Azeria was commonly referred to as the kingdom of ice by its own and by foreign population. The kingdom itself is a small one and, would it not be for the nature of the strange weather surrounding it, other, more powerful kingdoms would have annexed it a long time ago. There hasn't even been a been a successful invasion so far. The phenomenon of having their borders constantly clad in a powerful snow storm, devouring all the invading armies trying to cross the border or simply driving the moral of the soldiers so far down that most of the army deserts thus forcing them to retreat, it's one of the mysteries of Aurora. A natural defence as strong as this one, however, does not come without demerit. Since no one can control it, it cuts off Azeria from the rest of the world.

The capital of the Azeria kingdom was situated in the far south of their land. Frostford was the jewel of the kingdom, the icy walls stood high and towering over the city the palace could be seen even from afar. The city was built on top of a hill, giving the defenders a natural advantage over an attacking army. An attack by foreign powers was unlikely due to their natural defence but then again just because it has not happened before it was not impossible. Due to such cautious thoughts, past kings decided to construct a new, strong outer wall each time the city's population grew too big for the city to contain. As of now, the city had three layers of walls. Within the innermost layer of the walls was the palace located. Here the royal family lived and ruled over the Azeria kingdom. The next layer housed the nobles and burghers with enough power and wealth to buy their way into this district. The difference between the nobles district and the commoner's district, which was located behind only the outer layer of the walls, was evident just by opening one's eyes. While in the noble district every street was made out of stone and every house was a mansion with a garden, in the commoners district on the other hand the only streets made out of stone were those leading from the gates to the nobles district and most houses were small, yes, but with enough space for the family to live in. It was not perfect, but the people could not complain. Frequent patrols kept the order and crime were not a problem. Due to the cold weather, the last plague was over 50 years in the past and almost no one even remembered such thing could even happen.

But now this jewel of the ice kingdom Azeria was engulfed in flames, screams, and death.

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Inside the palace, a girl with long, fiery red hair had slept, now woken up by the sound of fighting and screaming. She quickly stood up and headed over towards her window to take a look at what was happening. Upon seeing the scene in the palace courtyard, she ran with a shocked expression to her closet, grabbed a leather armour, pants, her boots and put them on. Before leaving the room she also took the sword resting on top of her drawer and ran out of her room.

This girl was the only princess of the Azeria kingdom, Ilene. At this point of time, she was sixteen years old. She was around 170 cm tall and had a beautiful figure, slender legs and a small face. On her face, little freckles close to her nose could be seen. Her pale skin contrasted the colour of her red eyes, just like her hair. One could see that her breasts were not that developed yet, but she was still only sixteen. Without a doubt, she would be even more beautiful in the future.

Ilene was trained in the art of sword from an early age, because, in this world, the weather was not the only danger.

As she made her way towards the palace entrance, she saw a bunch of soldiers with their shields up, forming a line in front of the palace gate. There were around thirty of them and a large man with white hair stood behind them. He was well-built, and because of the many scars covering his body, anyone could see that this man has seen countless battles.

He was known as Danten, an ex-general, but now he was the commander of the royal guard.

"Danten!" Ilene ran towards the man.

"Princess you are safe!" Danten turned around, visibly relieved by that no harm had come to her.

"Yes, I am. But tell me, what is going on here?"

"I do not know, but the attacking soldiers are wearing the same armour as we do."

Irene's face twitched at the word's Danten spoke: "Could it be a rebellion?"

"I do not know princess, but you should hurry to the throne room, his majesty the king is waiting there."

"Yes. I shall go there at once. Don't die Danten."

"Do not worry about this old dog princess."

Ilene gave a small smile before she started running towards the throne room.

Shortly after, a loud bang could be heard, which could only mean that the gate to the palace had been breached. Battle cries were heard from that direction and Danten was yelling "Hold the line men! Do not let these scums reach the inside!" Ilene just continued running.

When she reached the throne room and opened the large doors, what she saw on the inside was a middle aged man with black short hair, he wore a silver armour with a crest of the bear in the middle. In his right hand was a sword and as soon as Ilene entered he rushed towards her.

"Ilene! Thank the gods! You are safe!" The king rushed and hugged his daughter.

"Yes, father. I am safe and well thanks to Danten" Ilene gave a small smile.

"Yes but I do not know for how long he will be able to hold the enemy back." The king's face became serious and so did Ilene's.

"That is why, Ilene, listen well, the throne can be moved. Under it is a tunnel that leads outside the city. I want you to go to Veriates where your brother Reyn and uncle are and warn them about what happened here tonight."

"No father! I won't run away! I will stay and fight as well!" Ilene spoke with anger in her voice.

"Damn it, girl! Listen to me for once!" The king yelled.

Ilene just stood there and watched her father. She had never seen him like this. After a few seconds, the king seemed to have calmed down and began to speak again in a sad voice.

"Ilene please listen to me. You are my daughter and I love you very much, but I will not lose you like I did your mother. So please listen to me."

Ilene could not bring herself to go against her father's wish and with teary eyes agreed. The king pressed the well-hidden switch on the wall. The throne moved to the left and revealed a deep dark tunnel underneath.

"Wait father! What about Neil?"

"Do not worry. I have sent servants to get him. He should arrive shortly. He will follow behind you" The King gave a sad smile.

Ilene had two brothers, Reyn and Niel. They were twins, age twenty-three. Reyn had always loved swords and battles and admired the knights. So it was only natural for him to join the knight order that his uncle commanded when he came of age. Niel, on the other hand, was spoiled and did not like fighting. His interests were more political in nature and for some reason, Ilene could not understand why nobles loved him.

"It is time. You must go now.", the king spoke.

Ilene took a torch from the wall and entered the tunnel. Her father once again pressed the switch and before the throne moved to cover the tunnel she turned around and said: "I love you father."

The king smiled "I love you too."

The throne had closed the tunnel, but there was a little crack. Hardly noticeable from the outside but from within, in that darkness, it was clear. The crack was just enough to peek at the throne room.

Ilene decided to stay for a little or at least until Niel arrived.

The doors of the throne room opened and inside the throne room, a young man with dark black hair and eyes entered. He was wearing the outfit of noble, flashy and with many colours on it.

The king smiled upon seeing his son unhurt "Good. Niel, you are here. Now follow me."

Niel didn't say anything and just continued following his father.

The King stopped in front of the switch. "Niel there is a tunnel under the throne. Ilene already went ahead. You need to tell Reyn and your uncle about what has happened here tonight."

"Father" Niel spoke. "What is it Ni-" As soon as the king turned around Niel stabbed him with a knife through the chest. Before he could understand what just happened he fell on the floor "Wh...why Niel?", the king asked in an angry and sorrowful voice at the same time.

"Why? Haha! I have always been after the throne! And now I have finally obtained the power to have it! Haha!" Niel was laughing like a maniac.

The king gathered his strength and yelled:"N.....Niel you......have ........have you gone mad!?"

Ilene could not believe what was happening in front of her. Her brother has stabbed their father. It was just too much for her to handle, but she was brought back to reality by her father's yell.

She knew what she had to do. She needed to tell her brother Reyn and her uncle about Neil's treachery and the king's death.

Ilene started running down the dark tunnels, tears pouring down her cheeks endlessly, Making her vision blurry.

Back in the throne room, the king was breathing heavily. The color already left his face, his eyes almost closed. He no longer had the power to speak, now only whispering was in the realm of possibilities.

"Haha! Father don't yell so much! You might die, you know! Hahaha!"

"Well then, father. Any last words? I will be generous and release you from this world of pain."

The king remained silent but with his last breath, he whispered:"Ni.....Niel.....you.....fo.....fool."

"Ok. You said your last words. Time for you to go." Niel took the knife towards the king's throat and slid it across, ending the kings life. His lifeless eyes now starred back into Niels.

"Sleep well father. You do not need to worry. Reyn and Niel shall be joining you soon. Hahahaha."

Soldiers started entering the throne room "Men! The switch to a secret tunnel is here. Find it! Enter the tunnel and kill the princess! She has run away to try and escape her fate."

The soldiers found the switch shortly after and entered the tunnel to chase after Ilene.

A black haired woman entered the throne room. It was as if she was beauty incarnate. She wore a black dress that revealed much of her well matured upper body.

She went straight towards Niel and when she was right in front of him, she reached for his head with her hand, pulling him towards her until their lips connected.

"Good job Niel. You did a very good job." She smiled at him.

"Yes, thank you. I would do anything for you mistress." Niel's black eyes turned red as he spoke. "Go, Niel. You are a king now. Give a speech to your subjects."

"Yes, mistress." Niel moved out of the throne room at the black hair woman's command.

After Niel and the soldiers left and she was alone in the room, the woman took out a round blue crystal. She muttered a few words and the crystal began glowing. Shortly after a voice was heard.

"Report to me, succubus." the voice commanded.

"Yes master. The Azeria kingdom is almost ours."

"What do you mean by 'almost'?" The voice seemed irritated which made the succubus sweat a little.

"N...no major problems. There were just some nobles that managed to escape."

"I see. Deal with it quickly. Serenia has already started training their champions."

The voice stopped talking "Yes master. All hail the demon king!", the Succubus said as the light in the crystal faded.

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It has been less than a day since Connor started traveling in the direction of the town the bandit leader told him about. Since he was an undead now he been traveling without stop. Stamina, Sleep, Food, Water, it all had no longer a meaning to him.

Connor was moving on the snowy road when the shade popped up before him. "My lord, there seem to be some humans surrounding a girl in the woods up ahead."

"I see. So humans never truly change, no matter what world you find them in."

Connor said in a cold voice, as the two red dots inside his helmet flickered fiercely "Let's see what is going on. I shall decide what to do when I see the situation."

"Yes. By your will, my lord" And with this Connor changed his direction to where the shade had pointed to.