1 Chapter -2 — Prologue I — Catalyst

"—Huff..." Hard, long and ragged breathing could be heard from a body currently lying on the snow.

"Huff... shit...! This is bad. This is really fuc...! Bad." The body of a middle-aged man could barely be outlined as he coughed out a mouthful of blood. He began to cough more violently almost as if breathing any longer would kill him. After a moment the man who had been laying on the floor– who's features could almost be deemed as unrecognizable due to what had happened– turned his whole body to finally face the sky.

Feeling the hard and bare ground against his back, he had realized of how much of a bad situation this was.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot." Due to the snow– he had not realized just how bad his injury was, but his chest was now extremely wounded. Coughing violently, he now vomited blood like his throat had just turned into a geyser. —Ok, fuck off. No one can just vomit out blood like that without any consequences.

He thought of a retort as he thought it'd been ridiculous for him to vomit out that much blood without feeling nauseous or dizzy.

Laying on the ground, the man raised his right arm at the starry sky one last time. His heavy breathing slowing down as he was slowly losing his vitality. "Heh... everybody knows that I'm breaking down. Everybody knows that I'm not faking now. Everybody knows her heart's vacant now. Heh...!" He coughed out a bit more of his blood before continuing his...? Uh... song? Confession? Poem? His words were incomprehensible. "*Cough* yeah— she hates me now— I've made mistakes but now. I don't want to be alone. I never ever really feel at home, I'm on my own, in the zone. That's the only way I know, I'm feeling low."

"I'll never let the doubt creep in." When was it that he had begun to doubt himself? He was uncertain. He was scared. Furthermore, he was going to die. "I've got to pop a couple more Aspirin, I don't think I'll ever let you in. It'd be easier if we broke it off as friends. I don't really understand myself, I don't understand need help...! I don't want to be left on the shelf! No one could even hear me if I yelled!" He seemed to be pouring his last strand of vitality into finishing his speech. He had accepted his death long ago by now, so he would just keep going until he finished. "Damn, it's so cold outside. I'm alone, I'm alright. It's so cold outside. I'm alone, I'm alright." He paused for a while as if reminiscing and enjoying an old melody. "I don't wanna breakdown, I've always felt like I could break now. But I'll never let it take me to that place now, I won't ever let my thoughts get away now. I've got better things to do, picking fate now. I just wanna be the best, call me great now. I don't know if I'm okay or insane now, I remember better days on the playground, hoping I could find a way to a better place now."

"Even when I'm feeling down I fight, even when I don't know what is right— I'ma pick a side; and I'ma take pride. I will decide my fate and I...— Will never tell them who I am if you try to shape me I'll be damned. Planted on the ground is where I stand, never give up that was always the plan...—" Just as it seemed like the last bit of the man's vitality was about to drop. *thud* the man's arm which was reaching for the sky plopped down onto the snow as if he had lost all life.

He now wore a roguish smile with a look of defiance on his face but in it was a mix of self mockery.

Damn...! Oh! It's coming!

He was suddenly hit by a violent wave of nausea and felt like he was about to die threefold the death he was supposed to have. Now, however...; the chilling air had begun fealling increasingly colder as more seconds passed. The pungent and nauseating smell of blood which had long begun to soak his cloths from when he had vomited blood and the blood from the wound on his chest which began to sap into the cold and soft snow. The snow now felt bone chilling as the man begun closing his eyes; where only his last words could now be heard.

Silence... even though this place had already been silent— the man's death felt like it had silenced the whole world at that instant. But then— suddenly; the man's body began to glow in a magnificent golden light as it felt like a mysterious aura had begun to wrap around the corpse. The aura had the rare, distinct and magnificent aura of a chronological element as it began to brighten the area with its dazzling momentum; and just like that the corpse started to convulse as its muscles began to tense and soften. This magnificent featuring was only the beginning— with only that; it seemed as if the corpse had gone through a passage of time as its true appearance could now be seen. Though it didn't matter now as he was long dead— the corpse was a middle-aged but considerably handsome man, the man was adorned by his long black hair which he had liked to keep swept back, a slight beard which accentuated his features, and a pair of unusual eyes. Though this aura of time had brought him back to his appearance before he had been wounded and disfigured, the vitality in his body could not be brought back; the man's skin was still as pale as the one of a ghost and there was no life or vitality in his eyes. Even though his eyes had seemed and were still dead— a strong presence could be felt from them.

Suddenly just as it seemed like this aura which was unleashing chronological magic onto this corpse seemed to had reached its climax— the corpse's dead eyes suddenly began to glow a brilliant, dark and dazzling gold color; and before even the drop of a snowflake could have happened— the body suddenly imploded and had suddenly all turned to a beautiful but bright and magnificent stardust.

...

On a hill on the south side of this range, an old man began to laugh hysterically at what he had seen. The man had laughed for a full two minutes before he had begun to stop— he was laughing as if he had just discovered a treasure from ancient times which could bring him fame at this moment.

"Haha...! Hahaha! Haha haha!!!"

"It's been a whole 4 years!" "After 4 years I've finally had the chance to kill that rat of Spear's."

"After all those years of humiliation from the other clans, after enduring so much and having our house to keep our mouths shut— I've finally removed such a thorn from our sides." Yes, the man who had just died was infamously know as Elliot Spear— he had originally been a noble from The House of Spear and had betrayed them all— his own family— for an ancient relic related to their house. Well... That was only what people saw on the surface, however, the only wish Elliot wished to be fulfilled was to see his wife and kids one last time before he had gotten the ancient relic. However, sadly or luckily for Elliot— his family— the ones he truly sees as blood; are not from The House of Spear. The House of Spear was one of the big shots in their own world of magic, sorcery, curses, and even weapon forging. The house had once been a righteous and fair house of nobles only established through their first patriarch which had been a mysterious forger whose specialty was in forging spears. The patriarch had met an extremely beautiful and powerful woman on his journeys across the world, and he had always dreamt of making her his woman; and so through hard work, saving people and a part of the world— the patriarch whose love and fire had never died down for that woman had finally won her affection and had then established The House of Spear. Though she had now become the Matriarch of such a house she was only a sorceress, so the surrounding people doubted there'd be any good results as; 1. The patriarch was a forger and not a warrior— he had only risen to fame thanks to the weapons he'd forged and were wielded by his companions. And 2. The matriarch was just a sorceress— With this lousy set up everyone found that their house was doomed to fail as there were no actual fighters.

However, after their first son was born, he had been given the title of 'Holy Prince' and had become extremely talented with the spear. After more and more powerful offsprings had arisen from The House of Spear, It's popularity and prestige had grown exponentially in 50 years. After 50 years— The matriarch and patriarch who had lived long and fruitful lives together with 12 children, had turned 85 years of age already and were ready to pass away; after which their first son, also dubbed Holy Prince, had taken a seat as the new head of the house and had then established the 'Spearhead Legion'— with 12 seats of the legion generals appointed to his brothers and sisters.

However, after the death of their first patriarch— the house had already begun its descent into an immoral and tyrannical decline.

At the time, The House of Spear had been a powerhouse that no one would dare disturb as it had been fair, righteous, had a strong sense of justice and would keep the balance between the other powerhouses with power— as they would not overtake any other powerhouses in power, and would distribute power equally among the factions as to make it so that there would be less power struggles in the future.

But in the end, the remaining people in the faction had had a bigger ambition to even control all the 5 currently accessible realms, including the 4 progenitorial realms and the mortal realm with the help of a cursed spear they had forged and acquired through multiple blood and human sacrifices— later invoking and summoning the help of a tyrannical demon whose history could be traced back to even millions of years prior. Out of all the things they could have done, they had decided to summon one of the most vile and evil beings which had ever set foot in any one of the seven realms.

...

"Were thou the brat whom summoned me?" The golden stardust which had come from the dead man's corpse soon took the shape and aligned itself into the shape of a magnificent spear. The spear looked awe-inspiring and imposing— it looked as if it could pierce the heavens at any moment with its terrifying aura. The spear was a brilliant and ensnaring dark gold, its shaft was cover and decorated with ancient runes which slightly glowed a blood-red hue as deep as an ocean of blood.

Hearing the cold voice coming from the spear, the old man was terrified and excited at the same time. "Heh heh! If I manage to get on this guys good side and bring it to the elders, the progenitors will surely get news of my exploits!" The man said to himself as was grinning from ear to ear.

"This insignificant one greets Lord Gōman!" The old man tried his best to sound as reverent as he could towards this entity.

Sounding like he was taking in a deep breath, the entity in the spear then began to laugh maniacally. "Haha HAHAHAHA!" "Good, good, fine, indeed, thou didst not disappoint. Now, assuming that thou art one of mine say to me the state of this world."

"..." The man seemed a bit stunned with how oddly the man spoke, so he didn't know how to really explain the current and if he'd understand the changes in the language structure— However he still continued, "Yes, My Lord!"

"We are currently in the Mortal Realm! The mana in this realm is extremely low to the point it's almost nonexistent! We are currently in the continent know by the people of this world as— Europe! We are in west part of the country of Switzerland and are currently in a mountain range near the Mont Blanc!" The man quickly and excitedly explained.

"Wait a instant. thou art saying that there's little to no mana hither ? shit, I belike canst not e'en keep mine consciousness out for long, let along mine corporal agent." The old man was once again taken aback by Lord Gōman's speech. 'Fuck! What was he even saying? Damn, I wonder how old this guy truly is!'

"Sigh, that's enough, this tidings is of low importance anyways. I take it thou've prepared a vessel for me?"

"A- a- a vessel?"

"Of course, thou blinking idiot! What kind of dimwitted fool would summon a demon without a meet vessel! Though thy spear I be currently using is not ill, I require a human vessel to further mine plans!"

Plans? What kind of plans was he up too? Just at this instant the man just realized with whom he was dealing with! This demon was infamously known across all 7 realms as the 'Gōman Chizaru' !

'Damn! I'd been tricked! This demon has nothing to do with that House of Spear!' The man had thought that he could trick Gōman into helping his house, but it turned out that Gōman had no intentions to help the House of Spear in the first place! If he had no intentions of helping the House of Spear, why would he help his house which can't even compare?

Shit! What had he done?! There was no way of him getting out of this situation now!

"*Cough* uhm... My Lord..."

"It seems I hast no use for thou any longer." Before the old man could finish— Gōman's cold voice could be heard from within the spear. The voice was cold, indifferent and mixed with a tinge of dissapointment. Before the old man could react— his entire body had been cut through and diced in multiple pieces with one slash of the golden spear.

"Sigh. Seemeth I shall hast to wait for a few moe centuries ere I'd hast enough mana to rise of this realm."

Gōman was disappointed as he'd have to wait longer to announce his return to the human world.

"Alas, 'tis quite interesting to see how unsinew'd the human race hast gotten. E'en without any mana imbued within the attack, that was only a casual strike— and he had been butchered this ill." Gōmen let out a sinister smile withing the spear as it later dropped to the ground and sealed itself in isolation— resulting the spear to turn into a wooden spear with hardly made runes as an artifact and a faint but almost unnoticeable magic aura.

...

...

...

After the passing of 7 days, the now wooden spear had later been discovered by a group of exchange students from the University of Queensland. These students had gone through an exchange with the University of Zurich in which they had decided to stay for 2 years overseas. The students on this program had chosen to major in social science and communication— However the course they had chosen was called 'The Archaeology of Death and Crime Scenes'. In short; These students had wondered through mountain ranges across the alps in hopes to explore practices involving the systematic location and recovery of human remains and other crime scene materials. Though it sounded simple and maybe not to believable— it was quite common for murders to happen in deserted places like deserts, forest or the ocean, let alone a mountain devoid of human civilization for over 100 kilometers— where the closest city— Courmayeur is 124 kilometers to 196 kilometers away from the Mont Blanc.

After further inspection of the spear, they had mistaken it for an aboriginal weapon lost through the passing of time, and they had even said that this adds to proof that the continents had once been connected and people used to wonder all over the world. Due to this there had been a huge uproar about this mysterious spear as though the writing on in were almost recognizable to aboriginal writing, people had just chalked it up to having it been warned down from the ages.

After the whole ordeal, the spear had finally been brought back to Queensland to then be put in the University of Queensland's Anthropology Museum in Brisbane, as out of all the tribal languages, the Jagera and Turrbul tribal languages seemed to look the most similar to what was on the spear.