12 Second Light

In a pitch black room a lone man sat on the floor. He wore dirty armor and had an eye patch. His name was Walter Dewitt.

The man sat in the silence of the dark room and did not move. He was nothing more than an old soldier who commanded and trained greenhorns who were assembled by the Holy Order.

"I've let them all die. It's my fault. If only I was more competent…"

After the incident in the rural village, which's name no one knew, his whole company got killed. When he saw the death itself gain form and appear along the army of the dead, he instinctively ordered a retreat.

He tried to buy time by sacrificing the slaves…but it was all for naught. Those slaves, who were murdered in the worst ways possible by the savage undead, soon joined their forces.

He was the one who caused the deaths of his allies. He, who swore the God to fight evil at any cost, fled like the true coward he was.

"Is he still there?" A rough voice behind his room's door resounded.

"Yes." With a quick reply answered a feminine voice.

"How long has he been in there?"

"Almost two days."

"Did he say anything at all?"

"On the first day he only muttered something about undead springing up from out of nowhere. After that he didn't say anything and locked himself in."

"Tsk, that bastard. I even thought he was competent. My mistake I guess. Keep watch, and inform me if anything happens."

"Understood."

The voices stopped and the dweller of the room heard the footsteps go further away until they disappeared.

He sat in the corner of the room and racked his brain over and over again, further belittling himself.

Walter Dewitt, born in a low-born family, rose through the ranks of a Lord's army. As he reached the age of 30 the Holy Order took him in to train promising recruits. He at the time did not believe in god, until that one night…

On the night of his 35th birthday a spirit, the apostle of God, showed up in his dream. It spoke to him and praised his work. In the end, the spirit awarded him with a blessing.

The blessing itself could not compare to the one's gained by the heroes, but to him, a simple commoner, it was more than enough.

The blessing was perfect for his job. Anyone around him would grow and learn faster than usually.

From that eventful night he worked hard…and today, after another 35 years of his service, he sat in a pathetic state until he fell asleep.

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"Rise, My child"

A voice, full of affection, resounded. Walter's eyes instantly opened up and were met by the dazzling warm light.

"Ohhh!! Most benevolent spirit!"

Walter fell to the ground and prostrated before the ethereal form. The form looked just like how he imagined it would look like. A female with a motherly face that wore a pure white chiton, her back was accompanied by a pair of holy wings and even a halo hovered above her head.

"I said rise, My child. We're all born equal in this world, be it a spirit or a mortal man."

"I-It's been 35 years…! I've been working hard just like you wished!"

"I know, I've been watching. And I want to thank you for working this hard in preparation for the oncoming heroes' summoning..."

"H-heroes!? Is…is it the time?"

"I believe so."

"B-but then…that means! The devil…the most evilest of the demons, the Demon King will appear?!"

"Yes."

"I…I see…"

"This world was made in perfect balance, which is why good cannot exist without evil…and a Demon King cannot exist without a hero. It is our duty to prepare for it, and I think we're ahead."

"…"

"Which is why, I want to ask you for a favor."

"Yes! I'll do anything for such a hallowed spirit like you!"

"Umu, I'll reward you accordingly of course…maybe a place in heaven if you do well."

"A-a…place in heaven..?"

"Well then. The undead army, I believe you met it."

"Yes!"

"Though it goes without saying, destroy it. I believe it's the demons at work…or something else that wishes to impede the arrival of the heroes."

"Understood! I will do so with all of my strength!"

"Umu, umu. Do that. Also, the heroes will arrive…sometime soon. Anyway, just know that this time I'll be sending four of them…the last two almost failed…"

"Wai-"

The light disappeared and Walter opened his eyes again. Light shone through the window to the side and a maid sat next to him.

"Oh, you're awake! You shouldn't lock yourself in like that with your age! We even considered calling a high priest from the capital!"

"…how long have I been unconscious?"

"Hmmm? Almost two weeks."

Walter jumped out of his bed and went straight towards his equipment, which was laid out neatly on the ground.

"W-wait! Where are you going?!"

"Go tell the Lord to call a meeting. I've just received a divine prophesy."

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In a small room slept a young brown haired man. An even younger girl could be seen sleeping behind his back.

"Child…use it…use the power I bestowed upon you..."

"…*yawwwnn*…wh-"

"uSE iT!!"

"Huh?!" the young man jumped from his bed.

"W…what was that…?"

He looked around himself. He was in a small, but cozy room. It was very simplistic, but this was his home and he worked his ass off to buy it.

After searching under the bed and inside the wardrobe he did not find the owner of the voice and lastly caught glimpse at the small body on his bed.

"Em, was it you?"

He silently mumbled in surprise. Then he patted the girl and started dressing up. The clothes he put on were high-class pure white clothes. Very few commoners could afford these.

After dressing up, he took out his sword. It was his work tool and he had to do frequent maintenance on it. The blade itself was nothing special and was made from steel, but the handle was very exquisite and resembled a lion's head.

When the sun rays started going through the window of his room he heard small steps behind him.

"Em, you're awake?"

"*Yawn*…yes brother."

"What did I tell you about sleeping in my room?"

"Sorry…"

"Wait…I see. So you're scared of thunder after all..?"

"No!"

"Hahaha! Sure you're not! When I came back yesterday the sky was all black and I could even see lightning, you won't fool me. Why else would you come here?" The brother grinned as he teased his younger sister.

The girl instead pouted and left the room.

The man continued the maintenance on his weapon and after making sure everything was complete, dressed up for his work.

His name was Ken Collins and he worked as a royal guard in the palace, which is why his work clothes were full plate armor. He thanked the Gods that he didn't have to pay for it, because no commoner could ever wish to afford something like that.

After 20 minutes of begging for help from his sister, he put on all of his armor and went to the kitchen.

Food already laid on the table. Nothing special, only egg sandwiches with some meat in them.

Though he worked as a royal guard, his wage was not enough to provide him with an expensive meal, although the main reason for that was his debt.

Five years ago he took a loan from an acquaintance to buy this house. He could not allow his sister to sleep in the barracks any longer.

"You're off to work again…?"

"Yes."

"…"

"Don't show that face, it won't work. How about you go outside and play with other children?"

"I can't…"

"Why?"

"Because they're all born in noble or rich families…"

"And why is that bad?"

"They too ignorant of the real world…some I even heard boasting about how they will be fighting dragons in the future, that's not possible."

"I guess. But children are children, they're naïve…"

His younger sister looked at him and tilted her head with a questioning look.

"What's naïve?"

"…never mind."

"Tell me!"

A very loud bell resounded from outside.

"Oh shit! Got to rush or I'll be late!"

The man took another big bite out of a sandwich and hurried off to work.

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Kingdom of Polenimia's capital city Kirie was almost the largest city in the whole country. Its population reached two million and even that was recorded 100 years ago. By now the population probably increased twofold.

The city's size was enormous and even hard to describe in words. It had multiple layers that separated the commoners from nobility; even the slums occupied a whole layer. The most outer walls of the city were over 15 meters high and have been enchanted with magic to strengthen it. Nothing but a dragon could take down these walls, probably.

In the very center of the city a massive white palace stood. It looked over the whole city because it was built at higher elevation, and even then, the palace itself was overly big. It was so big in fact, that it could easily house multiple dragons or other big creatures. The windows it had were exceptionally crafted stained glass, which in fact was made from not real glass, but naturally growing crystals.

The palace's walls and roofs were further defended by luxurious looking towers that had multiple ballistae in them. Guards dressed in high-quality armor could be seen walking on top of the walls and guarding the main entrance.

One of these guards was Ken. His job is guarding the palace's insides and thus has to change shifts with other guards.

Ken walked along the main, and only, path to the palace. Along the way he was met by prideful looks of noblewomen and the scent of delicious baked pies. Even a pie was worth a treasure to a common folk, but for nobles it was nothing more than a common desert.

After walking on a very wide stone road he finally reached the palace's entrance…though it resembled a castle rather than a palace, because it was surrounded by a big wall and had a tough wooden gate accompanied by two portcullises at the front and the back.

As Ken saluted the well-known guard, he passed the gate. When he walked through the entrance, he caught glimpse of the murder holes above and wondered if an army could even reach the palace in the first place for such defenses to be useful…

After he went through the entrance, he was met by a beautiful courtyard. The courtyard was covered in exceptional craftsmanship in form of statues. The statues were made into various fountains and depicted well-known people.

Ken however, did not recognize most of them, though one stood out the most. It was the biggest statue, right in the middle. It looked like an old man, but he wore grand clothes and even had a very detailed crown on his head. Letters were inscribed on the bottom of the statue and said: "King Bellatrosa Delafontaine von Meyer, the most exalted, high king of Polenimia".

As he was entranced in the beauty of the statue and wondered whether the clothes of the statue were gold plated or not, a person showed up.

"Hey Ken! Hurry up, I'm dying over here!"

It was his friend Fredric, the guard he's supposed to change shifts.

Ken hurriedly walked over to him and after a change of a few words, he went to guard his designated place.