1 Hero Summoning

In the continent of Krichez, there are constant wars between kingdoms due to a greed for more land and resources.

The Aeon Kingdom has suffered defeat after defeat, reducing their total size to just a few cities at the eastern tip of Krichez.

The Omni Empire, situated in the center of Krichez, grew in size and controlled more than 50% of the territory of the continent.

The Tyz Kingdom was similarly forced back to the western edge of Krichez after suffering defeat from the Omni Empire.

The Aeon Kingdom was pushed into using their trump card, the hero summoning ritual, to prevent the destruction of their kingdom.

*Cough* "Spare... me..." Mumbled a man in tattered clothing, surrounded by musty stone walls around him with metal bars at the only opening of this room.

"Hahaha, squeal louder for me you pig."

In an underground chamber, a young teenage girl wearing a black dress is laughing maniacally while whipping a man on the ground.

*Knock knock*

Sounds could be heard at the door to the underground dungeon as somebody disturbed the girl's happy moment.

"Who is it?" Asked the young girl, clearly unhappy being disturbed while she's on the verge of ecstasy.

"Princess Lilliane, King Augustine has requested your presence at the audience chamber," the guard replied, right after he heard a response from the young girl.

"Oh? Do you know what father needs of me?"

"I believe it's about the summoning ritual happening in a few hours."

"Ah! It's already that time. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Tell father I'll be there soon."

"Yes, princess." The guard answered and quickly left the underground dungeon.

"Looks like today is your lucky day. You get to rest for awhile until the summoning ritual is over. I wonder if the hero will produce a lovelier voice when he gets whipped…" The princess voiced her thoughts out loud, not bothered by the fact that the man in front of her knew about her hidden agenda towards the upcoming hero.

After leaving the cell and locking it up, the princess noticed the man in front of her glaring at her with deep hatred within his eyes. Overjoyed at this sight, the princess placed the whip on the table near the door and left.

"Make sure you two keep him alive." The princess mentioned to the two guards standing outside the underground prison.

"Yes, princess!" Both of them replied at the same time in a synchronized manner.

"And as usual, make sure you don't speak a word about what happened behind those doors. I know you were listening closely. Otherwise, tragedy might fall onto you and your family, hehe," the princess threatened, confident in their ability to keep it a secret.

When the princess first started her hobby of torturing pretty boys and men, the guards who were stationed outside the underground prison were surprised after they discovered the princess' unhealthy hobby. They went and informed the king about the princess' abnormal behaviour, resulting in their immediate demise when the king ordered his other guards to silence them.

News of the two guard's death travelled fast through the palace, and on the next day, the two new guards assigned to stand outside the prison's door were scared out of their minds after they were notified about their new work location. They told themselves that they would never mention a word about what's happening behind the doors to anyone, lest they be the next ones killed.

The princess arrived at the audience chamber, looking straight at the man sitting on the decorated throne in the center of the room. A bright red carpet leads the path from the door to the throne, with many portraits of past rulers hanging on the walls in the room.

The man sitting on the throne appeared to be somewhat aged, with a good portion of his hair already white which signified his long life. Although the man is getting on with his years, a majestic aura can still be detected from his body, as if it was natural for him to lead his citizens towards a promising future.

"Father, you disrupted my fun…" Pouted the princess.

"Lilliane, today is an important day. We will be summoning the hero to our kingdom in just a moment. With the hero, we will finally be able to turn the tides against the Omni Empire. After losing time and time again, our land has been reduced to a mere fraction of its former glory," King Augustine replied, excited for the bright future ahead of their Aeon Kingdom.

*Knock knock*

A guard knocked on the door and entered after receiving permission.

"Princess Lilliane, King Augustine, the preparations for the summoning ritual is ready, please follow us to the plaza". The guard bowed to the king and princess, then informed them about the completion of the summoning ritual's preparation.

"Good. It seems like all the mages combined have enough mana to perform the summoning." King Augustine cheerfully chatted with princess Lilliane on the way to the plaza while following the guards that lead the way.

"Yes father, good thing we have that summoning orb found by our ancestors in the dungeon, otherwise our kingdom would get swallowed up by the Omni Empire."

"Lilliane, you must convince the hero to fight for our kingdom, even if you have to use your body as compensation."

"Ugh.. Father, can't we just use a slavery crest on the hero to force him to listen to our commands?"

"Lilliane, if the hero chooses to suicide, the fate of our kingdom will end in tragedy."

"Can't we just command the hero to not suicide?"

"We could, but if we turn the hero into a slave, he won't be motivated to fight for our kingdom. Lilliane, this is an important decision for our kingdom, can't you just accept my request? I know you kept a few male slaves for your hobby and I won't stop you from doing that in the future. However, I need you to brainwash the hero into fighting for us."

"Fine…" Lilliane pouted as she finally gave in to her father.

At the plaza, many townspeople have gathered around the perimeter of the summoning circle to watch the event that will change the fate of their kingdom. Some of the guards have spread out a few meters away from the summoning circle to prevent civilians from getting too close to the circle.

"Ah! King Augustine and Princess Lilliane are here!" One of the townspeople shouted.

"Princess Lilliane is still as beautiful as ever, I wish she would be my wife."

"Hah, you wish buddy, do you think somebody as poor as you could get a princess as your wife?"

"There's nothing wrong with wishing for that to happen. It's not like it's completely impossible. I've even spoken to princess Lilliane before when she was walking around the town."

"Hah, I hate to break it to you, but princess Lilliane is gentle and nice to everybody, not just you."

"Hahahaha..." Laughter can be heard in the plaza as one person was being mocked by other people living in this city.

"Everybody, please quiet down." A guard shouted out loud to stifle the commotion so King Augustine can speak.

King Augustine and Princess Lilliane walked onto a raised wooden platform a few meters above the ground.

"My fellow citizens, today marks the day our kingdom will make a comeback! No longer will we suffer defeat from the Omni Empire after we summon the hero who will lead us to victory!" King Augustine shouted, trying to raise the morale of his citizens.

"Long live King Augustine! Long live Princess Lilliane!" The guards, mages, and townspeople all shouted after hearing King Augustine's words.

King Augustine nodded pridefully to the cheers that supported him and his daughter. "We will now begin the summoning ritual. Mages, commence the chant to start pooling your mana into the summoning orb."

"Yes, Your Majesty." All the mages around the summoning circle began their chants and the summoning orb started shining. The summoning circle turned bright red as the incantation continued.

A few minutes after the chants started, a blinding light covered the area as the mages were all drained of their mana.

Seconds after the blinding light subsided, screams can be heard at the plaza.

"Ouch, something just bit my foot."

"Fuck! Which one of you fuckers just bit my hand?"

"AHHH IT HURTS!"

"What's wrong?"

"This man is biting me, help me get him off!

"AHHH!!" Panic erupted around the plaza as shouts could be heard from every direction.

"What's going on? What happened with the summoning ritual?" King Augustine asked the nearby guards, confused as to what's causing the commotion since his vision hasn't adjusted yet due to the blinding light from the summoning ritual.

"Father, there are people below us attacking each other, did the summoning fail?" Princess Lilliane spoke to her father right after her vision restored.

"Nonsense, our ancestors clearly left behind a note informing his descendants about the summoning orb that he found in the Dungeon and instructions on how to use it. I've also asked some of our best magicians in the kingdom to inspect it and they confirmed that it was a genuine summoning orb." King Augustine proudly replied to his daughter, as if the discovery of the summoning orb was his own achievement.

"Then what's causing the frenzy below us? I can see some people attacking each other and most of the attackers are wearing weird clothes," Princess Lilliane asked, after glancing at the plaza a few meters in front of them.

"Hmm… I'm not too sure. Guards, go restrain the attackers in the plaza." Trying to assess the situation, King Augustine ordered some of his guards to calm down the panic in front of them.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At the plaza, shortly after the summoning, the zombies at the outer perimeter of the summoning circle were in a dazed state since their surroundings were silent for awhile. A few seconds after being summoned over, the zombies heard the noise around them and became active again, dashing at the nearby townspeople and guards that were clamoring around the plaza.

In the center of the summoning circle, a group of people could be seen spread out within a few meters of each other, equipped with some basic weapons such as metal pipes and sticks.

However, there was a group of three people that were grouped up closely, carrying a couple of backpacks and suitcases containing their supplies. All of them were currently holding their position, trying to minimize the amount of noise emitted by them while assessing their situation.

In addition to the zombies, two zombie dogs also jumped at the townspeople, biting them and taking chunks of flesh out of their prey, which quickly increased the casualties around the plaza.

"Everybody, stay calm and back away from the plaza."

Some of the guards shuffled through the panicking townspeople, trying to get to the center of the plaza to restrain the attackers.

One of the guards noticed a man biting a dead body in front of him and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey man, what's wrong with you?"

The zombie raised its head, with blood and flesh dripping out of its mouth, then jumped at the nearby guard, biting his hand and tearing a chunk of meat off.

"AHHH That hurts!" The guard started screaming after his hand got bit, bleeding profusely due to the flesh that was torn off.

"What happened?" Asked a nearby guard, worried about his friend that eagerly went ahead of the group.

"This man is insane, he was eating other people earlier and suddenly bit my hand." Stated the injured guard, shaking with fear due to the pain and disbelief of the event happening in front of him.

"Everyone, restrain these madmen in front of us. They're a threat to our citizens!" Yelled the guard captain, trying to take control of the situation.

"Yes Captain!"

All of the guards drew their swords and spears to threaten the unarmed zombies to surrender. However, the nearby zombies madly leaped at the guards as if their thirst for meat skyrocketed due to all the noise in the surroundings in addition to the smell of blood from the injured people nearby.

The guards slashed and pierced at the zombies, hitting them on the arms and legs, trying their best to incapacitate the zombies.

Unfortunately for them, the zombies have no sense of pain and continued their mad dash towards the guards. The zombies attacked the guards that were at the front of the formation, biting their arms, chest, or neck. With an insane jaw strength, the zombies easily tore through the guard's leather armour as if it was just a regular piece of clothing.

When the guards at the front were attacked, the guards behind them began to panic due to the scene of the zombies that defy their common sense. Being able to ignore the pain from getting slashed by a sword or pierced by a spear frightened all of the guards, causing them to believe the zombies are immortal monsters with the face and body of a human.

"Men! Stay calm and return to your positions! Aim for the head, these madmen will die after getting beheaded!" Yelled the guard captain, notifying the rest of the guards after he miraculously killed a zombie by slicing its head off with a swing of his sword.

Unfortunately for the guard captain, two zombie dogs ran through the formation during the moment of panic.

'Dammit, I hope the guards in the back can handle those two animals that got through our formation,' thought the guard captain, worried about the casualties those animals will cause.

King Augustine and Princess Lilliane walked down the raised platform, trying to get closer to their personal guards due to the madmen that appeared after the summoning ritual.

"Father, did the mages not have enough mana to properly summon the hero? You said that the summoning orb shouldn't have caused this, which means that it was the mana supply of our mages that should've caused this tragedy," Princess Lilliane deduced, confident of her wit since that is the only reasonable explanation.

"Yes, that should be what caused this Lilliane," the King replied, proud of his intelligent daughter.

'Although she does have a crazy tendency to torture men, her intelligence will hopefully be enough to allow our kingdom to prosper in the future.' The King thought about the problems that might come up in the future, since his wise daughter has such an unhealthy hobby.

"Your Majesty! Watch out!" Shouted the guards around King Augustine and Princess Lilliane.

King Augustine quickly turned around after he heard the warning. Immediately after, fear spread throughout his body as a zombie dog was already mid-jump in its dash towards him.

Time seemed to slow down as the king tried to raise his arms to defend himself on instinct.

Before the guards could react, King Augustine felt pain on the right side of his body. Looking at where the pain originated from, he noticed that part of his right arm is missing below the elbow joint.

"AHHHHHH!" The King screamed loudly after he saw the rest of his arm in the jaws of the animal that jumped towards him earlier.

"Kyaaah! Father!" Princess Lilliane shrieked loudly after she discovered the pool of blood beside her father as well as his arm that's been torn off.

"Somebody find a priest so they can cast heal on my father!" Princess Lilliane commanded the nearby guard, while some of the remaining guards surrounded the zombie dog.

"Princess, let's return to the castle. It's not safe here," the personal knight of Princess Lilliane stated. He then grabbed the remaining arm of the King and rested it on his shoulder to support the King's retreat.

"Father, you're gonna be okay. Once the priest is here, they will heal you back to normal." Princess Lilliane said to her father, trying to calm him down even though her own voice was shaky.

"Lilliane…. If I die…. I want you to evacuate with some of our best guards and knights… Cross the sea and head east to the Loaz Continent… Live on and forget about our kingdom… It's my fault for being unable to prevent our Kingdom's doom… I don't want you to die with it..." King Augustine slowly told his daughter, aware of his impending death due to the major blood loss.

"No…. Father… Don't leave me ..." With tears rolling down her cheeks, Princess Lilliane muttered softly, sobbing while talking to her father.

"Ack ugh …" King Augustine began to cough out blood. His face is rapidly turning pale due to all the blood loss. With a dimming consciousness, his eyelids started to slowly drop.

"Fiona… I will finally be able to see you again... " King Augustine mumbled deliriously after seeing a bright figure in his vision resembling his wife who passed away shortly after giving birth to Lilliane.

With his remaining hand stretched in front of him, a rare smile appeared on his face. He realized he hadn't smiled in all these years after the death of his wife along with the decline of his kingdom.

Soon after, his arm lost strength and drooped by his side. His eyes began to lose color and slowly turned milky white.

"Noooooo!!!" Princess Lilliane cried loudly.

Princess Lilliane's personal knight softly placed the king down onto the floor while Lilliane is crying and hugging onto the body of her father.

A sense of depression spread amongst the guards that followed the king and princess' retreat. Nobody would've expected this to happen on the day of the hero summoning ritual.

All of the guards began to cry softly, aware that the king had tried everything he could to save their kingdom from extinction. The amount of effort he spent over the last couple of years allowed them to still exist today. However, all of it began to fall apart with the appearance of those madmen and crazy animals.

A few minutes after they started crying, a hint of movement could be detected from King Augustine's remaining left arm.

"U…..Uur.... Uurrgghhhh..." Soft mumbling sounds could be heard from the king's body.

"Eh??? Father...?" Shocked, Princess Lilliane woke up from her depression. Being the closest person to King Augustine, she quickly detected his movement and moans.

"Your Majesty is still alive! The priest should arrive soon!" The guards nearby started cheering after they all noticed that their king was still alive.

"Father!" Happiness spread throughout Princess Lilliane's body as she hugged her father's body. A lovely smile appeared on her face which contrasted her earlier sadness.

King Augustine's opened his eyes, showing blood red pupils in the center. As he began to gain more strength in his body, he turned his head towards Princess Lilliane and opened his mouth. With his jaws wide open, he bit into her shoulder.

"KYAHHHHHHH!"