The whole of the mountain range quaked.
At the lower ranges, an army of beasts capable of destroying entire villages and towns fought against the empire's elite army, which was being overwhelmed.
At the summit, massive beasts and flying creatures battled warriors who tried to counter them, yet even there, the beasts dominated.
Inside the small palace atop the mountain, Simon sat carefreely upon what seemed to be a throne.
A large, dark-crimson panther, Sabor, sat at his right, while at his left coiled a blue, winged serpent, Naga.
Behind him stood a tall, radiant female figure, about seven feet tall, with fury on her face and translucent rainbow fairy wings spread out.
The echo of heavy boots on marble grew louder, and the golden doors creaked open.
Four former allies, now enemies, walked into his castle.
There was a man with tied brown hair and green eyes, wearing quality leather armor and holding a beautiful bow.
There was a man with a bald head and dark blue eyes wearing a brown pope's robe and holding a staff topped with a sparkling orb.
A beautiful lady was also among them. She had flowing orange hair and green eyes. She wore metal light armor and wielded a long sword.
Leading them was the second prince, Eman, a handsome man with blonde hair and red eyes, wearing full armor with the empire's emblem, a small map with a large sword stabbed into it.
"Simon," the prince called out. "You are a threat to the empire. You should under—"
"Shut up," Simon said dismissively. "Have you not heard me say I hated speeches or your brain couldn't even process that?"
Frowning slightly, Eman raised his long sword.
"A mere farmer… You don't know your place. That is why you will die."
The man shot towards Simon like a blur, but right before he swung down, an outstretched hand held his sword.
"Tinker," Eman hissed, looking at the fairy-like lady behind Simon.
With a flap of her wings, Tinker swept the prince flying across the room, darting to engage with him.
The other enemies moved too.
The arrow wielder aimed for Naga, destroying the environment with every swift shot.
The lady aimed for Sabor, their clash leaving crevices with every movement.
The bald man, with an indifferent face, closed his eyes and clasped his staff with his hands, strengthening his allies.
Only Simon remained motionless.
His right leg rested on one armrest, while his head leaned on a hand propped against the other.
He casually observed the entire mountain range as if watching a play, his senses linked to all the beasts.
The empire's army was losing.
They had emphasized quality over quantity for this battle but they were losing faster than they expected.
The four men here were the trump card they had invested in, meant to bring down the beasts' ruler, Simon, as fast as possible.
Simon smiled bitterly.
'It must have taken them years to gather the resources for this battle. It wasn't a lie. Haha, I was the merciful one for trusting them.'
He sighed.
"Oh, well. We learn from our mistakes."
As he muttered, he saw Tinker land with a heavy thud beside his throne.
Her face was stained with blood; her white hair, no longer smooth and clean, clung to her cheeks; her rainbow eyes welled with tears.
For a fleeting moment, Simon's usual composure cracked.
As she looked up at Simon, she said softly, "My Lord… I lo–"
The next moment, in a slowed state, Simon saw a sword pierce her chest, blood splashing out.
Even in her final moments, she looked Simon in the eye and smiled.
"Tinker," he whispered.
Eman, now with a missing eye, retracted the sword from her chest and immediately turned to Simon.
"I am merciful. I killed her swiftly."
Simon sat upright.
He lifted his gaze through the gaping hole in the ceiling, where ash fell like mourning dust.
He heard the prince say:
"And I will do the same for you."
A sword was pierced into Simon's chest.
Feeling a metallic taste in his mouth, he spat out blood.
"Merciful, my foot," the prince then added. His face instantly turned to one of pleasure as he started ranting.
"I have waited for this moment for years. You want to outshine me? This is your pay, you beast-brain fool!"
He twisted the sword stabbed into Simon's chest, the sound of slicing his bones making him wear an ecstatic look.
Simon smiled through the pain. "This sword… of yours… It looks nice. Too nice for you. I am taking it with me."
Raising his two hands to hold the blade, Simon broke the artifact with laughter.
"Bye~"
His eyes went white as Eman stared at his special weapon in shock.
After everything, Simon had the last laugh.
At that moment, a large whale-like beast flew in the sky of the mountain range, releasing a sound that announced their Lord's death.
As the army shook in fear, mistaking it for the Emperor of Beasts' reinforcements, the beasts start departing from the mountain, trying to escape from the range.
Somewhere on the mountain, Sabor, the crimson panther, looked down on the battered body of the knight lady.
It looked down at her and slashed off her two legs.
Naga, the flying serpent, injected a soul-threatening poison into the archer before departing.
In the silent throne room, where the corpses of the Emperor of Beasts and his 'Eye,' Tinker the Fairy, lay, only Eman and the bald pope remained.
Eman stared bitterly at Simon's body, the remaining piece of the artifact crumbling. Then he hit the body repeatedly in anger.
"He's dead. If you want to show the public, you shouldn't damage the body," the pope said, stopping Eman.
Eman hissed. "I plan to reform one of the dead soldiers in his image and fix it so it'll look like it died in battle. For this monster's body, I have plans for it."
The pope raised a brow. "I wasn't informed about this."
"Because you don't need to know," Eman said, staring fondly at the corpse before looking at Tinker.
These bodies, Simon's and Tinker's, he was going to use to obtain Divinity.
. . .
11 years BC (Before Central).
The Emperor of Beast, said to have been helping the world fight the demonic beasts, died.
Few months later, the second prince of Elmatador became its emperor and reached the pinnacle of strength… in the quest to avenge his 'friend.'
. . .
After a while of darkness accompanied by a pounding headache, Simon heard a voice of a man in his late twenties.
"A reaction? Young master, are you awake?"
Simon instinctively responded.
"Sebastian?"