Seal of Nefastus Ruins, Year 680 AW (After War)

Cathedro Meyers is a normal--perhaps even above average--member of society.

He has a loving wife, who he of course loves back, and two particularly cute children who he cherishes very much. Every meal, he leaves a little bit extra to give to the poor, despite the occasional dissatisfied stomach of his.

His looks aren't half bad, but his brown hair and eyes fail to separate him from the rest of the common people, leaving his well-maintained beard rather unnoticed, much to his disappointment.

It's normal people like him who are chosen to travel to this desolate wasteland, the Nefastus Ruins, tasked with checking the state of the seal containing the Catastrophe who laid ruin to the world.

Shivering lightly, Cathedro glanced around at the broken down buildings, suppressing a shudder that threatened to spread across his body.

Looking down, he walked onward to his destination.

Once upon a time, this place was a grand capital city.

He stuck out a hand, catching the ash that fell endlessly from the sky. At a first glance, it wasn't much different from snow, and even seemed to chill his body in the very same way that snow might. He even mistook it for snow at first, but these thoughts were banished away the moment he tried to catch some on his tongue.

Nothing but dust in the air, now.

Half his mind urged him to grab his communicator and demand to be escorted back to the safety of his home town. The more reasonable half reasoned that he wouldn't be allowed to go back until he completed his mission. So for now, he was stuck here in this greyscaled city, walking a path to one of the most infamous locations on this planet.

Everybody knows the story. Once upon a time, the Andoren Empire attempted to create a biological weapon, a human monster to battle against their neighboring countries. Only, the plan failed, and their weapon turned on them. Destroying the Empire down to the very last city, their weapon was a catastrophic failure for its intended purpose.

Except, it didn't stop there.

After the Andoren Empire, it turned its eyes towards the world. Paving a path of ruin, nations were toppled left and right until it was finally struck down and sealed away by a group of three unimagineably powerful heroes, in the very location Cathedro was walking through. It became an unforgettable existence, one that parents may use to scare their kids into not staying up at night.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

If it weren't for the existence of those three heroes, still living to this day, as well as the start of years being counted from before and after the war, he would have disregarded it as nothing but a mere fable, albeit one without a clear moral.

"...Ugh."

Cathedro shook his head, shaking away the unnecessary thoughts. Whether or not it really happened didn't matter. The significance of the story didn't matter either. All he was here to do was check on the seal.

'It's close now.'

The last landmark stood in front of his eyes. Nefastus Palace stood tall and proud as if in defiance to the land in ruination around, its stark white walls unblemished by ash. An awe inspiring sight for sure, but not one Cathedro spent any time gazing at. After all, a far more important matter was at hand.

With one hand, he pushed open the palace door.

"Excuse me for entering. Well, nobody's here to excuse me, I guess."

As Cathedro eyes surveyed the palace interior, his eyes widened in shock.

The interior was practically as stark white at the outside, empty glass windows letting soft light illuminate the building, but that's not what shocked him.

The walls were clear of decoration, instead littered with inscriptions of senseless monologues in a long lost language. They covered every angle, all the way to the top of the walls. But this isn't what shocked him either.

No, what shocked Cathedro was a far more serious predicament.

Where the seal should have been, a massive crater scarred the palace floor. No magical circles of magical magic remained. Whatever was supposed to be sealed there, and whatever was supposed to seal it were gone without a trace.

"...Shit."

Realization flashed in his eyes. Hands shaking, he fumbled around for the communicator on his belt, eyes never leaving the devastation in front of him. Sending mana into the crystalline object, he mashed the button as fast as possible as if to establish the connection faster. His mind raced through the meaning of what was in front of him, the possible implications of these circumstances, every possible thing that may go wrong, what might happen to him, his wife, his kids, his hometown, his-

"Ah, Mr. Meyers! I was waiting for you to contact us, is everything alright on your side?"

The voice snapped him back to reality. Cathedro gripped the communicator as if trying to crush a rock.

"...Sir, the seal's broken."

"Sorry, I don't think I heard that correctly, you're not coming through very clearly. Could you say that once m-"

"I said that the seal is broken there's nothing left I-"

"Mr. Meyers, I need you to stay calm. You said that the seal was... broken, correct?"

He took a deep breath.

"Th-that's right."

"...I understand. I'll contact the higher-ups right away. Your job is done, just go back to the place we dropped you off, and I'll send some of my people to pick you up."

"But what about-"

"Mr. Meyers, each and every possibility that stems from this is out of your control. There's nothing left for you to do there. Therefore, you have no need to trouble yourself with thoughts of what to do. Just leave it to the Knights. We've been... trained for this, after all."

The slight waver in his voice didn't go unnoticed. It took all Cathedro had to ignore it and pretend everything was okay.

"I understand. Thank you."

"No, thank you. This information is beyond important to the people of this world. You've done a great job."

As the voice went silent and the sound cut off, Cathedro fell to his knees like a leaf fluttering down from a tree.