Prologue: Urs Aletri Forest
A blood-red rain.
A forest that had lost its colors.
A dagger piercing through his right arm.
"Who the hell threw a dagger at me!?" Atherios Endraver Alyeste screamed, though he did not dare looking back — not at the risk of taking a dagger on the face.
The boy had been running for almost four hours straight, failing to get even a second to stop and breathe, and the forest's Colour Spectrum going wild surely wasn't helping.
"This better not become a thing," Atherios said under his breath while barely dodging an arrow aimed at his other arm. "Leave my arms in peace, fuckers!"
During these four hours of escaping, Atherios had been desperately trying to connect with his Spectrum, to no avail. His hands — now only the left — were forming signals at an absurd speed, to the point his bones were close to breaking.
"Prince! Please, let's talk this out!" Aside from the grunts and haggard breathing of his pursuers, this elderly voice was the only one to answer Atherios' constant cursing.
"Fuck you, old man! How did you even manage to follow me!?" Atherios screamed, keeping his eyes forward.
The old man's name was Joneh Le Aesterio, an old-time butler of the Alyeste House, and Atherios' very first mentor. The very first person to betray him.
'He should be almost eighty now, so how is he keeping up!? Damned Red!'
Red, the Color of Ever-Strength, gave Joneh enough vigor to last him three lifetimes, and with the old butler's mastery at it, he could run for days without getting even slightly tired.
"Finally," Atherios muttered as a grin formed on his face. The Holy Prince's left hand stopped at a warped sign, shining in gold alongside his eyes.
Yes, this was Atherios Endraver Alyeste's color—
Atherios turned his body to face Joneh and over a dozen other pursuers. He joined his index and middle fingers like a blade — only to open his palm in a claw stance.
Then, Atherios halted.
"『Spectra: Sabre』!"
In an instant, the monochromatic forest was dyed yellow. From behind Atherios, a massive, armored golden hand gave way to the mortal world, holding an enormous sword.
The ethereal figure unsheathed the blade slowly, but the ones running after Atherios found themselves unable to move, fragile.
Joneh screamed something, but nothing was heard.
The bloody rain stopped, as if the heavens had been cut by that golden catastrophe.
Silence gave way to the screams of the damned, as slaughter forged the boy's path.
This hunt for the Holy Prince had begun but two days ago, yet over five hundred lives had been lost.
When Joneh came to be, he was surrounded by corpses. The Urs Aletri Forest was silent, as the source of its unrest was long gone.
For the Holy Prince had reached His temple.
For what had been done, could not be undone.
✦✦✦
"Hah… Haha!" A maddened laugh echoed through a seemingly endless staircase, reaching even farther into the Urs Aletri Forest. "Hahahahaha!"
A black-haired boy slowly climbed the stairs with trembling steps, his breath shallow at the point that the only sign of life in his body was the blood still flowing and the shine of his eyes.
The boy's golden eyes shone brightly, like the stars that once decorated the sky of his home town. Smiling, Atherios slowly lifted his left hand to remove the dagger carved into his right arm, ignoring the pain.
"I did it… I fuckin' did it!" Atherios screamed from the bottom of his soul, happiness evident in his voice.
He had been trying to reach this damned temple for nearly five years now, but each and every attempt had been struck down by his kingdom's arrows.
'As did I,' Atherios thought with a sarcastic grin, looking at the multiple wounds in his body — especially the arms. His magic depended on the movement of his arms, after all.
It had taken a long while for the kingdom to finally take lethal measures against him. Just as they could not lose Atherios, they could not risk having him escaping to the outside world.
After all…
"The Holy Prince trying to summon a demon? Hah, those old foggies at the Council must have gone crazy when they heard it!"
The Vessel of God, Holy Prince, Crazy Bastard, Invader of Personal Space… Atherios had many titles and nicknames, all of them filled with power and, uh… Other qualities.
'And I don't like an inch of them, I tell ya!'
He was a foul-mouthed, insane, degenerative saint, but still the face of the Holy Kingdom. No one could call him a crazy bastard in his face, nor accuse him of invading their space inside the Holy Kingdom.
But they still did.
That was how much of a bastard he is!
"Fuck those idiots of the Council. Fuck the Holy Kingdom. Fuck the gods!"
Atherios' weakened, trembling steps gradually became fast, desperate. He could die at any moment in these dang stairs, but he needed to reach the Temple!
At one point, he was basically crawling the staircase, leaving a trail of blood so long it seemed like it was infinite.
"Haah… Haah…" Atherios' breathing had started to fail, but he could almost see the gates to the Temple of Profanity.
And when he finally took a glance at them…
"Red… Goddamnit, it had to be red…"
After coming so far, Atherios could smell the failure in his being. He stretched his arms, trying to just reach for the end of the staircase, but no strength gathered in his body.
He could feel Death approaching.
He could feel the gods extend their hands to him, wanting to take back the body they gave.
"I ask of thee, Spirit of Life, grant me strength to face thy enemies…"
But he drove Death away with Life.
"I ask of thee, Herald of the End, grant me strength to fend away the Void…"
But he resisted the Holy with Evil.
Atherios' body, which was close to collapsing, suddenly experienced a burst of holy power, reinvigorating his entire being.
Though he was called the Holy Prince and Vessel of God, his holy power did not come from any god. Most of the time, Atherios sacrificed his own life force and gave it to others — and this time, he used it on himself.
A pretty neat trick, born from years of servitude to assholes.
And to answer his prayers, a sarcastic voice answered.
"To use holy power on this Forest of Profanity… I wonder, what kind of monster has arrived in this era?"
The voice was filled with malice, but it was Atherios' last hope.
"Please… Help… Me…"
At that moment, the only thing Atherios could see was the cruel smile on the face of his savior.
Actually, could that thing even be called a savior?