Chapter 1: Prologue

    With a thud, the hurried footsteps suddenly stopped, as if someone had tripped over a wide robe. But the footsteps quickly resumed, seemingly even more urgent than before.

    In a majestic hall, a man dressed in luxurious attire paced back and forth on a high platform, restless. This place had once been where the lords met with the Emperor, the center of power for the entire empire.

    Yet, aside from the man on the platform, there was no one else in the hall at that moment. Still, he felt as if he stood at the center of a stage, being watched by countless eyes.

    "Your Majesty! The eastern gate has been breached. Albert''s knights have stormed in!"No?v(el)B\\jnn

    The footsteps finally reached this place. A male servant rushed into the hall, only realizing after he had shouted that the hall was empty, except for the man on the platform.

    He looked around in terror, then swiftly turned and vanished into the shadows outside the door without a backward glance.

    The man referred to as His Majesty seemed not to have heard the servant''s shout, merely muttering to himself:

    "Rebels! Traitors!"

    "Buried alive! Burned at the stake! Hanged! No, no, no... that would be too easy for you. I will personally slice, slice..."

    "I am the Emperor of the Pharis Empire, the great Turas the Ninth. You must, you must submit to me!"

    "Die, die, die! All of you, die! All of you, all of you, all of you die!"

    The sound of steel clashing with stone interrupted him. At the entrance of the hall, knights clad in heavy armor, wielding swords and long spears, filed in, led by a striking blonde man adorned with a gold griffon on his cloak, who walked in surrounded by the crowd.

    The Emperor of the empire gasped for air, his eyes still crazy, flashing a bizarre smile.

    "I am the master of this world! A master has the right to do anything with his property! Yes...anything...the army is coming...you all...you all...will join my burial..."

    He fell to the ground, blood gushing out, the floor seemingly activating something, as a deep humming echoed through the air. The three elves looked shocked, the foremost elf urgently said:

    "This is not good! It''s a large spatial array, Albert, get everyone out! Quick!"

    The Knight King, confused by the sudden change, but trusting the elves whose accuracy had been proven multiple times, waved his hand, and everyone quickly but orderly evacuated the hall.

    As the last few knights were still walking out of the hall, the sounds around them suddenly vanished. They saw their comrades ahead gesturing wildly as if shouting, but heard nothing, pausing in bewilderment.

    Above the hall, the space seemed to have split open, and the entire building shattered like a mirror, the fracture smooth and polished, the fragments floating mid-air as if gravity had been lost. The few still dazing realized something was amiss only because their comrades were looking at them with fear and gradually retreating backwards.

    They finally reacted, sprinting forward frantically.

    Unfortunately, it was too late. Onlookers watched as they abruptly split apart, turning into chunks of flesh ensconced in armor, maintaining their original direction of motion until they finally crashed to the ground.

    The three elves'' faces turned pale, they exchanged glances as if confirming something. The lead elf spoke:

    "Albert, have everyone prepare for battle."

    Albert had regained his composure by then; he drew his longsword, signaling readiness for battle.