Once upon a time, far north of the current Human Republic of Forsi, there was a kingdom called Auriande.

A prosperous kingdom rich with natural resources. They specialized in producing magical crystals and were renowned for their studies of the stars, leading to several breakthroughs in the fields of mathematics and astrology.

Its people were proud of their culture and hopeful for their futures in the hands of their young heirs. Prince Altarin and Princess Vena—with unparalleled talents in both magic and martial arts, the twins were regarded as the shining stars of the kingdom.

However, the oncoming of the Fourth Holy War between the forces of Chaos and Order would soon bring a disaster upon this peaceful land.

253 years before the Day of the Tribunal—253 BT: Unbeknownst to the people of Auriande, a large group of demons from the Chaos Abyss had invaded the underground mines around the outskirts of their territory. Under the noses of the locals, the demons were stealing precious resources to fortify their bases and digging secret tunnels that ran between each major towns. As a result, the supplies of magical crystals from the outskirts mining towns were becoming suspiciously lower and lower.

One of the first people who noticed this abnormality was none other than the Crown Prince Altarin and Princess Vena. The two of them who had recently reached the level of [Saints] in combat power, were brimming with eagerness and confidence. As such, they personally volunteered to be sent to the outskirts to investigate the cause of the issue—a request that was reluctantly permitted by the king.

—252 BT: Under the direct command of the Royal Twins, the investigation proceeded at an astonishing pace. Quickly, they were able to find the location of the center of the Chaos Demon’s operation, underneath the old mining town of Dulran. To take advantage of a brief window of opportunity they had, the young Princess Vena proposed a plan to strike while the Chaos Demons were unaware of the progress of the investigation.

On the day that would later be recorded in history as the start of The Old Mines War. Led by Prince Altarin and Princess Vena, the force that consisted of the knights from the Kingdom of Auriande and a few neighboring nations faced off against the Chaos Demon’s army, and a great battle ensued.

Although there were many casualties, the shining stars of Auriande emerged victorious against an army of Chaos Demons, and their names began to spread across the northern continent.

At the time, the two of them were only 19 years old.

—251BT: A few months after the Kingdom of Auriande had won the battle against the Chaos Demons, an official gathering between the nobles of the northern kingdoms was scheduled to take place. And for the first time, the young prince and princess were allowed to have a seat in the discussions.

They were not the only newcomers in the meeting, as one of the seats also contained the representatives from the Church of the Nine Almighty—the most powerful religious organization in Astrea at the time that began to spread their influence onto the northland.

When the topic of the Old Mine Wars was brought up, despite being the faction that contributed the least during the battles against the demons, the representatives of the church still dared to claim that any casualties of the war could’ve been entirely avoided if they were to accept their conditions, then go on to use the potential future threat of the Chaos Demons to try and gain leverage against the Kingdom of Auriande.

Despite being envoys of the gods, their words and actions aligned with a group of mercenaries much more. The then naive Prince Altarin directly called out this hypocrisy in the official gathering—unknowingly playing completely into their hands.

With that action alone, the Auriande Royal Family unwittingly incurred the disfavors of many noble families that had already pledged their allegiance to the church.

Contempt for their arrogance, jealousy of their success, fear of their strength. For one reason or another, many of them would join forces to conspire against the Kingdom of Auriande with the backing of the church.

One could argue that the kingdom’s downfall was determined that day.

—250BT: On the day of celebration of the Kingdom’s Ancestral Festival, the King of Auriande was assassinated.

It was a gruesome and public execution, with all the citizens of Auriande as witnesses. The twin prince and princess, Altarin and Vena, watched their father die right in front of their eyes.

While the official investigation done by the church concluded that it was the work of a high-ranking Chaos Demon, the two of them were certain of the church’s involvement and outwardly protested. To accuse The Church of the Nine Almighty of regicide with no tangible evidence was an insult to the gods, and Prince Altarin was branded a heretic without any hesitation.

On the night of the king’s funeral, the twins were attacked by the church's elite warriors. Prince Altarin was then sent outside the territory to be imprisoned. And while the fate of Princess Vena was unknown to the masses, she was assumed to have been killed in the attack.

The uproar of the citizens of Auriand was quickly and forcefully suppressed by the church and the noble families that supported them.

It was a swift and blatant uprooting of the old royalty. The audacity of their actions couldn’t have been expected by anyone. No one could have foreseen that to the church, the Kingdom of Auriande was never anything more than an anthill.

But underneath all the despair, some citizens of Auriande still managed to find a light of hope. Princess Vena, who was able to escape the night of the attack by the skin of her teeth, was now maneuvering undercover to form a group of rebels consisting of loyal members of the royal army with only one goal in her mind—to rescue her brother.

—249BT: 6 months after the capture of Prince Altarin, the rebel force led by Vena arrived at the headquarters of the Church of the Nine Almighty, situated between the territory of Auriande and one its neighboring kingdoms.

After investigating the prince’s exact whereabouts, Vena secretly infiltrated the Prisoner’s Ward. And after half a year, the brother and sister were finally reunited.

That night, the rebel force that was standing by suddenly launched an attack on the headquarters to provide distractions. Amidst the escalated conflicts, with their combined effort, Vena and Altarin managed to take down one of The Head Priests with the rank of a Demi-god, guaranteeing their victory and escape.

The rebel force travelled without rest on their way back, eager to return to their home.

But what awaited them at the capital of Auriande was neither welcome nor applause.

Even after growing, after persevering, after having gone through countless battles and survived—the twins returned to the sight of their kingdom in ruins.

While the Rebel Army was battling to rescue Prince Altarin, the Chaos Demons who had been biding their time waiting for an opportunity to strike launched a full scale assault on the capital. They killed every citizen, ravaged every settlement, and pillaged every building, leaving nothing but severed heads and rivers of blood to run down the streets.

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Walking through what remains of their castle, the twins swore revenge against all who were responsible.

They wouldn’t have to wait long. For in the dawn of the next day, the warriors of the church marched to the entrance of the capital. While the army of demons had gathered on the other side.

In the three way battle between the Chaos Demons, the Church of the Nine Almighty, and the Rebel Army that ensued, Prince Altarin and Princess Vena both lost their lives, fighting side by side until their very last breath.

The Kingdom of Auriande had fallen. The northern continent would soon turn into a warzone.

No one survived.

.....

Those kinds of stories were common during the times of the Holy War.

Countless others of every race and gender rose to prominence only to be brought down. The whim of Chaos was to obtain power, while the will of Order was to trample those who had gained power and control them.

Anyone who tried to go against that, regardless of their talents or dispositions, all suffered the same fate. The gods that perpetuated these conflicts cared not for how many heroes born and died; how many empires turned to dust.

Perhaps, in their eyes, they were the only ones that were allowed to last for eternity while everything else naturally crumbled and burst into flames. A spark—no matter how brilliantly it burned, would only last for an instant.

However...

Unlike many flames before and after. This time, against all odds, the spark kept burning.

For in the world of Astrea, death could just be the beginning.

Amidst the ruins of the once prosperous land, at the cold dead heart of countless tragedies, a [being] was born. A reanimated soul, brought back to life by the amalgamation of resentments and desires of the dead. It wore the celestial attire of the fallen kingdom and wielded the power of eternal winter. Its single purpose—was vengeance.

It swept through the northern continent. Cities after cities were encased in ice. Kingdoms after kingdoms were buried in snow. Like the embodiment of the relentless onslaught of the cold frost. All invading forces of Order and Chaos were met with nothing but death and destruction.

No matter how many attempts had been made to lay claim to the north since then, regardless of by whom, over and over again the ghost of the fallen kingdom executed all that threatened to disturb the resting place of its people.

In the centuries that followed, the once peaceful northern continent became a frozen wasteland, where only a single being remained, guarding a field of Winter Thorns.

—Until one day.

The Goddess of War herself descended upon that desolate plain of snow and ash, and offered them a contract.

The entire area began to freeze. Snow fell from the sky.

The Abyss Prince Karzio, for the first time, recognized his opponent.

—History’s most powerful Divine Vessel.

—The Blade of the Goddess of Wisdom and War Athena.

—The being who landed the fatal blow to the God of Lies Zheznya.

Emperor of Eternal Frost—Ayar.

"I... might not survive this," Karzio muttered to himself.

Standing on the frozen canal’s surface, surrounded by the destroyed ships, on the skin of his body, for the first time in a long while, frost began to thaw—the more tried to fight it, the colder it became.

High in the air, above the now lit-up sky of the Undercity, the white-haired figure wearing a long fluttering northern ceremonial robe opened their eyes. The countless crystalized weapons circled around them like halos.

But not only that.

““Lady Athena, please give us your full assistant.””

[Yes, yes. But don’t go too far, okay?]

Instantly, on the vision of Vena and Altarin, countless transparent HUD and UI elements detailing everything about the states of their opponents and the surrounding battlefield manifested.

[At least try to keep the city in one piece.]

—————……….

Krrr~....

Inside one of the cold and unlit prison cells, the golden-haired figure that was smashed into the black stone wall laid there; a crater that overflowed river-like cracks to the surroundings.

Quietly, the dark grey rocks fell, crumbling into grains of sand of pale grey colors.

And in the middle of that scene of devastation, without moving, Eden, whose golden-haired messily sprawled out in all directions, covering his face, casting shadows, simply continued to lay there… pathetically.

—What an idiot.

“Narrator guy… why are you suddenly… breaking character?”

Ohhh, whispering. How threatening.

All this time, I’ve been watching without interfering, but it looks like I should have stepped in earlier. Because somehow, your stupidity has gone past the point of being funny and started becoming infuriating.

Seriously, even when all the pieces were right there in front of you, how did it still take you a century to put them together?

I didn’t know that it was even possible for one of us to be this legitimately smooth-brained. It’s an embarrassment to our entire species. And you don’t even realize why, do you?

The longer this goes on… the more it makes me want to throw up.

“...”

Ugh, all the messing around... If you had taken things seriously from the start, a lot of people could have avoided getting hurt.

Didn’t you have your fun? Leading people on… Actually, wasn’t it you that started this whole mess?

So stop hiding your claws and rip this annoying thing to pieces already.

It’s getting tiring.

Everyone else already revealed their cards…

—You’re the last one.

…..

In the next moment.

Krrr~...

Slowly, Eden wriggled his body out of the hole in the wall, pulling himself forward little by little. The strands of long golden hair that were tangled came loose, swaying with every movement.

Standing on his feet, Eden raised his head, and looked forward.

As the faint golden lights seeped out, those eyes narrowed in displeasure.

Breathing out sharply.

“Narrator guy, you are… really annoying.”

Now that the nature of Lucianna’s dream was made clear. Karzio’s parasite could not be defeated in this reality. Lucianna’s subconscious was not letting that happen.

But there was a way.

A way to deal with everything.

A way [they] always knew in the back of [their] mind.

If the dream, the darkness that was causing her problems, dripping from every pore, drowning the entire place and submerging everything…

—Then all you need to do is to shine a light so bright it swallows up every drop of it.

Clenching and relaxing his fist, Eden raised his right hand… and pointed forward.

In an instant.

A bright, fluttering golden ball of light swirled and gathered at the tip of his finger—with a loud quake, the ground trembled. A gust of wind caused the grains of sand and small pieces of rubbles around his feet to gently float.

The sounds of rushing winds, the cascading movements of the environments. The ball of light began to grow, exploding outward, increasing in intensity, gradually overwhelming all there was.

The bundle of long golden hair swirled, glowing like threads, glittering like the sparkling spirals of the cosmos.

As the piercing golden light at the tip of his finger shone incredibly intensely, Eden’s lips began to part.

“I am the Key. I am the Gate.”

As soon as those words were uttered…

“I am that which separates Dream from Reality. Light from Darkness. Life—from Death.”

As the golden light shone brighter. Harmonizing with his voice, faint, countless whispers of incomprehensible language, shaking the fabric of this made-up reality, unravelling it by the seams.

And so…

Due to the existence of an extremely powerful will…

Everything…

—Was [overwritten].

—————……….