The Crown Prince. My dear, departed, and notoriously boring older brother. Now the king of hell.
The universe had a truly wonderful, endlessly creative sense of humor.
Lia, my logical Echo, processed the information with a cold, analytical precision. A threat analysis is required, she sent, her telepathic voice all business. This 'Crimson King' is a ghost from your past. His motivations will be personal, emotional, and therefore, unpredictable. He represents a significant chaotic variable.
"You're not wrong," I said, a slow, wide, and utterly genuine grin spreading across my face. This was not a threat. This was a gift.
Elara, my fanatical priestess, was a mask of pure, righteous fury. "Another ghost from your dead world, my lord! A pretender to your rightful legacy! We must crush him!"
"Crush him?" I laughed, a sound of pure, unadulterated glee. "My dear Elara, you don't crush family. You use them."
I looked at Lia, my grin turning sharp and predatory. "You said I was wasting my time playing with dolls. You said I needed to focus on our 'long-term objectives'. You're absolutely right. My little holiday is over. It's time to get back to work."
Lia's expression was one of wary satisfaction. She thought she had won our debate, that I had finally seen the logic of her position. She had no idea.
"My brother is a problem," I continued, pacing before my assembled army and my two queens. "A big, angry, and inconveniently powerful problem. Dealing with him will require my full attention. It will require strategy, resources, and a singular focus."
I stopped and looked directly at Lia. "Which is why I can no longer be burdened with the day-to-day management of my own, ever-expanding empire. It is a distraction from the true, personal nature of the coming war."
The dawning horror on Lia's logical, perfect face was a sight to behold. She saw the trap just as it was about to spring.
"As of this moment," I declared, my voice booming with the force of a sovereign decree, "I am officially abdicating the throne of my thousand-floor empire. I am handing over all executive authority, all military command, and all administrative duties."
I pointed a single, dramatic finger at her.
"To you, my dear Echo. Congratulations on your promotion. You are now the Empress Regent. The war, the logistics, the boring paperwork—it's all yours now. Have fun."
It was the most perfect, most shameless act of malicious compliance I had ever conceived. She wanted me to take my responsibilities seriously? Fine. I was giving all of my responsibilities to her.
Sovereign… she stammered in my mind, the first crack in her perfect, logical composure I had ever witnessed. This is… illogical. I am your Echo. My purpose is to serve you, not to rule.
"And you will serve me best by ruling in my stead," I replied with a magnanimous wave of my hand. "Consider it a field promotion. You have fifty years of experience. You're more qualified than I am. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a family reunion to attend to. And I must travel light."
I had just, in a single move, solved my Lia problem. I had given her exactly what she wanted—a focus on the "grand plan"—and in doing so, had shackled her to an eternity of the one thing I knew she would hate: paperwork. I was now free once again, a sovereign with no responsibilities, while she was a queen, chained to the very throne she had goaded me into taking seriously.
"Now, where was I?" I mused to myself. "Ah, yes. A new, fun, and deeply personal nemesis."
My System, ever in tune with my whims, chimed in.
[SOVEREIGN'S WHIM: A BROTHER'S WELCOME]
[Description: Your long-lost brother has conquered hell and is coming to kill you. It is only proper to prepare a suitable welcome for his arrival.]
[Objective: The 'Crimson Crusade' is a predictable, brute-force invasion. It is boring. You must introduce a more interesting narrative. Use your authority as a Narrative Catalyst to 'seed' a prophecy on this floor and all adjacent floors.]
[The Prophecy: 'When the Crimson King rises from the Abyss, two Fallen Stars will war. One of darkness, one of light. Only their fated conflict can avert the coming doom.']
[Purpose: To reframe your family squabble as a grand, cosmic battle between good and evil, and to firmly establish yourself as the 'necessary evil' in this story. Also, to royally fuck with your brother's head.]
[Reward: +20,000 SP, the 'Anti-Hero' world status.]
It was a beautiful plan. My brother wanted to be a conqueror? I was going to turn him into a cliché.
"Elara," I said, turning to my one remaining, truly loyal servant. "You are coming with me. You will be my herald. My one-woman PR department. Go. Spread the word. Tell the people of a new, great prophecy."
While my new Empress Regent, Lia, was grappling with the logistical nightmare of managing a multi-floor empire and preparing for an interdimensional invasion, I was going to be having fun.
I was going to turn my boring, brutish older brother into the star of his own, personal heroic tragedy. And I was going to be the charismatic, misunderstood anti-hero who gets all the best lines.
But as I prepared to leave the stunned and now thoroughly burdened Lia to her new empire, a final, unexpected twist emerged.
It was from Goldie, the Seraphina-Golem, who was still cowering behind my army.
[SERAPHINA:] *Wait! You idiot! There's more! You don't understand what he is!* she screamed in my mind.
"He's my brother with a new army and a bad attitude," I replied. "It's not that complicated."
[KAELEN-GOLEM:] *No! When the Abyss fell, he did not just conquer it! He MERGED with it! He found its 'Core', the heart of the entire dimension!*
[SERAPHINA:] *Your brother is not just the King of the Abyss, you moron! He IS the Abyss! He is a living, breathing, and now actively invading, Main Core fragment! He is the seventh, final piece of the Omnistructure!*