The story begins with a character named Tai, a wretched man who had faced countless hardships in his life, and was forced to be summoned from his world.
He had become a father to two children:
his eldest daughter, Sinn, who was not yet four years old, and his infant son, Yotaro, who had barely completed his first year.
Everything in this new world paled in significance to him, as long as he saw their smiles.
One day, with the sun high and the sky clear, the clouds awaiting their turn, Tai intended to leave the house to buy groceries. His daughter approached him, struggling to speak, and asked:
"D-dad...are you...buying...candy?"
Tai picked her up and said:
"Yes... your father will go buy candy."
Sinn's face lit up with a joyful, radiant smile. Miko then emerged from the room, gripping Tai's arm, and said:
"Be careful... I have a bad feeling. I hope nothing happens to you."
Tai placed his hand on his wife's head and reassured her:
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me. I will leave the house safe and return safe."
Tai and his companions headed to the store for household necessities. The store was not close to his home, as Tai's residence was located outside the Kingdom's gates.
As he finished purchasing the supplies and was heading back home, Tai suddenly stopped right outside the Kingdom's gate. His breath hitched, and the dense forest shadows were mirrored in his eyes. Something was profoundly wrong.
A faint sound, like the friction of iron, seeped through the branches, followed by the muffled tread of interrupted footsteps.
From the shadows, a tall man advanced, clad in battered armor. His eyes were ablaze with hostility, and his rough voice cut the silence:
"I am the leader of the bandits... and we are on a mission."
Tai didn't blink. He fixed his gaze on the man's eyes as if time had frozen:
"And what is your mission?"
A twisted smirk spread across the leader's face as he raised his hand, signaling his men:
"To kill a man called... Tai."
In that moment, a chilling sensation swept through Tai's body; it was as if fate whispered the name of the one who had engineered this. Before he could speak, the sound of an arrow piercing the air rang out, aimed directly at his head.
Tai swiftly raised his hand, and a sinister aura exploded from his body, colliding with the arrow and shattering it to pieces. The ground trembled around him, and the trees swayed as if bowing to an invisible force.
The leader screamed:
"Kill them!"
As the sun sank toward the horizon, the sky became a blend of dark crimson and somber blue. The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of blood and burnt gunpowder. Tai stood at the forefront, his eyes gleaming with a deadly coldness, a black sword hanging from his hand as if it had emerged from the depths of darkness. Beside him, his companions stood ready: Saven raised his iron shield before the group, Liana tightened her grip on her Holy Sword, and Daron twirled his large scythe as if preparing to cleave the very air. Behind them, Milia and Celia chanted their magical incantations, while Tilly let out a low growl, her features beginning to transform into that of a half-wolf, and Neva surrounded herself with an aura of enhancement magic.
On the opposite side, the bandit leader appeared—a massive man whose face was crisscrossed with scars, his eyes like two burning embers. He gripped a colossal axe dripping with blood. To his right and left stood two of his fiercest men: one holding a distorted spearhead, and the other a hooked sword that glinted in the twilight. Behind them, the rest of the thieves clustered, their eyes filled with brutality and a hunger for gore.
Tai smiled lightly, then whispered:
— "Don't let a single one of them leave alive."
And everything erupted at once. The bandits roared and lunged like a pack of wolves. Saven clashed with them first, his iron shield deflecting swords and arrows, the impact echoing against its solid surface. Suddenly, the sound of steel tearing the air rang out, as Daron cleaved through their ranks with his flame-wreathed scythe. The head of one thief flew into the air, and blood sprayed like a crimson fountain.
In that moment, Tai watched silently, still unmoving. Until the leader approached with heavy steps. Tai raised his black sword and said coolly:
— "Fine... Let's see what you've got."
The leader charged with his axe, striking down with enough force to split a boulder. But Tai merely moved his wrist, calmly stopping the attack with a subtle side deflection. Sparks flew, and the air itself shuddered from the force of the collision. Tai smirked, then pushed the leader back with a swift kick that nearly shattered his ribs.
The two thieves accompanying the leader rushed to assist. The first swung his spear toward Tai's chest. But Tai spun around just in time, grabbing the spear with his bare hand, and unleashed a shocking burst of Mana from his body, instantaneously blowing the man into scattered fragments. The other yelled and lunged with his hooked sword. Tai simply took a step back, then sliced the air with a swift motion. His black sword materialized a massive wave of darkness that cleaved the man's body in two. His entrails spilled onto the dirt.
The scene had become a vision of hell:
— Tilly tore through the bandits with her claws, blood staining her face as she howled beneath the ascending moon.
— Liana struck with her Holy Sword, opening a passage of light that dissolved the flesh of her enemies.
— Neva moved at lightning speed, muscles enhanced, shattering the bones of her foes with magic-infused punches.
— Milia summoned fires that consumed anyone who approached, while Celia healed her comrades, preventing any wound from felling them.
Yet, Tai remained different. He wasn't just fighting to kill; he was savoring it. He stopped every move of his opponents with scorn, letting them attack only to mock their slowness, severing arms here and stabbing legs there, leaving them to bleed out in slow, agonizing death.
Finally, the leader collapsed onto his knees, his face drenched in blood and exhaustion. He looked up at Tai and screamed:
— "What kind of monster are you?!"
Tai approached, his eyes glowing in the light of the now-full moon, and whispered coldly:
— "I am... the Beginning and the End."
With a single movement, his sword pierced the leader's heart, and blood erupted in a fountain under the moonlit sky, declaring the end of the massacre.
After Tai finished them off, he realized they had come from the direction of his home and muttered:
"This is the way to my house. Could they have been sent from the Kingdom?"
Suddenly, Tai felt a powerful magical explosion coming from the direction of his home.
As Tai neared his residence, he saw smoke rising from the house. He spoke with fear and panic, as if a stone lay upon his chest:
"That smoke is coming from my house. I hope it's not my home."
With every step he took, his heart pounded harder, and his breath grew shallower. Each step toward the house felt like a dagger in his chest, his breathing tightening little by little.
When he reached the house, the shock was immense: his home was burnt and was the source of the explosion.
Tai let out a deep scream that broke his silence and rushed into the burning house. He saw his wife shielding his son, Yotaro. Tai was confused, terrified, and his emotions were tangled; he didn't know what to do.
Tai approached his wife and said with deep sorrow:
"Listen, are you with me?"
His wife replied in a faint voice, on the brink of death:
"I protected our son... but I haven't seen our daughter, Sinn."
Tai cried:
"Are you alright? Answer me. Can you see me?"
His wife placed her hand on Tai's cheek and whispered, tears streaming down her face:
"I have always loved you... and I still do."
Tai's body shuddered as memories of his life with his wife flashed before his eyes. He laughed and cried simultaneously from the sheer trauma:
"Me too, but please, don't die."
Her hand fell to the ground, and she died. Tai's pupils dilated, the light in his eyes extinguished, and he plunged into endless darkness.
His face lost all distinct features from the overwhelming turmoil of his emotions. He went to check if his son was still alive.
When he held him, he realized his son had died from asphyxiation.
Tai said with chilling calm, having lost everything he owned:
"You sacrificed yourself for our son... but he died even in your embrace."
Tai carried his wife and son out of the burning house. His face was unreadable, as if he had lost his very humanity.
As he walked out and stood before the house, he began to hear a voice screaming from within him:
"Look what they did to you... Look what happened to you... This is what they wanted. And what do you want?"
Tai said, his eyes weeping blood:
"I want Revenge."
His aura erupted and intensified, shaking and splitting the ground. With every step Tai took, his aura grew stronger. His hair began to turn white from the sheer rage, hatred, and malice, and his eyes became blood-red, like a killer's.
Saven cried out in fear:
"Is that Tai?! What happened to him? What did he see?"
Tai walked over and created a magical coffin, placed his son inside, hugged his wife, leaned against the coffin, and lit his cigarette.
As he lit his cigarette, rain began to fall.
Tai started to laugh and contemplated destroying and ending humanity, saying:
"They did this to me. They don't know the pain of loss."
Tai grew angry, laughing maniacally, and declared:
"These bastards. They don't know the meaning of the pain of loss and believe they are protected because they are wealthy. But I will annihilate the human race that stood against me, even if it's over my dead body."
A deranged laugh burst from Tai, a laugh carrying the bitterness of one who has sold their life and abandoned everything, now seeing the world from a different angle: the angle of hatred and slaughter... He proclaimed:
"Over my dead body? Whose corpse will they get but the corpses of their friends and families? Look at me, and I will make you all know the meaning of loss."
He headed towards the Kingdom, concealing his rage behind a terrifying laugh, fueled by his thirst for revenge.
One of Tai's friends stepped forward and asked:
"Where are you going?"
Tai replied with cold indifference:
"That does not concern you."
She stepped closer to stop him. Saven yelled in fear:
"Step away from him, Queen!"
Tai turned, his eyes desperate for slaughter. He spoke with mad sorrow:
"Queen?!"
Saven sensed the danger and a lethal aura that threatened anyone near Tai, and he moved to protect the Queen.
Saven tried with all his might to protect the Queen, but Tai severed her head in a fraction of a second.
Saven received a warning notification on his armor:
"Run!! Do not die!! And do not try to provoke him."
Saven screamed in terror, seeing a monster being born:
"Run! He is a monster!"
Liana asked in shock:
"Monster!?"
Tai uttered his words with a terrifying calmness, a stillness that foreshadowed an imminent explosion, and said:
"I considered you my friends."
The rain began to pour heavily. Tai stepped forward and stated:
"I will play with you a little."
Terror and fear gripped them. They asked:
"How will you play with us?"
Tai's voice surged, like a whisper from another world, a terrifying sound that froze the blood in their veins and sent shivers down their spines:
"My beautiful friends, my dear friends, Saven, Liana, Tilly, Milia, Celia, Daron, and Neva."
He also added:
"I killed one of you. Whose turn is it now?"
He pulled out two cores from his pocket and asked:
"Do you know what is in my hands?"
Saven replied:
"Cores?"
Tai said:
"Correct. Therefore, I will make you the last one to die. But these are not just any cores. Do you know whose cores these are?"
Saven was about to speak, but Tai cut him off, saying:
"Let someone else answer, or you will all die now."
Daron stepped forward and said in fear:
"The cores of... two Demon Kings?"
Tai replied:
"Your answer is correct, but that doesn't mean you won't die."
— Everyone was stunned and fell into a hysterical state.
Tai said:
"Now it is time to summon them."
— He released an energy that shook the earth, causing cracks, and spirits began to fear and tried to flee.
Tai commanded:
"Come forth, O' Two Demon Kings."
The First King hesitated and disliked the idea of emerging and becoming a servant, but he was forced by Tai's power, while the other Queen readily agreed.
Tai roared:
"From now on, you two are my servants!"
The two Kings asked:
"What will you name us?"
Tai said:
"Your name is Diablo, and your name is Draculina. Go to the Kingdom and scout it."
They replied:
"Understood."
Draculina asked:
"What will you do?"
Tai replied in a breathtaking voice:
"That doesn't concern you. Go... or I will kill you."
She said in fear:
"You are our Master, and we only wanted to know what you would do?"
Tai commanded:
"Depart and do not make me repeat myself. Know your place with me, or I will kill you."
Draculina said:
"I apologize for my insolence," and departed.
Tai returned his chilling gaze to them. Every step he took was a harbinger of death. Then, he said in a low, spine-chilling voice:
"I will enjoy myself with you all... so make it entertaining."
(End of Chapter 1)