War

In a vast plain, the sun was hanging high in the sky, shining brightly on the earth below.

When you coupled this with the slight breeze in the air and the abundant flourishing fauna, you could very well be deceived into thinking this was actually a place of tranquillity.

But Leon knew better.

This place. It was nothing other than hell.

<Haven>

A place of safety or refuge.

The irony of the name of this world was almost laughable.

Ever since humanity was transported to this world 17 years ago, they had been left feeling anything but safe!

Left with no time to adjust, humanity was forced to face countless challenges and fight against horrific monsters in a tragic struggle to survive.

It's a known fact that when people were forced to the extreme, it either brought out the best or the worst inside of them, and this world was no different.

It had brought out the beast within humanity.

The ugly side of human morality that was chained away by the rules of society had been set free to show its gruesome head in this world.

Slavery, r*pe, murder and all sorts of twisted desires were let loose here!

These things were simply a common sight. In this world, it was as normal as day and night.

In fact, it would be strange if you didn't see these things and matters only got worse once the protection period of humanity had ended, humanity had been forced to such a poor state that their only hope of survival rested on their last surviving legion of warriors…

Shaking these tragic thoughts out of his head, Leon sighed before soon going to check that his mount and all his equipment were in order.

Once Leon finished triple checking his armour and equipment, he couldn't help but take a look at the legion of soldiers around him.

Even with all his optimism, Leon had to admit they really looked like a ragtag bunch.

With all the contrasting colours and armour pieces, it was hard to find a sense of coordination amongst them.

There was no sense of coordination, nor what could be described as sense structure between the people here.

But in a world like Haven, a situation like this really couldn't be helped

Leon was part of the Knight Calvary legion so the difference between armour wasn't that bad, but for most of the other people nobody had time for something as trivial as fashion or appearance, people would only wear what makes them the strongest and if that meant that they would end up looking like a clown then so be it!

Leon chuckled at the comedy of the current situation but it was as Leon was inspecting his surroundings that Leon noticed something.

A short distance away, a member of his legion seemed to be shaking!

On closer inspection, Leon could see that was no man but was instead simply a boy no older than 15 years old!

Seeing this poor sight, Leon just sighed as he motioned his horse to approach the boy.

"Boy, are you good?" Asked Leon as he got closer

"Huh?! Me?" asked the boy, startled by Leon's approach

"I'm doing very well sir."

As the boy spoke, he actually had quite a stable tone. If it wasn't for his constant shaking leg, Leon might have actually fallen for his false confidence .

"Are you sure?" Asked Leon with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Eventually, the boy couldn't keep up his fake image any longer and caved in under Leon's questioning

"Is it really that obvious?" asked the boy with a shy smile on his face.

In response to this, Leon just chuckled.

"You were shaking so much, If I didn't know any better I would've thought there was an earthquake!"

Hearing Leon's words, the boy's face quickly flushed red in embarrassment.

"But there's no need to be embarrassed," continued Leon.

"Everyone was like that in their first fight.

No one can ever doubt your bravery. Just the fact you decided to join the legion is an unquestionable show of courage!"

Hearing Leon's words, a slight gleam shone in the boy's eyes.

Seeing the child-like enthusiasm of the boy, Leon couldn't help but pity the kid a little.

"What's your name kid?" Asked Leon

"eh? My name is James Blakely"

"You know what James, if you're a bit nervous, you can move to the back of the Calvary formation where it's a lot safer. There is probably a 60% chance of surviving if you move back there."

Hearing Leon's suggestion, a glint of hope flashed in the boy's eyes before his face quickly changed into one of worry

"But sir, the rules…"

"Bah! Fuck the rules!" replied Leon in dismissal.

I've been part of the legion since its inception 10 years ago! If my service can't even let me make some minor changes like this, then what on earth have I even been fighting for?"

"When you get back there, just tell them that it was Leon from the first legion who sent you. Let's see who dares to question your movement then!"

Hearing Leon's words, the boy almost burst into tears of joy.

"Thank you so much Sir! I will be sure to pay back this favour for you!"

In response to the boy's thanks, Leon just waved his hand in dismissal

"You better get moving before I end up changing my mind."

Hearing this, the boy thanked Leon profusely one last time before hurrying to the back of the formation.

'He's nice,' thought the boy.

'But he's quite the grumpy old man'

Luckily for the boy, Leon couldn't hear his thoughts or he probably would have blown a fuse!

Old man?! He was only fucking 36!

Although the constant stress and use of stimulating drugs had caused him to break out in a few white hairs, calling him old was just cruel!

But fortunately for the boy, Leon was still oblivious to his thoughts and just watched the boy hurriedly leaving with a slight smile on his face.

But as the boy left, the smile on Leon's face got lighter and lighter until it eventually morphed into a cold frown.

In the end, Leon could only shake his head before turning away.

The reason for Leon's change In attitude was quite simple.

He had lied.

Almost everything Leon had said to the boy about surviving was a lie.

Sure, there was a higher chance of survival, but that increase couldn't be higher than 0.5%.

The boy would be lucky, for the chances of him surviving in total were even as high as five percent!

Although what Leon did could be described as cruel, In the end, he really had no choice.

Morale and motivation were essential for the army. If soldiers knew there was no chance of survival, how many of them could truly fight with their life on the line?

The more experienced soldiers had all woken up to reality.

They knew that survival was something based on luck, but the new recruits wouldn't be able to accept that.

In the grand scheme of things, even Leon accepted that it was something completely necessary.

But just because it was necessary didn't mean it didn't eat away at Leon .

Leon had lost count of how many lies he had told to new recruits in an effort to keep up morale, but at the end of the day the number of these recruits that survived were few and the ones still able to walk could be counted on one hand.

But Before Leon could stay too long on these depressing thoughts, he felt a slight tremble.

At first he had dismissed it as just a light tremor. Then it progressed into a light quake, eventually reaching a point where Leon could feel it shaking through his entire body!

Steadying his feet, Leon looked into the distance to find a layer of smoke and fire as wide as the horizon itself and the alarming thing was that this layer was coming closer!

With his experience, Leon instantly recognised the threat they were facing.

Demons.

One of the many races in Haven that pushed humanity to the brink.

A threat that had been plaguing them since the end of the protection period.

"Neigh!!"

As the horde of creatures began approaching, most of the creatures and horses in the Calvary began to stir and panic

But with experience, Leon quickly calmed down his steed.

"Tch!"

As he looked at the approaching horde, Leon couldn't help but scowl. Just the sight was already starting to bring back some unpleasantness, and Leon could feel his irritation rising again.

Quickly Calming himself, Leon took a moment to suppress his emotions before pulling down his visor.

As all this was going on, Leon clutched him onto a blue pendant around his neck.

Leon didn't know much about the pendant other than that was all that came with him when he was abandoned at the orphanage.

Maybe it's because it's the only link that Leon had to his birth parents, but whenever Leon held it, he could feel his nerves calming down

As Leon was doing this, he heard someone call from the front of the army, and looked towards the sound.

As he looked forward, Leon could see a group of of individuals floating in the sky above the rest of the army.

Heroes.

The shining hope of humanity.

And leading them was by far the most dominant figure of the human race.

The Chaos Witch Melissa

Simply put, her strength was abnormal.

Such a level of power was unheard of amongst the human race, even enough to strike fear into that of the countless guild masters of heaven.

Easily crushing dragons and demons of the same level.

If there was an individual that could possibly save humanity, then it was definitely her

As Leon looked at this crowd of individuals, he couldn't help but sigh

There was a time when Leon was much younger that he himself longed to be like them, but his dreams were quickly crushed by the hammer that was reality.

With Leon's talent, he could become known amongst a small crowd, but he wasn't anywhere close to Hero level.

Above average.

That was Leon's talent and also his limit.

He had been living this reality for 17 years since he came to this world. His childish hopes and dreams have all been worn down.

Now all that remained was the simple hope that he would live to see the next day.

As Leon was dwelling on these depressing thoughts, his concentration was broken by a sound that constantly plagued his nightmares,

[Ding!]

[As predetermined, a New Instance will be initiated]

Instance type: Race Trial

Difficulty: Diamond Rank

Number of participants: ????

Objective: Complete annihilation of opposing army

Time limit: N/A

As Leon was thinking this, a man with dazzling blonde hair, wearing exquisite set armour, started speaking

"Well, there's not much to say." Said the blonde-haired man.

"The fact you are even here means you know everything that is at stake.

The last legion of Humanity!

The weight of that title should not be lost on you.

You are not fighting for yourselves but for your wives, your children, your husbands!

The fates of all those unable to fight rest on your shoulders!"

As the man spoke, waves of different coloured buffs shot down from the group in the sky, expanding all over the army and allowing Leon to feel his strength practically double!

Slowly, Leon and the rest of the Calvary legion brought out their lances as they stared forward with a burning gaze.

"Today we will fight to ensure the people behind us can see another day!"

As he was speaking, 3 pairs of golden, angelic wings burst forth from his back.

"Go forth!" roared the man

"For humanity!"

With those words, the man flapped his wings, flinging himself straight on into the demon horde.

As the man charged forward, the Cavalry legion couldn't remain idle and quickly started to charge forward behind him.

The thunderous sound of hundreds of horses shook the battlefield as the knights charged forth

"For humanity!" Screamed Leon's legion.

Leon's legion of Calvary was like a bullet as they charged down the hill with bloodshot eyes, ready to slaughter his way straight into the heart of the demon horde!

"Bang!"

The loud crash of battle sounded as steed met steel in bloody slaughter

"Die!!" Cried Leon as he charged forth into the swarm of demons.

The powerful effect of Calvary was on full display as when combined with the terrifying momentum generated by their steeds, Leon's Calvary simply trampled and crushed any demons brought in front of them.

Blood and organs could be seen flying everywhere as Calvary showed their dominance and, for a second, they seemed unstoppable.

But before they could carry on further, a chilling howl could be heard ring across the battlefield.

"Damn! Is that a Cerberus!!"

The cry of a fellow knight was the last thing Leon heard before he saw the faint image of a dark black behemoth crash into the Cavalry formation, flinging the soldiers everywhere!

Leon wasn't spared from such a sad fate either as his body was sent flying off his horse and crashing into the ground.