Prologue

-At the City of Shroudpond-

The clashing of swords rang throughout the rainy night, echoing alongside the screams of the fallen. Inside the keep was a deathly silence amongst the inhabitants, frightened of the war raging on outside, scared to make even a whisper lest the enemy hear them.

The door leading to the treasury abruptly swings open, leaving the residents to face the figure standing in its doorways.

"My child Elissia." the figure beckoned,

"They have overrun the city and will soon be at our doorstep. Quickly, take this." He swiftly made his way to her side, with him a pristine longsword made from the finest steel the realm has ever witnessed. "I have enchanted this sword with the Paragon's ever-eternal light. Please, run and deliver it to Autumn Valley in the north. You must hurry! Take it, and don't look back!".

Elissia nodded at her father as her eyes started to swell with tears. Grabbing the sword, now pulsing with power, she embraced her father in a hug one last time, unsure if she would ever see him again, and sprinted to the kitchen. She tossed aside an old, tattered rug in the corner, revealing a small wooden door with a rusty metal latch. Grabbing the handle, she flung it open with all her might. She descended below into a dimly lit corridor that opened up into what appeared to be some sort of catacombs. Elissia, trying her best to remember the layout of the macabre labyrinth, can't help but get discombobulated by the twists and turns inside the catacombs, causing every new passageway to resemble the one before it. Several minutes pass as she frantically runs about the unkept, lamented halls, fraught at the thought of being unable to fulfill her father's task. As she treks through the winding corridors, she finally sees what appears to be a natural light source coming from a side hall. Eager to leave the desolate catacombs, she runs towards the light with a newfound quickness. As Elissia turned the corner, she failed to notice the pair of bloodshot eyes that had been stalking her every move since she entered the halls. What should have been a moment of relief is instead replaced by a sense of dread as she feels a cold grasp upon her neck and a sharp object pinned against her lower back.

"Oh, come now, darling, did you really think you could just run away with my prize? Why don't you just hand it over, and in exchange, I won't defile your corpse after I butcher it." Urged the shadow-like figure, his voice dripping with malicious intent.

Elissia shrugged and said, "You'd have to pry it from my dead body." She has the utmost confidence that she will overcome this predicament, as her father had entrusted her with a sacred, blessed sword.

Elissia thrusts her elbow into the figure. She then turns and kicks the enemy into the wall. Now, she sees that it is one of Obec's elite assassins. His flesh was tattered and almost sloughed-like. His face is the visage of a nightmare, and his eyes are deep-set and gleaming with an eerie luminescence of red eyes. Strands of lanky, greasy hair clinging to his scalp. The remnants of his lips are pulled back, revealing a jagged row of yellow teeth. The clash between light and undead unfolded with eerie intensity. With a sudden blur of movement, the assassin lunges towards Elissia with great precision and a poison-tipped blade in hand. An echoing clash rang out from the blades. Elissia had parryed the strike with her sword. Elissia countered with a mighty swing aimed at the midsection, but the assassin dodged it and disappeared into the darkness. "Show yourself, you coward!" Yelled Elissia. The assassin reappears behind her and plunges his poisoned-tipped blade into her back. A scream echoed throughout the cavernous halls. The assassin appears to have been victorious as Elissia falls to her knees. Without a grimace, Elissia raises the sword her father enchanted, summons a light more potent than the sun itself, and eviscerates the assassin. Elissia collapses to the ground from the poison and blood loss. Elissia fades away with the sword in hand.

-Back at the Shroudpond Keep-

Noctune bursts open the keep door and is met with the stench of death as Obec, an undead lord of vampires, ghouls, and skeletons, stands before them. He stands a foot taller than Noctune, with long black hair and undead sunken eerie purple eyes. He has a god-like physique and plated armor with a tattered purple surcoat.

Noctune shouts, "So you are the one who has slain my people. You don't look like much to me."

In the moonlit courtyard of the ancient city, the paladin King Noctune clashed with the vampire lord Obec. Their blades met in a symphony of steel, sparks flying as they circled each other. Noctune's armor bore the scars of previous battles, but determination burned in his eyes. Obec, with crimson eyes and fangs bared, moved with unnatural speed. His claws raked across Noctune's chest, tearing through the plate armor and leaving bloody gashes. Noctune staggered, gritting his teeth against the pain. His sword, Radiant Dawn, glowed with holy energy as he swung it at the vampire. Obec dodged, his laughter echoing through the night.

"You fight well, paladin," he hissed. "But your faith won't save you." Noctune capitalizes by swinging his sword towards Obec's head and hits his face, splitting his eye socket. Obec's eye falls to the ground. Noctune then steps on it, splattering it everywhere.

"You took my eye, so I will take your life!" Screams Obec.

As they fought, Noctune's vision blurred. Blood loss weakened him, but he pressed on. He couldn't let Obec win. The courtyard was strewn about with fallen leaves, crimson like the blood that soaked Noctune's armor. "Your faith wanes," Obec exclaimed. "Soon, you'll join the ranks of the undead." Noctune was met with Obec's blade, shattering his shoulder and rendering it useless. Obec comes for a final blow, but his sword is met with a dome of light that Noctune casts from his hand. The dome only lasts for a mere second. "Do you have any last words, paladin?" Asked Obec.

Noctune uttered, "You'll never find the blade, you lifeless being." Obec, with great anger, took his sword and severed Noctune's head. His head rolled down the steps like a melon. As his body lay lifeless, blood spurting from his neck, the air grew still. Obec screams, "Where is my blade!" Obec opens the keep door and sits upon the throne, claiming the throne of the Holy Empire of Otesh.