Of snow and ash...

The night sky sparkled with brilliant stars. It's beauty further enhanced by the glowing moon gracing the world in its light.

The land was covered in white snow, the freezing cold violently ravaging about as shockwaves blasted off in the distance.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Two entities, one a human at the pinnacle of strength, an arch wizard and the other, a gigantic winged serpent, called Arshüdehem- ranked_calamity were ensued in a legendary battle.

Their conflict twisted and altered the world around them, drowning the forest below them in a sea of black flames all the way to the human village of Whitehold where we were situated.

My mom equipped with a silver bladed rapier in her right hand, held me to her chest with her left and turned her back to the shockwaves making it all the way here.

"What are you doing old man, set up the barrier already" she screamed at a one handed old man in the middle of the village, who carried with him an old staff, likened unto a wizard's.

"Tsk, it would do you good to remember that I am one handed now and retired" the old man shouted back as he smashed the top of his staff against the skull of a raging monster and tossed it aside.

"More monsters incominnng" A villager atop the village wall screamed down to us as he prepared to fire his arrows again.

"At this rate the village will be overrun soon" Mom mumbled to my hearing and turned back to the old man.

"Old man" she shouted with a fast tone.

"Tsk, guess play time is over" The old man said and raised up his staff, beginning an incantation.

Golden threads of light poured from the staff evoking the old man's magic as it began to take effect.

My eyes hooked unto the sight, amazed and mesmerized by it.

The golden threads of light converged and formed a brilliant sphere of light atop the staff and the old man shot it up, causing it to flash blindingly bright, bathing us in it's golden glow as the village was enveloped in a huge barrier of shimmering gold.

"This should do, right, Gwen" the old man grinned at my mom. His grey beard spreading across his face accompanying his smile

"well done dad" my mom said to the old man who was my grandfather.

The barrier completely sealed off the village and monsters came running from the burning forest crashing into it.

The sight was quite surreal and refreshing.

My eyes swept through the village, scanning the faces of the villagers and I saw their spirits begin to lift up as their faces sprouted smiles.

"listen up people. Don't slack off now, time to mop up the monsters in here with us" said mom as she cleaved a monster in two.

"Aye" the villagers responded with a raised voice and took to the offensive, cutting down monsters left and right.

And no sooner had they started that all the monsters were slayed.

Monster corpses littered the village with blood and gore and mom stood watching and focusing on the cause of this disaster, the legendary fight in the sky.

"Watch and learn Albeom. This world is ruled by the strong. There is no place for the weak in it" Mom said to me as we made eye contact.

"But as I live, nothing shall harm you"

-

There was a time, before all this magic and fantasy when I was an ordinary man in a world called earth.

In this world, I amounted to nothing and eventually died. I'm still not sure as to the details of my death, all I remember is that I fell asleep and when my eyes opened next I was crying in the arms of a total stranger.

Did I freak out? Of course I did but soon I began to realize that I wasn't in danger, in fact I had never felt so loved as the amber eyes of the stranger looked affectionately at me.

Logic took over in the calm of things and two and two came together to make sense to me.

I realized then that I'd been reborn, which meant that at some point in my previous life, I died.

I wasn't as distraught by thus knowledge as I thought I'd be and readily accepted this new life.

I quickly began to learn the language of this other world and got to know that what was considered fantasy in my old world was in fact the reality of this other one.

I never thought though that I'd get to witness the pinnacle of human magic so soon after being reborn.

_

The monsters had been slayed and the village was safe from their rampage but outside of the barrier, three tornadoes of black flames were spiraling about, whipping up winds of destruction and tearing apart everything in its path.

It was a terrifying scene straight out of an apocalyptic lore.

"By my beard… what would become of us" granddad's voice echoed behind us as we stood atop the church's parapet trying to watch the fight despite the heavy smoke and ash.

"tsk" Mom clicked her tongue in frustration as if that same thought had been on her mind.

"In my retirement, I'd almost forgotten but this is what a fight between super tier entities are, total destruction of the world around them" granddad observed to himself and tightened his grip on his staff.

"Dad." Mom called.

"yeah"

"please reinforce the barrier with the very last bits of your magic" she instructed with eyes trained on the entities ensued in a battle of their own realm.

The arch wizard, strongest of humanity was shining in brilliant blue lights as he flew above the black fire tornadoes.

His figure was condescending, as if he was looking down on the scene before him.

Then out of his outstretched hand, materialized a spear made of light.

"D-divine spear" granddad stuttered recognizing the Arch wizard's skill.

The arch wizard threw the divine spear and in a perfect arc, it cut through the sky downward and made impact.

BOOM!

The blast echoed thunderously and the world took on a shade of white.

Mom quickly covered my eyes with her hand and tightened her hold of me.

The blast was so powerful that the ground shook and buildings came falling down.

I felt mom plant her feet firmly on the parapet as she gritted her teeth.

Screams went off below us and I grabbed unto mom with all the strength my baby hands could muster.

The light lifted and the darkness of the night regained it's dominance but the battle wasn't over.

The world around us had gone silent, no sign of the raging infernal tornadoes anymore. But lying in the ruins of destruction was Arshüdehem. It's scaly body shining under the glow of the unhindered full moon. It looked unharmed, just a few burnt trees and rubble from the earth lying on it.

HISSSSSSS!!!

In a rageful cry it let out. The sound piercing enough to burst my ear drums.

It shook itself free of the rubble and spread it's wings, a pair of abyssal black like that of a demon. This was a monster unlike any.

Whoosh, whoosh.

It's wings beat against the air, it's huge mass lifting upward and flying towards the arch wizard.

HISSSSSSS

It cried again, this time conjuring dozens of black fireballs that filled the empty sky.

In one accord, the fireballs fired at the arch wizard, who raised his hand again and summoned another divine spear.

A clash of black and white, the skies sang of lethal explosions. A symphony of fate, a tale since the dawn of creation, of light and darkness.

Boom!

The arch wizard countered every fireball of Arshüdehem but the serpent hadn't given up yet.

HISSSSSSS

It's cry rang in the heavens, a dangerous orb of black flames gathering in it's mouth as the night took on a deeper shade of darkness around it.

"t-that.. it can't be. T-the flames of extinction. T-the void maker" granddad stuttered in disbelief at the flames gathering in Arshüdehem's mouth.

"This is it then?" mom asked with beads of sweat running down her face. She was trembling. Her right hand tightly holding the hilt of her rapier as it rested on her waist.

"heavens" granddad pleaded with his mouth hanging open in trepidation.

The smoke in the sky cleared revealing the arch wizard and his body was faintly glowing.

I couldn't hear what he said but it appeared as if he sighed in frustration and then raised up his right hand.

The world above his head warped. A light bursting forth like the descend of a star.

"Aaahh" granddad's sudden cry startled both mom and I and we turned around.

His mouth was hanging open, his hand pointing up in complete disbelief as his staff noisely fell down.

"S-so-solistar. T-the brilliance" he managed to mumble out and Mom's eyes went wide.

"t-the endless blade" she said truly scared.

"quick, we have to leave this place immediately" she added with haste and kicked granddad out of his shock as we jumped down from the church's parapet.

As I would come to learn later. "Solistar the brilliance" or as mom put it "the endless blade" is the authority of one who has reached the peak of power. A being akin to a force of nature.

Space warped, darkness of the darkest black verses light of the purest brilliance. The flames of extinction, void maker verses Solistar the brilliance. The blade whose edge has no end.

Arshüdehem fired off her flames of extinction. Space itself warped bizarrely before it as it devoured it's way towards the arch wizard. This was the maker of void. A powerful attack that destroys everything. There is no escaping it and that is why the arch wizard never did.

His finger grabbed hold of the light above him. His magic power shaping it into the form of a sword and in one smooth motion, he slashed down and met the flames of extinction head on.

The clash gave off brilliant lights, darkness wrapped in light and light wrapped in darkness and burst apart.

Fush.

But that wasn't the end. The endless blade continued it's decent. Cutting through Arshüdehem and into the ground, leaving a huge mark in the earth.

Boom.

Arshüdehem exhaled. It's breath caught in it's mouth as it's body began to split apart. The arch wizard didn't fail to utilize that opening that presented itself and in a split second disappeared from sight. A blur moved across the heavens, crisscrossing every which way until it came to a full stop revealing the arch wizard. Wind blowing up his cape spectacularly as his hand shone with a brilliant light.

Arshüdehem hanged in the sky for a bit before it came falling down in pieces. A rain of blood and flesh.

The arch hovered in the sky, watching down below for a few minutes before, putting back the Solistar and disappearing in a brilliant magic circle.

Fzzt!