As soon as these words resounded from within the crystal, it caused an intense violet glow to shine from within revealing the damaged remains of a heteromorphic creature that seemed to be sealed within.
The crystal began to emit a surging wave of dark energy that seeped relentlessly from the crystal until it filled the entire cave with what looked like dark fog.
As the fog spread another strange occurrence took place within this cave.
Besides the crystal, there was only one other thing out of place in the cave. Namely, five sealed ceramic jars that lay in different corners of this unnatural crevice. Once the dark mist reached them, they began to tremble incessantly until cracks started appearing on their surface.
"Three hundred years ago when we came to this world we were given no purpose or rules to live by and simply lived our lives feasting on the flesh of this world's inhabitants!"
The archaic voice now seemed fully awake as the sound vibrations of its caused the cave to shake almost as much as the jars. Even the coffins in the crypt were slightly vibrating.
"Our arrogance and sense of superiority led to our downfall all those years ago, but now a new chance has appeared!"
As soon as these words finished echoing through the cave, the jars could not take the trembling any longer and burst apart.
From within the jars exploded a fountain of black sludge that spattered in every direction and left behind five small piles of muck.
"Before the Archfiend of Wisdom was defeated by that despicable human, he passed on his last secret that would ensure the survival of the demon race. One day hundreds of years from now, another force so great that it could blot out the sun might appear. If this force has evil karma then we can use this chance to ally ourselves with this power and eventually usurp the base of its strength as was dictated by the Archfiend."
The dark energy became more violent and began to corrode the ceiling of the cave, striving towards the surface. Eventually, the energy tore through the ceiling and began to create cracks in the floor of the crypt as the dark energy leaked into the resting place.
"Only a monster could have smothered the light of the east. If we can devour this force's power we could easily reclaim our former glory! In other words, do you think that you are allowed to keep sleeping?!"
As if responding to the crystal's criticism, the five pools of black sludge began to contort and fuse back the pieces of sludge that had been scattered upon explosion, eventually creating five figures that stood upright as they gazed towards the crystal. Not long after their bodies had been reformed, the black sludge suddenly began to evaporate into thin air only leaving behind traces of black smoke and the
figures that were hidden beneath the sludge. Now in place of five sludge figures stood five nude humanoid beings that at first glance would seem normal but upon closer inspection each had a clear trait that made it apparent they were far from human.
As soon as all the muck had evaporated from their bodies, they dropped to their knees and kowtowed six times in the direction of the crystal. Afterwards, a unanimous sound of five voices rang through the cave.
"This lowly vassal greets thee, o' great demon king!"
The crystal, or rather the creature inside it, didn't seem to care much for the heartfelt greeting of the five as its voice continued to boom.
"Prepare the ritual of unsealing and awaken any and all of our kin that may still lie dormant in this world, but beware that you don't reveal yourselves just yet! The time of our clan's revival is at hand, don't waste this opportunity!"
As the dark energy seeped further into the catacombs of the royal crypt the markings on the coffins began to glow as soon as the dark energy came near them, only to fade almost immediately due to the sheer power of the malicious energy.
Not much later did all the coffins begin to tremble once more. Only this time the coffins shook as if something wanted to break out from the coffins. Deep grunts were heard from within as the entire crypt had turned into a choir of wails that seemed to cry out in agony and fear. It was as if the occupants had sensed the presence of the creatures that had awakened from their slumber.
On the same day, five figures wearing burial clothing and hidden by invisibility magic flew out from the crypt and set forth in different directions. Today would be the day that marked the revival of their clan that once had rampaged throughout the continent with power far surpassing what mortals could imagine. Today the Demon Gods had risen once more.
Part 5
As the day progressed, the capital was still in major turmoil due to the mysterious monsters that had suddenly appeared and relayed such a grim message to the citizens. So far the guards had been successful in driving off the creatures but not in regaining full control of the city. In all districts there were signs of looting, murder, arson, and even live sacrifices of people who mated to appease the wrathful god that had come to their land. All the churches in the city were overcrowded as a large part of the citizens had turned to prayer in spite of everything else. It was a good thing that the Slane Theocracy had such a strong religious foundation or else the mayhem in the capital might be too much even for the local garrison to handle.
By now a large portion of the citizens had abandoned their logic and reasoning and made way to the gate of the city in order to try and make a break for it. Even if the chances of surviving out there with the Sorcerer King were virtually nil, it was still a chance that many were willing to try and take solely out of desperation. And yet they only found barricaded gates when they tried to flee as the guards weren't just going to open the gates when their enemy might invade the capital at any time.
As the soldiers and city guards were having their hands full with keeping the city under control, none but the lookouts and soldiers on the walls saw that just outside the city a group of peculiar individuals had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Some of the members of this group looked somewhat normal whereas others had a bizarre appearance. The first part of the group was the most normal as it appeared to be a number of humans who wore a somewhat formal attire. They seemed to be extremely scared despite doing their best to keep this hidden from the rest. Amongst them stood a man with a plastered face as he looked towards the capital with anguish. This man was none other than the aide to the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire Roune Varmilinen. His majesty had dictated he had become an intermediary for the Empire to communicate with the newly founded nation of Nazarick.
On the other side of the group stood a man whose age was unclear but he gave off an ancient aura that suggested that a hundred winters had long since come and gone since he was born. In his hand he firmly gripped an intricately carved magic staff that he had been given by his new lord and which he treated as his greatest treasure. Of course, this man was none other than the former head of the Empire's Magic Academy, Fluder. He, unlike his former friends from the Empire, looked towards the capital with great expectation and excitement as a mysterious light in his eyes glimmered ever so slightly.
Behind Fluder stood his bodyguard, or rather his warden, a monstrous Death Knight who never ceased fixing his gaze on Fluder who stood but three steps away from him. Any warrior by now would have succumbed of fright from always having such a monster stand behind them, but Fluder's insatiable thirst for knowledge had long since made him accustomed to this situation.
Fluder stood on the opposite side of the group from where Roune and the others from the Empire were. After all, he was now technically a traitor to the Empire; although he had been borrowed to the Tomb of Nazarick as a pretext, it was no secret to Roune that Fluder had betrayed them since long before he had made his exit from the Empire. Fluder himself couldn't care less as his only ambition had always been the true pursuit of magic. Even if he had become a pillar of the Empire in the process, he had never sworn to stay loyal to the Emperor even if it would obstruct his true path. But one could hardly expect the Empire to see it that way.