Chapter 10.5: The Demon Invasion

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•• Kingdom Of Topa, The Gate Of The World ••

Above the continent of Philades lies a thin strip of land that connects it to another continent, Grameus. Thousands of years ago, it was the sight of a great ensemble of monsters and demons led by the Demon Lord, an army of a hundred thousand marching to invade the lands that once belonged to the Ancient Sorcerous Empire. With the help of the Emissaries Of The Sun God — beings who rode flying chariots and steel sea fortresses, the last bastion of a unified race expelled the invaders and sealed the beast deep into the Grameus Continent.

Now, that very same strip of land called an isthmus, sits the Kingdom of Topa, a kingdom who acts as the protector against monsters from the Grameus Continent. After the Demon Lord Invasion, massive walls were constructed, blocking the entrance to the Philades whilst being garrisoned by hundreds of knights and footmen. For the last hundreds of years, there have been only few sightings of monsters, usually marauding packs of goblins.

"Seen anything there, Moah?"

"What are you doing here, Gai? You should be on your po-"

"I just wanna see how's my friend going! You know?"

From one of the watchtowers, an elven knight, Moah, and his human mercenary friend, Gai, can be seen interacting with each other. As much as the elven knight is annoyed, Gai is still his friend, but he'll definitely need to instill discipline into the human mercenary's heart. "Moah, you rarely go to town nowadays, you're simply wasting your prime yea-" Gai was cut off by Moah, who glanced at him with a wicked smile. "I have hundreds of years ahead of my life unlike you, Gai.", he chuckled, infuriating his friend who frowned and pouted.

As they were teasing each other, a guard from another tower suddenly shouted, prompting them to look and saw that the man is pointing to the direction of the hills far away from the huge walls. "Look there!!!", the guard said. Just then, black dots started covering the hills, flooding the scenery. From the horizon, the figure of a massive beast started to take shape, while the dots came to be thousands upon thousands of monsters, a mixture of grotesque goblins and orcs. Moah gasped in shock, sharing the same reaction with Gai. "W-what the- RAISE THE ALARM!!", he ordered. Upon taking a closer look, Gai's eyes widened even more. Perched atop the beast - the massive crimson dragon, is a grotesque creature with huge horns and patches of minerals sealing what seemed to be gaps in its darkened body, its tail emitting mana so much that it appeared as an orb of light in its end. "Moah, it's the-"

"The demon lord Nosgorath!!!", Moah exclaimed. Marching along are two giant humanoids,  their skin colored blue and red with a horn in their forehead. They are the two remaining powerful ogres of the demon lord who survived the onslaught of the Emissaries, the Red and Blue Ogre. Soon enough, the mass of grotesque creatures reached the walls and piled up, emitting disgusting and crazed growls as their bodies piled up to make stepping platforms for their comrades. From the walls, archers lined up with their bows pulled taut, firing simultaneously on orders with their arrows striking the advancing goblins and orcs.

"Fire!! Do not let them reach the walls!!", Moah shouted, as soldiers are now rushing to aid the defenders. There are around 1,000 soldiers currently stationed in the Gates Of The World, but everyone knew that they are only there to stall such an invasion, not to repel it.

Gai and Moah ran to the other side of the wall, when a sudden burst of energy destroyed the path. "Shit!!", Gai quickly grabbed Moah as they lost their footing, falling into the ground as he absorbed all the impact, rolling to release his elven knight friend. Several loud crashes and the sound of the wall's foundation crumbling can be heard, prompting Moah to stand up from the shock. "Gai! Are you alright????", he asked his friend, helping him stand up. The human mercenary coughed a bit, shaking from all the impact he received. "Ack... I am fine, what happened to the walls!?", he snarled, before looking to the wall in desperation. Huge boulders smashed into the citadels and crushed the soldiers defending it. Warriors fell to the ground dead, ravaged by goblins and orcs. Then, the commander of the entire garrison - a middle aged knight hurried to where Moah and Gai are.

"Moah! Fall back to the Fortress of Tormis and alert the royal army!", the commander ordered Moah, whose eyes widened. "But commander, I will be here to defend the walls at all cost, may it mean death to me!", he retorted. The commander looked at Gai, his eyes brimming in determination and hope. "For a mercenary like you to be this brave...", he continued. "My order for you is to take Moah to the Fortress of Tormis!"

With the order being given, Gai just nodded, before forcefully pulling Moah, swift enough for him to be mounted on the horse before they sped away. Shocked, Moah tried to get out of the horse, but Gai is holding him tight. "Gai- get off me!! Commander!!!!", he called out, tears slowly seeping out his eyes. Comrades he trained with for years, and friends he made throughout his career as a knight, are killed as if they are like flies.

The gate was breached with a massive force, letting the Demon Lord - mounted in his steed, the Scarlet Dragon, and his host of a thousand monsters. The loud roars of the two Ogres can be faintly heard as they smash the remaining defenders to death.

Days after the invasion, Topan emissaries were sent to various countries to plead for assistance in resisting the Demon Lord invasion. Their main goal is to at least have a Third or even a Second Civilization Area country to give military aid. Some even went as far as the First Civilization Area, lobbying for the Holy Mirishial Empire. Back in the country, a force of 10,000 soldiers were mustered to march and defend the fortress town of Tormis. There have been raids and skirmishes around the outskirts of the town, although the royal troops still cannot push through and liberate the Gates. Mu had already promised reinforcements, although only their so-called "naval bombardment", which disgruntled the Topans.

•• Esthirant, Parpaldian Empire ••

"Sir Kaios, we badly need your assistance... the Gates Of The World has been breached by the forces  of the Demon Lord!"

"The Demon Lord, you say..,"

Inside the office of the Third Foreign Affairs Department, a negotiation is currently being held between Kaios and the Topan ambassador to Parpaldia. While the ambassador is pleading with all sincerity, Kaios is just munching on his plate of steak, with a pile of documents encased in leather cover sitting at the table. "Yes, Lord Kaios... please, please end the Army, or else-"

"They will be dealt when time comes. My plate of desk work is full as of now, and we're still chastising two unruly barbaric nations in the south!", Kaios exclaimed, putting down his knife and fork with force to show his annoyance, glaring at the pile of documents before taking a sip from his wine. "I am sorry, but we cannot send troops as of this moment. And as from what I heard, your country refused to pay the Imperial Treasury and this month's slave quota..."

The ambassador jolted from the words of Kaios, before looking down in defeat.

"In this empire, there are a lot of hot-blooded bureaucrats. Consider me a moderate one, will you? You may use the carriage outside.", Kaios ended the negotiation.

•• Tokyo, Japan ••

At the same time, the Topan Ambassador to Japan is currently holding audience with his Japanese counterparts. The stark contrast between them is evident, primarily due to their clothing, with the Japanese diplomats wearing their classic black suit and tie with glasses and the Topan donning a medieval-style clothing.

"Sir Ichinose, my home country, it was attacked by the Demon Lord Nosgorath, my countrymen are in grave danger!", the ambassador desperately cried out.

The two Japanese diplomats, Ichinose and Kiichi looked at each other with a worried expression painted on their faces. "Sir Marius, just how dangerous are these creatures?", Ichinose asked, fixing his glasses. Marius, the Topan ambassador, just looked at the diplomat with great disbelief in his eyes, as if he's staring at a clueless child. "How dangerous...?", his voice shook. "Sir Ichinose, they are an army of a thousand monsters, with goblins and orcs who devour living flesh, with two legendary ogres whom the Demon Lord commanded a thousand years ago, and a dragon!", he declared, shocking the diplomats. "If Topa falls... Philades, and even your country, sir, will fall!!!", his tears burst out. The two were completely caught off guard with Marius' statement.

"Sir Marius," Kiichi stood up, placing a hand on Marius' shoulder as he cry. "We'll relay this information to our government as soon as possible. For now, please remain in contact with your home country and send us any valuable data regarding the invaders."

And soon, the news of the Demon Lord invasion in the Kingdom of Topa became a hot topic not just in Japan, but also all around the three civilization areas.

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