*Millennial War, 300 years after the beginning of the Demonic Invasion*
*Continent of Tenebris, Human Coalition Headquarters*
POV: Klein / Alexander Sulyvhan
In the body of Alexander Sulyvhan, the first sovereign, the precursor of aura.
I rose slowly from my wooden desk. The joints of my gauntlets produced a clicking sound in the command tent. My fingers brushed over the parchnts spread out before : soot-stained maps of Tenebris.
Three hundred years... It had been three centuries since humanity had been retreating, then regaining ground, then bleeding again on this cursed land.
I stepped out of the tent, and the imnsity of the military base struck my eyes. Thousands of soldiers were bustling between the gray stone barracks. The sound of hamrs on the anvils of the field forges echoed. The air slled of sulfur and sweat. Above our heads, the sky of Tenebris was nothing but a do of swirling ashes that hid a sun many of us had never seen.
I did not have ti to contemplate this spectacle any longer. Several familiar silhouettes approached hastily. They were my generals, the ancestors of those who, in my future, would betray to found the seven lineages.
"General Alexander!" exclaid the first one, stopping at my level.
It was the ancestor of House Draken. His colossal stature intimidated even his peers, and his armor still bore the fresh traces of a recent clash. Sweat ran down his face, mixed with blood that was not his own.
"The scouts’ reports are clear," he continued. "The demons have crossed the defense line of the western base. The mana barriers have given way under the pressure of the waves of blood gargoyles."
He paused to catch his breath, then added with a gravity that chilled the assembly:
"Out there, the demons have taken to the sea. They are now heading toward the other continents."
A spark of anger was born in my chest. The sea was our last natural bulwark. If the infernal legions began to sail, no coast would be safe anymore. The civilians, the children, the elders who still lived peacefully on lands spared by the war... all of that would beco a slaughter field.
"Had you contacted the elves of Yggdrasil?" I asked in a voice that made the ambient air vibrate.
General Stavenger stepped forward. He was a man with fine features and a calculating gaze, always dressed with an elegance that clashed in this war setting. He adjusted his purple cape with a chanical gesture before answering:
"We sent the twentieth letter this week, my Lord. Their ssengers returned with the sa haughty response."
He crossed his arms and his face expressed barely veiled contempt.
"They claim that the corruption of Tenebris only concerns the human kingdoms. The World Tree, according to them, will protect them from any defilent. They categorically refuse to send us their mages."
I let out a light laugh
"These fools believe that the demons will stop at our borders," I said, shaking my head. "Very well."
I planted my gaze into Stavenger’s.
"So, when it is their turn to burn and they beg for our help... we will ignore them too."
No one dared contradict this decision. I turned toward the west, where the horizon glowed with a malevolent light. The light of the demonic flas danced in the distance, and I knew that thousands of soldiers were dying at that very mont to delay the inevitable.
"Anyway, let’s head west," I ordered while walking toward my warhorse.
It was a black war stallion, as large as no other horse should have been. I jumped into the saddle with a fluid movent, despite the weight of my armor.
"We must limit the damage at all costs," I added while gathering the reins. The monsters must not claim any more victims." If this base falls completely, the road to Alexandria will be open."
Alexandria... The last great human city still standing, all the humans who lived in Tenebris had fled there. If it fell, millions of refugees would find themselves without shelter, and the demons could use its ports to invade the rest of the world.
...
The journey toward the western front was nothing but a succession of destroyed landscapes. We galloped through plains of rocks where demonic magic had turned the sand into black and cutting glass. The corpses of human soldiers and spawn of the abyss piled up in mass graves that crows flew over while uttering gloomy cries.
The closer we got to the coast, the more unbearable the magical oppression beca.
When we finally arrived on the ridge overlooking the battlefield, the spectacle was apocalyptic.
Down below, on the arid plateau leading to the coastal cliffs, a black and swarming tide stretched as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of thousands of monsters howled their thirst for blood: goblins of flesh with disproportionate limbs, magma ogres whose skin let slow flows of lava run, corrupted wolves as big as horses. Their cries ford a deafening cacophony that rose up to us like a permanent storm.
In the middle of this mass, about a dozen Archdemons directed the operations. These colossi asured four ters tall. Their mbranous wings spread on their backs.
I slowly dismounted from my horse. The ground under my boots vibrated from the steps of the enemy army. I felt the gazes of my generals weighing on . They were afraid. Even the ancestors of the legendary families were only n facing this apocalypse.
"I will take care of these dogs," I declared without even turning around.
"Take care of killing the small fry. Do not let any of these rejects reach the ships."
General Ashborn took a step forward. His hand trembled on the hilt of his sword.
"Alone against ten Archdemons?" he stamred in a strangled voice. "This is madness, even for you!"
I did not answer. My hands moved to the pomls of my two twin swords. One was immaculate white, forged in a celestial tal that seed to radiate an inner light. The other was absolute black, capable of devouring light, so dark that my eyes had trouble discerning its contours.
As soon as my fingers brushed the leather of the handles, the chains fixed to the pomls wrapped around my forearms with a tallic sound. The links clicked as they tightened, then the sharp points at the end of these chains pierced my skin superficially. Blood flowed down my arms, and the sharp pain was imdiately replaced by a sensation of warmth. The blades were synchronizing with .
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