Prophecy of a Dark Rift
King Kaiser, the ruler of the Iron Kingdom sat tiredly on his throne. In front of him were kneeling officials and knights ready to serve him.
His eyes landed on the young man with long black hair at the front of the kneeling group.
Finally, the day had come. He will finally get rid of that pest once and for all!
In the past decade, King Kaiser had been plagued with nightmares consisting of a little devil killing him in his sleep. He would always wake up drenched in sweat, his heart palpitating.
Before, he was a charismatic authority with a huge smile that captivated his people. Now, most of his hair had turned white from the stress he had endured since meeting that child. His face was riddled with wrinkles. King Kaiser was thirty-seven years of age and still in his prime. However, he looked like he was already in his fifties.
"I, Merces, have presented myself with utmost obedience, Your Highness." the young man with the long black hair said before lifting his head with a gentle smile.
The princess glanced at Merces and delicately blushed with a flustered face. Merces, meanwhile, gave no reaction.
King Kaiser glanced at the princess' reaction and frowned. This made him look at Merces with slight enmity.
"Merces... it's been a year since my dear son, Frederick, died near the Rohde's Duchy. To this day, the Rohde Family had neither cooperated nor aided us in capturing the perpetrator of this treason. I've given them many chances and still, they don't answer any of my questions!"
The King roared in the throne room, making the officials, nobles, and royal advisers lower their heads. They had already given up on making the King reconsider his choices and reasoning. The Duke of the Iron Kingdom is a powerful person and has influence all over the kingdom. He is not someone who, even the King, should make an enemy of.
Although the King will win in a fight against the Duke, it will cost a great loss. Furthermore, there is nothing to gain from the conflict. No evidence has found a connection between the death of the Third Prince to the Rohde Family, yet King Kaiser kept insisting otherwise.
Unfortunately, the King's words are final, and those who went against them were severely punished.
Currently, the King has summoned the Silver Service- a group of the most talented Fighters that are tasked with protecting the nobles and the royalty.
Merces is the leader of the said organization. Despite his young age, he had already received his 4th Gift, making him a Tier 1 Warrior.
Tier 1 Warriors in the whole Iron Kingdom could be counted with one's hands. The most prominent ones were the principal of the Iron Academy, the commander of the Iron Kingdom's military, the High Priest residing in the kingdom, and of course, King Kaiser himself.
To stand among those legendary figures, Merces is considered to be a golden boy. He may even have a greater influence on the King than the royal advisers. But because he is long in his twenties, being called a boy bothered him.
"I am afraid that my own sister and brother-in-law have turned against me. For that, they shall be considered enemies and a danger to my kingdom. Because of the strength of the Rohde Family, I plan to send the Silver Service. What do you think of that, Merces?" King Kaiser asked.
"If that is what the King commands, we, the Silver Service, will obey," Merces said nothing more.
This made King Kaiser nod with satisfaction. He then squinted his eyes while caressing his chin with a stubby beard.
"However, let them be if they cooperate on one condition."
"What would that be, Your Highness?"
"They surrender their oldest child."
This immediately made the people in the throne room feel like rolling their eyes. Of course, they restrained themselves, or else, their heads would roll instead.
This is about the rat again! Most of them thought.
Even nobles that were dissatisfied with the Duke's decision to adopt Eid felt like the King was going too far. Warring an internal conflict within the kingdom is not worth the rat.
As long as the Great Sanctuary is fine with the adoption, even to the point of blessing the child with a Nobility Mark, everything should be fine.
King Kaiser might've twisted his words and reasoning but there are no idiots in the throne room. Everyone immediately knew that the king's whole motivation was to get rid of the adopted rat.
"I understand. We will ask for the oldest child, Your Highness." Merces passively responded and didn't reason back.
"Good, good. Although I want to send you on your way, I want to know what your thoughts are first, Prophet Gamor." King Kaiser's eyes shifted and lost their sternness when a bald old man in a long black robe came out of the line among the officials.
The old man bowed but it is clear that he doesn't show much respect to the King compared to others. However, King Kaiser let him be for this old man is a Tier 2 Prophet, a follower of Fate, who is the only one in the whole Iron Kingdom and arguably has the same standing as the High Priest.
"Thank you for seeking my words, Your Highness. I do have something important to say regarding the kingdom." the prophet said with eyes full of wisdom and, disturbingly, fear.
Sensing the prophet's tone, everyone, including the King, had their backs upright and intensely looked at the old man in black robes.
"In the next year or so, the kingdom will be put into a peril it has never seen since it was founded."
His words dropped like a bomb.
Peril it had never seen since it was founded... Upon hearing that statement, the old men and women shivered.
Thirty years ago, a tragedy befell the Iron Kingdom. A Dark Rift in the northern region of Colveil opened. A Dark Rift is thought to be a dimensional gate opened by the Demigod of Death, Horus, where all kinds of despicable creatures come out in millions- these creatures are known by the people as ghouls.
However, little minions were not much of a problem even if they count to a million. Ghouls can be said to be the counterpart of sprites. As such, just as fairies govern the sprites, demons command the ghouls.
Unlike the ghouls that are intangible in nature, needing to possess a living creature first before wreaking havoc, demons themselves are walking destruction.
When a Dark Rift opens and lets a demon come through, it is a Demon-Type Dark Rift. If just ghouls, then it's a Ghoul-Type Dark Rift.
The gate that opened in the northern region decades ago was a Demon-Type and this demon found its way into the Iron Kingdom. The terror and death it caused were irreparable. That time was the darkest age of the kingdom.
Only when led by Duke Frodo, the Silver Service, the military, and the priests and High Priest did the kingdom finally overcome its most tragic time.
So, the question is: what peril is worse than that?
"Don't tell me..." King Kaiser's hands trembled when he thought of the answer, "... that bastard!" he suddenly stood up in a rage, making the others confused.
Who's he calling a bastard in this context?
The prophet was the first to understand King Kaiser's reaction and replied, "I believe the incoming Dark Rift would be the more likely cause of the peril, Your Highness."
"Ah, I see..." being scolded by the prophet, the King sat back before processing what he heard, "Wait, there's an incoming Dark Rift?"
Prophet Gamor nodded and with a heavy face, he said, "Colveil's Chief Prophet had predicted that there is a high probability that a Ghoul-Type Dark Rift will open up on the western side of the province, near the White Steel City."
The people were shocked to hear this as the White Steel City is one of the four major cities of the Iron Kingdom!
At the same time, they were relieved to find that the predicted Dark Rift will most likely be a Ghoul-Type. Unfortunately, Prophet Gamor was still not done.
"There is also a possibility of a Demon-Type Dark Rift appearing, albeit low."
This made the people's faces pale. Even the toughened knights weren't excluded. Only the youngsters such as the princess and some of the Silver Service couldn't fully comprehend the severity of the Demon-Type Dark Rift.
They heard it in stories but never experienced it firsthand.
The King opened his mouth but didn't speak when he saw the look on the prophet's face.
"When... you said peril that we had never seen before..." King Kaiser lowly muttered but the silence made his low voice echo in the throne room, "Is there a chance for a Primordial-Type Dark Rift to open?"
When those words come out of the King's mouth, everyone's eyes widened.
What is a Primordial-Type Dark Rift? It is arguably the most dangerous type of Dark Rift as it will open up for a Primordial Sin to enter.
A Primordial Sin is akin to an Archangel but for Demons. There are currently seven known Primordial Sins: Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Envy, and Sloth.
There was only one instance where a Primordial-Type Dark Rift had opened in Deiterra but two recorded Primordial Sins. When the Archdemon Pride set foot on the icy continent called Prosia, it had turned the place into Caina, a Demon Continent, in a matter of a year where hellfire burns on frozen hills. Just as the Demigods shared the knowledge about the True Deities, Archdemon Pride shared the knowledge of the other Primordial Sins and about the dark dimension. It also shared that Archdemon Lust entered Deiterra first before him.
A continent was subdued by a Primordial-Type Dark Rift within a year, how can it not spell death to a measly Iron Kingdom?
However, the prophet immediately eased everyone up with his next words, "True, the probability of a Primordial-Type Dark Rift appearing is not zero but so low that it would be practical to ignore it. Furthermore, a Demon-Type Dark Rift would be more dangerous now because of the Iron Kingdom's internal affairs. Thus, that could spell a worse peril."
Initiated by the prophet, a royal adviser followed, "Yes! Your Highness, it will deter the progress of our kingdom's preparation against the upcoming Dark Rift if we continue to pressure the Rohde Family."
"Prophet Gamor is correct, Your Highness. With the Legendary Hero, Sir Frodo gone, our chance of defeating a demon is lower than before, making the peril now worse."
The nobles and other officials voiced their opinions one after another, trying to persuade the king. However, the king's response was only a dark stare.
"Did I permit any of you to speak?"
King Kaiser said with a heavy tone, shutting everyone's mouths. When silence pervaded the throne room, the King fell into a deep ponder, pressuring almost every noble and official who spoke about this.
"General Arnaut, how do you think the military will fare against a Demon-Type Dark Rift?"
A heavily armored man came out of the line opposite the nobles and officials. He is Arnaut the Fearless, General of the Army, and a Tier 1 Warrior.
He bowed and answered, "If I'm being honest, Your Highness, we don't need the Rohde Family against a Demon-Type Dark Rift. I was at the front lines when the old duke, Sir Frodo led the army against the Demon. I can say that with the help of the Great Sanctuary, an additional High Priest is enough. Before, we couldn't get their help due to circumstances in Caina, but now, we can."
The nobles and officials gritted their teeth upon hearing this. It's obvious that the military has enmity against the Rohde Family because of Duke Rholes' Guill and his father, the Legendary Hero. Now that King Kaiser asked for the General's opinion, it's clear that his decision is still unchanged.
"I see. Although we need to get rid of the traitorous family, I have to make a compromise. Tell the Rohde Family that they will become the first line of defense for the upcoming Dark Rift. In the meantime, the Secret Service and the military should strengthen themselves."
After that, technical matters were discussed, such as the Financial Minister being asked to allocate more budget to both the Silver Service and the military, before King Kaiser left together with General Arnaut and the princess, Annie.
Princess Annie followed her father with a lowered head. Seeing this, King Kaiser asked, "What's wrong, dear? Did the news horrify you?" he stopped and held the princess' hands.
With an affectionate gaze, he said, "Daddy will be here, sweetheart." he caressed the princess' head, "I love you and will protect you no matter what."
Towards this, the princess became more uncomfortable and averted her gaze.
"Um... how about my brothers?"
"Oh, you're worried about them? Don't be, they can protect themselves." the king lightly laughed.
"But, father..." Princess Annie lowly muttered, "I heard that you sent Brother Frederick to the duchy to be killed."
Hearing this, the king's laugh immediately stopped. He then coldly looked at General Arnaut who had his head low in respect. The General of the Army had his eyes closed.