It was early in the morning on the 28th of July. The Orochi Kingdom's Capital city Hebi was bustling with life just like any other day of the year.

The ancient city had a mixture of both traditional architecture and modern skyscrapers offering a unique aesthetic. Hebi was a truly large city rivaling the size of some countries, it was after all only second to Azhar in terms of wealth and production. While Azhar had the legendary red mountains filled with Nitrus dust the Orochi kingdom was rich in metals and oil. The sacred Jungle which covered most of the country and the rest of mainland Taiponbo was a gold mine of lumber which supplied the entire world's needs.

However if you visited this city the thing that would truly steal your gaze was the Dragon Gods Palace. It was a monolith in its own right being able to comfortably fit many cities inside of it and have room to spare. Inside this castle lived the Emperor Orochi.

The Orochi Kingdom in the long lost past was much like the rest of the world, a collection of tribes in a constant war for power and resources. Life was like this for thousands of years until two men from different tribes each conquered the others and became two powerful countries. The Water Kingdom and the North Kingdom.

The Water Kingdom had the Water King, a powerful magic user capable of summoning Tsunamis and typhoons which ruined his opponents in battle. Opposing him was the North Kingdoms North King.

The North King was a man of great physical power capable of up-rooting mountains. He was said to be the son of a tribal queen who met the Great Serpent [Dragon] God King in the Serpents Den.

The Serpent God King was so amazed by this woman's beauty he slept with her and created the North Emperor.

The two new kingdoms warred for decades until eventually their kings met on the battlefield atop the Golden Phoenix mountain ridge.

Here the two men battled against each other. It was a ruthless battle which lasted for seven days and seven nights. During their battle they spilled enough blood to create the great Red River and reduced the size of the Golden Phoenix Mountain Ridge to a fraction of its original mass.

In the end the two men clashed against one another with nothing but their fists, they broke bones and lost teeth. Eyes were gouged and chunks of flesh bitten.

The North King proved successful, and slayed the Water King. He would unite the two kingdoms under his rule which became the North Empire.

This empire would rule for over two thousand years until it was destroyed by the Unholy beast named Orochi. It was a monster of great size which thrashed around the empire crushing humans, beasts and buildings under its weight.

Even the greatest of the empire's mages proved unable to defeat the beast and the empire was destroyed. The people soon returned to the way of life before the great unification. They built tribes and battled for the little they could scavenge from ruins of forgotten technology. This continued for four hundred years until a man from a small unknown tribe slayed the beast Orochi. They battled across the continent of Taiponbo creating the great plains which the capital city of Hebi rests upon now.

This man per the culture of his tribe was named after the great deed he performed, henceforth he was named Orochi.

The many tribes ceased their fighting and gathered under the man Orochi. They had heard from their elders of a great man who united the tribes under his power, a man whose name was lost to history. It was assumed that this man Orochi would do the same so they pledged their servitude to him. From the bones of the beast Orochi they forged the Dragons god palace which at the time was not a palace but a place which welcomed all people to live in as equals.

Orochi was a Holy with the blessing of Mana Absorption and became the Emperor of the newly founded Orochi Kingdom for the next nearly two thousand years. The mana he absorbed from the beast Orochi gave him his long life span.

When the Emperor Orochi died the kingdom created a new democracy under his orders, one which elected officials voted for by the citizens. It was his hope that the Orochi Kingdom could grow without him, that it could become a utopia which would spread good across the world.

Then in the year 2358 a man was born from a lowly palace dancer. A Holy with great power who was near instantly assumed to be the Great Emperor Orochi's reincarnation.

Of course this was impossible as he did not have the same blessing as Orochi and thus could not be his reincarnation. This man was given the title of Emperor and near limitless power which he used like anyone at his age would. The Orochi Kingdom turned from a well viewed and liked city to a dictatorial hellscape in which no one was safe from the Emperor's will.

Though the Dragon Gods Palace was an amazing sight it was off limits to all who the Emperor did not invite. Such tree passage was swiftly met with death.

The proof of this lay at the palace front gates. Five men from Edoland hung on large pikes. Crows picked at their corpses' flesh as they rotted. Five men from the Toumeikan, the Hachibuto Kikirin and his Joshin elite four. No one, no matter their importance was spared from the Emperor Orochi's sense of self. If he saw a woman he liked she became his wife even if she already had family. If he saw someone he thought Ugly they would be executed immediately.

Only those with an equally great sense of self could oppose him. The fourth God Pillar, the Pillar God Of Serpents Emperor Orochi.

On the morning of July 28th five men fell from the sky into the Emperor's palace.

Titan, Xing-Chi-Tian and Goken, three members of the Vulracious Emperor Randolph's Royal guard. Along with them was the Fifth God Pillar, Pillar God Of Carnage Lestat Q. Dragonking.

The fifth man was none other than the devil himself, The Vulracious Emperor Randolph Sisphyus Freyr.

The men landed with a crash, a mushroom cloud of dust flying into the air at their arrival.

The palace guards gathered around the crater in a panic. They muttered amongst each other with their weapons drawn.

Guns, spears, swords and glaives, they all pointed in the direction of the men who were still engulfed in smoke and dust.

“!”

There was a sudden blast of mana which filled the entire Dragon Gods palace from corner to corner not sparing a single micrometer. A dark blue mana which was freezing cold and suffocating.

Out of the ten thousand people in the Palace only one hundred and four were left standing. The rest lay on their backs foaming at the mouth. Their eyes were completely white as they spasmed on the floor.

This was the [King Of Kings] aura. Something only a handful of men were capable of using, something not even all of the Pillar Gods could use. A power befitting only those who could claim to be the King Of Kings.

This King Of Kings was none other than Randolph who emerged from the dust with a cough. “It seems like Orochi had stronger guards then I imagined, exactly 104 people are still conscious.” He said, dusting himself off.

“No problem, I can fight more people.” Xing Said in his harsh accent.

“Xings right Randolph, we can handle a few more guys! It’s no big deal as long as we have each other!” Goken yelled, wrapping his arm around Xing and puffing his chest proudly.

“I’m very grateful then.” Randolph said with a warm smile. He turned to Lestat who frowned, wiping the dust off his suit profusely.. “And you?” He asked.

“Tch, what’re you asking me for? I’ll do my part and you’ll do yours. Nothing changed.” Lestat grumbled.

“Wonderful, things will go as planned then.” Randolph smiled. He looked to Titan who nodded and they began to walk towards the Emperor's castle leaving the others to deal with the guards.

“He has two castles? How foolish.” Titan laughed quietly.

“He’s a man of material… I’d argue that I’d have ended up as he is now if not for Nero but I’d be lying…” Said Randolph rubbing his chin as he looked at the castle.

As Randolph reached the Castle's doors Titan kicked them open breaking them off their hinges.

“Titan, please don’t do that.” Randolph said with downcast eyes. “This is history, it’d be a shame for us to be the ones who end it.”

“Understood, I’ll be more careful from now on.” Said Titan.

# # #

“How do you wanna split this?” Goken asked Xing and Lestat. Around them were over 60 palace guards thrusting their weapons towards the men.

“I’m not splitting anything, I’m a God Pillar, you are mere candidates. Deal with them yourself, I’ll go find a general.” Lestat growled with a vein growing on his forehead.

“Me no like how you speak, rude tongue should be cut off.” Xing said in response, pulling a thread of cloth from his wrist.

“Wow now guys we can’t fight here, we're a team!” Goken yelled, sticking his hands in the air. “We need to work together to defeat them! That’s the way heroes always win!”

“Tch, do as you please. I have no interest in being a hero.” Lestat signed. With a single leap he flew over the heads of the guards and further into the palace grounds.

“Rude man… no like.” Xing spat wrinkling his brow.

“Your native language is [北舌: Beiji] right Xing? Why don’t you try to convince them to join us? It’d be a shame to kill such fine men!” Goken said.

Xing listened to Goken and answered with a nod. He turned to the guards in his raspy voice and began to speak in a barbaric Beiji dialect.

“Why don’t you join us? We can give you all you’d ever want without the the worry of death or torture for the smallest misgivings.” He said.

“Silence traitor!” One of the men yelled back.

“What would a hick like you know of being a palace guard!?”

“Yeah! You speak like a peasant farmer would!”

“Let’s skin him alive in front of the palace gates so people know what to expect!”

Members of the group yelled back.

Goken looked at Xing with a smile on his face not understanding a word of what was said. “Did they agree?” He asked.

“No good, I kill now.” Xing hissed, stretching the thread on his wrist out. He drop kicked one of the guards and sliced another's hand off with his thread. From their pure pandemonium broke out.

“What a shame…” Goken frowned. A guard ran up behind him with a war cry and Jian sword overhead.

Goken without hesitation conjured his own sword and spun around slicing the man's head clean off.

“Well, looks like you’re the villains of this story then!” He laughed running further into the crowd.

Xing and Goken were naturally both powerful fighters, Xing's magic [Thread Manipulation], a transmutation spell which allowed him to control different threads formed from all kinds of substances. While a string from a shirt might seem useless when reinforced with aura it can easily slice a limb off or be as restrictive as a metal chain.

Goken was also a Transmuter, he conjured five swords each with a different effect. The one he used at the moment was [Onigiri] the Demon Slayer sword.

Xing using his own clothes as a medium created a dozen strings each as resilient as a steel cable and sharp as a sword. With this weapon he continued to kill the guards quickly.

One of the Palace guards who stood nearly 9 feet and wielded a large battle axe. Charged at Xing, smashing his axe down on him. Xing threw a thread to another palace guard and pulled himself towards the guard avoiding the axe. He kicked off the guard he’d pulled himself to and wrapped his threads around the large man's wrist. He jumped up onto the massive man's neck wrapping another string around it with his opposite hand.

“Gah!” The man yelped as his hands were sliced into by the tight strings and his windpipe crushed by the other

“Fire!”

Arrows shot at Xings back and he spun around the man's neck using him as a shield.

“Ack!” The giant coughed as the back of his head was riddled with arrows killing him. He fell forwards and Xing slipped out from under him with a skid.

“Get the farmer's son!” The guards yelled charging Xing.

“Too many to deal with.” Xing sighed, jumping into the air.

Below him in the horde of guards was Goken with two swords in his hand laughing as he cut through the guards. “Die villains!” He laughed as they screamed for their life.

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“!”

Gokens observation flashed red and he jumped to the side as a glaive smashed where he’d stood a moment before. Another tall man appeared, he stood around eight feet with wide shoulders and a face full of scars.

“You’re huge!” Goken yelled, his jaw dropped.

“Willing to surrender!?” The massive man asked, raising his glaive.

“No way! That means you’re a boss and If I kill you I’ll get a bonus!” Goken laughed. Behind him appeared three swords of different designs which flew at the large man.

“Gah!” The man coughed as the three swords plunged through his armor and into his chest.

“Super effective!” Goken laughed, throwing one of the swords in his hand into the man's knee.

“Shit!” The man cried, falling down his chest bleeding profusely.

“Fatality!” Goken used his remaining sword to slice the giant's head off in a single clean motion. The giant's head fell to the floor and rolled to the feet of more palace guards who gawked in horror.

Goken leapt at those men too with his remaining sword. One of the guards threw his Jian sword forwards which clashed with Gokens BroadSword [Cloud Cutter.] Gokens broad sword sliced through the Jian like butter and continued into the guard's chest, splitting it open with a spray of blood.

Goken kicked the man away and ripped his sword out, turning it to the next guard and slicing his arm off at the shoulder.

“Aaah!” The man screamed as he shot out blood like a fire hydrant.

“That’s a weak point!” Goken said, conjuring a sword above the man and shooting it down into the back of his head, skewering his brain.

Across the court yard Xing continued his own rampage. Using his threads which he'd wrapped around a stronger guard he manipulated him like a puppet forcing him to kill his own men.

“Stop, please Chuo!” The guards cried.

“I- I can’t!” The controlled man said with tears running down his face as he sliced his fellow guard.

[Phoenix South!]

There was a blast of fire and Xing felt his threads be severed. “Who dare?” He growled looking at the perpetrator.

“Who would dare? I would dare!” The man said with a boisterous laugh.

“Cao-Yang!” The guards roared in excitement.

Cao-Yang was broad shouldered and above average height. He held a cleaver like sword with a thick and square blade which was scorched by flames.

“Who you be?” Xing asked.

“Why speak to me in Shinkai? Are you worried about your peasant accent? If so you should know that your broken Shinkai is just as awful to listen to!” Cao-Yang laughed in perfect Shinkai.

Veins grew across Xing's body as he leapt at Cao-Yang.

“Don't interrupt us!” Cao-Yang yelled to his fellow guards. “It would be a dishonor to make the Divine Generals fight such filth so I shall deal with him!” He said, swinging his sword at Xing, clashing with Xing's fist.

[Thread Manipulation Extension Technique: Sijiyaing] Xing wrapped threads around his fist and clumped them together along with extreme amounts of high level reinforcement creating a gauntlet. His hand smashed into Cao-Yang's cleaver with a bang.

[Phoenix East!] Cao-Yang yelled.

“!?” From the cleaver came a blast of fire which engulfed Xing like a tornado spinning around him.

“Ha! You fool!” Cao-Yang laughed, throwing his sword over his shoulder and puffing out his chest. “You should have known better than to mess with-” Cao-Yang was cut off when his tongue fell from his mouth with a spray of blood.

“!?” His eyes widened as he saw a thin string retract from his tongue into the inferno which extinguished to reveal a perfectly fine Xing.

“Talk too much, die quietly.” Xing smirked with wrinkled eyes.

“Guaa!” A guard yelled. He ran at Xing with his own sword.

“Tomp!” Gargled Cao-Yang trying to stop the guard.

Xing smashed his gauntlet into the guard's stomach, cracking his thick armor and blowing a hole in his stomach. “Need better thread…” Xing hummed, transforming the man's armor into thick cables of metal.

Cao-Yang's eyes twitched as he watched these strings wrap around Xing's arms and chest creating more armor. “Cheap but good enough for weak like you.” He laughed.

“Uaaawh!” Cao-Yang screamed blowing blood out of his mouth. He charged at Xing with his cleaver but Xing smacked the sword away with his armored forearm and then transformed his other arms armor into a whip of metal cables. He swung the whip into the side of Cao-Yang which shredded his torso.

Cao-Yang screamed out horribly before falling to the floor with a seizure.

“Too weak to even be Untere guard, why think you can fight me?” Xing asked, kicking the man's corpse.

“Hoho!” Yelled a powerful voice which Xing turned around at.

“Fire General!” The guards cried out in joy.

The man they referred to was large and hairy with sharp eyes and long black hair tied loosely into a bun. His top half was bare and around his waist he wore a skirt like Hanfu with a floral pattern. His feet touched the floor with no protection.

“You must be Xing-Chi-Tian! I’ve heard of you mighty warrior!” The Fire General said with a laugh.

Xing's eyes twitched at the man's noble dialect and the mask which covered the lower half of his face wrinkled into a frown.

“I am the great Fire General Xiong-Lizhu! Come and battle me brave warrior! This fight shall go down in history!” Said the General flexing his large muscles.

“No heard of you, too loud no like.” Xing muttered, stretching his arms out and creating a spider web of small metal cables around his fingers.

“An interesting weapon!” Said Lizhu, taking his own battle stance. His foot crushed the floor beneath him as he stepped forwards.

# # #

“Gurrah!” Goken yelled, slicing through more Guards. He’d killed about twenty so far and Xing had done the same. Only a few remained and they kept their distance from him.

“So you’ve figured out that range is my weakness then!?” Asked Goken with a frown and his hands on his hips. “But I will not surrender! It is typical for the villains to gain the upper hand right before the hero's victory! I shall overcome your treachery with a pure heart and good intentions!” Goken declared pointing his sword [Dragon Fang] into the sky.

“Gohoho a hero!?” Asked a strange voice. One which perfectly encapsulated “A frog in your throat.”

“That is me! Goken the great hero of the Vulracious empire!” Goken yelled, turning to the voice's origin. Standing there was a large figure over 3 meters tall and covered in a long brown robe.

“Very fitting that I handle you then!” The figure said, shaking its head and letting the cloth fall from its body.

“Gah a monster!” Shrieked Goken pointing at the man with his sword.

“Yes! The beast of the Hydras Swamp Zhenwu-Gui!” Said the beast. He looked like a mix between a turtle, dragon, crocodile and man. He had thick green and brown scales covering his entire body and a large red shell on his back with razor sharp scutes. His head was the most animal-like thing on him with not a single human characteristic. A short snout with razor sharp teeth and whiskers descending from under his nostrils.

Zhenwu Gui, the man with a Longgui Bestial type blessing. He had the same characteristics as the legendary Longgui turtle dragon said to once roam the Sacred Jungle in ancient times.

His tail swayed back and forwarth in excitement as Goken looked him over in confusion. “If you think you can slay me then come try hero! If you fail I shall eat you whole! I haven’t eaten an Edojin in sixty years!” He said with a grin.

“Hoho!” Laughed Goken. “I see now foul beast! Your appearance frightened me but I now see that you are no more than a lizard with a sharp tongue! Fine, I’ll grant your wish and slay you then! After doing so I’ll have a statue built right here in this city of me with your head in my hand and my foot stepping on your shell!” Goken said with a proud nod.

“Come at me then, Hero!” Gui laughed, stomping his foot.

“Kill that Edorat! Get him Beast General Zhenwu Gui!” The guards yelled, clapping their hands.

“Wait!” Gui said, putting his hand up and turning to the guards who stopped clapping and grew quiet.

“Yes Sir?” One of them asked, seeing Guis' eyes narrow.

“WHY ARE YOU CHEERING FOR ME!?” He roared loud enough that the ground shook.

“Y-you’re the Beast General and-”

“SILENCE! I AM THE MONSTER! The peanut gallery cheers for the Hero! Cheer for him!”

“B-but.”

“Cheer for him!”

The guards turned to Goken with a confused and nervous expression.

“G-go! Get him!” They yelled.

“LOUDER! Cheer for your hero! If I win I’ll not only eat him but you as well!” Gui screamed.

“GO HERO, KILL HIM!” The guards cried with tears in their eyes. “Save us!”

“Heh, that sounds right!” Goken said, puffing his chest out. He didn’t understand a word of what was said between them but he knew they were cheering for him.

“Doesn't it?” Gui laughed maniacally.

# # #

Lestat walked through the Dragon Gods Palace courtyard with a frown and his hands in his pocket. His blonde curly hair blowing in the wind. “This place is too grand for some serpents to reside in.” He muttered, spitting on the ground.

Lestat Q. Dragonking the 5th Pillar God, God Pillar Of Carnage. A fourth generation descendant of the great Vulracious God Of War Alexander. Though his amount of Celestial Aura was small it was enough to prolong his life span to four times a humans. Making him live even longer than a Holy. Yet Lestat was still young, only being 80 years old. Despite this and much like a Holy he remained in his prime only appearing to be in his early thirties.

His fair skin was snow white and he wore an expensive red coat with spider web like fabric around his wrists and neck. Below that were black leather pants and fine suede shoes. He looked like a typical court noble from a western country. He was tall, lean and handsome with fiery red eyes and curly blond hair which formed loops along its back which reached his shoulders. His lips were red and feminine like and his nose thin yet long with no humps or bumps. His ears were slightly pointed and his neck rippled with muscle. His hands were large yet his fingers thin and long with pointed nails.

He was in every sense of the word beautiful, every woman on the planet no matter her preference or opinion both envied and loved him. Despite this outward appearance his soul was truly ugly and rotten. A spoiled brat with no sense of compassion or empathy.

If not for the two viewing each other's race as less than their own he and Orochi would have gotten along very well.

Lestat continued strolling through the palace breaking random decorations as he walked. He smashed a golden bird's drinking fountain and pushed over a dragon statue.

He continued through the courtyard until reaching the back of the palace where a man stood in wait.

This man was also very handsome, his jaw square yet chin round and his almond eyes shined in the sunlight. He had short black hair split to the left and a well shaped athletic body covered by a tang style suit.

“And you are?” Lestat asked, squinting one eye and opening the other.

“Cao-Longlong, the Thunder General.” Said the man staring at Lestat with a stern brow.

“I see then Sir. Long, who said you were allowed to look upon my person?” Lestat asked.

“I don’t need permission from those who trespass onto this holy ground. As soon as you entered this place you lost your title and have become a savage who must be purged.” Said Longlong.

A vein popped on Lestat's temple and his lips curled into a grin of malice. “Wui? What words to come from the mouth of a snake.” He growled. His right hand twitched as veins shot out across it and the nails elongated into black talons.

“I shall speak to you on this matter no more, present your neck to me to save what little honor you have left.” Longlong said, snapping his fingers.

From the clear cloudless sky shot down a bolt of lightning which conjured a chariot with four bright red horses of immense power and beauty. Inside the Chariot was Longlong holding the reins with a look of displeasure as if viewing an insect.

“It pains me to admit this but your chariot is rather fine, I’ll take that for myself after I kill you!” Lestat yelled, leaping at Longlong.

# # #

The castle was empty, not a single obstruction other than physical objects blocked the path of Titan and Randolph as they traveled through it.

The castle itself was originally the castle of the first Orochi two thousand years ago. The two millennia worth of culture and history in the shape of art and architecture filled the castles every inch.

Randolph smiled as he inspected each aspect of the castle quietly noting the time period and creator of each. “It’s a shame our castle isn’t as rich as this.” He said with a sigh.

“Should we take what you like?” Titan asked.

“No, that would be wrong. This is beautiful because it’s been here in this country, this castle for so long. Taking it away would only remove its beauty and leave a worthless item in its place.”

“I don't quite understand what you mean but I’ll do as you instruct.” Titan said with a frown.

“It’s fine, you’ve never quite understood the human soul. After all you're closer to an object then a human, just as we humans can’t see what dogs see in us a creature like you can’t see what us humans see in objects.”

“...” Titan didn’t respond and kept walking by Randolph's side.

“Though it is a shame that you’re the only thing I have left from my youth. Before the war our castle was nearly as rich as this one. But it was all lost in the chaos which broke out between two feuding gods. Truly a shame, I wish some items had been left behind in the ruins…” Randolph sighed.

Randolph and Titan turned the final corner into the corridor which led to the Forbidden Throne Room. There was a small chamber in which there were four men standing in wait.

“Do you want me to deal with them?” Titan asked.

“Not yet.” Randolph said, waving his hand.

“No need to barter, you were a dead man as soon as you set your filthy eyes on our Emperor's palace!” One of the four men said with a sneer.

“It was not my intention to insult the Emperor, I only came to talk.” Randolph said with a shallow bow.

“Hmph, some king you are to bow your head to lowly court guards!” Another one of the men said.

At this Titans eye twitched for less then a second but he kept still with his arms crossed and glared at the four men.

“You’re the Emperor's Court Guards?” Randolph asked with a smile.

“Yes! The Four Cardinal Court Guards!” The four men said in unison.

“I see, well since you said you had no intention to barter it seems like we’ll need to remove you by force.” Randolph sighed looking at Titan and holding up two fingers.

Titan nodded his head and looked back to the men with a wide smile and squinting cold black eyes.

“Your confidence is misplaced false king. After we kill you, everyone in your country is next.” The guards laughed.

“...” Randolph didn’t respond, his expression neutral. With his hands in his pockets he casually strode towards the guards.

This day July 28th would go down in history as the start of a war which would engulf the whole planet. One no one had expected or was prepared for. One in which Magic was used instead of technology for the first time in 250 years.

It would later be known as the Christmas War.