A man snapped his head up, gasping for breath.
He turned his head around the area to find it littered with human and demon corpses around him.
His mind snapped back to reality.
He was in the middle of a war. The demons had launched a surprise attack which devastated the border regions. It had happened so quickly. The demons had operated a spatial channel straight to their front door.
Thankfully, the church had long set up protective barriers to ward off against the demons. The barriers carried the power of the divinities and were able to protect against all evil energy, at least that was what everyone thought.
Ting!
The man looked back.
The golden crystalline barrier which surrounded the city shook and dimmed considerably. It no longer carried the same splendor as the man had seen when he first arrived. It seemed like the barrier wouldn't last for much longer.
Corruption spread through the spatial channel and the once vibrant lands were slowly transformed into corrupted land. The light of providence which once fell upon this land slowly began to recede the further the warriors of light were pushed back.
Though the warriors of light were continually being pushed back, the side of the demons were losing more forces through their complete disregard of their own lives.
The high-class demons matched by their polar opposites, took to the air and fought for supremacy there.
The man turned back to himself. He was but a low-class foot soldier who had been drafted a few months ago. No redeeming qualities, he was as average of a guy you could find in any run-of-the-mill village. However, the army always needed more and more people and with the demon’s ability to move through spatial tunnels, the holy empire always had to be ready. If nothing went wrong, he would return within two years but the demons suddenly decided to attack.
He could still remember the last thought he had before he blacked out. His platoon, led by a holy knight, came face to face with a high-class demon. The demons summoned out a demonic troll, at least five meters tall. They never stood a chance.
The man knew he was lucky to have survived but also didn't know what to do. There weren't any allies or enemies within his vicinity as they probably thought this area to be a dead zone. Even if he tried to return to the city to fight, he would probably die before he could make it. He was a lone foot soldier. What could he do?
However, despite the helplessness he felt in his heart, he suddenly thought about his wife. He took out a picture of his darling wife. He had used the last bit of his money to commission an artist paint this for him before coming here.
The women in the picture was of a braided brown-haired woman. There was nothing spectacular of this painting that anyone would take note of but seeing the smile on this woman's face, the man's heart settled down.
"Lana, my love, I will return soon."
With the declaration made in his heart, he scoured the area for anything that could help him make it back.
The platoon leader was found several meters away, smashed into the dirt. It was likely he had been crushed by the demonic troll.
The man took the leader's sword but decided not to take the armor. He was afraid it would make him too flashy and catch the attention of the demons.
The city was surrounded by mountainous ranges which acted as a natural barrier and made this city the greatest gate into the human world. The loss of this city would devastate its inhabitants and lead to countless deaths.
The man could not scale the mountain and so there was only one way back to the city.
"Gods of light, please guide this faithful servant to the path of light so that he may return to the ones who wait for him. My blessings have been plenty for I have been gifted to be with my beloved wife. I thank the lords and their everlasting love and ever merciful guidance."
Having offered a short prayer, the man slowly and cautiously began to tread his way back. He avoided areas with heavy demon presence and hid behind dead bodies whenever he thought he may be spotted.
Using all of his focus, he was able to make it halfway through before he was finally spotted by a demon. The demon had been munching on an elf corpse before noticing a shadow move about.
The demon roared and immediately charged towards the man.
"Dammit!"
He lifted his sword and met with the demon's claw. It was a lower tiered demon, fit only to act as cannon fodder but compared to a normal foot soldier, it was plenty strong enough to take on two or three of them.
The man was forced down by the demon barely keeping the claws from digging into his throat.
The demon cackled at the human's futile attempts to survive. It lunged its head towards the man's shoulder and ripped off a chunk of flesh.
"ARGGGHHHHH!" The man screamed in pain.
The man's screams seemed to only excite the beast’s appetite.
Adrenaline pumping, he moved his injured arm to the nearest object and grabbed whatever he could reach. He smashed a helmet against the demon's head, stunning it. Before the demon knew what had happened, a sword plunged deeply, moving as easy as knife to butter.
The demon fell but the man was also heavily injured. Blood continued to flow out, staining his clothes. However, he didn't dare stop moving. He was worried if he stopped, he wouldn't be able to move again.
He tried his best to stop the blood flow by wrapping the wounded area tightly with some cloth but it only served to slow it down.
He stumbled past the demon corpse and continued on his path.
No one else paid any attention to this weak human. The battle between the two sides were reaching their climax and the barrier was weakening every second. Once broken, the city was doomed and its inhabitants was as good as dead.
In the sky, three powerful beings were engaged in battle.
An Abyssal Lord, below only the demon king, rained hell fire from above.
A six-winged Seraphim summoned a holy shield which protected the people below. At the same time, a masked individual rushed in like lighting, piercing through the air with his mighty spear. The masked individual represented the church's greatest power, known only as the Great Holy Knights. The spear radiated with holy energy, and pierced through the heart of the abyssal lord.
However, though the spear churned its blackened flesh, no pain was felt by the lord. Rather, a malevolent smile crept up.
"Our race cannot die, so long as every man, women, and child feel greed, jealousy, gluttony. All the sins of man make us ever lasting; but you, all light eventually fades.”
Chains suddenly exploded out, entrapping the great knight and slowly pulling him towards the abyssal lord.
Try as he might, he couldn't not break free.
The seraphim yelled out: "You will not take one of ours with you! Face retribution!"
Divine light burst from above and struck down. The light encompassed a full hundred meters, killing off any demons caught within its radius.
The abyssal lord was disintegrating within the light but before the light could truly vaporize him, the knight was finally close enough and the hole which had been formed by his spear opened and chomped down, engulfing him completely.
Blood-red light leaked out and began to overturn the divine light. The two forces fought for supremacy over the other, distorting space in the process but neither could overcome the other.
The two forces were in a stalemate but that was when the abyssal lord finally laughed a laugh so horrid, it would send shivers down the spines of any men who heard it.
Boom!
The abyssal lord exploded, leaving only the top portion of his head flying through the air.
The seraphim stared at the flying chunk of what used to be the abyssal lord but did not give chase. Instead, his attention was turned towards the other two abyssal lords currently locked in battle with his allies.
…
His conscious increasingly blurred and though his body begged him to stop, the man continued to walk.
The only thought in his mind was to continue forth, to return to the one he loved.
In a blink of an eye, the chunk of the abyssal lord screened past him and crashed down.
The man was knocked to the ground by the force of the crash.
"W-what…"
He turned his head and was instantly face to face with the abyssal lord.
Though just a head with a half shoulder, the abyssal lord's piercing red eyes looked as if they were staring straight into the man's soul.
"Come," The lord's words transmitted to the man's frail mind.
Though the man knew the thing in front of him was an enemy completely outside his scope of understanding, the voice came to him like a lure. It enticed his body to move and approach the lord.
"What is it that you want, human? Is it wealth? Women? Power?" As the words of the lord came into his mind, the man began to envision himself with piles of gold, surrounded by beautiful women, standing on top of a throne with everyone bowing below him.
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"It can all be yours if you want it. You merely have to grasp it."
A black orb suddenly dropped from the abyssal lord's mouth.
The man, still entranced by the lord's words, could now hear whispers of corruption.
"Take us past the barrier."
"Everything you want is yours for the taking."
"Consume it all! Let us consume you!"
The man slowly reached for the orb and the moment he touched it, corruption spread through out his body and he sprawled in pain but it only lasted for a moment. Something began to form within the recess of his soul as the orb fused into to his hands.
He rose up and began to walk towards the direction on the barrier. Corruption and sin filled his mind and his body moved based on the whispers. They told him to get to past the barrier, go past it and destroy everything!
As the abyssal lord watched the man leave, he lowly muttered to himself, "Man… so easily corrupted. The war is ours… only oblivion… remains." The light from the abyssal lord disappeared and the rest of his body faded to nothing.
…
The battle continued to wage on and the warriors of light were on their last legs. They did everything they could to deter the demons from attacking the barrier which was miraculously still holding on.
"Hang on just a bit more! Reinforcements are almost here!"
The general was shouting.
The entire barrier ran off the power of divinity but with corruption encroaching, it was weakening the divinity quite a bit. If not for the branch of the church of Dagda, which had been stationed here and its many believers offering their holy powers, the barrier would have likely fallen a while ago.
However, it wasn't enough and even the power of the believers was beginning to run thin through the constant push from the demon forces. If they could just hold out a bit more, the empire's forces will reach them and entirely overturn the situation.
Hope could be seen on the faces of everyone there at the general's shout.
When the demons appear, the world of light would be quick to respond!
Out of nowhere, the demons suddenly stopped attacking and backed away slightly.
The two abyssal lords also disengaged their fight with their respective partners; several legendary adventurers, a great holy knight, and the seraphim eyed the abyssal lords from the side.
"What game are you demons playing at?" The seraphim asked, slightly weary.
"No game, your destruction has simply arrived." One of the abyssal lords spoke brutishly.
"Your spatial channels have been destroyed; no further forces will come to support you. What other tricks do you demons have?" The seraphim stared coldly.
"Like moths to a flame, man have always tried to advert their eyes to sin but given the chance, they would jump into the pits of hell in order to experience what it is like. Corruption is ever present and it only takes one step to bring it out."
As his words end, the demons began to part way and a man could be seen slowly making his way through. The people behind the barrier were all shocked, seemingly thinking this man had turned to the sides of the demons, but to those of the higher level, their eyes were all fixated on the black orbs in his hands.
"An obsidian orb…"
Obsidian orbs were the bane of humanity. They were orbs of pure demonic energy, infused with the essence of high-class demons and manufactured to cause mass extinction. A single obsidian orb, if let through the city barriers, could level an entire city and kill off all of its inhabitants. Corruption would spread profusely, even reaching other cities before stopping. Plagues and diseases would run through the air and pollution would destroy the lands. Only through restoration magic could the corrupted land be cleaned but even that could take decades to revert the damage it had done.
Allowing an obsidian orb to detonate in the city was the beginning of a catastrophe, especially in this city which represented the gate into the world of light.
So long as the barrier held up, the demons would never be able to detonate the obsidian orb within the city but with this man… The barrier did not stop the children of god from passing through. Even with corruption flowing through this man's veins, with the barrier’s weaken state, it would not hold the man back.
"We cannot let the obsidian orb through! Stop him!" The seraphim shouted urgently.
The seraphim immediately released his holy energy towards the zombie like man, completely enveloping within holy light.
However, as soon as the light dimmed, everyone could see the man was completely unharmed.
"H-How could this be?"
The abyssal lord laughed.
"Can you not see?"
The seraphim frowned and immediately used his holy sight on the man. To someone of the level of the seraphim, nothing about the man could be hidden. He could see past the body, past the organs, all the way to the soul and finally he saw it.
The soul was clean but within the deepest reaches of the soul was a seed of corruption.
"You gave him a corruption seed!"
Everything had a beginning and the beginning of corruption began from a seed. It could be said the first seed of corruption came from the first-time man doubted his brother, when he lusted for his brother's wife, when he hurt others for their own selfish goals.
Yet, corruption was there before the world began, before time, before man. Corruption plays to nothing, not even the eternity of time.
Though born before man, the seed of corruption was born of man, and eventually gave birth to the enemies of god, the devils.
Corruption itself was everywhere but the seed of corruption was the very essence of it. The seraphim could not destroy it because trying to destroy it was the same as trying to destroy a part of man. It was simply impossible.
The seed prevented holy magic from touching the man and at the same time, it fueled the power of the obsidian orb. If that thing were to really detonate within the city, it wouldn't just affect the city, but spread corruption through out the super continent in which they all reside. Though those within protected cities would be fine, the affected population out side was still more than half the population of the forces of light. In a single night, the darkest side of all living beings would show and cause havoc everywhere.
"This can't be allowed! Use everything to stop him!" His voice turned hoarse and in a panic.
The threat today would alter the course of this and every battle in the future. It was apparent now, the demons and the devils they serve had pinned everything they had on this day.
A female archmage raised her staff and spoke out several incantations which followed by magic circles representing different properties of magic appearing one by one.
Upon reaching her eleventh circle she immediately shouted: "Condense!"
The magic circles immediately collapsed down unto one another until finally forming the ultimate form of magic known to man, supreme magic!
"Supreme magic: Quintessence lightning!"
Black lightning erupted out and sprayed in all directions. Its sheer destructive force gave one the feeling as if it was enough to wipe out anything from existence.
The bulk of the lightning was aimed towards the man however the abyssal lords were already prepared.
The land began to shift and from below the man's feet, a giant eye opened up followed by a heinous smile. High pitched laugher erupted and as the lightning closed in it was suddenly pulled towards the mouth belonging to the giant eye. Following a swallowing sound, the mouth opened and belched out a dark ray of pure destructive force towards the archmage.
A knight in dented armour quickly jumped in front and held out his shield to protect the archmage. The blast pushed him back as seventh tier magic condensed behind him. He barely managed to deflect the attack and quickly fell as he spat out some blood.
"Curse you, you even brought that monster…" The seraphim face turned dark.
All the while, the corrupted man continued to walk and was now only a stone throw away from the barrier.
The seraphim, the legendary adventurers and the remaining great holy knight attacked all at once. Failure meant death for countless lives!
Elongated shadowy arms protruded from the darkness and met the warriors of light with destructive might.
Every arm which was blown, cleaved, or ripped apart grew in twos and of those they would continue to grow so long as they continued to be destroyed. The field was soon swamped with shadowy arms, blocking and hindering the warriors of light from reaching their target.
The great holy knight came closest to the corrupted man and was only an arm's reach and a half from the man before the arms bonded him, preventing him from moving any further.
The great holy knight wore a white mask, it was something all great holy knights and those in the higher echelon of the church hierarchy wore. He removed his mask and threw it towards the man.
"Remove your greed! See the light!"
The mask stuck firmly on the man's face and shined. The man momentarily stopped and for a moment, clarity returned to his mind.
"Wha- where am I?" He asked, but just as quickly, devilish thoughts whispered in his ears.
"Quickly, enter the city, don't you want beautiful women?"
"You've worked hard all your life and what do you have to show for it? Nothing! You deserve Power! Take it from them!"
"Remember all those who mocked you. They all laughed because you were a simple foot soldier. Revenge, we must take revenge!"
The corruption seed's influence spread through his body and he once again fell into a stupor as his body continued marching forth.
The mask's light dimmed and it had seemed to have done nothing more than to delay the inevitable.
All the warriors of light looked on in dismay as the abyssal lords grinned in glee.
Yet, unbeknownst to anyone there, the mask had played an important part. The man, though still at the mercy of his body acting by itself, had clarity of what he was doing.
"What was I doing? …Why am I walking? … Oh right, I must bring it to the city… If I bring it, I will get everything I ever wanted…"
He continued walking and as he did, he could see everything that was going on. He could see the battle between the abyssal lords, the shadowy arms, and the warriors of light. It was a bitter battle with everyone doing everything they could but for every step they took forward it seemed as if they were being pushed two steps back.
However, he didn't think much about it. The whispers continued to urge him forth and he himself did not think to stop. Still, as he walked, his thoughts began to wander. The corruption seed could corrupt even those with the purest of hearts and sway them to commit evils in order to achieve what they want. Yet, though his mind flashed of images of money, power, women, he suddenly thought about his wife.
His wife, the girl he grew up with. They went though all manners of hardships in order to be together. Her parents wanted to sell her off to a richer household and completely disregarded his efforts and her wishes. Yet, he never gave up and worked tirelessly to save up in order to provide her with a life which could sustain them. When her parents became too overbearing, she left and they eloped to a small village. To him, she was all he wanted and all he needed.
"Why do I need to go to the city? I want to return to my wife…"
As his thoughts continued to trail, his questioning became more refined and he began to wonder exactly what he had been doing before.
"Why am I holding this?" His gaze slowly came towards the black orb in his hand. Light slowly began to return to his dull soulless eyes.
"Don't think, just go!" The whispers returned.
"What about my wife? What will happen to her?"
"Beautiful women, power, and fame await you in the city. Step forward and receive all you deserve!"
"But-"
Corruption began to fill his mind and he suddenly saw his wife. She was waiting for him in the city. She was calling for him.
"Lana," he smiled warmly and walked faster towards her.
He came closer and closer and on those last few steps, he suddenly remembered something.
~"Harris, come back safely."
~"Don't worry, Lana. I'll be back before you know it."
The two stood in front of their home where they embraced and kissed passionately before reluctantly separating.
~"Don't forget to write and..."
~"and?"
~"They'll be someone waiting for you."
~"That's a weird way to say you'll wait for me. If you weren't waiting for me, I don't think I'll last long at the border," he laughed
~"No, that's not what I mea-"
~"All recruits, form a line! We are heading out now!" A shout came from behind.
~"It's time for me to go. What did you want to say?"
She shook her head.
~"Nothing, just please come back safely."
~"Yea!"
...
The memory played through his mind like a recording and it was at that moment, he finally realized what she was trying to say.
"She's pregnant!"
His foot stamped down mid way past the barrier of the city, he himself inches away from entering. At that moment, he suddenly remembered why he was here, why he was holding this orb. He was under the influence of the demon's lies and in his hand was their ultimate weapon. Had he taken one more step, everything would've been over and his wife... she would be gone.
"What are you doing? Enter the city!" The abyssal lord shouted. He tried to expand his influence to affect Harris but it was already too late.
The seed of corruption, impressive as it sounded, fed upon the corrupted minds of people. It stroked the hidden darkness within one’s heart and caused them to act upon it. However, without a continued source of negative thoughts, it shrivels up and dies. For Harris, Lana was his everything and it didn't matter what the seed or the demon's tried to tempt him with because she was the only thing he wanted and their lies could not cover who she truly was to him.
He looked down at the orb in his hand. He couldn't throw it away, it was already fused with him and though the seed no longer held any sway to him, corruption still ran through his veins.
Yet, without hesitation, he turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could straight into the demon's army. At the same time, the orb began to vibrate and disperse great amounts of energy.
Everyone who saw this was shocked and even more so, fearful.
"Get behind me!" The seraphim shouted as he erected a barrier to cover him and his allies.
The demon's tried to run while the arch demon's attempted to scoop him up and contain him.
However, it was all too late.
In these final moments, Harris gave a short prayer.
"Gods of light, please forgive this faithful servant from straying from the path of light. My blessings have been plenty for I had been gifted to be with my beloved wife. Please look after my wife and my unborn child for they are the greatest blessing I have ever received. I thank the lords and their everlasting love and ever merciful guidance."
The orb detonated and an explosion, far greater than any the world had ever seen, erupted in a hell fire cloud which sought to consume everything in its path.
Everything was to end.