor Karl Franz agreed to the engagement so you would be married after three or four years; till that, you would be fostered at Cainhurst by Lord High Magistrate Annalise Vileblood and be educated in all Imperial matters."

He was informed that his daughter would need to be educated in combat and ruling; it was very foreign to the concepts of the Seven Kingdoms and felt unnatural.

"That is the mother of his first fianceé..."

Cersei recognized the name because Karl Franz told her about Lady Maria Vileblood, the dazzling gem of the Holy Arcadia Empire and one of two personal students of the Gehrman the First Hunter.

"Yes, Lady Annalise Vileblood is by all accounts one of the most prestigious and powerful Noble within the Holy Arcadia Empire. Not to mention, the Vilebloods of Cainhurst have a very strong connection to the Gehrman the First Hunter... so you would be able to foster a good relationship with your sister-wife to prevent any conflicts in your marriage."

Tywin said the name of the man with a good deal of respect because, as he heard from the Emperor, Gehrman was the reason why the Empire stood strong. He could have killed the Daemon Lord with one hit... and his position within the Empie was almost if not equal to that of Emperor.

'But that is to be expected in a place where many have supernatural powers... the strongest are always venerated the most.'

He thought as he noticed that his daughter looked almost eager... Cersei was always a child that desired power, all kinds of power... While Jamie was meant to be his heir, he was not interested or capable of it.

That Tywin knew very well.

Unfortunately, nobody in Westeros would accept a female as Lord Paramount, Dorne not included. He knew that in the Empire, his daughter would thrive; with proper education, she could become a true player of the Great Game like himself or Olena Tyrell.

"Now, during these years before the marriage, you will need to convert to the Religion of the Great Ones and Emperor said that you would need to spend a rather extensive courtship before you are married."

He could see that his daughter was clearly fond of Emperor Karl Franz... the man was charming enough, could behave like a proper gentleman, and was jovial, but he was also a very ruthless ruler.

The fact that no rebellion happened during several centuries since his rule was only proof of that.

"I... thank you, father."

Cersei muttered quietly, as it didn't escape her eyes that Tywin smiled for a very, very brief time before his expression returned to the normally stoic and cold one.

***

MC POV

Lannisport, Port Area

After we put the corpse of the Daemon Lord Demogorgon back on the flagship, I was only waiting for the last people. Part of the fleet would remain here at the Lannisport, according to the agreement with Lord Tywin.

Chapter Master Agamemnon was already busy accommodating his Chapter of five thousand Silver Knights as they would be divided based on the Divisions, as one Division would go to the Casterly Rock and another would remain at the Lannisport.

From a distance, I then saw my newest fianceé in a more traditional outfit that was popular among the Cainhurstian Nobility and female Hunters. She looked beautifully, like a shining golden light in the west.

We would be spending the next two weeks on the open sea, crossing the Sunset Sea back to the Lordran; afterward, we would depart to Faust and then to Anor Londo, and later on, she would go to the Cainhurst.

Still, the Empire was working on large-scale teleportation arrays across the entire Empire, interconnecting all the biggest cities and hopefully, it would be finished in a few years.

"You looked breathtaking, my lady... like a proper Huntress of the Dream."

I complimented her appearance and kissed her hand, to which she bashfully covered her mouth. With her arrival, it seemed that we could finally depart back to Lordran, though shame my trip ended even faster than it began.

"It seems that we will be departing, Lord Tywin... soon another part of a delegation from the Empire will arrive and maybe, soon, you will, too, visit the Empire."

I said with a smile as we shook hands.

"Maybe yes, but for now, I will have a lot of things to do after finding the level of your nation; I have many things that I want to incorporate from there and also, a wave of new mining projects have been opened."

Tywin knew that something was brewing in the future, an uncertain future and thus, he decided to act appropriately and speed up all of the plans he had. Starting with the creation of a professional military, tactics and weapons.

He already planned to buy a large number of weapons to arm the Knights loyal to the House Lannister and himself from the dwarves of the Ironforge. Yes, in the Empire, apparently, there were not only humans but also other species; among them were dwarves.

Not deformed like his imp devil son was.

But they were master smiths and engineers, masterful constructors, and they were also apparently fierce warriors at that. And they produced the best equipment that one could wish for, and everyone in the Imperial Military used the dwarven-made weapons and armor.

***

MC POV

Sunset Sea, three days later

It had been three days since we left Westeros and right now, we were heading back to the Lordran, the home of The Holy Arcadia Empire. I was enjoying the fresh air on the deck of the Smeidnir and, at the same time, cursing the sea...

I wasn't really cut out for this. Hopefully, we will have airships finished one day... I heard that some egg heads at the College of Engineers already had some initial designs for the airships; hopefully, they would be much more comfortable to travel with.

"Enjoying the fresh air?"

While looking in the direction of the Seven Kingdoms, I heard the voice of my new fianceé.

"Yes... for several centuries, I almost never spent a few days on the sea and now that I have, I must admit that I hate it... everything is wet; food is not up to my standards, and many, many other things... I can't even train properly."

Oh, the Great Ones, I swear that right now I am whining like a little kid that didn't get what he wanted.

"And you told me that I am acting spoiled..."

She laughed a bit as she went up to my side and we were observing the calmness of the sea, which was probably the sole advantage of sea travel. No matter how much I hated the conditions, I must admit that the sea was beautiful.

"So what? Never seen a hypocrite? And a handsome one at that?"

I said with a laugh because it was indeed a bit hypocritical of me.

"Yes, yes, the most handsome hypocrite I laid my eyes on."

Now that we were heading towards the Lordran and especially without anyone from her House, Cersei was actually much more straightforward and behaved more freely and authentically.

In the Empire, we were not really bent on formal behavior and other things, aside from the social events and formal events where the code of conduct was very strictly demanded.

"So, how are you enjoying the bits o the Imperial life?"

I asked because I noticed that she remarkably took a liking to our swordsmanship classes and also to Imperial fashion.

"Very much so far... it is different from Westeros, but at the same time, you have a lot of freedoms that equaled the responsibilities... especially for women."

She was certainly pleased that I wasn't lying to her when I told her all the things about the Holy Arcadia Empire and how our society was different from all previous ones. Not only that but even I was surprised that she was a very fast learner.

On the first day, she was training with members of the Reiksgarde the basis, but shockingly enough, she was swift at learning everything that the Reiksgarde could teach her. She was eager and wanted to learn; thus, after seeing that I was personally teaching her combat arts.

At the same time, it was also a nice opportunity to get to know each other. Weirdly though she was very attuned to the dual-wielding, there were not many dual-wielders even in the Empire; such people were rare because it was very hard to master such style.

For example, in Westeros, only one person mastered the dual-wielding style and that was Arthur Dayne; with his limited lifespan, it was indeed solid proof that the man was a genius when it came to swordsmanship to the point where I wanted to recruit him personally...

And maybe I would have the opportunity, as he was on the list of people of interest that could be most probably swayed to the Imperial Banner during Robert's Rebellion.

As we were sailing back to the Empire, suddenly, the alarm went on... it meant that pirates were attacking, which was good; at least it won't be boring.

"My Lord, there twenty ships sailing our way, bearing the sigils of the House Greyjoy."

Ironborn... we have only three battleships and nothing more and there was only one person who was mad enough to attack such huge ships, Euron Greyjoy.

"Everyone to battle position, load the canons."

I shouted as everyone started running here and there, though I saw that Cersei was a bit shaking. Ironborn had a pretty terrible reputation in Westeros and even at the Essos, as they were reavers, rapists and an overall bunch of scum.

"Take these... Blades of Mercy, a special trick weapon passed down among hunters of hunters. One of the oldest weapons of the workshop. Splits into two when activated. The weapon's warped blades are forged with siderite, a rare mineral of the heavens. Most effective swift attacks, such as after a quick-stepping."

Summoning twin swords, I passed them to her, as this would be her first time, but I was certainly confident, with the Reiskgarde at her back, there was nothing that could happen to her, especially with the top-notch armor she was wearing right now.

"Cersei remember your training, be calm, aim for the vital spots, and use every weakness you see; that is how true Hunter fights."

I said as she nodded and soon enough, the Ironborn ships were already in the vicinity.

"Father always said that we should have burned the Iron Islands down..."

It was true; Tywin was right on this one because the Ironborn would never change their reaving, raping and pillaging culture across the entire Westeros and Essos, though they were not my problem.

But at the same time, I was a bit interested in Euron Greyjoy; he was another "Blessed by Fate" and under the strictest Magic Contract to ensure his loyalty to the Divine Throne, he would be a good addition to the Empire.

The Holy Arcadia Empire had one great weakness... our navy was almost non-existence. While he had ships and the big ones, technically speaking, there were no people within the Empire who were experienced in leading naval warfare.

I knew that if we met some nation that was skilled in naval warfare, we would lose, like this time, we were meeting with the Ironborn, but we had a moment of surprise. For several seconds the cannons firing was heard as some of the more unfortunate ships sank down.

This was the moment of surprise.

Though it would become only a great advantage once they learned how to properly counter the cannons and other siege artillery and things that we installed on our ships and for that, I needed someone who could create a navy.

And truthfully, Euron Greyjoy filled those criteria.

Yes, he was the mad, uncontrollable bastard that only cared that he wanted to be part of history and that was something that I could give him. He could be the greatest Admiral that ever broader the seas and oceans of the known world.

And it was not like he would be the sole uncontrollable madman in my services, but once someone's Soul was tied to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder, then even the slightest action that would go to betrayal would end in immediate death.

But still, there was one field where we were unbeatable... I was confident that Euron Greyjoy seeing our weapons and the size of our ships, would do anything to occupy them because these ships were bigger than anything built in Westeros.

And that was an opportunity for the good old fight between soldiers.

Ironborn, while relatively skilled compared to most levies and people who had never seen a fight or the Summer Knights of Westeros, compared to them Ironborn were indeed skilled warriors because they were tempered in blood and iron.

But they were no match for the professional standing military of the Holy Arcadia Empire and our Knights.

Not to mention there were Reiksgarde and Church Executioners on the ships together with Battle Wizards. The moment they boarded our ships and started fishing would be the moment that spelled their doom, as they would stand no chance.

Everyone knew it, which was also why we even deliberately let them board; if not for that, we would sink their ships from a distance, but I wanted to capture Euron Greyjoy alive.