Farglade. The capital Aetheria. A city commonly known for its wealth. Merchants and nobles from many regions battle each other for the opportunity to go to this city. Why? Because with wealth comes luxury, peace and in some instances, authority. For merchants, its the availability of ready customers in the city that draws them there.
A city with low crime rates, almost zero poverty and lots of money. It sounds like a dream. A dream that went up in flames.
Its crazy how one rumor brought about so much fear among the people. A rumor about the appearance of a demon lord. A rumor which sparked questions that can't be answered. The same unanswerable questions that made the people doubt their leaders. The doubt that began riots and brought chaos in the city. The same city where everyone dreamed of visiting.
Think about it. A rumor about something that can be defeated by a hero. A rumor about something that won't happen in 15 years caused that. Then what about a foe that is confirmed to be true. A foe that will affect them right now. A foe that can't be beat by a hero. How would they react?
Nirvana already knew that the city was in shambles, thanks to her Wyverns. But she didn't know why. Even if she did, there was a slim chance of it affecting the plan. So there's no point. Little did she know that it will have affect. Just in another way.
Smoke could be seen from far away as it goes above the city's walls. Crowds of people were outside the palace at the center. Shouting, screaming, cursing. All were from the people as they demanded to know more about the rumors.
For fifty years, there hasn't been a single demon lord. Usually, they appear after twenty together with new heroes. The people thought that maybe the age of demon lords had finally come to an end. This has been confirmed since no news of the appearance of heroes has spread.
Its a little confusing. After all, there's already a 400 year old hero still alive. But the ones from fifty years ago are dead. Still, why fear when such a powerful hero is alive?
Its because she can't help. For starters, the people don't believe in her. Aside from that, heroes can only do the task given to them. If its slaying a demon lord, that's the only thing they can do because its the law of heaven, apparently. After they complete their mission, all that's left for them is to die. The current hero is only that old because she never completed her mission.
The point is, people almost instantly believed a rumor that had no proof and could be non existent. What about facts that are right in front of them?
From outside the city, the noise was a lot less. The guards were preoccupied by the people who are trying to leave the city. A large group of them had packed up and were ready to leave.
The road was packed with carriages and people on horsebacks. You'd really wonder how dumb one would be to leave their home because of a rumor. Unless, this was all planned by someone.
As the people were leaving, something could be heard in the forest. When they looked where it came from, they saw trees moving as if being pushed to the side and birds flying away. A giant footstep was heard. That made everyone at the gate completely silent.
"Hey." A random person spoke then pointed above the trees. "What's that?"
The one beside him looked. A pair of spike like things were poking above the tree line. No one understood what it was. Then a loud roar echoed everywhere. It sounded like it came from far away. Further than what they were looking at.
The roar was loud and long. That made the people inside the city hear it. Including those who were rioting outside the palace. Heck, even those inside including the knights, nobles and the king heard it.
Outside the gate, loud footsteps could be heard approaching. They were like those of a giant monster. Then the people realized that the two spikes above the tree line were getting closer and closer with each step they heard. That's when one of them spoke.
" Those things above the trees. Could they be horns of a monster?"
They started to see what he was trying to say. Then a weird sense of unease filled the air around them. The steps were getting louder and louder. Some started sweating, others were shaking.
"What was that?" One of those in the middle of the crowd outside the palace asked. A subtle eerie feeling covered the entire city, including the palace. It was too quiet.
From the trees close to the gates, six blueish arms appeared. Three on each of two trees that were close to each other. They were pulling them apart. Then cracks could be heard from the one in the middle as it was falling. Its roots picked up the soil underneath and covered the huge leg that pushed the tree over.
Someone tripped over as he tried to walk backwards away from what they saw. A giant monster was standing right in front of them out of the trees. It stood there and looked at them.
Another loud roar was heard. This time, it sounded like it came from the sky. A man ran from the gate to the center of the city shouting something. At first, those next to the palace couldn't hear him. But as he got closer, they clearly did.
"Monster attack! There's a monster attack!"
"A monster?" They started panicking. "A monster is attacking the city?"
One of them in the crowd looked visibly agitated. But in a different way than the rest. Then he shouted, "Its a lie! They're only trying to scare us away. Don't be fooled." And in the next minute, another roar.
A massive shadow flew over the whole city. When they looked up, they saw a dragon flying over them. For a minute, their hearts dropped, rendering them immobile.
The dragon flew around then went to the gate. It slowly came down and landed on the road. Carriages and people flew away because of the force of the wind as its wings flapped.
After the dust settled, a knight took a closer look at it. Then he was shocked by the site.
"Is that, the frost god?"
They ran back into the city screaming. "Its the dragon lord!"
The people inside couldn't believe it. But before thinking it trough, a loud noise was heard from the gate. Then pieces of the wall flew in and some landed on those who weren't expecting it. The other monster broke through and went in.
The ones on the road who were still alive were killed by the dragon with a swipe of its tail. Those inside the palace didn't understand what was going on as two monsters suddenly appeared.
"Quickly." The king spoke. "Assemble the knights. Prepare to attack the monsters."
As if they were puppets, they obeyed. A large number of knights headed towards the giant monster. With a little bit of hesitation, they tried surrounding it. But they realized how much smaller they are compared to it.
At the adventurers' guild, all adventurers were brought together. More like they were already there. They were the ones available at the moment since they were summoned to help with the riots. News about the monster attack had gotten to them. So they prepared to fight.
Seeing as its a guild of a wealthy city, many powerful adventurers registered there knowing that money will never be an issue. There were four S classes including two S class rank D mages, one S class rank C swordsman and one S class rank E healer. There were also multiple other A and B class adventurers who decided to join knowing that money will be available.
"Alright everyone. Lets not waste time. There's a monster out there that needs to be taken care of." The swordsman said. He was a short old man who apparently was also the guild master.
"Lets hurry up already." An A class said. "The more we stay here the more people are in danger. None of the knights are capable of doing anything in this situation."
"He's right." Another said.
"Ready yourselves. We attack now." The swordsman said.
"Don't you think you're being too rational. A monster of that size might prove to be a little difficult." An A class said. Everyone looked at him with weird looks.
"Wolfric. If you don't want to go, you can sit this one out. But you won't be getting any money either."
"He started to walk backwards and with a stern look said, "That's fine by me."
"Then the rest of you. With me. Lets take back our city." They all cheered and began to leave. The one they left behind just stood there and watched as they left.
In a back alley, the man who tried inciting the crowd to continue rioting snuck around an old building and went in. Once he closed the door, his appearance changed and he took the form of a demon.
He then grabbed a magic sphere he hid there and activated it. A voice came from the other side. A familiar one.
"Report."
"My lord. Everything was going according to plan. The people lost faith in the leaders and the riots began."
"But..."
"A giant monster attacked." He sounded frustrated. "A powerful one that put all our efforts into flames. Now everyone is just panicking. To make things worse, the dragon lord is here too. I'm afraid we have to give up."
"Dammit. I knew I was risking too much."
"What do you mean, if I may ask?"
The one on the other side sighed then spoke. "The riots were not an important part of the mission. I just thought it may be a good idea to give the humans a little scare. There were many more ways to get what we needed from inside the palace."
"I could've just used a disguise, you mean."
"That's right. Anyway, this can still work. I'm guessing that every human there is currently distracted by the monsters. Correct?"
"That's right."
"You now what we need. Sneak in there and grab it. Do not fail."
"Understood." Then he turned off the sphere and there was darkness in the room.
In the abandoned castle where the demons stay, the one on the other side of the sphere also turned off his. Then he put his hands on his face in frustration. He never dropped his cloak though. A female demon entered the room he was in then bowed his head.
"Speak." The one in the cloak said.
"My lord."
"Stop calling me that."
"Sir. I bring news. Important news."
"What is it."
"When I was investigating the wall, I noticed the familiar shape it took. So I got a map of the continent to confirm my suspicion."
"And?"
"This is it." She took the map and placed it on the table. "The marked line is the wall." The one in the cloak couldn't believe his eyes. The line ran from west to north east. He also noticed that there were no borders on the north side.
"What is this?"
"Sir. It would seem that the sectors have united. and the wall was built along the united border. There's more. A city has been built somewhere not too far from here. A city of monsters."
"Monsters?" He thought about it. His skeleton army was destroyed before reaching its target. A wall was built most likely to separate humans and the monsters which made it difficult to send demons. Two monsters appeared in Farglade when everything was going smoothly. Three times the monsters foiled his plan. The skeleton army must've also been destroyed by monsters, he thought. Three times. That made him really angry.
In a fit of rage he commanded, "Gather as many powerful demons as you can. I want you to attack that city and destroy it immediately. In fact, I'm coming with you. I want to see how monsters have achieved such great things while I haven't."
"Yes sir."
Back at Farglade, Nephilim had absolutely destroyed the knights. Severed bodies laid around him. Blood was everywhere. Only one was left. He didn't give up and charged at Nephilim with full speed but was caught in one hand. Then with another, he was torn apart.
There was silence for a while as Nephilim looked around for anyone who's still alive. Then he heard a group of people approaching from a distance. He turned to face them.
Swords, shields and magical items in hand. Armor of various kinds. Bodies of different sizes. They were on a different level than the knights. Especially the four he noticed at the front. He immediately knew that they were adventurers.
"No one forget what we planned. Even if we loose some of ours, keep yourselves level headed. We will succeed" The master said.
"Sir." They responded in unison
Outside, Nirvana was sitting there, waiting for her turn when she noticed a group of adventurers in the bushes. They were trying to sneak up on her. But she didn't notice another person on the other side. When she did, it was too late.
The man, who was carrying a weirdly shaped sword jumped on her back. Then he stabbed her. The pain from the stab shocked her. She never felt pain like that before. It was so much that she accidentally released her magic.
From her entire body, ice magic came out to the surroundings. She also released ice breath from her mouth into the sky as she screamed. The ice came into contact with clouds which quickly expanded and covered the whole sky. Then it began to rain heavily.
The adventurers inside the city saw how it happened and celebrated.
"Hahaha. This must be the work of the ones we put to face the dragon lord. They're really quick." The guild master commented.
Nephilim only looked at the rainy sky, wondering how her sister is doing. Then he looked at the adventurers who were prepared to fight.
They all rushed at him at the same time shouting. Then some leaped into the air to attack.
And so, the battle began.