Rozer Striem knew very well who he was. The wind was so strong, or perhaps there was another reason that made Rozer unable to fully open his eyes. His father, who had stopped beside him, didn't even offer comforting words.
But Rozer didn't want that.
"Remember well! This is the work of the creatures of hell."
Amongst the rustling of leaves, his father's strong words touched Rozer's heart.
Creatures of hell...
This was a phrase that should be ignored by an eleven-year-old. What was happening in front of Rozer was something a normal child should never witness.
Corpses, corpses, corpses. It was a mountain of corpses as far as the eye could see. And there was no expression of peace. All the remaining bodies were filled with expressions of pain.
"This won't end unless the gate is closed tightly forever. The fact is, the gate will open sooner or later. The world you see is just the tip of it."
While Rozer listened to his father's words, he trembled. If he lost his concentration, he would burst into tears. There was no reason to be both scared and sad. All the emotions he couldn't express in one word mixed together, and for some reason, he didn't understand, he couldn't get rid of the heavy feeling in his heart, and his chest felt tight.
He found strength in his heart. And that's why he couldn't cry. Because he believed that if he cried, he would lose the most important part of his life as a gatekeeper of the demons.
So, he would endure until he couldn't anymore. And yet, his tears fell effortlessly.
The people in heavy armor and the minotaur, a creature of hell that looked like a bull, had nothing to do with the number of corpses covering the ground. Regardless of their origins, all of them felt pain and sadness, but they couldn't fight against their deaths. None of them thought that they wanted this.
And yet, they died.
Why?
"Father...?"
Rozer heard his own voice and, for the first time, he realized he was trembling. It wasn't because he was afraid of the corpses. It was anger that made him tremble.
"Why? Creatures of hell?"
With the question his son asked, Zerenia remained silent for a moment. Gathering his words to answer properly.
"You are a very smart child."
While Rozer focused on his father's words, he felt something touch the top of his head. It was his father's palm.
"That's why I wanted to show you this horrifying reality. The demons are real."
Rozer delved deep into his heart, with all his might. The meaning of the word 'reality.' He was only eleven years old, without knowing the right way to distinguish between reality and fantasy, but he could still understand what his father was trying to convey to him.
"This is the world where I live," Rozer said.
"Exactly, Rozer. I've been living here for decades, fighting to keep the creatures of hell from spreading too far into our world, so don't forget what you saw today," Zerenia replied.
Obedient to his father, Rozer forced his eyes open, so the horrifying impression would be etched into his gaze, and he would never forget it. Behind his eyes, he felt a pain. Something warm and different from tears welled up in the back of his eyes. And when he felt the power of magic, he widened his pupils, unable to contain his fear and without thinking, he closed his eyes tightly. And thus, the waves of power slowly faded inside his head.
His heart was pounding hard, and his breath was labored. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The world that stretched before him looked like hell.
Carefully, he put his hand on his chest. If he let himself indulge in this power, he would never be the same.
"What's going on?" his father asked.
Rozer continued to look at the scene in front of him without answering his father's question. Even though it was a hell he had to live in, he didn't plan to stay there calmly and silently.
"I will change it," Rozer thought.
There was no reason for it. Solving problems with violence was very bad. If the world was like this, it had to change.
Rozer wouldn't forget this event for the rest of his life.
On the other side, a pair of red eyes were lurking behind the dense trees.
"Something is coming," Zerenia said, looking into the dark forest.
Rozer looked in the direction Zerenia indicated, far ahead.
"That's not a human."
Understanding his father's words, Rozer clenched his teeth hard, his heart beating fast. He trembled as anger filled his body.
The creature's breathing could be heard from behind the shadows as it continued to lurk. The silhouette formed as it stepped out of the forest. It stood at a height of approximately 2.5 meters, shaped like a bull, standing on two legs, and Holding a large axe with both hands. With a heavily muscled body, it broke through the stone wall that separated the forest from the path and emerged from the forest with a loud noise it created.
Zerenia took a long magic staff, almost as tall as himself, from under his cloak. "He's coming," he said.
The magic staff had a crystal sphere emitting a mystical light at the top of the staff.
Rozer immediately grabbed a sword from the grip of a corpse below him. Unable to lift the sword he held yet, Rozer quickly dragged the sword with his right hand, running towards the Minotaur. Stepping on the scattered corpses on the ground, he had resolved to fight.
"Rozer!" Zerenia was taken aback at his son's actions.
But he was too late to stop his son, who had already gone ahead of the Minotaur. While he didn't move forward, Zerenia prepared to recite magic to protect his son if needed. From here, he would see Rozer's progress.
The Minotaur roared, causing the leaves around it to rustle. It glared at Rozer with a fierce look and ran towards Rozer, swinging its axe to strike.
Managing to evade, Rozer, with all his strength, threw his sword at the Minotaur's body, which got stuck in the creature's back. Realizing that it wasn't enough to pierce into the Minotaur's thick flesh, Rozer moved away, while the Minotaur groaned in pain.
With his index and middle fingers of his right hand pointing upward in front of his chest, Rozer performed a ritual to invoke magic and recited a mantra in his heart. After feeling the magical power in his eyes, he looked at the Minotaur, who now had an aura; thorny black.
Visualizing all the swords among the scattered corpses on the ground, Rozer, with the power of his magic, lifted several swords until they flew. He quickly stabbed the Minotaur while it was running towards Rozer; two swords on its legs to cripple it, two swords in its hands to immobilize its movements, and the last two swords on its head to kill the creature.
Zerenia opened his mouth wide in amazement at the battle won by Rozer. However, something bothered him at the moment;
It was when he saw Rozer's eyes during the fight. "Those eyes..." were not ordinary.
Out of energy, Rozer fell to the ground where he had recited the magic.
Meanwhile, Zerenia was absorbed in watching the dazzling light from the slightly open demon gate. From here, the gate shone by the evening light because it was made of a combination of copper, steel and stone. Therefore, the gate is called Bajalekat.
Baja means steel. Meanwhile, Lekat comes from the word attached.