The continent of Lirgo is entering its second year of war against the demons and their powerful armies.
Many countries are no more than a reflection of their power, while others have already disappeared.
For several months now, the demons have been turning their strength towards the kingdom of Farosse, and in a desperate move, the kingdom gathered its best mages in the city of Maros.
Holy Cathedral of Maros
Archmage Durale opened the doors and headed towards the centre of the cathedral, where a good number of magicians and members of the army were already gathered.
Once everyone had arrived, one of the soldiers spoke.
"3 months ago, while exploring the ruins of the legendary city of Toutchal, our most valiant adventurers made a discovery in the lower levels.
They found the relics of a long-forgotten spell used to summon a hero."
The room shook under the military man's revelation.
"Silence!" He replied.
"The information on this spell is fragmentary, but we have been able to understand the conditions under which it can be activated.
To enable the spell to work, a large quantity of mana must be brought together at a single point, a task that will be carried out by the sage Jenie and the archmage Durale.
The second condition, and the most regrettable of all, is that to enable the worlds to fracture, we must pay a heavy price in human souls, whose crossing into the realm of the dead will enable this fracture to take place.
Murmurs were heard, some protesting at the use of such a spell without the slightest guarantee of success, when suddenly someone stood up and spoke.
"Sir, we have no guarantee that this invocation will succeed and you say you're ready to sacrifice thousands of potential soldiers for a hero who may not be powerful enough against the demons!
A heavy silence fell over the soldier, but before he had time to reply he was cut off by Captain Egarthy, who spoke up.
"We know, all this has been discussed at length in the capital, our king has decided to select slaves as well as those condemned to death to limit the losses in the population."
The briefing went on for hours, with various questions being raised, but in the end all doubts were dispelled and each magician was motivated for the task in hand.
That evening, after the army briefing, Durale watched the moon, trying to hide his worried expression.
"They're probably pinning too much hope on this summoning - even one person with the best powers in the world couldn't beat the demons, the king is pinning too much hope on the summoning."
While thinking about what could go wrong, he couldn't stop thinking about the presence of the king who, if he failed, could blame him and his team.
2 days later
road to Maros
The usual calm of the countryside was broken by the presence of a convoy and its escort approaching the town of Maros.
"How much time do we have left?" Asked the king, questioning General Pirus.
We'll arrive in 2 hours at the invocation site, where a welcoming committee is already waiting for you with great pomp and ceremony.
The king wore a thin smile. Great," he said, "let them know that the invocation session will start an hour after my arrival.
"I'll send it to them." replied the general.
Minutes passed before the general returned with a message for the king. "Sire?"
"What is it?" The king replied.
"Soldiers posted upstream reported locating a demon transporter not far from the cathedral grounds, the transporter was empty but appeared to have been used recently."
The king seemed perplexed by his general's statement."Would he be aware of our intentions to summon a hero, if so they will surely take advantage of it while he is still weak."
Suddenly the king was out of his thoughts. "Have everyone in and around the cathedral checked, also send wyvern patrols into the area and prepare a group of soldiers who will be used to protect the hero, there's a chance the hero will be their target."
"Fine sire, I'll pass the message on to them." Replied the general.
A few hours later at the cathedral
After several hours of searching and patrolling, a soldier sent in his report.
"Captain Egarthy our troops have searched every person as well as the entire cathedral and we have found no trace of a demon."
The captain seemed disappointed by the soldier's report.
"We have no choice, we'll just have to hope they're not around." At the same time, the sound of trumpets began to sound, announcing the arrival of the king.
The king observed the hedge of honour in front of him, at the end of which was Captain Egarthy. "This is a very nice welcome you're giving me." He said.
"How have the preparations gone in this short space of time?"
As soon as the king had finished, the captain replied: "Everything was completed this morning, the males are ready for the invocation. All we need now is your presence to get started."
"This is all wonderful, I have been informed of the presence of demons in the area, have you found them?"
Egarthy tried to avoid his king's gaze. "Unfortunately, whether on the ground or in the air, we have found no trace of the transporter's crew.
The king wore a look of both disappointment and fear. "Enough of this subject, tell the mages to get ready, we start in an hour."
Later on
Durale observed for the umpteenth time the king's more than serious gaze, which never ceased to send shivers down his spine.
"If I can't do it in front of the king with the look on his face, what the hell's going to happen to me?Suddenly Durale was brought out of his thoughts by a soldier calling out to him. "Archmage Durale and sage Jenie, you may begin."
The room began to light up as the mana collection procedure progressed and all the mages could be heard reciting in unison a description of the hero they were asking for.
"Primary divinity, we implore you to grant our request by sending us a strong hero capable of repelling demons. A hero who could bring peace to the continent with his strength and power."
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Sage Jenie then condensed the flow of mana and sent it to the summoning stele.
Just as she did so, an immense earthquake followed by a great flash of light caused part of the cathedral to collapse, killing all those sacrificed as well as a few unfortunate soldiers who hadn't reacted quickly enough.
Confused Durale tried to regain his composure. "What's happened I've failed?" He looked around frantically. "There are no heroes sacrificing their lives, so what was the point and why did it cause such a tremor that it destroyed the cathedral?
Once everyone had come to their senses, the king began to give various instructions. "Conduct an investigation into what has just happened, while awaiting further results take the magi in for questioning."
The king then went out through the huge hole that had ripped open the cathedral, and was surprised to see the city in flames and destruction. "Get all the troops out of this ruin and come and help the wounded in the city.
The king tried as best he could to hide his anger at the chaos. "Not only did we not get the hero, but we also got one of the biggest agricultural cities in ruins, my kingdom is now on the brink of ruin.
a few minutes earlier
2nd wyverne patrol
Somewhere above Maros a patrol of wyverns was observing the area, always on the lookout for demons.
"We've been asked to patrol for demons for an hour now but there's nothing of interest, in my opinion the army is panicking over nothing, what could demons possibly find here anyway."
"It might have something to do with the king's presence in the area." Replied his colleague.
When suddenly the two riders were blinded by a light coming out of nowhere.
"But what arg I can't see anything."
Once the light had dissipated and the riders had come to their senses, they tried to contact their base.
~Tho to base we've just seen a powerful flash of light.~
crush crush crush
Despite several attempts, no communication seemed to reach their magiccom.
"What's going on down there, I can't get any answers." He said in a panicked tone, and it was only after a few minutes that the group could hear a communication from the base.
~crush base crush do you copy?~
An air of relief could be seen between Tho and his colleague, but before he even had time to ask what had happened his colleague drew his attention in one direction of the forest.
"How on earth is that possible?" He said, looking in that direction.
~To begin with, we're dealing with an anomaly in the forest.~
~What do you mean by that?~ Replied the base.
~The river has changed course, there are new mountains and gigantic cities.~ He replied.
There was a moment of silence from the base.~We've taken note of your observation, can you make contact with any of these cities?~
~Unfortunately no, there's been no response, although there has been some commotion in certain places.~ He couldn't continue his sentence as he looked around the city.
~We've got a big problem! There's a lot of what look like demon carriers on this street.~
~Don't tempt the devil and come back to base, we'll send a team to investigate from the ground.~
~Sure.~
investigation troop
In the forest bordering the town of Maros, a patrol of knights urgently diverted towards the anomaly, breaking the plant-like silence that had settled in. Tercen, the patrol's leader, said. "We have been told by the Wyvern riders that we are close to the anomaly, so please proceed with caution."
Almost immediately after these words, a soldier called out to the group about what he saw in front of him.
The group was speechless as they watched a gigantic city rise up on the other side of the river.
The group was speechless as they watched a gigantic city rise up on the other side of the river [https://img.wattpad.com/6519895e29f623feca142f3e4250077a129f95d7/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f754e6558497030614e64574744513d3d2d313336303936333133332e313737303561303536636333386133313535313732303731363830312e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"It's even more impressive than I've been informed." Tercen said, looking out over what was once a forest.
"Look at that bridge you're standing on, with a gigantic arch held up by ropes." Exclaimed one of the soldiers, the other observing a series of buildings of a height out of all proportion to the surrounding buildings. "I think it's a castle." Tercen said admiringly.
"What are we doing, boss?" Asked one of the soldiers.
"Perla send our observations to the base while informing them that we are going to cross this strange bridge to investigate the anomaly further."
ruin of the cathedral
"The cathedral is in ruins." The king thought to himself as he looked at what was once the largest cathedral on the continent, suddenly a soldier called out to the king with news.
"Sire we have received communications from the capital as well as from the group sending out about the anomaly."
The king sighed. "Go on, the day can't get any worse anyway."
"The group that was sent to the anomaly have confirmed the claims of the Wyvern riders and that the river has indeed changed its course as if it had always been there, they have gone to inspect what they suspect to be a castle." The king looked thoughtful at this information.
"And what is the message from the capital?"
The knight continued, looking more worried than at first. "For the capital, it's a collection of information from several cities surrounding the Fartos Sea, all of which report having felt a devastating earthquake followed by a blinding light that left a different landscape, as did the sea, where the first battle fleet encountered a large land barrier closing off the Pluvia Sea.
"What on earth is going on?" The king said to himself after hearing the report given by the soldier.
The king was trying to make sense of it all but the more he thought about it the more it seemed to irritate him, when suddenly Archmage Durale snapped the king out of his reflections. "Sire, what if all this could have something to do with the summoning."
The king blurted out. "By the moon what have we done."