45 A hero from the past, and a hero from the present.

Over 2,000 years ago there was a man named Rudra Nam Ul Nasca. He was the first man to become a hero. He was a prince of a powerful nation. And he had a wish to explore the world.

Star King Veldanava, the creator of the universe, had fallen for his sister. And his sister had fallen for Veldanava. Thanks to his sister's relationship, they had gotten close and he had learned a lot from him. Letting him increase his strength by leaps and bounds. And he had even awakened the Ultimate skill Uriel, lord of vows.

He was a bit childish, yet he grew to be extremely strong. The skill he had earned from becoming a hero was called Chosen Hero. And with it, he began his career as a hero across the world. Using both Uriel and Chosen Hero he became so proficient with both of them that the skills themselves would work perfectly when used together.

Chosen hero would strengthen his followers and himself, and Uriel would enhance the bond with his followers and grant him control over space. It was a combination that helped Rudra become a great hero.

His goal was to unify the world so that they would no longer have wars. So he had to make a hard choice. He had exchanged his precious Uriel with Veldanava's Michael, Lord of Justice. One of the most powerful skills to exist at the moment.

The reason for this exchange was due to Michael's skill to summon an army of angels. With it, Rudra would destroy the armies and technological advancements of the people. He had heard stories from Veldanava about how technology had advanced so much in one world that they had all destroyed themselves with something called nuclear weapons. Leaving a destroyed and empty planet behind.

Rudra had made his mind to stop this from happening. And if the armies and technologies of the world didn't advance past a certain point he was sure he would one day be able to unify the world.

It wasn't long after Veldanava had started to date his sister that Velgrynd, Veldanava's sister and one of the true dragons, had come to visit too. He had no clue what he had done but Velgrynd ended up falling in love with him. She began to follow him around on his adventures after that. Taking every chance she could to pamper him.

Together with his sister and his team, he left to a place where a demon lord lived called the frozen continent. He had gone there to see what he could find inside. He was wondering what kind of treasures the demon lord who controlled the harsh land would have.

He had arrived at a castle and a handsome man with long red hair came out to greet him. He was ready to fight with the one who had survived on his way here.

Only a few blows were exchanged in the 1v1 fight before they stopped for a moment. Rudra's skill with the sword was so great that even Guy was struggling to keep up with him without taking his sword out.

"You deserve my praise, you were able to make me draw my weapon. What is your name? I will make sure to remember it." Guy said

"Rudra Nam Ul Nasca. It is not every day that you are complimented by a demon lord. What is your name?"

"My name is Guy, because anyone in front of me will scream Giiya! That is why I chose my name." Guy said with pride in his voice.

But Rudra lowered his weapon.

"Wait, if we fight here your name will be written down on the stories about my bravery. A name like that won't look too good! We need to make sure that all of my recorded fights have good names to go along with it." Rudra said with a slightly panicked voice.

"The name doesn't matter, I think my name is good."

"Time out! The fight is on pause now. Let me think of a better name real quick." Rudra said as he put his sword away.

Guy decided to hold off to see what the strange human in front of him would come up with. And in just a few minutes.

"Crimson! Your hair is Crimson red. How about Guy Crimson? I think it sounds really good. From now on your name will be Guy Crimson"

Once those words left his mouth he dropped down to the ground unconscious. The burden of naming such a strong demon taking its toll on his body.

Once he woke up and recovered his strength they began to fight.

Time and time again they would fight. Unable to choose a proper winner between the two of them.

With every fight, their bond would grow closer and closer. Since Rudra had named Guy, they had created the strong bond that came with naming.

One day Guy noticed that Rudra was struggling a bit to keep up. And after some questioning, he found out the reason why.

"The lord of justice skill I received from Veldanava is a bit too strong for my body to use. It takes a toll on my body every time I use it." Rudra said.

"In that case, how about we have a different type of duel?"

"A different duel?"

"I no longer want to kill you. So how about instead of us fighting we let our people fight each other? You want to make the whole world unite and join together as one. And I think that is a stupid idea. Humans will never have peace unless they are wiped off every wish they might have. The moment one human wants something he does not have, a struggle is bound to arrive.

So how about it? We can build our armies and fight each other. I haven't ever submitted to anyone. Not even Veldanava himself. So if you are able to unify the world as you told me you would. I will submit to you.

Veldanava assigned me to keep balance in the world. So if you are able to become the best king of the world there won't be any more need for my work. I will fight you back using my own forces, so it won't be an easy game. How about it?"

"I like that idea. But you got one thing wrong. I don't want to be the 'best king of the world'… I just want to put a smile on everyone's faces."

A laugh left both of their lips before the game begun.

From then on Rudra returned and the game between Rudra and Guy began. Since using Michael was such a huge toll on his body, Rudra began to use a secret technique taught by Veldanava to transfer his soul, memories, and powers onto his child. Creating a cycle of reincarnation in which he could continue to rule.

Many misfortunes happened in the time that followed. Veldanava had a daughter with Lucia, Rudra's sister, and had lost most of his powers. Leaving him extremely weakened. And in a terrorist attack that had happened when Rudra was far away, both Veldanava and Lucia had lost their lives.

Milim had grown a bit and the mad king Jahil murdered her pet dragon. Causing Milim to go on a rampage around the world. A world-ending event that was only stopped thanks to Ramiris' intervention.

And little by little Rudra's soul began to weaken with every reincarnation. At some point, he had lost his true hero status, losing the skill Chosen Hero along with it. Time and time again he lost a little of himself.

…

(Present time)

In his office was the leader of the Rosso family, Granbell Rosso. He was a man who had risen from nowhere and created a metaphorical empire. He was the most influential man of the western states.

He had lived for over a thousand years now. Looking and protecting humanity from the shadows. The reason for his long life span was his status as a true hero. He was a man who had devoted his life to protecting humanity from monsters.

After he was defeated by Luminous he joined her side. He saw that she had only created a kingdom to feed her fellow vampires. And while he detested the idea he was willing to accept it. Luminous didn't have any wish to expand her territory. She didn't even want to grow her population by bringing people from other kingdoms. All she wanted was for her people to have food. And that was acceptable enough. He would be willing to sacrifice those people if it meant keeping the demon lord in check.

The reason why he hadn't organized crusades out towards the demon lords is that as long as they have a small territory they will be happy leaving the rest of the world alone. A small compromise that would keep the rest of the world safe.

However, he had just gotten terrible news. A new demon lord had been born. One that wasn't satisfied staying in his place. He had begun to expand his territory with no end in sight. By now the demon lord had a third of the continent in his power. Something that was absolutely unacceptable.

If he wasn't stopped the demon lord would continue to gain power until humanity would be at risk of destruction. He had gone to Luminous to request the assistance of Hinata and the holy knights but his request had been completely denied. He knew what he had to do.

He had been an ally with Luminous up until now. But if it meant protecting the world he would throw everything away. After all, he had nothing to lose. He had lost the person he loved the most, and the empire he had built would be safe under the hands of his granddaughter Mariabell.

He had hoped he would have more of a chance to guide her in the right direction but she would do fine. She was a greedy kid, but with her greed, she was bound to protect the world.

"Economical Domination…." a light chuckle left his mouth. "What kind of child says things like that... I hope my choice will be for the best."

With that, he prepared to gather his own army to fight against the emperor of monsters.

"Kill the head and the body will die. Let's see how strong the new emperor is."

Taking one last look at the painting of his wife he stopped for a moment before leaving the room.

...

(Does anyone have information on the Clerics of the Seven Luminaries? If you do let me know, I might need it. The information in the wiki doesn't go very in-depth.)