Prologue – The Failed Hero
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The marble throne room of Valoria's Royal Palace glimmered with unnatural light. Golden runes swirled across the floor, forming an intricate magic circle that pulsed with power. Priests in long white robes chanted prayers in an ancient tongue, their voices weaving with the hum of magic until it felt as though the very air were vibrating.
Knights in polished silver armor lined the walls, hands gripping their weapons. Nobles whispered excitedly from their cushioned seats, eyes sparkling with hope.
The long-awaited Hero's Summoning Rite was at its climax.
"Your Majesty," murmured the High Priest, bowing toward the dais. "The gate is opening. The one chosen by the gods will soon appear."
Upon the throne sat King Aldred Valoria, a man whose golden crown gleamed like firelight against his raven-black hair. His face was sharp, regal, but his eyes held the cold calculation of a merchant tallying coin rather than a ruler welcoming salvation. He leaned forward, lips curved in anticipation.
For months, the kingdom had been cornered—orc raids in the north, beastkin tribes pressing from the east, whispers of a resurgent Shadow Cult spreading through villages. If the legends were true, then this ritual would summon a hero from another world. A champion destined to wield divine power, to unite nations, and to vanquish evil.
The chanting reached its crescendo.
The circle flared, a pillar of blinding light erupting upward. For a heartbeat, it was as though the sun itself had descended. When the light dimmed, a single figure stood in the circle's center.
A boy.
He was about sixteen or seventeen, his black hair messy, his eyes dark and alert. His clothes were strange: a white shirt with buttons, a navy blazer, and a pair of trousers unlike anything the kingdom had ever seen.
The nobles blinked. The knights exchanged uneasy glances.
The boy rubbed his head groggily. "…Ow. Did I oversleep on the train?"
His voice was soft, confused. He looked around—and froze when he saw the hall full of armored men, chanting priests, and a man in a golden crown staring directly at him.
"W-where… where am I?" he stammered.
Gasps echoed through the court.
The High Priest quickly raised a hand, summoning appraisal magic. Golden script shimmered in the air above the boy's head. All eyes turned to read it.
And then the hall went silent.
Name: Ryo Kurogane
Age: 16
Origin: Unknown World
Magic Affinity: Dark Magic (S-Rank)
Combat Skills: None detected
Blessings: None detected
For a few seconds, no one moved. Then the whispers began.
"Dark… magic?"
"S-rank?! But—"
"No combat skills at all?!"
"He has no blessings. The gods did not touch him."
The priest's face drained of color. "Y-Your Majesty… this is… a heretic affinity."
King Aldred's lips curled in disdain. His anticipation soured into disgust.
"This?" he spat, rising from his throne. "This child is what the gods send us? A cursed sorcerer who traffics in shadows?"
Ryo blinked rapidly. "Wait—hold on. Dark magic? I don't even know what that is. I didn't ask to come here—"
"Silence!" the king thundered. The weight of his voice crushed the hall into silence.
The boy froze, his chest tightening as countless hostile eyes bore into him.
One noble cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, perhaps… perhaps the affinity is rare? Useful, even? Should we not—"
The king's gaze snapped to him like a drawn blade. "Useful? Do you suggest I hand my kingdom's fate to a boy who reeks of corruption? The Church of Luminar declares dark magic heresy. To harbor such power is to invite divine judgment upon Valoria."
"But the ritual chose him!" another noble dared.
"Then the ritual erred," Aldred hissed. "This boy is no hero. He is filth."
Ryo's mind reeled. Just minutes ago he had been heading home from cram school, headphones in his ears, tired but ordinary. Then—a flash of light, dizziness, and now this? A medieval castle, a king calling him cursed, priests glaring like executioners…
"What the hell is happening?!" he shouted, panic rising. "I didn't ask for this! Send me back! I don't want to be here!"
Laughter rippled through the court. Cruel, mocking.
"Back? Foolish boy. The ritual cannot be undone."
"He speaks as though he has choices."
"Hah! The 'Hero' quakes like a child."
Ryo's stomach twisted.
King Aldred raised a hand. "Guards. Take him. Cast him into the Forest of Shadows. If fate wills him to live, then he may rot in obscurity. If not, the beasts will consume him. At least then his curse will die with him."
The knights saluted.
Ryo's blood ran cold. "Wait—hold on! I didn't do anything! You can't just—"
Two armored men seized his arms, dragging him toward the doors. His protests echoed in the vast chamber, ignored by all.
On the throne, Aldred leaned back, voice low but audible:
"And if the Church asks, we shall say the summoning failed. No one will know of this… embarrassment."
---
The boy was thrown from the palace grounds, shoved into a carriage bound for the edge of the Forest of Shadows. The knights didn't bother speaking to him. When they finally kicked him out onto the dirt path, one of them smirked beneath his helmet.
"Die quietly, brat."
The carriage rolled away, leaving him coughing in a cloud of dust.
Before him loomed the forest. The trees were blackened, their twisted branches clawing at the sky. Mist coiled between their roots like pale snakes. The air reeked of damp earth and faint rot. Somewhere deep within, a wolf's howl echoed.
Ryo shivered. His blazer was already dirty, his school shoes sinking into the mud. He hugged himself, trying to suppress the panic clawing at his throat.
"Okay… okay, think, Ryo. This is just a dream. It has to be a dream. Wake up. Wake up…"
He slapped his cheeks. Nothing changed.
The wind rustled. Shadows shifted among the trees.
"Shit."
He stumbled forward, deeper into the forest, desperate for shelter. Every snapped twig made his heart leap. He passed claw marks gouged into tree bark, bones half-buried in moss. His stomach growled painfully—he hadn't eaten since lunch at school.
As night fell, the forest came alive with eyes. Yellow, red, glowing in the dark. Wolves padded between trees, their fur bristling unnaturally.
Ryo froze.
One wolf stepped into the moonlight. Its size dwarfed any normal animal, its fangs dripping saliva, its eyes burning with hunger.
Ryo's instincts screamed: run. But his legs locked.
The beast lunged—
And something inside Ryo shattered.
Black energy erupted from his chest, coiling like smoke, thick and suffocating. The wolf's leap faltered midair. Its body convulsed, limbs twisting, before it crashed to the ground, writhing in agony.
Ryo's eyes widened. The shadow smoke slithered across the beast, sinking into its flesh. Moments later, the wolf lay still. Its glowing eyes dimmed… and then reignited, but now in an unnatural violet.
The creature rose, trembling—and bowed its head to him.
Ryo staggered back, heart pounding. "W-what the hell… did I just do?"
The shadows receded into his hands, pulsing like a heartbeat. His breath came ragged, his mind reeling.
He had just enslaved a monster.
---
Back in the palace, King Aldred sat with his advisors in candlelight.
"Your Majesty," the High Priest whispered, "if word of this spreads—if the Church learns the hero bore dark magic—"
"They will never know," Aldred said coldly. "I will ensure he perishes. Tomorrow, dispatch a squad of knights into the Forest. Say they hunt beasts. Their true prey will be the boy."
"But what if he—"
"If he survives the forest, then we shall make survival his crime. No heretic lives while I rule."
---
Far away, within the hidden valleys of Aetherys, a dragon stirred. Silver scales shimmered beneath the moon as it lifted its head, ancient eyes narrowing.
A ripple of magic had reached its senses—an eruption of dark power, raw and untamed. The dragon's gaze turned toward Valoria.
"…So," it rumbled, its voice like rolling thunder, "a new shadow awakens."
---
And thus, the tale of Ryo Kurogane, the discarded boy branded heretic, began. Cast into a hostile world, armed only with the power everyone feared, and watched by eyes both kind and cruel…
The Failed Hero would either perish nameless in the shadows,
Or rise from them to carve his legend into the world.