I warily stepped out of the carriage, wielding my wand, which was just a practically useless wood stick since I didn't know how to cast spells from it.
Tasim and Aledar were side by side, each gripping their weapons until their knuckles were white. However, contrary to the stories Tasim had told about the undead, they were not mindless creatures that charged and fought everything in their path.
These undead were wearing heavy gold armour and were studying us with blank eyes, as if gauging our power level, but not attacking. Both my escorts seemed surprised by this as well.
Suddenly, the horde parted and from the back, a horrifying sight emerged.
A beast at least the height of a street lamp was walking towards us, emerging seemingly from a void of empty space behind it. This creature was the nightmare of one's worst nightmare; its sclera were glowing bright magenta, and its pupils looked akin to the vortex it had just emerged from. Other than that, the beast was just coal-black skin.
It lifted one long arm and pointed at us, and let out a blood-curdling scream which made me wish I was deaf.
At once, the horde of zombies and skeletons surged towards us.
Tasim immediately began using his spear to hack and slice at the undead, causing a dozen of them to lose their heads. He occasionally imbued mana into his legs and charged at the monsters, taking out a couple of them at a time.
Aledar was holding up well on his own. He wielded a dagger, meaning his reach was more constrained, but he made up for it with his leopard-like speed. He moved like a blur around the battlefield, swiftly stabbing and decapitating the zombies and skeletons, whilst dodging the arrows fired by the surviving skeletons.
One thing I noticed from studying their fight was that both Aledar and Tasim used their mana to constantly keep a barrier around them. The barrier wasn't visible to the naked eye, but I could just... sense it. I couldn't explain it, but it was probably due to myself having mana.
The barriers consisted of many hexagonal shields. From studying the structure, I could see the advantage. When one of the hexagonal shields was broken, the others would hold, and the person would still have the protection of most of the shield. However, if the person instead conjured a singular sphere barrier around themself, if it was broken, they would lose all forms of protection. Using the hexagonal shields would probably cost more mana, however.
I stood awkwardly at the side while watching the battle, and another piercing shriek made me remember something I had stowed far back in my mind.
The 'boss' was still alive.
And it was staring right at me.
Its eyes hardened and it began making its way towards me. Immediately, panicked, I tried to run towards Aledar and Tasim for help, but suddenly, a loud whoop drew my attention to the monster, which was now standing in front of me, gazing at me almost... amusedly.
"How... what?" I stuttered.
The beast's eyes twisted as if it was smiling, and it punched me in the gut with so much force I heard my ribs crack.
I flew back, landing on my bottom on the grass. For a moment, I blacked out, which I would have preferred, but of course, I soon regained consciousness to experience the pain. My entire body was in agony, as if thousands of little knives were continuously stabbing me, whilst getting pinched hard in every possible location. My energy left me, leaving me unable to even cry out.
Another whoop next to me indicated that the mysterious beast had teleported once again to me. While I was still lying in pain on the ground, it bent over me, its glowing eyes studying me with obvious intellifence. It suddenly opened its maw, and what I saw was even more terrifying than the beast itself.
Within its mouth was a nebula of stars and... people, for a lack of a better word.
These 'people' were more humanoid figutes that were translucent, revealing glowing purple essence within them. They must've been previous victims of this monster, devoured by those powerful jaws and helpless to stop it.
As I lay there, expecting my life to flash before my eyes any moment, I saw a blur that was Aledar approaching, while Tasim flew towards me. It was as if I was watching my final moments in slow motion.
I knew they didn't have enough time to close the distance between us. I knew I was nearing my demise.
But I felt a tingle in my body. It was like a little ant scuttling on my arm, then multiplying into a colony that ran across my whole body. What... what was this? The tingles were growing into surges of warmth, and then pulses of energy. I watched in utter shock as my ribs began to mend themselves, clicking back into place. Yet, this usually agonising process was completely painless.
Then, I felt it.
A wave of power so intense that I felt like my hand was going to explode. Instinctively, I pushed the mana out of my hand; it would be too much for my body to handle.
A split second later, a shrill scream tore through the ringing of my ears. As my vision cleared, I saw a massive black spike protruding from the chest of the monster. Dark purple blood flowed freely from the wound, and I momentarily felt a sense of relief.
This relief was soon replaced by surprise. What had I just done? I had just single-handedly killed this almost godlike beast with a flick of my wrist.
The beast collapsed, and suddenly Tasim and Aledar were on either side of me.
"Wyatt! Are you alright?"
"How...that..."
"Spike... Corruption..."
Their words started becoming more and more muffled as I lost focus. The world was now spinning... I felt so nauseous...
Then, I slipped into unconsciousness.
There was nothing.
There was nothing to describe.
How do you describe sound to the deaf? How do you describe language to the indigenous? Saying this place was a 'dark void' or 'black emptiness' would be completely wrong. It was like where one's consciousness goes when they are sleeping. There are no words to describe it.
My consciousness spun through the space. For a moment, I felt tranquility experiencing nothing. It was as if there was nothing that could stop me here. I felt a surge of confidence, as if I could now harness my newfound power to wreak havoc on the world.
But then I felt my surroundings moving, warping... my head was splitting in two... I could almost see the threads of reality shifting and interlocking, restless...
"Child."
My senses cleared. The fog shrouding my mind dissipated, and I could think at last-
-only to be bombarded with a pressure so immensely strong that I fell to my knees, clutching at my ears. After that one word had been spoken, I felt like I had been encased in a suffocating force. My senses were in a mess. The silence was, quite literally, deafening.
Focus. This one thought slipped into my head, and I regained control. I was able to see once more.
Though, I soon regretted it.
Before me was a behemoth so large it touched the sky. It towered over me, glaring down at me with one colossal magenta eye. In this moment, I couldn't help but think that this... thing resembled the beast I had fought.
"We meet again, child." The monstrosity boomed, its voice almost shattering my eardrums. "I see Fruma has done a good job erasing your memories."
"W-who are y-you?" my voice trembled as I tried to keep my head raised to meet its gaze. Unfortunately, the pressure practically pushed my head to the ground.
"Hm," the thing mused. "Perhaps, seeing as this is your first time, I should go easy on you. Though, one must be careful not to take those words out of context."
A sense of humour, I thought, gritting my teeth. Good to know.
Suddenly, the pressure eased. The living fortress in front of me also vanished. Before me was a man wearing a simple, elegant tuxedo. He looked otherwise handsome, excluding the... lack of an eye in his right socket.
"To answer your question, I am what is known as the Beast," the man explained. "Few even know of my existence... only even the eldest of the elders think of me as a mere myth. I rule the lands you see around you - Dern."
I gazed at the scenery surrounding me.
It looked like an accurate depiction of Hell in anybody's eyes.
The landscape was rocky and inconsistent. Black spikes protruded occasionally from the ground, and sometimes I could see a monstrous beast lurking in the shadows, looking at me with predatory intent. Fortunately, it seemed that the presence of their ruler kept them from touching me.
The creatures that roamed these lands were even worse than the tall one I had killed. I spotted a grotesque eyeball-like creature with wings sprouting from its bottom. It floated and gazed at me with curiosity, but my the Beast waved his hand and the monster vanished in a portal conjured from nowhere.
"Why did you take me here?" the words forced themselves out of my mouth. The Beast studied me with his singular glowing eye. Then he relented.
"Never easy with you humans, is it?" he sighed. "Fine. I brought you here because you are destiny."
"What?" I practically shouted. I am destiny... how cliche.
"Could you make yourself clear?" I asked. "The words 'you are destiny' do nothing to explain my circumstances."
"You will become the most powerful human in this world, Wyatt Eldrede," the Beast explained. "It is what fate has decreed."
Fate... Another rubbish concept. I personally did not believe in such things. In my opinion, one's life was determined by the choices they made, and nothing could be fixed. But the fact that this being, who looked as if he were capable of wiping out my existence with a blink of his eye, was talking about fate, made me have second thoughts.
"And how exactly am I supposed to reach this power?" I asked. I admit, I was wary. It wasn't every day I got abducted by a demon lord and told that I would receive unimaginable amounts of power. It was very suspicious.
"Well, child..." the Beast's lips curved into a horrifying smile. He looked like the epitome of evil in this very moment. "You will go on a series of adventures around the world. And through these, you will recover your memories, and gain this power."
"Let me ask you again." I glared at this being, who was far above my level of power, with not a trace of fear in my eyes. "Why... have... you... brought... me... here?"
His eye twinkled. "To propose that you join me, of course."
It felt as if a dam had collapsed in my mind. Confusion, surprise and shock surged into me, and I let out a nervous laugh.
"You must be kidding," I stuttered. "Join you? Here? In this hellhole? There's no way in a million years that's happening."
The Beast sighed. "I think it is best I explain everything.
"Thousands of years ago, there was a civilisation, named the Olm, that lived in the land closest to Dern. They were all skilled mages, the only ones capable of harnessing time and rune magic. Much of their work still stands in Wynn today, but they have long been extinct... or so I thought. They were immensely powerful. I watched them reconstruct buildings, resurrect people and perform all kinds of wonders with the magic of time.
"At the time, I was considerably weaker than I am now. I watched from the depths of Dern as they prospered, led fulfilling lives... powered by their unique magic."
The Beast snapped his fingers and the air above us shimmered. A mist-like hologram appeared, displaying scenes of people. Normal people. Except...
In one scene, a woman was planting seeds in her farm. Sweat trickled down her neck as she hobbled along, sowing the seeds into the ground. Then, once the entire land had been covered, she raised both hands and started chanting. A green rune blazed into existence on her forehead, and the seeds started wriggling and elongating. In seconds, the seeds had grown fully into mature plants, bearing fruits. The woman smiled contentedly.
"Time magic," I murmured.
"Indeed," the Beast confirmed. "And seeing that power, I wanted it. I lead my strongest forces into their towns and attacked. I tried to torture them to gain information, but they used their accursed magic to speed their aging rate and die before my eyes."
"You... you monster!" I cried. "You tortured innocents just to gain this magic? Could you not have asked them nicely?"
"You see, many regard me as a god," the Beast said, his gaze still focused on the scenes in the hologram. "To an extent, I am. It was out of paranoia that I destroyed this civilisation. I feared that with their power, they would kill me. You see, I was feared even back then. If they decided to act on it and attack me, I would not have stood a chance.
"However, all this destruction lead nowhere. I had killed the only people who knew this magic, and I was unable to learn it as a result. But, as time passed, I began to hear rumours that the Olm had survived and had fled to Wynn. So I constructed a fortress where the Olm had once resided, and placed one eye atop it to eternally watch over Wynn, and perhaps find one of them so I could learn their magic.
"However, it seems that any surviving Olm, should they exist, have suppressed their magic in fear of me finding them. But some cannot. They wield power so great it cannot be hidden."
Then the Beast turned to me, his one magenta eye shining as bright as the moon.
"Wyatt Eldrede, the reason I have summoned you here, is because I believe you to be a child of the Olm."