Chapter 1: THE COST OF BETRAYAL
The battlefield was chaotic.
Clang! Clang!
Blades clashed in deadly rhythm. Screams of pain, fear, and death filled the air like a dirge.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Bodies fell like broken dolls. Blood soaked the soil. The air stank of iron, smoke, sweat, and terror.
Ash drifted through the sky, curling above the fallen—warriors once called Sword King, Martial Saint, Champion. Now, they were just corpses under the boots of one man—
Aiden Ferith.
The War Hero of Ashenvale. A general whose mind outmatched armies. A warrior whose sword defied legends. He stood at the peak—Martial Emperor—a realm so high it made even martial saints feel small.
He was once the man who laughed with children, fed the poor, and never left a comrade behind.
But now, he stood alone.
His black, shredded cloak flapped in the wind like the last flag of a dying kingdom. Blood dripped from his massive, pitch-black claymore, hissing as it hit the scorched ground.