1 The Start of the End

"Awareness is the enemy of sanity, for once you hear the screaming, it never stops."

― Emilie Autumn

"How could I sum up my life so far? Shit. Why? I'm an idiot that's why. I gave my life to protect someone I had a warped love for, doing anything to make her mine, even killing her family. Well it seems that today will be my last day, she has come with her lover and his lovers, my end is near and honestly I can't wait. My life has been a waste, a waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of breath. If I could go back, I would live it differently, Alexander would have died much, much sooner..."

The door opposite the young duke flung open as a man dressed in majestic black armour ran into the room, staring the duke down he said"Duke Emericus Von, you have been issued a level 5 bounty, you are to be executed in front of the crown tomorrow. Your charges are, the murder of innocent civilians, the murder of the Noble Demont family and lastly, the injury of a royal family member, how do you plead?"

The Duke raised his head, looking into the eyes of his accuser, he simply nodded his head and continued to write " Andrea if you are reading this, your brother has to go now, I'm sorry for all of the pain I have caused you over the years. Yours, Duke Emericus."

The Duke rose from his chair and walked towards the man in armour and said" You know, this all started because of your first wife, I don't know what compelled me to want her that badly but something did, tell her I apologise for my actions although it will mean little."

A feminine voice resounded from behind the man in armour" Your damn right it means nothing, what will your sorry bring me? My dead family? My Purity? Huh what is it worth? Nothing! Alexander let me kill him now."

The Duke simply laughed and said" Still as fiery as ever, Alexander how is my sister, is she ok?"

A sadistic smile flashed across Alexander's face as he remarked" She has been tried with the same charges as you however her charge is conspiring with you to complete each of the depraved tasks, her punishment is also a bit different. She will serve in the barracks, we have to make sure your noble line continues right?"

Anger surged from the Duke, an aura of death surrounded him as he lunged at Alexander however he seemed slow and sluggish, he was easily caught and Alexander leaned in and whispered" I tried her put myself first of course, being a hero and all it is my right."

The Duke simply stared at Alexander, unrivaled rage seeped out of every pore in his body, seeing that his goading did not bring out any further reactions, Alexander dragged The Duke in the royal prison.

<The following Day>

'I have rotted in this cell for a day, I can't begin to imagine the acrosities that have affected my dear sister, all of this has occured because I took my eye off of the ball, I let this happen this was all on me. From the prions around me, I can only hear screaming, this makes me wonder why no one has tortured me yet, I have information that they could use.'

As the Duke pondered to himself, the door to his cell was flung open as a man grabbed him and pulled him out to a lovely courtyard, this was his own courtyard, the one he had spent years building. Being placed on the chopping block, the Duke smiled and said" I swear upon the 7 gods and the great plague, I will find a way to return and if I do, I will kill all of you fuckers."

Looking at his former fiancee that was on Alexander's arm, his smile twisted as he said" You will be the first to go Duchess Ellen, I gave you everything and all I got from you was conspiracies and heartache, I was stupid, naive, but when I return, I will make you wish I had killed you."

As Ellen went to speak, the sound of an axe falling filled the Duke's ears, however it took a while to fall, surprised, the Duke said"Hurry up."

In response a cold voice retorted" Are you that eager to die little duke? I can resume time if you choose however I have a deal to offer you."

"What deal? I assume you are one of the fallen Gods?"

The voice broke out in laughter and said" Nothing of the sort, we are a device created to find a master, you have been selected, we do not know who created us but we can save you, empower you. There is something you need to know however, your world was created, a story to be told, you die here in the story. We can change this however, you will be teleported to a world similar to your own, there will be slight differences, the plague will be worse, humanity will be on the back foot, you are more likely to die for real, do you accept?"

"I have nothing to lose do I? I accept."

As the words left the duke's mouth, the axe continued to fall, cleaving his head clean off, this was not the end but the start, the start of the second story, the story of the Duke's revenge and plots, his rise and Humanity's fall.