Once upon a time, in a distant corner of the world, there existed two small nations: Atheira and Veldorn. Their leaders, King Elros of Atheira and Queen Seraphine of Veldorn, were ambitious visionaries. They shared a secret ambition—to rule the world, not just as individual rulers of their modest lands but as the supreme overseers of all nations. Yet, there was a problem. Surrounding them were far more powerful nations, whose military might and influence dwarfed their own. To realize their dream, Elros and Seraphine knew they had to overcome these formidable adversaries.
But the two leaders were also astute strategists. They understood that a direct confrontation with these powerful nations would be suicidal. Instead, they devised a cunning and elaborate plan—one that would not involve their own armies at all but would manipulate the existing tensions between the world’s superpowers. If they could engineer conflict between these dominant forces, the superpowers would destroy each other, leaving a power vacuum for Atheira and Veldorn to fill.
King Elros and Queen Seraphine met in secret, drawing up their grand strategy. The key to their success, they agreed, was deception. By exploiting the deep-seated rivalries and suspicions that already existed between the larger nations, they could fan the flames of conflict without ever being detected.
“We shall be the invisible hand,” Elros whispered one night. “We will set the pieces, and they will destroy themselves.”
“Divide and rule,” Seraphine nodded. “Their own arrogance and distrust will be their undoing.”
Their first target was Oranthia, a massive empire known for its fragile peace with the neighboring power of Taurian. For years, the two nations had been engaged in a cold war, always on the edge of conflict but never quite tipping over. Elros and Seraphine knew that a small spark could ignite the simmering tension into full-blown war.
The leaders began spreading false intelligence, subtly planting rumors that Oranthia was preparing a secret invasion of Taurian’s borders. They fabricated documents, sent anonymous messages, and hired spies to report movements that didn’t exist. At the same time, they infiltrated Taurian’s government, suggesting that a preemptive strike against Oranthia was the only way to secure peace.
Before long, the two superpowers took the bait. Taurian launched an unexpected assault, believing it was defending itself from an imminent threat. Oranthia retaliated with full force. The long-dormant animosity between the nations exploded into war.
But Elros and Seraphine were far from done. While Oranthia and Taurian were locked in their deadly struggle, they set their sights on the Calarian Empire and the Kingdom of Dravos. These two nations were also rivals, though they were bound by a fragile alliance of convenience. The leaders of Atheira and Veldorn played a similar game, stoking suspicions of betrayal between the two.
Soon, accusations flew, and mistrust grew. The alliance broke, and Calaria and Dravos declared war on each other. The chaos spread like wildfire. Nations that had previously maintained delicate balances of power began choosing sides, plunging the entire world into a series of devastating wars.
All the while, Elros and Seraphine watched from the shadows, quietly guiding the course of events, ensuring that no coalition could form to stop the destruction. The world’s mightiest powers tore themselves apart, exhausting their resources, and weakening their armies. What started as isolated conflicts turned into a global catastrophe, leaving the great nations in ruins.
As the dust settled, and the once-great empires lay in tatters, King Elros and Queen Seraphine finally emerged from their hidden machinations. The superpowers that had once dominated the world stage were now too fractured and broken to resist.
With cunning diplomacy, they persuaded the surviving remnants of the world’s governments to unite under a new global order—one led by Atheira and Veldorn. The vision they had once dreamed of was now a reality. No armies had been required. No wars had been fought on their soil. Their enemies had destroyed themselves, leaving the two small nations to rule the world.
And so, King Elros and Queen Seraphine stood together atop the throne of the world. But as they looked out over the broken lands they now controlled, they realized something they hadn’t anticipated: the world they ruled was in ruins. The cost of their victory was a world in need of rebuilding, a world full of mistrust, loss, and chaos. Their dream had come true, but it was built on the ashes of the very civilization they had once aspired to lead.
And so began the long, uncertain reign of Atheira and Veldorn—not as the proud rulers of a thriving world, but as caretakers of a broken one, haunted by the very destruction they had unleashed.