The Empire [1]
A group of people can be seen walking. Although their attire cannot be considered extravagant, it still makes the people fear and respect them. They are the Fire Brigade of the Kingdom of Lituana, the neighboring kingdom of the Vribette Dynasty.
Their group consists of 7 men. The man in the lead is their captain, his name is Brian Garrison. A commoner that rise from ranks because of his power. He's now the captain of the most powerful brigade of their kingdom.
They are on their way to go and take a look at their neighboring country because of the order from the higher ups.
"What are those old men panicking for? Sending us to the Vribette Dynasty while we are on a mission. What are they thinking...?" A member of the brigade said.
"Did you not hear? According to the rumors, the Oracle died, I don't even know how she died but in her last vision she said to investigate the Vribette Dynasty. It seems something has happened there." Another member said giving information to the clueless man.
"Stop gossiping! Ray and Trek you two will receive punishments later..." The man in the lead reprimanded the two members. The look of the two men droop and they stop talking.
"Fire Brigade, from here on out restrict any needless chatting, the mission given to us is highly important. Although we have been briefed earlier, I feel that the higher ups are still hiding information from us. Be on your guard." The man said, reminding the brigade of the potential risk they will face.
"Captain, the warp is ready to go." A member said to the leading man.
"Open it."
"Alright," At the members' hand is a scroll. He unfolded it and chanted the words in it. A moment later a portal opened, it's big enough for two men to walk side by side.
The scroll is a 3rd tier item. A scarce item in the market, making it rare for ordinary people and mages to acquire, but they used it like it's nothing.
"Listen up, this portal is connected to a forest in the territory of the Vribette Dynasty. Their emperor doesn't know that we will go there so make sure that your presence will not be known." The captain said to his brigade.
"I will go first, after all of us get through I will close the portal."
He proceeded to walk through and the brigade members followed after.
...
"Captain, all of us are here." Trek, the man earlier said.
"Alright, I will close the portal now." The captain said. After that, the portal they emerge from vanishes into nothing.
He looked around and couldn't help but feel a little disturbed. The forest is eerily quiet.
"Ray, go up there and take a look. Remember don't make your presence known." The captain ordered.
Ray activated the spell [Invicibility] and used the skill flight to flew in the air.
"Men, standby. Wait for Ray." The captain said.
Brian know information that the members of the brigade don't. And it's the cause of the Oracle death.
She died because of fear.
In her hand is a paper that says, "Investigate the Vribette Dynasty."
They don't know what she saw in her visions, that's why the higher ups are panicking. The Oracle is the one that gives them information about the dangers and disasters that can happen to their kingdom with the use of [Truth Vision] skill that's only available to those who awaken as an Oracle.
'Just what did she saw...'
A moment later, a figure dropped down. It's Ray.
"Ray, what's up there did you find something?" Brian asked.
"Captain... the empire is gone..." Ray said, in his face is a confused look.
"What? Did the portal land us in some place?"
"No, captain... The empire is gone, it's not in here. I checked the landmarks, we are in the right place but the empire..." Ray described to Brian. What he saw is a flat land with nothing in sight. The empire vanished into nothing.
"How is that possible... the empire is gone?"
"Yes, captain. Only a flat land is visible from here, there isn't any structure in there."
"Is there any signs of life or anything?" Brian asked getting more confused and disturbed.
"Negative, captain. There are no lifeforms in the radius of my sense skill."
"Then what happened... the empire vanished? All of the people too." Brian murmured.
"Men, gather! We will go back and report to the higher ups!" Brian said as he prepares to use the [Teleportation] spell. He didn't use it earlier because it cost him great mana to use.
'Just what happened in here...' Brian wondered.
A moment later a magic circle appeared at their foot and all of them vanish.
---
High up in the sky is a demon. Evident in his tail and horn but his form is more in the human side. The clothes he is wearing is of those wealthy and noble type, a blue tuxedo and a leather shoes. If not for his horn and tail you can say that he is a human.
Right now, he is watching a group of men in the forest.
A moment later those men vanish.
'Hmm... they used the teleportation spell. I think they are here to investigate, but we made sure that nothing goes out of what we did here. So how did they know?' The demon wondered.
"It seems I need to report this to our lord." The demon said.
His lord, the supreme, ethereal beings, their power and their knowledge surpassed anything that he knew of. Just thinking of them make him, the Infernal Demon of The Abyss tremble.
The demon used the spell [Superior Teleportation,] a spell much greater than the normal teleportation that the brigade used. There are no delays and as long as he knew of the place he can go to it with no limits whatsoever.
With the demon leaving, the last lifeform in the empire is no more.
What's left of the place is an empty land.
Only the deafening silence can be heard.