Village Lily

“A long time ago, the world was at peace. All the creatures have been living alongside each other. Humans, demi-humans, beastkin and even ancient creatures like fairies and dragons cooperate with each other to make the lands fertile and life easier. The gods were so proud of the races that they send their bounties to them. Every year, there would be a tournament where representatives from the various races would compete. The Champion will be provided with powers from each of the gods. For 5 years, there was only one person who held the championship spot. A human that was called “The Hero”.

The gods did not mind this, he wins fair and square all the time; he was a benevolent and kind-hearted hero and he would give half of his prize money to an orphanage where he grew up. Everyone was glad about this, even the leaders of the different races and those who fought against him in the tournament. He was the pride of every god, except one. The god of games has grown bored. He has been seeing the same champion every year and he wants to see more challenge. And so he devised a plan. The god of games looked for a beastkin and gave him more power than is needed.

The tournament happened and towards the end, everyone noticed the ruthlessness and the power of the beastkin. The onlookers and even the gods wished that the beastkin would be defeated but he kept on winning until he finally faced the Hero. The final fight between the champion and the beastkin was a battle to the death. The champion has never fought anyone who was as equally strong as he is. What’s more, the beastkin challenger is intent on killing him. The onlookers have grown tensed. The beastkin was overpowering the champion, wounding him in different places.

The beastkin and the champion exchanged blows and swing for what seemed like an eternity and the champion has started to grow tired while the beastkin still has a lot of stamina remaining. The champion fell to his knees, the crowd gasped. The beastkin get close to the fallen champion, dragging his heavy claymore along. The champion tried to stay upright, leaning on his sword. He could barely move, he felt like it was the end of his line. His only regret that if he is defeated here, this evil challenger will be the champion; he does not want to imagine what this person would do after receiving the blessing of the gods.

The beastkin raised his sword. The champion willed himself to move but he could barely stand. The people are screaming now, they are calling for the fight to be stopped but the rule is clear. The fight only ends when one fighter is incapacitated or surrenders. The champion has not surrendered yet and he is clearly not incapacitated. The beastkin lowered his heavy sword, the champion was barely able to move and he was hit. The heavy claymore went right through his shoulder towards the middle of his chest.

The girls from the crows shrieked, one of the gods shouted. Nobody could believe what they were seeing. The beastkin is laughing while holding the sword that was stuck in the champion’s chest. The champion stared at the beastkin and drew his last breath.

This was tournament was the saddest one ever since it was started years ago. The champion which was everyone’s favorite not only was defeated, he was also killed. The winner is a ruthless beastkin who will later on be blessed by the gods’ blessings. The people feared for the future. Right after the tournament, every nation who was aware of the tournament made preparations. They could not just ignore the fact that a strong demon was born. The gods made preparations as well. They kept the hero’s body to be preserved. He was brought into the realm of spirits to be revived.

After receiving the blessings from the gods, the beastkin began building his empire. He recruited various vile creatures- orcs, goblins, dark elves, demon imps, harpies, and gargoyles. He even employed the help of a Black Dragon. The gods later on found out that this was the plot of the god of games and so he was banished from heaven. He was sent to the underworld and sealed at the very bottom of the void. Since the only time that the gods could interfere with the lower world – the harvest festival bounty – has already passed, they could only watch while they wait for the hero to finally be revived.

The beastkin was later named the Demon King and started to expand his empire. He raised even more warriors and found a necromancer who helped him create undead warriors and ghouls. The world was suddenly enveloped in chaos as the races could not keep up with the attacks. They started to fight amongst themselves and some of them started thinking about working with the Demon King. They all did everything just to survive. They literally sold their souls to the demon.

The world was wrapped in darkness and the future was bleak. Parents would hide their daughters in fear that the Demon King would find them and take them as addition to his hundred wives. There was no hope for a future and some could only turn to the gods and pray for the future. The yearly harvest festival has been invaded by ruthless warriors of the Demon King and only those who are brave enough still had the courage to join. Even then, they will be killed mercilessly.

50 years after the Demon King’s reign, the hero finally woke up. He merely slept for 5 days in the realm of the Spirits but it was a long time in the lower realm. The world is not as it once was and the hero was distraught. Because of the short lifespan of the other races and the obvious carnage, the hero went to the only race that he was sure would remember how he looked like – the Elves. After gaining the help of the Elves, the hero began his journey to look for allies that would help him in defeating the Demon King. He was accompanied by the Elven Princess who was still young when he was killed.

After a year of journey, the hero soon made a party with a human mage, a beastkin warrior, the Elven Princess as an archer, and a dragon princess. Together they started to defeat the forces of the Demon King and liberated the cities and countries that were captured. Soon enough, the hero’s party reached the Demon King’s castle. They faced the Demon Generals – leaders of the beast creatures bestowed with the Demon King’s blessing. The battle within the castle lasted for 30 days and nights. The hero’s party were mostly exhausted and wounded but they finally defeated the generals.

Finally, the Hero once again faced the Demon King. He could not recognize the creature that was standing in front of him. He has become the vilest thing that he has ever seen. There is no saving the Demon King and this fight will only end with the death of either one of them. With his power gained from the Spirit Realm and bestowed by the gods, the hero soon overpowered the Demon King. He was finally able to do what he failed to in the past. He killed the Demon King.

What the Hero’s party did not know was that the Demon King has prepared a contingency plan for this exact occasion. He placed a curse on himself that if he ever dies, a part of his soul will be transferred towards another beastkin. And so the Hero was able to free the world of the Demon King’s terror. The world was rebuilt to its former glory but there was one place that could never change no matter how many years pass. The forest that surrounded the Demon King’s castle, later known as the Dark Forest.

It has been said that the curse of the Demon King still lingers in the Dark Forest and his soul is roaming around the woods, waiting for his vessel to come. Unknowing travelers who get lost in the woods, and even villagers who come too deep into it would hear the howls and the screams of the souls that were trapped there, and among those, the loudest of all is the Demo King’s cries of regret from being defeated. No one knows when the Demon King will rise again but the people are hopeful that when he does come, another hero will come to defeat the evil.”

“But Grandma, why do we leave close to the Dark Forest?” Amanda, the 7-year old villager chief’s daughter asked.

“Well, our forefathers have been living in this forest after since it was freed by the hero. Some even say that the mage that accompanied him was the very first chief of this village.” The village Elder explained. Today is one of their tutorial sessions. 

The children of the village gather around the Old Lady and listen to her stories and lessons. Amanda is one of those who are interested with the story about the Demon King and the Hero. She has always been fascinated about the Dark Forest. The whole village is preparing for another harvest festival, the people are busy running around. What most of the villagers do not know is that the forest and the castle beyond is also teeming with activity. They are preparing to receive this years’ sacrifice from the village. The Village Chief and his council has already marked the girl since a year ago.