"The knight fought against the dragon that had kidnapped the princess for 7 days and 7 nights…"

"It was a long and arduous battle, but the knight came out on top in the end,"

"... bloodied as he was, he still made his way over to the tower where the princess was kept prisoner and freed her, breaking her chains with nothing but raw strength,"

"I promised to be your knight in shining armor, and I'll continue to fulfill that promise for the rest of my days," the knight whispered lovingly into the ears of the princess as he carried her back to her palace,"

"And from there they lived happily ever after," a dark-blue-haired woman finished reciting the story to a younger blue-haired girl that lay on a bed beside her.

"Wow… he must be really strong!" the young girl exclaimed after hearing her mother finish the story.

"He was," the older woman said with a beautiful, motherly smile gracing her face as she looked at her daughter who was in awe at the story she had just told her.

The younger girl looked to be about 8 years old, with dark blue hair like her mother's and a pair of glasses that she had yet to remove even though it was already her bedtime.

"Hey, mum, will I find my own knight in shining armor?" the little girl asked her mother excitedly, she was still at the age when these types of bedside stories could influence her thoughts easily.

"Of course, you will," her mother responded softly while chuckling at her daughter's antics.

"How will I know who my knight in shining armor is? Will he be wearing shining armor?" the girl fired off questions at the rate of a gatling gun.

"..."

"... you will know in your heart when you meet him, just like I knew when I met your father," her mother said with a reminiscing smile after a slight pause.

"That you will, I didn't wear armor to make your mother fall in love at first sight with my handsome visage," a man with dark hair and a scholarly look said narcissistically as he walked into the room while carrying a baby in his arms.

"Who fell in love with you at first sight… I remember you always blushing like an idiot and chasing after me," the older woman fired back at her husband who just came in as she took the baby from his arms.

"Ah… well," the man was lost for words as he scratched his cheek and looked away, his face slowly turning red in embarrassment.

The woman and her daughter burst into laughter at the man's behavior, and after a few minutes, the man joined in and even the baby began to make happy gurgling sounds.

They truly were a happy family, but just like any happiness in a fantasy world, it always comes before a tragedy.

The harsh smell of smoke and the loud noise of people screaming suddenly interrupted their harmonious atmosphere.

"What's going on?" the woman asked worriedly as her husband moved to a nearby window to look outside at what was going on.

Upon pulling apart the curtains, what came into the man's view was a huge fire that had spread to many buildings and people running helter-skelter all over the road like headless chickens, but upon taking an even closer look, he realized that it wasn't the fire that caused such wide panic, rather it was a bunch of humanoid shaped figures, but with a few unnatural characteristics that weren't present on the human body.

"We're being raided by the beastmen bandits," the man whispered to his wife who was now beside him as he closed the window stealthily and cautiously.

A look of fear appeared on the woman's face at her husband's words, but the man himself paid it no mind as this wasn't the time for comforting, but the time for action. He moved quickly and began to turn off the lights everywhere in the house and brought out his phone to begin to dial the Mega Protection Association (MPA).

Even as he dialed, he didn't stop moving and went to every door and window and locked them tightly, not taking any chances at trying to run away with his family in tow as he knew that it'd probably fail, so he planned to stay holed up with his family while they waited for the MPA officers to arrive, and even though it was not really a much better idea, it was the better of their options.

He told the MPA their situation and their location and ran back to where his wife and children were, locking every door after him. He made a detour to take a couple of kitchen knives as he ran to his daughter's bedroom where his family waited and locked the door of the room as well.

"It's going to be alright; I already called the MPA, they should be here any minute and would take care of the situation," he said to comfort his family as he could see the worry on their face. Even though she didn't know the exact situation, she could see the worry on her parents' faces, so the little girl did not ask or demand anything so she wouldn't bring them more worry at the moment.

It was at this moment they heard a loud crash coming from not very far off,

*BANG*

'Shit!' the man thought as he heard the loud crashing sound that came from the front of their house, even without anybody telling him, he realized that the front door of their house was already under attack from intruders.

His worry shot up, but he did his best to stay calm and not plunge his family into more worry by freaking out. Luckily, due to previous occurrences of bandit attacks, he had known to prepare a little for the unexpected, and he would be using that preparation now, he decided quickly as he couldn't afford to waste time pondering in this situation.

He quickly began to pull the rug on the floor to reveal a trapdoor that led to a secret room just below the house,

"Get in!" he whispered harshly as he pulled open the trapdoor.