A year after the great catastrophe, humanity and other races were divided. Half of them chose to erase the memory of the calamity, vowing to omit it from all written and inherited histories. Yet, the other half vehemently disagreed. They formed a faction known as Anti-Divine.
The Anti-Divine faction repudiated all gods and goddesses, holding Shironeko in particular contempt. Initially, their sole purpose was to preserve their hatred and vengeance against Shironeko, ensuring it lived on even after their own passing. However, they soon noticed a peculiar anomaly: none of the other gods seemed to intervene or stop Shironeko. This glaring absence led them to conclude that the other deities were complicit. Thus, their primary objective became clear: to despise all gods, and to reject any teachings, past or present, that resembled divine doctrines.
Their faction endured for centuries, with many coming to believe in Anti-Divine as a beacon of truth and a guide to prosperity. They spread their ideology through loyal evangelists, sending these trusted individuals across the world of Enripidia. They preached that the world had once been nearly destroyed by the gods, with Shironeko as the primary culprit. Common folk, nobles, and even royalty embraced their message and joined their ranks. The Anti-Divine faction's influence spanned almost every kingdom and empire in the world.
However, exactly 800 years after the Anti-Divine faction had achieved near-global domination, a new faction emerged: the Pro-Divine. As their name suggests, this faction was established to revive the almost-extinct teachings of the gods. They dispatched priests and influential figures to every corner of the land to disseminate the ancient divine doctrines. The Pro-Divine faction first took root in the Miniziolin Empire, where it garnered its largest following. With the full support of the imperial government, they were free to preach their message anywhere. They proclaimed that humans and all other races must submit to the authority of the gods to live in peace and prosperity.
Initially, the Pro-Divine faction spread without issue in their homeland. But upon venturing beyond the empire's borders, they began to sway members of the Anti-Divine, causing some to abandon their original faction and join the Pro-Divine. This infuriated the Anti-Divine leadership. Suddenly, key members of the Pro-Divine faction began to vanish without a trace. The Pro-Divine publicly accused the Anti-Divine, but lacking concrete proof, they eventually retracted their accusations.
Fanatical followers from both factions often clashed, engaging in brawls over the smallest disagreements. Other followers grew restless with these incessant conflicts. The fanatics showed no regard for location or situation, engaging in fisticuffs or, at the very least, shouting matches that disturbed public peace. Many reported these incidents to their respective faction leaders, but both factions seemed to disregard the complaints, dismissing them as mere "small skirmishes that would eventually die down." This left the general public feeling marginalized by the very factions they followed. Then, an incident occurred where a brawl between two faction members escalated into both of their deaths. Following this tragedy, neither faction remained silent. They blamed each other, and the only resolution they could reach was a peace treaty lasting 200 years.
A thousand years have passed since those two events.
In a kingdom that championed justice and equality, both factions flourished peacefully, though minor political conflicts still simmered between them. Here lived a boy named Leornar, often called "Leader". He was on the cusp of adulthood, yet he believed in neither faction, preferring to live independently despite their near-global dominance. His home was a dilapidated wooden shack, a mark of extreme poverty, situated in a narrow, squalid alley within the kingdom's capital. Despite his circumstances, he remained grateful for his grandmother's companionship. His parents, his grandmother had told him, had died in a widespread epidemic about a year after his birth. He accepted this without question, living thankfully alongside his childhood friends.
At the age of twelve, he played joyfully with his friends, leading a happy life with his beloved grandmother, eating heartily, and sleeping soundly. But then, strange and peculiar events began to plague him. He suffered continuous nightmares, heard strange whispers in his head and ears, and saw odd, human-like shadows—sometimes red, sometimes blue, sometimes black, and many other colors—constantly appearing near his play areas or wherever he happened to be. He initially dismissed them as figments of his imagination or due to exhaustion from play. However, as time went on, the dreams, voices, and shadows became more frequent and uncontrollable. Leader felt as if something was urging him to seek a truth, and he began preparing himself for a journey to uncover the meaning behind these occurrences.
On his sixteenth birthday, he asked his grandmother for permission to embark on a journey, citing a desire to see the wider world. His grandmother granted his wish, but on one condition: he must return, whether healthy or not, as long as life remained within his body. Leader admitted he couldn't promise that, but he vowed he would return no matter what, even if his body no longer held his soul. His grandmother saw him off at the city gates. Ketua walked away, looking back and waving. His grandmother returned his wave with a smile and flowing tears.
Leader continued his journey on foot. He walked until the sun began to set, and with darkness falling, he made camp in the forest, lighting a small, flickering bonfire. As he relaxed and warmed himself, two figures suddenly emerged from the shadows. They were dressed like robbers, their clothes torn and faces scarred, each wielding a long sword. Upon seeing them, Leader immediately drew his own sword from its sheath.
One robber lunged forward, intending to strike Leader. But with swordsmanship honed since he decided to embark on this journey at age twelve, Leader parried the attack, expertly redirecting the blade. The other robber, seeing this, did not stand idle. He employed a cunning tactic, allowing his attack to be parried, but then suddenly produced a small knife from beneath his clothes, narrowly missing Leader. However, Leader, seeing the danger, swiftly leaped to the side, evading the surprise attack.
The two robbers, now beginning to tire, regrouped. Seeing Leader momentarily seated on the ground, they believed this was their chance. They attacked simultaneously, thrusting their swords towards where Leader was. But Ketua agilely leaped high into the air, plunging his sword into the head of one of them. The other robber panicked and attacked wildly. Leader skillfully evaded the frenzied strikes before thrusting his sword directly into the robber's heart. Both robbers fell to the ground. Leader, looking at them, felt no surprise or oddity. He removed their face coverings. He found their faces familiar; they were the kingdom's most feared and wanted bandits. Since they were dead, their bounties were nullified, so Leader chose to camp deeper in the forest, far from the bodies, to avoid the unpleasant smell.
The next morning, Leader woke up and took a deep breath. With morning light, he packed all his equipment, eager to leave and continue his journey. He walked along a dirt road used by horse-drawn carriages. Several people offered him a ride, but he explained he had no fixed destination and would continue walking until he found a city or a village.
Leader continued his tiring journey. Exhausted, he finally decided to rest under a large tree. He ate the sandwich his grandmother had prepared, taking a few sips of water. Leaning against the tree trunk, he gazed at the sky, wondering if there was something beyond its beautiful expanse. Once his weariness had lifted, he resumed his travels. As he walked, he heard the distant sound of clashing swords and saw a horse-drawn carriage stopped ahead. "Ting, Ting, Ting, Ting, Ting !"
Hearing this, Leader approached cautiously through the nearby bushes. He saw several people in plate armor battling figures dressed in black, with hooded heads and half-masks. Ketua sensed this was an ambush similar to what he had experienced the night before. Before acting, he thought about how to intervene without getting entangled with those he intended to save. After a moment of thought, he decided to don attire similar to that of the attackers.
He emerged from behind the assailants. Due to his similar clothing, they initially mistook him for one of their own and asked for his help. But instead, one of them fell to the ground, his head severed. Those who witnessed this were unable to retaliate, as they were still fending off attacks from the front. A few of the attackers were sent to where Leader stood. They attacked Leader using guerrilla tactics. Ketua found himself struggling as they attacked in unison, then retreated a few steps, forming a defensive wall with their bodies when he tried to strike.
Finding himself in a difficult position, Leader fled into the forest to lure them. However, it seemed they understood his tactic: to kill them one by one, quickly and silently. Realizing his plan had been read, Leader returned to confront the enemy. Now, he employed a different tactic. As they retreated after attacking, Leader executed a plan: he would slice through the front of their defensive formation. Before they could retreat further, Leader leaped with incredible speed, his sword a blur, slicing into the front-line assassins/robbers, causing them to drop to the ground one by one. The enemies in the middle and back ranks scattered and fled into the forest. Leader smiled, wiping blood from his forehead and spitting a little blood from his mouth.
Having been skilled at climbing trees since childhood, Leader now used the tactic of killing from above, swiftly and silently. Eventually, none of the fleeing assassins/robbers survived. Only those who had been fighting the carriage guards remained. Returning to the original scene, Leader observed from a distance, hidden behind the bushes. He watched them intently, ready to intervene if the guards proved unable to fight them off. He saw one guard fall, almost impaled by an enemy's sword, but another guard swiftly helped by thrusting his own sword from behind, directly into the attacker's heart.
Leader remained focused. Eventually, many guards grew exhausted, collapsing one by one, yet the assassins/robbers seemed to possess boundless energy, remaining on their feet. Feeling it was time to act, Leader moved silently from behind, killing the assassins/robbers and dragging their bodies to a hidden spot so others wouldn't notice. The enemies, realizing their numbers were dwindling, ordered their entire group to be on high alert, watching left and right without blinking. But Leader, with his agility, managed to kill two more undetected. As before, he dragged their bodies to a hidden spot.
The carriage guards were perplexed. The assassins/robbers were no longer focused on attacking them; instead, they seemed focused on something else, something that threatened them. As they watched, the leader of the assassins/robbers was decapitated and fell to the ground. From the darkness emerged a figure clad in dark black. Holding the severed head of the assassin/robber leader, the figure approached them. The guards, though exhausted, remained on guard. Ketua approached, dropped the head in front of the guard captain, then ran into the forest, disappearing into its darkness.