POV: Altair Oberon Lyrius

"Make sure that they sent more than three of you weaklings next time," I said, crouching atop a boulder, my knees wide apart and my arms dangling down over the edge, with a smile on my face as I looked down upon the three paladins below me, their spines ripped out and blood leaking from their bodies at a rapid rate.

Behind them lay the corpses of some others, people that had the rank of caller. At this point it was almost an insult to sent them my way, it had been a month since I began my so-called ten years and to this day none of them have succeeded in beating me, and the church still had the nerve to sent mere fodder after me!

I sighed as I jumped off the boulder and walked through the large puddle of blood that had formed on top of this mountain pass as I walked to the edge to look down. Blood stuck to the end of my black coat that I now wore. They called this place the Silent Mountains since there was never any sound, no animal's lived here either and not even one's own footsteps could be heard when walking along the mountains. All that could be heard were the voices of the occasional travellers and... the voices that the silent wind carried with it... how they came even to me when the wind was silent I didn't know. The voices carried by this silent wind whispered threats to me, as usual... but they had become less clear, now that I knew they were in this world, now that I knew that I could kill them at any moment, but that wouldn't be fun, killing them when they were so weak when they were just children... no, that wouldn't be any fun, it would be more fun to wait for them, I had the time, my lifespan as a wood elf spanned nearly a millennia, a lifespan already extended by my mana, while they were mere humans. Even if they became powerful mages they wouldn't live as long as I...

Below me was somewhat of a paradise, a large valley with multiple lakes, a small forest and even a village. I stayed there for about two days when my wanted poster finally reached it. Of course, it was accompanied by two paladins that I quickly disposed of, more followed and now I was up here, on my way to the other side of the Silent Mountains where my wanted poster would have less power since I would be officially outside the church's jurisdiction.

"Arva, you can come out now," I said and watched as the little humanoid spirit emerged from my body.

"So, how long until that little army of yours arrives?" I asked.

"Well... to be honest with you I have no idea... time in the spirit world works differently from how time works in this world... it technically runs a lot slower so... if you're lucky it will be after your ten years are up... although maybe they're already here, I just don't know..." she said. "The messenger that told me they were coming said they were mid preparation... that could mean that they're already coming... although for them I have been missing for maybe a few months at this point?" she rambled on, ruffling her own hair.

"So we still have some time... good, good, I don't think I'll be able to deal with that army quite yet," I said as I walked past her.

"This is all my fault... maybe I should go with them?" Arva said as she hovered beside me.

"Do you want to?" I asked, raising one eyebrow and with a smile on my face.

"N-No," Arva responded.

"Then don't," I said as I pulled my hood up.

My antlers stuck out of my hood, one of the branching off spikes even held it in place a little.

"Now let's get going, we should be out of this annoying mountain range in about two weeks if we hurry a little."

As I said that I sighed internally.

Why is everything in this world so massive?

After a few hours of travel, we sat down in a small cave to settle for the night.

"Well then," I said as I looked out and watched as the rain began pattering down onto the ground.

It was silent, just like everything here. There was even lightning in the sky, but waiting for the thunder to follow was useless... it never came.

POV: Rudolpho Alami

I threw open the gate, earning me strange looks from all the people inside the massive entrance hall of Fort Kalrim. This might have been the first time I didn't stay here for at least a little bit to gaze upon the beautiful windows with the design of the seven on them. But today, during this grim time, I had no time to waste on such things.

I stormed up the stairs, skipping multiple steps at once. My heavy cloak dragged over the ground behind me. The corridor was filled with people. Some stared at me as I stormed past them, but I completely ignored them, even the three young-looking children, two girls and one boy, that seemed to study me with great interest were of no concern to me today.

I threw open one of the doors and ran up the staircase behind it, not even bothering to close the door. After a while, it just took far too long for me and I magically quickened my walking speed. It took me a mere few seconds to get to the top of the stairs. I followed the rounded corridor until I reached the last door. Written on a bronze sign next to the door was:

COMMANDER

LESTUL RIGARIUM

I pushed it open and stepped inside. It was dusty, the blinds had been closed, not letting any light inside, for that matter, the only light in this room was the light flooding in from behind me. Her sobs were the only thing filling this room besides darkness.

"Elsa!" I called out as I stepped towards the bed.

On it, wrapped inside far too many blankets, lay, Elsa, sobbing. I saw her shift beneath the blankets as she revealed her messy face.

"R-Rudolpho..." she said, the faintest of smiles appearing on her face for a second.

She sat up, still wrapped inside the blankets and wiped away some of the tears with them. Beneath the blankets, I could see a faint sliver of her fiery red hair.

"W-Why are you h-here," she asked, barely managing to hold back her sobbing.

"I just heard... I was on a mission... when they told me... I came immediately... this is all my fault," I said, as I reached out to hug her, but stopped myself midway and just knelt down beside the bed.

"N-No... this isn't your fault..." Elsa said.

"Yes... yes, it is... I was the one that brought him here... I'm the one that picked up that heretic... this is all my fau-" I said, being interrupted by Elsa who held a finger to my mouth.

"He fooled all of us... he fooled you... he fooled my brother... and... and he fooled me..." Elsa said, her voice weak and filled with sadness.

"I..." I began, but I had no idea what to say until I found the only words that felt right at this moment.

"I will kill him... I will hunt that dirty heretic down to the ends of the world if I have to," I proclaimed.

"W-What?" Elsa asked, the blankets slipping from her head as she moved, her fiery raid hair revealed to me now. It was dirty and looked unwashed.

"I will avenge those soldiers that have died, I will avenge your brother and everyone else that had to suffer because of that dirty heretic!" I proclaimed, confident that I would easily be able to achieve this, after all, I had been promoted to the rank of High Paladin after the deity that I borrowed most of my power from gained strength and advanced to become a royal deity, a being powerful enough to be considered the same rank as the royal deity of war famous for being so strong that even the greaters were cautious of it, Hyperion.