Chaos exists in many shapes and forms. During the last era, they took a liking to beasts, the essence itself had covered the world and influenced them, causing them to be feral. Hundreds and thousands of species of animals, monsters, and even humans had existed in that time. Throughout the centuries, wars were waged, genocide was committed, races were hunted in mass till their extinction, all for survival.
The lucky ones had made it through relatively unscathed, as during that time, it was unnatural to have not experienced the death of those around you.
It was a dog eat dog world.
And with the finite amount of resources, Chaos came into play.
It is personified by different variables, the most prominent of which are called the Cardinal Sins. These are the most common ways for chaos to manifest itself. But it all had an end goal, and that was the end of all life. At first, it was just the natural order of things, but later on, it evolved into a whole other branch of evil.
A little envy is normal for people, such are the flaws of being human, of being alive. But, when it comes down to wanting too much unrealistically to the point of acting on your desires, that is when chaos wins.
The key was the knowledge of being able to identify them. At its early stage you would be able to keep it at bay, and with the proper course of action, dig up its roots and keep it from growing.
Of course, at a later part of its manifestation, there was no other way, the roots had dug too deep. And the only way to treat it was to dispose of the source and all related to it.
Quarantine the source, observe those that could have been affected, and later on administer proper treatment.
From the first records of fighting Chaos. More than half the world had succumbed to it. It was an uphill battle, but their ancestors had won. Diminishing Chaos' influence down to only a mere 10% of what it had been.
It was now a fight to end all fights. This has turned into a war where the victor will completely erase the other side's existence.
Now that it was getting to the point where humanity will fall. Those who still fight against Chaos must band together and end it for good.
~~~
𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵.
𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.
𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴.
Age-old words that surpass species and even time-space itself.
And right now.
Echoing from the back of Curtis's mind, words he's heard from the people he's fought with. Words he was now willing to shout.
𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴��� 𝘴���𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
A rallying shout that never fails to raise morale.
Stepping off his boat, Curtis twirled his battle-ax in front of the burning homes, it reflected the death and destruction this town was experiencing. Feeling the sand beneath his boot Curtis prepared himself. Off in the distance, he could see the two different factions at play. The two were in the middle of a battle. One was a group of farmers and guards; they were headed by a pair of a man and a woman. And the other, opposing group was led by a figure cloaked in a red coat.
The woman wielded a bow and shot out arrows made out of flames. Occasionally she would hit a target squarely on the head. The man was giving out orders to the remaining guards while raising stone towers to block the enemy, they were currently retreating towards a stone fort. A fort that the remaining townspeople were gathering towards.
"Keep shooting! Don't let them advance towards the fort!" The man kept shouting while raising more walls to block the enemy.
Meanwhile, the opposing party was trying their hardest to cut them off but they were thwarted by the woman shooting flames and the archers atop the wall. The one leading them was focused, he kept on barking orders trying to get an advantage towards the defenders, he didn't even notice his arrival.
The soldiers had stank of Chaos. Murder and debauchery had seeped into their very being. They smelt like something had died in them, their Curtis could probably smell them from a mile away.
Finally determining the friends and foes Curtis broke into a sprint, brandishing his battle-ax he dove right into the flank of one of the enemy soldiers. He swung his ax left and right, not minding the blood and gore that splashed around him.
And with a spin of his ax the group of chaos-spawn never even knew what had happened. In the span of 5 breaths, they had been mowed down like trees. The lucky ones probably didn't even feel their head separating from their body. While the unlucky ones were able to feel how their soul had left their bodies.
The distance separating him from the troops of chaos and their unlucky targets could be described as "a distance that could be covered by wetting his ax with blood five times." it was an unorthodox way of measuring distance. But, Curtis was accustomed to it. Part of his training back in the city had made him a killing machine. He could even accurately describe how a head could be separated from its body in five different ways.
"You!" the leader called out.
At this point, with him leaving a trail of destruction and death. The Chaos leader had finally noticed his arrival. And seeing the wake of his actions, he quickly diverted a part of his troops to surround the newly arrived troublemaker.
This gave the retreating forces a quick respite. They rushed to the fort. The man raised a wall that quickly blocked any vision of them. All that could be heard was the rapid opening and closing of the fort doors.
A group of twenty or so soldiers had surrounded Curtis. They were different from the normal chaos-spawn that he had fought. Normally they were dressed in rags. Mere townsfolk that have been converted into the dark side. Now, they dressed in armor, leather, plate mail, some in chain vests. They were properly geared, not scrawny, they looked even better nourished than their enemies holding the fort.
A standoff.
The side that makes a mistake loses.
"Isn't this a little too much for one person?" Curtis asked, trying to make him look less threatening.
It was a situation that favored Curtis, they didn't know about his abilities, all they know about him currently is that he just mowed down thirty people, thirty of their comrades. They were bitten by chaos, but they still had some of their soul in them. They still had their emotion and they were mad, just one look at their expressions, they were furious at him.
They probably hadn't lost that many in such a short amount of time. Even the couple that was fighting them earlier didn't cause them this much. From Curtis' earlier observation they were taking it easy on them, he had seen even worse attacks during his training, he guessed that it was only due to sheer luck that they were able to cause them any casualty.
Just a few seconds in the battle and Curtis had already got a bead on his enemies. They were not fully converted into Chaos yet, they didn't have the crazy ingrained in them. But they were close to that point.
And with his arrival, quickly causing them a large number of casualties right off the bat. They were angry. The emotion flared up the Chaos in their bodies. And now their anger made them reek of chaos even more.
They charged at him. Two spear holders. The moment they reached him, their arms were separated from their bodies, a second later, so did their heads. The next four, they wielded swords and shields, four quick chops and they were done for, their shields split vertically into two, along with their bodies.
Six down, fourteen to go.
Their first mistake; overestimating themselves. They fell right into his trap.
From the corner of his eye, Curtis could see that the Chaos leader was observing the fight, he even let the retreating group reach the fort. His other troops currently surrounding the fort. Curtis knew the favorable situation had become reversed.
It was now his mistake. A minor one, but one that could have been avoided if he had gone full force right from the start.
He was now being seen as a greater threat than the people they were chasing.
Atop of the fort walls, Curtis could see the woman who shot flames earlier, beside her was the man who kept on raising stone walls, but he didn't look eager to fight. He was pale and sweating, clearly raising obstacles to impede the enemy had drained him of strength. They had seen him and knew that he was the reason they had escaped. It didn't require a genius to deduce so.
The two were discussing things about him. Even at that distance, Curtis could guess what they were talking about. He had caused a bit of a commotion with his entrance. They must be discussing how they would help him.
Right now they didn't know about his abilities, the enemy didn't know about his power. But if he wanted to leave this place with his consciousness intact. He would need to go all out. Plus proving himself powerful would place him in a better light on the allies' side.
Gathering his focus. Curtis sneered.
With a growl, his ax began to emit steam.
The Chaos leader, seeing the scene reacted quickly. Finally seeing the gravity of the situation. Another ability user. An unfamiliar one. One that could have been recruited.
"STOP!"
"DIE!" Curtis roared.