《Champions of Arainia》 The beginning of the end Myon village, Farrlands. - ¡°Search for the scroll; leave nothing behind.¡± a man in a dark red robe says, ordering some mercenaries. The mercs split into two groups, each looking for a scroll known as the Nezernine. The Nezernine is an ancient artifact from the days of Arin the great; it has the ability to steal power from other Arcans. As the mercenaries search for the Nezernine they are stopped by a man rushing towards them. ¡°Kyuzo!!!¡± yells prince Tyzon of Myon. He continues to rush the mercs and slashes a few with his sword. One of the mercenaries, chenrii, attacks Tyzon, but is felled quickly by Tyzon who used a lightning spell on chenrii. Tyzon, not stopping for a second, reaches Kyuzo, he stops and yells ¡°stop your assault on my people. Or I''ll cut you down where you stand!¡± Kyuzo, looking at Tyzon with pity askes, ¡° Look around you boy, your village is burning, do you really think you can stop what has already happened? Lay your blade down and you might be spared.¡± Tyzon, without question refuses the offer and yells ¡°no i will defeat you, i might not be able to help my village but i can still destroy you!¡± Kyuzo draws his axe, it unravels into a long and heavy blade with a burning flame on the back. ¡°Is that so? Go on then, strike me down!¡± Tyzon then rushes Kyuzo, running as fast as he can, Tyzon raises his blade and strikes Kyuzo. Kyuzo jumps back right before the attack, as he jumps he sets the ground ablaze. Tyzon looking through the flames sees Kyuzo launch himself forward at an incredible speed. Kyuzo rushes Tyzon and hits him in the face, a blast of fire rages out from the attack. The fight ends as quick as it began; with Kyuzo reigning supreme. Several mercenaries approach kyuzo with a scroll marked with several runes imbued with ancient magic. ¡° Sir, we have located the scroll¡± said one of the mercenaries kneeling down by Kyuzo. ¡°Good let me see it¡± Kyuzo grabs the scroll and opens it without reading the runes inscribed on it; the scroll explodes creating a massive crater, leaving behind only a few mercenaries. The surviving mercenaries are picked off by magic arrows from afar. Two people walk towards the crater. ¡° Nice shot spineil! I give that performance a solid 9/10.¡± said one of the two people, Lester. The other person, Spiniel, stands in silence at the remark. As the sun goes down Lester and Spineil leave far and head to The Tower of Souls in Cheyco city, Mesoha. Tower of Souls, Cheyco city, Mesoha- Lester walks into the grand hall of Lord Phantom, kneeling before Phantom is Opal, Phantom''s second in command. ¡°Do not fail me Opal.¡± Phantom said as Lester approached him. ¡°My lord, Kyuzo has failed us.¡± Lester says while kneeling. ¡° Oh, I know. I knew as soon as he got here.¡± Kyuzo enters the room seemingly from nowhere. Phantom continues; ¡° You see Lester, I marked him when he left so he could continue to serve me after death.¡± Lester apologizes for not retrieving the scroll. ¡° I knew you wouldn''t find it, Lester. The only reason I sent you was to monitor Kyuzo. He is more useful as a thrall than alive.¡± after the meeting Lester is sent to the Arikova archives to search for more information on the whereabouts of the Nezernine. Arikova archives, Arikova, Arainia- Lester and Spiniel enter the Arikova archives main lobby and after a few moments reach the front desk where they are questioned for security reasons. Lester purposely answers incorrectly and he and Spiniel are arrested and taken to the back of the Archives for further investigation. As they reach a metal detector Lester and Spiniel spring into action and attack the guards, a small fight ensues and Lester and Spiniel come out on top. They begin to rush towards the vaults cutting down any guards they find. Lester and Spiniel split up to cover more ground; Lester approaches a heavily armored door, guarding the door is Ember, a former bounty hunter and current member of the 5 royal flame guards. ¡°Well then. It would seem another challenger approaches my door.¡± Ember yells out ¡°come and take your prize then!¡± Ember then draws two flaming axes and rushes Lester with a fiery passion. Lester and Ember trade blows but eventually Ember proves to be much more than Lester can handle but then Lester begins to charge up a strong attack; Ember is launched back by a large blast. Lester lunges forward without hesitation and begins to unleash his energy manipulation abilities, making small motions hit harder and move faster than before. Ember realizes she can''t keep up without using her own tricks so she falls back to the door and sends out a blast of fire all around her, knocking Lester back. Ember charges up calling an ancient tome ¡°sudakagae¡± or ¡° immense flame surge¡±; a gush of fire emerges from behind Ember propelling her forward at an incredible speed. Lester is just barely able to block the attack but only for a moment as sudakagae has two stages. A large explosion engulfs the entire room leaving Lester badly injured. ¡°Have you had enough yet?¡± Ember says standing over Lester who is in disbelief. Suddenly a magic arrow blasts through Ember; she falls to the floor. ¡°How was that shot Lester? Was it better than a 9/10?¡± Spiniel says while walking towards Lester. ¡°No i would have shot a little to the left¡± Lester responds jokingly. As Lester gets up to open the gate, six guards enter the room, all heavily armed, another man comes forth in front of the guards. ¡°More guards? Get ready spiniel!¡± Lester yells. The man in the middle comes closer to Lester and Spiniel, ¡°I see you have made easy work of my guards, well ¡.. You will have more trouble with me for sure.¡± Lester stands in horror as he realizes who the man is. The man before them is no other than Micheal Oprezz, Lord of the 7th gate. He rules over Fire magic, and can control all kinds of heat energy. Lester and Spiniel quickly surrender to the Immensely powerful warrior standing before them. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Arikova Arcane Prison, Arikova, Arainia- Lester and Spiniel are in a magically bound cell awaiting someone to come in to question them. They stare at the blank white walls covered with runes binding them to the cell. After hours of waiting, someone comes in. Sirus enters the cell, his black cloak and metal mask that covers half his face glows a dark aura as he sits before them. ¡°So what exactly were you looking for?¡± Sirus asks immediately. ¡°We weren''t looking for anything in particular, it was just a coordinated attack.¡± Lester responds. ¡° Do not lie to me child. I know the truth.¡± Sirus says menacingly. Lester makes lie after lie, trying his best to not reveal his plans. ¡°So ¡. You are looking for the nezernine, how unfortunate.¡± Sirus continues, ¡°the nezernine has been destroyed for years¡. I don''t know why you would be sent to find it, it was Lord phantom who destroyed it in the first place.¡± Lester stares blankly at Sirus in disbelief. How could that be true? Sirus leads Lester and Spiniel out of the prison and into the ship bay to be sent back to Mesoha. As they reach the courtyard two mesohian battlecruisers begin firing at the prison; Opal, Phantom¡¯s second in command, leaps out of one of the cruisers and attacks Sirus. While they fight Lester and Spiniel run towards one of the cruisers that landed. Sirus, a former assassin, lands many devastating blows on Opal, leaving him badly injured. Opal blasts the ground sending him backwards into the ship as it flies away. Hate breeds hate Tower of Souls, Cheyco city, Mesoha- Lester and Opal rush into the main hall. Opal, stumbling to the floor, yells out for Lord Phantom, who walks over to Opal and whispers, ¡°do not fall old friend, victory awaits us.¡± Lester watches as Opal stands up, suddenly healed from his wounds. Lester looking at Phantom asks ¡° is he ¡. Alive still?¡± Phantom assured him that Opal is indeed alive, and that he is more useful alive because of his loyalty to him. ¡°So he will be okay then?¡± Lester asks. ¡°He will be after some rest¡± Phantom responds. Phantom orders his men to place a bounty on all Arainian citizens in mesoha. ¡°There is only one way to get what we want without our plans being discovered.¡± Phantom continues, ¡°war is inevitable.¡± Fort killasheye, Arsburg, Arainia- ¡°We have called this meeting on this day to discuss foreign affairs with Mesoha.¡± Aodhan Riddel, the grand Zthy of Arainia, ¡°we will discuss the attacks on the Arikova archives and the arcane prison. Then will we decide on any actions to be taken." The members of the council are addressed, general Tolnn Hanmarr, grand chancellor Nina, head of foreign affairs tgrr feri, and adviser Bard. They begin by discussing the events of the attack on the archives. ¡°Why would two agents under direct command of Phantom be sent to find an artifact that Phantom already has? It doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Tgrr asks, ¡°The answer is obvious. Phantom wants to create tension, and confusion between us. I believe he wants war.¡± hanmarr responds. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Suddenly one of the guards enters the meeting hall and explains that Arainian citizens are being hunted in Mesoha. Hunter offices, noro city, mesoha- Ravine, a bounty hunter, sits in the main lobby of the hunter offices. She begins looking through different bounties, mostly gang leaders and thugs, until she comes across one high ranking bounty, she stares in horror as she finds her name on the contract. She immediately leaves the offices and begins to run to her ship. Soon Ravine realizes she is being followed by four hunters, they begin to attack Ravine; she quickly defends herself, drawing her sword she blasts the ground creating a shockwave that sends the four men into a nearby wall. They get up and begin to circle around Ravine. One of them swings at Ravine but misses, Ravine follows up with a devastating blow to his left arm and then blasts him with a concentrated gust of fast moving wind. The other three men continue to attack Ravine but she dodges most of their attacks, and follows up with more accurate attacks. After a couple of minutes Ravine comes out victorious. She finally makes it to her ship; she climbs in and starts the engine, as she is checking all the systems, another hunter tries to board her ship, she starts to take off while he is climbing. The hunter hangs on and begins to stab the window of the ship. With no other choice, once she gets high enough she turns on the warp drive and launches into space. After Ravine exits the warp she heads back to erath and lands at castle cain, home to one of her greatest friends, Lord Aodhan Riddel, of the 9th gate. The first step Castle Cain, Arikova- Aodhan, Micheal, and Sirus sit at a large table in the lobby of Castle Cain, discussing foreign affairs with Mesoha. As Aodhan stands up to enter the kitchens a series of loud knocks at the front door. Sirus and Micheal open the door to Ravine asking where Aodhan is. Sirus explains that Aodhan was in the kitchens and will return shortly. When Aodhan enters the lobby again, he is met with Ravine in tears after being told of what happened with Ember. ¡°What''s going on Ravine? Why are you here?¡± Aodhan asks, Ravine explains that she was attacked in mesoha and that she had a bounty on her. When questioned about the bounty and attack she explained that Lord phantom signed an executive order for the capture of Arainian citizens. Aodhan explains that it was the reason he called the meeting. ¡°You know what this could lead to¡¡. A possibility of war¡± mentions Micheal, ¡°indeed, it is true that this is a tremendously infuriating act, that could quite possibly lead to conflict. I believe it would be wise to wait.¡± Sirus ads. ¡°No! We can''t just wait for Phantom to do more harm. We have to strike back somehow!¡± Michael yells. ¡°I am with Sirus on this one. Peace must be preserved for as long as possible.¡± Aodhan says as he opens a laptop and begins typing. ¡°Looking at our current standings with foreign affairs, it is evident that a war with Mesoha would destroy our relations with their allies. We can not afford a world war. This isn''t how it was during the chimera war, there is more at stake.¡± Aodhan looks down at his hands after saying ¡°I personally do not want to have to fight Phantom one on one. It would be risky.¡± After a few moments of discussion, Ravine is allowed to stay at castle cain with Aodhan and Micheal until mesoha calms down. Fort Killasheye, Arsburg, Arainia- Grand chancellor Nina sat in her office in Fort Killasheye reading some reports on economic status. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Hmm business as usual, nothing to worry about currently.¡± she says while standing up to go get some coffee. As she opens the door she is met with two assassins facing her at the end of the hallway.¡±Come with us chancellor¡± one of them says while drawing a sword. Nina immediately slams the door shut and runs for her sword; being trained by a master swordsman she knows she can defend herself. But suddenly, she hears a voice behind her. ¡°Drop it.¡± Nina turns around to see Opal with his spear pointed at her. Nina, knowing she would lose to such a strong opponent, lays her sword down. But instead of being captured Opal lunges his spear into Nina. ¡°Long live Lord Phantom¡± Opal says as he sets his spear on fire causing a massive explosion. Castle Cain, Arikova- It was a sunday night, around 9:00pm, when the news of chancellor Nina was broke to Aodhan. ¡°So¡.. Phantom really does want war.¡± Aodhan whispers. ¡°I need to make a public announcement, we are at war with mesoha!¡± The very next day an assault battalion is sent to attack cheyco city. During the attack Ravine, and Michael are to search castle moronuu and locate any evidence on who attacked fort killashye. Cheyco city, mesoha- It is a quiet monday morning, people head to work, cars dart down the street, and ships fly off into the sky; business as usual. Suddenly, a firefight between city guards and an Arainian assault force rages through the streets. In all the chaos, ravine and michael sneak into castle moronuu and search every room, guards try to stop them, but their weapons do nothing to the powerful warriors before them. As Michael deals with the many guards, Ravine searches the main archives and finds Opal staring out at the chaos. Before she can step away from the door, Opal notices her presence and launches a barrage of fireballs in her direction. Dodging the attacks Ravine shouts out for Michael to help. Opal chases Ravine down the main hallway until Michael catches up with them. Not wanting to fight Michael, Opal runs out of the room while yelling ¡°it was me, i did it.¡± To Their horror, Michael and Ravine notice the walls covered with explosives. Michael grabs Ravine and jumps out a window, landing at a safe distance from the explosion. Ravine radioed the assault force to evac and that the mission was a success. Darkness rising Fort Nox, nazye district, Arikova- Sirus sits upon his throne, before him is one of his former students, Corr. ¡°Good afternoon lord 8th. I believe we may have business to discuss.¡± Corr says. ¡°Is that so Corr? Because last time I checked, you wanted nothing to do with me. How did you put it¡. You said you were better than me in every way. How come you come crawling back now¡± Sirus scalds. ¡°I will keep it short. A NEW DAY IS DAWNING, AND WITH IT RISES NEW RULE." After saying that, Corr launches a large fireball at Sirus who dodges it effortlessly. Sirus readies his blade and yells ¡°BEGONE FOOL!¡± Corr leaves the fort with extreme speed. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. A young boy comes out from behind a wall, ¡°what happened master Sirus? Are you okay?¡± Sirus turns and responds, ¡°It is fine Carlos, worry not about me. Just go up to the dojo and practice some magic okay.¡± Carlos does as Sirus asks and leaves the room. Sirus enters the courtyard and finds 3 demons waiting for him. Okoiy, kurdzs, and ferohzay; ancient and powerful demons stand before Sirus. ¡°So¡. corr has chosen the dark side. How amusing.¡± Sirus says as he draws his blade. Suddenly the demons attack Sirus at the same time and in one slash they are all beheaded. ¡°Sending weak demons like that to fight the lord of darkness is simply a waste of time. Corr should have stayed in school.¡± A new day Cheyco city, mesoha- Opal is watching as Ravine and the Arainian assault forces are evac out of cheyco. Opal wonders where Michael is when he feels someone sneaking up on him. Opal turns quickly and readies his spear, Micheal shows himself and readies his giant red and gold sword ¡°i have had quite enough of you i think it''s time you leave¡± Michael says before lunging at Opal. Opal barely dodges the attack and launches several fire balls at Michael, but they do nothing to him as if they had no effect. Michael readies an attack of his own as he says ¡°nadakagae¡± ( intense inferno slash ). He is launched towards Opal at an incredible speed and in one motion cuts him doing major damage. Opal begins to fall but he continues to stand. Michael notices Opal and before nadakagae wears down he slashes again calmly saying ¡°7th gate barrier rift, setting sun destruction¡±. The attack completely incinerates Opal; Michael walks towards the Ravines ship, and boards it as it takes off. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Castle cain, Arikova- Aodhan and many others celebrate the victory at cheyco and the defeat of Opal but the party is interrupted by a guard that informs them that koyon city was attacked by mesoha and many towns and small cities surrendered to mesoha. Aodhan quickly orders a counter offensive that lasts 7 weeks and ends in a battle in concrea city, where Arainian troops retake in 5 hours. Tower of Souls, Cheyco city, Mesoha- ¡°So you wish to make a deal, an alliance, is this so?¡± Phantom asks Corr who confirms his intentions. ¡°What are your terms¡± Phantom leans forward ¡° i want obedience, that''s all¡± Corr stands and rejects Phantom''s offer telling him ¡° i am no dog!!¡± Phantom stands from his throne and attempts to curse Corr, but Corr deflects the spell. ¡°Oh?! A fellow user of shadow magic. It would seem we do have business¡± Phantom says, surprised. ¡°My only terms is that after the enemy is defeated you let us control the Arikova region of Arainia, that is all¡± Corr replies. Phantom and Corr shake hands and agree to help fight Aodhan and Arainia. the rest of us