"Hold your positions! Prepare to activate the formation!" Anthony Woodward, the crown prince of the Hope Empire, ordered the people around him.

The Blackfire Continent had been created 3049 years ago, and the Hope Empire was the main human force within it. However, humans were not the only inhabitants of the continent.

Magical beasts and Devils also existed in the Blackfire Continent. While the magical beasts were spread throughout the continent, the Devils were found exclusively in the north.

Humans had managed to control the magical beasts and minimize their attacks, but it was a different story with the Devils. They were simply too strong.

At first, humans and magical beasts occupied a total of 80% of the territory. However, the Devils slowly gained ground to the current point, occupying 50% of the continent.

Anthony Woodward was the youngest of the heirs to the throne but had managed to rise to the position of crown prince thanks to his countless achievements in the war against the Devils, managing to stop their offensives on multiple occasions.

However, the Devils proved to be an enemy that was far above the level of humans. Countless experts had given their lives over the past year to stop their advance, but the efforts were in vain. They were an unstoppable force.

All this brought the humans to a desperate situation. Anthony was convinced that with time, humans could defeat this relentless enemy, but time was what they lacked the most.

Unless there was a drastic change, the Blackfire Continent would be completely occupied by the Devils in a couple of years.

"Prince, all experts are in position. We must activate the formation immediately; our vanguard forces can't hold out much longer. It is now or never." One of the generals under his command communicated to him in a voice that clearly reflected his exhaustion.

Anthony couldn't help but look around. The Sky Mountain Range was where they had decided to have the final battle, a place where mountains were so high they reached the sky. Around him were about five thousand experts, who would be taking their last breath today.

The Hope Empire had been preparing from the beginning for a situation where they could not withstand the Devils' attack. For this purpose, they had centered their efforts on researching the Chaos Formation.

This was a formation of unknown origins that had fallen into the hands of the royal family's ancestor, which allowed the creation of a safe zone for humanity for a long period of time.

While it was certainly a good solution to the predicament they were in, the cost of activating it was devastating. The formation required an unimaginable amount of mana, which was only possible through the sacrifice of the most powerful mages. The Sky Mountain Range would become the tomb of the strongest humans to ever set foot on the continent.

'I guess this is the end. Although some cowards decided to run away to try to take command over human forces, they will be in for a big surprise. The Chaos Formation is not as simple as they think.' Looking at the faces around him, Anthony remembered all those who decided to hide for their own benefit and a smile appeared on his face.

The Hope Empire had only shared part of the Chaos Formation's functions with the others. As its name indicated, the world would descend into chaos once it was activated. Not only would it place a barrier in the middle of the Blackfire Continent, but it would also restrict the available mana for a long period of time.

In this way, everyone would become ordinary people with no mana for a few hundred years. Activating it meant starting from scratch and was the main reason why the royal family was so reluctant to use it.

Thinking about all this, Anthony couldn't help but sigh regretfully. All the accumulation made by humans over the last 3000 years was about to disappear.

To be honest, Anthony was against using it. This was not only because it meant abandoning everything, but because of the unknown origins of the Chaos Formation. Although it was an inheritance from his family's ancestor, it was obvious that it was not a human creation. Every time he thought about it his mind was filled with worry, but now there was no choice but to activate it.

"Everyone get ready! We will activate the formation now, gather all your mana into your Core." In the distance he could see the Devils sweeping through the vanguard squad that had been dispatched to protect them as they prepared. There was no more time left.

Anthony walked quickly to the center of the formation, where there was a large circle with strange symbols connected to the smaller circles by chain patterns. Once he reached his place, he poured all his mana on the large circle making it glow with different colors.

"Give all your mana to the formation! We can't fail!" Anthony could feel his body succumbing to the strong pressure created by the mana injected into the formation, but his will was still as strong as steel. "For the future!"

At this point, the Devils had completely defeated the vanguard unit and were closing in. He could even see their figures clearly. Bodies emanating black smoke covered in strange blood-colored armor.

Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Anthony's face. With this sacrifice they would buy time for the next generations. Defeating the Devils would no longer be his problem.

Despite this, he felt a deep ache in his heart. He had dedicated his entire life to the battlefield and participated in countless battles in which he had put an end to the lives of many Devils.

Everyone said he had a talent that had never been seen before. Unfortunately, he was only one person. It was impossible to defeat the Devils by himself. The biggest regret of his life was not being able to see the humans triumph in this cruel war.

'How I wish this wasn't the end of me. All my life dedicated to this, and now I can only sacrifice myself to stop them temporarily.' Anthony set his gaze on the horizon and watched as the sky turned dark. The Chaos Formation was working properly and devouring the mana of the entire Blackfire Continent.

This was the last scene he saw before his vision went completely dark, representing the end of his life.

...

"Aarghhh." Anthony let out a cry of pain. It felt like his chest was being struck by a heavy hammer. He had seldom experienced such pain in his life.

He felt like as though he was on the threshold between life and death. The only explanation for this was that something was going wrong in his Core.

The Core was located to the right of the heart and was responsible for accumulating mana that was then used to cast spells. A pain as great as the one he was suffering could only have its source there.

Anthony closed his eyes and focused his attention on the Core. As he had deduced, it was covered in cracks, giving the impression that it could collapse at any moment. Identifying the problem, he used an ancient technique of his family to manipulate his mana and close the cracks.

Once he solved the emergency, he moved his attention to the rest of his body. And what he discovered shook his heart.

'Poison? What the hell is going on? I wasn't in the Sky Mountain Range?' Anthony was completely confused by this development. Had it all been a dream? Were the Devils a creation of his mind?

As he thought this, a sharp pain clouded his brain as new memories appeared in it. The Devils and the battle at Sky Mountain Range were real, and Anthony Woodward had indeed died to activate the Chaos Formation.

It was currently the year 8157 since the creation of the Blackfire Continent and he was in Anthony Brent's body. His wish for another chance to defeat the Devils had been fulfilled.

"Hahahahaha, I'm back!" Anthony could not contain his joy. "You better prepare yourselves bastards!"