Prologue 3: The Tragedy

The Druids and the Beasts had learnt something after the first war they initiated. Those who had lost their king had learnt of the strength of summoning someone to take their Divine Sword of Eternal Darkness, while those who had pushed the invaders of their homelands back instead chose to pass their Divine Sword down the Hero's Lineage.

Asking 'why' only leads to absurdity or irrelevancy so I'll just move onto what was the resulting fiasco.

If the essence of the Divine Sword of Infinite Light was used to 'create' a bridge between two great worlds, which could be used as a medium for the Hero to be summoned. Then the Beasts was of summoning was to 'destroy' that boundary separating the two worlds temporarily, all in service for the most powerful Beast King to rule them.

Their Oracle gave divinations, speaking of how the new king would be the greatest of all. However, it seemed that the destiny written in the stars hadn't thought that power would eventually corrupt anyone who obtained the might of the sword...

The king brought forth by the summoning was a strange one. He seemed more familiar to the world of ancients that even they were unaware of. Even without prior training, his mastery of the Divine Sword of Eternal Darkness grew tremendously!

At first, he was a wise ruler who had brought about a great change in the kingdom ruled by the Beasts.

After the last battle in ancient times, the power and intelligence of those born of the night had been waning to the point that only lineage clans that had stuck around since the beginning was born with rationality. The only one capable of accessing the might that 'Beasts' of old once had being the benevolent ruler they summoned for assistance.

This gap in power caused their wise king to slowly descend into the madness of indulgence. In his great arrogance, he stopped caring about state affairs and waved everything off so he could taste the hedonistic pleasures as he had never before.

His vile actions slowly became more and more rampant until the benevolent ruler turned into a mere petty tyrant who was useless if not for his absolute power. He was no longer a Beast King, as he became only known as the Demon King...!

A lustful, narrow-minded, whimsical, and disgusting tyrant who earned the ire of all who he looked down on. For years, his reign was an unquestionable truth which his citizens could only reluctantly accept. Even when he monopolised all the beautiful women he saw, whether they be noble or maid, he still couldn't be killed, as even the other Mystic Races feared the dominator of destruction.

Little did he realise that the seeds of hatred he had sown personally by making light of the kingdom's rules and regulations would culminate into a tragedy set by the one most outraged by his behaviour. His loyal, most trusted subordinate and friend, the Grand Duke, and his bosom friend who he had known since the inception of his rule over the kingdom of Beasts: Mephistess Leonidas.

"Tess!" The start of the tragedy was started with an incident that would've shaken the Gods to the very core. A furious king roared with bulging eyes and a terrifying visage at the listless Duke of all Lions.

Behind the man were multiple pyres and maidens burnt to death after crucifixion. The voice of his former king brought light into his empty eyes, yet it was born of a fiery determination he had resolved himself to point towards the betrayer of his trust.

"This is what you deserve!" He watched as the face of the man he once served with his life twisted.

Rage, indignation, despair, outrage, all formed to into a fire much greater than the ones burning before him. Tears of blood ran down his cheeks as the was unable to accept the sight laid before him.

He had been the target of multiple assassinations over the years and was well-guarded. The tyrant hadn't thought much of them because of his absolute power, but this was the first 'rebellion' from his citizens he could laugh off or ignore.

He lifted a hand to wipe the blood off his face, as he was still able to remain sane as he spoke:

"I already know why you did this, but why did you do this to them...! They were all innocent! They-"

"My sister was also innocent!!" Rage was met with an equally bright flame as he looked at his former friend in the eyes, unashamed by what he had done. The blood spilt on this day would have greater consequences, breaking the ancient pact.

"You have doomed this kingdom. Even if this was revenge, what have you accomplished? You're not this sort of heartless villain! You valued the people of this nation much more than anyone. Tess!"

"Enough!" The humanoid lion looked at that still rational expression on his former king's face and exclaimed: "Enough... Alex, enough... You are a worthy ruler, but you don't understand anything."

Even though the Grand Duke would never admit it to anyone, one of the reasons he resolved himself to do this was revealing itself in all its glory. The way his king could stay sane even now scared him right down to his core as he saw those reddened eyes. It was the mere fact that the man before him wasn't lunging at him that spoke of his inhumanity.

His wives and children were given a torturous death by flames, yet here the husbands of those wives and mistresses were talking rationally despite the clear betrayal before him. It seemed like the atrocities he committed was not enough...

He needed to unhinge him!

"You don't seem to care about them." Even the Grand Duke himself felt filthy as he spoke these words to the man who had lost everything before his eyes. Mephistess twisted the knife in his former friend's heart, speaking more freely like a rogue.

"Haha~ Is that how it looks?" The tyrant made a fake laugh while wiping away his tears of blood.

He didn't rub it into his face, instead: The blood seemed to vanish as soon as it touched his hand.

"You were always like a doll than a 'human being' from another world. Before you changed into someone I couldn't recognise, you were always pure and caring towards your subordinates..."

"...Is that why you did this to my family?"

"It was done to wake you up. You damn fake Beast King! No, you unforgivable Demon King!" It was at that moment that the people of the kingdom started to appear where the two were talking.

They were not far from the palace, and the Grand Duke had made sure to keep the heads of the princesses who had been given in marriage to the kingdom intact enough for them to be recognised.

A high scream came out of one of the maids who had worked in the palace amongst the bystanders who were confused about what was happening. Her statement gave a small amount of context, but what the next thing they heard blew their minds:

"I, Head of the Leonidas Household, have caught the treacherous Demon King, Alex Stuman, in the act of burning his wives and children! The wicked tyrant has gone too far!" Mephistess spoke with passion as his talent for politics revealed itself.

He had already been spreading rumours and misinformation about the king's relationship with his family, making it seem like he was ready to snap at any time. This was only possible thanks to the shameless displays the man has done over the years. He had blackmailed the rulers of other nations to obtain the most beautiful women in the lands as his wives and mistresses while showing disproportionate care for his children that could easily be seen as stirring the flames of bitter rivalry.

No good human being could be framed easily, but an overtly bad person wasn't as hard to frame for such a vile act. This was especially true if they had committed similar acts against others. His words stirred the bitterness in the caring citizens' hearts.

"Demon!" One person roared as it slowly became a chant between the citizens as the relationship between them and their ruler broke at that exact moment. A great uprising happened, yet no guard of the palace stopped them from cursing him at all.

The once benevolent ruler looked around to see the looks of hatred, disgust, and fear on those he grown accustomed to looking down on, as they pelted him with stones and foodstuff at him. Even though everything they threw turned into dust the moment it touched his body, the raw emotions from the crowd affected his previous naivety.

He always thought that as the possessor of the Divine Sword, they'd always bow to him regardless of what he did. That was what happened the last time, so why didn't it happen this time as well...?

The Grand Duke succeeded as the stress on his mind became too much to bear. Being blamed for the deaths of his family straight after witnessing their corpses was too much even for him, as the rage he felt was enough to even kill someone else.

Mephistess watched the mechanical expression finally darkening to the point he was losing the will to live. This was exactly what he was hoping to accomplish by his actions, as he knew he was no match for his king in a fair fight to the death.

To finish the job, he held a blade forged by a very renowned blacksmith of the state and approached the Demon King with stable steps. The squadron of assassins his noble family had trained revealed themselves before him as they followed the Duke.

There was a contrast between the elegant Leonidas and the 'Tiger Troop' as one had a head of hair like a mane while the others had tattoo-like stripes on their skin. They looked like they were wearing really elaborate cosplay to Earthlings.

If this was the past, then such a scene wouldn't have played out the same way as Beasts normally had the endurance to stay in their true forms for longer. Now, they were much more like humans as the Dark Mana they had in the past downgraded to Dark Qi, which could barely enhance them on the same level Mana did, causing their tactics to differ.

Tools and equipment became a more effective investment over the years as they could no longer solely rely on their bodies to fight. The cunning of the Beasts born from the darkness was deadly...!

After arriving in front of the Demon King, he didn't hesitate to stab his former ruler into his heart. The blood of the man who was arguably deserving of such betrayal spilt on the floor, which didn't really seem to make the Grand Duke happy one bit.

He went for the heart, but a hand was pierced instead. It looked like the survival instincts of the shell of a man before him was still working even after his spirit was broken. However, this was something he had already prepared himself for.

The people cheered as the freakish tyrant who had dominated all was being slain. It was at this point members of the tiger troop stepped in and stabbed him from all sides, only to find their effort in vain as their weapons turned to dust upon making contact.

"You won't live a good life after killing them." It was then a heart chilling voice softly entered his ears.

He couldn't stop this now. Everything was banking on this moment. The dagger in his hand was specially made to resist the destructive energy of the Divine Sword of Eternal Darkness, which had yet to be brandished despite being held by him.

"You monster...!" Even though Mephistess had spent his entire life training his body so it could be as strong as it could be and was a descendant of the previous Beast King, he was unable to move his knife by an inch even with all his mustered power.

This was the inferiority of the current Beast Race on full display. Even someone who had his spirit broken by the schemes and treachery of another still couldn't be killed despite such close proximity. Even though Leonidas was using both hands, Alex didn't let go of his Divine Sword as he didn't even tremble as he held the lion back. The Grand Duke continued while gnashing his teeth:

"Just die...! Humans even call us Daemons now because of you. Once you have passed, I'll use the Divine Sword to rectify and create a better future for our kingdom. Even if you're angered by what I've done, I'd rather sin than ruin this nation."

"..." The man didn't speak, and the people who were cheering before could only watch in silent horror as they remembered that no one was a match for their chosen Beast King if he rampaged.

The Tiger Troop were sweating as they were unable to withstand the suppressive force that was emanating out of the injured man who had yet to show intent to kill. Their magical styles of magic arts were useless in front of the indomitable one.

Darkness wrapped around the body of the Demon King as he no longer seemed humanoid, but seemed more like his monicker suggested as he was raising his face towards the Grand Duke.

Even in this intense moment, Mephistess still tried to reason with the monster ready to kill before him.

He then spoke four words straight from his heart, a sincere apology unlike anything spoken until now:

"I'll bear your rage." Knowing he had failed, the humanoid lion knew he had failed in his revolt.

He was ready to be destroyed in one swing of the Demon King's sword, shattering into dust and ash.

It was at that point he finally saw the eyes of his former friend, who looked at him with eyes that were currently being swallowed up by an abyss of emptiness and emotionlessness. The fires of his life force started to fade along with his willpower.

"Bear it you would... If I had any left." These words were the response the Grand Duke never hoped to hear from the king he betrayed. He wished his king could stay as that hedonistic trash like before. The kind who would get angry. Not the man before him.

"I'm sorry..." Tears streamed down his face as the lion couldn't bear the weight of this betrayal himself. The calming of these raging flames made him gain enough clarity to spot his sister amongst the crowd, looking at him while covering her son's eyes at his cruelty. He couldn't even get a word out before she took the child and left without regret.

This was expected of his strong and moral sister...

"I never forced her." As if the last ember of Alex's emotions were igniting, he spoke while unable to stop himself from clarifying: "I had never forced any of them. I... had always loved them."

The pain in the Grand Duke's heart became even stronger, but he couldn't put down his weapon. It was already done, he had already committed an atrocity, and people were killed, so how could he possibly stopped now after sacrificing others?

It was at that point the king's eyes finally lost the tiniest glimmer of their light. His heart had been killed, and as a result, the rest of him started to die as well, unable to hold up his existence without one of the fundamental pillars keeping him alive.

The knife finally gave out and was destroyed, but all Mephistess got was a push throwing him away.

The floor was dyed crimson as the dreadful Demon King everyone feared took his own life, and a magic circle similar to the one they used to summon him appeared on his body. It only took a moment before he disintegrated himself into dust.

The Divine Sword of Eternal Darkness fell to the ground as the Beast King had passed on.

Thus, the dominator of destruction lost his life...