In a single world enveloped by chaos and destruction, death and suffering thrived. The black ash cloud of despair covered the noir heavens and the crimson red sun shrouded in pure darkness. The vast land before the gloomy sky was nothing more than an empty and silent wasteland, wrapped by nothingness and waste.
The boundless horizon lay flat in the distance as the crimson hue illuminated it. This world was nothing more than a failure. An entire reality was tossed into the void of waste and broken apart by its former inhabitants. Such was an unfortunate fate for a former beautiful world.
Anyhow, with the current state of this world. Despite having a civilization, the dwellers were nothing more than savages controlled by the illusion of order. They had no shred of morality, and only law, violence, and control would be able to get peace. Such was the apocalyptic age. Their minds merely got warped into monstrous personas.
But as one had said before, not all of them became humanoid monsters without any shred of humanity on their minds. Some stood apart from the others, and such fools created kingdoms and countries despite living in such a cruel world. Though, one could say there were not much different from the wild ones.
They were nothing more than an intelligent and controllable version.
At the very moment, a kingdom in the north was getting conquered by an empire more significant than it. The imperial army smashed through the defenses and the cities around the capital. What was left behind was the stench of blood and cruelty. The imperial military killed everything on their way to the capital.
That was how they conquered.
It took them days to reach the capital of the kingdom despite the heavy defenses of the city. The situation became hopeless as it ever had. The giant concrete walls were broken down as siege engines tore apart the iron gates. The simple truth of the war was nothing more than a single world.
It was a long massacre.
A horrifying massacre that the imperial army had obviously enjoyed.
Back to the capital, it was burning in flames as the buildings surrounding the walls crumbled into dust. The black ash smoke covered the heavens as the eternal screams and cries of the residents echoed evermore. The imperial army marched into the main streets.
They pointed their swords towards the castle of the royal family.
The army had cold expression plastered on their faces as the swords held under their rough hand was covered in blood. The guards, soldiers, and citizens of the kingdom had done all the things they could do. And it was all for naught. The imperial army was too strong for them to handle.
The enemy then arrived at the castle and entered without any fine resistance from the guards. It was at that moment that the kingdom had finally fallen from the tyrannical and horrifying imperial army. But the royal family in itself wasn't willing to fall without a fight.
In a secret room deep within the castle, all the members of the royal family gathered together. They were injured beyond relief as their faces had worried expressions. All of them knew that they were losing, but they still fought till the end. They gathered here together with the intention of the last stand and the final sacrifice.
The king looked towards the concrete table as he uttered with an emotionless voice. "Let us start the ritual and call it. We have stood here together as all of us know that we either die or get defiled by the imperial army outside. So as our final moments, we will call anyone from beyond."
"It doesn't matter even if it was a devil."
His words echoed throughout the deep basement as everyone around him nodded in agreement simultaneously. With the agreement of all the members, they began the ritual, which required a sacrifice. A heavy one at that. A girl stood forward and walked towards the concrete table.
Before she could even continue, a hand reached out and stopped her. It was none other than her mother who was hesitant about the ritual. Her mother gazed upon her and uttered. "There is no need for you to do it. I can do it in your place, so you don't have to worry."
The king had a hopeful expression as he didn't want his daughter to die. She was still a young lady, and he wanted her to see the world outside this kingdom even though it was a cruel one. But unfortunately for the king and queen, their daughter had a resolve like their children.
"No, mother... I can do it. My older brothers and sisters have done their best to defend the kingdom. Even though they fell, they had resolved to protect their family and country. You see... I don't want to be useless anymore. I can't fight just like them. In this battle, I am extremely useless."
"So, I at least want to help till the end. Please give me this opportunity." After uttering such words, the girl continued as her mother simply looked at her with a shocked expression. Why does this scene always have to replay in this horrifying adversity?
Her children were dying left and right. Even before death, they still had smiles plastered on their faces. The queen herself doubted if the ritual would work, but it was their only hope. If it didn't work, they would have to kill themselves to avoid falling into the hands of the imperial army.
The king, on the other hand, froze upon hearing the words of his daughter. His last child was about to be sacrificed by a dagger, which he held. He was hesitant, but after seeing the iron determination of his daughter. The king sighed and shook his head as he was disappointed in himself.
Meanwhile, within the castle placed in the center of the capital, the soldiers of the imperial army were ravaging everything. They stole everything that had been worth within the castle while slaughtering all the servants within it. They were trying to find the royal family only to find no one.
The general of the imperial army stood silently with a serious expression plastered on his face. He had been waiting to see and meet the royal family only to find nothing. Did they escape from their kingdom? Such was the thought that passed through his mind.
"No... That shouldn't be possible. A lot of them are extremely prideful and don't fear death. The children of the king and queen were annoying ones that never gave up and were extremely brave." The general shook his head in disagreement with his thoughts. It was improbable for them to cowardly escape.
"They must be hiding somewhere." He said with a calm voice as he thought about it for a short while. He then turned his head towards a soldier and gave an order. "Look around and find them. They might be hiding in this castle. If you find them, capture them as we will hold a public execution right after."
"It's time for this pitiful kingdom to fall. I'm sure that the emperor will reward me for my efforts." A disgusting smile emerged from the general's face. It seems that he was that type of person. The kind of currying favors from the higher places. They were common in this world.
The soldier nodded without any hesitation and gave his orders to the other soldiers. The capital was currently left wasted, and nothing was left other than a few citizens and the corpses of those that dared to defend it. The invasion was ordered by none other than the empress of the empire.
The reasons for such an invasion were unknown, but in this kind of world, reasons tend to fall as only power prevail. That was the simple truth of this cruel world. Outside the empires, kingdoms, and countries were savages that were crueler than the soldiers of the imperial army.
It was practically clear that from the outside or inside, the danger of suffering still prevailed.
As the order of the general scattered, the remaining survivors of the capital city were gathered in the main square. Of the 500,000 population of the capital, the ones remaining in the square didn't even pass a thousand. That was how grave and monstrous the imperial army was.
They lacked mercy and were known as the savages of the empire.
Numerous women, old people, and children were in the main square as they looked around at the destruction the empire brought upon their land. They had lost everyone they knew of, massacred by monsters in human form. In the group of survivors, a boy had an expression of hatred plastered on his face.
He looked at the castle but was specifically gazing upon the soldiers destroying it. The bastards had destroyed his home. They killed his family without any hesitation. They even laugh at the pile of bodies they left upon their path. For him, they were the demons that needed to be killed.
"Oi, oi, kid. Should you really be looking at us like that? Do you know what happens to the ones idiotic enough to attack us?" A smile formed on a soldier's face as he uttered towards the boy. The boy gritted his teeth upon hearing the words of the soldier as he lowered his head.
"As expected, a coward, eh?"
The boy's body shook as he was about to stand up. But before he could move a single muscle, an old lady stopped him. The old lady then quietly uttered. "Don't let yourself be killed. The sacrifices they made upon you would be wasted if you die like a dog, so don't die."
Hearing the old lady's words, the boy stopped as he simply continued to lower his head while gritting his teeth. He knew that if he had died like an ant. The sacrifices his family made would be worthless. But even then, he couldn't help but get angry when the demons that killed them kept laughing.
Why was the world not fair? Why does it have people like the soldiers in the imperial army? Shouldn't they all die? Doesn't justice exist in this world? Why does he keep hearing the cries of people around him? Shouldn't there be a hero?
Such were the thoughts passing through the boy's mind. His psyche was about to be broken apart due to the trauma hitting him without any mercy. He was becoming crazier and crazier along with time as he kept thinking of the regrets he had made.
Meanwhile, back into the basement deep below the capital's castle, the princess lay her body upon the dark concrete as a sacrifice. It was her turn after her brothers and sisters had sacrificed themselves for the country and the family. The king held the dagger with a hesitant expression.
He then raised his dagger into the air and was about to stab the heart of his daughter. But before he could swing it down, a grunt sounded behind him. He turned his head behind him and noticed his wife lying on the floor. She stabbed herself in the heart as she uttered distorted words.
The words in her last breath were strange and frightening.
The princess stood up and left the dark concrete table. She ran towards her mother and shouted. "MOTHER!!!" In the end, she lost her mother just like the siblings she had treasured. They sacrifice themselves for the kingdom. Everything about their life was cruel. The calm had already faded in the void.
It was clear that the peaceful days were now lost in the annals of time.
After the death of the queen, the king dropped his dagger as he fell onto the ground with a horrified face. His wife had died just like his children. He was a failure as a father, a husband, and a king. He had failed the country and his family. After all, they died before him, signifying his cowardly self.
A still silence enveloped the basement as the earth shook.
Back into the castle, above it, a storm was slowly forming. The imperial soldiers turned their gaze upwards as they furrowed their eyebrows. The massive storm simply appeared out of nowhere. There wasn't even a single clue why it occurred, as the skies before weren't strong enough to create such a storm.
A thunder strike then pierced through the castle and landed on the deep basement.
*BANG!!!*
A silver smoke and mist covered the basement as the royal members covered themselves. It took time for them to dissipate and when they did, what was left was two figures.
One was a Krieger, and the other was a maid.