Tyranny of Steel



Hans sat at his dusk while fumbling with a round, and golden colored crystal. It had been years since his father had given him this divine artifact, and during this time, he had never truly paid the price which was required to gain its power. 

After all, he had never felt the need to carve out his own eye and replace it with the eye of Horus. But recently he had begun to feel quite paranoid, not only about his own personal safety, but that of his family. 

The peace which his father had established had lasted for decades, and though one might think this would bring a wince of calm to the new Kaiser, Hans had grown increasingly anxious as time passed. He had begun to question who was friend, and who was foe. To the point where it ate at his mind throughout the night. 

Knowing that he had the power to confirm someone's true feelings towards him. Hans struggled to come to terms with the price he must pay to be able to wield such power. Currently, there was a scalpel sitting on his desk, along with some rubbing alcohol. If he was going to do this, then he would not have it done as a surgical procedure, which he could very well do. No, that defeated the purpose of the sacrifice that must be paid. 

Instead, Hans intended to follow the same path as his father, who had earned this great power, by shedding his own flesh. Thus, after careful consideration, and a bit of liquid courage. Hand grabbed hold of the scalpel, and dipped it in the rubbing alcohol, ensuring that it was sterilized before slowly but surely beginning to cut out his right eye. 

The pain was unbearable, and at several times, Hans thought that he was going to die, but in the end, a severed eyeball fell to the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. Once he had done this, it was only a mtter of shoving the glowing gem into his empty eye socket, which he was quick to do. 

In a matter of seconds, the damage that had been done to Hans' eye was repaired, and along with it was a shimmering golden eye. One which paired well with his other sapphire iris. Once he had fully regained his sight, Hans looked into the mirror to inspect his appearance. 

The man was practically fifty, and his signature strawberry blonde hair, which he had inherited from his mother, had begun to grey. Yet, he was still an incredibly handsome man, much like his father. Thus, he smiled at his appearance. Until, however, he heard a voice in his head. 

"Oh, has Berengar passed on already? Odd, why was I not invited to the celebration?"

Hans quickly looked around to see where the voice was coming from and confirmed he was all alone. He simply sighed and looked at the mess he had created before commenting on his own delusion. 

"I must have scrambled my brains..." 

However, the same voice repeated itself with a rather conceited tone.

"On the contrary, you are a perfectly sane mortal. I was once the guardian of this artifact, and I have left behind a little remnant of my soul to ensure that it passed on to a worthy successor. Tell me, what is your relation to Berengar?" 

Although Hans still believed he was suffering from a delusion, he decided to entertain the voice in his head, for whatever reason, and quickly spoke about his lineage. 

"I am Berengar's eldest son, Hans von Kufstein. How do you know my father?" 

The voice responded back to Hans with a bit of a petty tone in his voice. Almost as if he was angry with Berengar about something. 

"You are Berengar's eldest son? Not was? Am I to believe that he is still alive? And yet he has already removed the Eye of Horus to pass on to you? Figures he would do something like that. Well, I suppose it is a good thing he still draws breath, because I would have had to have words with that bastard Odin about not inviting me to the celebration!"

Berengar had seldom mentioned the gods to Hans, or how he had obtained what he called the eye of Horus. Thus, Hans had no idea who he was speaking to, or if this was even reality. But he was quick to inquire about the identity of this supernatural being. 

"Who are you? You haven't answered my question!"

The voice seemed to snap back to reality, as if it were thinking about something, before responding to Hans' question. 

"I am Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Underworld. And I met your father many years ago, when he entered my domain, to claim the eye of Horus as his own. Your father succeeded where many had perished. And by right, this artifact belongs to him. But if he has chosen to pass it onto you, his heir, I see no reason to withhold its powers from you.

You have paid the price to obtain its power. Though I must warn you, due to your father's influence over Egypt and Sudan, my powers, and those of my peers are quickly being restored, and because of that the Eye of Horus will now be more powerful than it was in your father's possession. It might even drive you to madness. 

Knowing the risks, do you still wish to obtain its power?" 

  Hans did not even hesitate to answer this question. Immediately after Anubis had asked, he responded with confirmation of his will. 

"Yes... I need to know who is loyalty to me, and who is plotting against me!" 

There was almost a sound of satisfaction in Anubis's voice as he responded to Hans' words. 

"A wise choice... I look forward to what you do with this power. Or if it truly will drive you to madness. You have my blessing, for what that is worth. And good luck in your future endeavors." 

After saying this, Hans's vision flashed into a bright golden light, and he was knocked unconscious by the supernatural power. He did not awake for nearly two weeks, but when he did, he could not only see past people's facades, and sense their Auras. But he could even get a measure of their thoughts. Granting him the ability to know with absolute certainty who planned to harm him, and how they planned to do it. 

And thus, the heirs to the German Throne would forever have the power to prevent any plots and schemes which sought to undermine their rule, or bring harm to the von Kufstein Dynasty. As for how Hans spoke about his golden eye, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. He did not. In fact, he immediately concealed it with colored contacts. As far as the world was aware, he was the same as he had always been. 

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I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_26235247006730205 which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!