The War That Erased Hope


    In a world torn apart by endless wars, the conflict between humans and monsters was never just a battle of good versus evil—it was a war for existence itself. Since the monsters were banished to the Abyss, they had sought to reclaim the land they claimed was stolen from them, while humans built their kingdoms upon the ruins of ancient eras, unaware that the darkness had never vanished but merely waited for the right moment to return.


    The Kingdom of Ragnoy, one of humanity''s strongest strongholds, was the last line of defense against the demonic tide. When the legions of the Demon King emerged from the depths of his gate, the earth trembled beneath their march, and the sky was swallowed by eternal darkness. In that cursed war, the kingdom’s greatest warriors stood their ground—among them, the father of our protagonist, who raised his sword against the inferno, believing that victory was possible.


    But hope was a lie.


    The armies shattered before the abyssal flood, and warriors became mere numbers in the massacres of demons. His father was slain before his comrades, his bones crushed beneath monstrous fists, while the king watched from behind the walls of his castle, powerless to act.


    When the king realized the kingdom was doomed, he made a decision that would forever be etched in history as an unforgivable disgrace: he struck a deal with the Demon King.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    In exchange for halting the assault, he offered a ransom of human lives—women and children—to serve as slaves and sacrifices in the realm of darkness. It was not a choice born of courage, nor even of desperation, but a betrayal cloaked in wisdom, meant to safeguard his kingdom at the cost of innocent souls.


    Among the victims… was a young boy, too small to understand that everything had been stolen from him before he could even grasp the meaning of life.


    The captives were taken to the Demon King''s palace, where the air reeked of death and the very walls whispered unspeakable tales. There, the boy witnessed horrors that no human should ever see—visions that belonged only in nightmares.


    He watched as women, including his mother, were stripped of their humanity before his eyes, their bodies thrown into the claws of monsters, reshaped into nothing more than broken playthings. He saw children being torn apart—not out of rage, but for mere amusement. Some had their eyes plucked out while still alive, forced to witness the slaughter of their companions until the very last breath.


    And he… he saw it all, his body trembling in terror. But deep within him, something else was awakening.


    Fear was no longer the dominant emotion. Pain was no longer the only thing he felt. Instead, there was rage—an abyssal hatred, a suffering carved into his soul as if it were a heretic branded with a sacred mark.


    And in the darkness of that palace, amidst the screams and blood, only one question echoed in his shattered mind:


    "Why me? Why, out of everyone?!"


    What he did not know… was that this very question would be the beginning of everything.