Prologue
The night sky was alive. Bright, shining stars hung in the sky above a majestic Canadian forest. The wind casually blew through the trees surrounding a large, open clearing and their branches danced in recognition of this force. Suddenly, this wind began to grow in strength, until it gathered, swirling to form a tempest on the surface of a large rock lying in the middle of this clearing. Howls formed in the distance and drew near, voiced from the throats of the wolves living in the area.
Quickly, these voices grew in strength and volume as they came closer to the source of this disturbance. Out of the edges of the clearing, wolves of all sizes stalked out of the trees and gathered around the swirling funnel of wind. Rather than bristle in fear at the unnatural sight, they calmly sat themselves under the great rock. As the pack grew, so too did the ferocity of the tempest.
The wolves, in unison, rose from their sitting positions and began to howl. The sound produced was enough to chill the bones of anything to have heard it. Squirrels huddled in their tree trunks, rabbits cowered in their holes and birds took to the sky. Yet, the tempest had a much different reaction to this inhuman chorus. The wind swirled and a form began to take shape inside of its depths.
Suddenly, as quickly as it had come into existence, the whirlwind ceased. In its place was a beautiful woman with red hair that fell down to the small of her back. Her bright green eyes gazed forth from her perfect face. Within a somewhat small nose, flush, full lips and high cheekbones, shone the eyes of a hunter. Her perfect, voluptuous yet athletic body was covered in leather armour. Her armour was decorated with images depicting wolves and human hunters, chasing after their quarry. A crossed arrow insignia could be seen over her full bosom.
The beautiful woman smiled and swept her arms out wide to address her audience. Her beautiful, melodic voice spoke out over the silenced wolves, "My fellow hunters of the night, come with me and we shall rule over this forest. For my name is Artemis the Huntress and I crave battle." Her crowd howled once more in response and she smiled, yet, to any onlookers, it was a feral grin.
"There will be an eighth." came the abrupt announcement from a pair of beautiful lips. The men and women in attendance turned to the speaker with expressions of surprise. The speaker was a beautiful platinum-blonde woman in her twenties with sharp green eyes. She wore a fabulous white dress which accentuated her innate grace and poise. The woman sat in one seat of a large round table in a dark stone room. The only light was given off from the torches on the wall. It was a strangely medieval themed room for the twenty-first century.
Though, if one considered the fact that all inside were powerful magicians and witches, it would not seem so strange. The other seats of this great table were all occupied by people dressed in different styles of robes or high class attire. One man spoke up, his voice confused by her sudden interruption in their proceedings. "My apologies, Princess Alice, but what might you be referring to?" he said with a surprising tone of respect, seeing as she was some twenty-odd years his junior.
With unfocused eyes, the woman identified as Princess Alice declared "There will be an eighth devil king. To the west and north, a Heretical God is beginning to break through the barrier. There is one there who will slay this God and become the eighth godkiller. However, this one is... different."
To everyone who knew of her, she was obviously in one of her prophetic trances. The man who spoke prompted her on, unwilling to interrupt but desiring more information. "How is this new godslayer different, Princess Alice?" he asked, attempting to keep the ever-present fear that always accompanied discussing these dangerous devils out of his voice.
A light of recognition returned to her pale green eyes as the trance ended. With a grim expression, Alice responded to the ones gazing at her with apprehension. Gravely resolute, she said "The eighth Campione will be one who has sinned in the highest regard." Amongst the gasps of shock and dismay, she continued. "His actions ended with a tragedy and a curse that serves as a constant reminder of his deeds. In reaction to what he did, the magical world shunned him and cast him out. Due to this, he may help or harm us. We need to be prepared for the worst." With those ominous words of warning, the room erupted into action.