Chapter - 07

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Shiro felt his head throbbing. As if it would burst. After being engulfed by the mysterious mist, he had found himself in a strange place. His body felt so weak that he had to get on his knees to support himself. He tried to get a grasp of things. Looking around he saw he was in a huge hall. There were tall pillars supporting a ceiling over a hundred metres high. The pillars showed intricate designs which had been worn down by the passage of time. There were statues of angels, demons knights and many others. Looking behind Shiro found a massive door that was closed. On it were gilded images of demons and gods locked in an eternal battle. There were also amours holding various weapons, Their once sparkling forms now covered in dust and dirt.

"So the cycle of fate lets us meet again..."

He heard a sweet melodious voice. Turning his head around he saw a huge throne in the distance.

And on it was a solitary figure of a lady.

"We meet again, Prince of time"

* * *

Shiro looked at the girl before him. Right after he had arrived in this room, he had met this mysterious girl. She was seated on a huge throne, like an empress. Her eyes were closed as if she was asleep. And just as Shiro had taken a step towards her, suddenly her eyes had opened. Shiro immediately was forced to drop on his knees. The previously silent hall was now filled with a tremendous and vast pressure. The girl looked around her a few times and sighed, and then her eyes fell on the kneeling boy before her. She gave a gentle smile.

Her appearance was beyond words. Long silky black hair that reached below her knees, a face so beautiful and charming as if carved out from white jade, the goddesses of heaven would be put to shame. A pair of black eyes which seem to suck you in, complemented by long eyelashes . A hourglass body with slender arms and long legs and a very thin waist, yet she had abundant curves at the right places. Clad in a tight fit black one piece dress, her figure was giving a, bestial sex appeal. No man could remain unaffected by her charm. Even Shiro was at a loss and instintively gulped. A devils body with the face of an angel. All in all she looked like a painting of perfection. But, Shiro knew better. Under this seemingly enchanting appearance, was a power so vast, that it nearly suffocated him. He was barely holding himself together. The pressure this girl gave was in one word, 'Overbearing'. The Arachne he had fought earlier did not have a fraction of this strength. He as Master Knight ranked warrior, felt an instinctive fear clutch his heart, he tightly gritted his teeth to endure. This girl was strong. Too strong. Before her, he felt like a fly before a titan. His back was drenched in cold sweat.

The girl looked at him and smiled. Suddenly the pressure on him vanished. Shiro gasped for breaths. His eye still fixed on her.

"Hmm....why do you cover that eye of yours ?"

The girl asked. She then waved her hand and the eyepatch covering shiro's right eye turned to burned to ashes, leaving Shiro unhurt surprisingly. As soon as his eye was uncovered, the throbbing in it intensified. Shiro felt great pain as he clutched his head. He felt that his head would burst. Looking at him the girl frowned.

"Hmm...So it turns out that your eye has been corrupted.... But that should not be possible. To corrupt this power.... unless...." She suddenly grabbed his face and looked straight into his eye. Shiro tried to release himself from her grasp but no mater how much he tried her thin arms didn't move an inch.

"....So you forcibly awakened the power before you were ready and it resulted in the mutation of your eye....Sigh, What a foolish thing to do. Yet..." She gave a gentle smile, her eyes for the first time showed a hint of care, ".... forcibly or not, you still managed to awaken this power. Thats a miracle in itself. But for you, should i say that it is expected ? Hehe you truly are the 'Prince of Time' after all."

She placed her hand on his eye and a faint light glowed. Instantly, the pain vanished as if it was never there in the first place. Shiro looked stunned. The eye which had pained him for a long time had suddenly been cured by this girl.

"There you have it. I detoxified your eye, or burnt the corrupted energy, take it as you want. From now on, it will no longer be a burden to you. Instead it will be a great help..."

"...You..." For the first time since their meeting, Shiro spoke up, "....do you know about my eye ?"

She smiled and Didn't answer him.

"Let me tell you a story, a story of ages ago...." She said. Shiro could only look at her in a daze.

* * *

In a time, long ago, there was a child in a small village in a human kingdom. Born in the house of a humble peasant, was a little boy. But the boy was like none ever seen. Hair blacker than the night, eyes, redder than fire. The only, one of his kind. The villagers were scared of him. For his looks somehow awakened the inborn sense of dread in them. His eyes, they said were like a demons. The adults shunned him, while other children ran away from him. The child grew up alone. He didn't speak much, he didn't try to socialise, always by himself. Yet, despite his looks, his mother and father raised him with all their love. The boy was sad in his heart because of the villagers' behaviour, but his parents love made him much more happier. His father was a retired soldier of the kingdom, while his mother was a regular village girl. His father had come to this village as a guardsmen at a time when monsters were frequently attacking this area. His father had fallen in love with his mother and stayed back and married her.

In the morning he would help his mother in their fields , tending to the crops. In the evening he would learn the ways of the sword from his father. And then in the night he would enjoy, eating a modest but delicious dinner cooked by his mother. And then he slept soundly, while his mother gently hugged him. This was all that he needed. He never asked for anything more. These days of peace with his family, were all that he wanted.

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Sadly, those days came to an end.

In those times there was a certain church which was rapidly expanding its influence. Across the human nations. The church heralded humans as the superior of all other races and condemned the rest. The other races like the elves, werebeasts, dwarves, fairies, demons, and the like, were but vermin to the church. Over the years they had promoted violence and discrimination against these races from the shadows. And one fateful day they heard of a boy in the rural outbacks of a kingdom. A boy with black hair and red eyes. A feature only seen in demons. And so they did what they believed was god's will.

One rainy night while the boy was sleeping in his mothers warm embrace while his father tended to some farm tools, a troop of templars led by a high priest arrived at their village asking for the boy with black hair and rey eyes. A friend of the father hurriedly informed the family of the impeding threat. The father had feared this since their son was born. He knew of the church and its policies. Bolting the door from he woke his wife and child up. The family fled the house through a back door towards the surrounding forests, in hopes to escape. In the dark night as the torrential rains poured, the family ran for their lives. But fate wasn't going to allow them escape. The templars soon caught up to them. Backed on a cliff beyond which gurgled a mad river, the family was left with nowhere to escape. The priest assured the parents that they would be spared if they give them their child. That their child was a evil that had to be destroyed. The husband and wife looked at each other and smiled. They nodded to the priest who smiled in return. Then the boy's mother kissed her child on the forehead and said.

"I love you son. Me and your father will always be with you. Whenever you want to see us just think of us in your heart and we will be there for you..."

She said while smiling yet tears streamed down her face. The father too patted his son's head and said, with a fearless smile,

"Be a strong man son!"

And then before anyone could react, the parents pushed their child off the cliff, into the flooded river. The priest who had figured their plan, furious with rage, ordered his templars to kill the two. Before the boy fell the last thing he saw was his parents being sliced to pieces by swords and their blood splattered his face. But before the templars could catch him, the river had already swallowed its prey.

The boy broken from his parents death, couldn't even struggle as his vision went black.

The templars and the priest, headed back, thinking that a boy that small, wouldn't be able, to survive in a raging river.

* * * *

Hours later, as the flow became calm, the river deposited a child, unconscious but still breathing, onto a desolate bank. The boy who had not even seen ten seasons pass by, was now all alone. He had no one in this world. Some time later, a passing demon, found him. He took pity on the child and though it was a human, the demon took the boy with him, to the demons' territory. The demon raised the boy who was broken beyond repair. It taught him how to fight, how to use magic. The boy learnt everything he could. His hollow eyes had no feelings in them. Only a silent but unfathomable burning fire ravaged his heart, it cried.

"REVENGE! REVENGE! REVENGE!"

The boy had great affinity with the darkness magic, something which was never before seen among humans. Under the guidance of the demon whom the boy called his teacher, he immersed himself in the study of magic and battle skills.

Years had passed. A young child was now a grown man. And the darkness within him had grown as well. Now he was no longer the little boy, the darkness had swallowed him. All on his mind was revenge. He still wanted to grow stronger. Stronger than anyone on this world. So that he would be able to get his revenge. So he went to capture spirits. Magical beings who were said to be born from pure mana. These beings were sentient and extremely strong. The man chased down and after many near death battles, he captured 72 spirits and enslaved them. And these 72 were no ordinary spirits. They were among the strongest of their kind. And the one who ruled them all would later be feared and called, "The demon King Solomon".

* * *

Two decades had passed since a family was killed on a cliff by the templars. The boy who had once been a weak child had returned as a lord. He massacred the entire village, and then moved on to do the same with the entire kingdom. He found the priest who had caused the death of his parents, and tortured him for days, keeping him alive using darkness magic. The torture continued, until the priest was but a living corpse. But even after all this bloodshed, his rage was still not cooled. Solomon swore to wipe out the human race. He then joined hands with the then demon king and declared war on humans. He then took the kingdom that he destroyed, for himself, and hung the body of that priest on top of his castle.

A few neighbouring nations under the influence of the church attacked demon king Solomon's kingdom, only to be obliterated by him alone. His 72 spirits once on the battlefield, were unstoppable.

After this, the other nations under the guidance of the church, united to take down Solomon. A great war waged for over a hundred years. On one side was the union of the last nations of men, and on the other side was Solomon and his allies, mostly the races that hated humans, like demons, dark elves and few more. He also commanded hordes of demonic beasts using his spirits as mediators. One by one the nations of men fell under the might of Solomon. Till only a few handful remained. He exterminated the Church and all its people till the ninth generation, not even chickens and dogs were spared. Rivers of blood soaked the lands.

The gods who were watching all this finally decided to act. They chose 12 mighty warriors from the races, and gave them great powers and the title of 'Hero'. 12 mighty warriors, united all the races, forgetting past grudges. Under their lead, the last alliance of the races met the forces of Solomon right at his castle. In the final battle that ensured for the fate of the world, tens of thousands died from both sides. And after days of fighting, eleven of the twelve heroes fell in battle, killed by Solomon himself. But even he, the great Demon king, had suffered heavy losses. His 72 spirits had been gravely injured and defeated. Even then without his strongest force, Solomon held his ground. But all things have a end. In the ultimate sacrifice, the last hero used a forbidden spell, boosting his power and finally took down the Great Demon King Solomon. An era of terror and deaths had come to an end. But the hero paid the heaviest of prices for the power. His body slowly froze in ice and then shattered into pieces.

The world cheered as the long battle for freedom had finally come to an end. Through the toll of countless deaths, the races had earned their freedom. Slowly as the seasons went on, these battles, the great Demon king Solomon became legends, legends became myths, myths became stories, which were then forgotten. The 72 spirits were never seen again. The world once again returned to relative peace....

"...Or thats what everyone thinks"

The lady said with a teasing smile, finally finishing her tale. The boy who was till now silently listening, slightly furrowed his brows. The lady walked around looking at the various things placed in the great hall. Her gait was filled with grace. The boy felt as if he was watching a true Queen. A lady who was a queen, in her very being. The Lady stopped right before him who was kneeling. She crouched and gazed into his eyes.

"...but now, you being here, Prince of Time, is a beacon of a new age... Once again the world will fall into chaos, once again rivers of blood will flow, and as the evil that slept for eons now wakes, lets see what you will do..."

She said gently caressing the boy's face. Her face for the first time showing a gentle expression.

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