Five years since the Magic Empire fell to ruin.
Led by the Holy Kingdom, the Alliance of Nations that was the main player in the Empire’s fall was maintaining a temporary peace while keeping each other in check.
A great many people wished this peace to last forever, indulging in the slaves, loot, and territory plundered from the Empire.
However, in a place n.o.body knew of, someone moved.
The lead part is a memento from the fallen empire.
The prince and princess of the now-gone Empire, a pair of siblings.
“We shan’t forget a single one of those days! Nii-sama!”
Underneath the glittering stars of the night sky, there was a young boy and a young girl in the middle of a forest a considerable distance from the capital.
The girl, playing with her hair that was so long it seemed like it goes down to her feet, smiled.
She was a beautiful girl.
Her long black hair flowed down beautifully, not getting entangled with her long skirt that reaches down to her ankles, her spotless chalk-white skin gives the impression of melting snow upon gentle touch. Her shining gem-like eyes, shining blue like sapphires, emanated a radiance like the light of the stars condensed. However, there was no smile in her eyes. Inside those eyes that would fascinate any race, flames of hatred flickered and burned.
Her name was Halva.
The second in line to the throne of the Magic Empire.
“Yeah.”
The short but powerful answer was the boy’s.
His appearance was a match for Halva’s, a fine figure of a man.
He was a boy with a womanlike beautiful face, a tall stature, golden hair that shines even in the darkness, and a pair of deep blue pupils. His appearance was vaguely similar to Halva’s.
However, his expression was austere, his tone of voice brusque, giving him a rough impression; rather than a gentleman, were it be more apt to call him a military man. His muscles were also that of a well trained man’s, his well built body can well be seen from even under his clothes.
His name was Alarc.
The first in line for the throne of the Magic Empire.
They were the prince and princess of the former Empire.
For never inheriting the throne, their t.i.tles stayed as they were.
“Father and Mother’s laments, resentment, their screams mixed with fear, do not allow them to be forgotten, even if you wanted to forget.”
“Yes, the cries of the retainers, full of regret and suffering, they will not leave my ears…”
Halva, full of dark wrath, muttered a short phrase.
“—Teleport, Jewel of the Underground Labyrinth.”
The moment she said the words, white and black intermingled and a fist-sized jewel appeared.
What she recited was the spell called [Item Teleport]. A low rank magic to call upon items bearing the mark.
“Come, Nii-sama! Let us begin our revenge.”
“All right.”
Halva invited her brother with a gentle, wicked smile.
Alarc nodded gravely, answering his sister’s words.
It’s been a short while since the fall of the Empire, though it seemed like a long time to the siblings.
When the Imperial Capital came under siege, the two were let to escape.
As they watched the castle they were so familiar with burn down and the beautiful capital trampled over, protected by magic cast upon them by their father and mother, they were led away by the Empire’s best magic user, who later became their magic teacher.
The two who lost everything was left with only one thing.
Revenge.
Revenge against all the countries that caused the fall of the Empire.
They absolutely will not forgive.
The two vowed.
They will not fuss over the means. Whatever it takes, they will give them what they deserve.
They devoted the five years for the sake of revenge.
In order to fulfill that goal ordinary magic will not be enough. Therefore, they laid their hands on things that were called forbidden and heretical. They learnt many forbidden magics, granting them great power at a great price until they were able to remember them.
Perhaps because of that, their souls became impure, their spirits were affected in no trifle quant.i.ties.
Were someone who knew them as children to see them now, they would shed tears, seeing how they became so different people.
Halva’s hair that was golden like her brother’s was dyed jet black, not a shred of her timid character was left.
Alarc’s gentle smile was no more and his skin ice-cold, like a corpse.
She grabbed the summoned jewel in her hand. He covered the top of the jewel not held by his sister.
With a sizzling sound, the overflowing mana from the jewel burned the two, but neither of them let out a voice of pain.
Halva happily widened her smile and looked at her brother.
Alarc looked at his sister with emotionless eyes.
Then, they gave each other a slight nod, and spun the words of magic.
““In order to grant us… our revenge.””
Their voices resounded in the night.
““— Create, the Wickedly Vicious Underground Empire.””
There was a country called the Magic Empire.
Its actual name was the Altimur Empire.
True to its name, the Empire was reigned by people who could wield magic, as n.o.bles. It ruled over huge tracts of land.
The reason why the Empire possessed such territory was twofold.
The first was magic.
A power that twists and bends the law of the world, yielding the results to the wishes of the wielder.
It was not omnipotent, but still useful nonetheless.
From simple destruction magic to magic that manipulates people’s hearts to ones that change their appearance, magic that give swords a cutting edge several times sharper, and magic to keep produce from being attacked by insects, the magic was separated into several different kinds, and all of them was studied with great zeal by the Empire. In its heyday, the Empire could come up with thousands of different magics.
Led by the royalty and the n.o.bility, the magicians worked and the Magic Empire was always in abundance.
The other reason was that they warmly welcomed races other than humans.
In this world there lives a great number of non-human races.
To call upon an example there were the Elves and the Dwarves, though they were few they had Elven and Dwarven countries. They were treated like humans in most countries, but Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, Minotaurs, Centaurs, Fairies, Beasts, and humans from savage lands that do not know language were treated as barbarians, like wild creatures. Every village that was discovered was set aflame, the residents captured and enslaved or killed, the treasures they owned taken away as pillage.
However, the Empire treated them just like they treated humans.
The Empire traded with the tribes within on equal terms. Of course there was retaliation if they attacked, but generally, they were on friendly terms.
Then, because they were treated equally, the surrounding countries starting with the Holy Kingdom saw them as a threat.
The Empire that possessed much land did unfortunately not have the military power to defend it all.
The surrounding countries, led by the Holy Kingdom, put military and economic pressure on the Empire, infiltrating with their troops time and time again.
Then, when the Holy Kingdom troops attacked a small Empire village, the Empire gathered soldiers and fought them back. The Kingdom took this as a pretense to attack and sent their troops to launch a preemptive strike, as if in agreement, the surrounding countries pressed their attacks from all sides.
The Empire was by no means weak, but with their territory so large their soldiers were spread too thin and they were all crushed. Even with their magic, they couldn’t win against an attack by the thousands and tens of thousands, the savage tribes under the Empire’s protection also joined the war, but they were lacking in equipment and training, so the Empire slowly lost its military.
The Empire sent out peace emissaries, but the Holy Kingdom ignored them.
The emissaries were killed, and their heads were sent back.
The final blow was the n.o.bles betraying the Empire after seeing it at a disadvantage.
Among those who capitulated and bowed their heads to the Kingdom, there were those who eagerly gave away intelligence about the Empire, those who simply wanted to protect their territory, and there were also those who were dissatisfied with the Imperial policy of treating the so-called savages equally.
Finally, the Imperial Capital was trampled down by the Allied Forces and thoroughly pillaged.
The Emperor was beheaded in the imperial castle by the Holy Kingdom Knights and died. The Imperial Capital Knights who resisted were all executed. Not only the imperial castle, each and every house was plundered, then burned down. A third of the capital’s inhabitants were killed, the rest was taken to the Holy Kingdom and the countries of the Alliance as slaves.
Alarc and Halva were driven out of their hometown, and for 5 years since the Empire fell, they dedicated themselves for revenge.
Not to rebuild it, but to dispel the grief of those who perished.
Learning the heretical and the forbidden arts, the siblings continued preparing their revenge.
Then, just now, the preparations were all complete.
They offered their own souls, and chanted one of the forbidden magics, the Labyrinth.
n.o.body yet knew that the fires of revenge that will burn the continent down to nothing had been lit.