“For the first time in millennia, humans made direct contact with distant tribes, rather than through traders bringing goods to fuel their endless war. And they realized that the military power they had developed and accumulated over the past three thousand years was so vastly superior to that of all their neighbors beyond their home continent that they could easily conquer them if they so desired.

  And so they did.

  Forty-four small countries, smaller even than most subdivisions of the smallest nations beneath the Dome that separates the Ink beyond the heavens from our ground, the only ones remaining at the end of the Red Age, employed their most powerful weapons, the forty-four Conquering Princes.

  Of such weapons, little information remains, but the fragments of detail we still possess are terrifying in their description, and exude the ingenuity and brilliance of our predecessors.

  Skanda'al was a Conqueror Prince who caused entire human armies, after committing suicide in front of the magical construct, to be reincarnated as adults and carrying all the equipment they died with, in place of the children who would be born in the enemy nations, in such a way that he transformed all the pregnant females of the attacked countries into weapons. For an indefinite period, when a citizen of the target nation gave birth, until all the human soldiers had already been reincarnated, instead of a baby, it would be an armed soldier who would rupture the placenta and would not hesitate to slaughter everyone present around him.

  Ax'din was a massive construction that teleported all the inhabitants of the target country inside itself, and forced them, through a system of "nails" (whose meaning has been lost in the annals of history), to fight to the death for the entertainment of the humans, similar to a gladiatorial arena. Reports from an influential human who attended such exhibitions indicate that, at the end of the so-called spectacles, the pile of bodies composed of millions of non-human people (if they could be called that) could reach more than thirty minutes of march from end to end at the base, and more than ten minutes of march in height, and also indicate that there was a custom of devouring the bodies of the slaughtered for the next few weeks, even when they entered a state of putrefaction, as only a glorious species like the human would be capable of doing, fearing nothing. The sole survivor of the spectacle was then imprisoned in a kind of national collection, behind bars made of the remains of his compatriots.

  In addition to these, we also know that the celestial object we call the 'moon' was once known as ‘Fónóx’ and is also one of these Conquering Princes, although its function is unknown today.

  It was not long before humans soon realized that it was not only their immediate neighbors who could be conquered, but their neighbors' neighbors, and their neighbors' neighbors as well, and even lands farther away. Under the sun, there was no greater power of war, not in the hands of the protective deities of other countries, not in the hands of the greatest generals of foreigners with armies of hundreds of millions, not in magic or metal, not in fists, claws or teeth, not in gadgets or natural disasters.

  While it took centuries for the countries of the Bellic Continent to take mere steps away from each other's borders, beyond the sea and mountains that surrounded them, in mere days they were able to annex nations many times larger than their entire continent. And for the next thousand years, as they were able to expand their domains without restriction, they were content and at peace, each of the forty-four countries, for the first time, living the empire they had always longed for. Despite much petty criticism from inferior foreign species, a new Golden Age was then dawned within the Dome.”

  - Excerpt from the book Comprehensive Guide to the History of álfheim, by Elarico Milemario Saudoso.

  ?

  — Damn it! — Veronico punched the elven bone throne in front of the lake, shattering it into thousands of fragments.

  He wasn't normally the angry type, but to be fair, I didn't make him to deal with such a slender opponent. No, I created him to give inspiring speeches in the face of an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, to strengthen himself from the feelings cultivated by his friends, and to carve up an opposing figure that looms right in front of him.

  — It's okay, it seems like they left in a hurry and not long ago — Landa commented, putting a hand on the Hero's shoulder who was breathing deeply, trying to calm down. — Can we camp here for a night, maybe? — He suggested, full of ulterior motives far beyond the mere provocations that were the most I allowed to come to his mind.

  — I think they knew we would be on their tail at this point. If they are in such a hurry, it is because they fear us, and if they fear us, it is because we can still defeat them! — Mariah added, resting a hand on Veronico's other shoulder.

  — They are right, Mr. Hero. Not all is lost yet, even if they had gathered all the monsters in the region, they would hardly have more than five thousand orcs at their disposal.

  Veronico sighed.

  — I know, friends. I know. I'm sorry about that, it's just... — How could Veronico explain to his friends that the lack of a new girl being introduced to his group, or the presence of a mini-boss to face him whenever he reached the last point where his target was, made him so uncomfortable? He felt that something was strange, but admitting that in itself was also strange. The thing that made him feel most alive, happy, adventuring was strange, like chocolate without sweetness. — Nothing. Anyway, it's not time to rest. Come on, we have to catch up with these monsters and put an end to this before a new sacred war starts. The countries of the Sacred League are still too weakened, both in terms of population and economy, for a new war; the soil wouldn't even be able to produce enough crops to feed a new army.

  — Hehe, I knew you would recover quickly. That's my man! — Landa smiled, hiding his disappointment at the rejection of his offer.

  — And since when is he your man?! For starters, he's married, and secondly, if he were to choose another woman, this would definitely be m-!

  — Landa, did the monsters leave any obvious trace of where they went? — Saulo interjected, ending the competition.

  — Yes, as you said, there must have been about five thousand orcs and two thousand lebralos around here just a few days ago, and they've headed north.

  — To the north? With such numbers? But then they will be trapped between the Lower Labyrinth and the Thaw Lake; without the Duke of the Lake’s ships, they would never be able to cross that body of water alone. Even if orcs were able to build ships, there aren’t even trees here for that!

  A common problem in the region. Sure, grasslands are incredible settings for great epic battles and the like, but they are practically a desert of essential resources like wood or rocks, and due to the size of that region, it took weeks to import such materials from the nearest lumber mills and mines. Many times, the local cultures almost diverged from my favorite aesthetic, and tried to build straw boats and houses of mud and straw, but I would never allow such hideous things in my paradise of half-timbered architecture.

  — Doesn't that mean... The Shadow Kings are going to lead an attack on Lake City?! — Veronico was startled. — We have to hurry!

  Quickly, the Hero and his companions left the abandoned orc shelter and continued their pursuit of the little rebel and his tiny, insignificant army.

  ?

  — That's... Strange — Landa commented, observing the city ahead, practically identical to all the others on that continent, despite its unfavorable location. But what surprised him were not things like the logistics of the construction and maintenance of that settlement, but the fact that it looked perfectly intact.

  — There’s no blood or corpses of elves or monsters, no scorched walls or broken gates. Everything looks… normal? — Mariah had noticed too.

  — Are you sure the orc army came in this direction? — Saul asked.

  — Of course I do! How many times have you seen me track an enemy before? Have I ever missed? No, have I? So of course I wouldn't miss tracking an entire fucking army!

  — Arguing here won't get us anywhere. Let's investigate this ourselves — Veronico led his friends towards the city, as confused as the others, but certain of what to do.

  ?

  — As I already told you, the Duke is very busy and will not be able to see you for the next few days — the guard replied, frowning.

  — Surely he would be able to make an exception for the Hero, who is in the middle of a task of extreme urgency, right? —Saul could barely contain his frustration.

  — As. I. Already. Told. You. The Duke is busy, and if he had time to attend to you, he would have done so already. Now, if that is all you wanted, then please leave, for we have to attend to a number of merchants who only need confirmation stamps to leave the port.

  Veronico and his friends left the public administration building equally confused and frustrated. They were not used to that kind of treatment, not without having a clear opportunity for revenge right after.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  — What do we do now? Who can we talk to for information about the Shadow Kings? — my champion scratched his head.

  — If official means have failed us... — Landa took the lead with a confident smile. — We just need to appeal to a more desperate part of society!

  ?

  — Five thousand orcs? No, girl, I'm sure the whole city would have made a fuss if that many monsters had passed through here, and I would have heard about it — an elf with teeth yellowed by smoke answered, almost mockingly. — Honestly, there are much better ways to waste your money than with absurd questions like that...

  — Damn... It seems we've reached another dead end — Veronico got up from the barrel where he was sitting, finding himself in a port cargo warehouse, and displaying a perplexed expression that his handsome face was never created to express.

  — Veronico — Landa called, smiling calmly. — Do you remember when you recruited me into your group?

  — Uh? Of course, you made quite a scene breaking into the royal castle walls to steal food from the guards.

  — That's right. Back then, I was caught and about to be executed for this crime against the royal family... But you saved my life by recruiting me into your team. And I'm very grateful for that. Very grateful to you. More than anyone.

  — Me too, Landa. You have proven yourself to be a very efficient rogue and an excellent friend. But what does that have to do with our situation?

  — It means that a bandit values ??only one thing more than money — she said, her face suddenly serious. — His own life! — She turned quickly and kicked the informant square in the chest, sending him five steps back and into a pile of boxes.

  — Boo! — his victim gulped, breathless and nauseous from the strong blow, disoriented.

  — I'll just ask one more time, you fool: where are the orcs! — Landa questioned the man, who was no longer so mocking.

  — T-They're gone! Through the port! I-In the boxes!

  — What? — Veronico was surprised. — The Shadow King tricked the Duke... No, he took advantage of the man's illness and managed to smuggle his army through the city's weakened defenses! Damn it, maybe he poisoned the man himself! How much further ahead of us must the damned man have planned?! — He made a series of logical leaps, all of them wrong.

  But I didn't bother to correct him mentally. Because the little rebel had made an even bigger mistake.

  — What a disappointment, Mr. Informant — said a muffled voice coming from a point five meters above everyone’s heads, and when they looked up, surprised, they came across a figure leaning against the wooden structure that supported the roof, dressed all in black, wielding a pair of pugilist daggers, and wearing the mask of an angry cat. — Even though we made it so clear that if you opened your mouth, you would lose your life.

  — W-Who are you?! — Veronico asked, drawing his sword. Internally, however, he wondered how long the man had been there, terrified by the fact that he had not been able to detect him. — No... I already know who you are: King of Shadows!

  — One of his faces finally reveals itself — Saulo secretly left a series of Spells prepared mentally.

  — So this is the Shadow King's Rogue part, huh? He's good — Landa smiled, feeling offended and challenged by the masked man for sneaking up on them. — But I'll show him that I'm better.

  — Don't get carried away, I don't want to waste my healing because you did something stupid to show off — despite her delicate posture and controlled voice, Mariah was the one who was most consumed by hatred, staring at the masked man's pointy ears, which revealed his elven origins.

  — T-That's right! Muahaha! So you've already discovered our true nature, it seems — the masked man jumped from his nest on the ceiling and landed on the other side of the warehouse, relaxed. — Well then. You were behind us, weren't you? One of the fearsome Shadow Kings is right in front of you right now. So? What are you going to do?

  — DESTROY EVERY PIECE OF YOU! — Mariah screamed, opening her arms and projecting a cross-shaped beam of sunlight towards the masked man.

  When her target dodged the projectile, the magic brought an entire wall of the warehouse crashing down, shattering the wood and raising a heavy curtain of dust.

  And even though that shouldn't be a problem for my champion...

  — I lost sight of him again?! — Veronico couldn't locate his target in any of the myriad of light spectrums he could see.

  — He must be using shadow magic to hide, stay alert! — Saulo explained, conjuring a gust of wind that carried all the dust out of the warehouse.

  — You don't mind if I take this one with me, do you? My other faces would mock me if I let someone who betrayed us live — the masked man commented playfully, reemerging from an amorphous cloud of shadows, holding the informant hostage over one shoulder.

  — The only one who will die here is you! — Landa promised, wielding his stiletto daggers and advancing on the masked man.

  The Heroic Rogue swung her weapons in “X”, “Z”, stabbed, and kicked her opponent, but the masked man deflected, dodged, and blocked all of her blows without fail while climbing the walls of the nearest building, running vertically, and jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

  — It's your end! — Veronico finally intervened, having followed his target from the streets below, and jumped on him at the first opportunity he had. — Damn it! — at the last second, however, the masked man hid from Veronico's sword behind his hostage, and the Hero deflected his blade and the luminous energy that covered the weapon, such energy being thrown in a random direction and splitting the city's lighthouse in two, bringing it to the ground even though it was many blocks away from that place.

  — Wow, I'm sure the people of this city will remember you with much love when you've completed your work here — the masked man laughed, leaping over a bronze statue of the Duke in the city square.

  — They’ll thank us when they find out about the plague we saved them from! — Saul said, hovering over his target. Pointing his palms at the enemy, he conjured a tornado of flames that sprouted at the feet of the bronze statue and rose a hundred meters into the air.

  The heat from the enormous spiraling pillar of fire was so great that every wooden plank, straw, and flammable material facing the square within a twenty-five meter radius instantly combusted.

  — Saulo! — Veronico called, horrified.

  — Don't worry, Mr. Hero — clapping his hands, the flaming tornado dissipated and revealed a pile of molten bronze forming a sphere, a prison of liquefied and resolidified metal. — I immobilized him for you and gave the hostage fire resistance, he should be intact.

  — Thank you! This time, I won't miss — Veronico pointed his sacred sword at the sphere of molten metal. And at the same time that the sphere began to open like a blooming flower, the Hero's sword was charged with its sparkling power. — Dawn! — Veronico shot towards his target as soon as it became visible.

  But thanks to his superior Perception, he quickly noticed a series of abnormalities in the figure he was facing: his posture was too awkward, the daggers he was holding were not identical to the previous ones, and the hostage was nowhere to be seen.

  — Oh, no! — once again, when his gun was about to touch the masked man, Veronico diverted his gun, then towards the sky.

  From the tip of his sacred sword, a blinding beam of light initially taking the shape of a dove was shot, cutting through the clouds, blinding the sun itself with its brilliance, extinguishing all shadows throughout the territory of the Duke of Lake City, burning the skin of any monster exposed to its light and reducing them to ashes, making all the elves who observed it regret all the sins they had ever committed. The pillar of light rose, rose, and did not stop rising, until finally it crashed into the moon, when it found itself ricocheted back to the ground.

  — Oh, God, grant us your divine protection! — Mariah prayed, her eyes closed. And a yellowish, semi-transparent shield appeared over the settlement in which everyone found themselves.

  The divine protection conjured by the Healer, however, did not stop the subsequent rain of hundreds of fragments of light; nothing would be able to do so.

  The magic pierced roofs, floors, streets and sewers, and even dug into the ground many meters deep, each drop of light causing a crater five to fifteen meters in diameter, and practically annihilating the infrastructure that the locals (and I) had worked so hard to build to my liking.

  — T-That's not what-!

  — Don't worry, Veronico, divine protection does not allow any harm to befall good-hearted people. No one was hurt — Mariah promised... omitting the fact that almost seventy criminals she deemed deserving punishment had had every cell in their bodies completely vaporized, including the local Duke himself.

  That was simply against everything I created that woman to represent, there was no forgiveness or compassion for evildoers in her heart, and reading her thoughts I realized that she only didn't allow the annihilation of even more people just so that her leader wouldn't notice the deaths.

  Looking at the piles of bleached clothes left behind by the victims of the accident, I felt conflicted. None of this was ideal, not those deaths, not the destruction caused by my champion, not the change in personality of my toys. But at the end of the day, none of it mattered. Once this game was over and the little rebel was dead, I could go back in time and burst an artery in his brain once he realized the nature of his reality, preventing all of this. And I did not go along with it out of any sense of honor to our agreement, or duty, but simply to prove to the Greater Will who really needed whom in this world.

  — Phew! — the Hero sighed, reassured, confirming that “no one” had been hurt. — That damn guy... — approaching the masked figure, Veronico revealed that his clothes were just shadows, which quickly dissipated: — He must have taken advantage of my moment of distraction, when I called Saulo’s attention, and replaced himself with the hostage.

  — And I didn't even see a trace of the last ship to set sail from up there — Saulo commented, floating back to the ground, conflicted. — They must have used some kind of Spell to speed up the movement of the vessels, or hide them from us. Their magical face is powerful.

  — And considering the size of this lake, I doubt we'll find them in this situation just by flying or running around randomly — Veronico massaged his glabella. — Damn it, why can't the Shadow King act like everyone else this time and just pick a direction, an army, and face us head on?!

  — He must have some plan... we just need to find out what it is. We'll find him again — Saulo tried to sound encouraging, but realized that, without any idea of ??what his current enemy had in mind, he was failing.

  — You said he only had five thousand orcs. That’s not nearly a large enough army to take on the Holy League, is it? He must have gone somewhere else with a large concentration of monsters — Mariah suggested.

  — ...Yeah. That must be it. Saulo, where is the largest concentration of monsters on the other side of the Thaw Lake?

  — Ah, this could only be the City of the Abyss.

  — That's where we're going, then.

  Veronico and his friends got it all wrong.

  ?

  “Veronico, my husband, my Hero. My mother fired my dance instructor. She said it was a waste of money to pay so much for something I had no talent for. She said I had no talent for anything. She said that was why, even after the sacred war was over, you spent so much time traveling and hunting down the strongest remnants of the shadow army, instead of leaving it to our generals.

  Sincerely, Princess Criscina.”

  “Aah, I remember that time well. I spent weeks exploring underground tunnels after a Shadow Duke who tried to contact Demonia in person and thought he could reach Hell on foot! And there was also a Marquis who tried to recruit the necromancers of the Guard Mountains, and while everyone assured me that this would not happen, that he would not be the first or last to try to convince those weirdos to join his cause, and that it would just end up as an experiment by the necromancer hermits, I preferred not to risk it and deal with said Marquis once and for all as well. I even considered ending the necromancer threat as well, but I felt bad as I headed towards the mountains that shelter them, and Mariah convinced me to turn back; she was worried about the Hero himself, can you believe it? Hahaha!

  Anyway, don't worry, Criscina, you are beautiful. Bye.

  - Hero Veronico.”