Prologue.
The square was silent.
A sea of people stood frozen, paralyzed from the tension. In the center of it all, a handsome and well dressed man knelt, head bowed beneath the weight of his crown of thorns, blood dripping down its face darkening his sight. His hands were bound behind him.
The executioner's axe hung still. The blade tainted with the blood, reflecting the tear streaked faces of the masses – faces that had once sung his name in the streets, that had hailed him as their savior.
But the nobleman in the balconies–safe in their distance-looked with cold satisfaction. Whispers were heard between them. The way to describe their emotions would be: relief and triumph. For them this was not the death of a fair king; it was the death of a tyrant.
"Let it be done," the High Chancellor's voice cut through the silence, calm yet sharp.
The king raised his head at last. His eyes, still defiant, swept across the faces of his people. He saw the tearful mothers clutching their children, the ragged men who had once risen alongside him, the faithful who had believed in his dream of a fairer world. His lips parted, as if to speak, but the sound of the axe being raised silenced his final words.
And in a heartbeat, the king was no more.
In the distance, the princess awaited her fate. The next would be her. The last of her lineage, the last to share the blood of the Great King. Her eyes, hollow with despair, watched as the crowd, now a sea of eager faces, buzzed with grim anticipation.
But before the executioner could raise his axe once more, the air seemed to vibrate, a strange noise rippling through the plaza.. Then, a sudden flash—a light so intense it scorched through the atmosphere. It was blinding, as though the sun itself had torn apart the sky. The light streaked across it, brighter than any star or full moon, splitting the endless blue in two.
Gasps echoed from the masses. Awe replaced bloodlust as the light, like a celestial comet, tore through the deep blue sky at an unbelievable speed. And then, as swiftly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving only stunned silence in its wake.
A young priestess recovered from the sudden astonishment and immediately recognized the meaning of this event and breaking the silence screamt "The king has ascended!". And as a rising wave, deep emotion transmitted through the crowd, that now saw in that sudden light a divine signal.
The executioner, his grip on the axe faltering, let it hover aimlessly in the air. His face paled as he took a cautious step back, eyes wide with disbelief. On the scaffold, the princess, who had resigned herself to death, slowly opened her eyes.The fear that had gripped her moments before was now replaced by something far more powerful—Hope.
Below, the crowd collapsed to their knees as if moved by a force beyond them. Cries of worship filled the air: "The king has ascended!" they chanted, voices trembling with passion, eyes lifted to the deep blue where the brilliant light had torn across the sky.
The princess quickly shook off the shock that clung to her. In that instant, she knew—this was more than a miracle. This was her moment. Not only had her life been spared, but it also meant she would now be queen. And more than that, it meant she could finally do the one thing she had always dreamed of, a secret desire burning within her all these years.
Without a second thought, the executioner turned and ran away from the plaza, his heavy boots pounding against the stone as he fled.
But it wasn't just the executioner. The aristocracy—those who had only moments earlier been laughing and mocking the fallen king—now looked anxious. One by one, they too began to slip away, faces pale with fear, many already plotting their escape from the kingdom, realizing that whatever came next could mean their downfall. Some hurried toward their carriages, while others simply ran, their fine robes dragging through the dirt as they abandoned their posts, thinking only of saving themselves.
But the deep question here was: had the king truly ascended to godhood, or was it something else entirely?
—--
A few dozen miles away from the capital, in a small, average-looking town on the edge of a deep green forest located on top of a mountain, a group of young adults sat -around a crackling fire. They were sipping from cups filled with some strange, syrupy substance they'd tapped straight from a tree earlier that day.
With a dead serious expression, a young woman leaned over, her eyes fixed on the guy sitting beside her. "What would you do if something fell from the sky and hit you in the balls?" she asked, completely serious.
"Well, that would make me a woman, so maybe I'd become the slut of the town. Honestly, I'd be a total slut if I was a woman," the man said, slouched back with a cup in his hand. The liquid inside, a disgusting-looking brew, seemed to swirl oddly, almost as if it were alive.
He took a long swig, grimacing slightly before grinning. "This stuff tastes incredible. But, seriously, I wonder what the hell the person who discovered this was thinking. I mean, look at it—it's revolting! Did they just... eat it to see what it tasted like?" followed by chuckles and a few curious glances at the strange, moving beverage.
But before they could keep drinking the disgustingly looking beverage, something incredible unfolded before their eyes. A deep, brilliant light appeared on the horizon Unlike anything they had ever seen, the light wasn't above them—it hovered just at the edge of the earth, casting a spooky glow.
In the distance, the forest beneath the light seemed to be glowing up too. Behind the intense, white glow, the faint remnants of the disaster that just went through lingered, leaving a trail like embers in the wake of its passage. The laughter and lightheartedness drained from the group as they watched in awe.
Everyone wore an expression of sheer terror at the sight of the catastrophic event unfolding before them. The vibrant light painted the sky in unsettling colors, casting long shadows over the forest. Except for one young, beautiful woman, with a strange lunar on her forehead, whose eyes sparkled with an odd mix of fascination and excitement.
With a sudden motion, she leaped many meters into the air, heading straight towards the blazing light on the horizon. Her action sent a collective scream through the group.
"Not again, dumbass!" they shouted, the fear in their voices deep with disbelief.