The East was on the case. Ventis the big had started to move. The eastern army, with its soldiers and artifacts, had begun to invade his country. However, this was not to be. They had made an alliance. They had agreed not to attack each other. The two most powerful human kingdoms were not to clash. The stakes were too high. But Aris understood that it was possible to avoid any possible risk by allying the human kingdoms against Arkis.
'Why? Why me?'
Aris knew he wasn't loved by the south. The Duke of Grey always said he didn't like his arrogance and the way he shied away just because he was the strongest. His desire for wealth had led him to ally himself with the east for reasons he didn't know. But Ventis was never to budge. Ventis was a man who had no right to move. Because if Ventis moved, it wouldn't matter who you were...
'You're a dead man'
An explosion was heard as Aris watched some of his men fly off into the distance. He ran to catch up and caught three of them in the air.
"Is everything all right? What's going on?"
The villageoi soldier pointed in the direction of the explosion. A woman in a long dress with the symbol of the Koran kingdoms was standing there, stick in hand with a precise stone at the end.
"A...mage?"
Mages were not common in the human kingdoms. In fact, they were banished long ago. A magical war had been fought long ago, and the mages led by Hodeus, the great archmage, had lost. A defeat that took everything and their lives.
To see a mage still alive and on the enemy's side meant that this war had a darker side than expected.
Aris picked up his spear and parried a fireball aimed at him. Suddenly, the mage in front of him started shouting at him.
"Aris Ronegard, your ancestors were agenst magicians in this war. They exterminated us for their sense of security. Today you will pay the price."
Aris had never fought mages, but he had to keep his cool. The mage held out her staff in his direction and several balls of fire stood beside her as she recited her incantations. Suddenly, all the balls hurtled towards Aris like meteorites. Aris tried to dodge them one by one with as little movement as possible.
"Don't tire yourself out, descendant of Arkis. He was just as arrogant as you."
"You talk as if you'd known him. You sound a bit too young for that."
"Silence."
A larger fireball burst into his field of vision. Aris picked up his spear and tried something he'd never thought he'd do.
"If I can't dodge it."
The art of the spear was a solid one in Arkis. To put it another way, it was the art that Arkis had been protecting and perfecting for ages. Arkis himself, the nation's first king, used a spear. Although Aris could use any weapon, the spear was his primary weapon.
"I'm going to pierce it. Arkis technique number one, Breakthrough."
With a flash and a flashstep, Aris pierced the fireball and dissipated it completely.
"It hurts less than expected."
However, Aris could see that these 500 men weren't going to last. He was starting to lose too many.
"Fall back, go to the center and get ready there. I'll stay and delay the North. Tell Ren to pull back the east and south too. We're surrounded. Don't waste any time. Go quickly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Aris thought. It was surely better to abandon all resistance and surrender. But Aris had kept the idea in the back of his mind. He didn't want to abandon his country, but his people risked being extinguished. Despite everything, he fought on. He knew it was a losing battle. But he fought.
"Lost in thought, King of Aris?"
A jet of flame shot towards Aris, who barely dodged. The heat generated by the flames was becoming unbearable, but the mage seemed unaffected. She walked calmly towards her adversary, throwing fireballs at him every few seconds.
"Aren't you fed up. You're on your own here. It was a good idea to send your men away, but it was useless. You should know that..."
Aris hurled his spear at the enemy at full speed, and no fireball could stop him. The mage barely managed to duck, but when she looked up, Aris was no longer in her field of vision. She looked around in panic, then realized that he too might have fled. However, the moment her mind released itself. Aris fell from the sky and opened her throat.
"I think the mages back then were more terrible than this."
The mage was unable to use her magic to close the wound, as Aris unceremoniously popped her head open. Then he looked out over the battlefield. There was nothing left to salvage from the North. Arkis had already begun to fall. Soldiers rushed at him. Again and again, he retreated, cutting off their legs and arms, piercing their bodies with his spear and shooting arrows recovered from a dead man's bow. He retreated but didn't miss a single one. Their aim was to invade the capital, where all the countries had taken refuge.
They knew they didn't stand a chance against him, but they were outnumbered. Aris was being outnumbered. Yet he continued to slice, stab, slice, slice, slice and stab. It was endless, but he had to do his utmost to protect his country. The maximum for....
I must join them'.
Aris thought it best to join his people for his last moments. All the rage and frustration he was building up on this battlefield was driving him mad. He needed to see that they still had a chance by going to his people.
"Head for Eleena."
However, when he got there after destroying hundreds of tanks, killing thousands of men, crippling some for life and blinding others, Aris witnessed the spectacle. Eleena was in ruins. Flames were eating away at the city. He recognized some of his dead soldiers on the ground as he walked through the streets. He walked in despair, the fruit vendor was gone. Blood had covered his shop. His palace was on the verge of collapse, but in the smoke and rubble he could see Ren his loyal soldiers still fighting with effort.
Ren saw the king while he was still adorned with the enemy's sword. Exhausted, he said...
"Sorry, Majesty, we lost."