Glave had entered the Velder sector and noticed a being in the distance. He approached the figure and noticed it was the arrival he was looking for. He had raven-black hair, tanned skin, black pants, and a white coat, though it looks like it had seen better days. The sleeves were ripped up beyond repair and the bottom section was completely gone. It looked like his left leg was broken and in his right hand was a blade spotted with blood. In fact, the coat itself was no longer white, rather a dark red, the blood of demons.
Hmmm…strange, this one feels different from any others I have picked up before…Luto will want to wake him up immediately.
He snapped his fingers at the man. In a flash of data, he disappeared. Nodding in satisfaction, Glave set off for the Hamel sector.
He sighed in boredom, "How did it come to this? Me being a slave for a being I despise and having to do menial chores such as this? Heh heh, that's right, it was LUTO…Tch, that fool…if he had only given me all the details behind that insane plan of his, I would never have even thought about going along…"
? years ago
It had been months ever since Luto secretly recruited him into his (1) team. Since then, he had learned of the ways that Luto and the beings that served him worked. They were like a military force, supposedly working under Henir as his most elite and personal strike team. Luto had told him to take notes and he had gathered this much.
Henir was appointed as the overseer of time and space, making sure that all dimensions were kept in order and, at the very least, stable. Of course, such a task would prove impossible, even for a man such as Henir despite his power over dimensions. As a result, he created servants to carry out his demands.
Henir had dubbed them as the Royal Servant teams. Divided into three sections: Darkness Guards, Silver Guards, and Abyss Crows, the forces were specially trained for specific roles.
The Darkness Guards were known as the most straightforward military force, acting like any other standing army, they were the backbone of the Royal Servant teams, making up about 70% of the entire force. They were always seen at the front lines of any conflict ordered by Henir, ranging from quelling uprisings to straight up wiping out entire armies. Their success rate was an unbelievable 96%, the result of a strict training regime that instilled absolute obedience in the servants. They were well coordinated and worked fantastically in teams, but their weakness lied in their rigid structure. Once a leader had disappeared, they were next to helpless in making successful attacks.
The Silver Guards served as personal bodyguards for the higher ups within Henir's hierarchy and as a sort of military police in the areas that Henir looked after. This team made up about 25% of the Royal Servant population. They were trained in the art of defense, sealing any and all holes in places such as fortresses and bastions. They kept track of all officials and reported any suspicious activities straight to the higher ups. Leaving no stone unturned or corner unchecked, the Dark Lords are dedicated to defense with a success rate of 97% in terms of preventing assassinations and even holding off attackers when the Darkness Guards were away. As expected, however, their weakness lies in their offensive strategies. After spending so many years learning that the best offense is a good defense, suddenly being put on the attack would freak out any of these servants.
And then there were the Abyss Crows. Perhaps the most mysterious of the teams, with only 5% ever entering, this group was notorious for going on almost exclusively assassination and espionage missions. So far spread were their objectives that they were rarely seen by him. Before any sort of attack was even thought about, it was up to the Crows to find out everything about the enemy. And they meant everything. Features such as supply routes and military strength were familiar but they even looked into those that ruled the area, seeing if they could exploit any sort of tension. No one besides those in the team themselves and Henir know about the training process but it has proven extremely effective, with a record 100% success rate, the Crows never failed a mission. Little else is known, Luto was even unsure if they had any weaknesses at all.
Each team was usually made up of swordsmen, the only exception being the Silver Guards, who were more attuned to large cannons which could double as portable shields. Along with swordslingers/cannoneers each team had a specific unit that served as back up. The Darkness Guards had mages, who could be invaluable at the front lines with their healing and destructive magic. The Silver Guards had archers, providing back up with defensive magic and suppressing fire with their arrows while the Guards held the enemy back with their massive cannons. And finally, the Abyss Crows had gunners, specially trained marksmen with the ability to eliminate a target without causing a stir. What he found most odd though was the fact that all the sword and cannon users were male and the mages, archers, and gunners were female. When he inquired as to why, Luto simply shrugged replying that he did not know and that maybe Henir has a strange sense of humor.
When he has finished taking the notes, he asked Luto what the teams had to do with the Truth. Luto replied with a quaint chuckle, "Well my friend, your answer lies in why the Royal Servant teams even exist. I'm sure you remember, correct?"
And he did. Each of the people in the teams had appeared in Henir's dimension, usually through an unfortunate and untimely death, because they wanted something, a wish as it were. Some wanted to return home, some wanted to revive a loved one; the list could go for a while. In order to achieve this wish, they created a contract with Henir, providing their service in exchange for his promise to grant the wish.
Luto nodded, "It seemed like a nice deal, however, the truth was that Henir never intended to fulfill their requests, rather using the servants to the day they died. I knew this from the beginning and saw as the servants perished without having their wishes granted. Soon, however, rumors began spreading amongst the teams about Henir's true intentions. Seeing this as an opportunity, I began to fan the flames with claims that the Truth will be able to grant the wishes they desired, and eventually, about thirty percent of the members secretly defected to my side. And now, here we are."
He nodded slowly and then questioned why Luto needed him at all.
"Well my boy, you are the key to unlocking the Truth. As you may know, the location of the Truth remained unknown for a very long time. However, just a short while ago, one of my agents in the Abyss Crowss found it. We quickly converged on his location only to find out that none of us, not even I, could open it. (2) We figured that it was only possible for Henir to achieve this task and knew damn well that he would not agree. However, we also knew that there was another, one person that would have the ability to open this thing…and that person is you."
He wondered how Luto knew for sure that it would be possible for him to open the artifact. Luto took out the dice from before, "Because of these. According to Henir, when a person holds these dice and it lights up, they have the ability to open the Truth. He gave a pair of these dice to each of his administrators and ordered that if we found someone that could light them, to bring them to him immediately. Of course, I'm not going to listen to him heheheheheheh… Now come, we must hurry to the Truth and unlock it before Henir catches on."
Unfortunately for Luto, Henir had already sensed the discovery of the Truth and stationed platoons worth of Darkness Guards to stop Luto from unlocking it while he hid it away once again. They quickly surrounded both him and Luto preparing to execute them for high treason against the lord of Time and Space. However, Henir was not aware of the fact that at least one third of the Guards he posted had defected to Luto. With one command from Luto, the one-third turned on their comrades and, in the confusion, he and Luto made a dash for the Truth only for it to be transported to Henir's personal domain at the last second. At that moment, Luto contacted all of those that had switched to his side and called for immediate action against Henir and his Royal Servants.
The conflict that followed goes by many names. Some call it the First Royal Civil War, others the Dimensional Wars, and still more Luto's Rebellion. (3) Despite the fact that Luto's faction was far outnumbered, they had the advantage of better commanders, for the majority of the Abyss Crows had turned to his side. The conflict lasted for approximately five years, spanned across several dimensions, and ended with the near annihilation of the thirty percent that defected and the loss of half of those that remained at Henir's side.
He and Luto were brought to Henir himself to receive judgment. Both were accused of the highest treason and threatening the stability of Time and Space. Luto was fired from his position of Administrator of Time and Space, stripped of nearly all his powers over dimensions, aged by approximately 5000 years, forcing him into a state where he could no longer walk or stand up from a chair without the use of a cane, and banished to a far corner of Time and Space, where he would live the rest of his days.
His punishment was less severe, for Henir noticed his ability to light up the dice given to all administrators. He replaced Luto's position of Administrator. As such, he was granted all the powers of an Administrator and in the process he was stripped of his emotions as well as his memories of his past life as a scholar and aged to the point where his hair remained in a permanent state of snow white. Finally, a large gash across his face delivered by Henir's blade. The gash would never heal or stop hurting and would always serve as a reminder to never follow the same path as Luto.
Glave had arrived in the Hamel sector and saw the person he was looking for. He lied on the ground and the first thing Glave noticed was his long blond hair with two brown spots. Next to that was his armor. In its heyday, it should have been shining with the symbol of a guardian. Slender, white, and battered beyond recognition, it looked like he was fighting something attuned to Eltrion (4) and lost…terribly. The armor was bloody and it looked like his arm was broken. He had a death grip on his weapon, a rather large cannon that seemed like a liability in battle.
"Hello there pretty boy…Hmmm, he also feels different from the rest we usually pick up. Luto will want him up ASAP as well."
He snapped his fingers, bringing the fallen guardian to the same place as the bloodied warrior. Satisfied his work was finally done, he started to make his way back to greet the arrivals.
"I hate working for this guy. But it's necessary for me in my plan to get outta this cursed hellhole."
? years ago
It had been moments after he had regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that Luto, the fired and failed Time and Space Administrator, was missing. The second thing was that it looked like he was in a holding cell made of pure…something black. Sighing, he remembered what happened to them and wondered where he was. Just looking around wasn't going to help. He let out an annoyed, "Tch" and then noticed a pain on his face.
"Ah yes, the gash that bastard gave me. Hmmm, I REALLY want to look at it as little as possible…I ought to do something about this." He remembered his newly acquired powers and, with the tip of his finger, made an outline of a mask in the walls surrounding them. The shape fell out and with surprising precision; he carved out a single eye hole.
"There...at least now people won't see the injury." He placed the mask on, the material instantly sticking to his face, the fit perfect and comfortable. Satisfied with his work, he started to look for a way out until a door popped open and someone in an Abyss Crow uniform walked in.
"Your attire is ready Admin." He bowed and gestured outward. Hesitant, the new Administrator walked out to find himself in a room with a single light shining down on a uniform. A black top and bottom piece reinforced with armor, a pair of white gloves and shoes, and a coat with red linings and strangely enough, chains, to top it off. He put on the attire swiftly, surprised to see how comfortable it was.
Then more lights shined on and a booming voice rang, "Admin, you have a mission. It looks like Luto is up to no good once again in his section of Time and Space. Your objective is to find and eliminate him. Prepare for transportation immediately."
A door opened up to a portal which he presumed would lead him to where the mission was. He entered and found himself in front of the old and decrepit man. Luto looked up and an expression of genuine surprise came over him. He spoke, bouts of coughing constantly interrupting him.
"Ahhh, come to finish me off have you scholar?" He scoffed, "Please, as if I'd listen to the assholes that gave me this scar. I heard you were causing trouble. Fill me in."
Luto cackled, "Simply a second rebellion. The trouble they mentioned are Royal Servant potentials suddenly going off radar. That's because I've been picking them up. I've gotten some pretty good ones too. A blood swordsman, a fighter with a cursed armor, and a machine with unspeakable destruction. (5)"
He whistled, "I want in, I'm sure with these new powers of mine, I can be quite useful to your cause."
Luto coughed then replied, "Are you sure you want to work with me?"
"Tch, don't get the wrong idea here old man. I simply want revenge. And to open the Truth. This looks like the most logical way. That's all."
Luto grinned, "Very well admin. I think you ought to tell your higher ups."
Just then, a transmission came through, "Newbie, have you completed your job?" He sighed, "No, and don't expect me to return. I'll see you dipshits later, with death by my side." He cut the transmission and looked back at Luto, "Satisfied?"
"Quite…now then, I think I should know your name since I never knew during the first Civil War."
He looked back. He didn't remember his name from his past life as those memories were supposedly wiped. Thinking hard, he suddenly remembered something, training with a specific weapon from his past. Under the mask, he smirked. "Glave…call me Glave."
A/N: How's that for an update? Sorry I've been gone so long but now that it's summer for me, I can update more! Yeeeeee I guess…Anyway, our two protagonists have arrived and I bet you can guess what their classes are. *COUGH*BM*COUGH*IP*COUGH* Yep…sorry about this whole chapter being exposition, I have to set the stage for our protagonists after all. This chapter was actually pretty tough to type up cause I had to infer/make up a lot of information but I hope it makes sense to you guys! Now I know some of you are wondering…am I implying pairings with the way I arranged the Royal Servants? Maaayyyyybbbeeee…not… I'm so glad someone reviewed last chapter, mega shoutout to pip176! Glad we think alike. Well that's all for now, remember to review so I cans improve. cya laters~
1–Probably should have mentioned this first, but I always thought that Glave's name came later and as such, I left it anonymous in this section.
2–Think of an interdimensional space Pandora's Box
3 –Sorry if you think these names suck…
4-Yes, the Field Raid boss that looks like a giant robot dragon
5-No prizes if you know who these are