Rowansdale, the proud and bustling capital centered in the proud country of Altrius, the human kingdom located in the far north of the world. Here, many people gather to find fame a fortune. The city is riddled with joy and prosperity, all under their respected King Alven Von Rowansdale. Within the castle walls, roam two highly respected individuals, Edward Wilhelm, captain of the king's royal guard, and Lucille Wilhelm, Archmage of the Royal Magic Academy, the most prestigious academy for magic in all of Altrius. Not only did these two hold extraordinary status within all of Altrius, but this lovely couple was about to welcome a new baby boy into the world.

At the Wilhelm's estate, Edward stood firm by the bedside, grasping his wife's hand as they awaited the birth of their son, while the midwives diligently attended to their lady. Lucille screamed in agony, pushing hard to endure the pains of childbirth, while Edward tried to give comforting words to his wife, as this was all he could do at the moment. Each minute felt like hours but soon the agonizing labor subsided and left a new miracle in the arms of Lucille. It was a hard birth, taking a toll on Lucille's strength, leaving her in a state of exhaustion, but she was able to pull through. She kissed the forehead of her newborn and smiled.

"We'll name him Redd."

Edward leaned over, pulling his wife and his newborn into his arms.

"A fine name, my dear."

A peaceful bliss resonated through the estate as the midwives and servants of the household congratulated their masters. This wondrous feeling that will bring great joy and livelihood to the lives of these new parents, creating a key memory within their hearts, shattered in an instant and became a moment of true turmoil and despair.

The roaring of fire doused the air of the estate, burning everything in its path. The violent screams of shattering glass drowned the residents of the household. Cloaked beings invaded through the windows of the estate, quickly making mincemeat of the servants and midwives. Edward, rushed to the sword he kept hanging on the wall. It was mainly used for decoration, but at this moment it was all he had. He stepped in front of his wife and son and prepared to defend against the intruders.

"Lucille, use whatever strength you have to protect, Redd."

Lucille, who had just faced the burdens of childbirth, had minimal strength and used as much magic power as she could muster to create a protective barrier over her child. Knowing that at this moment, having no strength to fight, all she could do was grip onto her newborn and pray as the sound of clashing steel echoed throughout the room.

"I could only cast a protective barrier over him. I'm sorry, I don't have the strength to fight."

She cowered at her uselessness, feeling guilty that this is all she could do as her husband fought.

"It's okay. That's more than enough to keep him safe. I can handle the rest."

He rushed into the fray and emerged himself in an onslaught against the intruding enemies. As an established knight, Edward was easily able to cut through a multitude of enemies, however, for each enemy he killed, it seemed as if three more would appear. He prayed that if he could hold on long enough the guards of the estate would be able to make it to them with reinforcements. However, these prayers fell on deaf ears. Whoever was behind this attack thought way ahead of Edward.

"There's no end to them! How is this possible!"

Edward fought tirelessly, but no matter what he did, more kept pouring in. He managed to avoid any threatening cuts, but as the fight kept going, the minor injuries he sustained began to weigh on him more and more.

"Where are the guards! They should be here by now!?"

Right as Edward pondered this thought, he managed to land a hit that tore through the cloth of one of the intruders, revealing the identity of the attackers.

"No way..."

Edward's will to fight began to decline.

"The undead... And not only that..."

Edward winced in regret. Not only was he facing the undead, but the undead bore the crest of the wilhelm's estate guards. It was now clear that reinforcements were not arriving. As Edward faltered back from the discovery, the enemies he had defeated began to rise up.

"No..."

He lowered his head with a heavily tainted sigh of despair. He turned to his wife and newborn before silently whispering to them.

"I'm sorry, I love you both."

Lucille's eyes began to well with tears as she slowly realized what was about to happen. Within an instant, a sword slid across Edward's head, viciously decapitating him. Blood splattered along the bed, covering his distraught wife as his lifeless body fell to the ground. The army of undead began to creep towards the bed. using all the remaining strength she could muster, mixed with the agony of losing her beloved, she managed to send out a blast of holy magic, vaporizing the impending undead. However, it was only enough to delay the inevitable for a few more seconds. As more undead flooded the estate, she could only watch as they closed in before falling unconscious from complete exhaustion. As she lay there helplessly, but still gripping her child with all her might, The undead raised its sword and easily pierced her defenseless body. Her grip slowly began to loosen, dropping her child onto the bed.

Redd, who was just brought into this world, was now just as quickly going to be vanquished. As the helpless baby cried, a sword was brought down upon him.

"CLING!'

As the undead made contact with the young boy, the sword broke in half, sending the top of it flying across the room. A radiating glow was enveloped around Redd. More and more undead began to slash their swords at him, but each attack yielded the same result.

"Halt! Back away from the boy."

The undead began to back off, making way for a cloaked figure. However, this figure was much more powerful. A mysterious red aura surrounded him, emanating the will of death, solidifying his true identity. A necromancer, and an incredibly powerful one at that. He reached out his hand and began to examine the barrier that cloaked Redd. He then sent a powerful blast of magic into the barrier but barely managed to even make a scratch.

"So, that woman put all her remaining magic power into creating an impenetrable barrier around the boy. No matter, if I can't kill you now, I'll simply give you a curse that will be equal to death."

The necromancer then took out a blade, creating an incision in the palm of his hand. He used his blood to create a magic circle on the bed with Redd in the center of it. At the completion of the circle, the blood turned a jet black, and the outline of it began to glow a deep red. He then uttered a spell in an ancient demonic language.

"Oepg bnzl nbb fl ipggepjdld fo dmgcjlii, mjd oepg nbb he hrnjc nbb fl dlwepgld!"

At the completion of the spell, the red aura surrounding Redd flashed throughout the entire room before being absorbed into him. Redd's crying now subsided and was replaced with a dazed look and his eyes twitching at a rapid pace.

"With this, your family's lineage no longer poses a threat to my plans. Soon I will have this world at my command. But now is not the time to be hasty, there is still much more preparation to be done."

At the end of his words, in an instant, he and his army of undead vanished into a cloud of black smoke.

After the heinous events, the violent night broke into a silent day, where the guards of the estate returned for the day shift. However, what they found were the bodies of the servants and their masters. A few of them rushed to the palace to inform the king of his Archmage and Royal Guard Captain's passing while the others continued to search the house for survivors. One of the guards went to the young boy lying on the bed, eyes still twitching, picking him up.

"The poor child. He must be traumatized by these horrible events. I can only wonder what will become of him now."

He quickly removed him from the horrid scene and regrouped with the other guards. They all attended to Redd, trying to comfort him as they waited for the others to get back with the orders from the king of how to handle the rest of the situation.

After this day, the capital would be sent into a panic for months, however, the criminal behind this act would never be found, and the city would slowly return to normal, leaving only the honorable memory of Edward and Lucille, but no justice for them being found.