In the depths of despair, Rassii, an outcast and enslaved member of an underground organization, suffered relentless abuse. Her life teetered on the edge of oblivion when an unexpected savior emerged-a monstrous shadow that whisked her away from the...
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The darkness is spreading across the scorched, barren land. The man with a strong profile looked beyond the border with his wary eyes. The thick, rolling clouds hung strangely over the peaks of the jagged gray mountains.
In the distance, he saw a group of people carrying spears and torches. They are rekindling the light posts that died from the rain just an hour ago.
He sat down and started a small fire. His eldest daughter, who appeared to be ten years old, began feeding the fire with dried wood, while his son, as old as five, piled the rocks around the fire pit.
"You could at least tell me a tale before you go patrolling."
"When have you yearned for a night tale?"
"Just tonight..." She said. She looked at his father's face. There were deep line marks embedded in his forehead. A scar that almost took his life.
"But I only knew one tale." He replied.
"I will listen."
"Me too!" Exclaimed by his son.
His father took the ashes. He gave them a smile before he blew it into the fire. A hazy image, mostly like a silhouette of a person, appears on the swaying flames.
"From the Dark King's madness and betrayal, the dark void has risen..."
From his words, the images in the fire pit slowly began to move.
"Breaking the oath he pledged, an alliance that was forged by the blood of the Eternal Kings, he waged war against the rulers of the seven realms. He unleashed ferocious attacks across the seven domains."
The children huddled together while staring intently at the fire pit.
"The Tyrant Crowns of Eternal Unions, carved and hammered into a single purpose—protect the world and its balance—had answered his threat and prepared for battle."
Their anxious little faces were lit by the firelight. Thousands of ships formed and sailed across the flickering pit.
"The Eternal Kings of the seven realms confronted the King of darkness. His unshakable scorn and defiance towards Creation have finally angered the Supreme king, who everyone fears. The Supreme king gives an ultimatum. In spite of this, he refuses to withdraw, and their blades crossed."
The children jumped, startled by the sudden blaze of flames and images of clashing weapons sending sparks and embers flying out of the pit.
"The greatest war, the most savage and devastating conflict that anyone has ever heard of, has occurred, destroying several worlds."
Now, the children hear voices from the ferocious battle that rides in the shrill wind beyond the border.
"They called it—The Dark Valentines."
The little boy hid his face on his sister's shoulder, trembling as the terrifying sound of violence got louder.
"The final war was fought at Floralia, the highest domain of the eight realms, and resulted in incalculable deaths and casualties. The Supreme King finally ended the Dark King's unreasonable madness."
The terrible sounds also died.
"The underworld suffered a terrible loss. Many clans have ceased to exist. The pillars of ten Stygian falls."
Finally, the boy turned his head back to the fire pit. But he gasped at the sight of the fire that had turned black.
"Upon the Dark King's death, the void gained and proclaimed its existence from its long hibernation by consuming the truth of the destroyed worlds."
Their father suddenly threw a log into the pit, and the dark flames consumed it in a second.
"Fearing disaster brought by the massive void, the Supreme King and the rest of the Eternal Kings offered their lives to close the void, restore the balance of the world, and return the Truth to Creation."
Before the dark flames consumed everything in the pit into ashes, the fire returned to normal. Their father throws another log to feed the flames.
"Father, is that the old kings' Sin?"
"Yes, the old kings' sin. And those who partake in the sin of their eternal king suffer the greatest humiliation. But only the clans from the underworld had inevitable consequences and received their most considerable retribution. Striped from their titles and faced capital punishment. Their clans vanished below the abyss into the Border of None. But their direct descendants become Wanderers. A man without honor, despised by everyone, treated like a vermin. To be a wanderer is to suffer without end."
"We are here because they sin."
"No, because they are the greatest knights. Warriors that live their lives by the absolute act of devotion to their Eternal King. They were once the strongest pillars that walked in our Kingdom. The greatest Bearers of the lowest domain."
She looked at her father, confused. "I do not understand."
"You will, when I send you above there."
She looked up and took a little glimpse of the grand and livelier world of the lower domains. "The Mayhem..."
