Leo Ferell has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, and his position as the Captain of the knights. He has around fifteen thousand men following him. The army is comprised of both infantry and cavalry. Leo was always good with horses, storming alone towards enemies lines, breaking their formation made him feel somewhat accomplished in his life. His horse was always loyal to him. never backing down even while being outnumbered. He was loyal to the King.

Unfortunately, the King was not faithful towards him...

"So you have brought your legion,

hmmm (pointing his fingers at the army)

around ten thousand men; heavy infantries and cavalries. I commanded you to bring fifteen thousand men, but oh well... this much will suffice for now." said the king, in a somewhat depressive manner.

Seeing the same stern, virtuous King showing such a wicked sight made Leo feel like that, he didn't know the King at all!

Is this the same benevolent King?

Is this the same compassionate King?

What a hoax!

And to think I took an oath of fealty to the King!

What an ignorance fool I was ! To not even feel a hint of inhumanity for tens of years. Was he cruel from the get go?

When he shook my fathers hand and told him, that 'his sons will have a great future ahead of them' was he speaking even an ounce of truth?

No he was not! I won't believe in his façade and those hideous cherry filled words.

Disgusting!

Grinding his teeth in anger and frustration, he suddenly thought about Rylai..

Suddenly he had a bad premonition, a dark omen; that felt even crueler than the Kings mission.

He shook it off. thinking frigid weather may have gotten to him and went to prepare for the Death March with a frown on his face.

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On the outskirts of Sahorey, 10,000 men enamored in heavy armor could be seen marching towards the monumental Elisian. All of them wore heavy armors, buckling up shields and swords maintaining a rigid formation. They all had satchel behind their bags packed up with dry food and a water skin holding enough water to clench their thirst. Ahead of the army, lay solemn figure who was looking at the direction of Elisian.

He was commonplace in complexion, in feature, in manners, and in voice. He was of middle size and of ordinary build. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe... Otherwise there was only an indefinable, faint expression of his lips, like brooding over things to come. He was none other than Leo Ferell.

The army as a whole had an air full of solemnity, some were reminiscing their past, some were praying and some indulging themselves in booze; drinking away their worries. Everyone knew what this mission entailed and there was no need for excessive drama. They could've evaded the mission and ran towards desolate places, but what about others? Not everyone could go and make a break free of it. They would be hunted for all their lifetime, their family sold to mines! That's not an outcome they want!

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So everyone remained eerily quiet all their time. Ten thousand men marching, but not a single squeak of conversation could be heard.

Finally they made it to the entranceway of the Elisian. It was a humongous gate, primarily composed of tons of fine steel. The gate had an eye shaped circle, pupils colored in argent blinking in radiant light. It gave a feeling as if it was overlooking all the matters of mundane world.

Overall, the whole scene gave an archaic feeling.

The entrance always opens at the interval of forty years. It just magically opens and nobody knows the mechanism of how it s done. There has been rumors that thousands of men had set their foot into Elisian, but none came back.

After reaching the doorway, everyone stood by in apprehension.

"Kreeeeeeeen"

The door slowly creaked and started to move making a mechanical whirring noise, like the gears turning each other around. Slowly but surely, it started moving.

I tried peering into the small interstice created by the opening, but saw nothing except eternal black darkness. The mana started to flow wildly shortly after that. The emitted mana gave a somewhat primordial feeling, it was extremely pure and viscous higher than outside. All these circumstances started to make a pressure formed purely of mana and finally soldiers started to panic, if not handled wisely they could move around and cause disarray.

"There has been talk of legends, that heroic beings from the past has entered the Elisian. And, now we are doing the same... We are ten thousand men stronger than those in the past... We shall overcome this obstacle and write our names in the annals of history among those heroic men... So men! We shall live to tell the tale!"

"Live to tell the tale"

"Live to tell the tale"

*loud shouts*

Somehow their worries alleviated, they began shouting to ease the nervousness.

"Now let's enter the damn thing, accomplish our mission and get out of the damn thing. The king told us the door opens for a month. So lets hurry up and move!"

Encouraging words were spouted by Leo in the hope of invigorating the army. He felt despondent seeing the lively army as he knew about the rumors... but he also knew the hideous truth.

Those heroic beings themselves were ten thousand men strong..... and there were no statement mentioned of them returning. Whatever lies there, we should not provoke it... or rather not even come an inch nearer to them.

Rylai....

I will come back, come back for u...

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In the palace, on the beautiful chamber, Rylai was laying on the soft bed, covering herself with blanket made of fox fur. White skin could be seen through the unveiled slits of the blanket as she laid there stark naked.

A man with green sharp eyes could be seen besides her, caressing her pure white skin slowly moving his fingers from her ample bosom towards her perky buttocks. His face showing deep contentment.

"That idiot really went to the Elisian, didn't he? I thought he was a scaredy-cat, who would run away tucking his tails between his legs... or even try to come to you to express his misery, hoping you would alleviate it!

hahahaha

*sighing*

who knew he had the balls to do it."

Lionel didn't stop caressing her body and kept on caressing her with a gusto, while laughing in the deprivation of his dear younger brother.

"Don't be so cruel Lionel! He is after all, your brother.. your own blood! I mean he is sacrificing his entity for the good of the kingdom. The gate needs thousands of lives of sacrifices to close it. After all is said and done, he has saved lives. He was always a benign person, you know?"

Rylai made a sorrowful expression mixed with playfulness and derision.

"Buhahaha... yes, my dear Rylai, I shouldn't make fun of him. For his sacrifice I promise I will carve a golden sculpture of him myself and house it here in the palace... hahahaha

Oh, right, he must be hoping to hide in a hole for a month and return. It saddens me but, I would be amazed if it could stay open for a week! With all those sacrifices, it won't stay open for a week."

With a jovial expression, Lionel exposed the lie that entwined his brother.

Rylai made no further retort, but suddenly twisted her eyebrows and peered at her surrounding. A little bit of irritation showing on her face.

Mana has started to get thicker and somehow created heaviness in the air. She peered outside the window looking at the direction of Elisian.

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"A time for feast has come, eh" murmurs could be heard, somewhere in the darkness.