¡Boom! ¡Booom!
"Hold your positions! The formation will be completed in a few moments!" Anthony Woodward, Hope Empire's fourth prince, ordered the brave troops under his command.
The Blackfire Continent had 3471 years of history, and the Hope Empire was the power that currently ruled over mankind. The Blackfire Continent had seen many kingdoms and empires fall, but the Hope Empire had been the ruler for almost seven hundred years. This feat was second only to the legendary Amethyst Empire, which had ruled for the first one thousand years of the Blackfire Continent, leading mankind to its greatest glory.
However, since the Amethyst Empire's tragic fall, things had only gotten worse. Most records from that time were lost and humans suffered heavy defeats. Nobody knew what the real reason behind the Amethyst Empire's collapse was, but the consensus was that the Devils were responsible for it.
Humans were not alone in the Blackfire Continent. Magical Beasts and Devils also lived there alongside them. In the early years, when everyone was fighting to establish its own territory, all three factions were fighting each other. However, once the Amethyst Empire managed to get a stable footing, Magical Beasts and mankind reached an agreement. With it, the top experts from each side will not interfere in small disputes unless a critical territory was put in danger of being snatched away by the other party.
The second half of the agreement was about the Devils. The Devils occupied the Blackfire Continent's northern region, a place called Dark Zone. While the Amethyst Empire was at its peak, the Dark Zone only covered 10% of the total continent land. But, since then, the Devils had been constantly expanding their territory.
That is how the Hope Empire reached its current state. Considering the Magical Beasts lands, only two thirds of the continent's territory could be considered safe. Both had suffered repeated defeats in the countless wars against the Devils and were now facing a massive crisis.
Those last few years, the Devils had launched their most aggressive offensive ever and cornered the Hope Empire, putting mankind's fate in a never seen before danger.
Anthony Woodward, who at this moment was 52 years old, in his youth was only an ordinary prince inside the massive royal family. However, he managed to prove himself at the battlefield multiple times, thanks to which his prestige inside the royal family skyrocketed, making himself the most likely candidate to take the throne. However, Anthony knew that such day will not ever come.
Reality is oftentimes cruel. Even though he managed to achieve multiple victories against the Devils, Anthony was just one person. It was impossible to change mankind's destiny singlehandedly. The war fronts were numerous, so his achievements only managed to get them some extra time.
The Hope Empire was nearing its end.
Right now, the most powerful Magical Beasts and the Hope Empire's top experts were at the Sky Mountain Range to put an end to this war, although temporary.
"Prince, everyone is ready. The vanguard troops are buying us some extra time at the Sky Mountain Range's foot and everyone else is at their positions. We are ready to activate the Chaos Formation." One of his trusted generals said this in a voice that showed his fatigue and reluctance towards the outcome. The Blackfire Continent had been soaked in millions of people's blood, but the war was still lost. All those sacrifices were in vain.
Anthony could not stop him from looking around. The royal family, the nobles, the reclusive experts, and the most powerful Magical Beasts had chosen the Sky Mountain Range as their coffin. This place owed its name to the high mountains that seemed to touch the sky. This made it a natural wall that separated the human cities from the Dark Zone.
Right here were eight thousand experts ready to give up their life. Even if they did not like cooperating with each other, the Devils were too strong, so it was impossible to defeat them for the time being.
Even if winning was not possible, buying a good amount of time for the next generations was a real option. The Hope Empire's founder had found a strange formation inside some ruins from the fallen Amethyst Empire. His meteoric rise to power was in part thanks to the Chaos Formation, which was now mankind greatest hope.
Even though it was found in the Amethyst Empire's ruins, its origin was unknown. However, it held such a power that the Hope Empire chose to use it regardless of the outcome.
The Chaos Formation's study was the focus of the royal family experts since its establishment. At first, they only studied it to gain an improved perception of mana and accelerate their progress, but after further study they discovered the Chaos Formation could temporarily stop the war. Its activation would create an impenetrable barrier that will give humans a safe zone in which they could develop and prepare for a future war.
Although it could solve their predicament, its activation requirements were harsh. An insane amount of mana was required, that could only be produced with the sacrifice of the strongest experts from the Hope Empire and the Magical Beast.
'Huh, so this is the end. I know some bastards would decide to hide themselves to try to take over the Hope Empire, but they do not know how big of a surprise awaits them. I will pay to see their faces once they discover what this formation really does.' Watching everyone that surrounded him, Anthony could not stop himself from remembering the cowards who decided to escape.
Only the royal family could study the Chaos Formation, so everyone else only knew what little information the Hope Empire gave them. As it name hinted, the Blackfire Continent would fall into chaos once activated. The barrier needed so much power that it would absorb any of it available.
The sacrifice from so many experts was only to activate its most basic function, so it could absorb mana from all over Blackfire Continent. This was something known by less than twenty people, with Anthony among them.
This way, everyone would become common humans and animals. This meant everything needed to be built from scratch and was why the royal family only saw it as a last resort.
The royal family had been in great internal turmoil over it the last few years. Anthony was part of the faction that was reluctant in making use of the Chaos Formation. Not because it meant giving up, but because of its unknown origins.
Anthony believed that while the Amethyst Empire was at some point its owner, it was created by someone else. The few historical records from that time mentioned a few times the word 'barrier' which was probably related to the Chaos Formation wonders.
Sadly, the Amethyst Empire's secrets disappeared alongside them more than two thousand years ago. It was like someone had intentionally destroyed everything related to them.
His head would be filled with worry every time he thought about it, but there was not other way out of this. None of the alternatives were as good as activating the Chaos Formation and putting their hopes into the future generations.
"Crazy Ape, are you ready? We need to activate it now." Anthony spoke to one of the Magical Beast Kings, who oversaw the group taking part of this.
"Tsk, can I go back now? Just go and activate it before I regret this." Crazy Ape answered exasperatedly. The Hope Empire spent years convincing the Magical Beasts and they finally decided to go along with this crazy plan once they realized the war was lost.
After getting confirmation from Crazy Ape, Anthony set his gaze into the distance and saw how the Devils were massacring their vanguard group. There was not any time left, the Devils would reach this place soon.
Anthony quickly walked to the center of the formation, where 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 multiple colors.
"Give all your mana to the formation! We cannot fail!" Anthony could feel his body being torn apart from the fierce 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 troops and were closing in. He could even see their figures clearly. Bodies emanating black smoke, which were protected by a strange blood-colored armor.
Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Anthony's face. 'I hope this sacrifice will buy enough time. Defeating the Devils is no longer my damn problem.'
Despite this, he felt a deep ache in his heart. He had given all his life to the battlefield and took part in countless battles. There he had put an end to countless Devils' lives.
Everyone said he had a never-seen-before talent. Unfortunately, he was the only one with such a talent. It was impossible to defeat the Devils by himself. His biggest regret was not being able to see humans triumph in this cruel war.
'How I wish this was not the end of me. All my life dedicated for this, and now I can only sacrifice it to stop them temporarily.' Anthony set his gaze on the horizon and watched how the sky turned dark. The Chaos Formation was working properly, devouring mana from all over Blackfire Continent.
This was the last scene he saw before his vision went completely dark. Anthony Woodward was no longer part of this world.