Chapter 1: The God and the President

The nothingness of the cosmos had yet to be conquered by human ambition. The stars were home to no one but one man who had ceased to be human long ago. In the old days he had stood upon the earth, empires falling before his fist, and peace being forged in a river of blood. Yet he had been cast out, condemned to float aimlessly among the stars.

The man now stood alone, gazing at the earth. His hair was long and as white and it drifted around his ageless face. He extended his hand towards the Earth and grasped his hand into a fist. 

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." The man laughed. It was a quote from the philosopher Nietzche, a man who had long been forgotten by humanity…just as he had been.

A meteor spiraled past him, and the man unclenched his hand. The meteor exploded as the man's fist shone with an aura of true cosmic power.

"I now have the power to crush their society with my own hands, but shall I?" he mused to himself.

The countless years had changed Feros Obscurum. His expression changed to a look that was surveying society itself, to see if it was worthwhile to exist. For this man knew he had the power to change its fate with just one swipe of his hand.

Then with one last look at the Earth, he disappeared as if he had never been there to begin with.

***

A spire rose high above the neon-coloured chaos of Neo Arachnis. At the top of the spire, called the Palace Needle, a young man stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He had been lauded by the media as the second coming of the fabled leader Fruschuk, although he was wealthier and more ruthless than Fruschuk had ever been. Amarterasu Cybers had been elected as president of Neo Arachnis at the age of eighteen, leaving a trail of mysterious deaths behind him.

He had been born in the bottom of the city and, before his election, the name Cybers had been completely unknown. Now, it was spoken in the same tone as the high families Teslamancer and Dongleface. 

"Sir. We have a problem." Amarterasu turned around to see that his secretary, a man in a slick black suit, had entered his office. "We have received news that Fangtastic Teslamancer is feeding the news with stories concerning the death of Fai Teslamancer in the last election."

Amarterasu smiled a thin smile, remembering the perfect assassination he had orchestrated for Fai. "Fangtastic is trying to bring me down?" Amarterasu only vaguely recalled meeting the short elderly man briefly at some party a few years back. "He must be getting old. It would be unfortunate if he died from a heart attack before he reached his eightieth birthday, wouldn't it?"

His secretary slightly bowed his head.

"Consider it done, sir," he said, before slipping out of the room.

The president of the Arachni Union strode to his desk and relaxed into his throne-like armchair. The room was mostly empty. A cold, bare room helped Amarterasu think.

Amarterasu smoothed back his blonde hair and uncorked a bottle of whiskey. It had been four years since he had come to power. Presidents of the Union ruled for life, but no one had lived to an old age. He had been very young for the title, the youngest since Xzasti Vandorius, who had been only eleven and a puppet for his family. He'd barely lasted a month. Amarterasu intended to live a long life.

Yet, the city churned with unrest. Something was boiling from within, all the reports hinted towards it. A string of violent murders. Three riots a week, and new cults springing up monthly, each one with more fanatical beliefs.

Pressing a button on his desk, Amarterasu brought up a holographic screen. He read through a series of emails, mostly dry political updates. He made sure to carefully read each one. The slightest misstep would be a chance for his rivals to topple him from the presidency. 

For four hundred years, leaders of the Union had been from the six great families. He was the first new blood in centuries, which made hating him possibly the first thing they'd ever agreed upon. It also made him the target of a thousand petitions and deal offers from up-and-coming bureaucrats and business leaders, eager to get a slice of the wealth that had only ever been owned by the Families. 

Those "Families" had grown quite a bit smaller since he'd taken the oath of leadership.

One email in particular caught his attention…from the chief of police. Supposedly a new cult, "The Children of Obscurum" was beginning to get out of control. They preached some nonsense about a "seal breaking" and the "god of death unleashed".

Amarterasu thought little of religion; ordinarily he would've thought their beliefs superstitious nonsense. Yet according to the report, this god they prayed to was a king from the far past, who had ruled the world long ago. That meant they were prone to be rebellious. He'd give the same order he usually gave…wipe them all out.

There was no place for rebellion within Neo Arachnis…not while it was the capital of his nation.