Chapter 1: Necessary sacrifices

Lawless winds covered the flat grasslands of the Koel region, existing near the capital city of Mayn kingdom.

Forest surrounded the grassland, and a single road was passing from the far left of the fields, almost hugging the forest on its side.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish.

Winds were violent on this cloudy evening.

The sky above had blocked all the sunlight. The strange clouds did not look normal either.

Far away from the grasslands, the people of the Mayn capital, in the city of Gipon, were looking above at the clouds forecasting the gaze of the Demons.

The Pantheon was brimming with the scared people who did not wish to fall victim to this dark omen. The ever bustling city had slowed down...

-Takat. Takat. Takat.

-Takat.

The eerie winds and soulless stillness spread around the grasslands had kept all the visitors away since midday... and yet, right now, the sound of a carriage was heard from the distant end of the road.

-Takat. Takat.

Soon, the seemingly normal carriage became visible, its illuminated inside lighting up its surroundings.

A dead lantern was also hanging behind the carriage driver, the horse pulling it a young brown steed.

-Takat. Takat. Takat.

-Turek... takaaaat.

The carriage had followed the paved path to arrive thus far. But, the moment it arrived at the junction connecting the forests and the grassland, it derailed from its set route and marched towards the empty patch of grass.

"Huppp!"

The carriage driver commanded the horse to go further away from the road, and the steed followed the command like a well-trained companion.

-Thakat...

Soon, the carriage stopped in the grassland, surrounded only by grass, both the ends of the forests faraway from this point.

-Turrrrk.

The driver waited as the wooden door of the carriage opened up. And, he stayed still only until the four hooded figures walked out of the door with a shorter, much younger looking figure.

"..."

The carriage driver did not say anything. His eyes were cold, almost emotionless as he waited for the command of the one leading the party.

"Go."

The driver only left after receiving the hooded man’s command, turning the carriage away and going back to the road junction from where they had arrived.

-Swish. Swish.

Of the four hooded figures, two left the party first and started running in a particular pattern around a large distance, confusing the short figure.

"Hmm?"

The one behind the hood, probably a young girl, looked up at the person holding her hand for the answer, but his eyes, the only visible feature of his face covered in a red mask, stayed on the moving figures.

The two of them were fast enough to destroy the grass under their feet, the sharp blades on their boots helped as well.

-Surrrr. Surrrr. Surrr!

The remaining figure besides the masked man walked forward and fell to her knees on what seemed like the centre of the path in which the remaining figures were moving.

"Mis... ter?"

The young voice shook, fear seeping into the heart which had come to believe these people.

But, it was too late now.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

Winds blew harder in the darkened grasslands, and the hood covering the masked man and the young girl blew over.

"Mister! What is this?!"

His dark obsidian hair seemed darker even against the girl’s black hair, her black skin resembling Cole, and the small horns growing out of her head a reflection of her demonic lineage.

She was scared.

"No, mister! Let me go!"

He was grabbing her hand tighter than ever before, the everpresent warmth nowhere to be seen in his deep yellow eyes.

"Noooooooo!"

The figure kneeling in the center of what had now become a strange spell circle, layered three times on the flat grass plains, started chanting strange verses in a language that in itself seemed unholy.

"Myaaaaanaaaaanaaaaaamaaa!"

The fear in the completely dark eyes of the young demonic girl exploded further.

She had at least realised one thing: she was betrayed.

Betrayed by the very people who had saved her from everything. The same people who she admired more than anything else in this world.

"Arghhhh! Noooo! Noooo! Please nooo!"

She was screaming, trying her best to get away from the masked man, doing every single thing she could... but the power that had always been present to help her, the power that had helped this group eliminate any target they had wished over the last month, did not respond to her when she needed it the most.

"I’m sorry." The masked man spoke in a heartbroken voice.

And right as he said that, he shoved the hidden needle laced with a certain poison deep inside the girl’s neck.

"No Andrew! Please...! Please... please. Please..."

She fell asleep in his arms.

"I’m... sorry."

He picked her up, the beautiful girl.

He gave her a hug, kissed her forehead, and, as he moved forward towards the centre of the spell, tears rose in the eyes that knew the cost of all powers.

The girl kneeling had prepared what they needed, and so had the two who were running to form the boundaries of this three-fold circle.

A dull light was rising up from the ground that did not have the same grass anymore. But, the light was too shallow.

They needed far more than this. And, the only way to have it was this...

[ "Ahayu of 6th Hell." ]

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

The moment he placed the little demon girl in the centre of the spell, the dull light exploded.

[ "Master of Fluid flames, the Green river of Dread." ]

The rune language he spoke was beyond comprehension even to the ’mage’ who had activated this spell.

[ "I call upon thee!" ]

The light that had no color even after becoming far brighter than before suddenly took on a dark, murky green form.

At the same time, it turned into a storm of flames...

-SWIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!

Winds carried the flame upwards.

Then, what was only winds and light had manifested into a form: into a demon.

[ "KEKEKEKE!" ]

The voice was audible only to the one with the red mask.

The face with few features, the outline that induced dread in anyone who looked at it directly, was laughing at the one who had called upon it.

[ "Accept this offering, and grant me your power." ]

The masked man did not hesitate when he pulled out a dagger made entirely of Red glass. An object that made the demon smirk even wider.

[ "Owner of the RED ARTIFACT! KEKEKEKEKEKE!" ]

He placed the dagger right before the girl’s heart, on the right side of her chest.

And, with his eyes closed, all the memories of their time together were placed in a new corner of his heart...

-Puk!

He plunged the dagger in, taking the life that he had saved from evil worse than even this one.

[ "Kekekeke! I accept your offering! KEKEKEKEKEKE!" ]

The black blood that spilled out of the punctured chest did not slide towards the earth.

It lifted up, condensing, taking a new form, pulling the rest of her blood out of her lifeless body.

-Oooooooooooooooong!

The blood became a python, a demonic being of hell.

"PTSSSSSSSS!"

It hissed at the masked man, visibly scared of the dagger still present inside the body.

It did not go near it until he pulled the dagger out, and once he had, the snake, made of her own blood, devoured her body... her lifeless, bloodless body.

[ "KekekekekeKEKEKEKEKE!" ]

The demon vanished, taking all of the green fire along with it.

The entire grass patch that had covered the earth was gone now, and long with it, gone was all the life that had ever existed within them.

The flames and the demon took it all away with it... but, in exchange, it left one thing.

"How much?"

The three figures who had seen it all from afar finally walked closer to the masked man, the one who was staring at the sixth magic circle now engraved on the glass dagger.

"Three."

The spell circle glowing green was the reason they looked for the young girl, the reason they saved her, the reason they kept her... and the reason they gave her up.

It was a power which would only be useful three times.

But, that was enough.

"Let us go."

If a hundred thousand lives were on the line, this was a necessary sacrifice.

He’d do this a hundred more times to save the bigger mass.