''Mom!Mom! look at that!''A little girl pointed towards their front. Her tired and pale-faced struggled to lift her face. When she saw what her daughter was talking about, a small drop of tear appeared on her eyes.''Mom, what is it? Do you know it?''The little girl asked. Her mother swiped the tears from her eyes and spoke with a trembling voice.

''It's hope.''

When the masses saw the huge circle that reached the skies itself, wide enough to contain several Pale City, they started to cry and shout. Huge walls and long watchtowers were looking magnificent under the cloudy night, making it a scene that most of these people can't forget.

Sentries on the walls started to ring the bells, alerting the guards. In several seconds, all personnel belonging to Realmgate was gathered at the front gate facing the northeast.''Open the gates!''With a strong shout, Guard leader ordered to his men. Several men started to spin wheels to open huge gates, welcoming the sorry refugees from the Pale city.

Listening to the happy cries and shouts of people, Leader felt an ache in his heart. Did these people deserve such a fate? Did they deserve to be refugees, leave their hometown with whatever they can take in the hopes of living another day? He didn't like this war, he didn't like what upper echelon was doing. But he also knew there were certain things that shouldn't be known.

After thousands of people entered Realmgate, gates were closed once more with a loud sound. The little girl turned back to look at the huge gates, her gaze complicated.''Mother, will the father be alright?''Her mother froze for a moment, then picked up her daughter. Even though it was not obvious for her child, Mother's hands were trembling.

''He will be alright dear, he will be alright. He is your father after all. So only pray for his safety alright?''Her daughter looked confused at her mother's behavior but nodded seriously.

...

The 13th frontier post was one of the first created gathering points for adventurers and recruits. It was inside the Pale Coast, but fairly away from Pale City itself. At last,it was filled with several small houses made from earth magic as well as tens of tents. The plains the post was built was lush green, filled with several types of plant and flower.

But right now, all one could see was a dried, dark land. There were no traces of tents while earth houses were in rubbles. Flowers were nowhere to see while burnt and maimed corpses filled the ground. Flowing blood already tainted the grounds, reeking blood replaced the air itself.

Right next to the destroyed post stood an army of ten thousand. None of them looked like human or humanoid, other than their shapes. Their skin was pitch black with fangs sprouting out of their mouths. Their looks were fierce, their hands painted with red flowers of death. They had tons of different weapons at their back, all of them giving an aura of death and despair.

At the front of the army stood a young demon. Differing from others, his hands and feet were white, looking quite strange. Kneeling before him was several humans. All of them were covered in blood, several cuts visible on their limbs and other parts. Even so, they were not dead. Aura of death was suffocating to the extreme, like they were standing on a thin line, struggling to not fall down into the deep abyss beneath it.

If Aeneas, Demi or Ales was here they would surely know two of these. Alice and Osborn. Compared to others, their wounds were much more horrible. Osborn's one arm was completely gone, one of his legs crushed like an egg. Even though not directly, he should have died from blood loss. But several Demon Sorceresses were keeping them alive.

''Young Emperor, we should take care of them fast. Emperor wants to take down Celeste's miracle as soon as possible.''One of the 8 man standing behind the young demon said respectfully, urging him to finish his work.''I understand.''Young Emperor, Ruh said. Then turned his red eyes to Osborn.

Ruh was feeling a threat from this man's gaze. It was filled with bloodlust and killing intent. There were no traces of humanity, nor sentient being in Osborn's eyes.

''Tell me, human. Why?''Ruh asked, his expression flickering. He felt some admiration towards this man, but at the same time felt he was stupid. There were no chances of winning against Ruh's demon army nor his demon lords. Even so, this human still fought. He couldn't understand it. Why would he try to go against fate?

Osborn opened his mouth to talk, but only blood flowed. After coughing some more, he felt like he could speak now. Chuckling lightly, spoke with a calm voice.''Young emperor, quite a title. I suppose you are the child of the Demon Emperor then?''Ruh furrowed his brows but didn't interrupt and nodded.

''Then it's understandable. You are just a spoiled child, you can't understand it. You can't understand the idea and philosophy behind the killing. There is no reason for you to kill or fight, yet you still want to.''

''Can you answer my question, Young Emperor. What is your resolve?''

Ruh looked a bit confused.''What 'Resolve' are you talking about?''Osborn looked deeply at Ruh's eyes.''What makes you fight? What makes you want to step on this living hell? Why would you want to see your brothers in arms die, get killed, tortured and slaughtered?''

''I am the child of Emperor, as well as the hope of my people. If I don't fight, then who will?''Ruh said, his voice decisive. Osborn continued to look at him. This time, Ruh felt something disturbing about that gaze. Without hesitating, he stabbed his two fingers towards Osborn.

With a flash, blood gushed out of Osborn's eyes, crushed completely. Alice couldn't even lift her head, but could hear what was happening.''Osb-''She tried to talk but her injuries flared again. She started to cough blood and his wounds started to leak blood once more.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Osborn didn't turn to look, nor let out any kind of noise about his eyes. He still directed his 'gaze' towards Ruh.''Why are you burdening hopes of your people? What is the thing your people hopes to achieve?''Ruh snorted, his eyes blazing with hatred.''Of course, it's revenge!''

''Against what?''

''Against you, despicable humans, who slaughtered my fellow family members, killed little children and massacred the innocent people! You were the reason our people, No!, MY people suffered. You made living a real hell for them. So, I will pay it back, I will pay this blood debt with YOUR blood!''

''Then, what is the difference between you and us?''

''You were the first on-''

''This doesn't make you righteous. You are also killing children. You are also killing innocent people, who are not aware of anything other than their villages. You are also slaughtering our family members. What makes you think you are different?''

''I have never killed a child in my life!''Screamed Ruh, feeling conflicted. He refused to believe he was same with these despicable creatures. They were more cunning than devils, trying to manipulate him. Yes! This man was trying to make him believe in something unreal.

Osborn's hands trembled a little as he pointed towards Alice, who has lost all signs of life. Lying listless, her skin pale, a red flower blossoming under her body, and a small teardrop at her eyes.''You killed, don't you see it?''Ruh turned his gaze towards Alice's body. Slowly, his face changed from frenzy to fear. He could sense a small lifeforce from Alice's belly. It was weak, way too weak. And it was losing what power it had in a very fast way.

Ruh directly rushed and tore Alice's belly apart. He saw a small human. Human's little, tender body was covered with blood, it's little body becoming paler.Ruh put his hands on baby, sending his very own life force to bring it back to life. But it was impossible.No matter how much power he put, he couldn't balance the output. Soon, the body completely lost all sign of life.

Ruh stood like that, kneeling in front of that baby.''You see. You killed it, with your very own hands.''Osborn said, his voice trembling.''Now tell me, as a father how can I forgive you?''Ruh slowly turned his head around, looking at the shaking figure of Osborn. That tall and strong man, who he admired and ridiculed at the same time for his bravery was now like a little child. Just like that baby, trembling.

Osborn's 'eyes' didn't have that fierce look, like he has lost everything he had. Ruh couldn't believe it. He never thought about where that brave and unyielding spirit was coming from. But now, he understood. It was a desperate struggle of a father, trying to protect its last seed and hope in this world. And he crushed it, with his own hands.

''Young Emperor!''One of the demon lords directly stepped out and supported Ruh, taking him up.''Kill these insolent ants!''He said and left towards the palanquin used to carry Young Emperor. Other Demon lords turned their heads towards Osborn, their hearts burning with anger. It was possible their Young Emperor was going to doubt their cause and reason from now on.No matter what his position was, Ruh was still a child in their eyes after all. And he didn't know everything like they did.

Before a Demon Lord crushed his skull, Osborn glanced at the listless figure of Alice, his heart clear.'Even though you were the one who said that, you still left earlier.Stubborn Girl.''Closing his eyes, Osborn smiled a bittersweet smile. Filled with hundreds of feelings and thousands of thoughts.

''Let's be together again, alright?''

...

''I'm surprised you got the 2nd place. I really didn't think you and your friends would turn the situation around.''Arihan said, his voice a bit amazed. Grim smiled dumbly, feeling very happy. It has been quite some time since he was praised by Arihan, so it was a rare occasion.

''Hey, I'm not that heartless.''Arihan refuted his thoughts.''I always look out for you, and you still complain? If you were to work harder, of course, I would praise you more.''Grim's face turned 'Grim' at the mention of hard work.He really felt these 13 months were like a hell. He rarely left his room, only constantly training. It was boring as hell other than Creation Magic, so he was very frustrated. He exerted himself way too much, to the point that even a damage occurred to his Mana Wheel.

Normally, damages to Mana wheel were impossible to repair but Arihan healed him in an instant. He was dumbfounded, Arihan's image in his mind was growing bigger and bigger. Arihan was also aware of his thoughts but didn't intend to tell him. Grim was way too young after all. If he knew that Arihan was one of the 4 Overlords of Universe, then wouldn't Grim be too arrogant?

So Arihan only avoided Grim's questions regarding his powers.''Let's cut to the point, I want to sleep anyway.''Arihan said and opened his mouth. He let out a small roar and created a huge crater as big as mountains. Then blood started to gush out of his mouth. In a minute, mountain big crater was filled with golden blue blood.

''This is a bit of my essence blood. It's not that important to me, but it can increase the speed of your Chaotic Physique.''Arihan said like it was not that much important. Essence blood was something only Gods and Hero realm experts had, and they were important beyond belief. Each drop of essence blood was another chance to improve your strength in that realm.But Essence Blood was way too rare. Especially good quality ones like a 1st class Hero's.But right now, Grim had a mountain of Essence Blood from Arihan. His eyes bulged out, breathing ragged. Even a drop of it would make him crazy, but a mountain of it? What kind of an idiot would let out such big amounts of it?

''You are the idiot, damn frog.''Arihan said.''This is only like %1 percent of it, and I can restore it in a century or two. It also won't affect my battle prowess.''Grim's blue eyes were now shining with such brilliance it even doubled the amount of brightness Gin had at Phoenix's nest. Then a thought appeared on his mind.

''If you are going to teleport me in here, can I get Candy too?''He couldn't take out these blood, he didn't have any death wish after all. So Arihan was probably going to teleport him to here. He couldn't use this much of essence blood even in several centuries. Just absorbing a drop would take a long time. So he thought it would be a bit of waste. And he didn't want Candy to always be in danger when he was traveling. He could feel the emotions of her after all, she was seeing him as her father.

Arihan thought a bit, then nodded.''Well, you can. Though, she would improve way too fast. You may be in some tight situation because of it.''Grim only gripped his hands stronger. He didn't care about it. He heard this phrase many times in his life 'Everyone has their secrets'

He knew Madam and others wouldn't put him in a strange position. And there was another thing. Why should he get Candy in here immediately?He could do it at travel so when he arrived at Realmgate, there wouldn't be any problem. After some time, he could just say something like he found a treasure or met with an old Phoenix that helped her.

''You are putting too much thought into it. Just get her when you reach Academy, it would be enough.''Arihan said lazily.''Anyway, you are leaving tomorrow so just sleep well. Also, that woman called Illya is a fool so she might try to do something. Be aware of it.''

Finishing his sentence, Arihan cut the connection. Grim found himself back in the room, at his chest lay Candy who was sleeping soundly. He smiled a little and closed his eyes, delving into sleep.