章節 3: the shadow of Odin
The morning was cold, and a strong breeze blew across the desolate shore, sending biting cold into the fragile bones of those who dared to rise before the sun. The sky, overcast and threatening with a promise of rain, seemed to mirror the uncertainty that lingered in the air. Darius stood at the water's edge, his young hands trembling slightly as he attempted to focus his energy. He was now ten years old, but still had not mastered the powers that had been bestowed upon him. His chest heaved with frustration, and he could sense the weight of his failures with each passing moment.
Beside him stood Commander Akussa, a towering figure clad in the dark, weathered armor of the Odin army. His face, though worn by countless battles, was set in a mask of discipline and stern resolve. Akussa had seen more wars than any living man, and he had fought through them all with an unwavering will. Now, his sole task was to train Darius, to mold him into the weapon that the Odin army needed in these troubled times. Every day, Akussa took Darius to the water's shore, believing that the roar of the sea and the bite of the wind would help temper the boy's untapped potential.
"Again, Darius," Akussa commanded, his voice like gravel grinding underfoot. His eyes bore into the boy with the weight of expectation. "You must learn to summon it when called. The world will not wait for you to be ready."
Darius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He raised his hands, trying to focus, but the energy within him was like a wild, untamed beast that refused to be harnessed. It surged through him erratically, slipping through his grasp the moment he reached for it.
A loud crack of thunder in the distance distracted him, and with a frustrated grunt, he let the power dissipate. Akussa's disapproval was palpable.
"Pathetic," the commander muttered under his breath, though he knew that scolding the boy too harshly would only delay his progress. "Your enemies will not care for your age, Darius. They will only see weakness. The time is fast approaching when you must fight—whether you are ready or not."
But Darius wasn't ready, and deep down, Akussa knew that the boy's potential would either be the salvation of their world—or its doom.
Meanwhile, far to the south, Borneo, the Devil's chosen candidate, was preparing his own army. His father, the ancient Devil himself, had long since set his eyes on the world above, desiring to see it crumble under the weight of his darkness. Borneo was nothing short of a monster in human form, a man forged in fire and hatred. He had spent the last decade amassing power, growing stronger in the shadows, and now, it was time to act.
In a dark, blood-soaked cavern, Borneo stood before ten men, the soldiers he had hand-picked for their brutality and loyalty. The air around them was thick with the stench of death, and the flickering light from the torches cast long, ominous shadows on the stone walls. Borneo had fortified these men, offering them to his father in exchange for unholy powers. Some of them were writhing in pain, their bodies still undergoing the cruel transformation that would make them into something more—something monstrous. But not all would survive.
Any who could not withstand the fortifications would be killed, and their blood used for drinking and cooking, a sick ritual that only the strong could endure. Borneo watched without emotion as one of the men fell to the ground, convulsing. He was too weak. Borneo stepped forward and, without hesitation, drove a blade through the fallen soldier's chest. The others flinched, but they knew better than to speak.
"He was not worthy," Borneo said coldly, his voice a low growl that echoed off the cavern walls. "None of you will be, if you fail to endure this pain. You are here to serve my father—to serve the Devil. You will either rise as his chosen, or you will die, forgotten."
His eyes flicked to the body at his feet, and without another word, he turned away. The others remained silent, steeling themselves against the horrors they were being forced to endure. They knew that the plan their master had concocted, the same plan whispered to him by the Devil himself, would soon come to fruition.
On the same day, far from the Devil's stronghold, Marinq, a brave and trusted warrior of Odin's army, prepared for what he believed would be his greatest victory. He was set to conquer the walls of Amiri, the last stronghold under the control of the Devil. It was a daring mission, one that had been long planned by the higher-ups in the Odin army. Marinq, with his sword in hand and confidence burning in his heart, believed that this would be the turning point in their war against the darkness.
What he did not know was that it would also be his last battle.
As the sun began to set, casting an eerie red glow across the battlefield, Marinq and his forces stormed the walls of Amiri. The battle was fierce, and the air was filled with the clash of steel and the cries of the dying. But amid the chaos, a figure emerged from the smoke—Borneo.
The Devil's son was unlike anything Marinq had ever faced. His movements were fluid, precise, as though he were more demon than man. And when their blades finally met, Marinq realized too late that he was outmatched.
With a swift, brutal thrust, Borneo drove his blade into Marinq's fifth rib, the steel sinking deep into his flesh. Marinq gasped, his vision blurring as he dropped to his knees. The blood poured from his wound, staining the ground beneath him. And in that moment, as life slipped away from him, he realized the full scope of the Devil's power.
That was the day the wizards began to infiltrate the Odin Order's communities. That was the day the Devil found his opportunity to crack the walls of Odin's great strength.
Far away, in the heart of Odin's capital, the trusted advisor Huer had already begun to enact the Devil's plan. While Odin's forces were distracted, fighting battles on distant shores, Huer, under the Devil's influence, had been slowly consolidating power. The capital, once thought to be impenetrable, was now vulnerable.
As the day turned to night, the pieces of the Devil's plan began to fall into place. And Darius, still struggling to master the power within him, would soon find himself at the center of a war that had been brewing for centuries. The fate of the world now rested on the shoulders of a boy who wasn't ready for the burden that awaited him.
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