Prince Avo was on his daily patrol around the royal capital when he was interrupted by a messenger. “My Lord! Your father has not given us any directives regarding festival preparations. There are lots of matters that require your attention. Please report to the throne room at once.”

With haste, Avo rushes to the Throne Room. Exquisite In design and nothing shy of gold, the throne room was decorated with masterworks from all over the world. Elegant enough to put God’s throne room to shame, but only in aesthetic rather than size.

“Where is my father?” asked Avo from those in the court.

“My lord, your father has not been attending the throne for a while now. Please give us your orders!” Said Zirnic, a close advisor to the king.

“I see. The situation seems shockingly grim… I wish someone had informed me earlier. Who are these people with you?”

“These are delegates of the small council. However, my lord, you have nothing to worry about here. I am directly in charge of the small council and will order them to help where needed.”

“So be It. Let’s discuss what we are going to do for the festival then.”

Prince Avo sits on the throne and continues with the conversation. “First, we need to prepare a welcoming party for the arrival of God.”

Zirnic nods and says, “Would five thousand soldiers suffice?”

“Yes, that seems right. Make sure they are properly equipped to display our military might from the start.”

“Of course, my lord.”

“As for the festival, is it possible to lay out a long line of the red carpet?”

“It’s possible, but I suggest we do something a bit fancier.”

“What is it you have in mind?”

“Well, for starters, we could use enchanted wool to make that carpet you speak of, but on a side note, I was thinking of covering the sides of the road with gold and other valuables. This will all be blocked by guards so that the crowds on the sidewalk don’t get in the way.”

“Gold, huh? Why does everything have to be covered with it? I don’t like the aesthetics of it anyway, but fine, go ahead with that.”

“I shall start with that then, my lord. I will consult our treasurer to finance this festival. Please sit back and enjoy the show.”

“I will.”

“Then I must make haste if you would excuse me, my lord.”

“Wait a minute!”

“Yes, my lord?”

“I would like to consult you in a, let’s just say, theoretical matter.”

“What is your meaning?”

“Let’s just keep this between us, but in the case of my father dying, what would be your standing.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, my lord. I wish our ruler, the king, nothing but good health.”

“We are speaking off the record. I’m glad you care for my father but let’s just say that if his health was to deteriorate, what would you do?”

“Well, I would support you, of course.”

“I’m glad to hear it, and what is your opinion of our ruler?”

“He is a good man.”

“I see, then I shall consider your response carefully. Please go carry out your duties.”

The second Prince Avo turned his back, Zirnic quietly whispered, “My lord, off the record, as you said, I think he is no longer fit to rule.”

Trying to remain as quiet as possible, Avo whispered, “Then perhaps we could hasten the shift from my loving father to me?”

“But only the death of the ruler of the land could lead to something like that.”

“I have a following that hates the leadership of my father. There are those who would support me, although not many.”

“And I am to assume that you would like my assistance when the time comes?”

“Precisely.”

“I see, and the deal with this festival, you are only doing this to shift the blame onto your father the moment it turns bad. Is that correct?”

“How perceptive of you. Yes, you have realized my true intentions all along.”

“Your father, he was a confident ruler once, but his age has gotten the better of him… he used to be the most confident ruler I have ever seen, but over the years, he has stopped listening to the council that he set to advise him, and further led the country to an economic crisis.”

“With that in mind, we will bankrupt this country with the coming festival. This should put a heavy burden on the masses and will certainly shift the tide in our favor.”

“But what will you do with your father? Will you kill him yourself?”

“It seems that there will not be any other choice… For the good of humanity.”

“When do you plan to do it?”

Noticing that people were becoming suspicious of the two standing in the middle of the room, Avo tells Zirnic, “Perhaps we should discuss this at another time.”

“Yes, your highness. I must be off then. I will deliver to you the grandest and most expensive festival known to humankind.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

As Zirnic leaves the room, Avo lets out a sigh of relief. “Now that all the plans are set in motion, I can finally relax… But something just seems off… Probably overthinking it.”

“Attention, everyone!” Said the royal guard as the massive doors to the throne room opened. “Bow down before your ruler! Hail, King Reinhard!”

The crowd replied, “Heil!”

Four of the most elite knights in the kingdom escorted the king to his throne as everyone bowed. The king takes his seat on his golden throne.

“You may raise your heads.”

The people in the throne room, including the prince, raise their heads, and Avo rushes to his father’s side.

“Father, why are you out of bed?”

“I am sick and tired of listening to that damn housekeeper. I want some ACTION!”

“This is not the best time! I have everything under control. Please don’t ruin it.”

“Have what under control?”

Avo gets very frustrated and rolls his eyes, “Dad? Don’t you remember?”

The king spent a whole minute trying to process what his son was trying to tell him. “Ah yes, the festival.”

“Father, you should really go back home. It’s not safe for you here.”

“A king who flees his own court is no king at all.”

“Please, just don’t do anything to mess up my preparations for the festival. People are working hard.”

“Good, as they should be.” The king turns to his squire. “Pst! Kid, come over here.”

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“That’s not your concern.”

The squire comes to the throne and bows. “Yes, your highness?”

“Fetch me that wine ova on that table, will ya?”

“Dad, you’re in court!”

“Bagh! a man that cannot drink, is no man at all.”

“You know how I dislike alcohol. Why must you do this in front of me.”

“Listen, when you get older, you’d understand. How old are ya anyway?”

“My birthday was literally a month ago. How could you forget.”

“Bah doesn’t matter. You aren’t no man until you drink.”

Trying to maintain his temper, Avo decides it would be best for him to leave the throne room. The moment he began to leave, his father yelled out. “Ya damn coward! Why in the world did ya get all your charms from your mother and none from me!”

Avo subconsciously thinks, “But what is there to get from you? You damned drunk. Let your entire court see you as a drunk old man unfit to serve, not my concern.”

Avo orders the guards to open the doors, and they do just that. However, when the door opens, and Avo begins to leave, the king throws the bottle of wine that he finished at Avo but misses.

“GO! run back to your room! I’ll have your head on a spike if you try to order me around again, kid!”

The entirety of the court watches the situation unfold quietly. A moment of silence befell the room when Avo left.

“What’s the matter? Is it a funeral?” The king gestured to try to bring down the tension.

Out of fear, the crowd laughed, but it was evident by now that the king could no longer rule. “Bring me those damned clowns we hired for the festival. Let’s celebrate this glorious day!”

The guards left the room to bring the clowns as the king asked, and as he impatiently waited, everyone slowly began to leave the room one at a time. After a while, the guards return from the town square with a beaten-up clown and toss him on the ground.

“About time!” Said the king. “Oy! Clown! Do some tricks, will ya?”

The jester, barely able to get up because of a broken leg, began doing tricks for the king.

“Guards! why did you bring this clown without an audience? Bring me some people to laugh with me! It feels too empty in here!”

The guards looked at each other and shrugged. They turned to the king, bowed, and, without a word, left to bring in the audience as requested.

“Ok, clown! Enough, take a rest. You will be entertaining many people today.”

An entire day passes, and the king gets severely drunk. By the end of the day, the guards were forced to haul the overweight king back to his bed.

“Ba…GH… MORE…. Booze!” Said the king as he passed out in exhaustion.

Avo walks into the room after hearing what happened at court and sits by his father’s side. Although a fool his father was, Avo still respected his father greatly, not only because of his accomplishments but also because he felt a sense of duty to his family.

“If only you were still the man you used to be, the man I heard stories about. What a shame.”

Avo covered his father with blankets to help keep him warm. After roughly ten minutes of being lost in thought, Avo looks back one last time and says, “I’m sorry…” before he exits the room.

A new day shines bright, although cold weather was the only thing available for the northerners. A breeze of spring air sweeps through the city, a sense of relief, like a mother’s touch, reassuring everyone that everything will be okay. Avo was the first to notice this almost artificial phenomenon as he opened his chamber windows to let in the air. For a moment, he hesitated to put in motion usurping power, yet as quickly as the breeze left, so did those thoughts.

Avo had grown accustomed to talking to himself since childhood, as do many children of the royal bloodline, and since he was the prince, he had to make do with what he had, which was himself.

After reassuring himself that his plans were for the better of the realm, he proceeds to go over to his desk, only to be confronted with hundreds of new papers requesting his attention. “What a drag… I really can’t be bothered with this anymore.” He looked back over to his window, from which that wind came, and no longer could he feel the refreshing air that greeted him.

Suddenly, as the air became as still as water, a messenger barged into his room. “Prince Avo! Prince Avo!” Cried out the messenger with a hint of exhaustion. “The demons are here!”

“What! Already? But this is too soon! Our scouts reported that they would arrive in the next three days!”

“Please hurry, my lord! Everyone is waiting for you!”

Immediately Avo grabs his coat and rushes to the throne room, where he issues his commands.

“You there, clean this area as fast as possible, and tell others to prepare for the festival!”

Avo points at three noblemen and tells them to hurry on over.

“You three, organize a banquet immediately, get as many people as you can on the job.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“I must rush over to greet them into the empire. Find Zirnic, tell him to come to the old council room immediately, and wait for me.

“We shall.”

Avo rides out in a hurry to greet the so-called God he had heard so much about. However, the closer he got to the city gates, the darker the area became, and silence, much like death, lurked about, although festivities were in progress. Avo’s horse suddenly decided to stop moving, entirely paralyzed by the fear of what was behind those gates.

“You damned beast! Fine, I will walk there myself.”

Avo’s heart began to sink, and with each step towards the gate, he felt closer and closer to death. He somehow managed to live through it by the end. Awaiting him outside was the demonic army.

Avo quickly sets in motion and begins to inspect his troops, only to see their army cowering behind their shields like children. The troop morale had been especially low because of the constant change in power within the kingdom. Also, about 90% of the soldiers assigned to show up ran away from their sacred duty.

“Attention!” With a quick command, Avo managed to grab the attention of his army. “Show our guests what we are made of!” Immediately, the soldiers hit their axes together to make a metallic sound to show off their strength. However, the demons came prepared as well for a battle of attrition. The lower ranking demons, which consisted of impions, a race of demons who were small in physical size and took the shape of a lizard and a demon, began to hit the ground with their spears. The impions started to howl.

Both parties stood their ground with their presentations on equal footing. The demonic army had grown considerably, yet what was displayed to them was a mere scouting force. From across the horizon, a secondary force approached. The main demonic force had finally arrived. Their demonic banners and war drums spiked the fear in the hearts of the human soldiers.

By the time the demonic army arrived, the soldiers had begun acting strangely. They no longer took orders from the prince yet were doing something. As the prince watched from the battlements, the soldiers, organized by some otherworldly force, began to prepare for God’s arrival. As if they were under a charm spell of the highest caliber, none the world had ever seen, the soldiers polished their armor and tried to look their best for the coming visitors. Further arrangements were also made to bring out a long red carpet to create a path God’s army was meant to travel through. The soldiers positioned themselves along the red carpet.

The civilians inside the city watched in dismay as the soldiers began tearing apart their business stands from the streets to prepare for their arrival. Not one person seemed happy about the occasion. This carpet was laid bare from the gate to the King’s Mansion, built on a tall hill overlooking the city.

God’s forces began marching through the city with their weapons raised high. It looked almost like a hostile takeover. Although the army was enormous, it consisted of low-level demonic soldiers. The scariest part was the idea that someone was powerful enough to control low-tier demons. Low-tier demons are not intelligent, so being able to gather so many together under one cause was a feat to behold. Their ranks had no weaknesses, and lower-level leaders were assigned to control each squad of demons.

The King came out of his mansion and waved his hand at the people and the demons. He had a smug look on his face as if he was one step ahead of everyone else, yet this infuriated his son, who watched everything in silence.

“Damn it!” He yelled as he took out his legendary axe, which was gifted to him by his father, and cut a table in half like paper. “How am I supposed to stand my ground against a force so absolute!”

From the shadows came the voice that he had been waiting for. “You must leave. This kingdom is in grave danger.”

“Who are you? Voice in the shadow?” Said the prince.

“I am history. I am today. I was yesterday.”

“History? Stop it with these games. I have plenty on my mind right now. Who are you?”

“I would give you an answer, but my memory is rather hazy. All I can tell you, for now, is that this country is lost! Flee this place before you join the ranks of chaos.”

“And what of it? We have been allies with this so-called God, which seemed to work fine.”

“You may have worked for God, but the entity here now is a force of pure chaos, a recreation of the endless abyss. You must flee. There is only one hope now, Grismala. Go to her, take your axe with you, I will see you there, my powers… they have weakened, I cannot converse for long. Farewell.”

The voice suddenly stopped, and as if time had stopped around him for a brief moment, with only this voice speaking to him, Avo regained consciousness shortly after and began to hear the terrifying noises outside.

He rushes towards the window to see that the King is dead, his head decapitated, and was put on the spear of one of the impions. The crowds who came to “cheer” for God’s arrival were being butchered by the soldiers who were meant to protect them and the demons.

Avo grabs his axe, and just as he is about to rush into combat, he remembers the task he had gotten from the mysterious voice. “Shit! Why did this happen… It doesn’t make any sense! Why would he kill his allies.”

Avo watched the slaughter continue for a moment longer. Suddenly something interesting catches his eye. It was a woman. She had long white hair, riding on a white horse with great speed. She rushed into the city yet did not engage any enemies. He wanted to remain longer to see what would happen, yet time was of the essence, and he had to escape.

“Oh, Great axe of dimension, I humbly seek your powers once more! Cut through the fabric of space and time and lead me to where I seek!”

A portal opened up in front of Avo, yet This dimensional axe could only take him so far, and due to his lack of experience, it was only enough to transport him in front of the gate.

“Garbage piece of crap!” Yelled Avo, and as if his day was not hectic enough, he saw two more horsemen riding towards him. Rhea and Lancel were rushing over with their diplomat to negotiate an alliance.

Rhea and Lancel had noticed something was off. They had encountered multiple squadrons of undead lurking about, which was used as a great way of target practicing for Rhea with her fireball spell. Instead of bringing everyone with them, Rhea and Lancel chose to ride ahead to investigate, and by the time they reached the gates, it was already too late.

“Lancel!? Is that you?” Cried out the prince, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. “Take me… to… Grismala…”

Lancel safely puts the prince on the back of his horse and tightens him properly. He then returns on the horse and says, “Rhea… we must go..”

Rhea looked through the city’s gates as she heard thousands of screams of people dying in agony. The same cries she heard back in Hupu village. A sight that she could not get out of her head. This captivated her as if she was also under some sort of charm spell. Lancel used spiritual healing magic the moment he realized something was off with her. A spell named Lions Heart Mass was meant to give all allies a mental and spiritual boost nearby.

“Yes... let us go...” Said Rhea.

They both began to ride back to their encampment with the prince with haste. Avo was not feeling as strong as he used to after the events that transpired and felt his life force slipping away. This was due to a phenomenon called “Chaos Sickness”; however, since God was directly involved, a further enhanced debuff was added to him known as “Touched by Abyss.”

Touched by Abyss was an enchantment, so it was more of a curse than anything else and needed a powerful priest to remove it. Yet this exact ability was a complete mystery. No human had ever suffered from this before, and even Lancel could not remove the curse with his elven magic.

Rhea was also under the same abyss effect, yet her curse ran out of strength due to Lancel pulling her out of its paws. This strong effect is enough to kill most humans, so Avo is considered lucky to be alive.

After Avo finally gathered enough strength to walk, he got out of his tent only to be united with those who saved him. He approached Rhea and Lancel, sitting by a campfire outside his tent, and to his surprise, Lancel quickly got up to greet him.

“Prince Avo, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Yes… Unfortunate of the circumstances, but it’s a pleasure likewise.”

As Rhea also stands up to greet him, Avo says, “And this is Rhea? I’ve heard rumors of your accomplishments.”

Rhea looks at Avo, confused. “My accomplishments?”

“Yes! We heard how you defeated a strong necromancer who was about to bring forth a disaster in your kingdom.”

Rhea gets angry at the remark, and in an annoyed tone, she replies. “He was NOT a necromancer.”

Sensing that he may have offended Rhea, Avo decides not to provoke her further. “Thank you again for saving me.”

Lancel looks at Avo’s axe and says. “Well, we certainly couldn’t let you fall into enemy hands, now could we.”

“Learn to take a compliment, my friend. We must get to Grismala quickly before the demon scout forces catch up to us.”

“What’s the rush?” Asks Lancel.

“I’ll tell you all about it once we get there. I can’t risk the chance of being heard by the heralds of chaos.”

“Heralds of chaos? Who are they?” Rhea asks Lancel in confusion.

“They are servants of a secret organization that roams through these northern lands… Little is known about them, yet they are known as masters of gathering information. Information specifically meant to bring chaos.

“So they are demons?”

Avo interrupts their conversation and says. “No, they are Humans. Low-life, miserable humans who have nothing better to do. They believe they can transcend to become higher entities through their chaos, yet we all know that’s a load of crap.”

Lancel was also surprised by this new revelation. All this time, he had thought that the heralds were demons. These same heralds were why the previous elven capital was wholly torched by goblins and ogres of the Barman Mountains.

“Why would humans side with demons?” Asked Rhea.

“Who said anything about siding with demons? Well, I suppose their actions seem demonic, but no, they are corrupted by some other factor, which we are not aware of yet.

“An unknown? In this day and age?”

Lancel takes a mystic crystal out of his bag, an item that is estimated at around level 15. Its properties are somewhat unknown, but it grants a shield equivalent to a level 5 protection from spells buff until deactivated.

Rhea confused as to why Lancel was suddenly cautious, whispers to Avo, “What do you think he is doing?”

“Hm, if I were to guess… I think we are being watched.”

“Watched? by whom?”

“Hard to say, but if it’s cause enough to be so cautious, I believe we are dealing with the heralds of chaos themselves.”

“Areiu Duyouo Garisma, Shinthe Isma Paizma.” Chanted Lancel in the ancient dialect of the elven race. A blue forcefield surrounded their camp. The chant was first to activate the orb, but the secondary chant was to block spy magic, such as advanced hearing spells.

“Now that takes care of those pesky heralds, or I hope so. So, Prince Avo.”

“Avo will suffice.”

“Then I’ll address you with only Avo. How much more do you know of these heralds?”

“I suppose you have caught on with what I was about to say from the start, but it seems Rhea is clueless. Well, my theory is that these heralds have been operating in secret for hundreds of years now on a project most devious. The Speed Monoliths.”

Lancel stares back blankly. “What Speed Monoliths?”

“a few months ago, I read about a tall pillar in the middle of the forest from a scouting report. Upon further investigation, we found quite a few discreet-looking pillars that granted speed buffs to creatures. But It seems that mainly demonic creatures are affected by them. That would explain why God and his demonic army could march north in such a short time.”

“Why have you not notified anyone of this?”

“We thought it was something we could exploit. Having these could prove beneficial for transporting goods.”

“So, you wished to market something you had no control over?” Said Rhea.

“Oh, come on, well, there is some truth to that, but we had researchers trying to replicate them as well. It wasn’t entirely out of our control and proved helpful for some time.

“Do you remember what they looked like?” Said Lancel.

“A tall black pillar, with red runes inscribed onto them.”

“Runes? How do you know of them?”

“We heard ancient elven stories of how you created the runes.”

“I see… but all of our runes are in green…. How could this be?”

“Is it possible to corrupt these runes? Like how magic is based on karma?” Asks Rhea.

“Impossible. The runes are the product of elven engineering at its finest. It cannot be corrupted by any demon.”

“I see…” Replied Rhea.

“What about the creator of the rune then? Is it possible that the inscriber has been corrupted?”

“All elven runes are in green. The rarest of which is blue, never red.”

“Then this is something we must inform Grismala about.” Said Avo.

“Agreed. Let us end it there. Our shields are about to run out. Rhea, speak no word of this to anyone.” Lancel then looks at Avo.

“My lips are sealed.”

Lancel nods and heads inside his tent. Rhea and Avo stayed a bit longer outside since neither could sleep.

“So, Rhea.”

“Yes?”

“I heard quite a bit about you. I claimed ignorance in front of Lancel to test his honesty.”

“I see… But what purpose would that serve you? We saved you after all.”

“I know that already. But to be quite honest, I don’t fully trust him. He makes me feel like he is hiding something on his own, not that there is anything wrong with that.”

“Hiding something? Like what?”

Avo scratches his head and speaks. “Well, maybe he’s in love or something, I don’t know.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Doesn’t he seem to be acting differently now? The last time I met him, he was quite arrogant. Now, he is cautious and more open-minded.”

“These are difficult times. Is that a bad thing?”

“I suppose not. Enough of him for now. It seems you are quite a survivor yourself.”

“Survivor, well, that is a nice way of putting it. But the terror haunts me to this day.”

“You have witnessed God in person?”

“I have.”

“Why so quite suddenly, tell me, what was he like?”

Rhea quickly turns to Lancel, staring deep into his soul with her mortifying eyes. “He was Glorious.”

Avo jumps at the choice of words. “Glorious? Are you MAD?”

“I just might be, but the way he destroyed thousands of soldiers… I felt utterly powerless as I watched him destroy everything and everyone. It was terrifying, chaotic, evil, yet with all that combined, he did it all with such grace.”

“Well, I suppose he is a God, after all.”

“No... this was something different, I have heard of tales of Gods, but this was something beyond any story. With a swift swing of his sword, he destroyed an entire castle along with the mountain it stood on. With a slight hand gesture, he raised an army of thousands of undead to fight for him... His magic is truly something, and the aura he has, only feels stronger the longer I think about it.

“And yet you remain… Isn’t that odd?”

“Odd? How so?”

“Well, if he was bringing total death, how did you and Lancel escape?”

“That is the question that haunts me to this day….”

“The monoliths, Gods tower in the south, the heralds of chaos… We have quite an opponent….”

“Yet Grismala remains in power.”

“For now, yes… Let us hope that it remains that way.”

Avo takes his axe lying next to him and stands up. “Well, I better get to bed as well.”

“But… Wait! I wanted to ask you something before you left.”

“What is it, Rhea?”

“Sorry for being blunt, but how come you don’t seem upset about this turn of events.”

“I see… Well, in truth, how do I put this… I’m angry, yet I cannot do anything… I feel trapped in a cage, forced to watch everyone I love die.”

“Did you truly love your people?”

“Some, yes, for instance, my own family….”

“I see… Sorry again… For what happened and all that.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me. One day we will bring this God to his knees, and he will do the apologizing. Anyhow, it’s getting late. I hope that answers your questions. I best get going now.”

“Sleep well, prince.”

“I will, thank you.”