History, as the empire knew it, started with God Loki’s ‘gift.’ The introduction of mana turned the entire planet upside down, and knowledge of the past was preserved only in the memories of the oldest of demons.
Soon after creatures mutated and most of the intelligent species went batshit insane, the five who had retained their original bodies and minds banded together and formed an empire born out of the need for survival.
The dwarves took on the duty of guarding the west towards the ocean. The giants would fight in the frozen north, the humans would defend the desert in the south, and the beast-people would claw at the plains in the east. With the elves serving as backup for when things turned sour, the civilians inside the empire had a semblance of safety.
Unfortunately, if there was one thing that could piss off the deformed mutants, living in constant pain or as slaves to their desires, was knowing that not only were others not suffering from these afflictions but they were actually happy and beginning to prosper.
As such, from the first year of its founding, the empire was constantly under siege. With each passing decade, Generals rose and fell. Warriors were forged in the fires of war only to be extinguished before ever reaching their potential. The empire’s population dropped drastically within the first five decades to the point where each species had less than 50 thousand members left.
The populace was losing hope, and the nation's destruction seemed inevitable. Yet, as fate would have it, at the beginning of year 51, a certain human joined the army in the south.
During his first ever battle, he killed the lizardman species’ third in command. Five years of grueling combat later, that same man defeated the enemy’s second strongest, and after just two more months, he took out their leader.
From there, the hero of the south traveled west and killed the echidnas’ leader. A month later, he was seen in the north, fighting a Yeti commander the size of a skyscraper, and afterwards, he was seen in the east, mortally wounding the demon army’s third in command.
News traveled fast throughout the empire and beyond. The death of the demons’ third in strength, the death of the succubus queen reached the demon lord’s ears.
Days later, the empire was attacked by a huge army from all four directions. Mammon attacked the south, Leviathan rose out of the ocean in the west, Beelzebub tried to swallow the north, and the demon lord himself tried to crush the entire empire, starting with the east.
On the evening of the attack, legends say the hero went to bed none the wiser. It took five minutes for him to fall asleep; it took just one for the demon lord to obliterate the entire stronghold in the east in order to find him. And then, after the hero woke up staring at death incarnate, it took six long years for their battle to conclude.
Somehow, their conflict did not destroy the continent, although two giant forests did sprout out in the east. Known as the forests of dusk and dawn, they would swallow all those who ventured inside, be they monsters, mutants, or generals alike.
After the Demon Lord was defeated, his commanders retreated and were never seen again. As for the hero himself, he appeared less and less as time went on.
According to the scribes, the hero was never a people’s person. He appeared only when needed and not a single sentence had ever been recorded to have left his mouth.
After the great war, he was seen defeating a dragon in the north, and the capture of Merlin Grigori was attributed to his name. The hero then founded the healers’ guild, which later morphed into the church of Loki.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
In year 87 after God’s blessing, he was last seen experimenting with magic crystals in a laboratory in the west. Afterwards, he went missing for several hundreds of years only to make a final appearance at the invasion of Zagan.
In the present day, he was considered a legend to mages, a myth to warriors, and a rumor to the general population. Only those outside of the empire still remembered what he looked like. Only they knew his real name, although none dared to speak it.
500 years after the empire’s founding, underneath the ocean to the west, there was a complex system of spiraling tunnels and caves. Within one of these caves lay a statue of an echidna, half man and half snake. A deep, ugly frown was permanently preserved on his face. The creature’s claws seemed to tear at its own flesh, and its eyes seemed to be searching for something.
Saul would regularly visit this statue and stare at it for hours at a time. He would try to emulate the being’s demeanor, frown like it, and carve his own flesh like it.
He revered this man for his achievements, despised him for his failure, and pitied him for his fate. Still, Saul could never live up to his memory of the once powerful ruler of his people, so he could not help but feel inferior in his presence. Perhaps, that’s why he ordered for the giant of the past to be immortalized in a statue that was slightly smaller than himself.
“Milord.” Another echidna entered the cave, coiled her tail, and bowed her head all the way to the floor.
Slowly, Saul removed his claws from his skin, and the wounds healed immediately. He sighed and then grabbed his fellow echidna's neck.
“You know my time with the boss is private, don’t you? You know I don’t like being disturbed, don’t you?”
“Milord, you were the one who called...”
“Don’t talk back to me.” Saul squeezed until his claws drew blood.
“Yes… Milord.”
“Did you find Caroline?”
“No…Mi…lord.”
“Did you find her father?”
“...no…”
Suddenly, Saul realized his subordinate was suffocating to death, so he let her go. The echidna coughed blood, but like her master, her wounds healed almost immediately.
“So fragile,” Saul shivered in disgust. “No wonder we’re forced to negotiate with the dwarves. If you don't have any good news, then get out of my sight.”
The subordinate froze on the spot. Her claws dug into her skin, and she bit her lips as if the order spelled death.
“The hero is still asleep, Milord.”
“So?”
“We will find that man in time. Also, the adventurer’s guild has completed an initial strike.”
“Is that supposed to be relevant?” Saul approached his subordinate and once again grabbed her throat. “I thought I told you to leave.”
The echidna’s face contorted in fear, but even so she refused to exit.
“They’ll launch a full scale attack tonight.”
“Who, the hero?”
“No Milord, the assassins.”
“Hmm…” Saul squeezed but not enough to kill her. Suddenly, he turned and retrieved his hand along with a chunk out of the echidna’s throat. While devouring it, he stared at the statue of his leader. He then smeared his bloody palm on the statue’s face, frowning because the surrounding water didn’t allow much of it to stick.
“Keep me updated on their progress.”
As her neck slowly recovered, the subordinate sighed in relief.
“By the way, what is your name?”
“Moe, Milord.”
Saul frowned and waved his left arm. Energy waves escaped his claws and cut his fellow echidna to pieces. The cave became filled with blood, and Saul smiled while slithering towards her. He then ate the mutant piece by piece while sometimes turning to look at the statue.
“What kind of a name is Moe?” [Munch, Munch] “She should’ve known better. Yes, I’ll kill the dwarf, quit nagging me… Who cares about the hero? The assassins are striking! Oh, now you’re just being a prick.”
Outside of the cave, Saul’s right hand man was listening to his rambles along with a couple of others. The three echidnas looked at each other, nodded, and then turned to leave. However, the leader's main attendant grabbed one of his helpers' shoulders.
“Someone must wait for our master. Duke, your turn has come.”