Chapter 1

Translator: Exodus Tales

Editor: Exodus Tales

“My head…”

Fang Zheng opened his eyes and was met with a boundless sky.

Where… Was this?

Turning around, he looked to both sides, only to seen broken wooden boards and hear the chattering of horse hooves as well as the grinding of wheels.

“Hngh…”

The piercing pain in his head made him moan. He shut his eyes and tried to recall what had happened before all this. If he remembered right, he was outside doing a certain mission when…

“Young Master! Are you awake?”

Just as Fang Zheng was deep in thought, an old man came out from beside him. It was a white-haired man in tattered leather armor, with a longsword strapped to his back. This was quite the apparel and Fang Zheng’s disorientation made it feel even more strange. The most peculiar part about this whole thing was how the old man wasn’t even speaking in a language he’d heard of before. And yet, Fang Zheng somehow seemed to understand everything he was saying.

Even so, the confusion within him remained.

Who was this man, and why was he calling him Young Master?

Who even was he himself?

“Ah- Ah!”

Fang Zheng tried remembering once more when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his skull as if something was stabbing right through. He wrapped his head in his arms and groaned in agony, worrying the old man as he watched. He quickly moved over and grabbed his shoulders.

“Young Master, what’s going on? Don’t scare me like this!”

“I… I…”

Fang Zheng couldn’t form the words as the man’s cries of concern washed over him. His head was splitting, distorting the scenery around him. Soon after, however, a blue radiant light opened up in front of Fang Zheng, forming a very familiar, yet unique interface. What followed was a gentle voice beside his ear.

“Interface menu complete… System initializing… Soul wavelength detected… Confirmation process initialized…”

“Hngh..! Ahh…”

The pain Fang Zheng was experiencing was no longer limited to just his head. He felt as if his entire body had been thrown onto a butcher’s table, as if he was being chopped up. His bloodstream went in the other direction, his breathing became rapid, and his heart seemed to be trying its hardest to throb its way out of his throat. All Fang Zheng could do now was hold his fists tightly closed, grit his teeth and wait for the insanity to end.

“Lord Carter, they’re catching up to us!”

“Damn! You lot take the Young Master and leave. We’ll stand our ground here!”

“Take care-!”

A loud explosive noise interrupted the group. Fang Zheng could make out dimmed down sounds made up of cries and fighting noises, but before he realized what was happening another burst of explosions sounded, throwing Fang Zheng completely off-balance, as if he were some leather ball flung out of a speeding horse carriage. 

His body landed, slamming into the ground. 

“Gah!”

Fang Zheng could feel his back fully colliding with the surface with his entirety, the sudden blow of the pain even mitigating some of the earlier burning pain from before. It was because of this impact that he was able to regain some control over his body. Using this bit of strength, he looked around.

What he saw was a wilderness enveloped in darkness, and beside him, a horse carriage in the midst of a burning fire. The driver of the horse carriage had been reduced to ash as well, with a few figures of warriors in combat in the fading distance. They seemed to be a group of attendants of sorts, handling enemies clad in silver-white plate armor, knights that seemed to have come out of some video game.

What the hell was this place?

The warriors looked as if they were trying their hardest, but even Fang Zheng could see that it was a one-sided battle. A couple of back and forths was all that took for the white-silver knights to pierce through the fighters, corpse after corpse, a cruel sight to behold.

“Young Master, hurry! Leave this place!”

Only the old man still danced his sword around, desperately hanging onto the battle as he cried out in Fang Zheng’s direction.

He needed to leave now!

He may not understand even now what he’d gotten involved in, but his goal now was simple. He needed to run.

But… His body did not allow for such movements. He didn’t know why, but his muscles were aching and burning in pain. There was no trace of strength or energy left within him, and just holding his body up took most of his will already, as if just standing alone was a desperate struggle.

“Soul wavelength verified, binding complete. Please activate codex.”

The voice was calm and composed and accompanied with it, Fang Zheng saw an odd and complex circle float right in front of him. It seemed like a spell formation of sorts, but according to Fang Zheng’s experience, it was a menu that looked oddly familiar…

“Gah..!!!”

Fang Zheng swiped his head to where the sound came from. The old man was already pierced in the chest by one of the knights in white-silver armor. With a last desperate look on his face, the old man extended his hand.

“Young-”

A silver light flashed by, and Fang Zheng watched as the old man’s head flopped to the floor, his sentence unfinished. His body followed soon after, and the knights simply turned to Fang Zheng’s direction and walked over.

Death.

The knights were all wearing helmets, and Fang Zheng couldn’t see their faces, but the cold killing intent was there circling them. Just feeling the gaze of these knights made him feel as if his neck had been snapped, but he didn’t have any way to resist them… 

Is this thing the only option?

Looking at the weird spell circle, Fang Zheng gritted his teeth and pushed his hand out, trying to touch the weird circle.

A force slammed into his hand, a metal whip, coming down heavily onto Fang Zheng’s hand before he could even raise it properly.

“Hngh..!”

The pain coming from his palm caused him to groan, but he didn’t have time for any other reaction before another knight grabbed his hair and pulled him up.

“Is this the one?”

The knight’s voice was cold, without emotion. It was as if it was a machine.

Another knight some distance away nodded to the one who spoke, his black robes moving with the motion.

“It’s him, the artifact must be on him.”

“Good.”

Hearing the man in robes make the confirmation, the leading knight nodded and pulled out a long sword, placing it on Fang Zheng’s neck.

“Hand out the artifact and I’ll give you a quick death.”

Artifact? What artifact?

Feeling the cold edge of the blade, Fang Zheng moved his eyes to look at the knight before him. His brain was in a mess, and he didn’t even know what was going on, or what situation he was in! All he could understand was that these people were pursuing him, and their goal was some artifact… But what artifact was this?

How the hell am I supposed to know?

I have to fight it out!

With that thought, Fang Zheng gritted his teeth and lowered his head, looking at his right arm that the knight was stepping on. Feeling Fang Zheng’s gaze shift, the knight looked down at his foot as well, instinctively moving one step backward.

Now!

The instant the knight pulled his foot back, Fang Zheng retracted his right arm and sped it to the circle in front of him and tapped it. In a flurry of spins, the circle solidified and condensed itself in radiant light, forming a massive, heavy, holy book that floated with radiance and beauty.

“What is this?”

The knights all saw the book that came out of nowhere, and backed off in surprise, unsure of what their next move was as they held their longswords. The black-robed man himself, reacted rather passionately and he almost jumped up as he announced his thoughts.

“It must be the artifact! Don’t let him activate it! Kill him quickly!”

Hearing the command, the leading knight raised his longsword and swiped it down heavily at Fang Zheng.

At the same time, as if being compelled to do so, Fang Zheng extended his hand as well, pressing it onto the book.

What followed was a shattering of the world before him, like glass…

“My son. The day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered your name…”

An old voice reverberated inside Fang Zheng’s head. Before him, the scenery of beautiful high mountains came into form… Prosperity surrounding the city, the towns, the fields…

“My child, I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon… Of righteousness.”

A passionate fire swallowed the entire city, and what once was lively laughter and chatter was replaced by remnants of a forsaken world, a relentless orange and red seemingly reflecting the world as it brought endless destruction and rage.

“Remember, our line has always ruled with wisdom, and strength…”

The flower petals dancing in the skies turned into cold snow, and the followers that once were fell one after the other. In the pitch-black, a shimmering longsword of blue light stayed pierced into the ground, within a silent cave as it awaited its wielder.

“And I know that you will show restraint when exercising your great power…”

A flurry of blizzards enveloped all, drying the trees and covering the land in frost. The living forever is gone, leaving only the undead with their cries of pain as they walked out of flame and darkness. They formed their ranks of the military, a force of untameable war-power as they trembled across the land, leaving shadows in the wake of their might. They surged onward, tearing anything that offered resistance, bringing only blood and death with them.

Fang Zheng opened his eyes.

The illusions before him disappeared, and before him was the sharp blade of the knight heading toward his neck, he could even see his own reflection on the white-silver.

Yet the voice continued inside his head.

“I tell you this: for when my days have come to an end…”

“…You shall be king.”

The wrath of frost burst open, unleashing itself onto the world.