In the peaceful world of Melux, there existed a variety of species like elves, beastmen, dwarves, humans, demons, etc. Elves lived in the Great Kingdom of Fryzania, Dwarves lived in The Nation of Agnesraven, and Beastmen lived in the Beast Kingdom of Swartz, but not all humans lived in a single country as all of the other species.
The Human continent was divided into Three countries. The first was a small country located in the southern part of the continent, The Kingdom of Everhart. The second country situated just above the Kingdom of Everhart and hardly interacts with any other nation was the Kingdom of Terasmania. And lastly, the biggest and most powerful nation in the whole of Melux, The Empire of Norbury.
The Empire of Norbury was a nation that covered around 75% of the area of the human continent, the biggest continent in the entire world, while The Kingdom of Terasmania and The Kingdom of Everhart covered around 20% and 5% area of the continent, respectively.
Now, how was peace ensured when a single country held that much power in its hands for this long of a time? It was due to a blood contract made between all the countries of Melux when Demons first invaded the Mortal Realm from the Abyssal Realm.
When the Demons first invaded the Mortal realm about a millennia ago, all the countries tried to fend them off on their own, but after the fall of the Greatest Kingdom of that time, The Kingdom of Broshana; Now known as the Wasteland of Melux; they realized that they couldn't fend off the demons solely based on their forces.
So, to defend the Mortal Realm, all the remaining countries of the Mortal Realm at that time -- The Great Kingdom of Fryzania, The Nation of Agnesraven, The Beast Kingdom of Swartz, The Kingdom of Everhart, The Kingdom of Terasmania and The Kingdom of Norbury -- came together to fight off the Demonic forces, and to ensure that no one betrayed each other, a blood contract was signed among the Six Mortal Kingdoms using the Royal Blood of each country. This Blood contract came to be known as 'The Treaty of Peace'.
'The Treaty of Peace' was a simple, yet powerful contract consisted of just 3 vows that each country had to hold:
1. All the countries shall not interfere with each other's domestic and political issues.
2. All Nations must unite to fight the future demon invasion.
3. No country shall harm any other country's Royal families under any circumstances, neither now nor in the future.
If any of the vows were to be broken by any country, the treaty would be immediately nullified and the Royal bloodline of the country which broke the treaty shall suffer the Curse of Dreadborn Manifest till their bloodline exists in Melux.
Due to 'The Treaty of Peace', No one betrayed each other, and they fought off the Demons from the Mortal Realm because of the Six Heroes, all hailing from a different country, who each had the Blessing of an Elemental Sovereign.
A Millennia has passed since the Treaty of Peace was signed and the Mortal Realm of Melux was at peace until Four children with the Blessing of Elemental Sovereigns were born in the Empire of Norbury.
Due to these children born in a single country unlike before, the power dynamics started shifting in the Mortal Realm and almost all the countries started favoring the Empire to get in their best regard except for one, and that country was The Kingdom of Everhart, which raised a suspicion in Emperor's mind.
The Empire which already desires the unparallel strength, these children were like a Boon to it. But there was still one thing that was stopping the Empire from attaining their long-awaited wish to become a power that can conquer and rule both the Mortal and Abyssal Realm of Melux, and that was none of the children had the Blessing of the strongest Elemental Sovereign, The Almighty Water Sovereign.
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Aziel was running his mind over and over about how someone could attack his kingdom despite knowing The Vows of The Treaty of Peace but before he could reach any conclusion, his thoughts got interrupted when he heard a boom sound near Kiera's room. He immediately stopped thinking and started running towards his wife's room to ensure her safety but got interrupted when an object flew towards him at an astonishing speed. He dodged the flying object which was the head of the soldier who came to deliver the report of the gruesome incident.
After dodging the Soldier's head, Aziel instantly summoned his Greatsword "The King's Might" with a golden light, took a battle stance in the blink of an eye, and turned towards a completely ordinary-looking wall and shouted while narrowing his eyes and oozing out an aura that would freeze anyone lower than Rank S on their feet from fear.
"COME OUT OR I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN SAY YOUR LAST WORDS!" His words echoed through the empty room like a dragon's roar, or it should be an empty room, but soon enough a reply came to his words from that same ordinary wall Aziel was facing with his Greatsword in his hand.
"Well, well, isn't that 'The Legacy of Everharts'. Never thought there would come a day where it would be pointed against me, right, ...Your Majesty?" A bearded man equipped with the Knight's armor of the Kingdom of Everhart revealed himself with a Greatsword of his own in his hand.
He was Abraham Lancester, the Captain of 'Shadow Knights' the unit Aziel was assembling for the last decade in secret to fight off the opposition just in case someone were to come after Aiden by exploiting the flaw in the treaty, especially The Empire.
The Shadow Knights was a force consisting of 50 of the most powerful and trusted Knights of the Kingdom of Everharts and its captain, Abraham Lancester, was a Knight among Knights who was known not just in the Everhart Kingdom but in the entire Melux for His Blade Art.
Abraham Lancester was a childhood friend of Aziel whom he grew up with and trusted the most. He was the eldest child of the Fallen Dukehouse of Lancester. When the House of Lancester fell, Aziel gave Abraham a special Noble title both as a King and a Friend for staying loyal to the Kingdom even though his father wasn't.
Aziel truly believed that Abraham was someone he could discuss any secrets with and could take advice from even in the most confidential matters but when Abraham revealed himself by replying to his words, Aziel couldn't believe his eyes that the person whom he grew up with and trusted the most has betrayed him and sided with the Empire exploiting the one Major Flaw in the Treaty of Peace that is, "One nation could bribe the other nation's military or Knights to rebel against their own Kingdom" as that could be considered as Internal War which does not have a clear mention in the treaty.
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[A/N: Maybe I dropped a little too much lore in a single chapter?]