It was just a normal day in the demon realm of Xelnaash. Demons floating around the town they lived in. It was only a small realm compared to other demonic habitats, but it was certainly a lively and thriving one. They had many alliances with other demonic forces, to go into the overworld and assault some mortal towns, taking their souls to their liking. Usual demonic stuff. They cover their tracks when going through portals back and forth dimensions. They would normally use the lava, but if they were sieging with their cavalry, they would create a warp to an underground temple, deep into some ruins somewhere on the side of a cliff. It was a nice hideout in the overworld, as it was abandoned and forgotten. No mortal had laid foot in there for centuries.
The rulers of the realm ordered for a new siege to happen, and it took place the night prior. I was successful, another small town wiped out and hundreds of souls harvested. It wasn't the best raid they had ever done, but certainly not the worst. Only a few demons had been slain, in their army of two hundred. They would all be speaking to themselves about how it went, how weird the overworld is. General chatter after a trip up to the overworld. That was until there was a loud screech coming from the castle. Every demon would freeze. There was no way, was there? The screech meant one thing, and one thing only. THEY were the ones being raided. The demons were on the back foot. They were unprepared. Many were wounded from the previous night, some were resting and others were nowhere to be seen. Their temple had been compromised, the portal still open. Thousands of humans, animals and anthropomorphs alike swarmed into the realm, weapons in arms. Guns, swords, claws, teeth. Even pitchforks and shovels from the farmers. It seemed that everyone, no matter if they were innocent civilian or trained soldier was taking part. To finally bring down these monstrous beasts!
They fought so well against a crippled, startled race. A massacre inducing. It would be pure carnage, as the fit demons would protect the injured, the young and the female. But they were having none of it. Every demon would join in, just like the overworld creatures. The battle would last a few hours, with the demons being victorious in holding their own. Just. The near one thousand population would have gone down to two hundred. The king and queen had died, as well as most of the army. All of the cavalry and domestic pets would be slaughtered. Out of the two hundred, only fifteen were female, and only two were children. None of the monarchy had lived to see another day. The realm of Xelnaash was broken apart.
In the coming days, the number of two hundred became one hundred and fifty. Some of the wounds were too large to heal in time. The village would clean up the battered village as best they could, making sure all of the slain of their own was tucked away in the unmanned castle and the fallen of the overworld were chucked in the lava to burn to a crisp. They wouldn't even bother taking their souls, as their own was too damaged. The cleanup would take five whole days, in which the number fell again to one hundred and twenty. Mourners were starting to lose their mind, seeing flashbacks of their beloved in battle, their screams of agony and then they limp body crashing onto the floor, never to move on its own accord again. They were going insane. They needed to somehow change something. Cling onto one bit of hope to restore the race and the realm, or else it would be all gone to waste….