Scythe, Sword And Steel

Eruditio was all messed up. They saw dead bodies, uprooted trees, and more destroyed buildings. It was chaotic. The air was filled up with grey smoke and ash. Gusion and the others decided to take a rest in a safe area.

"Look at this place!" Gusion said. "What the hell happened here?"

"Selena. She's responsible for everything." Claude replied.

"Let's rest here guys." Clint said. "It's about time we tell you the entire story."

Layla laid down on Clint's l.a.p to sleep. The others sat down on the dusty ground. Clint was cleaning his old rifle with his handkerchief. Alucard rested his back on his motorcycle, while Harith slept on his shoulders.

"So, yes you're right Claude. Selena caused all this destruction. One day, in a peaceful day in Eruditio, an army of aliens attacked. It was led by the King of Kastiyans, Zhask. Roger and I were part of the war. We used all our forces to defend the city, but on the first hour of the war, we already lost. You see, we were blindsided by Selena, as she used some sort or virus to hack into our systems."

"The Selena Virus?" Alucard asked.

"Yeah. We lost control of the radio systems, electric distributions, and even contact with the authorities. Within two weeks, she had taken over the entire city, and even held the government officials hostage. She then took over the main control tower of the city, the most important defence system in our city, and we failed to protect it."

"Weren't the city's forces strong enough to hold back those aliens, and Zhask?" Gusion asked.

"We were blindsided alright? We didn't know that Selena was part of the invasion, and when she hacked through all our defences, the abyssal army took over. It seemed that the Kastiyans and the Dark Abyss joined forces. They want to dominate the entire Land of Dawn, especially the Moniyan Empire."

Clint paused for a moment, taking a sip at his water bottle. Claude took out the broken recorder from his bag. He then started to play the audio.

"Guys, listen to this."

As Clint and the others listened to the audio, they were both shocked and terrified. Lesley and Ruby held onto Gusion's shoulder tightly.

"This is scary. Prince Dyrus came back to life?" Ruby said, in a terrified tone.

"And now he's the prince of the Dark Abyss. Why does he hate the Empire?" Lesley asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I know we can beat him." Gusion said, as he put his hands on their heads. Ruby's tail began to move rapidly.

"Anyways, from what you said Gusion," Clint said. "There are more people who vows revenge to the Moniyan Empire. There's Dyrroth, which you mentioned, Terizla the blacksmith, and even Faramis, the Alchemist from Necrokeep. The last Moniyan king before Tigreal was very strict and arrogant. He use the empire's money for his p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, for wealth, and for things he wanted to buy for himself. He destroyed Terizla's village ten years ago, then he had all people from Lionhart killed, just because of an epidemic that spread."

"That's harsh. I wouldn't do that if I were him." Lesley said.

"I know. That Faramis guy only did his best to help the queen, unfortunately he was locked in chains to rot for life. And Dyrroth, the king failed to protect his own son because of his carelessness."

"So, what happened to the old king?"

"We had him killed. The strongest warrior, which was Tigreal, took his place and brought peace back to the Empire. But that's not all. That king brought us terrifying enemies that sought to destroy our Empire."

As Clint finished speaking, he took a picture from his pocket and showed it to everyone.

"This picture shows the last time that I've been with the Empire. This was three years ago. That's the reason why I came here to Eruditio, only to get kidnapped by Selena's soldiers and tortured to death."

In the picture, Clint was beside Layla, Freya, Miya and the young King Tigreal himself.

"You guys... you look cool in this picture. It's like you're family."

"We are. It makes me feel so nostalgic when I see Layla's blue hair."

All of a sudden, a series of gunfires and shots were heard. Everyone got up into their feet and took out their guns. The enemies started shooting in their direction, and everyone went down on the ground.

"Damn it!" Roger shouted. "More raiders!"