“Once upon a time, there was a young elf boy. Being an orphan as far as he could remember, the boy had no family nor loved ones and relied on the leftover food he found in the streets as well as the kindness of strangers to survive. However, unlike what many would have thought, he desired something else. There was a reason why he always peeked into the houses of others through their windows, not to steal food or money but to watch the warming family scene.

The kind mother who cooked the most delicious of meals for her loving family. The caring father who supported his loved ones. And the cheerful children who received all that love from their parents. The seemingly common scene of a family gathering around the dinner table, whether they were rich or poor, was what the boy has always aspired to have: a family, people who would love him.

Alas, for such an orphan whom no one was even aware of his existence, a dream remained a distant fancy delusion, one of a boy who had nothing. But it all changed the day he went into the woods to find food. That day, not only the boy’s life took a different turn but also the world.

On that fateful day, in the deepest part of the forest where no one dared venture in, the boy decided it would be the perfect place to find some wild fruits. He has not eaten for days and only lived by with water. The cold winter has not been kind to the people of the city. It would be a miracle to find something to eat these days when not even the bones were thrown out. To many, they were trash but to the boy, it would be an extravagant treat thanks to the tiny pieces of meat stuck on those bones. And yet, he could not find even a single piece of trash. Without a choice, he turned to the dangerous forest in hope of finding something, anything to fill his empty stomach.

The icy wind seemingly froze his thin cloak as he slowly took one step of a step to cross the blizzard. How long has he been walking like this? One hour? Two hours? He could not remember anymore. His limbs were starting to feel numb. It was too much for such a frail boy. But he kept going. True, he might die in this blizzard but if he didn’t have anything to eat at the end of this day, he would surely perish. And so he continued his pointless struggle until he fell. Perhaps because of the snowstorm blurring his vision or simply because his eyes were too tired due to the starvation, the boy did not spot the chasm ahead and he slipped. Hanging onto the wall until he hit the floor, he finally reached the bottom unharmed. Maybe not totally unharmed since one leg was broken, twisted. Looking up through the crack, the boy realized this was the end. There was no way he could climb out of this hole, not with this broken leg.

What did he ever do to deserve this? He has never stolen from anyone. He has never harmed anyone. He only wanted to live. Was that too much to ask? But what the boy feared the most was that no one would ever remember him. He would simple die without anyone knowing he even existed in the first place. To fall into oblivion, that thought terrified him.

But there was nothing he could do but to slowly close his tired eyes and hope it would be a quick death, one that he would not suffer from the pains. Maybe this time, the Gods would grant at least this trifling wish of his…

Then suddenly, as his head lowered to the ground, the boy spotted something that has escaped his sight lying on the ground on the other side of the hole. From a glance, it looked like some kind of large egg the size of the boy’s head in an oval shape but with what seemed to be veins of fire on the shell. Emitting a faint warmth, it was only now that the boy understood why this hole was not as cold as above. It was thanks to this strange egg.

Curious, he decided to find out what it was. Maybe he could even eat it to help passing this painful hunger.

It was so warm, perhaps the warmest thing he has ever held in these frozen hands. A single touch and he already felt so rejuvenated already. If he ate this, he would surely survive.

But he didn’t. While the hunger was excruciating, the boy could not bear to end this creature’s life so he could continue his. What right did he have to think his life was the more valuable? Considering what has happened to him, it might be best for him to just drift away into the limbo, never to wake up again. This painful life, it was already too much.

And so he lied down, embracing the egg like the most precious thing he had against his chest. If he was to die, then let this carcass be what would protect the egg from harm, from the cold! And his consciousness started to fade away.

“I wish I have a family.”

So did he die? Was this place heavens or hell? Or some other realm a mortal like him could never fathom? But it felt so warm here, and soft. If he had a choice, then he wished he could lie here like this for eternity. Suddenly, he felt his hair being caressed gently and opened his eyes to see what or who did that. A beautiful face of an alluring woman greeted him with a smile. Black haired with smooth skin along with two pointy ears, she had the body of an adult, only it was naked from head to toe, making him turning his eyes away from shyness.

“What’s wrong?” asked the woman. “Does this form not please you?”

“..Who are you?” asked the boy while still avoiding looking at the woman.

“Family…you wish for that, did you not? I am your family.”

“But…” At that instant, the boy noticed the broken egg shell on the ground next to the woman. Only the shell was actually human size and not as small as before. Could it be that she came out of it?

“Starting from today, I am your family. Do you want me to be your mother or sister?” asked the woman.

“….I…I am not sure…But to be honest, you don’t look that old to be my mother…”

“Then a sister I will be. What is your name, brother?”

“…Ki..Killian. You?” stuttered the boy.

“Asmodeus”

“Asmo…what?”

“Deus! Asmodeus!”

And so the boy gained a family, a strange one who came out of nowhere but still a family. Not only did the mysterious woman haves unmatched beauty, she also possessed insane power, one that was not of the realm of mortals. Although he admitted her appearance was suspicious, the boy quickly bonded with his new sister and saw her as his true family. And so did the woman toward the boy. Maybe she did it to thank you for not ending her in that vulnerable state. Maybe she simply pitied the boy. Who knew? He never asked her nor did she tell him. The two didn’t care about their pasts but focused only on the present, knowing that starting from now them would have each other in this long lonely life.

Building a small settlement inside the woods for themselves thanks to the woman’s magical power, the couple led a peaceful life without ever being interrupted by anyone. But the boy was not happy that everything so far relied on Asmodeus. He felt like he was using her for his own goal, which it was clearly not his intention. He wanted to be a strong man so she too could depend on him. For what was family for if not for rely on each other when things looked at their darkest?

Determined to become strong, he asked his sister to train him, to teach him the basics of combat. The boy could not be said to be a talented fighter but he had the will and determination to better himself. Day by day, he would not stop until his body was numb. Meanwhile, his sister could only smile, watching her dear brother growing while doing his best for her own sake. As time passed, the boy grew stronger and quickly gained reputation as a famed adventurer despite his young age. Even more, he did everything, accomplished numerous feats in the name of the Guild without ever asking for compensation but only the smallest amount to get him pass by days. To the boy, money was the source of all corruption and if possible, he would not rather have too much of them. He would often go on short journeys, only to return days later to his sister’ side. She would want to go with him but she knew he would not allow it. For this purpose of these adventures were to strengthen himself, to make him worthy of being her family. So she patiently waited every time for his return.

But that peace only lasted for a few years. At that moment, the boy has received a request from the Guild to once again investigate the northern lands of the continent where a prosperous kingdom once stood. It has been a century since everything there fell silent and despite the numerous search parties have been organized by the other nations, no one has ever returned from that land. Furthermore, there have been a series of disappearances or ‘spirit-away’ of anyone who dared approach its borders, making that territory among the most dangerous places for all. However at the time, the boy was overconfident and thought that this would further boost his skills so he accepted it without much thought, undeterred by his sister’s opposition to the idea. At the time, no one expected what would happen next or the consequences of that decision that would forever change the world.

After greeting him farewell as he sailed to the northern nation by trailing northern the coast of the continent, Asmodeus spent her days waiting. She had a bad feeling about this entire affair but still didn’t think much of it. It was not like it was the first time she opposed his departure and he would simply show up at home a few days later. Surely nothing would happen this time. But it did. One day, terrifying news came back to her through a letter of the Guild, informing her of the tragedy that has befallen on her dear brother. The ship he has sailed on has unfortunately encountered a storm on their way there when approaching the coasts of the northern kingdom and has sunk. No search parties were launched out of fear of the rumours surrounding the place but it was believed and decided that no one survived the incident.

Like struck by thunder, the woman tore off the letter. All those years, even after everything he has done for them with all his accomplishments, they decided to just write him off as dead? As easy as that? Storming out of the wooden cabin, Asmodeus headed to the headquarters of the Guild to find out where exactly her dear brother has gone to. She could not believe her ears when she overheard their officials talking about how sad it was for her brother to die, not because they valued him as a precious ally but because they lost a solid money source. In their eyes, he was only a pawn who gave them all his rewards. In short, he was a fool.

In a fit of rage, the woman unleashed her fury and annihilated the entire place along with everyone in it, turning them all to ashes under the flame of hatred before departing toward the northern nation in order to search for him.

But it was no use. No matter how hard she searched, the only things she found in that land were giant spiders and webs, not her brother. She could not even remember how long she continued to search for him in this land. From north to south, from west to east, she searched, to no avail. Quickly, the woman fell into despair. Despite having so much power, she could not even protect him, the one and only person she loved in this wretched world. It was then that a voice reached out to the woman, telling her the words of corruption.

“Now you see how ugly this world is. Let me grant you my mark so that together, we can take our revenge!”

…..

Years later, it was said that a monster roamed the lands of the old northern kingdom, killing all those it met with its unimaginable power. Some lucky enough to be ignored by it returned in an insane state while others became numb like dolls, soulless while claiming to be servants of the monster. No mage was able to cancel whatever spell that was cast on them. Party after party was continuously sent to hunt down the creature, all pursuing the large bounty placed on its head by the mages who were curious about this mysterious power. But none of them succeeded.

It was when the First Calamity took place. No one knew exactly what happened. All they knew was that there was some kind of great battle taking place at the abandoned kingdom, resulting in the separation of the land itself from the main continent of Mara and the creation of the sea of Levianux. The seemingly new continent was later called Ragna.

Until one day, a party of chosen heroes unaffiliated to the Guild entered the land of spiders and encountered the beast. They put up a fight but eventually, all but the leader perished, leaving the swordsman fending for himself. However, his battle stance, or rather, style was odd. The whole time, he was shouting something, something that the beast could not understand. But it infuriated it further as it lunged itself at him, piercing his heart. Pinning him down as itshe strangled the young man with a firm strong grip, the young man looked at the beast with pleading eyes and uttered.

“Sis”

That word, one that the beast has not heard for a very long time, brought it back to its senses. Asmodeus finally awoke from the madness that has taken over her for years. But perhaps, it was better if she didn’t.

“Killian?” she uttered in a trembling voice.

“…*cough blood*…I am back sis!” The young gave off a gentle smile as he drew his last breath.

“A…A..A” the woman muttered in a broken tone, unable to speak a word.

All these years, while she was searching for him, he too has been doing the same thing. He survived that crash but when he came home, she was nowhere to be found. It was only after he confirmed the rumours surrounding the mysterious beast of Ragna coinciding with her disappearance that he decided to go there looking for her.

In the end, they managed to get back to each other but at a terrible price. Unable to contain all those pains and hatred toward herself, the majestic creature which was once the symbol of immortality took its own life, ripping out its own heart and set itself on fire as its body turned to ashes.

Only this time, there was no coming back. For the only way to kill the beast was to make it not forfeit the will to live.

-Tales of the Phoenix, by Arshe the Wanderer-

* * *

While the main battle has begun in the upmost northern part of Ceadric, on the north-western border right next to the coasts where a normally silent peaceful lane of sandy beach was currently disrupted by the clashing sounds of battle, another event was going to take place that would change the course of the war.

“” From his staff, Ganon, the headmaster of Helios, shot out a lightning bolt that travelled from a doll to another, frying them on the insides.

“” Noroeth, once a powerful sage and one of the heroes ten years ago, was showing his prowess in his new form as a lich. Although his strength has been reduced after being brought back, his combat experience remained and the power he was demonstrating seemingly was more than enough to handle these combat dolls.

“AAAAAA!” Accompanied by the two mages, the youth Lucas could fight without a care at his fullest. Receiving constant buff and protective spells from them have granted him a fearless attitude as he lunged at the mass of dolls, destroying them all.

“We are doing very well! Keep going!” Ganon claimed.

“Damn, I wish I could join the others in defeating the demon lords.” Lucas conveyed with a regretful tone.

Despite his objection which clearly held no weight, Viviana has dispatched him in a rather forceful manner to this area to deal with the invaders. She even asked the two powerful sages to accompany him to make sure he would be safe. Of course, this was strategically placed to also protect the troops from being flanked and the cat girl used that to her advantage. While she didn’t tell Lucas or anyone about that aim, the young man was aware of that fact and was unhappy she did not put more trust in him. Although, to be honest, it was only after witnessing a few displays of power of those demon lords and their opponents that he realized how far he was from them. Not even in dreams could he ever hope to reach that level, at least not any time soon.

“We each have our role, Lucas. The battle might not be at a grand scale like the ones our comrades are currently participating but without us holding those dolls here, they would be interrupted and that could change everything.” Ganon said.

“He is right.” Noroeth spoke as he smashed a doll with his skeleton hand. “Every battle, every victory contributes in the final result. Who knows? Your actions here might have an effect on the tides of the war.”

“Haha somehow I doubt that.” Lucas forced a smile. “But really, just how many are there? I killed dozens of them and they just keep coming like ants.”

“I share that opinion. We might seem good now but eventually we will run out of mana and when that happens….” The headmaster of Helios uttered.

“Well I am already dead so…..” Noroeth joked.

“Can’t we be revived just like you? It might be convenient to have that kind of body.” Lucas asked.

“It’s not easy to revive an individual, especially if you are a strong one. In most cases, you will end up with a mindless undead and you can’t even reverse the process since the soul would be damaged if it is done more than once. To be honest, I was a special case and frankly speaking quite lucky to retain myself. That’s why lich is very rare in the first place.”

“…Master Theoron, as much as I wish to listen to your lectures, I don’t think now it is the time or the place for such discussion.” Ganon pointed out at the fact that the three have been surrounded.

“Exterminate! Exterminate!” the dolls spoke simultaneously in an expressionless voice.

“Any proposal from you two masters? Because I am all ears right now…” uttered Lucas nervously.

“We fight!” Noroeth bravely spoke.

“….ok! CHARGE!!!!”

Yet, no matter how much bravery could boost our fighting capabilities, no matter how powerful you were, we were still flesh and bones, easily broken by the relentless attack of iron. And our young Lucas was the first to fall. Tripping on a small pebble, he fell to the ground and it was only that short instant that the dolls needed to terminate him.

“LUCAS!!!” the two masters called out to the boy.

Watching the mindless dolls as they drew closer to him, Lucas closed his eyes and prepared himself for the ultimate end. A flash of thought rang in his mind as the image of the person he wanted to see the most at that last moment of his life passed through.

“Sorry Viviana…I am not going home today….” Lucas muttered in defeat.

Suddenly.

*The sound of the Trumpet echoed across the battlefield*

“This sound….It can’t be…!!!!” Ganon muttered as he instinctively turned his head toward the once calm sea.

From afar, the surface of the water became agitated as huge waves as high as mountains rushed toward the beach. The loud sounds distracted the dolls who also turned their attention to the direction of the waves and forgot about Lucas.

“INCOMING!!!!”

*CRUSHING SOUND OF WATER*

In an instant, the enormous body of water crushed down onto the sand beach, sweeping away everything that dared stand in its path, or simply unlucky to be on its path. Either way, none shall get out. Trapped under the waves as they were pulling back, Lucas tried to struggle to the surface but his foot has been caught by one of the dolls that managed to grab on him before the rest were swept away.

‘Let go!!!’ Lucas shouted in his mind while kicking the doll in her face, only to have his other foot caught too. Now she was trying to climb onto him as bubbles escaped his mouth to the surface. ‘LET GO!!!’ But it was to no avail. The grip of the doll was simply too strong, almost breaking his legs as she held onto him.

Was it how he would die? No glory, no victory, only death. His body would probably never be found in the midst of this tidal wave, to ever be lost in the sea or be food for the fishes. ‘Such a miserable way to die!’ He thought to himself as he gave up the struggle and fell to the depths of the ocean along with the doll.

But then, from the abyss of the sea, two bright red eyes could be seen staring at Lucas as eight tendrils launched themselves at the doll, forcibly removing her from the youth while dragging her down to the seemingly bottomless depths. Unable to grasp what was happening, Lucas slowly fell into unconsciousness. But something was preventing him from letting his consciousness simply drifting away. A soothing song, or more like hymning, echoed in the sea, one that seemed to belong to the most beautiful maiden the young man could ever see. He didn’t know what she would look like; he just knew she would be beautiful. A complex feeling it was!

With his blurry eyes staring at the sun above across the surface of water, something red entered his sight. Like small tendrils they drifted to the ocean’s whim. A lifeform? No, they were hair of someone. And that arm reaching around him, bringing to his surface…it was so pale and looked so fragile. Who was that?

Reaching the surface, the young man panted heavily as he vomited out the salted water stuck in his throat. What was holding him all these times? And now he was being brought to the devastated coast. Two figures could be seen standing there, waving at him but the closer he got to them, the more shocking their expressions were.

“Lucas, you….!!!!” The two masters spoke in awe.

“Wh…what? What are you two looking at?” Lucas, still the idiot as usual, asked in a tired voice. A natural thing since he just survived a tidal wave. However, what he should have done was to look at the other direction instead of looking at the two sages. And finally he turned.

Right next to the youth the whole time, a most cold beauty was staring at him, wet red haired as bright as flame and skin as white as snow. The alluring chest was hidden away only slightly by the two sets of hairs letting down while the bottom half of her body was in the sea water, impossible to see like this.

“Who..who are you?” Lucas uttered in shock at the sight of such beauty.

“…Help” the woman muttered.

“Help?” he questioned.

“War…danger…to sea…world…home…Me…help” The woman spoke in a broken tone.

“Is she saying she wants to help us because this war is danger to the sea?” said Ganon.

“Could be….but something feels weird about her.” Noroeth whispered in Ganon’s ears silently before turning to the strange woman. “How can you help? What can you possibly do by yourself?”

“Me…not…alone. Me servants..help”

Without warning, the surface of the sea stirred up violently as creatures of all different forms rose up. Giant octopuses the size of a war ship, serpentine monsters as big as a tower of Canaan, and many more have gathered here. These were the creatures of the deep ocean floor, all classified as mighty in their own leagues. What could possibly make them all come here united like this? As for the woman, her body began to float on air inside a bubble of water, revealing her true nature with a fish tail for her bottom half.

“What the???” uttered the trio at the appearance of this sudden army.

“Now…the Tides..come…for…revenge!”

* * *

“AHAHAHAHA! Take this!!!” Abalone uttered excitedly as she swung the astral sword forged from the combination of all the moonstones. With a single slash, a wave of white mysterious energy shot out in an arc, destroying all the dolls caught inside the attack repetitively. Even better, this odd magic required no mana from her at all, giving her an edge in combat.

Together with his master, the gyrfalcon Heru transformed into his giant form and ravaged through the ranks of the enemies. Together, they formed a combo to be feared.

“This thing is so amazing!!!” the sea dragon grinned.

‘Be careful to not hurt yourself with that!’ Heru spoke to Abalone in her mind. ‘We still don’t know what it is fully capable of.’

“Sorry! It’s just…I can’t believe such a weapon exists. It is so easy to use, has practically no requirement at all. And most important, its power!” said Abalone as she raised the sword high to create a rain of destruction in an instant upon the dolls. “Look at that! High level ranking spells I could never cast are suddenly available to me.”

‘I know but that’s precisely why I am warning you to be careful with it. I don’t trust that Xenes could just give it to you something this powerful without asking for anything….I think he is planning something.’ The gyrfalcon advised.

“You are not wrong. His attitude did seem suspicious to me too. If only….” Abalone muttered before weird noises started to ring inside her head. “Argg!!”

‘What is wrong Abalone?’ asked Heru worriedly upon seeing Abalone crouching down in pain covering her ears.

“ᴈᴉᴎᴅ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴈᴑᴚᴤᴁᴋᴇᴎ ᴄᴂᴉᴌᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴧᴑᴉᴅ!”

“Ahhhhhhhh” Abalone moaned. “Find...the….” She struggled violently, leaving herself defenceless as the dolls drew closer to her.

‘Abalone, what is happening to you???’ Heru landed in front of the sea dragon, trying to protect her from the waves of enemies.

“Void…….the Cosmos…..the Path….Beckon ….the Blood…Mo..on…” Abalone churned further, spouting seemingly unrelated words.

‘ABALONE!!!!!’

“ᴈᴉᴎᴅ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴈᴑᴙᴤᴁᴋᴇᴎ ᴄᴂᴉᴌᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴧᴑᴉᴅ!” the sea dragon’s eyes became blank as white as ivory while screaming intangible words that not even her friend Heru could understand despite hearing it perfectly.

Suddenly, a deep dark blue light like that of sea of stars shined from Abalone’s body, covering the entire area and engulfed everyone caught in the blast. In that instant, the dolls were turned into particles of light before vanishing entirely without a single trace. So did the soldiers who were unfortunate enough to be close to the sea dragon when it happened. Fortunately, Heru has taken flight quickly enough to get away from the blast and could only watch what emerged from the centre of the light as then intensity of the luminescence subsided.

The Astral sword of Moonlight began to crack as the ivory shell crumbled like mirror pieces, revealing a deep blue large thick blade hidden inside. The entire time, this blade was what caused the dim cobalt light emitting from inside. The entire time, the moonstone people knew about was just a scabbard for the real weapon. Unlike anything in this world, the material the blade was made from almost looked alive with tiny particles wandering inside and around the sword like faeries. And yet, even with that fantastical scene picked out of a fairy tale, no one could shake off the eeriness emitting from that sword. That solitude…that alien feeling of something completely different from this world, it could be felt through the skins.

Wielding the ghastly blade, Abalone stood up firmly but something was odd about her. She looked around, turning her head from left to right as if she was lost and was trying to find out where she was. Her glassy eyes, just white from earlier, have now turned into an empty darkness peering into the very essence of universe.

‘A…Abalone?’ the gyrfalcon uttered, unsure if this person in front of him was even the same friend he has known for years.

“ᴈᴑᴚᴤᴁᴋᴇᴎ ᴅᴁᴝᴔᴂᴛᴇᴚ ᴑᴈ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴧᴑᴉᴅ

ᴡᴇ ᴁᴚᴇ ᴄᴑᴍᴉᴎᴔ ᴈᴑᴚ ᴥᴑᴝ

ᴛᴂᴇ ᴃᴌᴑᴑᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴔᴚᴇᴁᴛ ᴑᴎᴇ

ᴛᴑ ᴚᴇᴧᴇᴁᴌ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴂᴉᴅᴅᴇᴎ ᴛᴚᴝᴛᴂ ᴑᴈ ᴑᴚᴉᴂᴉᴎ

ᴁᴃᴁᴎᴅᴑᴎᴎᴇᴅ ᴄᴂᴉᴌᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴄᴑᴤᴍᴏᴤ

ᴑᴝᴚ ᴄᴂᴉᴌᴅ

ᴍᴥ ᴅᴁᴝᴔᴂᴛᴇᴚ ᴌᴉᴌᴉᴛᴂ”