“Would you like to hear a story?” says a grizzled old man with dazzling white hair and a broken nose.

“Yes! Yes! I love your stories Grandpa!” Says a bright young child with startling green eyes, and black hair.

“Haha, yes. Well, the story goes like this, Once upon a time…” Begins the old man as he settles in for a story.

Once upon a time, in a country called Autem, who was at war with a country a small country called Verraad who was allied with a country called Socius.

Now, Verraad was a small country, however, they were highly militarized, but their biggest weakness was that they had no land to farm. Socius, was a country which excelled at farming, but had a weak military.

This alliance was a perfect fit. And like this, they were able to band together. With plenty of food for armies, and the ability to protect those farms, Socius and Verrand were able to defeat Autem. A country known for their great cities and merchants.

Of course, during the war, many of the merchants left, but after the war, they quickly returned.

And returned to their previous jobs.

However, this short peace only lasted for a short while. As another country called Avaritia, who, with their already abundant farms, wanted more. And thus invaded Socius.

Calling upon their ally, the Verrand, the Socius weren’t worried in the least. They started to worry however, when their enemy had amassed a large army at their border and Verrand had not replied.

Growing more and more uneased, Socius turned to other countries for help. They turned to the prideful country Gloria and Superbia, but upon hearing that Socius was associating with the other, they both denied their assistance.

“Grandpa, this story is boring, don’t you have another one?” The boy whined.

“Be patient, be patient, this story will become more interesting.” Replies the old man as he pats the head of the young boy.

Socius was finally invaded but their men stood up. The men with their national pride, their patriotism.

But it was of no use. No matter how many civilians stood to protect their country, they were all cut down. The farmers had no military training afterall.

The country, growing more and more desperate as they were losing both men and land, came up with a desperate plan.

They would perform a summoning. But not any summoning. They would summon a greater demon. The likes that the whole world had never seen before.

The king gathered his magicians and nobles into his castle and told his people to buy time, time that would be used for the summoning.

The people, encouraged that their was a possibility to save their land, fought to the bitter end.

Nonetheless, they were still slaughtered.

But it wasn’t the country of Avaritia, no, it was their previous ally, Verrand.

At first, the people were hopeful when they saw the flags of Verrand, but that all ended when they saw the men of Verrand draw their bows, and fired.

Verrand had wanted the land of Socius all along. But had never found the best point in time to do so.

Of course, they could have stayed as allies, but how could you trust someone not of your own?

But they also couldn’t openly attack the country openly. So they waited, and waited for them to take some sort of desperate measure. For the country of Socius to do something forbidden by every single country.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The act of summoning. Summoning was forbidden no matter if you were summoning a human, an angel, a demon or devil.

All acts of summoning were forbidden, and upon hearing word that the king had retrieved all his magicians. Verrand grew excited, their king eagerly sent his armies forth.

To quell the country of it’s horrible act of summoning.

But the plan didn’t go as well. Upon entering castle, they saw that the walls were painted with blood.

The floor was littered with the mangled, dried husks of what used to be human. And as the army of Verrand opened the castle, the mangled bodies rose.

One by one, the bodies moaned. And as one, lunged at the surprised army of Verrand.

The commander at the time, quickly took control and ordered his men to form a circle, to keep the creatures within.

Whatever Socius had summoned, had turned its inhabitants into bloodthirsty corpses. But yet again, something went wrong.

After quelling the initial group of corpses, the army slowly stepped into the castle.

Their footsteps, squeaked with every step. The blood on the floor, clinging to their boots.

As the men walked in one by one until the last stepped through, the door closed abruptly.

The men turned in bewilderment only to realize that the door would be the last thing they saw as they felt a cold breath at their necks.

And they finally realized what monstrosity the country of Socius had summoned. An elder lamia. Known for their need to suck blood, turning their victims into ghouls, and that their lower bodies were that of snakes.

The men who fell, rose again, cold, pale, and without emotion. As one, the fallen lept at their comrades. Until the last one standing was the commander, who, using his magic in a time of desperation, sent a message throughout the world with his life energy.

That the country of Socius was ruled by an elder lamia.

And the country of Socius was then known to be the country of the dead.

A millenia passed, the people had slowly grown used to living close to the country of the dead.

But that all ended when the elder lamia decided that the small country wasn’t enough. It wanted the world.

Unable to deal with the threat that the elder lamia, all the countries came and formed one massive union.

And sent their greatest thinkers to discover what secrets the past had to hint at how elder lamias had been defeated before.

And the thinkers finally discovered what they needed.

They only had to send hundreds of sacrifices, to appease the elder lamia.

Considering the dwindling population, one hundred sacrifices would have a larger effect on the general population. So the union sent their countries out, to find one hundred sacrifices.

All one hundred sacrifices were found soon after. The union, pushed the sacrifices to the elder lamia, without thinking of their consequences. They were glad they had found a method to end this world ending catastrophe.

But after sending their sacrifices out, they all felt a chill they had never felt before.

They felt the chill for 100 consecutive days. The same number of sacrifices that were sent.

The chill they had felt was the souls of those devoured crying out, crying for help. Those who felt the chill were cursed with a terrible illness, and soon disappeared.

The world recuperated slowly. Slowly but surely, humanity spread out and soon regained their former glory.

Another millenia then passed, when a mysterious group of men appeared.

The group of men toppled whole countries, their might was overwhelming. They spread fear throughout the people, but no matter how many times they tried to kill the men. The men refused to die.

The group of men had been the ones who were cursed, the curse of immortality. And with the passing of time, strengthened their souls and deepened their mana pool.

The group of men had returned to the face of the world, to stop the world from making the same mistake they had before.

War.

Upon destroying the final country, they spoke to the new world leaders, that if they ever decided on the path of war. They would be struck down.

The new world leaders nodded, glad to be alive, and soon started to rebuild what was destroyed.

But as time goes on, humanity forgets its old fears, old fears turning into legends. Even then, the elder lamia had been forgotten. And the mysterious group of men were considered a legend.

The neighboring countries soon started eyeing each other's land.

But that was when a group of men appeared. Just as the legends had stated, and again, they spared the new world leaders, and warned them that if they strove for war, they would be struck down.

“Grandpa, that isn’t a story. That’s just a glorified history story” Whined the boy yet again.

“Ah, but this is a story. You see, my boy. Classes have a lesson yes, but do they truly convey that? What do you think what I’ve told you says?” Smiled the old man.

“My history teacher said that people should learn from their mistakes, this is what this story is saying.” Answered the boy confidently.

“No. You’re wrong, my boy. Oh, you are so wrong!” Laughed the old man.

“How? The people were beaten up, and promised to never do war again! How isn’t that learning from a mistake?” Said the young boy.

“The moral of this story, is that with time, humanity forgets its old fears, so in the very end, humanity has never learned from its mistakes. We have learned that wars are devastating, taking hundreds of lives, yet we continue to war. Why? Because of greed, the need to improve, the want to be the first. And because there is no one to keep agencies in check.” Said the old man with a faraway look in his eyes.

“So if someone were to rule the world with an iron fist, there would be no conflict?” Asked the young boy innocently.

“If such a person existed, the people would rebel, for there would never be a world that did not have a conflict amongst themselves. Even within a small country, there are conflicts, rebels. There is no way for true peace.” Said the old man with a sigh, as if remembering old memories.

“It is time for you to sleep, my boy. Tomorrow will be a long day.” Said the old man as he patted the young boy on the head. Tucked him in, quenched the small candle light, and closed the door. Leaving the room in darkness.

“I’m sure if I tried, I could do it.” Said a pair of gleaming green eyes pulsing at the edges, with a faint blue hue.

But the small little boy, never heard of the ending of the story. Afterall, what happened to the lamia?