Chapter 2: Outside help is required
"My liege Darius has returned" one of the soldiers said entering into the Kings room kneeling down as he rose from his throne "What news does he bring?" "Bad tidings I fear he was the only man to return and said he would only speak to you" he said before Darius staggered into the room clutching at a bloody wound on his armour and attempted to kneel but collapsed onto the floor. The soldier knelt down to help support him up as the King strode across the room and knelt down "What happened at that village Darius?" "We were massacred not one of my men survived and the villagers had been turned into these ... abominations" he said before clutching at his face trying to shut the visions of his men lying dead on the ground and the cries of their deaths echoing in his ears.
King Jeremiah gave Darius a few moments to recover before he looked back up at him "The attack was instigated by a powerful magician named Suriv but there was something off about him like he wasn't entirely human at all" "Suriv I've never heard of a man like this across any of the lands" the King mumbled before turning to one of his soldiers "Send a message throughout all of Kingdoms to present any information on a character named Suriv I want to know anything about him". "He also had a message I was supposed to deliver directly to you" Darius said as the King looked back down towards his knight "He said that he will return with a full army and crush this pathetic castle and take your most valued possession for himself".
Jeremiah placed a hand on Darius shoulder "You've done well delivering the message now head down to the infirmary and get patched up then rest". As two soldiers carried Darius out the King walked back towards his throne staring up at his sceptre resting next to the chair with the giant crystal adorned atop of it. Few knew its true purpose in the Kingdom in fact only Balthazar and the King himself did and as if right on cue Balthazar materialised next to the throne staring at the sceptre.
"So I'm guessing he knows about the crystals and their power then" Balthazar said as the King sat back down on his throne drumming his fingers against the side "It seems so, this Suriv knows quite a lot about our Kingdom for how much we know about him" "There's also the matter of these things he created from the corpses of the villagers and I can only guess Darius regiment as well" Balthazar said staring out the window "I heard Darius say his blade didn't deal any damage at all and Suriv mentioned now mere blade can kill him". Turning back towards the king he knelt down "Sir I think perhaps now is the time to implement 'that' plan we always use for matters such as these" Balthazar said as the King looked down aghast "You can't possibly mean" "Yes I think in this scenario video game characters won't suffice we'll need video game players".
The King stood up from his throne and walking behind opened up a secret compartment hidden behind a giant photo of his beloved daughter Princess Natalia. Inside his palm he held what appeared to be a golden game controller that glowed brightly and hummed pulsating with energy. "Upon pressing the start button this device will seek out the best gamers in the world and bring them to our aid, hopefully then we'll have the strength to combat this up and coming darkness that threatens to destroy all of the gaming world and community" King Jeremiah said as he pressed the button causing 10 bolts of golden light to race out of his window and shoot up into the sky towards their destination in the real world.