MMORPG : Ancient WORLD-Chapter 635: Death of Hope (V)
The demon army settled into formation, towering titans at the front, lesser horrors behind them, the sky swarming with black-winged silhouettes.
As the final banners fell into place, a deep tremor rippled across the plains, and then, the rifts began closing, collapsing on themselves as reality corrected itself.
In a matter of moments, the massive tears in reality were sealed shut, leaving only the lingering stain of their dark mana behind. A wave of cold swept the battlefield, and silence, unnatural, oppressive, descended once more.
For a heartbeat, no one on the walls breathed, as hope flickered. Maybe... Maybe the Sin Duke wouldn't come, and maybe this force was all they had to face.
A dozen soldiers whispered it, a hundred dared to think it, and hundreds let their shoulders loosen just slightly, as one thought flashed in their minds, that maybe fate had spared them one impossible enemy.
But hope lived only long enough to be crushed.
A new sound hissed across the plains, and the space between the humans and the demon army split open, a jagged tear rose, resembling the shape of the yawning maw of a colossal serpent.
A new rift, not a gateway, formed entirely of fanged jaws and coiling darkness.
Every human heart froze, and in terror, they watched as a figure stepped out of the darkness. He was a man, at least, that was the shape he wore.
Tall, elegant, and graceful in a way no mortal could ever manage. His hair drifted behind him like tides of the ocean, a dark blend of deep black and ocean blue, shimmering faintly with an unnatural sheen.
His eyes were the color of the calmest sea, beautiful, serene, and utterly empty of any emotion.
Leviathan, the Duke Sin of Envy, had arrived.
He looked at the soldiers and smiled. A soft, gentle smile is entirely at odds with the horrors behind him. A smile that made dozens of soldiers along the wall stumble backward in pure instinctive dread.
Reality hit them like a hammer, since accepting death in theory was easy and seeing it at your doorsteps was something else entirely.
Some soldiers broke immediately, dropping to their knees, eyes turning hollow, chest heaving as they struggled to breathe. Others held their weapons with shaking hands or looked down, as fear caught up with them all at once.
But the majority faced their fear, as the grinding of teeth echoed atop the city walls, alongside the nervous adjustment of weapons.
It was followed by curses, violent, ugly curses, to drown out the voices whispering in their mind, acting as fuel to their fear.
Officers also moved immediately. "Steady! Steady your damn hearts, look at me!" one captain barked, gripping a young soldier by the collar until the boy met his eyes.
Another laughed sharply, almost maniacally. "If you want to hide, go, no one is stopping you, but don't forget we are all dying here. Your choice, waiting for death or face it with courage".
A grizzled lieutenant slammed his shield into the wall. "Death is coming either way! Decide whether yours will mean something."
Their words, harsh, raw, brutally honest, did what soft encouragement never could. Their words cleared their minds, and while fear remained, so did courage.
A brilliant flare of white erupted atop the central spire of the palace. Light gathered like a rising sun, and from it stepped Emperor Melvin, clad in pristine white armor, his hair flowing behind him like a banner of purity amid the darkness.
At this moment, a white glow washed over the entire city, visibly affecting the moods of everyone present.
The Emperor raised a single hand, and the city fell silent. "My people," he said, not shouting, not projecting, just speaking. Yet the words carried across the entire city with effortless clarity. "I am honored to stand with you."
"This day is a hard day, but I am proud, truly proud, to die beside warriors such as you." The emperor decided not to give a long speech, make empty promises, or offer false hope.
He decided to offer nothing but the truth, and for a moment, every soldier felt something tighten in their chest. Something that steadied trembling fingers and straightened bent backs.
The Emperor Melvin, the man they had followed for years, was choosing to die with them. A roar erupted, not joyous, not one of sadness, but resolute.
A sound of humans facing the inevitable, not with denial, but with fire in their veins.
"Clap, Clap, Clap." Leviathan stepped forward, walking over the broken sky with deliberate grace.
"Right then, people," Leviathan announced, his voice rolling across the battlefield like velvet wrapped around steel.
The world went silent. Even the demons quieted, their grotesque forms standing unnaturally still, and even the humans within Nova's walls didn't dare speak, some out of fear, others because his presence stole the air from their lungs.
"You have my envy," he continued, smiling soft and warm as a spring breeze, "for choosing to stay, choosing to die, knowing full well your fate and embracing it anyway."
A murmur of quiet rage ran through the human ranks, but few dared voice it.
"And since you are going to die," Leviathan said gently, "I think you deserve to know something about the future you are trying so courageously to protect."
His blue eyes gleamed with a ripple of emotion. "A future you will never see."
"I believe," he went on, "you already know that your great saviors are not coming. Not this time, since they have bigger matters to handle, matters requiring all of their attention."
"If nothing else," the Duke said, "I can shed a little light on this matter."
He clasped his hands behind his back and began climbing higher into the sky.
"In the past year, we have stayed rather quiet... haven't we?" The soldiers of Nova gritted their teeth as one, rage, despair, and bitter acknowledgment mixing together.
Quiet? Leviathan's quiet year had been a nightmare for the human continent, as they had faced the threat of the Devourer beasts consuming entire regions. Demon cults were spreading like rot, and his personal forces were launching raids that bled regions dry.
So his words made their blood boil.
"But the truth is that we were preparing." His eyes softened, something like pride glimmering behind them.
"My fellow Sin Dukes have been leaving our homeland, establishing their footholds, preparing their armadas, and today…" His smile widened. "I am happy to announce that all seven Sin Dukes have entered the world stage."
The words hit the humans like a physical blow, making many stagger, lose their grip on their weapons, and fall, clattering against stone.
The even monstrosities like him.
The implications ripped through every mind on the wall. A single Sin Duke, just one, had pushed the human continent to the brink of collapse.
Entire cities had been lost to his terror, and even with the help of a greater power, they had been unable to end him, but now they will have to face seven such terrors.
For a moment, they didn't feel just fear, only the cold numbness of overwhelming reality.
Leviathan lifted one elegant hand, brushing a strand of black-and-blue hair from his face.
"Today," he said softly, "Three of my brothers will descend upon this continent. Including the Sin of Pride, the strongest among us." A ripple of dread swept the city.
Leviathan seemed to drink it in.
"Your saviors," he continued, "will be powerless to stop them. From this day forth, your continent will be plunged into a war unlike anything this world has ever endured."
His expression softened into something eerily sympathetic. "So in a way, you are lucky. You will die today, and be spared from witnessing the horrors to come."
A few soldiers' legs buckled. One man fell to his knees, hands trembling, while another whispered, "Monsters… monsters…"
Leviathan parted his lips to continue, but a voice like rolling thunder slammed into the world.
"Silence with your lies, you spineless coward!" A wave of warmth burst outward, washing over every inch of the city, gentle yet powerful, like sunlight piercing through a storm cloud.
The soldiers gasped as if waking from a nightmare, their breaths deepening, their terror clearing enough for anger to reignite.
Leviathan's smile dimmed as he looked upward. There, atop the palace peak, bathed in dawn's crimson gold, stood Emperor Melvin, white armor blazing, cloak unfurling behind him like a banner of white fire.
"This filth lies to you!" the Emperor bellowed, his voice booming over the city. "His continent is sealed. For even an ant to leave it, they must burn unimaginable resources, and that is why they slaughter us, unleash war upon us, because they need your deaths to buy their freedom."
The demon army stirred, hissing, growling, bristling with fury, angered by the painful truth.
"True," Melvin continued, "a few Sin Dukes might buy their way out. But without their armies, they are nothing but rats, rats slightly stronger than the rest, who would flee the grasp of stronger power."
Leviathan's expression changed ever so slightly.
"They pretend to be mighty," Melvin roared, "But these worms only stand tall before the weak!"
He pointed his blade toward Leviathan, toward the titans, toward the army, toward every nightmare looming over Nova. "But they will find no weakness here."
"WILL HE FIND WEAKNESS AMONG US?" The answer erupted instantly, violently, like the crack of thunder splitting the sky.
"NOOOOO!"
"WHAT WILL HE FIND?" The Emperor's voice shook the city, and the reply came like a tidal wave.
"DEATH" "DEATH" "DEATH"
The chant roared through the city, through every soul. The despair that had once weighed on them shattered, replaced by burning fury, raw defiance, and the boundless courage of the doomed.
Leviathan stood silent, watching them. A smile crept slowly back onto his lips, as if this was precisely what he had wanted.
