Chapter 1

The universe is divided into two worlds,
The human world and the nether world,
Humans, plants, and animals rule the first,
Demons and ghouls inhabit the other.

Once in a millenium,
The gate to the evil will open,
Darkness will lurk upon the land,
And both worlds will be one.

One man will rise from the shadow,
With royal blood he will rule,
He appears in all modesty,
And nobody will hear and heed.

But he will banish the dark,
With his sword he slays the evil,
Until one day people will know him,
As the Champion of the Guardian.

The silence of the night sang in the dark. There will be no more night lullaby; no more peaceful night. The darkness filled the sky as if it's trying to engulf the tiny earth with its mighty hands. The air was thin and uncomfortably hot. The mighty storm was coming, but this time, it was not an ordinary storm. It was the beginning of the Dark Age...

The Crystal Tower stood proud in the Northern Continent, as it was watching the Land of Lore. The amorphous pink crystal wall stayed erect despite the strong wind. The Kingdom of Aragon could no longer be seen because of the dark mist. For thousands of years the building had been the protector of the land. Now it was the main source of the disaster.

Goddess Gaea stood in front of the window, watching the wind. The room was getting chilly from the wind that made contact with the tower wall. She slowly wrapped herself in her thin robe that circled her slim body. A small star-shaped pendant kept the robe together in front of her chest, and a long white satin dress covered her body to her feet. A diamond-centered tiara rested on her long golden hair. Sometimes her own natural beauty amazed her.

But soon it will be useless. Her beauty would help her not. As the protector of the land, she was responsible to watch over the Dark Portal, the gate to the savage Nether world. For many years she had kept the gate in one piece, despite the attempts of the demons to leave their lair.

She always blamed herself for accepting the task from the Guardian, the highest God of the Realm. She would have been having fun in Heaven by now if she had rejected the offer, but she accepted her late mother's task. She had been staying in the Crystal Tower for years, alone, away from all civilization, but she accepted it anyway. The guardian of the tower received great honor among the Gods.

Honor and beauty ... They would all be useless now, she thought. She knew everything would be over soon. The Dark Age was coming. The ancient prophecy about it had been spread across the land, and she knew the time had come. The Dark Portal was collapsing, and once everything was done, the mighty army of darkness would enter the human world, and the nightmare would begin. A big war would rage, and thousands would be killed, regardless their ranks or races. And she knew that she would be the very first victim.

The Guardian had said nothing, and the Gods had urged her to leave her place. But she had refused. She couldn't know why. She knew the risk of facing the army of darkness herself would be death, but she refused to flee. Perhaps she was sure that the Gate was her responsibility. Perhaps she knew it was her destiny. But it was too late to regret her decision. She was going to face it.

The air was getting colder and colder. The time had come, she thought. She walked slowly from her room to the main chamber. Her footsteps rang through the hallway, breaking the silence. The main chamber was a great room with crystal walls forming a huge cube. The crystal was clear, and she could see the starless night sky. In the middle of the room was a huge blue stone arc; the Dark Portal. Sculptures were carved nicely on the surface of the arc, and a large red gem stood on top of the gate; the Titan gem, stone of the Gods, the seal of the door that kept the demons from entering the human world. In the middle of the arc a large black swirling hole floated there; the doorway to the Nether Land. Gaea just stood there, enjoying the dark red gleam of the gem for the last time.

Then suddenly darkness covered the room. Gaea could no longer see the walls. She could not even feel the floor at her feet. Everything was dark. She could see only herself and the Portal right in front of her, with the hole turning to blood red. The cold mist had turned into phantoms of the dead, circling her body. She could hear the dying breath of the invisible specters around her, and sharp smell stung her nose; the smell of the rotten flesh. Fear began to envelop her, as the sensation grew stronger. Her hands unwillingly trembled behind her long sleeve. She, a god and the protector of the Portal, had tasted the world of the dead.

Then in a split second, the Titan gem shattered into pieces. Gaea thought her heart would leap and popped out of her chest. Instead, she just stood there watching the pieces of the seal of the Portal as they fell into the darkness below her. And then suddenly her body grew numb. She couldn't move a muscle. Even breathing was difficult as the air grew uncomfortably hot and the smell grew stronger. She felt that her power was being drained from her. She closed her blue eyes, tried to focus her feeling. She had to face it. She prayed that she would be able to handle this ... or get over it quickly.

Then she slowly opened her eyes again. This time the specters had turned into real ghouls flying all over the place. They were filling her with their dying spirit, slowly draining her life and feeding her with fear. And then a huge black ball came through the Portal, followed with noisy cheers from the hole; the cheer from the army of darkness ... so this had to be the leader, she thought. The ball slowly turned into a shape of a tall man, with dark long cloak covering his body. The man floated in front of her, examining her, while she was fighting to stop herself trembling.

"Greetings, Gaea. You are truly as beautiful as the Lord of Darkness told me."

His deep voice rocked her pride like an earthquake. She suddenly found herself slowly stepping backwards. However, the dark man seemed unmoved.

"There is no escape, my princess."

His words made her guts fall apart. That's a normal taunt in battle, but this time it was different. It was real.

"Perhaps my hasty approach startled you, my dear. My name is Daemon, Commander Daemon. I'm the supreme leader of the army of darkness, and I serve directly under Lord of Darkness. I must say it was an honor to have a beautiful goddess to be our ... welcoming guest."

"You will not escape this..." she suddenly found herself saying. Her voice symbolized fear rather than a threat.

"But I will not escape from you, my princess. I have traveled through the dangerous inter-dimension portal to see you, my dear..."

"I am not your dear!" she began to get a hold of herself. Slowly she felt her power returning.

"Impressive." The dark man said. "I have been well known as the most ruthless warlord in the underworld, but you dare to challenge me. Do you know that nobody can stand against my wrath?"

"I won't let you take over the human world!"

Gaea lifted her hands and began enchanting her spells. She could feel her already-weakened power flowing through her fingers. It's now or never, she thought, so she used all of her available power for her spell. A blue bubble appeared in front of her, covering her with its protective shield. Then slowly she opened her eyes. The dark man was still there, unmoved.

"BANISH EVIL!!!" she cried and drained all her power. A wave of blue rays shot from her opened hands to the dark man.

Nothing happened. The spells just passed through the dark general, as if he was not there. His expression didn't even change. The spell had no effect o0n him. She felt her fear rising again. Her weakened body began to tremble.

"Nice shot, my lady, you hit me. Too bad you picked the wrong bullet."

He set his cloak aside, revealing a huge black shiny body armor. His body was very human. He lifted his gloved hand and opened his palm, revealing a small blue bubble.

"Your inexperienced power is very easy to be contained, even in my palm. Also remember where you are, my lady. This is not heaven. The human world and nether world are one once more. Your pathetic power doesn't work here anymore. I am in charge right now."

He closed his eyes and enchanted his own spells. Suddenly the darkness disappeared. Gaea found herself standing on the cold tower floor. But this time, they were not alone. The main chamber was now filled with ghouls, rotten zombies, orcs, goblins, and other condemned creatures. The army of darkness had arrived. And she was there, right in the middle of the crowds. The once-quiet room was filled with grunts of the creatures, rattle of the bones of the skeletons, and the clang of swords, axes, and clubs from the entire audience. This entire army could spread chaos to the entire land, she thought. Then she realized that there would be no escape for her in this matter.