《A World Beyond》Chapter 1: A Tale Repeated Time and Time Again
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In a land long since forsaken by the Gods there came to be a man who managed to grasp the last vestiges of their power. Thankfully this man was just and upright and wielded his new found powers for peace and prosperity. There was nothing more he wanted than to bring justice to this world. So when a great evil threatened to consume the very world he challenged it and emerge victorious only to disappear shortly after leaving behind nothing but a legend and a single sword.
But as the centuries passed, the great evil the Hero had slain returned time and time again. After exactly one hundred years, it’s hatred and malice would descend upon the lands like a curse and soon the Demon King would rise again the next more powerful than the last. He would the gather his general, and form an army from the denizens of the Underworld before returning to the Human World once again.
However, the Human World was fortunate, during each Demon King’s advance a Hero would rise up and together with his comrades to challenge the Demon King. Furthermore, each Hero would inherit a single item from each of their predecessors and together with their combined might they would defeat the Demon King after sacrificing themselves, similarly leaving behind a single item.
Now a century has passed, and the cycle begins anew…
~
In the Northern reaches of the world lies a cold, bleak continent completely isolated from the rest of the world by its glaciers and frigid waters. These were the lands known as the Underworld as at times the skies over this frozen wasteland would seemingly be covered with an eternal darkness appearing those who were unfamiliar with its unique light cycle of a nightmarish landscape only found in their dreams.
Though in reality this frozen continent wasn’t always shrouded in darkness, there would always come a period of time in the year where the land was instead covered with a seemingly endless amount of light.
But regardless of what period of the light cycle these lands were in, this frozen wasteland was home to nearly all the world’s Demonic Tribes and the legendary grounds in which the Demon King would spawn each century.
Currently, the Underworld was in its period of eternal daylight which made it quite easy for one to see into the distance. This allowed several nomads in the distance to peer down and observe two enormous armies charging into each other.
In the southernmost camp, there were a seemingly infinite amount of Holy Knights charging through their battlefield atop their warhorses that easily ran through the frozen fields even while carrying the knights in their heavy silver armor. There were Dragoneer's covered in a black scale armor shooting through the air wielding giant obsidian spears covered in a blood red light.
There were tens of hundreds of mages organized into platoons based of their colored robes casting all sorts of spells as they were covered in a light blue glow. There were Angel-like soldiers flying by surrounded by dozens of golden swords. And there were even several Knights mounted on Griffons charging through the air.
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While on the opposing side there were Giants and Titans swing their massive clubs or picking up giant boulders, there were fire-breathing Dragons, massive nine-headed Hydras, and hundreds of thousands of smaller monsters. There were goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls, there were insect-like monsters, slimes, minotaurs, there were basilisks, and even cockatrice. There were so many races on the opposite side, it was frankly too difficult for anyone to even keep track.
And as these two sides clashed flinging spell after spell at each other, or using one flash move after another, it was incredibly eye-catching. However, the most eye-catching sight wasn’t the battlefield below, no matter how earth-shattering it was, but instead the sky.
If one were to look up into the sky above the battlefield, you’d be greeted by a rather bizarre sight, despite the fact that the Underworld was currently in the period of time where the light fell endlessly the sky was an absolute pitch black.
Yet despite how black the sky it was still surprisingly easy to see, and at times the light from the sky was almost blindingly bright in fact. Suddenly the clouds parted as a massive golden ray of light broke through the blackened sky shining down upon the earth before splitting into hundreds of pieces.
The light rained down upon the unsuspecting Demon King’s army and annihilated everything it touched. As the seemingly gentle golden light fell on a nearby dragon, it’s entire left wing was instantly cut off and burned to ashes causing the Dragon to cry out and fall from the sky.
And as the sky parted it revealed the lone figure of a man fully clad in a golden armor in the distance. Everything from his sword to the wings on his back, to the rings on his finger shone brightly with a golden light. It was clear that it was his light that fell from the sky and illuminated the earth below almost as if he were replacing the sun itself.
This young man looked down upon the battlefield for a moment, before turning his head back towards the dark clouds around him. With a strike of his golden sword another massive ray of light illuminating the dark clouds before him.
But almost as if the sky was intent on consuming this very ray of light the clouds expanded and began twisting themselves around it, seemingly absorbing it.
The Hero however merely glared at the clouds, and as if there were solid ground below his feet he stomped his foot down onto the air and a golden halo appeared over his head and expanded outward rapidly. The halo pushed the black clouds away as it expanded into a massive circle in which the region it enclosed was returned to its normal state.
The Hero shouted, “I’ve had enough of these games Demon King, do you think these pitiful techniques are enough to bring me down!?”
And as if the blackened sky were answering him, six glowing red eyes appeared in a patch of black clouds in the distance. A deafening laugh filled the air causing the world to shake. A vast amount of the black clouds around the halo began to coalesce these eyes and a tall lanky figure vaguely took shape in the distance.
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The figure slowly floated forward before entering the region inside the golden halo fully revealing itself. It was a monster several dozen feet tall whose limbs were almost skeleton like. It had a total of ten incredibly long pitch black arms, and it didn’t seem to have any feet, instead it's lower half was merely a large mass of smoke.
Its head appeared to be that of a dragon's, but it was quite difficult to describe. Its head would constantly shift and contort causing it to appear as if it were a dragon's head at times while at other times it was completely deformed. Its eyes moved across its head freely ignoring its own eye sockets and gliding on its own skin as its head randomly changed shape.
It’s very being also seemed to exude a thick poisonous miasma that filled the air despite being within the region enclosed by the halo which possessed the power of purification causing the space to darken once more.
The Demon King roared and began to shout incoherent words as it extended its long black arms and its jaw unhinged and stretched all the way down to his chest to allow hundreds of eye shaped bats to fly out.
The Hero tightened his grip on his sword, and four other wings unfurled themselves from his back. The Hero glanced down at the army bellow once more for an instance, and quietly muttered, “Albis, hurry it up I’m counting on you...”
The hundreds of eyes the Demon King spat out having scattered suddenly opened their eyes, and they all began to shoot a single beam of red light all directly aimed at the Hero. They even ignored the Demon King's own arms which at one point began branching out into smaller arms as they charged the Hero.
The Hero turned back towards the Demon King and closed his eyes. The countless lights and black arms surrounded him, but suddenly they all seemed to vanish leaving behind only the Hero whose golden hair had suddenly turned a pure white, and his blue eyes a brilliant gold.
He raised his sword once more and said, “Let’s do this”
~
After 48 hours of continuous fighting, a massive figure larger than any dragon fell from the sky crashing into a large castle atop a mountain. While originally being far larger in size than the castle the dragon-like being’s body shrunk to the size of a normal Human being saving the castle from completely being destroyed. However, the speed of the crash caused several large holes to appear in the center of the castle’s roof stopping only at the throne room.
The figure that fell down opened his eyes and sat up. He was a relatively tall Humanoid taller than most Humans standing at over 7 feet tall. But from his grey skin, and broken horns one could clearly see he was anything but Human.
The Demon slowly looked down at his own chest, a large golden broadsword had pierced his heart, and as he touched it the golden light it emitted burned his hand. Suddenly another figure fell from the sky landing just a few feet in front of him.
This figure was a bloody mess, his golden armor which originally glowed a bright golden was covered in dust and his own dried blood and had long since stopped shining. And if you were to look at his back all but one of his golden wings were torn off his back and the one remaining wing was already soaked in blood.
If one looked closely you could even see fresh blood dripping down his blood-soaked armor, and there was clear evidence of burns and frost on his body. This was the Hero, who after fighting for 48 hours straight finally managed to bring down the Demon King who stood before him.
The Hero grabbed the sheath hanging from his waist and used it to prop himself from falling down. He turned towards the Demon King before suddenly a blue portal appeared behind him. The Hiro didn’t bother turning around as a mage in purple robes walked out.
The Hero looked at the broken ceiling and merely said, “Good job Albis, how are the others.”
The mage Albis paused, and clenched his fists, “Dead…”
The Hero closed his eyes and allowed the warm light of the sun shining down from the hole in the sky to fall upon his face.
“I see, I trust the arrangements have been made for my successor Albis?”
“Of course, sir…”
“I see, I see”
The Hero touch his golden chest plate, and all his armor fell off his body revealing the dozens of battle scars and several large gaping wounds. Without the support of all these magical items, the Hero lost what little strength he had left to stand and collapse onto the ground and closed his eyes.
“Hey, Albis.”
“Yes, sir…”
The Hero smiled, “I’ll see you on the other side.”
The Hero began to recall his journey, his friends, his family, and all the hardships he went through to get here. And as he slowly felt his consciousness fade away, he heard a hoarse laugh.
The Demon King in front of him laughed as he pulled out the golden sword in his chest ignoring how it was burning his hand, and as the Hero was losing consciousness he could faintly make out the Demon King's final words, “Ah what a joke, I’ll see you on the other side, Hero...”
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