Chapter 1: War

In the year 2025, [War], a game created by humans, for humans as a way to escape the slowly dying world; became the only world humans are willing to accept.

The creation of [War] was because of the catastrophe that happened twenty years ago.

The world was never the same afterwards, society change, and crime became an active part of today's everyday life.

Scientists upon researching ways to safely travel through the universe, unlocked a Pandora's Box that upon looking at the world now, should have remained close. From Pandora's Box, an unknown particle that was simply termed Rot slowly spread across the world.

At first, the particle didn't cause much harm to the world, but as it slowly accumulated, it affected the environment and the people, causing disastrous mutations upon them, known only as Rot Mutation.

Rot Mutation destroys the nervous system in a creature making thinking and moving impossible, or so it should be. Even if one cannot move in the beginning, after the accumulation reaches a stage, and one hasn't died, one will gain incredible powers, akin to Superman. However, this was reality and there existed nothing like free lunch, meaning there was obviously a drawback.

That drawback was death! Upon getting touched by the rot particles, one would die a slow and agonizing death, where one's body regains feeling and slowly evaporates into light particles.

As a result of research into rot particles, scientists discovered that nothing could halt the spreading of rot particles, as every kind of vaccine created to stop it mutates and made the rot particle stronger and more versatile.

Not being able to do anything, humans watch as animals and their fellow humans die off in the millions before a scientist believes it was better to create another world, along with his fellow scientists, a second world called [War], where humans can live freely once more.

[War] was created with 99% realism, becoming the world where humans uploaded their consciousness, leaving behind their husk of a body on Earth.

[War] is a world that is a hundred times bigger than Earth, with thousands of races to choose from. Upon first uploading one's consciousness into the game, one would choose their race amongst the thousand and begin living once more, either peacefully or suffering; it is all up to the players.

In [War], the main plot is about conquest and war; so one can choose to be a [Ruler], a [Warrior], or an [Adventure]. In [War] one's path is decided by the player themselves, and no one else; if one wanted to be a god, it was possible but even a god would die before a [Ruler]!

The three main professions if you wish to call them that is, the [Rulers], [Warriors], and [Adventures]. Of course, there were other professions like [Mage], [Archer], and the like but most players usually started out as a [Warrior] and then obtained the [Mage] profession, being more versatile. It's understandable as not having enough power is the same as death in [War], and no one wanted to die as that was true death as this was their new reality.

The [Rulers] are those that conquer a base, or a dungeon and make it into their kingdoms, with millions to serve them. It was for this reason that a [Ruler] is the strongest amongst all professions, as with a million of soldiers, even a god would be worn down little by little and die.

[Warriors] are the second strongest profession, as they have incredible strength and are freer than most other professions. There were more [Warrior] oriented players than [Mages], because of the safety factor given in the beginning, preventing people from dying upon arriving in the game.

]War] didn't have any safe zone, or starting point, meaning that people are just randomly thrown into the world, with the only exception being family members who are placed together. This meant that everything manmade, including kingdoms, is the result of players carving out a piece of the world for themselves, also the mountains of bones lost in order to do so.

[Adventures] on the other hand, are in some way or form under the rule of the [Rulers]. The [Rulers] set up the [Adventure Guild], and give other players quest in order to obtain more leads on other territories. That's why [Adventures] are forbidden from joining the armies of other kingdoms, gaining some sense of freedom in the process, going to other kingdoms, and the like without caution from other [Rulers].

The max level in [War] is 100, but it was still possible to get stronger by increasing one's stats by using experience points. That is to say, not all level one hundred players were the same, as exp was the difference between a strong and a weak player.

The number of spells one could learn was infinite, because [War] was going to become the [New World], so there was no way the scientist was going to limit themselves, that would be foolish.

There are twelve levels of spells, with tier twelve spells being called [Condense Spells], spells that are akin to laws themselves. The area a [Condense Spell] can affect is extremely large, but had a long cast time, so as long as one can utilize their timing, they could halt a [Condense Spell] from being cast.

There is one thing about [Condense Spells] though, and that is one cannot choose their spells, as ones [Condense Spells] is generated based on the type of spells in one's arsenal.

For example, if one had thousands of death spells, it might meet the requirement of generating one [Condensed Spell] that could wipe out a group of level 100 players.

There was also no requirement for who can learn each spell, meaning a level one player could learn a tier 12 spell but may not be able to use it because of the requirements to activate it.

It's currently the year 2390, over 300 years since the game had first launched, and everyone on Earth had already uploaded their consciousness inside the game world, escaping from the rot particles, or so it should have been.

***

Lord Grimm Vir Doom, stood tall on the roof of his palace, arms behind his back as he looked at the gloomy skies.

He was far too familiar with these skies, he remembered like it was a dream when he was on Earth, he had seen this scene. This was the ever-present rot particle that seems to never vanish, even after creating a new world, it follows.

Lord Grimm took his eyes from the skies to the ground, seeing a wonderful scene.

As far as his eyes could see, a city full of the light of prosperity reflecting in his golden pupils, dancing freely underneath the end of everything, the rot particles.

There were wide open streets, full of people moving joyfully, horse-drawn carriages pulled by muscular [Dragon Horses], currencies with his face on it flowing freely from hand to hand, allowing people to buy what they need.

On the walls surrounding the [Central City], soldiers of the [Royal Army] manned the walls, looking for signs of invasion. He doubted there would be one anytime soon, as the city was floating in the skies, but nowhere near those clouds, he grew to fear.

Lord Grimm's eyes narrowed into a look of pity, " I created this city from the ground up, created many [NPCs], have a land full of possibility, yet is it all going to end? Could nothing stop these rot particles? What of my magic, is it powerful enough to erase it?" Thoughts run through his mind as he wonders what he should do.

Signing, Lord Grimm turned around, making his long white royal cape fluttering in the wind, enchanting the golden suit he wore. As he turned around, rows and rows of servants arrived and knelt down in awe and reverence before their [Ruler].

The face of Lord Grimm that could only be called handsome and cold, smiled at the sight of his subordinates, causing some of them to be shocked and faint in bliss.

The [Ruler] had a head of long black hair with zig-zag strips of white making him stand out in a crowd of hundreds, his face unblemished white, with no scars, making woman openly desire him, eyes golden that looking at him could cause one to feel warm, nose well portioned as of created by the gods, and lips curve slightly, showing a smile.

This the [Lord of Eternal Truth], the Lord of one of the most hidden and powerful kingdoms in [War]. Everyone that knew of this kingdom outside is dead, making news and the location of the kingdom a mystery. Most people don't even know of its existence let alone search for its location.

Looking in the crowd, he saw some people not kneeling before him, and smiled. These were his family in this life, his queen, and children.

Back on Earth, he was not able to meet someone that could love him and treat him without ulterior motives in mind, so when he came to [War] and conquered this place in his [Racial Quest], he chooses to give up the choice to upgrade his race as he knew he would later gain the chance again but getting a base was hard to come by.

Obtaining the base, he was given a set amount of levels to create what he wanted, and he did. He created some nobles, soldiers, and many others, before creating his wife, Gaia Vir Doom.

[War] was a world that had real aspects, apart from the game features in the beginning. After the last human ventured into [War], the game aspect disappeared, meaning there was no more quest and the like, one could do as they like.

This meant he could have intercourses with Gaia and have children with her, which he did. He had two beautiful balls of joys as his children, a prince, and a princess, born of the same womb at the same time.

He had never been so happy in his life, apart from having Gaia as his wife, so he officially made it a holiday, a day worth celebrating.

Walking through the subordinates that fainted, trying not to laugh at their fanatical belief in him. The gods of the [Ancient Religion] always come and pout to him about how the people worship him over them, making him chuckle secretly with pity.

Why would they worship the gods when the [Ruler] decide if a god should continue living or not? Everyone knew that a [Ruler] was the top dog in [War], not even a combined might of a hundred powerful players could win against them in their territory.

Standing before his wife, the most beautiful woman in the world, warmth appeared in his eyes, along with intense love and affection. He held his wife's hand, looking down into her crystal clear blue eyes, sensing her love for him.

Her long raven black hair draped down her back, creating a second layer of clothing on her attractive body. Peeking out at the corner of her head, were two long pointed ears. Her slightly pale skin and blue eyes make her look lovely and demure, but he knew while she was lovely she was his woman, so she couldn't be weak. Her lips were draped in crimson lipsticks like blood, making her look like a motherly temptress.

She was in a long one white piece dress that shows off her devastating figure, that wishes to escape from the confines of her dress. Her breasts were large and plump, jiggling as she moved, causing ripples in the heart of observers, whether it be men or women.

The Queen was barefoot, walking on the ground, which should be beneath her. Around her ankles and wrist were golden rings that reflected the moonlight coming from the many moons in the skies.

Admiring her for a quick moment, Lord Grimm reaches for her beautiful face, but pauses, as he looks down at the balls of joy in her arms. His eldest child, Stella Vir Doom, his daughter had reached out and grabbed his hand, which was holding onto Gaia, looking at him with her different color eyes, one golden and the other blue with a cute expression.

Laughing openly, forgetting his royal ethics, he caresses his daughter's head and pulls her cheeks, making her roll her eyes at him, showing that she is smarter than she looks.

His daughter, Stella, while only looking like she was two years old was actually over 300 years old. The same could be said about his son, Steller Vir Doom.

The two of them being born of a [Primordial Titan] and a [Nature Spirit] like an [Elf] is blessed with immortality. Technically this should be impossible as a [Titan] and a [Elf] cannot have a child which is immortal, as they themselves are not.

A [Primordial Titan] had never been seen before and was a race that he had created when he upgraded his race from a [Chaos Titan], a [Titan] race that can use magic.

Usually, a [Titan] cannot use magic, as they were blessed with ungodly strength, but by using a special item and complete a set of quest, he met the requirement to upgrade his race, but since the ones that exist was not the ones he wanted, he decide to create his own, which took a long time, but he creates the [Chaos Titan Race] which he was the only member in the end.

He could use all kinds of magic, but at the loss of his massive strength. To him though it was a fair trade-off, as he gains access to more strength, in the form of spells, but only losing a bit of physical strength.

Still, as a [Chaos Titan], he didn't have immortality, but he could live for a very long time. He estimated that a [Chaos Titan] could live for more than Ten Thousand Years easily but would slowly decay and die after that.

But a [Primordial Titan] was different, they could live forever, as there was no limit to their lifespan.

To become a [Primordial Titan] in [War], maybe the only one, he had sacrificed a lot of resources and done trial and error before, ascending beyond a [Chaos Titan]. However, that didn't mean he was more powerful as a [Primordial Titan] than a [Chaos Titan].

In [War] there base forms of a race, and upgrade forms, but with how the developers created [War], it meant a weak race like a [Goblin] could kill a [Primordial Titan] after pushing their stats beyond the limit, but it would be hard to do so. After all, the reason upgrade forms exist is to enhance one's base form and make it stronger than before.

That is how the food chain operated, a [Primordial Titan] without doing anything could make a [Dragon] and the like submit just by the presence they exclude.

Gaia as a [Elf] should have a limited lifespan but wasn't the case. Why would he create a [Elf] wife if she was going to die and live him behind in a couple of years? Even if he could revive her effortlessly, he still didn't want her to leave him, so he sacrificed a [God Tier Items], giving her immortal life.

Items are separated into seven levels along with their abilities and rarity.

First is [Trash Tier Items], items that are no different than what one could create on the spot. Items that others wouldn't even look at.

Second is [Special Tier Items] that have a little magic imbued inside of them, upon being naturally created, which can be used without wasting mana of the user.

Third is [Epic Tier Items], which are items that are found or obtained from quests; but since quests are no longer around after the last human on Earth joined the game and cleared some quest, a new profession was created to fill that role, [Blacksmith].

Fourth is [Ancient Tier Item] that is obtained in ruins, that are usually surrounded by monsters.

Fifth is [Legendary Tier Items] which are items that come from powerful creatures.

Sixth is [Divine Tier Items] are obtained usually by creating them with corpses of gods or other divine creatures.

Seventh is [God Tier Items], these are items that can change and alter some parts of the game. However, they are almost impossible to obtain.

Thus when two immortal beings created children, they would be immortal as well but that was a problem in the end. If he didn't use his spell to temporarily make them mortal, he said temporally even though it's been 300 years, they would remain as babies, barely growing. If not for his immense mana pool and that he was [Ruler], it's hard to say if he could sustain it.

Lord Grimm flick her forehead, causing her to hold her head, tear brimming in the corner of her eye. " You little imp, don't act cute, you are over 300 years old now. At least act like a princess why don't you? Still having your mother carry you both around, how embarrassing." He shook his head but was laughing inside. She was too cute, even if she was a thousand years old, she was still his daughter. Still his little imp.

Stella looked at her father, with tears in her eyes and humph, looking away, burying her head in her mother's bosom. Her mind started to plan her revenge on her father, how dare he look down and bully her.

So what if she was 300 years old? She was still an infant and needed her mother to provide and teach her things.

"Hmm?" Turning his head, he saw his son, looking almost the same as Stella, apart from his eyes which was golden like his.

Truthfully, if not because of their eyes, and if they don't speak, one wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

The two of them were around two years old in size, with long black hair with white at the edges, giving the impression of white flames. Their skins were pearly white but durable, not even a legendary sword could harm them. Stella was wearing a pink dress with flowers and Steller was wearing a red shirt and black shorts.

Steller was looking at him with his calm and calculating eyes making him smile. He wondered if he was the reincarnation of one the players to be so calm; but concluded after he searched his soul, he was a pure soul created by his and Gaia's energy inside the womb. He caressed Steller's head, not getting much of a reaction out of him, but Lord Grimm could sense he was happy.

"Darling, what are you going to do about the skies? It has been getting worse; using Divination Magic I saw some scenes of what will happen if we leave it as it is." Gaia places her children on the ground, letting them walk around. She held her husband's hand and walked to the edge of the palace.

" I wish I had something I could use but I doubt it would work. The thing affecting the skies is called rot particles, something that doesn't wish to leave." He had a [God Tier Item] he could use but its description was a bit dark; along with his doubt about the rot particles, he decided not to use it.

Lord Grimm believes even if he uses it and the rot particle disappears, it would still arrive again, probably mutated and stronger than before.

Gaia clutches Lord Grimm's hand, turning to look at him slightly worried but also angry. " Why are you hesitating? Are you not the great Lord Grimm everyone is relying on? If this rot reaches lower, will you continue to make the kingdom fall to the ground? What happens then?!" She let go of his hand and placed her head on his chest, tears streaming down her face. " What about them? Are you satisfied with watching our children die? No, it might be more of a torture for them, as immortals, they cant die even if they wanted to."

He remained silent for a moment before lifting her head, his golden eyes met hers, but what she saw shocked her, her husband was furious!, " You know that's not fair, right?! Do you think I don't care about my children? If I could, I would sacrifice my life to grantee they live, is that not enough to show you my love for you and them?!"

"Darling, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…." Gaia apologized, fearing her husband slightly. She had never seen this side of him, as even when going to battle and he might lose, he remains calm and collected throughout.

Shaking his head, Lord Grimm released her face and pushed her away, "Save it, I had planned to attempt some test before actually going about it, but I must say I'm a bit disappointed in you, my wife. Even if the world wanted to kill you and my children, you should know I will destroy the world for you. I don't mind destroying a race either, yet you doubt me."

Gaia felt her heart drop to the lowest low, as her husband's distant look in his eyes, and fury was frightening!! This must be what her husband's enemies had felt before they died, the suppressed fury of a [Ruler]!!

Calming down, he felt shame. How could he let his emotions get the better of him, could his family be his hidden scales? It's not exactly a bad thing, what I value is what gives me strength and I plan to protect at all cost but … " Gaia, forgive me; I do not like when people question my love and determination as a father, no matter who they may be. Take the children and retreat to the [Imperial Throne Room], I shall test my theory here."

Gaia nodded, feeling sad inside but nonetheless relieved that he wasn't angry anymore. His anger was like a river suppressed by a dam, once a crack appeared on the dam, the river would rush forward violently, destroying everything in its path.

As she turned around, loneliness surged into her heart making her turn back around, noticing the item in her husband's hand.

A ring with a crimson ruby on it. Seeing the item, Gaia froze and became fearful, she knew what the item was but that only made her more terrified.

The item was the [Demonic Red Ring], a [God Tier Item], the ring that can change any rules in an area but at a cost. One will perish for the rule one change; and iron-clad rule that cannot be broken.

"Darling, don't!!!" Gaia came back to herself and rush for the ring, but she was too late.

Looking at his screaming wife and lovely children, Lord Grimm smiled, activating the ring. " I can be a ruthless Lord to my enemies but I cannot watch as you all die, Gaia, forgive me, [Demonic Red Ring], cleanse the rot particles…..."

Crimson, the color of blood, flash above the world of [War] startling many people, before fading, leaving a void....where a great had kingdom stood.