Everyone gathered again in a closed room, where no one could hear them but themselves. Silence fell, stillness reigned, and all eyes turned to Oran, who had not yet begun to speak. Sorrow etched his features; he bowed his head, sighed, and finally decided to plunge into the depths of the past.
He spoke in a low voice:
> In the age of demonic wars, corruption spread across the Seven Regions, and the law of the jungle prevailed: the strong devoured the weak.
Yet we lived happily… my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, and I. I was the eldest among my siblings, followed by my brother and then my younger sister. We were a tightly knit family, separated by only a single year in age.
We lived in Arian in peace, despite the surrounding corruption; we avoided venturing outdoors, seeking comfort within the walls of our home.
> But… humans do not allow you to enjoy peace.
Back then, humans were like the demonic monsters of this age… no difference between them, they were all the same.
When I turned eighteen, my mother prepared a small feast to celebrate my birthday. We celebrated with joy… but peace does not last. On that day… I witnessed my father's murder before my eyes.
The feast turned into a slaughterhouse. Strange forces stormed our home by force, without warning or notice. They bound me immediately, intending to conscript us. We were all terrified, but my father refused to submit. He tried to ambush the commander, striking him with a stick, but the commander noticed him at the last moment… In the blink of an eye, my father's head flew through the air…
My mother let out a scream of terror and despair. I couldn't move… I froze with fear. I couldn't comprehend what was happening. The commander was enraged, cursing continuously, then unleashed his wrath on my mother and killed her as well. My siblings did not shed a single tear; they were paralyzed by shock. Everything collapsed in an instant, our joy turned to hell.
I surrendered and decided to join them; I pleaded and wept, begging them to spare my siblings' lives… But I later discovered that the commander of the forces, who called himself "Sword of the Sky," was the one who had killed my father. He reveled in killing fathers before their children… He laughed wickedly as I knelt before him, begging for mercy… Then he kicked me hard in the stomach, and everything went black.
I awoke in a cell, my hands shackled in iron, and a heavy iron ball and chain fastened to my right leg. I could not move. There were many youths my age inside the cell, but all of them were broken—no one answered me. Even I… had given up. In that moment, I became a slave…
The guards came and opened the cell; every gaze was filled with sadness and despair. Work began anew… The sun burned our backs, and the golden sands scorched our bare feet. I had never imagined that I would be whipped every time I attempted to catch my breath… I toiled in silence, my heart heavy with worry for my siblings… Were they alive? Or had they been killed too? There was no way to know… except to escape.
As the sun dipped and the sky turned crimson at dusk, with clouds obscuring the pale moon tinged with blue, I decided to run away… The guards were asleep… I moved slowly, pounced on one of them with my shackled hands, muffled his breath, and killed him without hesitation… I grabbed the keys and freed myself. Then I ran without stopping… I returned to Arian and headed straight to my home…
When I knocked on the door, nobody answered. I knocked again and again, but there was no reply. I pressed my face to the window and peered inside, my heart pounding faster with every beat. I was terrified, unable to breathe normally. I was afraid I would see something worse.
The ground was stained with blood, completely dyed red. My father's eyes were still open, staring at me as if blaming me for what had happened. I could no longer draw a breath; I felt as though I was dying from sheer terror. Whenever I recall that scene, my body still shivers, as though I am reliving that memory all over again.
But as my gaze wavered, I caught sight of my younger brother seated on a chair opposite our mother's corpse. I finally breathed a sigh of relief, and at that moment, I forced the door open. I stepped over my parents' blood and found my sister clutching the severed head of our father against her chest, trembling with fear. As soon as they saw me, their eyes turned cold toward me.
> "Oh, brother… you've returned? I'm so glad you're back."
But the spark of life had gone from their eyes. My younger brother stood to embrace me, lifting his head to look at me with a chilling emptiness. I was completely shattered. I patted their heads in an attempt to calm them, but it was of no use; nothing changed.
That is when I resolved to take vengeance on everyone responsible for this, and to leave the city to make camp in the barren desert. I wanted to rely on myself to protect my siblings, and I vowed that no harm would ever befall them again. I trained constantly, striving to become stronger. I truly longed to avenge the commander of the forces. But it turned out that "Sword of the Sky" had taken an interest in my plight and had exacted his revenge by humiliating and dishonoring the commander. I was both happy and sad at the same time—happy that he had died in disgrace, and sad that I had not been the one to kill him.
Days and months passed without any change. We wandered continually, hunting to feed ourselves. Then, one day, I finally decided to return to Arian, hoping that things might have changed. But what happened was far worse: I opened the gate, and it covered the entire sky in a way unlike anything recorded in history. All manner of small and large monsters poured out in ranks, not as they do in our current age, emerging in waves. It was more terrifying: the sky at high noon turned to black shadows, filled with beasts of every kind and rank.
All humanity witnessed this catastrophe and believed it to be the end of the world. The Western Desert had become fertile land, courtesy of rivers formed from blood. Wherever you stepped, you found a corpse beside you.
By good fortune, we had discovered a cave that day in which to spend the night. I could no longer think of anything but clinging to life—if I died, who would protect my siblings? That thought consumed me. I decided to hide and crawl beneath the sands to reach the cave safely and swiftly. When I arrived, I found my brother and sister clutching each other, shivering with fear. A massive boulder lay inside the cavern; with great effort, I managed to shift it and seal the entrance. At last, we slept in peace and silence, despite the demonic monsters' cries echoing all around.
The next morning, I could not bring myself to venture out to fetch food. The screams continued to ring out, and there was no sign that they would cease. I waited and waited, but all in vain. I couldn't even bear to look outside until evening fell and our empty stomachs ached for sustenance.
I mustered my courage and set out to gather whatever I could find to eat. Fortunately, the immediate area was devoid of monsters, though the sky still roiled with them. I prayed they would not notice me. I crawled beneath the sands, fearful of detection, dragging myself forward as I gasped for air. I
still do not know why I clung to life so fiercely…