IN THE DARK HEART OF THE MONTAG KINGDOM, A PLACE ONCE ALIVE WITH WHISPERS OF HARMONY, DEMONS OF ALL KINDS—ZOMBIES, VAMPIRES, AND MORE—LIVED SIDE BY SIDE IN PEACE. FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, THE TREATY BETWEEN HUMANS AND DEMONS HAD HELD STRONG. BUT PEACE, AS HISTORY OFTEN SHOWS, IS FRAGILE.
It was Crown Prince William III who shattered the silence. Consumed by fear and ambition, he declared that demons posed a grave threat to his reign. His vast army marched on the Dark Forest, the heartland of the demons, seeking to crush what he deemed a menace.
The demons, furious at the betrayal, rallied their forces. "No mere humans will dictate our lives!" they declared. Thus began a war that raged for fifty years. Blood soaked the earth, and the skies grew heavy with despair. In the end, the humans fell, their armies shattered. The demons, victorious, renamed the kingdom Darkvill, enslaving the human population and seizing total control.
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Albille City
A boy darted through the shadowy streets, his ragged breaths mixing with the shouts behind him.
"Get back here, you filthy brat!" one of the demon soldiers roared.
The boy didn’t look back. His legs burned, his heart pounded, but he pressed on, weaving through the crowded streets until he found refuge in a dark alley. Collapsing against the cold stone wall, he gasped for air.
"Ha... finally..." he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "I lost them. I’m free... for now."
His black shirt clung to his thin frame, his shorts barely offering any protection against the chill. His hair, jet black, framed a pale face, but his most striking feature was his eyes—white as snow, a stark contrast to the world around him.
He stood, shaking off his exhaustion. "I can’t stay here. This city... it’s a death trap. I have to leave before they find me again."
The boy moved cautiously, his bare feet making little noise on the cobblestone. In a pile of trash, something caught his eye—a black, tattered cape. He picked it up and draped it over his shoulders.
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"This’ll do," he muttered, stepping back into the crowded streets.
Around him, demons of all shapes and sizes filled the bustling marketplace. He tried to blend in, keeping his head low.
"If I’m right, this is the central plaza," he thought. "Good news is, it’s busy—harder for them to find me. Bad news... soldiers everywhere."
His heart sank as he spotted demon guards patrolling in pairs. Their sharp eyes scanned the crowd.
"Why are there so many?!" he cursed under his breath, quickening his pace.
But fate was unkind. One of the soldiers caught sight of him. "There he is!"
The boy’s eyes widened. Without hesitation, he bolted, shoving through the crowd and leaping onto a nearby rooftop. The soldiers gave chase, their shouts echoing below.
Cornered, the boy turned to face his pursuers. Flames erupted from his hands, crackling with raw power. "I won’t go back! Not now, not ever!"
He hurled a blazing fireball at the guards. The explosion lit up the night, sending several soldiers flying. The few that survived were left writhing in agony.
For a moment, hope flickered in the boy’s heart. But that hope was short-lived. Reinforcements arrived, surrounding him from all sides.
"I’ll never stop fighting!" he roared, his voice breaking with anger and desperation. Flames danced around his fists, and his aura turned crimson. He charged at the soldiers, each punch erupting like a bomb, the sheer heat melting the very ground beneath their feet.
The battle was chaos incarnate. Buildings crumbled, and the air reeked of ash and burnt flesh. When the dust settled, the boy lay unconscious amid the destruction, his body battered and broken.
Defeat loomed over him like a shadow. He was out of strength, out of options.
But fate had other plans.
A figure emerged from the darkness, her crimson eyes glowing like embers. Her black hair cascaded over pale shoulders, and her lips curled into a sly smirk.
"Kufufufu... what a fiery little prince we have here," she said, her voice a mix of mockery and allure. She knelt beside him, her long, slender fingers brushing his soot-streaked face.
"You’ve overdone it, haven’t you? Burning through all that mana..." Her laugh was soft, almost musical. "You might die at this rate. What a waste that would be."
Rising to her feet, she extended her hand, conjuring a glowing sphere of magic. The boy’s body floated upward, limp but alive.
"I suppose I’ll have to take you with me," she mused, her tone teasing. She turned toward the dark forest, the jagged peaks of the Dark Mountains looming in the distance.
"It looks like you and I will be spending some quality time together... my dear Kajin."
Her laugh echoed through the night as she disappeared into the shadows, carrying the boy to a fate unknown.