The Burronian Empire was a nation constantly at war.
Since the ti of its creation many, many centuries ago, its people had to fight for survival every single day. The long years of battle made the nation united under a single objective.
It was to endure.
To endure the long winters where monsters hid in the shadows, to endure the assault of Demons that constantly threatened their land, and to endure against the passage of ti and erge victorious in this eternal conflict.
While everyone on the continent knew of the Demons that made the Forbidden Zone their ho, the Imperials were the only ones that truly knew what that ant. They were the ones whose sons got slaughtered by the twisted beasts that ca out of that place as they fought to keep them contained.
For as long as the Empire stood, they desperately pushed back at the darkness trying to invade their land. Centuries of conflicts allowed them to refine their weapons and adapt to the eternal threat of the monsters, keeping them at bay with minimal force.
However, every once in a while, the beasts would gather in greater numbers and break through their defenses. At that ti, the majority of the Imperial army would be called upon to help bring the land back under control and reclaim their lost domain. Luckily, after such an attack, there would be peace for a few short upcoming years during which the Empire could recover and repair the damage while gathering strength for another battle.
Such a thing happened just recently, just over a year ago, when a greater than usual amount of monsters attacked the southern border and crushed the centuries-old stone walls in a single night.
Murik Woods had just finished his soldier training when he was called to battle. He and his entire platoon were gathered at once and transported to the front lines in just a few short days.
It was always his wish to fight for the Empire, for the Emperor, and for his people. A glorious battle to rember! The stories he could tell his grandchildren in his later years, what amazing deeds he had done It was all just crazy dreams of a delusional youngster!
That was not a battle, it was a slaughter!
What they fought was completely different from what he had heard, what they trained for. What Orcs, what Goblins?! Those were but fodder, blown up by the dozen by a single shot of the Arcane Cannons that lined the fortified walls of their bastions.
Blue lightning and flas flashed across the land as the beasts died by the hundreds and the n by the dozen. Layer upon layer of walls protected the fortress in which Murik was stationed at that ti. Up high, atop the highest tower, stood a single man. His body was covered in artifacts and magical items which glowed and twisted the light as his golden hand moved and roared across the sky, as the spells he threw out rend the beasts asunder.
There were many such towers, each a platform for one of such n.
The land around the fort was half scorched by flas, frozen by ice, and turned into an impassable wasteland by powerful Earth magic that turned it into a field of thorns.
Explosions rang in his ears as he trembled below the wall upon which the Arcane Cannons were doing their part, spreading death to all that ca too close.
Every once in a while sothing would go wrong. The creations of the Arcane were made with haste and oftentis pushed to the limit. In such cases unnatural phenona would sotis take place, twisting the form of the user into an abomination or, what was more likely, killing him outright by the explosion of chaotic magical energies.
No matter how the Artificers repaired or reinforced the Runes, there was always a weak point that would give out, sooner or later.
In cases such as these, having plentiful reserves of fresh recruits to take the dead man's place was absolutely necessary.
How many of his friends did Murik Woods see splattered on the wall or turned to liquid by an unpredictable discharge of the overused Arcane Cannon? He couldn't rember anymore.
His heart trembled each ti it happened. But at least his beloved was still with him through the most difficult of tis. Until she wasn't.
A breach happened in the neighboring fortress and the dical personnel there was already stretched thin. The love of his life, together with many of his comrades and older warriors were appointed to escort a part of their healers there to stabilize the situation.
They waited for an opportune mont where the beasts were lesser, at the dawn of a new day. They departed in secret and with haste, but never made it to the other side.
Murik watched in horror as the tiny platoon was torn to shreds by incredibly fast flying monsters, and not long after, the weakened fort was demolished under the combined forces of five massive Giants.
His mories beca a blur after that. The Giants got bombarded into oblivion by the other strongholds soon after, however, it was already too late, and he didn't care anymore.
The long days blended into one as he was showered with blood and gore constantly. He never experienced the fight by himself, however, he saw those much stronger and smarter than him lose their lives in horrifying ways.
However, all that madness ended one fateful day, when a massive monster, later identified as a Shadowbeast, breached their walls.
At least three ters tall and five ters long, if counting the tail, the beast leaped across the tens of ters tall blockade, slaughtering the soldier manning the walls while it was at it.
It walked on all fours, with each of its limbs ending with thick claws, each about 20 centiters long and 5 wide. Instead of fur, it had tiny bone-like armor plates across most of its body, while especially long spikes ca out of its forearm, sides of the head, and back. A sharp horn rose from its forehead, about 30 centiters long and extrely thick, which it used to skewer one unlucky guy that escaped its initial attack.
Its sharp teeth tore apart tal as if it was worthless tin foil as it took a bite off its victim here and there.
The Arcane Cannons further away from the carnage turned, spitting balls of unstable chaotic magic energy towards the beast, covering it with lightning, fire, and sothing that appeared to have disintegrating properties on matter.
The bony protrusions on its back were the ones most affected by the aggressive magic, however, the duration of the magic was just too short. The Shadowbeasat barely felt its skin stinging from the blasts, which understandably, just enraged it further.
It jumped with its powerful legs, each thicker than an armored soldier, and bit down with its mighty jaw on the Arcane Cannons, shattering them like ice. No tal was strong enough to resist its bite. And with a flick of its thick, spiky, flail-like tail, the defenders were swept away, crushed under the force of impact.
And just as it was done with the soldiers up high, it turned its many eyes towards the fighters below. Murik felt his blood freeze in fear at the look of that bloodthirsty face. But just as he thought it was all over for him, a blue light shone from the highest tower, and the beast was instantly frozen solid.
He rembered slowly turning around to look at the man in the tower in awe, but then the sound of shattering ice disrupted his train of thought. He didn't dare turn around, terrified of what he would see.
There ca a howl A howl so loud and powerful, he was thrown to the ground by the shockwave, despite not being the primary target of the attack. The vibrations in the air were so strong that many blood vessels in his head and lungs burst at once, making him cough and cry blood.
He beca temporarily deaf and partially blind, but in hindsight, he was glad it happened. At least he didn't have to rember the sounds of his people getting crushed under the stones as the tower with the Mage on top, collapsed like a house of cards as the powerful beast's sound attack, after forming massive wind blades, cut the stones and annihilated the structure as if it was a tiny sand castle in a tropical hail storm.
He didn't exactly rember how or when he did it, but as he ca to, Murik rembered he was running at full speed away from the ruined fortress, leaving a trail of blood behind.
***
"I then sohow managed to escape the battlefield unnoticed, and after a few days, I stumbled upon another army who ca as our reinforcents. It was a bit late, but hey" Murik smiled grimly as he rembered that ti.
"They helped get to a city where I recovered, but when I ca back to the capital, I was branded a deserter, a traitor, and an enemy of the Empire. I should have died with the rest, they said. So much for the promised respect and honor for a wounded veteran" Murik Woods sighed. "They didn't even let say goodbye to my family before they tossed into this shithole."
Gerald remained quiet, mulling over the things he had just heard. It seed that the situation in the Empire was a bit more complicated than he imagined.
Still, that didn't an he would let them walk all over him just because they had it hard in life.
"Hey Murik, Zeph" he began. "What do you say we blow this dump sky-high?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)