A long-haired elf with a monocle on his left eye was sitting in the peak of the Mountain Range of Phantasms when an umbrella appeared and a nice-looking woman leaped from inside of it.
"Here, take it; it's gross," the woman complained while stretching her hand, as if giving something to the elf. However, the elf didn't look at her, and he continued to stare into the sunset.
"Still silent as usual," the woman sighed when the elf didn't bother himself to even look at her, then she put the eye of the Demon King inside her folded umbrella.
"Chaos will soon descend this land," the elf muttered before he turned into a swarm of black butterflies and flew away.
"Hey, you're leaving just like that! Seriously!" The woman nagged while pointing her umbrella in the kaleidoscope.
. . . . .
After the fight between Cinhard and Ren, Salamander surveyed the area, and he found Kizhaia and Calix.
"It's a shame you're still alive." Calix teased the incoming Dragon King.
"Look who's talking," Salamander retorted before he looked at the Spirit King from head to toe. "Where's Augustus?" He added.
"He's not far from here; don't worry; his presence is faint, but he's still alive," Kizhaia answered. "How's Ren?" Then she turned her eyes to the man lying on the back of the Dragon King.
"Hmnn, he's asleep. He has used all of his energy in the fight," Salamander replied.
"Do you know what happened to Cinhard, and who's the girl with the umbrella?" Kizhaia asked with worry in her eyes.
"He fled, but I knew where he went; the girl, I don't know; it's my first time seeing her." Calix said before he looked in the direction of the Demon King's Palace.
"Neither do I." Salamander declined the moment Kizhaia looked at him.
Then a strange voice interrupted their conversation all of a sudden.
"My King. It's burning. The Demon King's Palace, it's burning," said a small sylph that flew straight to Calix's head.
They levitated as soon as they heard the report of the sylph, and from a distance, they had seen the place crumbling down in ashes.
. . . . .
"No, it can't be; until your very last breath, you oppose me, Cinhard."
Cadaver grunted as soon as he arrived at the Demon King's Palace. He did his best to come here as soon as possible, yet all he found was a giant pile of ashes.
He wanted to use the corpse of Anelia for summoning and made a special type of undead. And when he was supposed to leave, he saw something sticking from the ashes. He moved closer and pulled it up.
"Hmnnn, that's a nice memento for the next demon king," Cadaver said, nodding in approval before walking away.
. . . . .
Salamander found Augustus, and Kizhaia treated him with the utmost care.
"How is he?" Calix asked the Siren Queen.
"He's not in eminent danger by now, I'm done fixing his organs. He'll wake up after some rest," Kizhaia answered.
"Then, shall we?" Salamander said before picking up Augustus and placing him with Ren at his back. The next moment, they flew up and headed to the Demon King's palace.
Not far from the place, they saw Cadaver walking away. Then they decided to approach him.
"My, my, you're all here. Are you guys going to congratulate me as the new Demon King?" Cadaver mocked the group that blocked his way.
"Don't make us laugh; you don't have the qualifications to be a king," Calix objected to Cadaver's words. Then he noticed the object in Cadaver's left hand.
"Give that to me; you're not worthy to hold that cane." Calix said before sparks of lightning flickered from the tattoos on his body.
"Hey Calix, we're not here to fight," Kizhaia said while holding and shaking her head.
Cadaver smiled at Kizhaia's response. He was nothing without his undead army, and he couldn't summon them in this instance. He would die the moment Calix charged at him. But he didn't let them know. Instead, he laughed and summoned two death knights to his side.
"Come at me, and I'll let you feel death," he taunted Calix.
And as much as he wanted, the Spirit King didn't move from where he stood. Calix knew that they couldn't afford to clash with the undead legion of Cadaver when Ren and Augustus were not in their proper states to fight.
And the undead summoner continued to walk forward while his death knights marched behind him.
Then he stopped for a moment in front of the Spirit King and tapped his shoulder.
"Wise choice, your highness," he whispered in Calix's ear before continuing to leave.
Calix was ready to attack Cadaver, but the look in Kizhaia's eyes made his anger subside. Then he looked back at Cadaver and shouted, "The next time we meet, I'll show no mercy."
However, Cadaver just laughed at his remark and continued to walk away. Then, Augustus woke up due to commotion.
'I'm alive, the Demon King..... Ren?" He thought the moment his eyes opened and felt glad upon seeing Ren sleeping soundly on his side. Then he leaped from Salamander's back and asked what happened. Kizhaia and Salamander explained the event, starting from the moment Ren entered the sea of flames.
Shock covered his face when he heard Kizhaia's words.
"What did you say? Was the umbrella decorated with three lotus flowers?" Augustus asked in a hurry.
"Uhmn, yes... Do you know her?" Kizhaia replied with a question.
"It can't be, Celestine Madisson, one of the most wanted figures in the empire. Few years ago, she singlehandedly killed hundreds of soldiers and mercenaries that were ordered to catch her. Then, after that incident, she was never seen again," Augustus explained.
Silence covered the place but Calix broke it with his remark.
"It's no use to worry about her; all we need to do is train and be more powerful than the enemy." He said while clenching his fist.
"Indeed, as soon as I get back, I need to work harder on my flames," Salamander affirmed.
"Pfft, muscleheads," Kizhaia muttered with a laugh.
Even so, the Emperor was still restless, but like Calix said, now was not the time to worry about it.
Afterward, the group flew straight to the pile of ashes, and their respective armies greeted them. Dragons roared, sirens sang, and treants, druids, and spirits bowed upon seeing their king. Soldiers with golden phoenix insignia lined up, pulled out their swords, and struck them on the ground before they kneeled.
"Greetings to the Emperor, the Embodiment of the Rising Phoenix, we congratulate you for your victory," the soldiers shouted in unison.
Augustus moved forward with a prideful expression.
"Rise up, my soldiers," the Emperor commanded, and the brigade stood up.
"Sheath your swords, the war is over, the Demon King is dead!" He declared, and several trumpets were blown.
However, the elves couldn't express their joy upon learning that their prince died in the battle, especially the young elven princess. Kizhaia did her best to comfort the elf and promised to visit her once in a while.
Later, the allied force marched out of the Forest of Nightmares, and as soon as they exited the boundary, they bid farewell to each other.
. . . . .
The world, called Exgreia, had a continent that was vast enough to house different races, and each of them had a territory of their own.
The humanity occupied the largest part of the continent, the Plain of Fantasies, which was located at the northern and eastern parts of the land, then the Mountain Range of Phantasms, where different kinds of beasts and dwarves lived. It could be found at the center.
It separated the Garden of Dreams-the Elven Nation, and the Forest of Nightmares, where the demons resided, from humanity. Then, at the southern part of the world, the largest body of water was called the Crib of Hallucinations; it was the Siren's territory, and at the top of the ocean, there was a floating island.
The Lair of Mirages was the dragon's den. And at the southwestern part of the ocean, at the bottom part of the Garden of Dreams, there was the Realm of Illusions—the Spirit World.
The creatures living on this world were blessed by nature; they could manifest energy and learn different kinds of abilities to help them survive on this place, as long as they had the right affinity for that certain element. They could learn techniques that suit themselves. However, beings with affinity for two elements were extremely rare.
Also, there was this innate ability called Legacy. It was the manifestation of one's soul. It was a unique ability that all beings with souls had. Others awakened their Legacy the moment they were born, while some learned what it was through process, trials, or deduction. But there were a few who died without even learning what their Legacies were.
Legacy had three different kinds that were known to the world. The first and most common type of Legacy was the Enhancement-type Legacy like what the current Human Emperor had. It affected someone's capabilities; it was a passive ability that gave strength, high affinity, immunity, or some other special characteristic to a creature.
The second one was the Skill-type Legacy, it was an active ability that was unique and impossible to copy or learn, even if someone had a high affinity for that element. The Siren Queen's wide-range healing spell was a skill-type Legacy.
The last one was the Domain-type Legacy, like what the fallen Demon King possessed. It gave the users the ability to create a specified area, which allowed them to be the ruler. It greatly affected their elements or their way of fighting when they were inside their domains. This Legacy was so rare that beings with it could be counted on one hand.
. . . . .
A silver-haired man dressed in tattered clothes walked out from the northern part of the Forest of Nightmares. His complexion was pale, and his eyes were dead.
He raised his right arm and fumbled his clothes.
"My clothes are worn out beyond recognition, I guess," he said, then he looked up in the sky and stared at the sun.
'It's hot,' he complained in his thoughts.
After a few seconds, he heard footsteps that were moving closer to him. He peeked in the direction when a vampire dashed at him, aiming for the blood on his neck, but he caught the vampire in his face and slammed him on the ground. The vampire's head was crushed in the collision.
"Hmnn, I think your clothes suit me better," he said after he changed his tattered clothing with the vampire's.
Then he continued to walk and arrived at the mound of ashes.
'What happened here? I'm sure I'm at the right place, but the palace is gone...' he thought.
Then two small objects flew up from the ashes and were hurled at the man before they stopped and landed on his hand.
"Where to go next?" He said this while juggling the two dice in the air and casually walking to the west of the Forest of Nightmares.
. . . . .
Cadaver reached his castle a few hours after his encounter with Calix's group. He walked straight to his throne, with thousands of undead knights kneeling on his path. Then he placed his staff by the side of the wall and looked at the cane. He tried his best to channel his undead energy onto it, but it was not responding to him.
"Useless," he whined before throwing the cane. Then, an idea entered his mind. He summoned a burning death knight and commanded it to pick up the cane. The cane burned with orange flames, and its shaft turned into a transluscent orange blade as soon as the death knight held it.
"Oh, that's how it works. It only reacts to fire element," Cadaver grinned while clapping his hands.
After a few minutes, the giant door of his castle opened, and a man tossing two dice in the air entered.
"Where's Cinhard?" The man asked with a straight face while staring at Cadaver.
. . . . .