> Author's note: The past few years has been not that nice to me. Well, I'm not alone in that aspect. But it is what it is. I've entered college (luckily some good soul out there decided to support my entrance to college) and I've become busy with college and part time job and what not. Then Corona happened. Corona actually freed up some more of my time, so I thought why not spend some more into the story I'm trying to write? And here I am.
>
> Anyway, I originally only wanted to post the story after it is fully done. But after some more consideration I said fuck it and I decided to just post the first one. I decided to shelve my previous attempts at making a story for now, since my plans for those stories are too grand and my skills can't catch up to my ambitions. So I am aiming low this time around. Hopefully, with all the small practices I did, I already became better at writing stories.
Within the floating ancient continent of Ngenes, surrounded by a lush ocean of trees, lies the castle of the Demon King. A massive castle, surrounded by four giant towers that act as its guardians.
The Tower of Fire, the Guardian of the North. Guarded by the ferocious and fiery Lamia.
The Tower of Wind, the Guardian of the West. Guarded by the swift and precise Giant.
The Tower of Water, the Guardian of the South. Guarded by the stout Mermaid.
The Tower of Earth, the Guardian of the East. Guarded by the fearsome Angel.
Contained within each of these towers are giant crystals that served as the foundation of the Demonic Kingdom of Yyggra.
With the combined beauty and elegance of the castle, the Guardian Towers, and the striking ocean of trees, not one soul, not even within the kingdoms of earthkin could ever deny their worth.
Right now, however, only faint traces of such beauty existed.
The ocean of trees are burning. Countless trees are uprooted from their homes. Wounds upon the earth itself, inhibiting any and all effort to stop the spread of the destruction. Within the remaining untouched areas of the ocean, audible sounds of despair could be heard.
The four Guardian Towers are nothing but rubbles with countless corpses from all manners of races strewn around as far as the eyes can see. Painting the scene of a tragedy.
The castle had lost most, if not all, of its beauty. Not even a shadow of its former majesty could even be glanced. With many of its parts turned to rubbles, broken, or simply evaporated. Nothing short of cruel could even begin to describe what had happened here.
And within it, inside its throne room, a battle to decide everything is currently going on.
∞
“UOOOOOOOH! You bastaaaaaard!”
A black-haired young man clad in shining aura of golden armor rushed while brandishing his divine sword.
A slash followed by a golden streak of light rushed towards his target, a masked figure clad in black, gouging the floor as it went along.
The masked figure, the Demon King, responded in kind and manifested a sword out of thin air. An eerie sword clad in dark purple demonic energy. It is truly a demonic sword. Yet the young man felt a dizzyingly familiar nature out of it.
The Demon King wielded the sword deftly and effortlessly parried the young man’s attack. The golden streak of light clashed with another purple hued streak of light and produced a shockwave that shook the room.
“Hyah!”
Not backing down, the young man kicked the ground and almost instantly reached the space right in front of the Demon King. His sword moved at blinding speed and cut through the Demon King’s body. The Demon King grimaced. Then the young man noticed. He felt his sword cutting through meat and bones. He was sure of it. He was familiar with it. But there was nothing more. There was none of that distinct smell nor was there any blood from the wound.
Just as the realization dawned on him, the illusion vanished.
“Oh shi-“
The young man tried to pull back, but he was too late.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!”
He felt a searing pain as the cold steel slowly cut through the meat and bone of his arm. His other hand dropped his sword and tried to free himself from the pain, while his legs were flailing and kicking to no avail.
After what must have felt like an eternity, he was raised and thrown towards the door from where he came in earlier.
As soon as his body crashed and dented the metal door, four people came into the room, each one of them showed signs of a great battle that took place before they came here. Their faces paled as soon they watched the bloodied young man fell to the floor.
“Hero!” “Mana!” “Brat!”
They shouted in unison and hurriedly ran towards Mana’s location.
“Ruca! Hurry and heal Mana!”
“I know! I am chanting!”
“…!”
“…!”
The old man hurriedly went and checked on Mana’s body while urging the red-haired bespectacled girl to heal him. At the same time, the blonde twin girls raised their shields and stood between the masked figure and the others.
“This is bad, Tina. I’m not confident that I could block even one of this monster’s attack...”
“I agree… Taliah. Even if we work together, I’m sure that we would definitely be defeated…”
The twins braced themselves as cold sweat ran down their back.
After a period of silence, the Demon King started to talk.
“I’m sorry, Hero. I… lost control of my emotion for a second there.” The Demon King solemnly said.
He produced a ball of water on the palm of his hand and used it to wipe off the blood from his sword.
“Now then… Have you seen the state of this castle of mine, oh Hero? You fight like a barbarian and you act like one still. Have you learnt nothing from our previous exchanges?”
The young man, Mana, while being supported by his friends, glared at the masked figure.
“Shut up! All of this wouldn’t happen if only you demons stop murdering and ruining the lives of everyone!”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The Demon King sighed, dematerialized his sword before turning his back upon the five and sat down on his throne.
“How many times must I tell you this? We have no hands in whatever is happening on earthkin’s kingdoms. I had even shown you evidences of our innocence.” Said the Demon King while resting his chin on his hand.
“LIAR! We all have seen through your lies and deception! You demons razed the entire town of Whitehall through the ground just one month ago! There are proofs of your dirty demon hands all over it! Right when I had started to trust you too! How could you!”
The Hero shouted while vehemently glared at the Demon King. His friends that were supporting him struggled to keep him from falling down due to his intense movement and gesture.
Faced by such behavior, the Demon King only coldly gazed at those below him.
The Demon King was still seated on his throne when he waved his hand. Suddenly, the space behind the throne shattered and revealed the objective of the Hero’s party. A giant crystal, shining brilliantly with a purple hue. It was such a beautiful sight that the Hero party could not help but stare and the crystal and gulped.
“Never mind your accusations.”
The voice of the Demon King brought their attention away from the crystal.
“You came in here, started a war, all to destroy this crystal.” The Demon King said, scoffing, with an obvious anger thinly veiled within his voice.
“And with that, you think that all of your problem within the kingdoms of earthkin will be solved just with the eradication of demonkin?”
As the Demon King was saying that, the pressure surrounding him started becoming denser and heavier. Strong wind appeared with the Demon King as the center. The Hero’s party were nearly blown away when suddenly everything stopped.
The Demon King closed his eyes for a moment. His face contorted into a painful visage. Then… He opened his eyes. A certain resolution could be seen from his gaze.
“Are you ready?” The Demon King said.
“It is time to fulfill my- No. Our promise.”
The four looked towards each other in confusion. None of them has no idea of what the Demon King was talking of.
The crystal slowly float above the Demon King’s throne, leaving a faint trail of purple along its way.
Seeing such a sight reminded them of what had happened during their journey. Painful memories of tragedy surfaced within each of their heads. The Hero’s party quickly braced themselves in anticipation of whatever the Demon King is going to do next.
The Demon King stood from his throne and stretched his hand towards the party.
As soon as this gesture is done, a massive amount of pure magic energy poured out from the crystal towards the Demon King. At the same time, the five of them are suddenly bound and unable to move. Several circles of pure magical energy are tightening and tying their body together in one place.
“This is- Runes!? I can’t cast Dispel on this! Hero! We have no choice! Cast Divine Dispel quick!”
“I can’t! Divine Dispel doesn’t work either!”
The party was shocked. This is the first time that the Hero’s Divine Dispel ever failed.
“No way…” “Impossible…”
The twins said as their faces contorted into a horrified expression.
“Don’t lose hope, girls! If magic failed, then the only option is through brute force!”
“R-right..! Uncle Ron is right!”
Ron and Ruca both tried to cheer Tina and Taliah. However, their expressions had clearly betrayed them.
The Demon King watched this interaction in silence before shaking his head and further increasing his concentration.
The amount and intensity of the crystal’s magic energy resonated with the surrounding magic energy in the air, causing the surrounding magical energy to be excited and moved to the point where they became visible to the naked eye.
The party knew that something big is going to happen. Based on the amount and intensity of the magical energy in front of them, nothing short of the complete destruction of the surrounding castle area and the ocean of trees would suffice once all that magical energy is unleashed.
Even then, even when they are trying everything in their arsenal to break through their bindings, even when they knew that their lives would be forfeited if they failed to break through their bindings, they can’t help but look at the sight in front of them as beautiful. The purple and golden magical energy swirled and turned, creating a shining blooming flower with a divine air around it. For something so demonic, how could it be so beautiful? That kind of thought ran through their minds.
The rumbling air started to calm down as the Demon King successfully gathered the energy into a condensed, squirming ball floating on his palm. He then turned his gaze.
“I think… I have failed.”
The Demon King’s eyes glazed past the Hero’s party. Seemingly looking at a faraway place.
“I tried my best, you know?”
As if conversing to someone, the Demon King continued talking. The Hero’s party is befuddled by everything that is happening in front of them.
“Ah. I know. I am not giving up.”
The Demon King looked somber for a split second. Then, the Demon King sadly smiled.
With his hand, the Demon King unleashed the ball of energy upon them. The resulting stream of magical energy shined brilliantly, enveloping everyone and everything in a grand light.
∞
It’s blinding.
I looked up into the sky and the light was just so bright that I had to use my free hand to cover my eyes from it.
I guess that’s enough break, I thought.
While enjoying the breeze and the sound of wind flowing through the trees, I returned my focus back to the logs of woods before me.
“Well! Let’s continue!”
I shouted, to no one in particular.
“Okay, focus.”
In order to properly use Arts… I have to keep in mind what Teach taught me.
I shut my eyes and eased my thoughts.
“Fuuuh…”
Do not think of unnecessary things. Calm down… Focus.
“Fuuuh…”
Feel the magical energy that exist within and around you.
Slowly, I could feel warmth coming from within me. It crawled and slowly spread all around my body. Along with it, came some small amount of pain. Each time the heat spread, the more intense the pain became.
“Fuuuh…”
Now… wrap myself in a veil of magic energy and contain any of my magic power from leaking.
I can feel something thin and cold slowly wrapping my body. No matter how many times I’ve done this, it always feels weird. It’s like being submerged in a cool pool of water.
Opening my eyes, I raised my axe with both my hands. I stared at my target. A single wooden log about twice the size of my arm.
After taking a long breath-, I put strength into my arms and swing it as hard as I could.
The sound of the axe cutting through air produced a pleasant sound. I like it.
Shortly before the axe made contact with the log, I put even further strength into my arms and stopped it.
“Nggh!”
And then… The log was cut in half.
“Haaah… Okay…”
I look up to the sky and placed both of my hands on my hips as I wipe the sweat that are pouring incessantly.
Body Enhancement magic. A magic that uses both magic power that come from within and magic energy that come from outside to strengthen the body in order to perform incredible feats that are previously physically impossible.
Crash Wave. An Art that uses magic energy to produce a very sharp wind from the blade to attack.
I have been practicing these two techniques while cutting firewood. It’s honestly killing two birds with one stone, this training. It’s nice that I could both practice and help my parents at the same time!
“How many firewood is this again? Hmm… I lost count after the one hundredth… Oh well-“
I took the cut firewood and threw them into the pile. I have been doing this since morning… Now it’s around… Noon? With this much firewood, it will be enough to last us for the week and then some for sale!
I can’t help but smile when I imagine the money that I would get from selling the firewood.
“Hah. That’s enough break. Let’s do this again!”
I put another log onto the stump and ready myself.
“Fuuuh…”
∞
“It’s already pretty late now.”
I said, to no one in particular.
“Whooa!”
Suddenly, the cart I was pulling tilted and shook violently. Some of the firewood fell and scattered all over the roadside.
I checked the condition of the cart for damages, but luckily, nothing is broken. At first glance at least.
The cart did made some worrying sounds. I guess I should ask the carpenter to look at it later. Just in case.
I pick up all the firewood that fell and stack them neatly on the cart once again. After that’s done, I continued walking. Slowly and carefully this time.
“The orange sky is as beautiful as ever.”
I glanced above occasionally as I walk my usual route home. Some stars are starting to be visible.
At around this time every day, if you are lucky, you could see the stars fade in as the sky slowly becoming darker. They are really pretty, I thought.
I continued walking down the road while greeting the villagers I met along the way. I spent some time doing some small talk about this and that with them. Just to kill time. Before long, I arrived at my destination. My home.
I put the firewood I brought at the usual storage, sorting them all out before I leave.
“Good evening, Mom! Dad!”
I opened the door with the usual creak and walk into the kitchen. There, on the table, I saw the food that I prepared earlier.
“Aah, they didn’t finish their lunch... Sheesh.”
I ended up having to throw the rest to the trash. It’s a shame, but, it is what it is.
After I finished washing the dishes, I cleaned myself up and head to the bedroom.
“Oh right,” I knock on my parents’ bedroom just in case. “Mooom, Daaad, do you want to eat?”
“No.”
The voice behind the door said. It’s mom’s voice.
“You sure?” I asked again, just to be sure.
“Yes. Good night.”
Now, dad is the one that answered.
“Well, okay then. Good night you two!”
Come to think of it, they did finished their lunch earlier. The scraps I threw to the trash… I guess I’ll just give them to Reid’s pigs tomorrow.
And with that, I head to my bedroom and sleep.