The Era of Chaos

The Goldfall Patriarch sensed an ominous force in the air. Stiffly raising his head from his lotus pose, his eyes snapped open in alarm. His brows furrowed, closing his eyes once more in intense concentration. With an awe-inspiring surge of might, he sends a wave of spiritual power from the rear palace to scour the continent in search of the danger he felt. A tinge of destructive energy caused him to turn his gaze eastwards.

The Eastern Wastes!

The broken and shattered lands of Chaos lie just beyond the eastern borders of the Goldfall Dynasty. Once, it contained the illustrious capital of their empire; now, it lay ruined beyond salvation, torn apart by the sporadic invasions of darkness and the warbands that prowl the wastes. Arriving at the edge of the empire, the Patriarch continued onwards, disregarding the corrupted energy of the wastes. However, The Goldfall Patriarch found his spiritual sense blocked at the edges of the Eastern Wastes. With a forceful push of his mind, he smashed through the unexpected energy barrier.

WOOOSH! A burst of dark energy pushed against the Patriachs soon after he arrived in the Wastes, forcing his spiritual sense to halt again. ”Break! ” he roared, pushing his energy onwards with even greater power.

What he was met with was the thunderous sound of thousands…no, hundreds of thousands of steel-clad soldiers marching. The Patriarch watched in horror as an uncountable tide of black-armed warriors surged forwards, their marching chants breaking apart the skies and their boots sending quakes through the desolate earth. The skies were lit by the unholy glint of the Chaos portal, its purple and pink glows striking terror into the Goldfall Patriarchs eyes, almost like a beast laid hidden within the void.

The Patriarch broke free from his shock when he sensed a wave of energy shooting directly toward him. With a ”hmmph! ”, he countered with a surge of energy of his own, clashing against the assailing force and causing a massive explosion to rupture in the air. Some of the soldiers were too close to the blast and the ensuing shockwave blew them apart there and then onto the ground. Through the smoke, however, came another three beams of energy, this time far stronger than the last.

The Patriarch quickly conjured a barrier in response. The beams smashed into the barrier, causing yet another shockwave that rumbled the earth. He gritted his teeth as the attacks continued. Unfortunately for the Patriarch, his full force was unable to be exerted; after all, this was merely an avatar created by his spiritual power and only contained around 70% percent of his total might.

After around twenty seconds of ceaseless bombardment, there was finally an end to the attacks. The Patriarch grasped his opportunity right here to counterattack, his spiritual eyes searching for his aggressors. Scouring the field, he laid his gaze on three beings standing atop a small hill whose auras towered into the skies. Three heavily-armored, humanoid monstrosities stared back with the glowing blue balls that took place of their eyes.

Only the True Daemons have those eyes.

The three stood side-by-side. The left daemon was lightly armored and held a massive stave almost as tall as his own 10-meter size. The right daemon was the bulkiest, standing almost 15 meters tall with layers and layers of runic armor to match his brutal aura. The great axe in its hand was of similar stature. No elegance could be found in this weapon–only the simplistic beauty of a weapon forged solely for murder. The daemon in the middle, however, wore a dark crimson suit of armor instead of the standard black. Its left hand wielded a claymore, while its right hand was raised slightly, a blue ball of energy resting within its palms.

Seizing the moment, the Goldfall Patriarch launched his own offensive. Summoning an enormous translucent sword in the air above him, he stabbed downwards in unbridled fury, hoping to quickly end the invasion before it even began by taking out its commanders.

Alas, that hope was cleansed from the Patriarchs mind as the middle daemon raised its right hand toward the sword…and simply grabbed it. BOOM! Another shockwave rippled across the field, yet the daemon stood steady. The daemon slowly raised its head, his hand gripping tightly to the translucent sword shaking to push towards his face. As the eyes of the Patriarch and the daemon locked, the Patriarch felt a wave of energy passing through him, leaving him with a searing sensation in his mind.

”AGHHH! ” He screamed in pain, his spiritual sense rapidly recessing back into him from the corners of the continent. A voice could be heard booming in his mind.

”WE ARE COMING. WE ARE ENDLESS. JOIN US, OR DIE. ”

”WE…ARE CHAOS. ”

With the message coming to an end, the Goldfall Patriarch spit out a glob of blood onto the ground, darkening the already red carpets of the palace floors. He stumbled to get up from the ground, his limbs failing him as he weakly grasped for a nearby pillar for support. Coughing, he made his way out of his cultivation chamber and into his courtyard. However, before he was allowed any respite, another two surges of daemonic energy rippled through the planet, forcing him to sit down on the ground again in concentration.

Shooting his spiritual sense forth again, he turned in the direction of the newly erupted energy sources.

The Northern Blacklands! The Southern Desolation!

Panic turned into despair as he hurried to meet the daemonic energies that few in the world could sense at this moment. *Cough* He spit out another glob of blood. Unrelenting, unceasing, undeniable, the armies of Chaos march forth in the name of their gods. Instead of further investigating the points of invasion in his already injured state, he sent his spiritual sense towards the Goldfall Emperor, who sat in the throne room attending the empires court.

”Florentius, come to me immediately! ” The Patriarch sent telepathically and laid down in exhaustion.

Hearing the message, the emperor sat shocked in his seat, yet he quickly snapped out of it and obediently followed the command, promptly halting the morning court meeting. While the ministers and the officials looked around with confusion, the Goldfall Emperor vanished from his seat, appearing outside his fathers palace within seconds. He bowed slightly.

”Imperial Father, you ask of me? ” the emperor inquired respectfully, refraining from bursting out in questions despite his mind frantically reaching for a multitude of answers. ”This is a very unusual situation, ” he pondered, ”father has been in seclusion for over three decades and the last time I was summoned before him was the day before I was crowned emperor. ”

”Come in ”, a weak voice spoke from within the rear palace walls. The emperor obliged and hurried inside. He stopped, gazing at the horrific sight of the injured Patriarch still on the ground. Bleeding from his mouth, ears, and eyes, the emperor lay ragged on the ground, a brand of a clawed hand seared right onto his left shoulder. Dark, daemonic energy oozed from the brand, and it evidently pained the Patriarch to barely move his body.

”I am disgraced to be found in such a pitiful state, yet I can wait no longer, ” the Patriarch eeked out, ”They…are coming. ” He coughed again, retching painfully as his entire body reeked of corruptive energies. The emperor rushed to support him. He injects his fathers wounds with his own spiritual power, though it only slightly ameliorated his pain.

”Whos coming? ” Though he did not show on his face, the emperor felt extremely nervous, a daunting premonition that the answer will set forth the inescapable destruction of the world. A calamitous war with unknown but assuredly frightening consequences. One that will either leave the world in ruin…or almost in ruins. There will be no good endings to this war. He is sure of it.

”Who is coming? ” The emperor repeated softly. The Patriarch groaned again in his arms.

”Chaos…chaos is coming. ” The Patriarch choked out, ”the dark tides of fate here to conquer. I, Parthus Cadia Goldfall, 13th Patriarch of the Goldfall Dynasty, command you, Florentius Cadia Goldfall, to lead our empire to victory against our transgressors. Do not let our world fall. Swear on your blood. ”

”Our world will survive, ” The emperor solemnly vowed, ”I will make sure of it. ” The Patriarch roughly clasps the emperors shoulder.

”Let there be war, then. ”