Beneath the crimson sky, his hands shook in trepidation, almost dropping the sacred artifact. The sight before him was that of a nightmare that invaded reality. The corpses of the soldiers extended beyond eyesight on what was the largest battlefield to ever occur in history. The young man knew he would be forever scarred after that day, mentally and physically.

At his feet were not only the pulverized bodies of his companions, but also those of horrid beings with night-black horns, razor-sharp teeth, and skin with a color resembling the surrounding blood. Demons.

The coalition of kingdoms had successfully held off the first wave to cross through the portal from Hell. Unfortunately, the casualties were beyond immense. Moreover, it was only the beginning.

Watching the waves of energy ripple across the enormous portal plastered in the sky, he knew they didn't have much time left. Half their army, half of the forces the entire world could muster up, was gone in the opening fight. Could they even withstand the next attack? He certainly did not think so.

"Isaac, it's time. Chant the incantation."

The hoarse voice of King Elmon sternly ordered him to do the unthinkable. The sacred artifact glued to his hands by the sticky, viscous blood of his own wounds contained unimaginable powers, with equally fearsome consequences.

The device, created by the one informally dubbed the Trickster God, possessed the ability to grant wishes. Only, the wishes would come in unpredictable, and potentially catastrophic ways. They didn't exclusively have negative outcomes; instead, it was concluded that the outcomes were just what would be most entertaining to the God.

Sometimes, the activator of the artifact would simply die after making the wish, perhaps based on the God's unruly whims.

Because of that, not just anyone could be the one to activate it when needed. Kings, Generals, and others of status were needed to maintain order and command the battlefield. They couldn't simply risk dropping dead.

However, it was unanimously decided by all the kingdoms that the artifact was their only means of survival. Somebody needed to activate it.

Isaac volunteered. He lost his parents at a young age, and just recently his only brother at the hands of the enemy. The only thing left was the will to serve the nation and obtain revenge against the invaders.

There was a prolonged debate about how the wish would be worded, in consideration of what would be least likely to produce undesirable effects.

If they wish to close the portal, it might occur only to be replaced with five new ones.

If they wish for the death of the demons, it might simply be too boring and result in the death of the activator.

They had to come up with something that could work and still potentially amuse the powerful and twisted creator of the artifact.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Isaac clasped the artifact close to his chest, closed his eyes, and chanted.

"Oh, Lord of Chaos, Ruler of Twisted Fates, I pray to thee. We are overwhelmed by the horde of evil storming our world. I humbly request to be granted a wish befitting your infallible aesthetics. I wish for reinforcements!"

Everything froze. The fabric of reality itself split open. The sky folded in on itself and fractured, producing a vortex sucking matter from another dimension into the world.

After a period of time, the sky mended, and reality unfroze.

System Announcements:

Merge has been completed successfully.

New inhabitants and territories have been properly dispersed.

The energy 'Ki' has been integrated into the system.

Player level has been determined to be inadequate for Event: Demon Invasion.

Portal will be locked for five years to provide sufficient growth conditions.

The kings, generals, and soldiers were absolutely bewildered. The peculiar sorcery generated by the wish had caused words to appear out of thin air on what seemed to be a surface of blue energy in front of each of them. As if that wasn't enough, a monotonous female voice of dubious origins read the words aloud that were displayed.

"What do you make of this, Elmon?"

King Numan seemed a bit flustered, as he ended up casually addressing his close peer despite the other company present. Of course, everyone else was equally flustered and paid it no mind.

"At the very least, the Lord of Chaos appears to have been satisfied with our wish."

Witnessing the now stagnant portal surface that was previously chaotic and thinking back to the words they just heard about a five-year extension, all company present nodded at King Elmon's remark.

"My greatest concern is what company we have been graced with. We need to investigate what this 'System' referred to as 'New inhabitants and territories'. I assume we are all clear on the need for continued cooperation, yes?"

King Elmon swept his gaze across the four other kings. Their relationships varied from nation to nation, some of which were far from being on stellar terms. However, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They had to unite to face the impending threat of the demons, and that threat had yet to fully subside.

"Naturally."

"Of course."

"Is that not a given?"

Kings Amor, Strom, and Muln all assented.

"How do you propose we begin, King Elmon?"

His friend, King Numan, having regained some calmness, formally brought up the question on all their minds.

"For starters, we must clean the battlefield and return to our homes as soon as possible. I can only hope these 'reinforcements' of ours won't bring any harm to our nations."

***

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"Die motherfucker!"

Curses and screams filled the battlefield as skills and spells were activated. The VMMORPG "Empyrean Realms" was at the peak of its popularity two months after its launch, and players had already developed massive guilds.

They had yet to achieve an especially high level, but they could already demonstrate superhuman skills unthinkable in the real world. In the very first major guild war, the sight was one that left all the players participating in awe.

As powerful attacks were launched in the air above the grassy green plains, a shift in setting took everyone by surprise.

Some found themselves in a city. Some were in the woods. Others were in the mountains. As for the attacks themselves? They too appeared in random settings. Buildings in the capitals of nations were destroyed, monsters were shocked being randomly under bombardment, and more than one innocent bystander found themselves to be an unfortunate casualty.

The greatest thing all life in the world had in common at that point was a single thought.

"What the fuck is going on?"