Back in a certain farming village, a man with a straw hat looks over the horizon as an army of beasts arrives.

“Huh. Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” He plants a shovel into the ground and goes inside his house.

“It’s time to evacuate! Samantha, get Ilanda and mom out of here and alert the capital. That should give them at least five day’s notice.”

“On it!” Samantha responded. Getting to work immediately.

“Uh Curella? Mind telling the villagers to make their way here?” Jr muttered aloud.

“I already did.” Replied a voice in his head.

Jr. felt a chill go down his back. “Never going to get used to that.”

Bill Jr. began to chew on a stalk of sugarcane as he watched the monsters make their way toward his first line of defense.

“Well. Time for some fun I guess.” He waited another bit longer before pushing his shovel into the ground.

“I prepare the soil for the destruction brought by the land.”

The earth where the monsters were treading slanted into a steep slope, and the ground began to shake.

The monsters continued their charge unhindered and much faster with the downwards acceleration. Soon after, a rift appeared, and the earth rose rapidly, creating a slope. The monsters traveling on land begin to slide into the split without much struggle. The hole then closed with a loud crunch.

“The seeds of death, sown with these hands.” He pulled up the shovel revealing a long double-bladed scythe. He swung the blades up in an arc, and waves of mana flew at the flying creatures, slaughtering them instantly. Their bodies painted the land red.

“Dad, quit making yourself sound cool!” Said a small raven-haired girl.

“Ilanda. Shouldn’t you be with, mother?”

“Huh? But you’re supposed to be the strongest one here.” Illanda said

“Eh. Curella is pretty close, power wise, and she will be instrumental in the defense of our home. Thing is, the mayhem rocked here will cause quite a bit of collateral damage.”

“What about our neighbors?” She asked,

“Curella, is spreading word they will be evacuating with dad. Once they hit the forest an ally should be there to keep them safe as the army passes.”

“So why are you staying?”

“Kiddo. I have spent years preparing for the day. The Reaper of Denvall, will be known again.”

“You’re pretending to be cool again. Even I, don’t know who that is.” Illanda, the five-year-old self-proclaimed historian, ran back into the house.

Jr slapped his forehead. “It may be best that you don’t.”

Samantha left the house with Cordelia in tow. Her body transformed into a giant vermillion stork as she ran.

“The color scheme matches a bit too much, don’t you think so too, daughter in law?” Cordelia attached a harness to the stork and strapped both herself and Illanda in.

“Its the way things tend to go sometimes.” Samanta sighed.

“I’m ready!” Illanda cheered.

“Goodbye, Bill,” Samanta told Jr.

“Goodbye Samantha, Illanda, and mother.” Bill stated.

“Bye, Daddy!” Illanda said.

Samanta took off, causing a shock wave on the ground as they left for the capital.

“Cuerella, this is going to be a goodbye to you as well. The traps are set and we both know you don’t fight anything directly. What will be has already been set in stone.”

“I’m not leaving you here to die brother.”

“Who said anything about dying. I’ll be incarnating as soon as everything has been done on my end. I will no longer be able to manifest here anymore. I know you’ve started hearing them as well.”

“So you’re just going to leave your wife and child alone here?” Curella yelled at him.

“I cleared the way for them as well. Their incarnation will be alot easier than mine.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“In a way it is. I’ll be waiting for them with open arms. But, Samanta is aware, should I not need to incarnate today then they will have greatly underestimated us.”

“So you plan on using it as a trump card.”

“I plan on turning this area into a castle of bone, its foundation built on the backs of my enemies.”

“Got it. The first wave of enemies are done merging. You will have four mid expert rank beasts at your disposal.” Curella told him.

“Four of those monsters… I’m glad I skipped breakfast today.” Jr watched as his father led the evacuees past him and into the forest.

“That’s everyone, son. The village is yours and you know how our kingdom likes their scorched earth tactics. As much as it hurts me, leave nothing for them to plunder. The longer we can delay their arrival the longer we can evacuate.”

Jr sighed as he looked at where he was born and raised for his early childhood. “You know, I never really liked farming.”

“Is that true?” Bill Sr. asked his son.

“Gods no. But the refugees would never believe that.”

“Glad to hear it. This is goodbye to my son.” Bill Sr left the village with the refugees, and with that, the destruction could finally begin.

“The bodies of my foes become fertilizer for things to come.”

Four giant-sized amalgams, made from a macabre combination of the creatures that died before, tore through the earth and made their way to the second wave of enemies. These were made up of primarily humans of the fledgling ranks and lower.

The four expert tier beasts cut, bit, sliced, and chomped their way through with no equal. Despite the numbers arrayed against them, the soldiers stood no chance. Their formations were useless, their tactics inefficient. Their power negligible, a third and fourth wave arrived soon, meeting a similar fate. The corpses on the field were quickly added to the bodies of the amalgams, which caused them to continually grow in size.

“Burn the corpses!” A soldier yelled. That shoulder soon sank into the earth, leaving nothing behind.

Their dead were burned, leaving the soldiers doing the burning open, leading to a vicious cycle. That was when the first squad of practitioner rank spirit masters arrived.

A white greatsword that emanated radiance easily cut through the first amalgam’s flesh, causing it to screech in pain. The creature began retreating towards Bill, who was just patiently leaning on the pommel of his tool.

“My divine blade is working! Charge behind me!” The greatsword-wielding spirit Master pushed forward, leading them on as the spread-out monsters seemed to be split up completely. Finally, they were separated to the point where they could form a circle around the enemy’s invading army.

“Irrigate the fields with rivers of blood, leave the enemy all but done.”

The soldier cut off the would-be amalgam’s head, and all four of them exploded at once, the force pushing the soldiers close together. A circle of mana surrounded most of the soldiers, and a loud popping sound began as heads began to disappear. A fountain of blood shot up and began pooling over the field. No one in the circle survived. However, an unlucky few were outside the circle, horrified by the sight and stunned. They did not survive long.

“Remove the weeds with a single slice.”

A wave of earth as sharp as a guillotine and thrice as fast rolled the remaining soldiers leaving the battlefield empty, save a farmer with a straw hat chewing on some sugar cane and a field of blood and bone.

“Still haven’t incarnated… They must have really not known how powerful I am. The more creatures to die here the stronger I get”

The next wave was led by a red-haired youth on a warhorse flanked by two expert rank spirit masters and a force of over four thousand.

“What happened here?” A familiar voice asked.

“Just some monsters that defend the area. I’m just a lowly farmer you see?” Bill bowed to the new arrival.

“Like hell! Three thousand soldiers are dead and you’re the only one here!” There it was again. The voice that he’s heard so often over the last few years.

“Kyr?” Bill squinted at the boy.

“How do you know that name?” One of the other experts got uppity.

“I see, that’s what’s going on. You know, being here is against the rules.”

“What do you know!” Kyr yelled.

“More than you it seems.” Bill shook his head

“I am the great general Kyr of the Beast Blood Army, youngest and strongest expert rank spirt master in the world!”

“Well then come at me pawn. Let’s see if you all talk.” Bill raised an eyebrow at the proclamation and entered a fighting stance.

“Curella did you catch that?” Bill whispered.

“Yes. He’s too early which means they have a world walker on their side.”

“Do you think mom will be mad if I kill my brother?” Bill Jr asked.

“If it’s a doppelganger I’m sure she won’t mind. It makes his job easier as well. Just don’t make a habit out of it.” Curella warned.

“If one this strong is here, then another is as well. It’s like he’s trying to stack the deck against our brother.” Bill stated.

“Looks like our brother is never going to be able to know true peace in this world.”

“Who are you talking to?” Kyr charged forward on his horse, lance in hand and flanked by the two other expert rank spirit masters.

‘So weak.” Jr watched them approach and raised his hands.

“This grim harvest will turn bones into ice.”

The two flanking spirit matters were covered head to toe in blood as they followed behind their leader and their horses fell over. They tried to get up, only for their bodies to freeze solid as the blood on them froze the world around them.

Kyr jumped off his horse and stepped into the air, pushing himself forward, his lance raised at Bill’s head.

Bill dodged, letting his hat get knocked off by the strike. Using the momentum to deliver a spinning roadhouse to Kyr’s ribcage.

Kyr twisted his body and landed on his feet. Taking a long look at the man who countered him effortlessly.

“T-those moves. B-brother? But you’re dead!” Kyr’s lance transformed into a saber, and he lunged forward at the farmer.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” Bill redirected the thrust with his left hand and moved forward with an uppercut to the boy’s chin, knocking him down the slippery ground.

“My brother was just a farmer. You can’t be him.” Kyr said, getting up off the ground.

“That incarnation of him was much weaker, that is correct. He willingly submitted and I will carry a piece of him with me. Which is probably why you’re still alive.” Bill changed stances.

“Incarnation?” Kyr asked.

“Boy you aren’t from this world yet you are unaware of the rules.” Bill started switching up his stance a bit.

“That makes no sense!” Kyr air stepped forward again, sword poised to thrust.

Jr. moved forward into the thrust bringing a knee to the boy’s chin.

The boy abandoned the attack and tried to roll forward when an elbow crashed into the top of his head, knocking him down.

“There are eight worlds that revolve around the homeland. You aren’t a true spirit master until you arrive there. Each of those worlds hold a version of an individual. Normally you can’t cross over to those worlds without being at least in the expert ranks and you do it willingly. Sometimes rifts in the world open up or sometimes you’re forced through one.” Bill kicked the weapon away and moved to pick up the boy.

The boy grabbed Jr.’s leg and started biting.

“There are two options for you. One is to die here and now. The other is to merge with the Kyrion from here and live on as a part of him.”

“But that’s not living!” Kyr argued.

Bill’s voice changed a bit, becoming much calmer and resigned. “We are one. It’s better than just dying. I’ve seen that fate for most of the other’s. I’m not even here most of the time if that makes sense.”

“Brother?” Kyr looked into his brother’s eyes and watched as he faded.

“I can give you that chance. I made the offer. What do you say?”

Kyr held his head and backed away from Jr.sliping on the ice and falling back.

The remaining army began to approach.

“Kyr! I’m sorry but you don’t have much time. If you don’t decide now you’re going to die.”

“You’re going to kill me?”

“No, it will.” Bill pointed to a blue flower that had sprouted in the field of blood.

Kyr saw it. “Where did all that power come from!”

“That wasn’t a choice. I’ll let Kyrion make that decision then.” Jr’s scythe turned into a spear, and he stabbed it through Kyr’s heart.

The body faded into mana, leaving behind a book. Bill’s spear reverted to being a hoe, which he then used to send the book deep into the ground.

“Curella did you get the item?”

“Yes. It’s a book with weird runes, quite bizarre.” Curella stated.

“Have Charles deliver it when you make contact, his master will know what to use it for.”

“Goodbye brother.” Curella’s voice vanished.

The rest of the army arrived with over a thousand low expert rank spirit masters prepped and ready to fight. In front of them, leading the charge, was a brown-haired man with hawk-like features and a metallic gauntlet resembling a talon.

“You did well outlier! Now you will leave this world. Edwin will be the name of your Killer, remember it well.”

“Another pawn. Great!” Bill clapped his hands

“I am no pawn! Soldiers attack!” The man named Edwin stated.

“Ah, the type of pawn that leads from the back.” Jr leaned back onto the hoe as the army approached.

“That’s an army of six thousand right!”

There was no response.

“Who needs your answer anyway…. What was that line again….”

A fireball flew towards him. Bill shifted the frozen earth upwards to block the attack before pulling a flag out of the ground.

“The demon brought to this world will exact its price.”

A circle formed around Bill’s feet, and his body grew utterly static.

The coming force began to fall to the ground, dead. First, it was slow, but as soldiers died, the number that died at once seemed to grow exponentially. Rank and ability meant nothing to the attack. It wasn’t an attack but a large-scale sacrifice, meaning those in the area of the spell were dead. The area was limited to the blood spread throughout the land.

The one called Edwin watched in awe as his army fell so quickly, hardly noticing that he was just outside the pooling blood.

“This really isn’t right, there shouldn’t be anyone this strong in these backwoods!”

Bill didn’t reply. He just stood motionless as the last of the coming soldiers expired.

From the corpses, the flower began to grow bigger and bigger until it was the size of a full-grown elephant. Finally, the petals opened up into three huge leathery black wings with 3 sets of plant-like blue wings. The creature inside had a bull’s head with a mask of bone covering its face and sharp curved horns. Its body held six muscular arms, and its torso extended backward with four hoof-like legs.

“What the hell is that?” The one called Edwin stood in awe as a creature that didn’t belong to this world came here anyway.

“Well Edwin this is goodbye.” Jr waved.

Edwin charged forward and stabbed his metallic hand at the creature, only for the claw to shatter on impact. “What’s going on!”

One of the six arms grabbed Edwin’s skull and squeezed. A body fell to the ground. “Leave nothing behind!”

“A monstrosity born from earth and clay.”

Seven creatures made from earth and bone rose from the earth. Each bearing a heptagon on its chest. In moments bones began to rise from the ground in the shape of a building.

“To bring about the wicked spell Necropolis today.”

After thirty minutes, a castle formed from the bones.

Malistic took a seat upon a throne in said castle. Moments later, hundreds of blue bulbs began to bloom from the ground, releasing lesser versions of the creature along with skeletons, zombies, and other fleshy abominations.

Bill Jr’s body began to disintegrate. “Looks like Imala didn’t like this spell.”

“You know. Mom must have been mad when she wrote this spell.” Curella stated. But she never got a reply as her brother left the world.