Eternal Palace, Prehg

The mortals were here, and their power disappointed me.

I had made all of these preparations in order to deal with the incoming threat, raised an entire army in order to deal with their numbers, but frankly, it was unneeded. The highest of their abilities would threaten my generals at best, and few of them were on that level.

They numbered 250,000. Not one soul would be left untouched if I simply willed it to be and forced my mist of Death onto them. I would use these mortals as a test to my generals, to make them and my army stronger and more experienced in battle.

The moment they took a step into my territory, they had already lost their lives. They just didn't know it yet.

Camp of the Aligned Army of Mainland

The black snow that appeared before the soldiers of the aligned army took away all of their proud confidence which they had at the start of the expedition. Even the temples and elites of the Eastern Empire were not unaffected. The killing intent, nightmares, and all of the other things which affected the average soldier only grew stronger and stronger. Only the paladins and Gahariet, the head paladin, could resist the pressure, but it only got harder to do so.

Gahariet appeared before the army.

"I know many of you have already succumbed to the fear of this unknown threat called the Immortals. All of the things which have been done to us throughout this journey here have shown us how formidable this evil will be on the battle tomorrow.

Look around you. The landscape itself is but a black death, not one plant or tree or any sign of life or light in sight.

Will you wish to live in a world such as this? Will you let this evil near your home countries and homes of your families? Your wives, children, friends, brothers, sisters?

WILL YOU LET THIS EVIL DESTROY WHAT HUMANITY HAS BUIlT?! WHAT OUR GOD, HELIOS, HAS BESTOWED UPON US?! WILL YOU LET THEM TOUCH THOSE THAT WE FIGHT TO PROTECT?!!"

The army roared, the fire in the hearts of the soldiers relit from the words of Gahariet.

"Then tomorrow, we shall wipe this evil from the face of Torathul, so that our loved ones will never have to face such evil. We shall fight this corruption, so that the ones we cherish most won't be corrupted. WE SHALL FIGHT THROUGH THIS FEAR IN OUR HEARTS, SO THAT THE ONES WE PROTECT WILL NEVER HAVE TO FEEL IT!!!!"

A louder battle roar sounded throughout the camp.

"TOMORROW, WE WILL RID THE WORLD OF ANOTHER EVIL!"

The next day

The sun was nowhere to be seen as the aligned army of Mainland marched onward towards the gates of Prehg. The only light source that led them to be able to see as if it was daylight was the red flames protruding from the fortress which was now Prehg.

"THAT is Prehg?! I have been to Prehg many times, and it was not as fortified as this!"

"I agree with you, friend. The Immortals have known of our expedition, they have prepared for this battle, but it will only lead in their demise."

"Yes, but it will not be without cost.. look at the walls themselves... countless bones and skulls make its structure.."

"A sign of evil that we must destroy."

"You are right.. I wouldn't want my daughter seeing a sight such as this."

The army stopped about a mile away from the towering walls. The gate itself was not one like the human fortresses. It was a giant skull with large and sharp canines which had its jaw closed.

A loud horn sounded from the fortress and into the ears of the soldiers.

The eyes of the skull gate burned to life with a crimson flame and it slowly opened its maw, letting the first sight of the Immortals enter the eyes of the aligned army of Mainland.

Skeletal warriors with red flames for eyes signifying their burning hatred for those that dared threaten their homes stepped in a militaristic march. They wielded khopesh swords made from bone and had a height of 2 meters. They all looked completely identical, and so did their glares filled with malice.

They quickly filled into ranks infront of Prehg with a number of 145,000.

"CHAAAAAAAAARGE!!!!"

Before the soldiers' hearts could fully be grasped by their own fear, Gahariet issued the command to attack.

*RAAAAGHH*

The men issued a war cry as they ran towards the Immortals.

The immortals stood there in line calmy, their gaze still burning with the same hateful glare. Then, from the depths of the Immortal army, a golden flame appeared ontop of the fortresses' walls. A golden skeleton with a massive height of 10 feet appeared in a burst of flame. This was Genithul, one of the four generals of the Immortals.

The Golden Giant spread his arms and flames appeared on each of his hands. He then, with a shout, clasped them together in the direction of the aligned army. The flames within his hands burst from the force of his clap and the fire stretched all the way to the aligned army.

Screams of agony were heard everywhere as the smell of burnt flesh wafted in the air. Then, the Immortals charged.

The templars and paladins then took charge into the fight as well. All of the elites of the aligned army realised that if they didn't focus an attack now, all would be lost. The Immortals needed to be pushed back, or the city of Prehg would never be taken over. They had to get inside.

The templars and Immortals clashed, the templars easily being pushed back by the unnatural strength of the skeletons, the black mist surrounding them eating at their armor and flesh as well. The paladins would join in and use their abilities and take charge against the Immortals. At contact, the Immortals were slaughtering the aligned army. All of the normal soldiers were out of the fight, they would only be slaughtered if they tried to face an Immortal. Only the templars, paladins, and elites of the Eastern Empire could face them.

The Immortals now outnumbered the army greatly due to the first attack of the Golden Giant Genithul and not one Immortal would fall, the black mist only regenerating their bones. After a while, a fallen Immortal would only stand once again, and plunge into the battle.

Explosions of fire sounded throughout the battlefield, blood splattered across the black snow, and bones were crushed again and again from the holy weapons of the Templars and Paladins, and the exquisite weapons of the Eastern Empire.

Time slowly passed and the battlefield still raged on. The soldiers grew tired and the Paladins grew wary as the Immortals never ceased their attacks. The Paladins would destroy many thousands of immortals by themselves, only for them to come back again.

"DAMN THESE SKELETONS!! WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST DIE ALREADY!!"

"AAGH!!"

*slash*

The aligned army was already overwhelmed and dying out quickly. Genithul looked around himself and saw the broken and shattered bones of the Immortals he just destroyed slowly but surely reconstruct themselves yet again, this being the 4623rd time he's destroyed them in the course of the mere 30 minutes the battle has ensued.

He then looked at the soldiers. The templars were out of order, paladins desperate to simply destroy those around them in order to save others and their own skin. The elites of the Eastern Empire were simply corpses on the battlefield, completely slaughtered as the course of time went by. In a mere 30 minutes, the aligned army of Mainland was reduced to a small number of 13,000. Gahariet grit his teeth.

"RETREEEAT!!!!"

The horn of retreat sounded throughout the battlefield as Gahariet blew on it. He, for the last time, waved his greatsword with all his strength infront of him, pushing into the air countless Immortals insight with a giant wave of energy.

When the soldiers finally heard the signal of retreat, they ran with all their might back to the camp. As the survivors of the aligned army started to run back before the Immortals could regenerate themselves and chase after them, however, all of the survivors of the aligned army alike felt an intense killing intent that stopped them dead in their tracks. Even Gahariet himself could only move his body after forcefully stabbing himself in the hand to get his mind off of the fear he felt, running faster than he's ever done in his entire life.

"You truly believed that I would simply let you mortals leave here alive, after daring to attack my domain?"

A deep voice filled with malice bellowed into the ears of all the survivors. In the way of the fleeing survivors, a giant skull formed within the dark clouds above. Its eyes exploded with fire, emitting an intense glare with a killing intent that not even Gahariet had ever felt in his entire life. Demons would simply be angry toddlers in the face of such hatred.

The skull, along with the dark clouds themselves, slowly descended down halfway to the ground, staring at the survivors. Not one dared hold a weapon any longer, for it would do them no good against a being such as this.

What god is this? Oh helios, save us all..

"When I first caught wisp of the aura of you mortals, I decided it to be a suitable task for my generals to handle. However, you are not even worth being a stepping stone for my brethen. One effortless attack from one of my Generals overcame you. If even one of them tried with all of their power, in one attack, to end you, you would be dead. You are nothing to me."

Gahariet was completely flabbergasted and struck with fear at what he heard. He just then realised that from the moment the aligned army took their first step towards Prehg, their deaths were already written.

"And so, wastes of life, for being so pathetic and daring to cross the Immortals, know true Death."

The skull opened its maw and let out a giant wave of crimson flame that turned the survivors of the aligned army into ash. The screams lasted but a fleeting breath, and the last thing Gahariet saw before his world faded to black, was a black skeletal hand grasp his face and pull him into a pit of darkness.