General Vincent Nikkol walked forwardly steadily and with purpose through the hallways of the Imperial palace as an entourage of over a dozen of his skilled knights and mages followed behind, the clattering of the knights armours and striking of the mages staffs on the marble floor creating a cacophony of noise that attracted the attention of the nearby panicked servants who were hurrying about. His destination was the holy shrine located on the 1st floor in the west wing of the palace, which was also the location in which the Imperial princess was carrying out the hero summoning ceremony as a last ditch effort to save the Empire.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Vincent kept firm as the ground and walls of the Imperial palace around him shook, a result of the heavy blasts of magic he could hear landing on the dome like defensive field that protected the shield city of Aegis, the Empire’s capital. Feeling the shocks that resonated through his feet and seeing the state of the palace, he could only imagine the damage that was occurring throughout the city. He didn’t doubt that the ordinary brick houses of the general populace would all suffer at least some minor damage and that the slums of the dilapidated eastern quarter would have completely collapsed by now, something that gave him mixed feelings as the eastern quarter had always been an eyesore to the city which was meant to represent the wealth and grandeur of the Empire. He knew that many of the upper and middle class would undoubtedly be glad to see it go, since it was dirty, run down and home to the shadier denizens of the Imperial capital, but, Vincent also knew that its destruction and the displacement of its people would undoubtedly create its own problems for the city, though thinking about it more deeply he couldn’t help but think it solved more problems than it created.
BOOM!
Once again, the palace shook as outside, the city’s magic shield trembled, however, unlike the many servants and imperial guards he saw moving through the palace, who stumbled when the magic blasts hit the city’s magic shield and shook the palace, Vincent continued making his way forward, never stopping, knowing that time was of the essence. He had to get to the shrine room before noon when the bells rung or something very bad would happen.
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Meanwhile, in many different locations throughout the city, in hidden underground basements and rooms, groups of soldiers, and what many people would probably refer to as dark magicians, started slaughtering men and women in shackles.
Screams echoed in the numerous underground chambers as soldiers moved forward and slashed at their prisoners. Even though the prisoners outnumbered their captors, in shackles and wearing little more than rags, there was no way for them to defend themselves. Their frenzied and panicked attempts at escape proved fruitless and even if they did manage to get past the soldiers, the mages who had yet to take any action could have slaughtered them single-handedly.
As the last of the prisoners were killed and their blood drained into specially prepared channels that connected in a unique pattern to the various underground rooms across the city where these slaughters were taking place, a mage in one of these particular rooms smiled to himself. Countless years of planning was about to be fulfilled. The only thing now was to wait for the blood from their prisoners, a necessary sacrifice, to connect together and form the magic symbol, then begin their spell in unison, the bells that rung at noon being cue to start.
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Inside the shrine room, the Emperor watched on as his daughter held the sceptre he would usually hold, a powerful magical item known as both the Imperial Sceptre and the Sceptre of the Gods. Holding this sceptre, the Imperial princess was swaying and chanting the ancient spell of old, along with many priestesses in white robes and white veils who were positioned in a circle with the princess around the central part of the shrine room. Inside this ring they had formed, on the floor of the shrine, there was a complicated magic with many glowing runes.
The spell or rather the holy ceremony, which had many legends surrounding it, was one to commune with the Goddess of light and summon a hero from another world. It was supposed to be used when the armies of the Demon King rose up again, as a way to fight off the powerful demon race.
Of course, even without the hero, it was still possible to do this and had been done several times before. After all, many powerful warriors and magicians existed on the continent, some of the most powerful throughout the ages being comparable to the summoned heroes who were gifted with some of the Goddess’s own powers; however, a hero had much more significance than just merely his own personal strength. A hero was the Goddess’s own champion and through him, the people of the continent who were so often divided, could unite. The few times that a hero hadn’t been summoned were because the people of the time had achieved a state of unity and strength that made performing the ritual unnecessary.
Right now though, the Empire and perhaps all of humanity found itself in one of the greatest predicaments it had ever been in. Feeling the shaking of the palace and hearing the blasts of magic impacting on the city’s magic shield, the Emperor couldn’t help but lament how it had come to this.
It had all begun just a few days ago when the first messengers had arrived from the North-East, bringing news that the 1st and 2nd legions of the Empire had suddenly been attacked by a large army from the demon territory. The demon army had decimated them and killed the Grand Marshal of the Empire’s military in the process, striking a serious military blow. What’s more, the demon army, instead of staying in the east to conduct raids and take over towns and cities, instead chose to rapidly advance towards the capital with a speed unprecedented in the entire history of fighting against the demons.
The actions of the demons had proven extremely problematic because the Empire was by far the largest power on the continent and the capital, which had never fallen, was the heart of it. If the demon army was able to capture the capital, it would deal a devastating blow to the Empire’s morale and strategic situation.
Of course, it wasn’t as though the capital was undefended. As well as the iconic dome like magic shield that protected the city, the city was also home to the magic tower and was where the 3rd legion under the leadership of general Nikkol was stationed. Despite this though, the Emperor knew that the situation wasn’t in their favour and continuing to listen to the blasts of magic impacting against the city’s magic shield, his heart was in turmoil. Although many liked to claim that the shield of Aegis was impregnable, he knew better. At best, under the bombardment it was currently under, it would only hold up for a day at most and after that, the fighting would start.
This was bad news for the Emperor because the forces of the demon army positioned outside of the city were 5 times the size of the 3rd legion and pound for pound, every demon soldier was more powerful than a human soldier, even if the human soldiers in this case were the elites of the 3rd legion. Given that the 1st and 2nd legions had already fallen, the Emperor didn’t have much hope for the 3rd legion, even if they did have the advantage of the city walls and were supported by the magicians of the magic tower. After all, the demon army also had magicians and judging from the magic blasts impacting on the city’s magic shield, they were very powerful mages, rivalling the best the magic tower had to offer.
The Emperor judged that from their defensive position, the forces of the 3rd legion and the magic tower would surely be able to hold out for some time and even inflict heavy casualties against the enemy, but, it was also inevitable that they would eventually lose. What the Emperor needed was for them to be able to hold out until reinforcements could come from the 4th, 5th and 6th legions and attack the demons rear in a pincer move, hammer and anvil style.
Unfortunately, even though riders went out to inform them of the situation as soon as the Emperor knew about the demon’s invasion force, the closest Imperial legion, the 4th legion, was a week away, stationed to the West where they were supressing a rebellion. As for the other two, they weren’t too much further away but the problem was that one of them, the 5th legion, was currently occupying the recently conquered Sungrad Kingdom and the Emperor didn’t want to summon them back as withdrawing them would essentially mean ceding control of the occupied territory and would give the Kingdom time to develop their forces again.
Actually, it was because of the war against the Sungrad Kingdom that the 1st and 2nd legions fell so easily. They had taken on the primary offensive role during the conflict and had then been reassigned to the border territory with the demon race as a means to recuperate while the 5th legion took over the responsibility of occupation.
As for the 6th and final Imperial legion, news had come back from the East where they were stationed that they had been engaged by a splinter force of the demon army. Given that such a large force had rushed to the capital, the Emperor didn’t believe that the splinter force should be very powerful but for obvious reasons, the 6th legion would still be held up and without knowing the exact number of enemies they faced, the Emperor had no idea if they would be able to acquire a quick victory or not.
Under the current situation where they had been caught off guard and were now trapped in the city, waiting until its shield fell, the Emperor felt he had no other choice but to conduct a hero summoning as a last ditch effort to save the city and more importantly, his own life. Doing so, they would have to draw on the power of the mana crystal that powered the city’s defensive shield, undoubtedly causing it to fall much sooner than it otherwise would, but, his hope was that if they were successful, they would have another powerful trump card to play in their defence of the city and that the presence of a hero would inspire the troops as well as the general populace, bolstering the city’s defence and allowing it the precious time it would need until reinforcements could arrive.
The Emperor anxiously watched on as his daughter continued performing the magic spell, knowing that when it hit noon, the time of the Goddess of Light, it would finally be completed. There was great cause for him to be anxious because regardless of whether or not it succeeded, the ceremony would be a huge drain on his daughter and the priestesses performing it, as well as the mana crystal that powered the city’s defence shield. That being the case, he desperately needed it to succeed.
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Alex Jones was just an ordinary 17yr old student studying at college, or rather he was, until one day, when he was going to get a snack from the fridge, a bright light suddenly shone underneath him.
At first, he was nearly startled into a heart attack by the many glowing and swiftly changing magic runes that had suddenly appeared in a circle around him, but, being someone who was interested in a particular genre of fantasy works and frequently read them online, he soon calmed.
“A hero summoning eh? Interesting” he chuckled to himself as a smile became plastered across his face. One could say that such an occurrence was his dream, his own personal fantasy.
The light of the magic runes grew in intensity and soon completely enveloped him, covering his vision. Had anyone else been in the room, they would have also been temporarily blinded by it, but, to him, it felt like a gentle embrace.
The next moment, his vision cleared again and he found himself floating over a stone platform in a space that didn’t seem to have any tangibility to it. In front of him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. So beautiful the he became completely entranced and mesmerised by her.
“Alex” she spoke gracefully as she floated towards him and cupped his cheek in her outstretched hand.
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“My name is Alina. I am the Goddess of Light for the world of Edam”
“I see” muttered Alex as he stared into Alina’s emerald eyes.
“The people of this world have prayed to me and I have chosen you as my champion to help them fight against the forces of darkness. I hereby bestow upon you a portion of my power so you can take up the mantle of hero”
Saying this, the hand that Alina was using to caress Alex’s cheek glowed with a golden light, which then transferred over to Alex. As Alex’s entire body shone with this light, he felt a surge of power enter into him and became distinctly aware that he was no longer the ordinary and mundane 17yr young man he had once been.
“This power will grant you great physical and magical abilities, abilities you will need in order to triumph over the darkness spreading throughout the land”
“I ask you, is there anything else you desire?” she asked.
“A kiss” responded Alex as he continued to stare at the beautiful woman in front of him.
The Goddess had a small smile at this request, then moved forward and kissed his forehead. Although this wasn’t what he had meant, Alex wasn’t disappointed and couldn’t help but blush in the process.
“Right now, I’m sending you to the shrine in the palace of the Rumelian Empire, where their Imperial princess and priestesses are performing the summoning ceremony” said the Goddess Alina after pulling her lips away from Alex.
“They are in dire need of your help as the city is currently under attack and only you can save them. When you get there though, you’ll need a weapon. Luckily, I can sense the holy sword of light that I left to the mortal world being delivered to the shrine room. Using this will resonate with the power I left inside you and further bolster your strength, making you unappalled in the world”
“I understand” responded Alex, steeling himself for what was to come as the Goddess Alina looked at him lovingly and he continued to stare at her, completely enraptured by her beauty and grace.
“I won’t fail” he said determinedly.
With these final words, Alex felt himself being enveloped by light again, the last thing he saw being the face of the beautiful Goddess Alina.
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In the shrine in the Imperial palace, the Emperor waited in anticipation as the ceremony drew ever closer to completion. One of his men had just checked the sundial and informed him it was almost noon, the time of the Goddess of light where she would either answer their prayers or ignore them.
It was at this moment that the large double doors to the shrine were pushed open and the General Vincent Nikkol entered. Immediately after entering the room, Vincent saw the sight of the Imperial princess and the priestesses of the Church of Light swaying about and chanting, performing the hero summoning ceremony. Around the rest of the room, Vincent could see a number of other people, a mixture of men from the 3rd legion, the royal guards and the Magic Tower. This was, after all, an important ceremony and had to be well guarded.
Seeing him enter, the Emperor was surprised, but not displeased. Actually, the Emperor had a high opinion of General Nikkol and considered him to be somewhat of a Godsend to his Empire. Not only was he loved by both his men and the people alike, helping to keep the peace in the capital, but he was also one of the Empire’s most powerful magicians and had strong ties to the Magic Tower, a place that the Emperor had always felt was a threat to Imperial authority. The presence of General Nikkol however, had seemed to rein in some of their unruliness, helping support his grip over the city and the Empire as a whole.
The main reason that he had these concerns over the Magic Tower was that it was very powerful, with a fair amount of support from the people, yet it also operated completely autonomously, even within the Imperial capital. In that regard, he considered them even worse than the Church of Light, his only respite being that many of the mages of the Magic Tower weren’t followers of the Church of Light, instead they were followers of the tree of life, so, there was never any threat of them teaming up to subvert Imperial authority. Still, they were always a hassle to deal with and a continuing problem that generations of his family had to deal with. That was why he was so thankful that General Nikkol’s connection with them had gotten them to calm down a bit.
Looking at Vincent enter the shrine room, the Emperor also took note the dozen men that followed behind him but what really attracted his attention was Holy Sword of Light he was holding in his hands. He quickly realised the forethought that Vincent had shown by bringing it to the shrine room. After all, when the ceremony was completed, the city’s defence field would likely fall soon after. It was best to get it into the hands of the hero as soon as possible and if the ceremony failed, he would need it in order to secure his only survival.
“You brought the Holy Sword. Good” said the Emperor as Vincent stopped just outside the circle of priestesses.
“Yes, it’s for the hero” said Vincent.
“But I must warn you” Vincent continued.
“The magicians of the Magic Tower are planning to hijack the ceremony and steal the power of the Goddess”
At this moment, the sound of bells could be heard ringing and the area within the circle of the priestesses lit up with light. At the same time, all across the city, in underground rooms filled with the smell of death, mages began chanting a certain magic spell. The blood of the people they had previously slaughtered had long since spread throughout all of their carefully prepared and interconnected channels and now, that blood began shining a crimson red colour, lighting up a vast magic pattern that spanned across the entirety of the city.
“How do you know this?” asked the Emperor confused at Vincent’s words, not fully understanding them, since he didn’t think such a thing was possible, as the figure of Alex appeared within the light at the centre of the room and Vincent started walking towards him.
“Because… it’s my plan” said Vincent as he plunged the Holy Sword of Light through Alex’s chest, wiping the smile and eager expectation from the faces of Alex and the Emperor.
Both Alex and the Imperial princess screamed at this turn of events, while simultaneously, the men of the 3rd legion and the Magic tower started killing the royal guards and the priestesses that were present in the room. One man ran forward and stabbed his dagger through the princess’s back, penetrating her heart and through the front of her chest.
“NOOOOOOOOO!!!” shouted out the Emperor at this sudden turn of events. But no matter how much he shouted, there was nothing he could do. Taken by surprise, his royal guard had been swiftly dispatched by the men or the 3rd legion and the Magic Tower and unlike his daughter; he had no talent in magic. Given the current situation, there was nothing he alone could do.
Shaking in anger, grief and fear, the Emperor pointed at Vincent.
“WHYYYY!!!” he shouted.
“Because, you’re weak and it’s time your rule came to an end”
“HA HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHAHA” laughed the Emperor madly.
“Your time is also about to come to an end. You just killed the only chance this city has of defending itself and even if you do manage to survive the demons attack, when the other legions arrive here, you’ll all be executed as traitors. Don’t forget that my son leads the 5th legion”
“Such things are of no concern to us. As I said, we’re going to steal the powers of the Goddess” said Vincent as a total of 12 mages made up of those he had brought with him and those already present in the room moved to the positions that the priestesses previously occupied and started chanting, the summoning magic circle that had dimmed when the summoning had been completed and Alex appeared, once again lighting up.
“No, it’s not possible. You’re insane. You can’t steal the power of a God” said the Emperor, maddened by Vincent’s actions but beginning to take pleasure in knowing that he would ultimately fail.
“She’s not our God” responded Vincent.
“And yes… we can. It’s just that the requirements for doing so are very strict. What we needed to do was to force a connection with her and then drag her to our world. By using the summoning ceremony where a connection to her realm was already made and by using the resonation of her power left within the Holy Sword and the summoned Hero as an anchor point, we can lock onto her”
These words caused the Emperor to panic a bit. Even if he didn’t have any magical ability, this didn’t mean that he didn’t have a good understanding of it. Piggybacking on the connection that the summoning ceremony had opened up to the Goddess to catch her unawares and using the very powers that she had left on this world to lock onto her and anchor the spell, the Emperor couldn’t help but admit that it was ingenious, a true masterpiece. But thinking further he once again calmed his mind and assured himself that it was impossible.
“Haha, good, but not good enough. So what if you can lock onto her, onto her power, do you really think you’d be able to overpower her with your magical ability and drag her into this world? Even if you managed that, do you really think that you’d be able to subdue her?”
“True, even with all of the mages of the Magic Tower working together, that alone isn’t enough to subdue a Goddess. But we’ve been preparing for this for many years. If our raw power alone wasn’t enough, all we needed to do was find another source of power. Power we can only get through a blood sacrifice”
“No, even then, you’d need to kill thousands and you’d need a magic rune on a scale never seen before in order to make it work” said the Emperor.
“Hahaha” chuckled Vincent.
“You forget Emperor; my 3rd legion is control of this city’s security, including the prison facilities, meaning that I have access to all of this city’s prisoners. Of course, they alone weren’t enough, but the eastern quarter has more than enough petty criminals in it to make up the numbers and after the damage done to it from the bombardment, no one will be looking for any missing people. As for the magic rune, you really should have taken more notice of the construction projects occurring within the city. You’ll find that many of the government departments don’t like you very much and were more than willing to help”
Hearing this explanation from Vincent, the Emperor finally lost all colour in his face. He realised that everything Vincent was saying was true and that this plan of Vincent’s and the Magic Tower might really work.
The Emperor’s concerns were further heightened when in the next moment Alex, who was still impaled on the Holy Sword being held by Vincent and was slumped forward on it, suddenly jerked his head backward and his entire body began to glow with a golden glow. Behind him a golden fissure appeared and a horrendous scream could be heard as the Goddess Alina was pulled from her realm into the mortal world.
Unfazed at the beautiful woman that had just appeared in mid-air behind Alex, Vincent pointed his left hand at her and 3 dark brown bangles with white runes carved on them shot off his wrist, enlarging in mid-air and then positioning themselves with the Goddess Alina within them. Simultaneously, many black lines spread across the floor from the 12 mages supporting Vincent and a bubble of almost clear magical power emerged from them, enveloping the Goddess within.
Strong rays of light shone from the Goddess as she tried to shrug off the sharp and deep pain that was resonating in her mind and escape her current imprisonment. These rays of light caused the bubble of magic power around her to bulge outwards. It looked like it might be broken, but then, the runes on the 3 bangles Vincent had thrown out started flashing and the bangles contracting in size, supporting the magic bubble as it closed in on the Goddess again. The bangles then got smaller and smaller until finally they were fully pressing against the body of the Goddess, firmly restraining both her physical and magical ability.
When this was done, the black lines that were spreading on the ground from the 12 mages all met underneath the Goddess, who was floating in the air. From their meeting point, an odd looking wooden throne that looked a more like a restraining table began to grow and the black lines seemed to turn into roots or branches of some sort, connecting to the bodies of the 12 mages casting the spell.
Guided by her magic restraints, the Goddess Alina was lowered into the tree like wooden throne and several branches extended from it, wrapping around her and securing her in place. After this, a branch emerged from near the top of the throne, just behind her neck, and then passed through the magic bubble that was holding her and penetrated into the back of her neck, causing her to squirm and let out a yell, though both of which had been suppressed by her restraints.
The Emperor could only watch on in shock as he saw a gold beam of light shine from the Goddess and then onto the summoned hero. However, this beam of golden light that contained her power didn’t heal the hero, nor did it stay with him. Instead the power contained within this beam of light, as well as the power already granted to the hero, all concentrated on the blade of the Holy Sword. This power, along with the power in the blade itself, then moved along the length of the blade, through the handle and into Vincent, imbuing him with the Goddess’s power. He had said he was going to steal the Goddess’s power and he meant it. But, it wasn’t just him. While he was absorbing the power transmitted through the hero and the Holy Sword, lines of golden light moved through the branch that was stuck in the Goddess’s neck and into the wooden throne she was restrained on. These lines of golden power then continued to travel through the throne, finally moving along its roots and to the 12 mages casting the spell, imbuing them with the Goddess’s power as well.
When the process was finally complete, the beam of light shining from the Goddess onto the hero disappeared, as did the lines of golden power moving through the roots of the tree throne.
Vincent pulled the Holy Sword, now just a regular sword, out of Alex’s chest, causing him to finally fall down to the ground, dead. As for the Goddess of light, Alina, she was left slumped and lifeless on the wooden throne. She was dead too. Vincent and the mages of the Magic Tower had just killed what many people, the Emperor included, worshiped as a God. It was inconceivable and yet it had actually happened. The Emperor had truly fallen into despair over seeing this, but, along with despair, he also felt anger, anger at the man who had taken everything from him. He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t accept that everything would end like this. He refused to believe this.
“You won’t get away with this Vincent” said the Emperor solemnly.
“I refuse to believe it. Someone will stop you. The people, the Gods… someone. Someone will stop you, you insidious and evil traitor, Vincent Nikkol”
“That’s Emperor Nikkol to you” said Vincent as he pointed his hand at the former Emperor and shot out a golden beam of light that vaporized him.
Just after killing the former Emperor, Vincent heard another loud blast and looked out the window to the city’s magic defence field finally fail.
“It’s time we test out the full extent of our new powers and beat back the demons at our door” said Vincent as he turned to look at the 12 mages surrounding him.
“Yes, Emperor” they replied.