"The Prominence War?"
Damien and the elder sat at a table together and conversed. Damien's status as an outsider was revealed instantly, so there was no need to put up a false front. Their conversation started from matters of the outside world; the Nox invasion, the different sectors and races of Grand Heavens Boundary, the Dimensional Leaderboard, etc., to matters of Aquazyl with time. Now that they'd laid their cards on the table and built a modicum of trust, they finally arrived at the main topic.
"Yes. Aquazyl has another name, the Sea God's Realm. The Prominence War is a war for sovereignty that takes place every 100,000 years. It is a fierce struggle between our five clans of Aquazyl, the Sea God's descendants." The old man explained.
"Mhm, that part is easy to understand. My question is: why, though? Wars for sovereignty aren't special, so what's the reason it only occurs every 100,000 years?" Damien questioned.
"Hm, you're an observant one, I see. I don't mind telling you. After all, even if you know, nothing will change. The Prominence War only takes place every 100,000 years because that is the standard set by the Sea God. As for the reason for this standard to even exist…"
"The reward for the final winner of the war is not merely sovereignty over Aquazyl. Rather, it is sovereignty over the Emperor Bone Sea as a whole."
Damien's eyes widened in shock. He slammed the table with surprise as he exclaimed, "what?! Is it even possible to have sovereignty over the Emperor Bone Sea?!"
"Of course," the old man replied with a smile. "The entire Emperor Bone Sea is a treasure refined by the Sea God using his life's achievements and knowledge. Gaining sovereignty over it with individual strength is naturally nigh-impossible, but if the Sea God grants the position, it will be universally accepted within the Emperor Bone Sea without question."
"Then I…!"
"That's impossible." The old man cut him off. "Only the five clans: the Tephit Clan, the Oga Clan, the Hubo Clan, the Verxis Clan, and our Ruvia Clan can lay claim to the throne. Our clans are descended from the Sea God and his five wives respectively. Only by possessing the bloodline of one of these clans does one have the right to the throne in the Prominence War."
"Though, this doesn't mean you can't participate. It merely means that the rewards you gain will remain material. You'd essentially be playing the role of a mercenary for whichever clan decides to hire you."
Damien sighed in astonishment as the old man finished speaking. "Just what kind of person is the Sea God? Is he still alive?"
The old man sighed as well, however, his sigh was far more downtrodden. "The Sea God…is dead. We do not know how or even where he died, but the Prominence War's existence is proof of his death. The legends tell many tales of the Sea God. He was a man who reached the peak of Death and Water Laws, even touching upon the Law of Creation. His wives were all mythical Godbeasts, none even close to ordinary. The legends are too numerous to recount at the moment, but I'm sure you understand just what kind of character the Sea God was."
Damien nodded strongly. He still remembered the system's message during his very first class change.
The foundational laws of the universe were separated into layers: The 5 elements, Life and Death, Space and Time, Creation and Destruction, and perhaps something above even them. For the Sea God to touch upon a law that symbolized the peak of the universe with its very existence was enough to show just what level of strength and influence he'd reached.
Not to mention, if the Emperor Bone Sea was truly a treasure refined by him, he was clearly above the level of the Grand Heavens Boundary.
Perhaps Damien was underestimating Demigods, but he didn't believe a Demigod could create something as intricate as the Emperor Bone Sea.
The Emperor Bone Sea held and birthed life. It was a self-contained macrocosm. It was just a single step below the ability to create one's own world, an ability that reached the realm of Godhood.
"The Prominence War created by such an individual…can't be simple," Damien muttered.
The old man chuckled. "Simple? Haha, not in the slightest. The condition to win the Prominence War is the complete extermination of the other four clans. Can that be called simple in any way?"
"Hm? There should only be a few hundred of you in each clan, no? It shouldn't be that hard." Damien asked curiously.
The old man shook his head. "You're wrong. We are merely an outer branch of the Ruvia Clan. Our five clans contain millions of descendants each. If not for our bloodline bond, it would've been better to term us as Empires."
"But I could've sworn I saw the barriers of this realm already…there's no way you can fit so many people here and conceal them so well. If they existed in the vicinity, I would've found them."
"Ah, you mean that barrier? That is but one of many. These barriers serve to separate various battlefields to lessen the chaos. We can battle without harming Aquazyl's ecosystem through this method. Even if we are at war, none of us desire the destruction of Aquazyl."
Damien nodded once more. Most of his questions had been answered by now.
"I get the gist of the situation, but there's still one thing I don't understand. Why would the Sea God want to exterminate his own lineage? Why is he asking his descendants to commit genocide against each other? And…if this genocide took place during the past Prominence Wars as well, how are your five clans still existing?"
The old man smiled and nodded, "I was waiting for you to ask. Our clans, when compared to the influences of the outside world, have a much stranger composition."
"Even after total extermination, our clans can repopulate. In truth, every beast in the Emperor Bone Sea has a trace of the Sea God's bloodline. When a beast reaches a certain level of bloodline maturity, they are transported to Aquazyl and granted intelligence, becoming a part of their parent clan."
"When a total extinction of 4 clans occurs in the Prominence War, the winning clan is given time to grow and fortify the foundation of their influence before the other 4 clans are slowly reformed. When 100,000 years pass, the 5 clans will be at their peaks once more and the Prominence War will begin again."
The old man's face fell. "In the last war, our Ruvia Clan was also eliminated. I've only seen scenes of that war through bloodline memories, but it was truly harrowing. It is not something I wish to see happen in my lifetime."
"That's understandable." Damien agreed. "But by your reasoning, the clan who won the previous war should be considerably stronger than the other 4. Which clan was it?"
The old man looked out the hut's window, seemingly wishing for his gaze to pierce reality and show him what he wanted to see.
"The victors of the previous Prominence War…were none other than the Tephit Clan."
