1 Beginning of the End
A solitary demon, crowned with menacing horns and clad in shiny, obsidian armor that starkly contrasted with his dark, scaly skin, floated upward in the midst of the vast ocean.
The relentless waves battered against his form, adding a cruel intensity to his demise.
"Where am I? What is this strange sensation?" he pondered to himself as he slowly regained consciousness.
Opening his red, lifeless eyes, he found himself under a blue sky adorned with ominous dark and serene white clouds drifting lazily. A faint smile crossed his lips,
"Not a bad way to go."
Yet, the pain in his abdomen intensified as the saltwater continued to assail his exposed skin. Agony coursed through him, but he lacked the strength to shout, lift his arm, or swim to escape the relentless waves. It seemed as though he had resigned himself to his fate.
After a while, he began to close his eyes, his thoughts turning inward as he reflected on his past.
"Are my people going to be okay?"
A colossal wave swept away his body, leaving nothing behind.
**Blank**
Darkness…
Darkness…
Darkness…
A melancholic female voice softly called the demon's name in the midst of the abyss.
"Charnox. Charnox. Charnox."
A single radiant light emerged, gradually shaping Charnox's demon body to its original state.
Bit by bit, Charnox regained consciousness, unable to open his eyes or move his body.
In the darkness, a peculiar voice echoed, gradually growing louder and more distinct.
Initially instilling fear, the voice soon transformed into a soothing melody, and memories of Charnox's past played before him like a vivid stage performance, narrated by a voice eerily similar to his own.
"The Chrome is the name of the planet we are residing on. There are more than 50 species/entities and million animal beings on our planet.
At the beginning, each species lived in their continent or terrain to avoid conflict and were extremely hostile to each other.
Due to climate changes and nature's environmental alterations, everyone was affected. Soon, the only way to stay alive was by helping each other.
As years went by, several species began to form alliances and attacked vulnerable species. This led several species to band together to defend against other species' alliances.
Soon, these species formed three major alliances that included every species:
- Aqua Harmony Alliance (includes Elves, Dark Elves, Mermaids, Sirens, Werewolves , and flying beings such as Griffins, Phoenixes and more).
- Demon Alliance (includes Demons, Centaurs, Beast People, Vampires, Minotaurs, Undead, Liches, Dragons, Goblins, Trolls, Orcs and more).
- Human Alliance (comprising Humans, who occupy the majority of the Chrome planet and constitute the largest population among the various species).
These major alliances remained neutral and didn't wage war for more than 10,000 years. Soon, the alliances took more shape.
Each alliance had its own king and empire.
During this 10,000 years, the Planet Chrome was in peace, and every species was living happily without hunger or poverty problems. The alliances began trading foods and goods and hosting sports and festivals together to celebrate.
Each species began to live together in other territories also, but this happiness didn't last long.
Demon and Aqua Harmony Alliance began to wage war, and the Human Alliance remained neutral.
The Human Alliance intervened and tried to stop the war between Demon and Aqua Harmony Alliance, but failed. The war raged for more than 20 years, and millions of lives were lost.
After a few years, the Human Alliance lost patience with the other alliances. They declared war on both the Demon and Aqua Harmony Alliances simultaneously.
Within a year of the Human's war declaration, Human Alliance strategic and tactical prowess made the other two alliances lose miserably. Demon and Aqua Harmony Alliances both surrendered and agreed to a peace treaty.
--Now, currently,
Each alliance king gathered on a neutral island to discuss the peace treaty.
In the middle of the island, at the bottom of the mountain, inside the labyrinth cave, three kings sat around a round table, each guarded by their two soldiers standing behind them.
Bam!
A resonant sound echoed throughout the cave.
The demon with horns, clad in ominous silver armor, and unfolding its shadowy wings with an unsettling grace, shouted at the other kings sitting across from him,
"Why should our alliance take all the blame? Aqua Harmony initiated the attack in the first place."
A tall, slender being with pointed ears, delicate features, luminous eyes, and a graceful, ethereal beauty, characterized by silver hair, retorted with prideful and calm tone, looking at Charnox,
"Charnox, your alliance was the one that first attacked my village on the border. Your alliance is the reason the war began in the first place."
Charnox kept shouting each word, showing hatred for Aqua Harmony Alliance,
"You Aqua bastard! How dare you accuse us? After my father's death, within a year, you were the one who attacked my alliance. You knew we were vulnerable and used this chance to attack us."
Seated upon a noble chair, a medieval man exuded power in golden armor that caught the light. With jet-black hair cascading regally, he sat with an air of authority, a finely honed sword at his waist. He spoke with an authoritative tone, telling both of them,
"Calm down. You are both kings of your alliance; act like one. We can't solve anything if you keep acting like this. Think about your people's welfare."
After hearing that, both of them calmed down a bit.
Charnox, King of Demon Alliance, spoke with a peaceful tone,
"Zeak, you also know the truth about the war. Thiam is the reason the war began. My people fought back to protect themselves from Thiam's army."
Zeak, King of Human Alliance, responded,
"Charnox, truth doesn't matter; we need proof. I used my alliance spies and gathered enough information, and all that leads to your alliance being the reason this war happened."
Thiam, King of Aqua Harmony Alliance, with a sinister tone, added,
"Zeak, from the beginning, we were fighting to protect ourselves from these demon barbarians. We submitted enough proof from our side too. We lost millions of lives, and our villages and resources were burned, and our herds were also killed. We need a part of their lands for us to recover from the damage we sustained."
Charnox roared, echoing throughout the cave, and stood, slamming the table.
"If you are going to play the victim role, then go ahead, Thiam. Don't pretend you are the only one who suffered and casually ask for our people's lands. No soldier of ours burned your villages and resources. We never laid hands on civilians. If you keep disrespecting and accusing us, I don't mind resuming this war. Thiam, listen; next time, only your head will be on this table."
Thiam smirked, "No matter how much you try to act classy by wearing shiny armor, in the end, you are barbarians. All you can do is wage war and steal others' resources. You swine."
Both Charnox and Thiam stood, grabbing their swords from the table, ready to go at each other.
Zeak intervened with a calm yet terrifying tone, "Stop, both of you, Charnox and Thiam. Both of you are in the wrong here; no need to argue any further. Both of your lands, and villages and its people suffered heavily, but Thiam suffered at its core kingdom. Most of Thiam alliance's resources and goods are burned or lost due to war."
Zeak paused for a few seconds and looked around the cave, gesturing for others to do the same.
"Both of you, do you know why we are in this cave?"
Thiam, with a gentle look, responded, "Because this is the place where our ancestors created the alliance, on this very table."
Charnox, with a cold tone, remarked, "Zeak, say what you got to say. Don't bring our ancestors here; we are here now to solve this war problem, not to talk folk tales."
Zeak, with a gentle smile and looking directly across at Charnox, spoke with a prideful tone.
"Then we will give our verdict, Charnox. Your alliance will merge with the Human and Aqua Harmony Alliances, and you will be imprisoned for war crimes. Those in favor, raise your hands."
Both Zeak and Thiam raised their hands. This left Charnox furious.
Charnox laughed loudly. "You want me to give all my lands to both of you? Then, Demon Continent, no more Demon Alliance, will declare war on both of you, leaving this alliance pact."
Charnox looked at his soldiers standing behind him and commended them.
"Let's leave this place, commanders."
Charnox stood and grabbed his sword placed on the table and tried to leave.
Suddenly, his two soldiers standing behind him grabbed his head and pushed it down. Another grabbed Charnox's sword and placed it near Charnox's head. Charnox could easily have thrown both of them away, but he couldn't believe what happened and was unable to recover from the shock.
Thiam's and Zeak's soldiers swiftly surrounded Charnox, tying his hands and wings, completely immobilizing him.
Thiam stood from his chair, grabbed his sword, and approached Charnox. He told his soldiers,
"You idiots, tying his wings is not enough to immobilize him. Cut down his wings and cut the nerves in his legs."
Thiam raised his sword and aggressively gutted down the wings, causing blood to splatter all over the soldiers.
Charnox didn't shout or show any kind of pain or emotion on his face; he remained calm and looked at Zeak.
"I expected this from Thiam. Not from you, Zeak. Why did you betray me? Don't deny it."
Charnox paused and grinned, "Thiam is too stupid to come up with a plan. Zeak, you must be behind everything. When did I fall into your trap? Tell me everything, you bastard."
Zeak, with a gentle smile and sitting directly across Charnox with a prideful tone, replied,
"Tell you everything! Die with suspense, puppet. But I will tell you this: the trap began with your father's death."
Charnox, with a sad yet calm look, said, "Go ahead, kill me, but don't you dare touch my people. I will come from hell to hunt you all down."
Thiam, Zeak, and the soldiers burst out laughing and mocked Charnox.
With blood gushing out from Charnox's body, Thiam pressed his fingers into Charnox's wounds. Charnox, in pain and agony, didn't cry or shout but showed slight distress on his face.
Zeak told Thiam to stop, and Zeak came near Charnox, instructing the soldiers, "Make him stand."
Charnox's own soldiers grabbed him and made him stand.
Zeak unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into Charnox's abdomen. Charnox fainted, and everyone believed he died, preparing to leave the island.
Thiam looked at Charnox's body and told his soldiers, "Grab his body and throw him into the ocean. We will feed him to the sharks."
**Now, in the present, Charnox is floating in the abyss of darkness.**
When the narration stopped from the voice,
Charnox began to hear a woman's voice, and the sound began to increase louder and louder with each passing moment.
Unable to open his eyes and move his body, suddenly he felt a huge hand pulling him from his head.
The hand's force was enormous, unable to resist, and he managed to open his eyes. He saw a hand coming from the light and heard crying and shouting sounds.
Charnox slowly pulled towards the light, thinking,
"This is it, huh. The end."
Suddenly, the huge hand pulled him so fast he felt like being crushed and closed his eyes out of pain.
After a few minutes, he began hearing strange female voices.
"Why isn't he crying?"
"He is not moving; he has a heartbeat. Take him to the mage room."
Charnox kept hearing a woman crying.
What kind of situation is Charnox going to face now? What are the sounds he is hearing?
[End of Chapter]
*To be continued...*
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Name: Charnox D Ashbourne(Deceased)
Position: used to be King of Demon Alliance
Species: Demon
Description:
Charnox is hot-blooded, short-tempered, yet straightforward, and always cares about his kingdom and its people. He is willing to do anything for the people he cares about.
