Chapter 1: Prologue: By my very soul!

The corpses of men and monstrous beasts alike littered the battlefield and formed a gruesome mosaic that repulsed even the eyes of the gods above. Harsh sunlight gleamed off of exposed armor and the stench of blood and viscera permeated from sundered flesh and bone. Carrion calls echoed from the skies, attracting more and more of the ravenous and raving flock. 

Amidst this chaotic mixture of sights, smells, and sounds, a lone figure cradled a petite frame in shaking arms. The men he led up to this point, his order of knights, stood at a distance, surveying the site with solemn gazes. They knew not to disturb him.

The dazed eyes of the girl he held turned to meet his own. 

Both of them knew. It was clear that there was no saving her. Her lifeblood had long stopped flowing in her veins, most of it having seeped into the earth from open wounds and torn limbs. The weapon she used to wield with such pride lay shattered beneath the last behemoth it had slain, her Will no longer able to manifest its form. Its fragments dissipated into countless motes of incorporeal light, fading forever out of existence. 

Gathering whatever scant power remained in her body, she tried to whisper with her last breaths of life the words she had meant to convey all this while. 

Instead, a wheezing cough stole those words from her bloodied lips. Dark blood escaped from the corner of her mouth. Helplessly, the boy could only watch as the light left her eyes.

She breathed no longer. The girl hailed as a heroine of her kingdom, one of the boy’s closest companions, had perished in what can only be called a tragic and pitiful end. 

He no longer bore witness to the colors of death around him. He no longer smelled the vile stench of decay. He no longer heard the cacophony of carrion birds. His senses and reasoning all left him at that moment. 

The dead were cremated in a colossal blaze that turned everything to ash. 

Sorrow and grief were transient -whatever tears he shed had long since dried out.

However many hours or days that followed in their march back home, time mercilessly crept onwards.

*SLAM!*

A book slammed into a wall. A man’s voice erupted in rage, and the room shook with his fury. Larry Chrysler indignantly roared out his grievances.

“What the hell is this?!” he screamed to the heavens above. His tone and expression were laden with despair.

I’ve waited half a year for this volume to come out, and the damn author kills off the female lead? What about my one true pairing? What about the ship that was so close to sailing? Is this real? Are my hopes and dreams to die here?!

An avid novel junky, Larry had religiously read the novel series The Guardian Knight’s Saga, treating each page of every volume as if they were made of gold leaf. When the newest volume was released in his country, the hardcore fan practically flew at lightspeed to obtain a hard copy. 

Readers anticipated even more development of the female lead, Christiana Lorien, who was adored by fans to the point that she surpassed even the main protagonist Rayden Havelocke in popularity polls.

The past several volumes fervently fanned the flames of goodwill between Rayden and Christiana. Many readers, Larry included, supported the budding relationship between two adolescents and had profound hopes riding on this volume that the two would finally realize their feelings towards each other. However, his excitement and joy quickly withered into an almost deathly state of despondence when he read that she died a dog’s death without even being given a chance to confess her feelings to the protagonist. He couldn’t believe that the author had been preparing to turn this rom-com into a complete tragedy all along! 

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His eyes burned with righteous indignation. Turning his head up to the heavens, he furiously proclaimed;

“If there is a God in this world, he will right these wrongs! He will not tolerate the ultimate sin of denying this holiest of unions! This is a travesty against the very Heavens, and I shall not stand for it!” 

...

A minute passed.

Once again he checked the accursed page, only to grimace when the same words once again blighted his mind. 

“So be it, if even the gods themselves won’t save you, then I will! I swear by my very soul!” The first class superfan’s devotion to the main ship had evolved into fanatical fervor at this point.

Larry took to his trusty laptop computer for the rest of the night, assembling an intensely negative review of The Guardian Knight’s Saga online. Titling his post, “Bring back Chris!” he proceeded to launch words onto the screen with the raging frenzy of an Ashura. 

Peering at the time on his computer after writing a conclusion to his rage-induced review, he noticed it had long since drawn past midnight. His adrenaline fading away, Larry’s mind slowly drifted away from consciousness as he staggered over to his bed. 

I’ve never felt this tired before. Maybe it’s something to do with the damn book.

Collapsing onto the mattress, these were his last thoughts.

...

“Your wish has been acknowledged.”

...

 

Huh?