**Southern providence, Heavenly alliance's territory**
A tired-looking, older man with pale, brittle skin and dark, unwavering eyes rested against a jagged rock. A pool of his blood was slowly drawing away from him. The slow, cold embrace of death was drawing closer and closer. Before he could be greeted with the embrace he was ever so patiently waiting for, he was awakened by a crude, loud voice.
"I guess, even you are human at the end of the day. I never could have foreseen the day when you would be teetering on the brink of death. I can wait to tell the demon king the great news. With you gone, the Alliance will be easy to take care of."
In front of him stood a tall, gruff man with a long sword dripping with the blood of his enemies. He was the right-hand man of the demon king, the sword demon. He was wearing a tattered cloak, with a strange, black aura enveloping him. Around lay all the corpses of his comrades, mercilessly slaughtered by that man.
Feeling too weak to do anything, let alone speak, all he could do was watch as the demon towered over him.
"Are you even still alive, Apollo? Well, I guess it doesn't even matter as long as you're going to die. I suppose I should give you an honorable death; you've earned at least that much."
With that, the sword demon raised his sword and, with one vicious yet elegant slash, cut off Apollo's head.
**Present day**
"Hey Apollo, you're going to miss morning training. I don't wanna get yelled at again. Get up!"
Coming to his senses, Apollo looked up and noticed where the noise was coming from. A tall, slender man no older than 16, wearing the standard issue alliance training gear, was standing at the end of his bed. His eyes were full of vigor and pride, devoid of any kind of hesitation.
Sweating and pale, he turned his head side to side, trying to grasp his current situation. How was he in his old dorm? It had been at least 15 years since he had been here. Did I travel back in time? Still reeling from the final blow from the sword demon, Apollo slowly collected his thoughts. What about the sword demon? Hadn't he just decapitated me?
Looking slightly closer at the man in front of him, he realized that it was his best friend who had just died alongside him in the Great War. What was going on? He hadn't been at the academy in 15 years, and more importantly, what happened to the other Alliance member who fought alongside him? Will they be alive in this place too?
"Ugh, hey Apollo, are you still ignoring me? Get up, we're going to be late again. I don't wanna have to deal with the second commander again."
"I have no idea how I am here right now, but I might as well play around for now. I have no better plan right now." Apollo Thought
"I'm getting up right now, don't worry, Sunny."
After a few seconds, Sunny waved goodbye and walked into another room in the dorms.
"Wait, is this before or after humans discovered mana? Hmmm, let me try something."
After that brief thought, Apollo moved to the center of the room and attempted to channel his mana. Taking his time, he tried to open his mana circuit, making sure to take his time to avoid internal damage.
After properly opening his mana circuit, he began to form his staff. After struggling for a while, he finally managed to form a dark oak staff with dark brown vines wrapped around it.
With this, I should be able to summon some low-power skeletons. This should be a good enough weapon for the time being.
"I need to retrain myself as soon as possible, before the demonic cult gets a chance to start forming. Now is my only chance to secure a better future for everyone, but right now I'm of no use as a soldier, let alone heavenly general."
With that final thought, Apollo made his way in the direction of the morning training. He could already hear the dedicated screams of his fellow soldiers training hard.
After a bit of walking, he had arrived at the dorms' dedicated training room. In front of him, rows of cadets swung wooden swords up and down in a perfect sync. "I guess this is the physical training period." With that, Apollo lined up in the second-to-last row of Cadets and began his morning training.
As he raised the wooden sword, Apollo's eyes narrowed. He would reclaim his strength, and this time, when the demonic cult came, it would be their heads that fell.