The red sky speaks of a dark omen
Oh, sing all who still can
For all that you love will be broken
For he comes
Weeping and shrieks will assault one's ears
As rivers of red will cover the land
A great fire will burn and turn smoke to your tears
For he comes
Pandemonium shall be cast onto the world
As the ninth circle is near
The mouths of hell will spiral into a horrible swirl
For he, is here
His eyes red, his hair black, the great demon has arrived
Dark smoke, black cloak, an embodiment of a primal fear
His horrid voice with one command, left none to survive
Clasp your hands, and beg for mercy, for the Great Lich, is here
The great war, the largest war Zeroth had ever witnessed, consisting of all five of Zeroth's continents, Akal, Io, Shima, Entarealm, and Fabarol, against one Empire, The Empire of Zan, with its Emperor, the Lich.
It started with a surprise attack on the Empire of Mizumi, Zan's rival in terms of military strength. The Lich correctly timed his attack on the Mizuminese by targeting their strongest asset, their champions, along with his two grand generals, they defeated the famed four swords of Mizumi, sending the three swords, Kiryu Xiao, Xue Yueliang, and Wilbur Hataro back to their capital as he killed the fourth sword, Raiyaku Hataro.
This sent a shockwave throughout Zeroth, and before anyone could comprehend it, the Lich had sent his dreaded Grand General, the monster of Zan Boshamir to Io, mainly against Zan's oldest rival, the Kingdom of Kendro.
For the entire continent of Fabarol, the Lich sent out the largest army ever rounded up in the history of Zeroth at that time, a billion Zanians entered Fabarol, and leading them was Zan's oldest Grand General, the Mountain of Zan, Boer. This plunged Fabarol into a brutal war where past rival kingdoms had to team up to survive.
Meanwhile, the Lich had commanded multiple Generals to attack the continent of Entarealm, to limit the supplies they would send out to the other nations, while he marched a quarter of a billion Zanian into the heartland of Mizumi, destroying the once prosperous Empire's economy.
In just a year, the Empire of Zan had conquered over half of Zeroth, and with it, the darkest days had entered Zeroth, each day earthquakes would be felt with champions battling, and smoke from the abundance of spells made the sky darker than usual, but the worst had yet to come.
For Mizumi, not just their people starving, but their pride was also diminishing, the thousand-year temple, a temple very important to the Mizuminese, was destroyed along with one of their heroes, Xue Yueliang, the Mooncutter, who tried fighting off the Lich to defend the temple, only to die as it was burnt down.
In Io, the most atrocious night occurred, with pure bloodlust, Boshamir himself, massacred five percent of Kendro's total population, and over nineteen million Kendrians died in twelve hours. This night was known as "The Night Kendro Wept"
And in Fabarol, the night didn't relent, for the subjugation of billions of people was being conducted, Grand General Boer's size and power caused the champions of Fabarol to fight harder, destroying the natural landscape of the once beautiful Fabarol.
Thousands of brave champions lost their lives in the war. As a last measure, Queen Rekeo of Kendro with fifty of her royal guards entered a battle with Boshamir, only for her to return to the capital heavily injured, and only five out of the fifty returned home.
In a decisive victory, the Lich had captured Mizumi's very own Emperor and Empress, Hiryu and Ryuga Xiao, and a few days after their capture, the news of the death of Mizumi's Emperor and Empress was like a heavy ball on the heart of the Mizuminese, with Zan slowly drowning them.
The coalition of lords of Fabarol initially had twenty mighty lords to battle Boer, but after years of fighting, only a few remained. Those who did were being pushed back with the strength of the mountain.
Hope was being consumed by the Empire of Zan, after years of struggle, Kendro was being besieged in its capital, and Fabarol only had a handful of strong champions left. The Emperor of Zan was about to end it all with one last attack, against the capital of Mizumi, Tenmashi, with the fall of Zan's strongest rival, meant the fall of Zeroth as a whole.
Yet in that battle, the everyday Mizuminese soldier fought like champions, outnumbered only by soldiers, yet each one carried the hope of those who had fallen, and the hope of those behind them, leading them was Prince Kiryu, the death of his father, mother, and friends only made the twenty-six-year-old more determined, stepping up to become an Emperor for his nation in it's darkest hours.
And it happened, a ray of light pierced the dark night, as in front of the whole world, Hell's Ceaseless Wheel, The Eternal Demon King, The Black Sun of the Crimson Skies, The Omen of Desolation, the Ninth Circle, The Great Lich of Zan, was felled by the blade of the Golden Reaper, Wilbur Hataro.
And like a thick forest encountering a fire, the people of Zeroth's hearts began to burn with hope yet again, although the Lich did not die, his defeat was a signal, that no matter how powerful, the Lich was beatable.
The Zanian generals stationed in Entarealm had to retreat as the retreating Zanians from Mizumi were being stalked by the encroaching Mizuminese force, the generals entered Mizumi to escort their Emperor out.
But in Io, trying to take Kendro out of the war as fast as possible to return to his Emperor, Grand General Boshamir attacked Kendro's capital, Angelica, with full force, but there was a champion and an army that met his by the gates, their hearts unwilling for Angelica to fall.
Inspired by what Wilbur did, Fegeko, the Burning Iron Heart battled the Monster of Zan Boshamir for a day straight, their clashes sending shockwaves throughout Zeroth fifteen times, but in the end, suffering the pain to kill over three million people, Fegeko ended the battle with his hands held high, sending the Zanian soldiers back to where they came from.
Meanwhile, in Fabarol, the victory of Wilbur set a fire in the hearts of the people of Fabarol, Boer understood that the preservation of their Empire held the most weight, so he commanded the retreat of his army, hoping to make it back to his Emperor.
But the Fabarians weren't willing for Boer to escape, in a series of guerilla warfare, Boer's army was exhausted and terrified by the constant attacks, meanwhile, the Grand General saw the champions he once defeated easily now fighting harder than ever.
The lesser lord fell, while four champions rose. Mirando of Penden, Sharah of Gershugah, Fairy King Deion, and Soo-Jin of Daomus, together, fought Boer to a standstill, but due to their growing power, Boer would gradually lose if he kept on fighting.
But what killed the Grand General wasn't the four champions, nor an army, what killed him was an unknown boy. The four champions came across his lifeless body with the boy eating him. Something was disturbing with the boy, he was less than five feet tall, but his strength was incomprehensible, long white locks descended his body, a scarce hair color, but they spared him, or better yet, he spared them.
With the defeat of Zan on all fronts, the prey now turned to their wounded predator, as they began to unite. Over a hundred champions and eleven high-tier champions sailed in a single boat, names like Fegeko, Kiryu, Wilbur, and the four Lords of Fabarol all united as they sailed to the capital of Zan, the dark capital, Nerio.
Hundreds of thousands of boats sailed to Nerio, their combined force blasting the old record of the largest army, with all walks of life and all the nations of Zeroth numbering over two and a half billion sailed to the shores of Nerio. Yet still with their hope, power, and numbers, their heart sank when the skies turned red, and the city was in view, and on his throne, the Lich waited.
The battle was the largest single battle in Zeroth history, with two and a half billion of the united coalition, and one and a half billion of the Empire of Zan, lasting over three months of non-stop fighting from both the champions and the soldiers, leveling the capital to the ground and shaking Zeroth to its very core.
At last, after three months, the end of the war commenced, countless deaths and tragedies, histories burnt and wiped off the map, and Zeroth suffered in numerous ways. But in the dark capital, Nerio, the Lich.
Triumphantly lifted his fist as the coalition rushed back to their boats, carrying the unconscious bodies of their champions, the bloody Zanians roared in victory as their opponents left their city. The Great Lich could be beaten, but he was still the most fearsome warrior Zeroth had ever seen.
As the story of the Great War concluded, Rapl and Sevi were speechless at the tale, there were names Rapl recognized from stories of his parents, but most of them were unknown to him, especially the battles in Fabarol.
Sevi had a thought about the last battle, "I was wondering, if Wilbur Hataro defeated the Lich by himself in the battle of Tenmashi, then why couldn't he along with some other champions defeat him in Nerio?" Sevi asked.
"From what I've heard from some Mizuminese soldiers that were there during the battle of Tenmashi, and my husband who was there during the battle of Nerio. Wilbur Hataro was stronger in Tenmashi than when he was in Nerio... But also…" When the woman was about to say the last part, Rapl, and Sevi saw her hands tremble, this made their own hands tremble, "Something about the L-Lich in that battle was horrific, from what my husband told me, it was as if the world was ending, rays of blood beams, thunder rolling from the skies, meteors as massive as mountains being sent to earth, it was hell."
Even thinking about what the woman was saying was making Rapl and Sevi sweat, with Rapl visualizing what his parents must have gone through, "So… that all happened twenty-one years ago right?" Rapl asked, the woman nodded, but her face didn't look contemptuous.
"The whole world has entered into a cold war, there have been small skirmishes throughout the world, but it just takes one bright fire to start a second great war," she exclaimed, looking at Rapl deep in the eyes, "So I beg, for someone whose potential can reach the heavens like you, please become stronger, and please bring peace throughout our world."
Rapl and Sevi left the store, their perspective of the world widened. As they walked through the streets, they did not utter a single word at each other. Though they didn't know why at first, the both of them left the city, wandering to a hill, next to a ledge overlooking the whole city, Sevi stared at it while Rapl used his eyes to look deeper.
Up there he saw thousands of people, laughing, working, living, "Wonderful isn't it?" Rapl broke the silence between the two, Sevi with a melancholy face nodded, "Doesn't it make you wanna preserve it?" He asked.
Sevi scoffed, "You truly are the son of two champions," he remarked, "I don't know why I didn't connect it earlier, the first time we both met each other and that mossgrum quest, you radiated heroic energy, you know that?" Sevi sat down, resting his head on his knees, "Your desire to protect random people is a desire I simply don't have, makes me think that I got this from my parents wherever or whoever they are."
"My grandfather was a deadbeat father who left my abusive grandmother and my mother together," Rapl interjected, a soft smile on his face as Sevi looked up at him, "And look how my mother grew up, although she sometimes gets a bit violent, there is love in her discipline. Your lineage doesn't make you who you are, you're the one, who makes you, who you are.
Hearing this, Sevi buried himself under his shirt again, "Then I wish I was not such a selfish person." Rapl smiled.
"Then why don't we both train? In magic, and on ourselves? The future champions need to be strong right?" Rapl requested, leading to a small nod with Sevi.
"Let's tell the party, so that we all can get stronger," he added. The two descended the hill, a new purpose in them as they returned to their small inn.