Prologue

Did they look down on me? After all I did for them. Upturning the seas and going to the edge of the world so that I could please them and today they looked down on me figuratively and literally. Their scorning eyes and disdainful giggles filled my ears as blood rolled down my mouth. The battle raged, and none came to save me — my soldiers whom I had believed in and cared for laughed as I slowly enter the eternal sleep of death.

Who Was I?

I was Azrael Bloodfallen, the Bloody General of the Nine Cliffs of Andhor, and I ruled the Nine Cliffs with full might. His Majesty Artemin the Third entrusted me withholding one of the most dangerous areas of the continent, and I did so for a full thirty years, but that did not stop them from killing me.

I was born a peasant with no surname, and I was looked down upon by all nobles. Foolishly I did not see that, all I saw were faces that welcomed me into the higher rank of the aristocracy but behind those smiling faces existed monsters beyond human comprehension, monsters who only knew how to bring misery, death and blood to all.

When I finally found out, I raised my sword against them and rode to war with my "loyal" soldiers to cleanse these monsters who brought only turmoil to the empire. I rode through the Burning Desert of the Gobi, the Burial Lands of the Nine Supremes and The Yellow Lake of the Mesopotamian. All of these places were as dangerous as the Nine Cliffs of Andhor, and each had a general looking over them, all of them were great friends of mine whom I sadly had to kill.

I met my long-time war buddy The Burning General at a vast plain alongside our two armies only to discover he was one of them and with such ferocity and hate for his betrayal that it even shocked me I truly made him live up to his name by mercilessly burning him down alongside his army. I did not wait to see him die as I rode out towards the Burial Lands of the Nine Supremes.

An Utterly Black Land was all one could call the Burial Lands. I always paid respect to the Heroes sleeping here before I passed through, but not today as my bloodlust soared when I saw a tall man standing in front of my path with an army of ten thousand soldiers at least. The man was the Guardian of the Dead, and he blocked my entrance to the Burial Lands and showed his status as a traitor. Once more with a brutal aura surrounding me, I marched alongside my soldiers towards him and killed him. I left none alive, yet my frustration only seemed to grow.

I passed through the Burial Lands, the horse's hooves hitting the floor was the only thing heard from us as we marched towards the capital, the residence of the noble. There was only one thing left standing in my way, and that was a Yellow Lake. A cursed Lake that many invaders of the empire never passed. There stood a guard there, a "good" friend of mine The Siren of Misfortune. I rushed towards the lake with my men not too far away from me, when all of a sudden three thousand women jumped out of the lake with weapons one usually would consider utterly useless.

In front of the three thousand women was a tall woman, she held a flute in her hand and started singing a beautiful song. Immediately I raised my sword and sent a black slash of sword intent towards her cutting her in half. My men showed no mercy as they cut the sirens in half. Our horses galloped through the lake until we finally reached our destination.

Our destination - none other than the most powerful city in the world. The capital of the Harrisburg Empire: Reinhardt.

My army of ten thousand stood behind me we looked at the famed city walls of Reinhardt. Calling it an enormity would have been a massive understatement. It stretched so far and wide that it seemed endless. The walls would put the Towers of Payee to shame as it soared towards the sky; disappearing in the limitless grey clouds that blanketed the morning sky.

Many had called Reinhardt impregnable. The very colour of the walls was the ultimate proof of it. Seeped in a crimson- red colour that spoke of the heroes that defended the city with their lives and the countless struggles the city had overcome. This was enough to deter many from attacking the city and giving up on such ludicrous ideas.

However, I knew that this grand city that had protected humanity from the unknown was reduced to a rotting nest of aristocrats that fought amongst each other for the slightest of resources. The inside of these walls once boasted many heroes; today they boasted drunkenly and run- down adventurers that would flee in the face of danger. The city was not as impregnable as it once was and although it was still powerful; Reinhardt did not possess the capabilities of defending against me.

"Netherworld spirits, break upon the barriers the shield our world and let upon a scene of massacre unlike any other. Unleash the most powerful of the seven sins and let the world fear your arrival. Greet Reinhardt with annihilation and carnage. A ctivate: Wr-"

Intending to cast a spell that would spell destruction for the city once and for all was the mindset that I had arrived with and it was one I wished to fully follow through with. However just before I could finish I was rudely interrupted.

A weapon of death could be seen slowly moving from my back to my stomach. Breaking the barrier of the skin protecting my stomach and bursting out my front in a most deadly fashion and with it came the rivers of blood flowing down my belly.

I woke up in a pit of red, my surroundings alight in thunder and storms. Yet, as I tried to move an unbearable pain hit me where it hurt the most: my heart. it felt as if a thousand swords were piercing my heart. A stomach-churning sight came into my view once the pain had subsided.

A monstrous abomination that would cause the most fearless and brave of men nightmares. With a body as tall as the Nimroth Tower and skin so red they resembled crimson flames; the monstrous abomination roared. Waking up from my terror-stricken trance I attempted to move only for the pain to once again rise. This time in my spine.

However, I moved. The excruciating pain I felt all but disappeared. Adrenaline and terror made me run. Run for my life. I managed to find a hiding spot behind a dark silhouette. As I held my breath in fear of being discovered the monster passed by me.

I finally knew where I was. Where those deemed too dangerous to the kingdom were sent. A place of never-ending misery and death. The three-horned monster that passed by me was a legend that was told to children.

I was once one of those children. Many had thought them simply to be myths but my eyes had shown me today that these horrors were as real as real could be. They were known as The Wretched, The Cruel, The Corrupted and The Anguished. But to many, they were known as the Murklich's.