In a distant place, a kingdom is getting surrounded by numerous monsters and wild beasts.
Behind the countless hordes of monsters, a man is sitting in a throne, atop of a colossal dark dragon and behind of it are countless giant monsters that are much bigger than the dragon. To add more to the already horrendous scene, dozens of large dragons are hovering above the giants’ heads.
Their sinister aura is enough to make a normal person die.
“This… This is hell…”
“That’s an understatement. I’m pretty sure, if hell exists, it’s tamer than this one.”
“Is this really the time for you two to have a leisure chat?”
“Isn’t it fine? The citizens have all been safely evacuated. All that’s left to do is to slow him down.”
“Slow him down… That’s all we can do, isn’t it?”
A Morning Saint pats the shoulder of the depressed Martial Artist. “Just think of this as our last act of heroism. As long as those ‘two’ lives, humanity will persist.”
“I can’t believe that all the twelve Demon ranks and two Dragon ranks can only slow him down, haha…,” he laughs. “Life’s not fair, isn’t it?”
The monsters began their march.
“They began to move! All of you! Prepare for combat!”
“High-End Arch Mages, ready your spells! Morning Saints, stay at the back and heal all the Heavenly Paladins. And the rest of you… go on a rampage! GIVE THEM HELL!”
The war cry of adventurers echoes throughout the whole land. They clashed with the advancing monsters, reducing their numbers as much as they can.
The dragons came swooping from the air and breathing their fire at the adventurers. But of course, those at the backline wouldn’t let any harm from the sky reach them.
The High-End Arch Mages shoots them down one by one. But no matter how many they shot down, their numbers does not feel like it’s decreasing at all.
The vanguards keep on cutting down the monsters relentlessly. The cries of monsters, the explosions of magic, and the clash of weapons are all deafening.
Hundreds of thousands of monsters were slain and yet…
“It just feels like the cup only lost one droplet… There’s no end to them…”
“Everyone is already at the end of their strength, should we go ahead and proceed with ‘that’?”
“I guess it’s about time. Our lives will be wasted meaninglessly if we continue like this. Who was the user again?”
“That Dragon rank, nicknamed ‘Goddess of Fire’, that’s been incinerating a hell lot of monsters.”
“Alright,” he cleared his throat. “YOU LOT! THE TIME HAS COME. ALL OF YOU PREPARE FOR OUR FINAL ACT! WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO ERADICATE THEM ALL, BUT WE WILL SURE AS HELL DWINDLE THEIR NUMBERS!”
“Miss Goddess, it’s about time.”
“I see… At last… I’ll see her again… Wait for me…”
The ‘Goddess of Fire’ then flew above the monsters. She made every single dragon that comes to her way into ashes.
Mages made a strong barrier that was able to block every monster along with their attacks from outside. All the remaining eleven adventurers knelt down and recited a prayer.
“We offer our life to the greater god.”
As soon as they finished their prayer, all of them simultaneously disappeared into a fragment of light and made their way towards the ‘Goddess of Fire.’
The ‘Goddess of Fire’ absorbed the light and went ablaze. Her body was covered in flames with intense heat, anything and everything that she touches or touches her would instantly turn into ashes.
This made the man at the top of the dragon stood up.
“Like I thought, this will get his attention. My time is limited. I will have to reduce their numbers as much as I can.”
She began firing countless small balls of fire. Upon impact they made a huge explosion that leaves no traces monsters.
In a span of thirty minutes, the monster army was reduced to sixty percent of their original size.
“Haah... Haah…. More than five million of combined monsters and wild beasts… from just one person…”
And now, the ’Goddess of Fire’ is breathing heavily. The power she obtained was very strong. It’s a power that is not meant to be wielded by humans. But she was different, she has their blessing. In exchange for the lives of the other powerful humans, she was able to wield this tremendous power.
But there is a downside… They all warned her about this.
This is all so silly. It just felt like yesterday, we were having fun. And now…
“Guh…!” The ‘Goddess of Fire’ coughed blood. “Already…? Heh… I wasn’t able to take even half of your army… But with this…”
The ‘Goddess of Fire’ grew more brightly like a sun and a halo appeared on her head.
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“…Paradise Lost…”
In the blink of an eye, rays of light rained down upon the monsters. Everything, whether they’re on the ground or in the air, were not spared.
As the rain of light continuous its barrage, the ‘Goddess of Fire’ is slowly fading away.
Under her fading voice, she muttered,
“I hope this bought them enough time… Ah… I’m happy… I’ll see you again… R̷͈͐̆̾̄̔̈͒̂͝ǎ̶̰̈̚̕ȩ̵̘͔͓̦͚̰͕͕̥͔̬̫̂̃̍̽̒͛̕͠͝ͅl̵̛̠̥͉̮͇̺̖̱̠̰̺̻͋͆̋͂̓ä̶̢͍͖̙͖̩͈̘̱̗̯̀̐̈́̑̏̄̀̚͜͝͝ͅ…”
With a smile on her face, she disappeared from this world without regret.
*****
“Kuh…! There are too many greed slimes! We can’t hold them for too long like this!” Exclaimed the paladin.
“Just how many of them are there!? There’s no end to them!”
Greed slimes. Slimes that were said to devour anything it sees. Be it a living being, inanimate object, or another greed slime. They are residents of the lowest level of the demon realm. It is said that they can absorb the properties, magic, and skills of anything they consume. That’s why seeing them having coordination and working together, sent the adventurers in disarray.
Summoners who have summoned them and Beast Tamers who tries to tame them will be consumed in an instant, gaining their powers and making themselves powerful.
Due to their nature, summoning and taming of greed slimes became a taboo and was strictly prohibited. Anyone who’s caught summoning a greed slime is faced with death penalty, if they are still alive by the time the knights arrive, that is.
“Setra! Are you done!?” Anxiously asked the Moonlight Swordsman. A much advanced rank of swordsman who draw their power from the moon. He’s continuously cutting down the slimes that breached the paladin’s defenses.
“A little bit more… This is the of my mana, I have to make this right…,” said the High-End Arch Mage, struggling to speak as she continuously charges what seems to be a huge ball of fire. “Everyone! Inside the barrier!”
With her signal every Paladins that were holding back the horde of greed slimes simultaneously casted [Bastion] and made haste inside the barrier. A green wall appeared and blocked the greed slimes’ advancement.
At the same time, the mages and arch mages casted a spell that halted the movement of the greed slimes’ that were trying to climb the green wall.
As the huge fire ball slowly approached the slimes, they were slowly vaporizing. After a while, it touched the ground and a huge explosion followed afterwards. An explosion that could take out the entirety of Light Kingdom.
But strangely enough, none of the structures nor humans in the small area of Luminous town were harmed.
The High-End Arch Mage collapsed after letting go of the huge fireball, but she was swiftly caught by the Moonlight Swordsman.
“You did great, Setra. You can take a rest for now.”
“No… I can’t…,” before she finished her words, she lost consciousness.
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
“As expected of a Dragon rank! She annihilated all those slimes. In an instant,” complimented the lively fighter.
“But what’s more amazing…”
“Yeah. This barrier. Not even a strong direct attack from a Dragon rank was able to graze it, let alone break it.”
“You lot! Enough chit chat! Tend to the wounds of the injured adventurers. Pieter, take Setra to the Luminous church. She’s been fighting for two months straight without sleep, it’s about time it takes a toll on her body. Make sure she’s safe while she’s resting,” ordered the commander.
“Yeah…,” the Moonlight Swordsman walks deep in thought, carrying the unconscious Setra.
The last line of humanity’s defense, Luminous town.
For some reason, ‘he’ ‘spared’ this place up until a month ago. He first razed other kingdoms and empires before touching this town.
It all started after they defeated the ‘Monster King.’ The one responsible for the enhanced monsters.
‘He’ suddenly started acting weird according to this town’s adventurers. At first ‘he’ was so focused on annihilating every monsters and wild beasts. Saying something like, ‘This is to make the world a better place where no monsters nor wild beasts will harm humans ever again.’ Everyone thought it was a noble cause. Having becoming the fifth Dragon rank adventurer, they thought he was fighting for humanity.
But they soon realized they were wrong.
Soon, it was followed with, ‘Not enough! There are still evil in this world!’
He started targeting the town mayors with proven awful reputation. Next the ‘bad adventurers.’ Then the kingdoms and empires waging wars. From there, he lost all senses and started killing everyone that gets in his way.
His party tried to reason with him to stop this madness, but it was all futile.
His strongest member tried to stop him, but… she was powerless against him. She fought until the very end. And when she sensed that ‘he’ was going to kill the remaining members, she made the decision to teleport everyone else except herself to a safe place.
Someone has to stop him. And that someone would be her, or so she thought. The damage caused by their fight was immeasurable. The scenery changed; mountains were leveled, rivers were dried, and abyss that reaches the deepest part of the planet appeared. Their battle completely changed an entire kingdom. Not even a hint that humans ever lived on this kingdom was left. It became barren, unable to support life.
She fought until her very last breath.
His reasoning no longer exists; it was still a debate whether he was still a human or not as he hunted down his party members.
As a result, out of his fifteen members, only two remained alive.
He’s a walking army… Humans, wild beasts, and monsters are all on his command…
He grants everyone under his control power and skills, then enhances their strength.
That’s why he was called…
The Monster Kings’ incarnation…
*****
Inside a rundown church. A saint standing right in front of the altar, closely looking at the building’s door.
Soon after, the door opened and an adventurer came in and walked in front of her.
“Lady Saint…”
“Lay her on the altar.”
He gently laid her down and stepped back.
“She pushed herself too much. She has now entered the ‘State of Repose.’ Fortunately, she’s a powerful and strong-willed individual. She will wake up after four days.”
“Is her body fine? She’s always been conscious about her skin. It would shock her to a great extent if she wakes up and saw a huge scar on her body.”
The saint giggled. “Worry not. I shall not leave any scars on her body. I promise that.”
“Thank you, Lady Saint. Well, then, if you’ll excuse me,” he then walked towards the door.
“Pieter,” she called out.
“Yes?”
“Please do take a rest as well.”
“Understood,” he bowed and walked out of the room.
The saint thought to herself…
This tragedy will not stop soon.
Many bloods were shed.
Many lives were taken.
Many potentials were wasted.
Many lands were erased.
All because of one person.
She smiled.
I still remember the day you saved me in a dungeon.
Even though you weren’t strong, you stood your ground and defeated your foes.
As you reached your hand to me, you asked, “Are you hurt?”
In that moment. I knew you’re not an evil person.
In that moment, I know that if I take your hand, I’ll be able to live.
Tears started forming in her eyes.
In my eyes, you were shining.
In my world where there was nothing but darkness, you became the light that illuminated everything.
You were the one I trusted the most.
You were the one who brought me joy.
You were the one who taught me kindness.
The one I happily spent my life with.
And most importantly…
The one that I loved with all my heart.
How did it come to this…?
Why must this happen…?
Unable to hold it back any longer, her tears flowed down.
Tell me…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Greo…