Prologue

As golden hour approached, the sky was painted in hues of orange and pink, casting a warm glow over the landscape.

A dark haired man stood in the ruins of a city, above a mountain of debris, tightly gripping a blood-soaked short sword.

He bathed in the golden light, watching the day slowly give way to night. A moment suspended between the chaos of the day and the serenity of evening, where everything seemed possible.

Once-bustling streets now littered with corpses and stained with blood, debris scattered all over.

He stood amidst the chaos, lost in thought gazing upon the desolation.

Intense bloodlust prickled the back of his head. He turned and directed his gaze at his oppressors.

A large army stood before him.

"Have I done any wrong?" he asked, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

He rambled on, his voice taking a manic edge. "All we wanted was a place to call our home, a place we could be free!"

"For years, we have lived under the weight of oppression but still we sought peace. We hoped for a future where we could coexist.

And what did we get as the fruits of our labor? The cold tips of your weapons pressed against our throats. Those same weapons you had aimed at one another for centuries"

As the sun set behind him, casting long shadows across the field the tension grew. Sweat trickled down the foreheads of the soldiers and their leaders.

"Come on! Say something! Does none of you dare to speak? Not even you Joshua, or has your glib tongue just finally run dry you damned thief?" 

"I am no thief you scum! I am a human and rightful leader of the Kingdom, Joshua Sefort! Those things were nothing but vermin who needed to be exterminated" a man clad in golden armor said stepping forward.

"And to that end, I stand here with the leaders of the four great powers in the continent, queen of the dynasty of Vermeil, the Demon king, and the Dragon king"

"Vermin you say? His voice was low, measured, and the disdain dripped from every word. "From where I stand you are the vermin. You rallied your armies and marched on a city that had never threatened you."

"And not only did you kill those who stood to fight against your injustice, you butchered the defenseless. The women, the children... you slaughtered them where they stood, without hesitation or remorse."

His eyes narrowed, a cold, simmering anger burning beneath his gaze. "So tell me, who's really the vermin here?" 

Unphased by his words, the four stood, prepared for battle.

A tense silence gripped the field, the soldiers watching with growing unease.

Beads of sweat trickled down the foreheads of the soldiers in anticipation. 

As the last rays of light shone onto the battlefield, the blood staining the ground began to stir. 

It lifted from the ground, twisting and coiling in the air, , defying gravity and swirling around him, forming snake-like tendrils.

With a flick of his wrist, the blood the blood responded, twisting into long, jagged forms. Hovering in the air and hardening into deadly spears. 

With no warning, only the faint whistle of air splitting as they shot forward, too fast to track. 

The air cracked with a violent whip, as the blood spears sliced through their targets. 

Metal shrieked as it was torn apart, followed by the wet, sickening crunch of bone splitting and flesh being ripped open. 

There was a brief, hollow thud as bodies collapsed to the ground, the only sound left hanging in the stillness.

The air shimmered around an elderly figure nestled within the ranks. With a long white beard cascading down his chest and a green robe adorned with intricate golden patterns, he stretched out a hand, a faint hum vibrating through the chaos. 

A translucent barrier, tinged with blue, rippled into existence in front of him, absorbing the incoming onslaught. 

The blood spears collided with it, each impact resonating with a sharp crack but failing to penetrate. The force of the barrage sent waves through the shield, distorting the air like heat rising off the desert floor, yet it held firm. 

His jaw clenched, muscles taut, but the shield remained unbroken, deflecting the deadly attack away from his troops. 

"Forward! Now!" he commanded.

The ground trembled as the man's voice echoed, a commanding force that cut through the chaos like thunder.

Without hesitation, his soldiers surged forward, their movements swift and coordinated, emboldened by the power behind his words. 

The tension that had gripped them moments ago seemed to vanish, replaced by a fierce resolve as their feet pounded the earth, weapons raised high, and their eyes locked on the enemy ahead. 

The energy in the air shifted, a wave of momentum driving them into the fray with renewed purpose. 

The man closed his eyes, took a deep breath, 'You don't learn do you' he thought to himself. His lips parted, and from under his breath he commanded, "Suffocate and die!"

The elderly man faltered! His hand twitching in mid-air. A sudden, unnatural silence spread across the battlefield like a cold breeze. 

Soldiers stumbled forward, their weapons slipping from their fingers as their eyes bulged with silent panic.

They clutched their throats, nails digging into their skin as if trying to pry some invisible force away. Desperate gasps escaped them, thin and rasping, but no breath followed. 

They collapsed where they stood, one by one their bodies hit the blood-soaked ground with heavy, final thuds.

The shield degenerates, leaving them defenseless as the blood rained down upon them. Impaling every soul in their path.

Gazing upon the horrific scene, a red-haired man with twisted horns protruding from his skull and leathery wings unfurling behind him charged forward, he launched himself into the air with a powerful leap. 

A dark crimson aura enveloped his beast-like hands, illuminating his features with an otherworldly glow, pulsing with ferocity. 

The air around him thickened, charged with an intense, tangible energy as he descended, sending ripples of energy that distorted the air around him. 

In that moment, he embodied the fury of the storm, a fierce force against the encroaching darkness. 

Without a moment's hesitation, the dark haired man tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, the blade glowing with a fierce golden aura. 

"What evil have I committed? All I've done is give a home to the people who deserve it, and you call me evil for that?"

In one fluid motion, he drew his hand back and released the sword, striking the winged man in the chest, sending him plummeting to the ground with a resounding thud.

He writhed in pain trying desperately to pull out the sword from his chest but it wouldn't budge. Blood poured from the wound as the man approached him.

The dark-haired man hovered ominously above, like a dark shadow against the turbulent sky. His eyes blazed with an intense fury that could incinerate the very air around him. 

Terror gripped his heart. His earlier bravado evaporated, replaced by a raw vulnerability that made him seem smaller, almost fragile, suspended between life and death. 

"Please, I don't want to die!" the winged man begged horrified at the dark-haired man's gaze.

The man leaned closer, his expression unyielding, his eyes cold, "When the citizens of this city begged for their lives as they fled, with eyes filled with the same fear that fills yours now, what did you tell them?" he asked, his voice a chilling whisper.

"What form of mercy did you show them?"

The winged man's mouth opened, but words refused to come out. His eyes widened in terror as darkness crept in and his consciousness slipped away.

With a swift motion the sword was pulled free from his lifeless body. 

Turning to those who remained, fresh blood dripping from his blade, "Who's next?" he demanded.

In the distance, a beautiful blonde woman, with pointed ears extends raised a wooden staff, and begins chanting. 

The air around her begins to shimmer with heat, and a swirling mass of fire starts to form at its tip, growing larger and more intense with each passing second.

"You may be a powerful mage, but even you could not possibly withstand this!"

With a fierce cry, "Dragon buster!" She thrusts her staff forward. The air crackles as the massive fireball condenses, into a blazing sphere of molten fury that hurtles toward him with devastating speed.

The ground trembles beneath them as the fireball tears through the air. Its searing heat leaving scorches everything in its path.

Leaving a trail of molten destruction.

The inferno barrels toward him.

Kaleb let out a disdainful laugh, "I'm no mere mage! I'm the greatest warrior this world has ever seen, the one and only magus!"

He raised his hand stopping the fireball inches from his palm.

"Impossible!" she exclaimed taking a step back. 

The spell broke apart and vanished, leaving nothing but a whisp of smoke.

"How?...how did you stop a ninth tear spell so easily?" she stammered. Her eyes darted around in panic as he vanished from her sight. Desperate she quickly scanned her surroundings.

"Where is.." he cut her short, the sickening sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking echoed through the air, as his blade pierced her heart.

"And don't you ever forget that you pompous bitch!" he whispered in her ear as the light faded from her eyes and she slumped to the ground.

Now surrounded, he looked up at the sky and muttered, "I'm tired of this shit, none of you are worth my time" as he performed a hand sign.

His shadow began to expand, spreading across the ground in a massive circle with him at its center. From the darkest depths of the shadow, ten monstrous figures emerged.

Each one towering above everything, their bodies absorb the light around them. Their eyes glow a fierce crimson as they fully take shape, kneeling before their master.

"We are here, my lord. What is your order?" one spoke.

"I don't care how," he murmured, his voice hollow and lifeless. His gaze remained fixed on the sky, distant and empty. "I want everyone and everything in sight destroyed."

There was no anger, no fire in his tone, just a deep, unsettling void, as though the weight of everything had drained him of any real emotion.

"We understand my lord"

They exuded a palpable aura of power and menace as they wasted no time carrying out their orders. 

The dying screams of the soldiers were drowned out as he sat upon a piece of rubble, and his eyes surveyed the broken remains of what was his home. 

"I hope you are all in a better place now, I am sorry for failing you" his words trembled with sorrow and regret.

He whispered their names to the wind, feeling the weight of their loss, the guilt of survival heavy on his heart.

Just as a tear slipped down his cheek, a cold blade plunged into his back.

"I knew if anyone would kill me it would be you, Joshua," he said, his voice cracking as he chuckled weakly. 

"Go to hell!"

His heartbeat slowed, each pulse echoing in the silence of his mind. With each passing second, his senses dulled, the once-vibrant battlefield slipping away into a dark void. 

The darkness seemed to whisper to him, a chorus of regret and lost chances. 

And then, just as the weight of despair threatened to pull him under, he woke with a start, his body jerking upright in bed. 

"What the hell?" he gasped scanning the dim room with wide eyes . His chest heaved, breath ragged as his heart slammed against his ribs.

Slowly, the pulse in his ears quieted, his breathing steadying.

Rising to his feet, he rushed to a nearby window, glancing out, bustling streets below were a blur of life, as if untouched by the strange darkness that had gripped him moments before. 

His mind raced, unable to make sense of the unexplainable scene he had witnessed. He stood there trying to piece together fragments of whatever he had seen. 

But the more he searched, the less he remembered. After minutes of deliberation, all he had come up with was a question.

"What the hell kind of dream was that?" he murmured, but even as he said it, a creeping sense of dread twisted in his gut.

Whatever it was, it felt too real. Too familiar.