The dream leads him back to the nightmarish past he so desperately wishes to forget...
"Wake up, Vilhelm! You promised me you'd help today!" As he slowly opens his eyes, he is greeted by the sight of a beautiful, mature woman wielding a sickle. "Mom, is it morning already? Please, just let me sleep for another five minutes." He attempts to cover himself with a blanket, but his mother pulls it away and playfully pinches his ear, finally rousing him from his slumber.
Equipped with his late father's shovel, the protagonist sets off alongside his mother toward their humble farm. His father, a lowly and unnamed soldier, had met his demise during his fifth year of service when the protagonist was a mere seven years old. Amid their toil in the fields, the young protagonist catches sight of a procession of Knights on their way to the kingdom, passing by their modest farm. "Mom, look! It's the Imperial Knights! It appears they are returning after the war!" he exclaims, enthusiastically waving his hand as a token of admiration. However, his mother's countenance darkens, her spirit weighed down by the sorrow of losing her beloved husband, consigned to a nameless fate on the battlefield.
As the boy stands by, captivated by the passing Knights, an aged sage aboard an accompanying chariot notices him and beckons him over. Extending a hand to touch the young boy's forehead in a blessing, the sage's countenance suddenly wavers, as if foreseeing a grim and foreboding future. "God bless you, my child. Only with His aid may you weather the trials that will befall you," the sage murmurs, his voice frail yet resonant with wisdom accrued over a lifetime. "And remember this, young one. Will you heed my words?" he asks, to which the boy nods eagerly. "Very well, then. Bear in mind, when the abominations of hell pursue you, you are left with but two choices: to perish or to fight until your last breath. Do you understand?" The sage fixes his gaze upon the boy with an intensity akin to an eagle stalking its prey from the lofty heights above. Bemused but resolute, the protagonist affirms, "Certainly! I pledge to remember until my dying day, Sir!" And with that, the aged sage departs the village with his entourage and the retinue of Knights.
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One fateful night, as the protagonist and his mother slumber peacefully in their home, an ominous gate materializes near their dwelling, unleashing a horde of infernal monsters that surge forth, laying waste to the village as terrified screams pierce the air. The monsters breach the sanctuary of the protagonist's home, overpowering him and forcing him to bear witness to the savage and brutal violation of his beloved mother at their monstrous hands. Despite his valiant efforts, he is incapacitated, bearing a scar that traces a jagged path from his forehead to his eyebrow, "I will kill you all! Get away from my mother! Stop it! GO TO HELL! THE PLACE WHERE YOU ALL BELONG!" he screams as the blood cascading down his face as his consciousness wanes. Mocking laughter echoes as the monsters set their home ablaze, the flames consuming everything in their wake. Yet, as if the threads of fate refuse to relinquish their hold on this young soul, the protagonist's mother, grievously wounded and exhausted, enfolds her son in a final embrace, thrusting him into the refuge of the basement before the debris crushes her, sealing her sacrifice for his survival. With the dawning of a new day, the accursed gate vanishes, and the malevolent fiends dissipate into the ether.
However, the surviving villagers, grappling with the aftermath, cast suspicion upon the protagonist's mother, levying baseless accusations of witchcraft, further ostracizing and abandoning the protagonist. With news of some villagers plotting to offer him as a sacrificial pawn to quell the encroaching evil, the protagonist flees the village, embarking on a ceaseless flight for survival, haunted by the specters of his past and the uncertain perils that loom ahead.