Prologue: The Birth of a Legend
The sky was covered by thick, grey clouds and the ground was covered by thick, gray soil. A group of people made their way across the barren field, carrying their empty backpacks and exhausted selves with heavy footsteps. The group moved as a disorderly mob towards some distant land holding, perhaps, the promise of sanctuary.
One of the figures in the lead stopped for a moment to study some peculiarity he observed to his right. In these open plains where even weeds refused to grow, there was nowhere for anyone to hide. This was also the reason why the leaders of this group allowed it to become so lackadaisical and disorganized.
A humming sound reverberated in the air before a bright blue circular glow coated the ground for a radius of two hundred meters to the group’s right. Similar scenes played ahead of them, to their left and behind them. Soon enough, the glow turned into a bright radiance hiding the exact happenings within those circles from view.
“AMBUSH!!” The figure called out. Without a moment’s hesitation, the members of the group drew weapons strapped to their waists and backs. The light faded to reveal hundreds of black and white figures. Their clothes and skin were white, radiant even, whereas they had black eagle-like wings on their backs and jet black halos which seemed to absorb all light.
There was a brief moment of stillness before the chaos broke out. Several black winged figures took to the skies, and several members of the group opened their own wings, ranging from leathery black to silver feathered ones, to meet those figures in the air. Colorful lights lit up the grey world as fire, ice, lightning and earthen chunks flew through the air.
Within a few minutes, the original group only had half the number of people they had at the beginning. With the fall of many of their members, their resistance also started weakening. Many hesitated at the prospect of swinging their weapons. However, a bright crimson star shone in the distant gray skies at this moment.
“REINFORCEMENTS!!” A leathery winged person called out even as she bled from a fatal wound. The hesitation behind the weapons faded. The fighting became tense and difficult once again. The star grew brighter and larger at a frightening speed before revealing the silhouette of a person within it. One of the four black-winged figures hovering above the battlefield frowned and waved his hand at the other three.
Immediately, they flew out to the four points the black winged figures had emerged from. A humming sound reverberated in the air as the circles of blue light started brightening up once again. However, a playful laughter sounded out, seemingly from right next to them. The four figures stiffened, and crimson flashed as another circle enveloped all four blue ones within it.
The four black-winged figures exchanged a glance. Then, without a word, one of them turned towards the fighting below while the other three raised their hands, sending out bolts of white to their surroundings. The bolts of white only travelled so far before crashing into a thin, yet firm crimson barrier. Moments after the collision, the barrier turned invisible once again.
The three exchanged a glance before resuming their attacks on the barrier, this time using a stream of white in place of a bolt. On the other hand, the fierce fighting below them had finally broken the deadlock. The group’s remaining members started falling in ones and twos after the black-winged man joined the fighting.
In the air, several lights flashed before a slender, voluptuous crimson figure stopped overhead. With a flick of her wrist, she brought out a blazing whip. With another flick, the whip lashed through the air, passing through several black-winged figures without the slightest interruption. It was only a moment later that the figures fell from the sky in pieces.
The ones attacking the barrier exchanged a glance before joining the other black-winged figures around the crimson woman. Her crimson leathery wings flapped once seeing this and her figure disappeared. The three figures panicked as they suddenly shot towards the ground, where the fourth figure was. The crimson woman suddenly flickered into view behind him.
Her whip raced towards the man’s neck before hundreds of astounded gazes. Just as people thought the man would be decapitated, however, he leapt forward, into the enemy he was facing. His opponent’s sword drove into his chest while the whip grazed past the back of his neck. At the same time, the man started turning around to face the crimson woman.
The man calmly slit his opponent’s throat with the sword in his right hand and pulled out the one in his chest with his left hand. Then, in a fluid movement, he tossed the sword at the woman as his wings flapped once. His own figure flickered before he reappeared high in the sky. The sword wound on his chest had already started closing.
The woman’s indifferent expression changed seeing this. There was a brief flicker of surprise before a playful, joyous look flitted across her bewitching features. The black-winged man spread his arms and white light engulfed his body before shooting into the sky. It met the crimson barrier high in the sky, and the barrier started trembling as the light kept battering away at it.
At the same time, the three remaining black-winged figures raced towards the crimson woman, drawing their own weapons mid-flight. The woman nonchalantly lashed out with her whip. A man in the forefront blocked it with his sword, however the strength from the woman’s slender arms sent him hurtling through the air.
The other two figures took this chance to launch an attack, stabbing with his spear and slashing with her sword. However the woman leisurely avoided the blows by lightly floating to the side, like a leaf billowing in the wind. She retaliated by swinging her whip around her in a circle. The two figures flapped their wings, disappearing reappearing far away. At the same time, their faces turned pale.
Meanwhile, the blazing whip swept past the woman’s surroundings and a ring of fire descended below her. The flames crashed into the black-winged figures finishing their fight against the last of their opponents, lighting them on fire. Painful screams and roars rang out within the desolate plains as the three black-winged figures helplessly watched their kinsmen burn away.
Their solemn gazes landed on the crimson figure in front of them as fear-filled gazes from those below them did the same. Just then, a thunderous rumbling sound engulfed the various men and women as the crimson barrier around them shattered like glass. The expressions of the three black-winged figures brightened to a degree. However, a playful smirk from the crimson woman doused their joy.
Before the three could even move, the woman’s wings flapped and her figure flickered and disappeared from view. She reappeared on the ground and raised her left hand. Immediately, the shattered crimson fragments raining down around them burst into massive balls of flames. The remainder of the barrier also turned into a massive ring of flames.
Then, before the fear-filled gazes of the black-winged men and women, the fire seemingly came to life. It formed a massive wave as it flowed in a circle around them before racing inside, intending on burning the remnant figures within. The three black-winged figures bit their lower lips before flapping their wings. The wings trembled and convulsed as they did so, however, they still disappeared from view.
They reappeared around the crimson woman, and the three slashed at her, seeing her immobile. A sword cut across her back, a spear stabbed into her abdomen while the last aimed, surprisingly, for her thigh. Immediately afterwards, the three gave wry smiles. The black-winged man in the sky frowned and hesitated before letting out a tear and flapping his wings.
However, before the flap was completed, a wave of flames crashed into him, dragging him to the ground. At the same time, the woman’s right hand expertly danced around her body, letting out three accurate, strong lashes. The three black-winged figures around her were immediately cut in two, at the neck, the waist and diagonally from the shoulder to the hip respectively.
Then, her left hand dropped and waves of flames engulfed the immediate vicinity. Moments later, another rumbling sound thundered across the dark gray skies. With the thick clouds turning its burning glare into a modest silvery glow, and the torrential rain which followed, it almost seemed like even the Sun was crying on this day.
The two figures stood still within the rain. The rain had come suddenly and poured heavily, but neither of the figures were even remotely affected by it. In this part of the world, such rains were commonplace and the two of them had long since gotten used to the erratic weather here.
The two of them studied each other with grim expressions. Their surroundings had long since charred and ruptured, seemingly from massive fires and explosions. The two stood on their feet, ready to react to any form of stimulus, and eyed each other warily.
A threatening silence dominated the crater as the two simply watched the other without making any moves. The woman gazed calmly at her opponent, her cold, crimson eyes laced with a disconcerting contrast of rage and playfulness. The man anxiously scoured his surroundings, desperately searching for something, but failing to find it.
“So?” Finally, the man opened his mouth, his deep, gentle baritone tinged with resignation. At the same time, his trembling gaze regained its stability and focused completely on the figure in front of him.
“What do you plan on doing next?” He asked. The woman’s enchanting pink lips curved into a bright smile. Yet, her gaze was cold.
“Well,” She started. “Seeing as how you’ve destroyed my entire army… I think I’ll first kill you, then take your head back home to use as decor.”
The tension in the atmosphere around the two figures grew. Although the man didn’t fancy his chances in a fight, he was still a regenerator. He roused the mana within his body, letting it flow along the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels. At the same time, the demon also roused her mana similarly.
Just the sight and the pressure released from their immense mana would be enough to drive a human insane from the resultant hallucinations.
A regenerator, so he must have a part of his body crystallized by mana. Hmm… I can’t be bothered to find out where the crystallized parts are. Let’s keep him from moving using a Blizzard spell. A few thunderblaze lances to divert his attention… Finally a refreshing Hellfire Inferno to finish him off. He can’t regen if there’s nothing left of him.
The woman clenched her fists as she decided on her plan of actions to take down the Fallen Angel in front of her. The man braced himself to defend against the onslaught which ought to follow next.
A cry tore through the surroundings, breaking the tension in the air and stopping the two from carrying out the actions they had planned. They looked at each other blankly in confusion as the cry dissipated with the tension. For a moment, the two felt it was but an illusion. However, there wasn’t an illusion capable of deceiving their seasoned perceptive skills to such an extent.
“Was that you?” The man asked in confusion. The woman looked at the man in front of her for a moment before letting out a short bark of amused laughter.
“Why, of course!” She replied, her voice laced with playful sarcasm. “I’m an absolute expert at making toddler sounds. I’ll be sure to let you hear my ‘dada’ call while I pluck your limbs from their joints.”
The man retreated involuntarily hearing her words. However, for some reason, it seemed as though the woman lost her interest in him, and gained some for the source of that cry. Immediately, she started searching for the direction of the cry.
The man sighed. If even a Demon decided that fighting wasn’t worth their time… How could a Fallen Angel disagree? The thought of trying to escape flitted briefly through his mind, but he gave up on that line of thinking when he considered whether the woman would actually overlook those actions. Instead, he staked his well-being on somehow using this variable to curb the woman’s intentions to ‘pluck his limbs off’.
He spread his mana thinly across the region and felt his way around. However, it was tough to discern living flesh among the mass of the dead. And there were far too many dead for his tactic to be of any use. Without losing hope, though, the man continued to search for the source. In the same vein, the woman’s eyes scanned the battlefield, searching for the ‘thing’ that caught her interest.
“Tsk!” The woman clicked her tongue in frustration. “Where is it?!” She shouted out and a bit of her mana leaked into the surroundings. For existences like demons and angels, mana was crucial. It was the essence of everything in the world, and the most basic form of energy which converted into all other forms, such as fire or lightning.
It was also demons’ and angels’ life force and acted as a part of their existence itself. Of course, for veteran warriors like themselves, leaking a bit of mana didn’t matter at all. However, the fact that a veteran leaked mana only showed the depth of her frustration.
Her mana interfered with the man’s, causing an amount of tension to appear again in the environment. His concentration fell and a slight hum echoed through the air. The two exchanged glances and the woman shrugged in an insincere apology.
Just then – the cry was heard again. The eyes of the two widened. This time, alert for the source, both of them recognized the location of the voice. They turned towards it together.
Then, exchanging a glance, they both approached it together. In almost perfect cohesion. There, they saw two dead bodies. One of a male Demon. The other of a female Fallen Angel. The two were seemingly protecting something. Something covered by their bodies, shielding it from the explosion the two had caused just a few moments ago.
The female bit her lip. She realized exactly what it was that perked her interest over the bloodshed she was about to cause. Something that was stronger than a Demon’s natural love for bloodshed, a mother’s love for a child.