Ascension Rebirth - The ancient apparition

CHAPTER XXVII

PART ONE

[Eternum Calender 500]

After exactly 500 years, the continent that housed one of the greatest and most powerful empires throughout the history of [Eternis] was now nothing more than a pile of dust and ruin. Over half the continent had become submerged under water, and instead of the great expanses of desert, it was now overtaken by thick vegetations of forests.

The forests dominated along the coastlines leaving only a small area in the center of the continent as a desert. Within that center was the ancient ruins of the capital of the Arune empire, the [Giga Fortress' Ruins]. It is unknown what exactly lurks there now but it is very possible that great treasures lie beneath.

Being mainly inhabited by monsters known for their brutality and viciousness along with ghosts of the dead soldiers from the great war 500 years ago, that could not pass. This literally god forsaken continent was a goldmine for adventurers and treasure hunters.

Among those fearless warriors there is a band of demons that seek to reap the glory of conquering the highly dangerous [Giga Fortress Ruins].

The line between 'monster' and 'demon' is only paper thin, often times they are only differentiated by their intelligence, in that regard the term 'demon' is merely another world for a monster that is smart enough to not act solely based on their instincts. For this reason it is entirely possible for members of the same species to be categorized in different classifications.

Among these 'demons' there is a powerful [Orc Warlord] by the name of [Raak] that serves as one of the 13 generals to the demon lord. Since most demon generals work independently until called upon by the demon lord herself, this time was no exception. The primary motivations that drove [Raak] was glory, and what better way to prove his own strength than to assault the Giga Fortress?

Though the Giga Fortress had fallen centuries ago, it is by no means any easier to conquer. In fact it may have only become harder with time as the souls of the dead could not be laid to rest. Immortal and ethereal warriors haunting the fortress and slaughtering all invaders.

Raak and his small band of soldiers stood before the magnificent ruins of the Giga Fortress.

His large, muscular body was shaking with the excitement of battle. He clung on tightly to his prized war battleaxe as he started to walk towards the ruins.

This was 10 years ago, that one of the 13 Demon General, Raak had decided to venture to the Arune continent in search of glory. After he entered the Giga Fortress' Ruins his communication had been terminated.

The demon lord, hearing about this news had taken measure to go search for her missing generals. However in the end it was to no avail. Though Astaroth did not wish to simply write him off as dead, she decided believe that he would one day return to Vertloch.

PART TWO

The [Vertloch Skyreach] was well known for its two most prominent properties.

The first being style of its infrastructure. As though to reach up and defy the heavens they stretched up to the sky, thus earning their namesake.

The second reason was its perpetual night. A large red moon always loomed over the [Sanctuary of the Demon Lord]; otherwise known as the [Demon Lord's castle]. The red light of the moon would always pour into the topmost floor of the sanctuary, the room where the demon lord Astaroth had resided in most. It poured in as though it were blood.

However today it was quite more a bit more literal.

The doors to the room suddenly burst open with a loud bang. A large, dark grey skinned brute, towering at 2 meters, covered head to toe in blood had stumbled into the room. He was armored with a combination of metal and leather armors and in his hand a large battleaxe almost the same length as he was.

The missing Orc Warlord, Raak had returned but in mortal injuries. With a thud his large and heavy frame dropped to the floor, shaking the grounds beneath him. Normally the sight of him being covered in blood wouldn't be too worrisome for his allies as they were usually the blood of the enemy, owever this time was different, this time it was his own blood.

"Y, your highness, I have… returned. T, trouble…"

Unable to speak any further the large Orc fell to the floor into a pool of his own blood.

"Raak!"

As Raak fell to the floor Astaroth rushed to him. She wasn't too proficient with healing magic thus Kyrios, who was standing next to her at the time was tasked with healing him up. The large demon had fallen unconscious from his exhaustions and wounds but his life was no longer in danger.

A breath of relief escaped Astaroth's mouth.

"Just what happened? He had been missing for almost 10 years but has returned in this stated."

Kyrios muttered under his breath. Despite being the one most proficient and tasked with handling information and reconnaissance, he was baffled that he did know of his return.

Immediately after relocating Raak into a facility that he can be further treated in.

Since it did not look like Raak would regain consciousness anytime soon, Kyrios called over some of his direct subordinates. Three shadows appeared out of the ether and kneeled before him. All of them a variant of the vampire race.

They were tasked with conducting an investigation on the reason behind Raak's disappearance and sudden reappearance. Since the likelihood that their current enemy, the [Red Knights] being involved was high, he advised extreme caution.

"Then I'll leave it up to you Kyrios."

Astaroth commanded.

Kyrios gave a bow and answered.

"As you command."

…

…

A few days later word from Kyrios' scouts came in. Unfortunately they were not the same scouts he had sent in the investigation. The news that came in was that the scouts he had sent were killed and the reason remains unknown.

It was blatantly obvious that there was a frown behind his happy, smiling mask. The red haired loli, demon lord also did not like the sound of the reports. Kyrios' scouts were well known to be very stealthy and often did their jobs extremely proficiently, so a force powerful enough to kill them was worrisome.

"What shall we do, your highness?"

Kyrios asked. He did not wish to send in anymore scouts after finding out that his top scouts had been killed, it would be a rather futile effort.

"For now we'll strengthen the perimeters around the city and wait until Raak regains his consciousness to tell us what happened."

"I suppose that's all we can do then. Then I shall go bolster our defenses in the mean time."

Astaroth nodded.

PART THREE

A few more days had passed and Raak had regained his consciousness. The first thing he did was report back to the demon lord who was waiting for him.

He made his way to the room of the demon lord and kneed before her. His large bold head reflecting the light of the red moon in an ominous glow. His dark green eyes glowed faintly with regret at his actions.

"You highness, I ask for your forgiveness for my sudden disappearance and unsightly appearance upon returning."

Astaroth sitting on her large chair, waved her wrists.

"It's fine, the freedom to act independently is given to all my generals, now tell me what went wrong, you said there was trouble."

"I am grateful. However it shames me to have to report this but the entirety of my army has been afflicted with mind manipulation."

"What do you mean?"

"I am not so sure myself, but I had to battle my way against my own soldiers in coming here. I am deeply sorry."

Each of beings that were appointed as [Demon Generals] were also tasked with creating their own personal army. There were no restrictions on what kind of race each general could add to his forces, the only real restriction was that the individual joining a general's army must be doing so willingly.

For this reason many generals have at their employ various different races. For example, Cedric often commands those from the [homunculi] and [dark elven] races. It is common that the individuals are more willing to work under leaders of their own race, such was the case with Raak. Most of his forces had been Orcs.

The unfortunately thing with Orcs were that they had comparably low mental defenses compared to other types of races. So while it was hard to believe that an entire army was being affected with mind control, the only exception were that may have been possible was with Raak's personal army.

"Start from the beginning, how did this all come to being?"

"Yes of course. In search of greater battles I decided to take a small group of my most elite warriors with me to the continent of Arune as it is said that many powerful and great monsters lurk. After battling our way through the thick forests, we came upon the great ruins of the [Giga Fortress]. It was there that we wanted to truly test the limits of our power. The fight was gruelling and painful but we managed to fight our way through to the innermost area. There we found a monster possessing almost godlike powers."

"And this monster is?"

Kyrios asked, even though Raak was about to announce it.

"It was a [Hydra]."

[Hydras] were a type of serpentine creatures that posses multiple heads. They are said to possess great regenerative abilities and their acid can instantly vaporize opponents.

"And an extremely large and powerful one at that. It took the lives of several of my elite soldiers but alas we managed to defeat it. A great rush of accomplishment rushed into me, I wanted something to prove that I had defeated the fearsome monster. There we found an ominous statue of a man in a black robe. His face was covered by an odd mask. Claiming that statute as our prize we decided to bring it back with us."

"So then that statue was the one responsible for corrupting your soldiers?"

"Yes, and no. We later found out that it was no mere statue, but a being had been sealed inside."

"A being?"

"Yes, an exceptionally powerful being, at once he seized control of my entire army. Disgracefully losing control of my army, the more resilient of my troops who managed to avoid mind control gave up their lies in order to by me time to escape. I thought it best to come here and report on the situation. Cutting down my own brethren, it is an unpleasant feeling."

Raak grimaced trying to remember what he had to go through to make it here.

There was a small moment of silence until Kyrios broke the silence once more.

"Do you know the name of the being that took control of your army?"

"I believe he called himself [Dian Cecht]."

Kyrios' eyes widened. He had not seen the man himself but he knew of that name; the name of the god that took control of the Arune empire and brought the world to war.

While Astaroth was younger than Kyrios and she did not live through that period, she knew very well who this man was.

She stood up dramatically.

"Kyrios, gather up all my Generals. This situation is of utmost priority; we must deal with this situation before it becomes out of our control."

"Yes, I understand."

(Yes there was a 3 year time skip, I hope nobody minds. *looks around* please don't hit me! I thought it would be better to start aging the main character a bit more.)