Hikari no Hiro Part 1
Two centuries before the present wars, before the fall of the Demon Tower or the rise of the Ashen Wrath, the continent of Eidolon was suffocating under the grip of a single tyrant—Gimori, the God-Blessed King of Cruelty. At three hundred years old, he sat atop the five thrones of Eidolon's major nations, manipulating kings like pawns and civilians like livestock. His rule was absolute, enforced through a cursed, divine gift: the Aku no Eye—the Eye of Evil.
Said to have been granted to him by the gods themselves, this eye bent the laws of nature to his will. Reality crumbled under his gaze. He could twist time, regenerate limbs, even resurrect himself from death. His enemies never truly died; they were enslaved in endless torment under his mental dominion. Hope was a myth. Freedom was heresy.
But in the slums of eastern Zamora, on April 27th, a candle was lit in the overwhelming darkness.
His name: Titanus Sarutobi.
He was born with white hair, piercing blue eyes, and a body too frail to carry the burdens of fate—but fate would choose him regardless. His life began in tragedy, and it only worsened. His father, once a respected scholar, was executed by Gimori's enforcers on baseless accusations of treason. Titanus was a child then—too young to understand injustice but old enough to feel its sting.
Now, at sixteen, he worked long hours as a servant in the royal sector, slaving under men who treated him like trash, all to earn a few measly coins. Twelve hours a day. No breaks. No food. No dignity.
His mother—frail, sick, and drowning in grief—was his only anchor. Titanus spent every earned coin on medicine and bread crusts, on whispered prayers to absent gods.
One day, with no money left and his mother's condition worsened, he stole medicine from the market. He was caught.
Publicly beaten. Tortured. Humiliated. The guards broke three of his ribs and dragged him through the dirt like a criminal. Children laughed. Elders turned their faces. He limped home, bruised and bloodied.
But what awaited him was worse.
His mother... gone.
Knife in hand. Throat slit.
A suicide note, soaked in blood and ink, lay beside her:
> "I am sorry, my son. I cannot live in a world where your suffering is our only future. Forgive me."
Titanus didn't scream. He couldn't.
The walls were thin. The neighbors were traitors in waiting. Any sound would lead to arrest—or worse. So instead, Titanus dropped to his knees, eyes trembling, and wept silently.
He clenched the blood-stained note in his fist.
That night, a new wrath was born.
---
The next morning, dazed and broken, Titanus took a shortcut to avoid being late to work again. The path led through the eerie Kaigen Forest, where mist never lifted and silence was too loud. As he walked, howls began to echo.
Then they drew closer.
Wolves. Dozens.
White fangs flashed through bushes. Claws scraped against bark. Titanus broke into a sprint, lungs burning, but the forest offered no mercy. Vines tangled his feet, and he fell—rolling, sliding—right into a hidden lake below.
The fall winded him. The water embraced him like a tomb.
He screamed, but the lake swallowed his voice.
Darkness consumed him.
And then—a voice.
Warm. Radiant. Divine.
> God: "Make your wish."
Titanus's soul trembled. "A wish...?"
He coughed under the water, consciousness fading.
> "If I were to make any wish… I would wish for the power to kill Gimori… and liberate these lands."
His body sank. His heart stopped. The world faded...
Then—a burst of light.
---
Titanus rose—no longer drowning, but levitating above the lake.
His eyes flared gold, his wounds vanished, and in his right hand, a weapon forged from divine power shimmered into existence: the Titan Blade—the first Legendary Blade.
> God: "Your wish has been granted."
Wings of pure light burst from Titanus's back. His hair shone like celestial fire. His body surged with overwhelming strength, cleansed and resurrected.
The lake beneath him transformed.
Rotting trees blossomed with emerald leaves.
The water cleared, glowing sky-blue.
Even the starving wolves were not forsaken—they transformed, their fur now glowing white, eyes golden like Titanus's, and wings sprouting from their backs.
He named them Jiyū and Jundo—Freedom and Justice.
> Titanus: "At last… freedom shall be ours. For mother. For father. For all who were slain by him…
FOR EIDOLON!"
His voice shook the heavens.
The lake would come to be known as the Great Lake of Eidolon.
The boy who almost drowned was now Eidolon's destined liberator.
The war to end tyranny had begun.