In a remote village near the capital, as the cold night wind swept through the forest, fifty people sat weak and lifeless inside a church. Yes—fifty of them, all huddled within the holy walls. At the altar, a man stood, staring at the ceiling while laughing.
"Looks like that's everyone. Hmmm, this one's got a pretty stupid-looking face. Whatever, I've stayed here long enough. Hopefully Zelt won't complain later."
The man walked out of the church with pride.
"Eh?"
He froze. At the edge of his vision, he saw around twenty holy knights surrounding the church.
"Avril de Aries! Surrender! All of your crimes will be judged by the gods. Drop your weapon, and we shall grant you a painless death!"
Avril de Aries—that was the man's name. His reputation had spread far and wide over the last two years. Robbery, murder, extortion—he had done them all. Until now, his crimes had only reached the small villages. But after repeatedly escaping the guards sent from the capital, he grew arrogant enough to attempt robbing a noble's mansion. That ended in failure. Hunted, he fled to this remote village, hiding for several days.
Then, upon hearing rumors of a treasure buried beneath the church, Aries struck again—this time slaughtering fifty innocents who had gathered there.
"My, my. You're telling me you chased me all the way out here to this forsaken village?" Aries said mockingly.
"You bastard!"
"Damn fiend! You slaughtered everyone inside! Do you have no conscience as a human?" the knights shouted at him in fury.
"Eh, well, I wasn't planning on staying here anyway. Adios, you damn lackeys of the church."
As he spat those words, Aries threw down a smoke bomb and attempted to escape. But—
"Form the divine barrier! Do not let him get away!" the holy knight commander ordered.
The trees that once surrounded the area vanished in an instant, replaced by towering walls of blue fire. This was one of the Holy Knights' special techniques—the Divine Barrier, a divine cage meant to trap monsters or demons. But tonight was an exception. They had used it against just one man.
"Hmmm, the Divine Barrier, huh? I'm honored that the great Holy Knights would go so far as to use your trump card against me~ Well then, taste this! Watery Slice!"
Aries remained calm as he cast his spell, unleashing a sharp wave of water that cut down one of the knights. Yet, strangely enough, even as one of their comrades fell, the rest of the Holy Knights showed no reaction, attacking as if nothing had happened.
"Wahaha! So the rumors were true—you're nothing but puppets of the Church. Your comrade is dying right before your eyes, and yet you don't even flinch. You only care about me." Aries laughed mockingly as he dodged their relentless blades, unfazed by his taunts.
"Enough."
The voice came from behind the knights—their commander, who had been watching silently. "Avril de Aries, how about we negotiate?"
"Negotiate?" Aries smirked. "Let me guess—you want the location of my comrades, and in return, you'll spare my life?"
"Yes. At the very least, you'll only face life imprisonment instead of death. Surely that's preferable."
Though Aries couldn't see the commander's expression, he knew well enough—it was the face of someone ridiculing him.
"Rejected," Aries declared confidently. "My comrades may be bastards, but they're still better than the rest of the trash in this world."
His words sounded resolute, but the truth was otherwise. His stamina was gone, his body exhausted, and his mana nearly depleted. The noble's mansion he had raided had drained him of most of his power, and his frantic escape afterward left him starving and sleep-deprived.
"This isn't the place I plan to die…" Aries muttered weakly.
The Holy Knights raised their swords once more, preparing to strike him down all at once. As Aries faltered for a moment, they lunged in unison—
"You fools—don't!"
"Blood Tusk!"
The commander's warning came too late. The ground around Aries turned crimson, and from the blood-soaked earth, crimson spears erupted, impaling the knights who charged him.
"Bastards…"
"Wahahahahaha! Look at you pathetic worms! This is only one of my many techniques! Die, miserable humans—"
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Aries collapsed to the ground, lifeless in an instant.
"What… what just happened?" The commander froze in shock, but before he could turn to locate the shooter, his body stiffened. A moment later, his vision went black—his head had been severed clean off.
One by one, the remaining Holy Knights were slain, unable to comprehend what was happening. When silence finally fell, a man emerged from the forest.
He had jet-black hair, dressed like a noble, with sharp, piercing eyes. He approached Aries' corpse.
"Is this him?" the man asked one of his subordinates.
"Yes, Your Grace. He's the one who attacked your mansion the other day," the subordinate replied.
"Who would have thought… that he was one of us." The noble smirked. "Take him. Put him in 'that' place. I want to look around here a little longer."
"As you wish, my lord. But I must warn you—this is nothing but a poor village. There's nothing of value left, and most of the villagers were slaughtered by him already."
"Never underestimate places like this, Ben. Sometimes, you can find gold even in the filth of a garbage heap."
Without heeding his subordinate's words, the noble strolled deeper into the ruined village.
---
The village was eerily silent. Ben had been right—nearly all the villagers had been massacred.
"Hmmm… as I thought," the man murmured with a smile, as if he had found what he was seeking. He hurried to a shabby hut near one of the houses. The hut was filthy, covered in chicken droppings, but when he pushed open the door, his eyes widened.
Inside, two naked, battered children lay unconscious. He knelt to check them.
"Only one survived, huh? How unfortunate." His tone carried mild disappointment. One child was already dead, while the other clung to life, covered in wounds and on the brink of death.
From within his coat, the man produced a vial of crimson liquid. He poured it carefully into the child's mouth.
"Cough… cough…" The child sputtered, slowly opening their eyes.
"Easy now. You'll be safe soon," the man said gently.
He lifted the child into his arms. Before leaving, he whispered an incantation:
"Hell Fire."
From his hand, a wave of blue flames burst forth, engulfing the village. As he watched the fire spread, his voice was calm but filled with conviction.
"Forgive me for being late, my brothers and sisters. This is the beginning. I, Amadeus Symboli Heaven, swear to slaughter every last human who tramples upon our kind."
With the child in his arms, Amadeus Symboli Heaven disappeared into the forest, leaving the burning village behind—a tragedy that would be carved into history.