Rider kicked the small patch of grass that was left from the rain of fire.
He frowned, as he looked up at the grand wall in front of him.
He was standing before The City of Factions... One of the three great kingdoms of the south.
His army was awaiting orders behind him, but the forces of King Philips remained still at the top of the wall.
He had singlehandedly destroyed everything within the outskirts of the great city, as was his plan for conquest of the twelve kingdoms.
He didn't have time for stalemates.
"King Philips... I ask that you prepare your surrender immediately... That is an order from a Paladin! I will return in the morning, ready to seize this kingdom as my own..."
King Philips had bright orange hair and a slender figure, but looked down with distaste.
"You think that senseless demands will make me and my men yield to Leander's killer?"
A vein of Rider's head threatened to explode.
"You heard my orders..."
Rider said loudly from below, as he continued to angerly kick the singular patch of grass.
Then Picto slowly walked up behind the mad king, setting a hand on his shoulder.
"My Lord... I do not think we could win a battle with such disadvantages... The men are tired..."
"DO NOT SPEAK OF EXHAUSTION!"
Rider bellowed, causing Picto to hesitate.
Lowering his head, Picto trembled.
"S- Sir... We do not have the traitor within our forces anymore... Nor do we have any strategic generals... Justi-"
"DO NOT SPEAK THEIR NAMES!"
Rider slammed his foot into the ground, sneering at his strongest general.
Rayan of House Mayhem, and Justin of House Pice had both betrayed him, leaving several unclaimed spots within his army. Which meant that they were weak. Which made Rider quite angry.
"We will return in the morning..."
He growled, turning his back on the wall and slowly making his way toward the tents that the army had set up shortly after laying siege to the outskirts of the city.
...
Picto of House Python...
Would it be wrong to say that the strongest general of the first division feared his own king?
Well he did, and trembled as the king walked away with anger searing from his very being.
He needed to be more careful, with the leak of corruption leaving his body he could end up killing his own soldiers...
Not that the king cared, he was strong enough to lay waste to entire kingdoms, he had used a single spoken word to execute one of the strongest paladins alive and get away with it.
Picto did not want to be on the other side of the mad king's anger, as that would mean a terrible death.
Which of course Picto did not want to die, he wanted to live and return to his family.
However, with how things have played out so far... He had already began preparing his will...
'The things people do for greed...'
He walked along the dirt, glancing at several wounded soldiers who were trying to get to the front of the line at the healer's tent.
Very few actually made it in the end, which meant casualties.
Lots of them.
Picto sighed as he sat down, his scimitar fell to the ground with a clatter of noise.
It had been hard to count the number of men he had killed in recent days, no matter how many times he restarted the counting, he would always lose what number he was at.
"This is horrible..."
He muttered, feeling sick to his stomach.
...
In a grand hall darkened by the lack of ethereal light...
Beacon let out a terribly anxious sigh.
His seat was of course one of the only ones that had any light emitting from it.
Although there wasn't anything he could do about his true form that was the figure of all natural light.
It was his name after all, he was a beacon. A pillar of light among the gods.
Although he was not the lesser god of the sun, as that was Apollo's job, he was still a very vital force of nature.
"It's begun!"
Prometheus yelled, slamming the grand doors of the cathedral hall open.
"Yikes..."
Luna muttered from the throne at his right.
"Silence!"
Her older brother Apollo hissed from the throne next to hers.
"Lord Prometheus... May I ask what has triggered this cataclysmic domino affect?"
Magnus, the god of technology asked from his throne on the farther side of the room.
Prometheus stood before all of the lesser gods, his power emitting like a core of pure radiation.
He did not speak for quite a while, but when he did... Beacon could tell the god of flames was quite angered.
"There is a boy... He carries the first sacred soul of this generation. There are others but this one seems to be what sparked everything."
"Prometheus... King Rider's quest does not stem from the birth of a single boy... What is the meaning of all of this."
Tempra, the lesser goddess of seasons asked with hesitance in her voice.
Prometheus looked up, and gazed into the eyes of all twenty four present lesser gods.
"I have my sources that tell me of a catalyst of corruption that Rider has gained access of... Which means that he can kill gods if he is able to completely empty the catalyst into his own..."
The gods had a very still moment of silence, Beacon himself looked down at his glowing wrist.
There a ruin marked with the wings of an angel rested.
'Lithica... I ask that you somehow free yourself...'
"Prometheus..."
Terrax, the lesser god of earth said with his stern and powerful voice.
"We are vowed to never interfere with the mortals... But the ones above us can... Which means that someone had to have shown him where this catalyst of corruption is... So does that mean that the great war threatens to break out once again?"
Prometheus shook his head.
"This time we do not have soldiers, and the ones above us have grown superior, I doubt they even acknowledge our existence anymore."
Luna the youngest of the lesser gods raised her hand as if she were in a classroom.
"Speak, daughter of Lunaris..."
Luna took a deep breath.
"I disagree about the soldiers part... Although you all have not stepped foot in the mortal realm- except for you Prometheus- I have, and I have met the humans of this generation."
"What do you mean?"
Prometheus asked.
"Leander and you were close correct?"
Beacon continued on for Luna.
Prometheus nodded his head, flames swirling around his black hood.
"Then he has told you of these sacred souls? What was the last one? Oh yes, it was Blaze of House Phoenix who bore the sacred soul and was the last of them to die?"
Prometheus nodded.
"And the only one in history to live a full life... He even chose to surrender his soul as part of a deal with the primordial of the underworld..."
"Remind me again what the last sacred task was?"
Prometheus scratched his chin.
"It was sealing the fifth primordial I believe. Which all of them but three perished in doing so... Blaze delt the final blow to the king of corruption, ending the second era..."
Beacon stood up from his throne, and gazed into the darkness of the shadows.
"So then if more sacred souls have shown up... Especially those from such a powerful generation..."
"Then the third era is where the worst of it lies..."
Luna nodded her head with a smug look on her childish face.
"The great war is soon to arrive then!"
Terrax bellowed, as several other lesser gods lowered their heads and began to panic.
"No no! You never let me get to my point."
Luna's smirk never once faltered on her face.
"We should finally intervene in the mortal world... Each choose a strong willed soldier of this generation, and make them our... Hm what is the word, ah! Champions."
"Are you playing a sick game with us?"
Prometheus asked, clicking his fingers together, the habit he had built up over the centuries of ensuring humans do not cause their own extinction.
She continued.
"Look! If this great war is about to return in the future... Then why not let humans evolve as they are intended... You all know what the ones above us did after Orion sealed himself. If war with them lies in the future, then why not do a little bit of breaking the rules beforehand, giving Orion all the more reason to wake up soon."
"You speak as if human lives are our toys..."
Prometheus growled.
"Watch! I have already chosen my champion, and he just so happens to be this sacred soul you all speak of."
"You dare!?"
Luna's grin grew wider, and her form turned to a child with icy blue hair and a scared look in her eyes.
"I was there... In Frostfang. I met the heir of Vallmora. And I have chosen him as my Champion."
The gods looked at her pure shock, and Beacon felt a strange warmth from the ruin on his wrist begin to radiate his entire arm.
'Lithica... You have awakened..."