A few hours earlier...
A lone figure tore through the skies rapidly ascending beyond the atmosphere of mergard. That lone figure wore a light blue robe incapable of masking the surging waves of mana as he flew upwards. It was the arcmage of the royal family, well in retrospect he was but one of the royal arcmages. It was just that he was the youngest. This figure was Ryan, former friend to the emperor and Lennard.
Ryan Vicar Gregory formerly Ryan Gregory was young aspiring magician that was immensely talented in light magic. He entered the academy at an affinity of 100% for light magic, for a commoner it was astounding.
This of course and his lack of support made many of the powerful forces wish to sink their teeth into him. This was when the Rynberg kingdom was still a financial superpower and with its vast wealth it created the Rynberg royal academy. By using their wealth they sought to entice magicians and warriors with resources they lacked. They had connections and there was few they could not acquire in the world.
The other kingdoms of course opposed this, the lack of forces was what kept the Rynberg kingdom at bay despite their vast wealth. If they had forces considering their lack of vast lands they would immediately start conquest. Thus an agreement was formed that the Rynberg royal academy would gather talents from all over the Vlaris domain for the kingdoms to recruit.
Commoners were accepted only if they had exceptional talent, so by Ryan's time the Rynberg royal academy was the best academy to enroll in. Crown prince Edward was tasked with befriending young Ryan and convincing him to join the Rynberg kingdom. This was a decade before the summoning of Linnaeus by the Arz Kingdom.
Edward was 15 years old and so was Ryan. Only Lennard the right hand of Edward was 13 years old at the time. The trio became friends and Ryan truly shined. He was exceptional not only in aptitude but also in memory, conceptualization and will. It took Ryan 5 months to become a mage, he had chosen the path of healing using light magic. Light magic had few offensive capabilities but what also made Ryan monstrous was his wind and fire affinities as 92% and 96%. With double casting fire and wind spells no one was his match and adding his light magic his endurance was ridiculous.
He rapidly tore through previous records establishing his own, no one doubted in future he would be the most powerful mage. It was a terrifying notion and a benefit if a kingdom's ruler could get him to swear fealty. So countless offers were made, restrictions lifted all in the hopes of gaining his favor. Edward's presence kept some of the kingdoms at bay who sought to assert dominance through various means kidnapping included of his mother and father Silvia Gregory and Daniel Gregory.
One would think it took archmage Linnaeus years to raze the Vlaris domain after his summoning but no, it took less than a year for the world of humans to fall into oblivion. For the Arz kingdom they barely lasted 12 hours post summoning.
After the Arz kingdom was razed to the ground, 16 kingdoms joined together to vanquish Linnaeus. Linnaeus was indomitable, a force never seen before. He alone took on 38 peak grandmaster knights, 12 saint warriors and a party of 24 mages comprised of archmages and saint magicians. The battle reduced the number of kingdoms from 16 to 12, 4 kingdoms were destroyed as the destruction of the massive battle unfolded. He alone faced 74 powerhouses yet they still could not kill him let alone subdue him. They were however able to drive him away.
In the aftermath 471 445 square miles of land turned inhospitable due to the chaos mana that ravaged the land. 16 kingdoms; Belford, Wales, Ares, Rynberg, Melbourne, Jeclan, Hestia, Simiera, Destrith, Ostriana, Klasor, Theria, Niria, Zairus, Sovaria and Tarus. The kingdoms Hestia, Simiera, Jeclan and Tarus were casualties in the battle.
Of the 74 powerhouses only 37 escaped with minor injuries while 9 were heavily injured.
The rest were dead.
It was a massive loss and a loss that spurred the kingdoms into preparing their forces for war. Military alliances became key while financial relations fell. That was especially so for the Rynberg Kingdom.
It was six months after the battle when foreign species of goblins, trolls, undead, dhampirs and vampires began attacking the kingdoms of mergard.
1000th year RRE...
In the throne room of the Rynberg kingdom.
"King of Melbourne, you cannot do this!" Rowan, the current king smashed the throne's armrest. His call had been cut. His saint grand knight aura leaked as felt fury. "These bastards they use my kingdom for whatever they want yet they dare abandon us!"
Bang!
" My lord." The massive throne room's door swung fully open as Lennard's grandfather rushed in. He halted a bit bringing forth his aura to defend himself.
" My lord our forces are..."
" I know." Rowan interrupted, " Helios no one is coming. They have abandoned us." A deep sigh came from Rowan. " I have to join the battle. "
"NO!" Helios protested, vehemently shaking his head, " Your injuries. You have to rest and recover." Helios said as he kneeled shaking, veins pulsed as his bloodshot eyes looked as his emperor.
" There is no hope. Not only did they withdraw their support they dared to ransack our warehouses in the name of recovering their resources. The bastards." Rowan was vexed to say the least.
" Edward come in." Rowan said as looed towards the doors, at Edward's failed attempt to hide his presence.
" Son, there is no time. You have to do it. " Rowan said.
Edward became distressed at those words, he knew but he did not want to. He could not do this to Ryan.
After a moment...
" I understand." He had made his decision. His resolute as stared at his father, Rowan's breathing was labored.
" You have to place the soul lock restriction on him as long as you succeed Ryan will serve our kingdom regardless of his desire."
Soul lock was tier 7 soul magic spell. It was used to bind the target to the caster or a specific area set up by the caster. Arcane soul magic at or above tier 7 stood at the top due to few individuals that could defend or break its restrictions.
Though it more powerful than the soul restriction used on summoned Ar'gaths.
(A/N: The summoned creatures bound by slave magic will be called Ar'gaths.)
A few months passed and some came to understand what it meant to watch the world burn.
Villages were razed, cities abandoned in the madness of chaos.
The situation only grew worse for the Rynberg kingdom...
It was the 15th of May 1000 RRE when without warning a figure burst into the throne room holding scrolls.
" Your Majesty! I have found it. A way, a way for our kingdom to survive!" The man was a scholar and the heated atmosphere collapsed at his words.
It wasn't just potential destruction that the Rynberg kingdom faced. The were mass desertions from soldiers to nobles.
King Rowen turned to the man, the king had aged visibly. The stress had taken a toll. His regained some vigor at those words, " Tell me." Rowen said as he laid sprawled on the throne.
" Ahem. Your majesty we will use the summoning magic of the Arz kingdom. There is simply no other way. We just have to take caution. We need to survive that is all that matters. If we succeed then we will have unlimited soldiers conversely if we fail we shall seek mercy and protection of another Linnaeus.
The elves refused to heed our call for help; ' Sleep in the bed you made.' Those ignorant bastards. Linnaeus will kill us all!
So your majesty what do you think?" The scholar asked.
The other consultants to the king wanted to oppose however upon further thought this was the only viable option left.
The also turned their eyes to the king.
Rowen pondered for a bit. He had lost the power to fight. His body had broken under consecutive intense fights, his archmages and saint mages were dead. Essentially the kingdom was powerless. The only reason they were still alive was due to the mercy of the enemy. Surrender was not an option.
Kingdoms that sought to surrender were the first to be destroyed. There were currently 9 kingdoms in existence. 3 had fallen to the invaders. Rowen turned to the room, he saw within his people fear, unwillingness and hate not just for Linnaeus but towards him as well. By all accounts he had failed as a king.
" Do it." He said, " And when your done I will raze their kingdoms to the ground. How dare they abandon me!" Rowen sat there as the court mages moved and fate began to change.