Chapter - 0 : Prologue

- - - - -

"One day, I realised I had nothing,

The pockets I thought were filled with happiness,

Were actually completely empty.

I had never put in the effort to fill them with anything,

So that was only natural.

But I, couldn't even understand that.

Because I had ambled along through an aimless, insubstantial life.

And then one day, suddenly,

I sensed that I had lost a great deal of time.

I have to start over.

And, do everything right next time."

----- Memoirs of a Nameless Knight

-×-×-×-

Five years ago, Empire of Germania.

The Empire of Germania was one of the biggest countries in the world of Iseria. It is a world around 100 times larger than our Earth. A world of sword and magic, where fantasy is the reality. Germania was an empire of such an world, where all landmasses are joined into one single super continent with a humongous ocean surrounding it. There were countless Islands scattered in this ocean, some as small as a football field, some larger than 100,000 square kilometres. In this world, a plethora of races dwell, ranging from the major sentient races like Demigods, Spirits, Elementals, Dragons, Gigants, Flügels, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Demons, Werebeasts, Mermaids, Humans to savage demonic beasts and monsters. In such a world, Empire of Germania had a history of over a millennia. Its neighbouring countries didn't near its greatness in age, territory and war potential. Many great kingdoms and empires had appeared and disappeared but Germania remained firm, with the passage of time.

The majestic blue moon shone in the cloudy sky of Iseria with all its glory. Underneath, on the land, was the huge majestic Royal castle of the Steins family, the family which ruled the empire of Germania since its founding. The castle was half built half carved out of a dead but gigantic volcanic mountain. It was decorated with beautiful marble and decorated with lavish paints was burning.

The Empire of germania was huge. Spread over 700,000 square kilometres in area, it had many small kindoms and vassal states under its control. This was a result of relentless expansion in the past centuries. The empire had conquered the plain lands of the werebeasts ( the beast-people ) the sacred forests of the elves, and the rich mines and cities of the dwarves. It is not even known how many other races was they wrecked havoc on. Many neighbouring kingdoms were also invaded and conquered. The empire never hesitated on killing hundreds of thousands in the process and enslaving even more. As its power grew and the surrounding nations began to fear its power, the rulers of the Empire grew sporadic. Corruption spread all over the government machinery and the life of the common citizen became worse than hell. Many revolts and protests rose against the rule of the royal family but all of those were brutally crushed. People were publicly executed, their families slaughtered, daughters and wives violated and dumped in the alleys. The crime rate surged, the greed of the nobles overflowed. All in all the people starved and were exploited in all possible ways. It seemed there was no salvation for the people of the empire.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

But on that day it all changed.

The sky darkened as lightning and thunder lit the clouds, the bright blue moon surprisingly stayed out of the clouds in this weather. In the lawns of the royal castle which was now ablaze akin to a gigantic campfire, A brigade of over fifty knights of the royal guard charged towards their enemy, only to be cut to pieces in the next instant. The naked eye could not even catch what killed them.

Five years ago, after a span of centuries of tyrannical rule, the Steins empire ( as Germania was known back then under the name of the ruling family, Steins.) was over thrown in a coup d'etat.

The once proudly swaying royal flag which had the image of a golden dragon on a black shield on a black background, the coat of arms, the symbol of the Steins family, was reduced to ashes. The 2000 knights of the castle who belonged to the royal guard were being mercilessly slain. The once glorious golden armour were torn to pieces. The once sharp and shining sword shattered into pieces. The royal castle became a graveyard of bodies.

The one who achieved that was a solitary black knight.

Even now, the true identity of that knight remains a mystery.

As the knights surrounded the assailant, one brave knight charged at him. The next moment he was shoved into the royal symbol, the coat of arms of the Steins family, engraved on the grand gate of the castle, smashing it to pieces. The knight's body turned into a crushed pulp. The other knights who were present there subconsciously took a step back. Fear, Horror and Despair eminent on their faces. From the black knights' sword fresh blood was dripping. In a flash the rest of the knights are turned to sliced meat. While the Royal guard was massacred the rebel forces who had taken up arms against the royal family clashed with the infantry. They managed to win as their numbers overwhelmed those of the army's, albeit suffering heavy losses. But when they reached the royal castle, all was already over.

Full of respect and fear, the people would tell the tale of this lone person whom they called....The Saviour.

A young girl barely seven years old was limply walking in a long corridor of the burning and crumbling castle. Her once expensive dress now in tatters covered in dirt and grime. Her long hair was also in a similar state. Her well featured face would be considered extremely beautiful but her hollow eyes destroyed this image. The numerous wounds gaping from the tears in her dress and the blood stains all over her told a horrifying tale. What she had gone through in this castle only she knew. Just when she some how barely managed to exit the castle, she fell down her legs having no more strength. Her consciousness grew dimmer, and her eyes grew heavier. But then she saw it. The figure of a lone person walking with a sword in hand. The sword was dripping fresh blood, drop by drop. Behind it, the entire castle was burning, as if showing a tribute to this figure. Entirely clad in black it looked like the reaper itself. As fate would have it, it turned towards her. All she could see was a pair of mismatched eyes, one red one blue look towards her, for a moment their gazes and her heart nearly stopped in instinctive terror. The figure not the least interested in her, swiftly walked away, and vanished from the castle not to be found anywhere again.

☆ ☆ ☆