Dawn Of The Dark Dynasty & The New Inhabitant

Chapter Three

Lady General Suki

Gregory Saki was one of the Head Warriors serving under the Maelin Empire. He was in charge of a hundred troop soldiers tasked with a mission to set out to the lands of the unknown. More of a suicide mission per se since, the desolate lands harbored a demon that slaughtered without mercy. Their mission objective was to stake out that demon, but just like his predecessors the whole shebang went to shit.

It was a massacre. His men were slain like dogs. That cunning demon proved to be too powerful and merciless. They might have created a legacy for themselves to the outside world in carrying out such a dangerous mission. But he knew better.

They were just fools sending themselves to death. They were just pawns; meagre lives disregarded like they meant nothing. All his men were butchered and devoured by the demon. He could still hear their hopeless cries and the demon's mocking growls.

Duty first over everything, as they pledged when they joined the army. But that was just a fucked up pledge of an excuse if you think about it.

A deep hatred consumed his heart. Hatred not directed at the demon, but to the Empire he so served diligently. If it weren't for those self-centered royal and noble bastards, his men would still be alive. They would now be in some brothel drinking and frolicking around. Now here he was, landed into this perilous position.

If Shawn was present, he would've easily recognized Gregory as the middle-aged man from earlier.

"That kid must have been slain by now." While running for dear life, the image of the boy from earlier popped up in his train of thoughts. Gregory knew his men well and there was no single boy within their ranks. So, it begged the question, how did such an inexperienced kid end up in that dreadful place? Were the rumors true?

Rumors were spreading like wild fires that the demon was abducting people from nearby villages. For that sole reason, they were sent on this 'suicide' surveillance mission. Previously, he loathed the Empire for sending them to their deaths; however, seeing the boy inside that deathly place might just prove the rumors to be true. If this report was brought back, Gregory could already imagine how tremendously it would shake the whole Empire.

Relief soon washed over Gregory when he finally exited those desolate lands. Presently, it was nighttime. The moon brightly hanging up under the dark sky and the cool breeze whooshing past invigorated the blissful man. The Lands of the Unknown were hellish lands with no sun or moon. None could tell between day and night. It was a barren, bleak land filled with decay and death. Just by being there Gregory felt like his soul had been dragged to the depths of the netherworld. He could still feel the jitters like he had just stumbled out from death's abode.

Regardless of exiting that horrible place, Gregory still didn't relax one bit. He kept on running and running, far away from that nightmarish place. Just because the demon didn't catch up didn't mean it wasn't giving chase. The mere thought alone had the Head Warrior speed up immensely.

The demon's infamous stories were told far and wide. The Demon Hound, as they called it, terrorized the world ages ago. It had wreaked havoc and slaughtered countless innocents; its deadly carnages almost bringing the world to its knees. Many brave souls tried hunting it down but none succeeded.

However, its vicious rampage came to an end when the four experts_ famously known as the four Protectors of the Realm_ arose and defeated it in one epic battle. The Demon Hound was finally imprisoned into a pocket realm that is now known as the Lands of the Unknown.

Some believed the seal preventing the demon from escaping might never hold for long. That one ill-fated day will come when the Demon Hound would escape and bring forth its wrath upon the world again. And to prove the day was looming sooner than expected, were the missing villagers and destroyed villages.