《Harbinger of the Damned》


 Prologue - The Nine Gods

    There was a world that had nine gods that ruled over it. They were Materani, Materbestaie, Matermonst, Hominis, Tenidecro, Pumilio, Spiralo, Pecus and finally Mortinca. Each god had their own dominion, position, and creation or creations to look after, either by lending a helpful hand to protect them or watching over them.


    Materani, Materbestaie and Matermonst are three goddesses that rule over nature, however each one rules over different type of the fauna. They were the first Goddesses and Gods of the nine to start creating. First making the planet and the terrain, the ecosystems and food chains.  When they were done there was a planet the size of Jupiter, with five continents.


    Each Continent had their own climate. The North Continent was frozen solid, almost nothing lived in those harsh conditions of it. Having no season to farm, every day having a blizzard lasting for hours and the temperature going below 30 celsius on a warm day! Only creatures that have an affinity to Ice magic can survive here or that can withstand the temperature and the lack of food.


    The West Continent was a lush Rainforest and tropical climate. Jungle beasts, insect monsters, and water monsters love to thrive there. Where food is always abundant and that you are always a step away from death from all the dangerous animals there, non-poisonous and poisonous.


    The East Continent is a giant forest of different types and lakes/streams, in each section of the continent¡¯s forest is a new season, new trees and different fauna. This continent has lots of wildlife but not as much from the West but more than the North. They say the middle of the continent is an interesting place to live, where all the sections meet.


    The South Continent is Hell on earth you can say. It is the opposite of the climate of the North Continent. It has volcanoes everywhere and the land is charred with mountain ranges mixed in. You will find the many demonic, reptiles and fire elementals here.


    Then there is the Central continent which has each of the parts of the other continent  reaching onto the edge of it while the middle of it is forests, prairies and mountain ranges. You will find many normal animals, Magical beasts and some humanoid monsters.


    After they created the Continents they had to but their plans into action and populate it, which


    Materani began creating  animals of the land and sea. By doing making them abundant everywhere that nature thrived, which the rest started following through.


    Materbestaie then created the Magical Beasts, animals that have grown to use Mana that flourishes in the world, that every being has. However they have grown to use it to become stronger and survive in the harsh world.


    Finally Marermonst, the creator of Monsters such as Goblins, Ogres, Trolls and Orcs to say a few. The monsters that she created are not apart of the main races due to them being created to  help maintain the food chain in the world like  the other creations that her other two sisters made.


    Hominis then created Humans when the world was done by the three sisters, and based his creations after himself.They were weak when he first created them in the central continent  which was to difficult and harsh for them to live, and he was pained to see his creations die and fail.


    He asked the other gods if he could give them gifts to help them survive, such as advance intellect, curiosity, and the ability of adaptivity to help survive in the world. The other gods noticing his plea and allowed him to give it to him but nothing more, not to upset the balance of the world. Humans than started to create tools and taming the land, making homes for themselves and finally small civilizations to help survive together.


    The second to make creations of the Main races was Tenidecro. Tenidecro unlike Hominis, planned out what to give his creations, he was friends with the the three sisters and wanted to help protect the beauty of the world they created and to preserve it so he created the slender and tall Elves and the small magical Fairies.


    The elves were more attuned with nature, having knowledge to live with it and not fight it every day to survive, that doesn¡¯t mean they were weak however. Elves were in every way stronger than humans and it would have to take five humans to take an elf down. Fairies were like the elves however had more of an magical affinity, and could do miracles with nature but were really weak physically wise.


    Tenidecro put his creations on the West and East Continent to live in the Lush rain forests of the west and vast forests of the east.


    The third to make a creation to populate the world was Pumilio. He created his creations with the goal to be the best miners, architects and craftsmen in the world, making the dwarves.


    He sent them to live in the mountains of the Central Continent and the ones from the South Continent. They created their cities into the mountains and flourished there with the minerals and ores beneath the mountains.


    The fourth was the Goddess Pecus who created the Beastmen. Pecus was amazed by the creations of humans and wanted to create something something like humans however wanted to make them stronger, which made him decide to make them have animal characteristics.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Beastmen come from the West Continent and come in lots of different forms such Dog beastmen, cat beastmen, bear beastmen ect¡­


    While this was all happening Spiralo was disgusted with all of the nature loving creatures that disliked violence and wanted to make the world a little chaotic which she than created the Imps and Demons to combat the Elves and Fairies and their woodland homes. The demons had many shapes and sizes but they all had the impulse of kill and destroy.


    Mortinca was the only God to not create a creature to inhabit the world as his job was to watch over all the creatures and to end their lives at their time to have eternal rest. He did create the Harbinger of Death or also known as Grim Reapers to be his hands, mouths, eyes and ears of the world. He had to create them to help him due to the demons being aggressive and attacking the other races. The other gods and Goddesses were upset with Spiralo because of this but could do nothing to help their creations unless they were almost destroyed.


    However the Gods and Goddesses also disliked the idea of his creations being Immortal like them and being unable to die like their creations, which made them jealous and upset.


    The only two that didn¡¯t dislike him for it was Spiralo due to him never complaining about all the Death and that Demons just naturally like him as much as their own goddess. The other Person that likes him is The Goddess of animals, Materani. They were great friends even though her job was giving Life while his was taking it away, he loved Life even though he had to take it away which allowed them to be friends.


    The others were uncomfortable with their friendship and tried to make them stop but couldn¡¯t find anything to break their friendship until the day Materani¡¯s favourite Deer was slaughtered by humans.


    She became so heavily depressed knowing Mortinca had to take it¡¯s life away, she wasn¡¯t upset at him however but just upset in general but Mortinca was also upset knowing he had to do it. Because of this he did the unthinkable after it died, he brought it back to life as an Undead, the first of its kind.


    They were all horrified to see what he has done, even Materani was disturbed to see it, only Spiralo was amazed by it however said nothing. The other Gods and Goddesses started mocking him and sent their creations to kill it off, which made Montinca upset not only due to him trying to help Materani but for the power he did and they were mocking him for it and trying to kill it. Materani started drifting away from him while this was happening which made him even more upset, and depressed.


    Mortinca then threatened them saying if they killed it, he would do it for every creature that died and was not eaten or it¡¯s body burned or purified. They thought he was bluffing and they killed it, they didn¡¯t know how true his threat was.


    Mortinca was enraged with what they done and the rose the dead of every dead body that was intact in the world and start causing havoc. The Gods were having trouble stopping the undead invasion but they did it after hundreds of years of fighting, but they couldn¡¯t get rid of them all and the curse stayed.


    They were upset but couldn¡¯t say anything because he had warned them however they made sure that their creations hate the Undead for the end of times. They also banned the worshipping of Mortinca and anything that had to do with him was banned if wasn¡¯t already hundreds of years ago.


    Spiralo on the other hand and her Demons loved what Mortinca did and extended a helping hand to Mortinca and embraced the idea and creation of the undead. Mortinca was still depressed but was happy that someone at least still enjoyed his company and ideas, Mortinca and Materani made sure they stayed away from each other, but deep down they wanted to talk again.


    However Spiralo and Montinca grown closer and became best friends, working together, which he gave the demons the magic of ¡°Necromancy¡± and Death Magic. He also taught it to some of the other races who still worshipped him and loved it against the other gods displeasure..


    The Gods were fearful with the union which Mortinca shouldn¡¯t show favouritism at all was now showing it to the Goddess who wanted all the other races to bow down to her¡¯s or die.


    Now, It¡¯s been thousands of years later, the year of 2072, 1839 years after the undead creation and Invasion. The races were now in a technology and culture of what would be the medieval ages, with castles, cities, villages and strongholds.


    The humans have had the biggest impact with technological advancements however still dealt with the threat of the Demons and undead. Like the other races, they thought of them as a mosquito that won¡¯t go away, being a pest but could kill them if it can just get a second to latch on and take a bite..


    [Thank you for reading this! And to repeate again this wil be a side project compared to my main one which is "The DemonLord who wished to be a Hero". I hope to at least post a. Chapter every two weeks. Also to those who are already reading it, there will be a new chapter out tonight! Anyways, thanks again for reading and I hope you have a good day!]

 Chapter 1 - The end of the Undead Empire, and the rise of a new age

    ¡°They hunt us and kill us just because we are something they find revolting. They will gladly kill their own kin if they will become one of us and curse at us for it. Why must they hate us? What have we done to warrant their prejudice and wrath. They wonder why we are so violent and gruesome to them and that''s because they expect it and provoke us like we are vicious animals. Soon enough, we will all be the same, and this repulsive cycle of hatred and war will end.¡± - Elder Lich Itulala Frostskull, Death Giver of the Cult of Montinca


    It¡¯s the final ring of death or also known as the last month of Winter. An army of white are marching through the nocturnal cavern which is home to the Undead¡¯s Capital, Morti.


    The army is comprised of all the main ¡®Holy¡¯ races elites, that have been sent to purge and stop the undead with their doomsday ritual.


    They have been marching day and night for rings now, to stop what may be the end of the living. Many have fallen from the harsh environment that has plagued them the entire trip.


    All of them burned if their body remained, if not, a short silent prayer for their soul.


    Their morale has not faltered for they are the last hope for their loved ones. They also have two young Heroes that have been bestowed upon them by the gods, summoned from another world which has been told.


    They have been one of the key reasons they have not all thought they would not have the power to defeat the undead.


    The races have pooled lots of their wealth (begrudging), to allow a third of the troops to have Mana Core Weaponry such as Rifles, Mana Cannons and several Siege Golems.


    The army finally reaches the end of the depths having the sight of the Capital.


    A ray of black, green and red light comes out of the citadel. Just looking at it for a second has made the troops get goosebumps and feelings of unease or dread to what is to come.


    An aged human Paladin with long white hair and a full bushy white beard like an arctic fox, stands in front of the army wielding a 2 meter long Warhammer, like it was a walking stick with his 5¡¯6ft stature. His dark blue eyes hold an almost permanent steely gaze, scrutinizing everything it sees.


    He looks onto the hellish citadel that holds everything that is unholy and unjust that plans to sully the work of the eight gods and goddesses, and the lives of the people that in this world.


    Just the thought of the abominations that reside there, instantly makes his stomach churn and his face form a scowl. His fist clenches his Warhammer tighter, unintentionally activating it, which it sprouts lightning strikes, like branches from the trunk of a tree.


    His name is Zaldarth Proudstar, Grand Inquisitor and Paladin leading this army. He has been groomed since birth to be a Grand Inquisitor. His skill and prowess in battle is unmatched except by the two heros by his side, and those that are in the Dark Green Core rank or above.


    While he was brooding over the Capital of the dead, the two heros look to him smiling slightly due to this being the end of their journey. Their final testament and challenge on their quest.


    ¡°Zal, what''s with that look, you should be joyous that we got here in time and not staring down the Capital like it¡¯s trying to run away.¡± Hanaku says in a joking manner with a smirk on her face.


    Hanaku is one of the summoned heroes, she along with Sebastian who is on the other side of Zaldarth.


    She is in a white robe with light blue runes sewn on them, pulsing with the rhythm like a heart. Her long obsidian colour hair is put in a ponytail that reaches down her back, and sways in the cavern¡¯s magical winds. Lush green eyes that make all that gaze into them a sense of tranquility and peace. She stands 5¡¯3ft tall with a magical staff carved from an ancient treant to be her weapon as it matches her height and boosts her magical power.


    Sebastian is the night to Hanaku¡¯s day. 6¡¯2ft tall with short silver hair that glistens in light, warm brown eyes that compliment his usually bright smile. Wearing a pitch black trench coat with purple fur on the fringes of the coat which was taken from a Shadow Saber which boosts his speed and illusion magic. He wields a light purple katana made from moonstone that leaves a glowing after trail.


    ¡°Yeah, come on old man we should be happy and have one of your so famous speeches. I bet it will bring up your and the men''s spirits for the coming battle¡± Sebastian says, giving Zaldarth a nudge in the shoulder and a cheeky grin.


    Zaldarth snorts and smiles softly. His posture becoming relaxed and looks at them.


    ¡°You really think my speech would make those stuck up elves, rowdy dwarves and twitchy beastmen will really care for my speech? I highly doubt it but thanks pipsqueak.¡± Zaldarth says back to Sebastian with a cheeky grin of his own.


    Sebastian makes a scowl on his face while Hanaku stifles a laugh by covering her face with her unused hand.


    ¡°Who are you calling pipsqueak! I¡¯m way taller than you, you should be the one called pipsqueak and not me, ¡®Gerat¡¯¡± Sebastian fires back at Zaldarth, who glares back with a wide malicious smile.


    ¡°You want your ass beat again so soon Boy? If I remember correctly, last time we sparred, you were passed out in a crater by the end of it.¡± Zaldarth chuckles after saying that to Sebastian, who goes beet red for a moment, then sighs.


    Hanaku coughs coughs lightly to get the two''s attention. Once they look at her she gestures to army behind them.


    ¡°I do think you should give them a speech, even if they if groups won¡¯t listen. Some will and they will probably be inspired which will bring up the moral of everyone.¡± She says with a smile, trying to bring up Zaldarth¡¯s spirits.


    He looks down at the ground for a moment with a thinking brooding expression on his face. Sebastian slaps Zaldarth on the back with a large cheeky grin and with his thumbs up after slapping him.


    With both of companions egging him on to do the speech he relents to their wishes and goes up to army behind him.


    Many of the soldiers are idle chatting in quiet and somber tones. Some are praying to the gods, others saying their goodbyes to their friends and others are just talking about their past since they may never get the chance again after today.


    Zaldarth stops a few meters from the first row of the soldiers with a click of his heels. He smashes the butt of his Warhammer on the ground, making the ground beneath it crack and a loud booming noise, silencing all talk within the ranks.


    Zaldarth than coughs in his fist to clear his throat, than uses mana into his diaphragm and mouth to allow him to amplify his voice like a Megaphone and if he wanted to, to make it into a sound weapon.


    ¡°Champions of the seven churches of the gods! We have finally made it to our destination of the dreaded Necropolis before they were able to cast their spell of doom! Through thick and thin we have gone through perils that have taken many of our lives, but how many more will be taken if we do not finish our mission and stop this spell. We must take this hell hole for the seven gods, for our families and friends that are back home! We are the only hope for our people or we will all be damned and let these Rotters win!?¡± Zaldarth bellows this out and the soldiers have the flames of fury in their eyes, to avenge their fallen, they yell back at him.


    ¡°NAY! WE WILL NEVER LET THEM WIN!¡±


    Zaldarth smiles broadly in a vicious smile. ¡°Than we will assault this hive of evil and everything unholy, not for us but for our loved ones! For our ancestors and for the future generations! We will destroy all of them for the safety of our people! Who is with me!?¡± He yells at them which they respond with a battle cry of their own.


    Their moral has never been higher, they would gladly face against the two unholy gods by themselves and die to save their loved ones, with a smile on their face and weapon in hand.


    ¡°Than we march for the end of the Rotters! We march to free the land from their scourge and the suffering they have causes! We march for vengeance!!¡±


    When Zaldarth finishes his speech, the troops start marching, pounding the ground with the the butts of their weaponry, hitting their shields or chanting with the beat of the marching sounds.


    Sebastian smacks the back of Zaldarth¡¯s head and laughs ¡°See? We told you that you had it in ya.¡±


    Zaldarth just makes a low growl and makes a smile grin. ¡°Let¡¯s finish these abominations¡±


    Three Skeletons on the wall that surrounded Mort, are relaxing and enjoying their unlife, unaware of what is to shortly come to them.


    They are all suited in full sets of black iron armour, with a long sword at their hip and Crossbow in hand. They like many other soldiers and guards of the capital are supposed to be on high alert for any Breathers that somehow got her in time. The thought of Breathers getting this close to their Capital was laughable to them, how could they get through all of those obstacles that was in their way to them, get to them in time and to have enough troops to siege them, let alone take the Capital of the Damned.


    They thought they were invincible, you can¡¯t siege the dead as they don¡¯t need supplies and the siegers will most likely die from lack of supplies or perhaps diseases which means more troops for the damned.


    ¡°Hey Humor, how much longer do ya think it will take for the spell to finish? Hasn¡¯t it been almost several months now?¡± The tallest skeleton asks the medium sized Skeleton.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Femur, I think I heard rumors yesterday that Captain Skull got a message that said today might be the last day and it would be cast tonight. Would explain why we were to put on an even higher alert than the past month.¡± Humor the medium skeleton answers back to Femur the tallest skeleton.


    ¡°Would you two shut up, I¡¯m trying to get a bit of shut eye here and you''re preventing me from sleeping. Sigh, if only I could just drink myself into a coma..¡± The shortest Skeleton says, while he is laying on a Merlon.


    ¡°Hmph.. Wait.. Do you.. Feel anything is wrong..¡± Femur looks at the two, which look back quizzically.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®Feel anything wrong¡¯? Everything feels pretty normal to me, especially Stapes¡¯s grumbling.¡± Humor says back to Femur, earning a glare from Stapes.


    Femur puts puts his crossbow on a Merlon and take out a pair of binoculars to scan the perimeter of the wall. He continues to do it for several seconds getting the two others to shake their heads at Femur¡¯s antics.


    ¡°Oi, don¡¯t be so paranoid, you actually think that some of the Breathers got all the ways down here? You need to take a break my friend, how long have you been on theses walls?¡± Stapes asks Femur who just waves him off.


    ¡°I think I see something, quiet down!¡±


    Femur yells at Stapes who snorts and replies.


    ¡°Do you really think me talking is going to interfere with your s-¡±


    ¡°I said quiet down for Mortinca¡¯s sake!¡±


    Femur cuts of Stapes by yelling at him again, while Humor is getting a little uncomfortable now, evidence by him shifty more than usual.


    Femur freezes and drops his binoculars, he just keeps staring out towards where he last looked. Humor quickly grabs it and looks where Femur froze at.


    ¡°Well, what did he see to make him freeze like that?!¡± Stapes scowls looking a bit shaken by Femur¡¯s reaction.


    Humor once he looks to where Femur is looking he freezes as well. He sees a mass of troops in white shining armour marching towards their position. He estimates there is at least 250K troops of them incoming. At most they suspected none to be completely honest, thinking the Breathers would just lie down and die. Looks like it wasn¡¯t like that.


    ¡°They''re here.. And coming for us..¡± Femur says quietly, visibly shaking and making a rattling noise.


    ¡°Who¡¯s here for fucks sake?! Spit it out!¡± Stapes says angrily, getting freaked out by the twos reaction.


    ¡°The Breathers are here¡­¡± Humor says absentminded, his voice oozing with dread.


    Once Stapes hears that word he freezes himself for a second before he jumps off the Merlon and starts sprinting to the closest sentry station to warn of incoming enemies, while continually screaming that the Breathers are here.


    The battle has begun between the two opposing forces.


    Once the sentry station has been warned, almost all battle capable undead were sent to the walls to help protect the Capital, home and loved ones. Several elite squads were told to help fortify the Citadel to help make sure even if the Breathers broke through into the Capital, it won¡¯t get instant access to stop the spell.


    Skeletons, Zombies, Dullahans, Vampires, Liches and many more undead are on the walls or in the streets due to the walls being crowded. They are all ready to die again to protect what they hold dear and to send those who are trying to break into an early grave.


    Their moral far from being as close as the Breathers as they fear for the numbers against them. They still are not hopeless as they have the walls, being perfect enemies for sieges and sieging while also have several trump cards available.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Once the Breathers got into range, the Undead started using their trebuchet on their towers to attack the approaching forces. They would lob normal boulders to bloaters which are suicidal zombies which is filled with acidic and disease ridden pus.


    The trebuchets start hitting the approaching Breathers lowering their morale a bit and causing some troops losing organization but they continue to press on. The Siege Golems start picking up boulders that were still mostly together and start chucking them back at the trebuchets or towards the walls, killing the occupants of them.


    There was always a cheer on Breathers when they destroyed a Trebuchet while the undead cheered once they destroyed Mana Cannons or a Siege Golem. The battle got way more hectic once the army got in range to fire magic and arrows at each other.


    It was like a light show watching all the spells being slung at each other once they got in range. People combusted into fire from fireballs to people being speared several times by ice, magical buffs that made people glow while their was black or green gas that start to make people rot and decay right before their eyes.


    Once the cannons got in range is when the Undead started to freak out. The cannons were punching dents into the walls and given enough time would allow holes big enough to allow the Breathers to pour in .


    A captain of the undead blew a horn to tell they needed back up to give them time to break the cannons and get the army¡¯s attention off of the defenders for a few minutes hopefully.


    Several seconds after the horn was blown, ear shattering roars were heard through the battlefield. Shortly after the roar gigantic flying creatures were flying out of areas of the Capital to help the defenders. These creatures were Zombie and Skeletal Dragons, one of the Undead¡¯s trump cards.


    The Undead cheered once hearing the roars of their majestic companions who were starting to lay waste to the invaders by bombarding them with elemental breath. While the Dragons had the attention of the invaders, the other Undead started targeting the cannons and Golems before they broke through.


    The dragons were causing massive casualties to the Breathers as they continued to bombard them however, they started dropping like flies once the roof of the massive cave was covered in clouds and giant lightning strikes started coming down like the wrath of god. Smiting all of the Dragons in the sky.


    After a minute after the Dragons were released and defeated, Morale for the Undead plummeted while the Breathers Morale jumped even higher. Couple minutes after that, the wall was breached and the Breathers started pouring in.


    Battles broke out within the streets of the city, causing the once clean streets of Morti to be filled with unmoving corpses and blood. It was a choke point at first but the hole was gradually made bigger allowing more troops to pour in.


    A horn was blown as a message to retreat to a more fortified position within the Capital. The undead quickly retreated while throwing spells at the invaders while also dodging ones thrown at them.


    .The Army continue to make the whole bigger till that entire section of the wall collapses allowing more of their troops to enter. They start to reorganize their troops into new formations and ranks for the next wave they will send.


    Zaldarth, Sebastian and Hanaku are smiling slightly due to their victory for the walls and entering the city, but also mourning those who did not make it in their assault of it.


    Zaldarth looks at Hanaku and nods in a silent ¡®Thank you¡¯ for the spell he did that wiped out all the Dragons. She blushed slightly and waved him off like it was nothing.


    After a few minutes to catch their breath and to drink potions, they continue their assault on the capital, making sure they purge everything that is Undead.


    The Undead have fortified the Inner ring of the Capital which has another wall that separates the Noble and Commoner district. If they must retreat again they will fortify the Core which is the last wall and line of defence before the Citadel.


    Thankfully, before they retreated they had Burrowers, which are giant undead spiders, burrow like their name suggested in the streets to ambush the Breathers who dare to defile their home.


    Another thing they have at their defence is the Lich''s ability to summon Skeletons out of mana. They do not have Sentience but they are good fodder which they could keep sending to the Invaders to slow them down or better yet, kill some of them.


    They have also sent a Mana signal to the Burning Empire to hopefully get some aid from them. It will probably be not a lot due to the mana cost it would take to make them teleport so far away but the Undead continue to hope.


    The Breathers march through the Capital burning down every building they pass. Sometimes they will enter quickly to see if there''s any goods or Undead in there. If there is, they will slaughter them. They have slaughtered tons of families who did not retreat to the Citadel and decided to stay in their home.


    The Breathers think of it like a sport and count every time they kill one of Undead. It makes the Undead sick to their stomach and a raging feeling in their mana core heart.


    The Invaders soon reach where the Burrowers are hidden and wait for specific high ranked individuals to slaughter. They have accepted their fate as doing a Suicide Mission but they hope it will bring less pressure to their brethren.


    Woe to the Breathers who dare trifle on the lair of Burrowers and do not look for the unnatural ground where they built it. Who those who do not take caution shall have a gruesome death.


    Once the first Breather got to one of the lairs of a Burrower, it instantly came out like a trapdoor spider, sinking it¡¯s fangs into the poor bastard and dragged him back in. The poor Breathers only heard a scream and a blur when the deed was done.


    They soon found out quickly they were in a minefield of Burrowers and started to freak out which made they go into the strike zone of them which those Breathers soon joined the first ones fate.


    After several groups were taken like that, the Invaders learned their lesson and started looking for the strange ground and burned the pseudo-trapdoor and the Borrower within it.


    The morale of the Invaders who had seen their companions taken away by the Burrowers dropped in water. They soon became paranoid of what is still to come and if their is future Burrower Fields further in.


    The Army soon found the fortified position of the Undead which now has the addition of 10 meters tall Flesh Golems in front of the gate and walls. Fully made out of corpses that were not reanimated yet after death, so when they finally did reanimate, they would form one giant sentient mass of flesh.


    Another skirmish happened again between the two forces, however with the added Flesh Golems, the Undead have a bit more Punch. The Flesh Golems started throwing debris at the Invaders and sometimes throwing a Invader at another invader.


    The Breathers¡¯s magic casters started firing magic mainly at the Flesh golems while they wait for their own golems and Cannons to come to their aid. Once the cannons get in range they start pounding at the Flesh Golems, making a foot long diameter holes through the the Golems, blood and guts being expelled out the back and spraying the walls and gates.


    The last two Siege Golems have finally reached the Flesh Golems and they start brawling. The Siege Golems have the advantage as they are made out of enchanted steel and mixes of small amounts of other material like Silver and gold, while the Flesh Golems are made out of just Flesh. But the Flesh Golems are larger and taller by 3 meters.


    The Undead start giving the Flesh Golems support by continuing to barrage the Invaders but mainly the two Siege Golems and the remaining Cannons. Any Undead able to summon creatures to help did so, as they summoned Mana Skeletons all the way to Gargoyles to help fend off the Invaders.


    The Flesh Golems were destroyed but so were the Siege Golems and Cannons, this was a great victory to the Undead as they did not have to fear of their walls being taken so easily anymore. However, their celebration was cut short as a large spell was cast that entirely destroyed a section of the wall and a gate, vaporizing all of the occupants there as well.


    The Undead blow another horn to signal the retreat, knowing that they will have a disadvantage there and need to find out what caused that spell and the amount of damage. Some of the Undead stayed behind at the wall to slow down the Breathers with their sacrifice, some of the Lichs that stayed back went supernova by using all of their mana in their core and self destructing to try to take as many Breathers with them as possible.


    Another victory for the Army but at what cost? They have lost all of their few Siege Equipment from the attacks and now must rely on themselves or for Hanaku to destroy another one of those walls with her spells, however the spell she casted almost drained her so that won¡¯t be happening again for a while.


    The three are trying to see how many soldiers they have left, how many platoons they have left and any other special equipment they have left to use. They use this time to also try to mend their wounds and reorganize for the next and final strike towards the Citadel.


    Once they finish with organizing and finding out how many Troops they still had left which was the pitiful number 22K from their once 250K army. An astronomical amount of damage was done to them from the Dragons even for the short time they were out wreaking havoc upon them, the endless waves of lesser undead that was summoned from Mana, the Trebuchets, fast acting plague and their dead brethren coming back in the middle of the battle and attacking them.


    Zaldarth and Sebastian have been conserving their strength to fight the Lord of the Capital, Hanaku was supposed to too, however without her Magical Support in the battle, they would of surely lost.


    ¡°We are so close now but also so far..¡± Zaldarth scowls angrily, ¡°I we might not be able to to make it past the last barrier and into the Citadel..¡±


    ¡°We can still do this! We will just have to join the next attack and join in,¡± Sebastian replies to the frustrated Zaldarth. ¡°If we can¡¯t punch through here with a sizeable amount of troops, it doesn¡¯t matter we are fully ready for battle since they will slowly dwindle our strength down until we meet their Lord.¡±


    Sebastian makes a sly grin and says, ¡°Where''s that old bastard who said a month ago that even if it was only you left, that you would assault the Rotters until their was none left! That even if he must crawl through Hell and back their is nothing that will stop him and that he will not lose hope.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, Zaldarth, we mustn¡¯t lose hope and continue on thinking we are invincible and that we shall cleanse this world of these monsters. If not, if we lose our hope and don¡¯t fight to our last and at our best, we will doom all those who had hope in us..¡± Hanaku says to Zaldarth in ragged breaths, still tired from the spell she cast.


    Zaldarth grimily nods and starts yelling to his troops to ready up for final assault, may they gain glory or death.


    The Undead are at the final wall that protects the Citadel, past this wall you may enter the Citadel which inside has also been fortified to try to stop advancements into the inner sanctum where the spell or ritual is being performed.


    Due to the extra time they gained from the Breathers not continuing their assault right after they destroyed the last wall, they have gained a lot of summoned minions to use as fodder. Another thing that they got was actual reinforcements from the Burning Empire!


    They were given 1000 Elites from the Empire, 800 of them being Demon Knights while the other 200 being Imp Sages. This was a welcomed sight to the Undead to know that the Burning Empire has not forsaken them and even knowing that they may not get these Elites back after they battle.


    The Undead were ready for another round with the Breathers and now have gotten reinforcements from their ally, they have gotten some hope back. They also heard that the Ritual is almost done and they need to hold the Breathers for a little bit longer before it will finish.


    The Demons that have joined them started preparing themselves such as casting buffs and casting rune traps on the ground that the Breathers shall step on which will explode in fiery explosions which could even roast a Fledgling Arch-Demon if they weren¡¯t careful.


    Once the Invaders have showed themselves once more the Undead this time are showing facial expressions of glee if they''re capable of the feat like Zombies. The Invaders were confused until they stepped in the first rune trap which triggered several others, completely destroying several platoons from the explosion and inflamed invaders catching their comrades on fire as well.


    The Demons were guffawing at the Breathers misery as they were burnt to a crisp as they screamed in agony, cursing the horrible luck they had. The smell of their instant combusted comrades greatly shocked and repulsed at the shock and smell.


    After this, another battle of throwing magic around was started, however this time Sebastian and Zaldarth are charging towards the towering gate made out of complete Black steel with platoons of charging warriors behind them.


    Zaldarth and Sebastian deftly dodged all the runes while some of the other warriors were not so lucky and were caught in the blast or debris from the explosion.


    The Undead were shocked that they would charge like this and started aiming at the charging warriors who after passing the rune field started annihilating the undead fodder to reach the gate.


    Sebastian rapidly and skillfully dispatched all Undead in his way to the gate, easily cutting them in half and cutting those behind them as well with the wind blades he creates with his slashes. As he cuts through them Zaldarth is not far behind and is smashing all undead in his path, sometimes hitting the ground and shaking the area around them, which would make the undead stumble and make easy targets.


    The Demon Knights seeing them charge to the gate, jump down in front of it and prepare a shield wall for the incoming Breathers. They also cast Immolation, a special perk Wrath demons have, which ignites their body into flames and harms everything that is considered a foe.


    Unfazed by the Demonic Shield wall Zaldarth continues to charge and leaps up in the air and falls down bringing down the (War)hammer, which made a large breach into the shield wall and killed lots of the Demons.


    With the gap opened Sebastian joins in and starts ripping the Demon Knights apart. Easily cutting through their inferior armour as his Legendary grade Katana slices them open like a hot knife through warm butter.


    Unfortunately for the Demon Knights, more of the Breathers continue to charge and join the fray, making the Knights outnumbered and get overwhelmed. But to their Immolation they bring down lots of the weaker foes and due to superior strength they were able to make the enemies number dwindle even more.


    After the Demon Knights are defeated, Zaldarth starts to bash the Gate with his Warhammer, making fist sized dents and getting bigger swiftly with each well placed strike.


    The Undead start sending Knights of their own to deal with the Paladin and their entourage at their gate, they drop down from the wall and land on the unsuspecting Warriors who weren¡¯t ready for falling Undead.


    The Undead Mages and the Breathers mages are growing tired and becoming low in number do to all the AOE spells that were cast and are slowing down and dropping due to Mana Exhaustion, taking them out of the fight.


    Sebastian guards Zaldarth as he brings the Gate down after several more powerful strike that would make a Dragon cough blood if it was hit on it¡¯s scaly armour. The Invaders cheer and charge through the gate meeting the Undead behind it to fight them back.


    The longer the fight goes on the Morale of both clashing armies continue to ascend and descend. As the Undead are continually pushed back they keep it in their minds that the Ritual is almost over and must try to slow down the Invaders even if it¡¯s a little longer, while the Invaders get better Morale when they push forwards and get lower Morale when their numbers are dropping and the longer it takes them to get into the CItadel.


    Zaldarth looks over to Sebastian who looks back and nods his head signalling that they shall do a Combo Strike to punch a hole through the Undead Horde. Zaldarth Charges up his Warhammer while Sebastian starts casting buffs on himself.


    Once they finished their preparations, Zaldarth does another slam with his Warhammer making long fissures in front of him and into the Horde which releases lightning, stunning the Undead within.


    Sebastian after seeing Zaldarth do his crowd control spell casts Blade Storm which allows him to become 5X faster for a brief amount of time and become almost invisible with his speed. He quickly slash through hundreds of undead with each strike with the added speed, which made his Wind blades even more deadly.


    After several minutes of the battle, the path is clear to the Citadel. Besides all the gore that lays between them.


    The Breathers Cheer and continue to charge into the Citadel, and their destination within it, the Inner Sanctum where the Ritual is being cast.


    In the Inner Sanctum of the Citadel is a Octagon shaped room, filled with a ghastly and ominous glimmer from a Large floating ball of pure black mana. Surrounding the ball of Mana is seven Arch-Lichs and an Ancient Lich who are pumping Mana into it and chanting. With each Syllable they say the Ball pulsates like a heart, always with the same beat as the chanting.


    Amongst the Lichs doing the Ritual, there''s twelve Doom Guards, which are the Elite of the Elite of Death Knights who have proven themselves to Mortinca. Those twelve Doom Guards are glaring at the door that enters into the room. They grow more relentless as the seconds tick by as the Ritual is coming close to finish and the increase of sounds of magic being casted and swords clashes within the Inner Sanctums walls.


    The last three figures in the room is a women clad in a black robe, carrying a several month old child wrapped in a bundle of cloth, a man who has large bat wings on his back and six horns etting from his head to make a crown on his forehead and a floating creature in black hood hooding a scythe.


    The women is Venefica Cupido, a Human witch who is married to Alba Cupido a Demon Prince of Lust. Venefica holds their child securely within her bosom as she fears for the young ones life.


    Alba is arguing with the hooded figure which is a Grim Reaper. Most of what Alba is saying is spoken in the Daemon which is the Demon`s language, if someone was eavesdropping they would think he is trying to tell the reaper something importantly while also be angry but he''s actually just swearing at the calm and collected reaper.


    Once Alba calms down the Reaper ask Alba, ¡°Are you done now? We have more important things to do now than swearing at the servant of your Benefactor.¡±


    The Reaper¡¯s dread filling voice buts chills down Alba¡¯s spine, and Alba¡¯s response is just a angry glare.


    ¡°Good, now than as you can notice, the Alliance is here and the Ritual won¡¯t be finished in time by the time they get here.¡± The Reaper says while gesturing to the door as the noises grow louder and shouts are heard.


    ¡°We have a couple of Options that we can do, it''s all up to you to decide on which plan however as my Master has declared you his Champion. The first choice is to try to hold them off and wait for the ritual to finish, which is almost impossible due to the time we still need and how close they are.¡± The Reaper tells Alba this like only a fool would pick this option, The Reaper than continues saying, ¡°The second option is that your wife leaves with the Child, while you and your men hold the Alliance off here to allow them to escape. Once your child grows old enough to gain the mantle of being my Master¡¯s Champion, he can reinitiate the Ritual and hopefully finish it.¡±


    Alba scowls at The Reaper and gnashes his teeth together making a cracking noise due to the strength of his jaw. ¡°You''re suggesting me to abandon my wife and son to try to survive out there in a world where they will be prosecuted and killed with no defence just for the chance that my son gets old enough he will finish my work that doomed us here!?¡±


    The Reaper just replies with, ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    Alba looks like he is about to rip apart The Reaper but before he says anything to refute their is loud banging at the door and shouting.


    ¡°The Clock is ticking Demon Prince, I can only hold them off from breaking down that door for a minute, I would choose quickly..¡± The Reaper says while crossing his arms.


    Alba grimaces and looks over to his wife who has a small pained smile on her face. He goes over to her and he embraces her.


    ¡°This is for the best.. Even though I hate this decision, the chances are higher for you this way.. I wish I could be with you to defend you but someone doesn¡¯t wish me to leave..¡± Alba says and gives the Reaper a chilling glare who just brushes it off.


    ¡°I¡¯ll always love you, and our son. Even in death I will always be watching you.¡± He smiles at his wife and gives her one more tight hug before he releases her and she leaves through a secret exit behind a wall.


    ¡°Sir they almost broken through!¡± Bellows one of the Doom Guards to Alba who sighs and summons a Double sided Scythe.


    The Reaper smiles and fades away but says this before disappearing, ¡°Good choice, Champion¡­¡±


    ¡°Everyone, enter hibernation, I¡¯ll fight them alone..¡± Alba says to his minions who just stare at him for a moment before they understand why.


    They all go to a specific position in the room quickly, saying encouraging words to Alba and praising him for how amazing he was and that they will miss him. Once they got to the position, their Mana Core became dull, the blue flames in their eye sockets disappeared and they stayed still as a statue.


    Alba seeing this happens, smiles knowing that even if he is to fall today, that doesn¡¯t mean he his memories will disappear.


    A moment later, the door into the room blasts open and splintered wood and warped metal goes flying. Zaldarth, Hanaku, Sebastian and several Paladins enter with them, who quickly surround the single Demon Prince.


    They soon notice the Ball of Mana still floating in the middle of the room, knowing that this was going to be used to end their world as they know it. They shiver slightly wondering how much Mana is compressed into that ball and what it could of done.


    ¡°Well here we are, some uninvited Breathers who have come to ruin the fun huh? Didn¡¯t you learn manners from your parents? Or did you forget all about it when your parents rose back from the dead? Hahaha!¡± Alba says bringing them all out of their trance, irking them that he would have the gall to try to insult them.


    ¡°This is the end of the line filthy Daemon spawn, I hope you suffer for all eternity from the seven god¡¯s wrath for what you were trying to do..¡± Zaldarth hisses between his clenched teeth.


    ¡°Like your pitiful gods will do anything to Mortinca¡¯s Champion after death, you should be more concerned about what will happen to you after death¡­¡± Alba retorts with a malicious grin on his face.


    ¡°Enough talk! Lets just end this!¡± Zaldarth shouts at Alba who just shrugs.


    ¡°Lets.¡±

 Chapter 2 - Interlude

    It has been four years after the ¡°Holy Crusade¡± has ended with the Undead Capital, Mori, being sieged and destroyed. Preventing the doomsday spell being released. It was not without sacrifices however.


    The Hero Hanaku was one of the unlucky ones who fell in battle. The last battle with the Demon Prince of Lust. Alba¡¯s final defiance before his death was to kill Hanaku. It was to be an eternal reminder, that no one is safe from the horror and suffering of war. It was aimed at Sebastian, to know the pain of losing a loved one, in front of your own eyes.


    Zaldarth and Sebastian were struck with grief at the lost of their friend, and Lover, for Sebastian. Zaldarth hated the Undead and Demons even more after this, while Sebastian who had an indifference opinion to the Undead and Demons before, now became cold hearted and filled with hatred for them.


    Once they got back to their people, they soon felt the grief that was plaguing them. But they rejoiced for their return and for their saviours of the Undead Plight. The Undead Empire was no more. The rest of the Undead cities and encampments were found and swiftly destroyed with the vigorous lead of Sebastian. Only stranglers are left and they are in hiding.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Others have gone to the Burning Empire to join them. Usually becoming a second class citizen or even slave labour. Only the high ranking Undead would become a full fledged citizen for the Demons. But that doesn¡¯t mean they were still treated equally.


    The ¡°good¡± empires grew in strength in these four years with the threat of the Undead even being lower than before. They are just bugs or weeds that must be killed or removed daily. Just merely a chore for those that can wield a sword.


    Sebastian raised his now four year old daughter with the help of the Empire that summoned him, and Zaldarth. The Homincath Empire thanking Sebastian for his hard work was adopted by the Royal Family and due to the Royal Family not having children of their own, has made Sebastian the Heir to the throne.


    All throughout this time however, no one knew that Alba had a wife, nor their child in her arms in that dread filled night. They escaped through a passage that reached the surface in break neck speed compared to the way the Army took.


    Venefica, the wife of Alba and the mother of their son brought her young child to the place that no one think to find them. Even though it¡¯s cliche. In the capital city of the Homincath Empire. There she lived comfortably with her son for those four years. She acted as an Alchemist to make a living which allowed them that comfortable life.


    Venefica named her son, Pride, as he was her Pride and joy. She cherished him, and always spent any free time with him always making him feel loved and accepted. Because she knew no one else would.