Prologue II

Where is Hope?

"Haa.. haa.. haa.." A girl was gasping for air as she ran through the dense forest. Her small body was wrapped in a tattered cloak. She had been running for so long she had already lost count of time.

She looked up and saw the red moon through the tiny gaps in the leaves and branches. Hope filled her eyes. One of the conditions have been met.

"Stop running, little brat!" A loud hoarse voice came from behind her followed by numerous footsteps and clanking of armors. Wearing silver-white armors with light blue inscriptions, they were the paladins of the Church of Truthseekers.

The little girl hugged the stone tablet tightly in her chest as tears rolled down her face. Was it all going to end like this? Will everything her family worked hard for disappear into nothing?

Sera Ani'eth Kalah was the only child born of a simple household in a small village in the borders of the Bright Sun empire. Her family ancestry traced back to the old refugees of war, one of the few scattered remnants of the long forgotten Red Moon Kingdom.

In the olden past, the Emperor of Bright Sun had declared war upon Red Moon in fear of the power that the Royal Family held, that of summoners of demons and abominations, known as warlocks.

With the blessings of the Church of Truthseekers, the Bright Sun Empire led its army and the church's paladins to destroy the smaller Red Moon Kingdom.

Ani'eth was the last successor of the royal Red Moon bloodline. The church had found this information through unknown means, and had pursued her family. The village was destroyed, and her parents died to let her escape along with the stone tablet, their family heirloom.

"Only use it when there's no other way."

Her mother's last words lingered in her thoughts. She looked back behind her. The paladins were gradually closing the distance. As if fate was mocking her, she tripped on a fallen branch and rolled on the dirt.

"Haa... haa... Finally caught you, you stinkin' brat." One of the paladins approached her and lifted her up by grabbing her hair. He then slapped her face with his free hand, knocking her away to the side.

"That's for making us waste our time." He then walked over to her and kicked her in the stomach. She was knocked away rolling, blood dripping out of her mouth.

No more, she thought. The pain was too much. Tears dripped down her eyes from pain and fear. Blood mixed with her saliva choked her as it gushed out of her throat and mouth. Her entire body was shivering.

Wouldn't it be better to just die?

Wouldn't it be better to just get this over with?

Let the pain and suffering end.

Let the fear and torment take its toll.

With those thoughts, she remembered her parents' smiles as they told her stories about their ancestry, about how their families had lived in secret never thinking about revenge for the suffering and humiliation they had received. Her family was kind-hearted and gentle, yet these people of the church declared them servants of demons and abominations.

No.

No. No. No. No. No!!!

She will not let her family be forgotten. She was the last of their blood; her mother had told her before she slept every night. She had the talent and gifts of the forgotten royalty. Their blood had thinned, and they had lost the power to raise their kingdom back from the ashes. But she was different. The blood of the warlocks run thick in her veins.

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With trembling hands, she reached for her mouth and drenched her fingers with her blood. She then traced the inscriptions on the stone tablet.

"Kill her, now!" One of the paladins shouted, noticing that she was up to something.

"By the blood of Kalah, I, Sera Ani'eth, command you to come out from the gates of hell, be my servant until the last drops of my blood disappear from this world!"

Before the other paladins could react, the space between them and the girl distorted, and evil miasma seeped out from the small crack that appeared. As quickly as it came, the distortion disappeared without a trace. In its place was a young man wearing a tattered robe.

"Who are you!" A paladin shouted at the man. The man only looked at him with dark brown eyes. His mouth opened, but the voice that came out carried words that could not be understood.

"Look at his skin." Another paladin whispered to the ones near him and they all looked at what he pointed at. The young man's flesh that was exposed through the tears and holes on the robe he wore revealed skin covered with black layers of unknown material. Every now and then, those layers of black would move around.

"He's a demon! Just go and kill it!" A shout came from among them, and the paladins rushed at the man. As they approached him, his entire body was covered by a layer of black, then the air around him gathered and exploded. Before they could understand what happened, the man's black figure disappeared, and one by one, the paladins were struck unconscious by an unknown force.

The figure that had disappeared was already behind their unconscious bodies, the layer of black had already disappeared beneath his robe, and he said something that could not be understood. His eyes wandered around and met with those of the little girl. Slowly he approached her, then said something to her.

The girl did not understand, but instead replied with "What are you?" She had not known of any demons like this. From the stories her parents had told her, she had not heard of any that appeared human-like.

The man had a confused expression at first, then slowly as if catching on to something he opened his mouth and said, "Hope."

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So yeah, there's a part 2 of the prologue, sorry about that.

And to those who were excited thinking of Captain-sama's adventures in Hell, sorry to disappoint you. Hell is such a gruesomely hard to survive place, so even Captain-sama won't last long there.

Anyways, don't worry. Chapter 1 will let us see some of Captain-sama's adventure in Hell.

And also Captain-sama is named Hope. He is Special Soldier Captain Codename Hope.

And the other special soldiers don't have an AI built in their heads like the captain. It will be explained in some of Captain-sama's internal monologues, or something. hehe.

AND OH YEAH, in my draft notes, I had named the first part of the prologue as "Hope Lost" and this one, the 2nd part as "Hope Found." XD