Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1814
Just half an hour after the battle between the 3rd Armies of the Kislavein and Arfas Dynasties began, the 2nd Armies of the Kislavein and Arfas Dynasties faced each other.
The commander of the Arfas Dynasty's 2nd Army, Hüseyin Arfas, was making conquests in Kislavein territories without encountering any strong resistance.
Hüseyin Arfas was besieging the city of Strazberg.
The city of Strazberg belonged to the Victorius Dynasty and had strong walls.
The siege was harsh, and the Arfas Dynasty's losses were counted in the tens of thousands.
"How many soldiers have we lost, Melik?" asked Hüseyin Arfas to his aide-de-camp, Melik.
"Our losses are currently around seven legions and three battalions, sir."
Hüseyin took a deep breath and thought for a long time.
"We've suffered such losses just at Strazberg. I can't even imagine the losses we'll take when besieging Kislathor."
Strazberg was the key to reaching Kislathor, the Kislavein capital, from the south.
If the Arfas Dynasty wanted to reach Kislathor, they had to conquer Strazberg, despite all the losses they would incur.
"This won't do. I will personally join the battle."
Melik stood at attention.
"As you command, sir. I will immediately inform the soldiers."
Melik left the tent. Hüseyin knelt down, turned his face to Mah-Ehrem, which the Southern People considered the Holy Land, prayed, prostrated, then stood up and left the tent.
Outside the tent were his personal guards.
Hüseyin spoke in a thick, resonant voice:
"MY SOLDIERS! THOSE WHO WISH TO COME WITH ME TO OUR ETERNAL REALM IN THE HEAVENS, FOLLOW ME! HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE RULER OF MAH-EHREM WILL BLESS US! ATTACK!"
The Arfas soldiers attacked under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Hüseyin Arfas.
Maximilian Victorius, the ruler of Strazberg, felt closer to death than ever before in his life.
"I guess I've reached the end. Then I will do what befits my Dynasty and fight to my last drop of blood," thought Maximilian.
"MY SOLDIERS! RIGHT NOW, OUR DEATH IS RUNNING TOWARDS US! WE ARE THE VICTORIUS DYNASTY! DO WE FEAR DEATH?"
The soldiers shouted in unison:
"WE DO NOT!"
"THEN RAISE YOUR SWORDS! PERFORM YOUR MAGIC! FOR TODAY, WE WILL GO TO THE SIDE OF OUR ANCESTORS' SPIRITS! HAAAAAAAA!"
"HAAAAAAAAA!"
The mages on the walls hurled fireballs, lightning, ice, and spears from the walls until their mana was depleted.
Some summoned massive earthen and stone stakes from the ground, impaling Arfas soldiers.
Hüseyin Arfas gathered all his aura into his sword, shaped it, and hurled it towards the walls.
"TAKE THAT, WESTERN BASTARDS!"
The glorious walls of Strazberg had suffered serious damage. Maximilian was saved at the last moment from falling from the walls by his aide.
Hüseyin Arfas gave an order to the Warriors beside him:
"HURL ALL YOUR AURA AT THE WALLS! DESTROY THEM!"
The Arfas Warriors shaped their auras and hurled them at the walls.
The walls of Strazberg were known for their thickness and durability, but they could no longer withstand the aura attacks of hundreds of thousands of Warriors and began to collapse.
"RETREAT! NOW! THE WALLS ARE FALLING!"
On Maximilian's order, the soldiers on the walls scattered left and right. Those who couldn't escape were crushed under the collapsing walls.
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
The soldiers' screams were silenced by the noise of the collapsing walls. The rubble of the fallen walls buried many soldiers alive.
"THE WALLS ARE DOWN! ATTACK!"
The Southern army, led by Hüseyin Arfas, attacked the destroyed walls like hyenas spotting wounded prey.
Maximilian and his loyal soldiers climbed onto the rubble of the destroyed walls.
"TIGHTEN THE RANKS! DO NOT RETREAT A SINGLE STEP! WE WILL SEND THEM ALL BACK TO THE SANDS THEY CAME FROM, MY LIONS! FOR KISLAVEIN!"
The Victorius soldiers tightened their ranks. When they saw the Southern soldiers flowing towards them with terrifying speed like a flood, they hid the fear building inside them.
"DO NOT FEAR! WE ALL KNOW THESE BASTARDS WILL LEAVE NO STONE UPON STONE, NO HEAD UPON SHOULDER IF THEY ENTER THE CITY! FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR BLOODLINE!"
The Arfas soldiers climbed onto the rubble of the destroyed walls. The Arfas soldiers and Victorius soldiers began to fight hand-to-hand.
Maximilian Victorius and Hüseyin Arfas came face to face in the first clash.
There was no conversation. Only swords clashed. The ringing of steel was loud enough to make ears bleed.
So much blood had flowed that it dyed the walls and the ground red.
Within seconds, hundreds of corpses had fallen to the ground. By the first hour, tens of thousands of corpses had literally built a new wall.
The Victorius and Arfas forces were trying to both maintain their balance on the piles of corpses and kill their enemies.
While the battle continued with all its fury, the two army commanders engaged in a duel.
Maximilian and Hüseyin were exhausted from the long battle. They had no Aura or Mana left, but they fought to the end.
Finally, the duel ended with the death of Maximilian, whose strength gave out.
The 47th Lord of the Victorius Dynasty, IV Maximilian, was dead.
With Maximilian's death, the resistance on the walls flared up even more and continued until midnight. Hundreds of thousands of warriors died.
The Arfas soldiers descended upon the city of Strazberg like a black plague. They entered every house in their path, slaughtered everyone, showed no mercy even to newborn babies in their cradles.
They even raped young girls.
That night, the Arfas soldiers brutally massacred four hundred thousand people.
The Arfas soldiers, exhausted from the battle and massacres, collapsed into sleep where they were, half an hour before dawn.
The 2nd Army of the Kislavein Dynasty had positioned itself on a hill near the city of Strazberg.
Benjen, seeing his homeland in blood and flames, went mad with rage.
"HAAAAAAAA! DAMN IT! HAAA!"
The Army Commander, Eduardo, gathered a small amount of lightning in his hand and then punched Benjen in the stomach.
The punch and the accompanying electric shock sent Benjen to his knees.
The shock calmed Benjen down.
Eduardo looked at Benjen with cold eyes.
"Get a hold of yourself," he said in a cold voice.
"Under the leadership of the Dynasty Heir, we committed these very massacres in thirty rebel cities and hundreds of villages and towns. Our soldiers raped women. Now that the same thing has happened to your people, are you playing the victim?"
Eduardo knelt on one knee. His face bore an expression resembling a terrifying monster.
"No one dies without experiencing what they inflicted, Benjen. Get that into your head. Now pull yourself together. You have a revenge to take."
Benjen stood up. His heart and chest were still tight; he was struggling to breathe. But he had a revenge to take.
"I'm ready, sir. What are your orders?"
"Everyone, get ready. We will perform our most savage Dark Magic."
An hour had passed. It was dawn. Suddenly, the lifeless corpses lying on the ground rose up and attacked the sleeping Arfas soldiers.
"Ahhhhahhhhhhhh!"
The entire army woke up screaming. Paralyzed with fear at what they saw, they couldn't even move.
"What the hell is this?" said a soldier in fear and panic.
The women they had raped just hours before, the men and children they had killed, had risen and were attacking the Arfas soldiers, tearing open their stomachs and devouring their internal organs with great appetite.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"HELP!"
"SAVE US!"
No one could escape this apocalyptic scene. Their battle with the dead lasted for hours. The Arfas soldiers were trapped in the city they had destroyed.
A few hours later, not even ten legions remained alive. The surviving soldiers were tired and exhausted.
"Fuck this shit! What the hell happened?"
As Hüseyin continued to mutter, the surroundings suddenly darkened.
Hüseyin looked up at the sky and fell to his knees.
"Fuck me, what is this?!"
Massive fireballs and rocks resembling meteors fell on the city. The last surviving Arfas soldiers died either by burning or by being crushed under the huge rocks.
After everything was over, the Kislavein soldiers entered the city.
"Terrible, man."
"I didn't know Dark Magic was this powerful."
There were those among the Kislavein soldiers who were performing Dark Magic for the first time. Some who witnessed the horror of Dark Magic were frightened, while others began to be curious about this power.
As Benjen walked through the streets of his ruined city, he remembered the beautiful and peaceful days of the past and was in deep sorrow.
Saddened by his state, Eduardo placed his hand on Benjen's shoulder and spoke in a calming, soothing voice:
"Throughout our thousand-year history, there have been countless cities massacred like Strazberg, Benjen. We rebuilt them each time. I know the new one will never replace the old, but life will go on. Just as you cannot die with the dead, you too must continue to live."
Benjen bowed his head. His heart felt like bursting; he wanted to scream and shout, but he didn't. He swallowed everything and replied in an emotionless voice:
"I understand."
Eduardo looked at Benjen with pitying eyes.
"Sigh... I know a few words won't fix it. But a foundation must be laid somewhere. In this world, massacres, rapes, and wars have always happened and will always happen."