Prologue Chapter one: The chase

No cloud was floating in the sky. No impurity polluting the air, and no sound disturbed the peace of this wondrous plain.

Not even the wind dared to blow at the imminent beauty and harmony of this astonishing place. Everything was so peaceful. Everything was so quiet. Waking this beauty from its sleep, none should dare attempt it!

But nothing is as it seems.

Five flashing meteors of light, roaring like the merciless thunder declaring its glory while splitting heaven apart, appeared in the eternal blue sky.

One could count five glowing orbs of destruction. Four of them, Golden of color and flying with elegance while the remaining one was a red devil taking crude routes and painting the sky red with its tail.

They were fighting with each other. The Golden angels pursued this red devil, missing, dodging, charging, ramming. Five beasts against one monster!

But their skirmish in the sky was nearing its end, when the red devil suddenly let out a burst of pure, magical power, flinging the golden lights away and scattering them across the firmament of heaven. It was like a strong wind pushing the leaves out of its way, but the golden lights were not the only ones that lost their balance.

The sudden outburst made the red devil somehow lose his balance too. He struggled against this mighty toll of gravity that was pulling him to the ground, but in the end, he succumbed and crashed into the dirt, creating a shock wave that traveled across the vast land of this infinite plain.

After the crash, silence again became the sole ruler of this region. But after the dust decided to reveal what was hidden, a crater appeared and from it, a man emerged, throwing silence from its fragile throne with just simple steps taken on the soft soil!

This devil wore some tight high tech body armor made from some black material. It had a shiny black alloy and this battle wear consisted of several layers of what looked like a mixture of black glass and steel. His head was also engulfed in his armor, the only difference was those red lights, being somewhat of a visor from which the devil could look through.

He looked behind him, up at the sky. The golden lights began to catch their balance again, charging in his direction.

The devil in black armor became agitated, but he ha no time to escape because one golden light was faster than the others.

He had to react fast because this light moved at tremendous speed, but just before it hit him, a black, broad shape appeared in his hand, slicing right through this holy appearance.

Blood was shed as the light was cut in two halves. But blood not only touched the ground. What ought to be some black shape appeared to be a large, black broadsword, reflecting the light from its black shining surface. From this blade, the blood of the bright golden star dripped, sullying the soil with his iron of life.

While he stood there, the remaining three lights came closing in. One after another stopped in front of the devil, threatening him with their golden presence. But they did not attack. They just hovered there, frozen in place, statues of holy nature. Then, suddenly, out of each light, a person stepped forward. They all appeared in sacred white robes with golden shoulder pads. A golden sun crested on their puffed chests, while their eyes were brimming with the light of magic. They wore bronze mitres with golden ornaments. Silver masks were covering their eyes. Each of them held bronze staffs and each staff had one little golden sun on their tip. All of them had this sort of angelic look to them. Like they were not of this world, but as I said, nothing is as it seems...

"Give up, scoundrel! Lay down your sword, and get on your knees, maybe we will let you experience a painless death, heretic!" Yelled one of the four angelic-looking men to the black, red devil.

But the devil didn't listen. His sword just flashed in the blink of an eye and a beam of red energy slashed at the clergyman who just yelled at him. But he blocked it with just a quick motion of his hand, annihilating the beam of red energy.

"Oh, so you have at least some skill huh?" Said the devil with a voice as thick as mud.

"That's it, die heretic! Feel the wrath of our golden sun!" The three clergymen quickly spread out into the blue sky, forming a triangle above the red devil. In the meantime, the devil began to thrust his sword into the ground, bracing himself for the incoming attack while the four angelic men began to summon powerful magic with their united powers!

Upon calling on their magical power, a mighty twister, made out of golden energy, appeared and ravaged the earth around the red devil with savage lightning and thunder accompanying its destruction. The devil stood right in it, his sword still in the earth, like a mighty boulder, resting in mids of the cruel sea. Suddenly, black matter gathered around him.

Then, out of nowhere, he appeared behind one of the angelic men. A reaction was barely possible for him as the devil slashed him in the back. At first, he just floated there. His robe ripped and the wound deep. Ignorant of his immediate demise, he fell to the ground with a surprised expression on his face, lying in a pool of blood.

"What?" Tears began to form as he lied there, all alone. He is left to die like a dog.

"Emminence...please..." He began to weep and the tears slowly began to run down his face.

"...I-I'm dying!" A black sword suddenly dug deep into his flesh. A sword being wielded by the devil who sealed his fate. The figure of the devil was the last thing he saw, as his consciousness slowly faded out of this mortal plane.

The two remaining clergymen just looked on this scenery with cold eyes as the twister slowly dissipated.

"Too weak..." whispered the devil with his muddy voice, while he reclaimed his sword from the silent corpse. One of the angelic men noticed his mumbling. "What are you whispering you heretic?" He asked angrily whilst casting several destructive orbs, orange of color, in the devil's direction.

They came in incredibly fast, but he blocked them all with his blade and retaliated with a barrage of fire that he summoned from the sky. It completely consumed the man in white, who screamed as he became one with the flames and just perished, leaving nothing behind but a pile of ash, which was scattered by the wind across the eternal blue sky.

While the last clergyman was clearly terrified by this demonstration of power, the man in black just stood there and laughed. "If you flee now..." his voice got deeper and thicker as he lowered his head. "...you may see new dawn!"

He pointed his sword towards the sky, creating a ball of purple thunder at its tip. His opponent didn't even have time to notice because two massive strikes of thunder disintegrated him instantly. "Overkill..." the devil thought to himself.

He lowered his sword and just looked at the sky, laughing. "Pity the weak, for they are being oppressed. Pity the strong, for they can not handle their power!"

As he ended his last word, a mysterious force slammed him to the ground, smashing his face into the soil. He tried to stand up, but the force didn't let him.

A chanting voice suddenly declared it's glory by speaking.

"I had mercy, so I let you end your prayer. You better remember those words, for they will be your last!" Immediately after the last word was spoken, dozen of golden orbs appeared in the sky. They all began to rain down upon the devil, exploding on impact, consuming also the corpse of the dead clergyman. A thick cloud of dust was created, covering all near surroundings.

"Be thankful, heretic. This was mercy I put upon you. Not everyone would have granted you a swift death!" A speck of raving light enlightened the area, turning the sky golden and another man appeared. But he was something different.

He wore a white ornate robe with golden ornaments and golden spiked shoulders akin to it. His face was covered with a full golden mask in the form of a human skull and on his head rested a gigantic silver mitre with golden ornaments sewed into the precious hat. Another clergyman, he was just higher in the hierarchy. A bishop maybe?

"Now, nothing stands in our way!" He said proudly as he declared his early victory until suddenly, a bolt of red light came blazing out of the dust cloud, directly hitting the bishop and forcing him on the ground.

"Not if I have anything to say about this, punk!" Said the devil. Anger could be heard in his voice. Massive anger...

Now both were standing on the soft, green grass, just meters apart. "Aaaah, may the blessed crush the infidels with the fist of the stars..." The bishop held his hand to the side. A hammer appeared in his hand. It was a large, silver maul with several ornamentations on its head. The maul had a long pole attached to it and its grip was covered in noble leather. Despite its size, he wielded it with one hand. Strength, he has. But does he have the skill?

It was really quiet, but not peaceful. The atmosphere was thick and full of tension. They were starring at each other. Concentrated, but tense. Hateful, but with reason.

Then, in a matter of one second, it started. The devil twirled at the bishop, slicing the air with his sword, but at the same time, the bishop charged at him, having his hammer in his right hand.

The bishop landed the first hit. The devil could barely absorb the impact with the flat side of his blade, having to kneel before the bishop. The impact created a small shock wave that now roamed through the wast plain like wind roaming the earth.

"Having some trouble, Kraus?"

Asked the bishop with a mocking voice, as the man in front of him struggled to keep the hammer from crushing him.

"And you seem to forget who you got in front of you!" Replied the devil named Kraus. He then points the tip of his blade to the ground while still holding the hammer off.

The hammer smoothly slides down the blade hitting the ground. After the successful parry, Kraus immediately followed up with a pommel strike to the face. The bishop, who was a two-meter tall man, was completely caught off guard by this and had to take a few steps back.

As he was still recovering from the impact, Kraus snapped his fingers. A single rune, placed on the bishops mask, lit up and exploded right in the bishop's face. The explosion created a small cloud of dust that blocked the view on the bishop.

The bishop swung his hammer to the side, creating a strong wind to remove the dust around him.

The mask and the mitre were now gone. His robe was ripped to shreds and showed some light, white battle armor. His head was bald and he had blue eyes. The lower part of his face was blocked by a white piece of cloth that he quickly wrapped around his mouth and nose.

In his eyes, one could clearly see the fury that was ignited within him. "You dare oppose me that much, heretic? This should be nothing more than mere entertainment for me!" Furious, he takes a swing with his hammer, smashing it on the ground.

Several spikes of stone came shooting out of the earth, trying to spike Kraus to death. Kraus dodged them by jumping high into the air, but he was overwhelmed by the sheer amount and size of those spikes and cracks in the ground. He barely managed to avoid them by jumping even higher into the air.

But the bishop wasn't done. As gravity pulls him back, he, the bishop, was charging in, smashing his hammer directly into Kraus's head, that was merely protected by his helmet, slamming him into the ground again. The impact incapacitated him for a short time and he couldn't move.

But he wasn't allowed a break. The bishop already started his next move by pointing on him in a downward motion. A barrage of Golden orbs started to form above Kraus, shooting down on him in a barrage of golden light. It looked like an explosive hail storm of little, golden stars.

Kraus seemed demolished by the thousand little suns crashing down on him, but he was just lying there, taking the hits, feeling the hits but also...embracing the hits! Embracing the rage and hate that comes with the numbing pain! As the orbs of light ravaged him endlessly, a faint red glow appeared in horizontal lines on little rails that were embedded in his armor.

They were growing stronger and stronger until a red shock wave erupted from within him, interrupting the barrage of light and flinging the bishop into the air, letting him experience a painful drop.

He quickly recovered and stood back up, looking at the red devil that was now glowing furiously in the distance.

"OOOOH, NOW YOU FUCKED UP!" Kraus's voice was piercing the sky and the bishop seemed a bit intimidated. He took a step back.

The red devil emitted some sort of screeching sound from his body, twisting the air around him.

"They don't call you "Tingull Djall" for nothing at the holy see!" Said the bishop with an alarming tone while he was bracing himself for Kraus who, in a matter of milliseconds, appeared in front of the bishop, blasting him with a ferocious scream releasing death itself.

He immediately followed up by flying behind him while he was still in the air, trying to catch him off guard. But the bishop expected that. He parried the attack and swung around, grabbing Kraus by the head and increasing the gravitational pull on both of them.

He brutally smashed his head to the ground while landing on him, creating another little crater. But the bishop did not get out of it unharmed. The sound Kraus emitted damaged him not only mentally, but also physically. He got dizzy and coughed bright, red blood into the piece of cloth wrapped around his lower face.

The bishop jumped a few meters back to escape this madness. A few seconds passed, and Kraus stood up again. Blood ran through some cracks in his armor and the black shining alloy was now scratched up and dirty.

"Now...I am angry you son of a bitch..." Whispered Kraus to himself. All of a sudden, his whole body started to vibrate. His figure, distorted, turning him into something different. His armor seemed to mold with his skin and bones while his mass grew in size and quantity.

Then suddenly, the vibration stopped, and what stood before bishop was a hulk of black armor, black hardened skin and black bones molded together. His left forearm was fused with what looked like a massive speaker that had two big woofers. Mounted on his back were another two speakers that had three woofers each, aiming over his head in front of him. His legs were also covered in speakers which had two woofers each.

But the two biggest woofers appeared on his back and chest, while the smallest ones were on his colossal shoulder plates. They had four little woofers each. The sword in his right hand turned into a long speaker club that matched his size of 2.50 meters. He was like a massive hulk of speakers...

He took a gentle step, but as his foot touched the ground, a massive sound wave eradicated everything around him, leaving nothing but a gigantic hole.

Now he stood there, leaving nothing but destruction. Then he turned to the bishop, pointing at him with the tip of his massive weapon.

"NOW YOU PAY!"

His voice was sickening and distorted.

"Then make me pay..."

The bishop braced himself while Kraus came rushing in with supersonic speed. But he suddenly vanished into thin air. Confused Kraus came to halt only to get hit with a golden blast of energy. He stumbled but held his balance. "Bastard!" Kraus screamed. "SHOW YOURSELF, OR I WILL FORCE YOU OUT!" The Woofers on Kraus's body suddenly started pulsating violently, sending violent shock waves through the whole plain. It ripped apart every little thing on his way and was on an extreme scale.

But his playtime was cut short by red lightning falling from the sky, striking him on the ground. His sound stopped. "Your pathetic display annoyed not only my ears but my eyes too! You are an eyesore!" The bishop appeared before him floating in the air. Kraus growled and glared at him with a menacing look. "It is time..." the bishop raised his arms up in the sky. "...to end this!"

A flashing light engulfed the bishop, molding his body into something else. A circle of golden light appeared in front of his back and hovered in place. Out of the circle, several white blades appeared, molding themselves into four white wings made out of feathers instead of blades! His skin turned into some white material and his hips got significantly slimmer. His body in total got taller, while his head turned into a tetrahedron.

One blood-red eye appeared on each side of the tetrahedron. Inmids the redness of his eyes, a dark dot of pure void could be seen if one would take a closer look. The transformation was finished and what now hovered above Kraus, looked like something otherworldly, something Metaphysical so to say. Not a beast, not a monster, but something of high magic!

The transformation was finished. The now transformed bishop proceeds to slash at the air with his sharp claws, creating a dimensional rift! The rift looked and felt like a clean cut through raw flesh and it opened up like a fresh wound caused by the blade. The bishop slowly puts his arm in this dimensional rift until his forearm was lost in those mysterious depths. He then proceeds to slowly pull his arm and something else out from the dimensional rift.

First appeared a black pommel, then, a long, brown grip and a silver crossguard that was the size of his forearm. And what now remained was the blade. It was a thick, broad, long, and bronze blade. One would need four strong men to handle a sword like this.

After he had drawn the sword from the dimensional rift, it immediately closed itself in a vortex. Kraus observed the spectacle, but he was not impressed at all.

Suddenly, a magic voice appeared. "Rejoice, you infidel! For you have the honor of seeing my beloved blade..." The air around the sword became blurry. "...Iudex!" He lifted his sword, pointing at the eternal blue sky, and flames engulfed both his sword and his wings. "Now, prepare to be JUDGED!"

The bishop teleported behind Kraus, trying to impale him, but Kraus reacted and successfully parried by turning around and swinging his club against Iudex. The bishop couldn't handle the full force that was exerted against Iudex, forcing him to rebalance himself. Now was Kraus chance! He tried to hit him with his club, but just before he got a clean hit, a black beam came shooting out of one of the bishop's eyes, obliterating the club, and Kraus's right shoulder.

Kraus screamed. The pain was coursing through his body as he fell to the ground. It was like his whole shoulder was just erased from existence, leaving nothing behind but a bloody half-moon shaped hole. His arm was lying beside him, still twitching. While he lied there groaning in pain, his body turned back into its original form.

"YOU..." He couldn't even form a whole sentence, he was in so much pain. He trembled, not only from the aching but also from fear, now realizing what just hit him. "You..." He looked up at the surreal figure. "Why does...a bishop...such as yourself..." He clenched his teeth. "know...Zero?" The bishop's eyes widened in excitement, but he let Kraus speak. "Isn't your all-powerful and holy Golden light...not enough? How can you call yourself...a light bishop of the Veteris church...while using...the way of...the void?"

The bishop laughed. "What good would a DEAD MAN gain from my answer! Let me instead give me something mire fitting" He raised his sword, wanting to deliver the final blow to Kraus. "Something called MERCY!" The bishop laughed and his echo was being heard across the land.

Kraus got on his knees, facing the flashing sword of the bishop, feeling its heat.

"Remember my name, Kraus!" The bishop sounded triumphant. "Let my name be the last thing you..." He became silent as he noticed something. Something from the sky. The bishop lowered his sword, not paying attention to Kraus anymore. He looked at the sky, but nothing out of the ordinary. There was still no cloud, no dust, and no sound. There was only this feeling of dread lying in the air.

Suddenly, a pulsing mass of green energy accompanied by what sounded like a spewing volcano appeared in the sky, approaching the two of them. "You fool..." Kraus began to snicker. He seemed quite amused "...you thought I was fleeing from you?" He now watched the thing, brimming with terror and excitement as it came closer and closer. "It was from this bringer of death and destruction!"

Now The bishop had to act quickly. He grabbed Kraus by the neck and threw him away with extraordinary strength. While he threw him away, he lowered the gravitational pull on himself, what made him very light and grabbed Kraus by the ankle, getting dragged along the throw.

That was a close call. Both of them just narrowly escaped being decimated by this mass of green energy. Thanks to the strength of the bishop, they flew through the air, landing twenty meters away from the impact of this violent energy.

All three of them landed at the same time. The green mass of energy, cracking up the ground and whirling up dust, the bishop landing elegantly on his two feet and Kraus, crashing, not like a violent force, but like a wet sack of meat.

Everything was silent again. The bishop starts slowly approaching the cloud of dust. He stopped when he saw a greenish figure walking out of the cloud. It slowly approached both of them while emitting massive killing intent that made the bishop shudder.

The bishop couldn't believe his eyes. What he saw was a mechanical human skull, mounted on top of heavy metallic armor. Its eyes were flashing with green color and it had no mouth at all. Green glowing Runes decorated his body while a green half-moon rested on his chest.

The bishop didn't move a muscle as this thing came closer. He seemed scared. The skeleton came closer, and closer, and closer. For the bishop, it felt like an eternity until it was right in front of him.

Then this thing did something unexpected. It reached out its hand. Did it want to greet him? No, it wanted the bishop to give him something.

And the bishop knew.

The bishop's eyes were filled with excitement as he hit the skeleton with a burst of golden light! The skeleton took the hit with raised arms, but it only forced it to slide a few meters away from the bishop.

"Leave, abomination!" The bishop's blade wings started to shake. "Or I shall take you under my wings!" The blades which formed his wings came loose and each one of the blades started to gather around the bishop."You know," His voice was full with brutal intent "those wings aren't just for show!"

The bishop, now surrounded by hundreds of silver, fiery blades, just waiting to tear something to shreds, began to float. The skeleton just stared at him. Both of them were ready for combat. Ready, to kill and ready to be killed. The time has come. The time to crush your opponent. "Let's get this party started!"