LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1 – Prologue
It was a sunny and warm spring afternoon. The blue sky was dotted with small patches of white, fluffy clouds drifting about, without a care of the happenings on the ground or above the heavens. The soft winds gently pushed them around as they also caressed the trees' leaves below and the faces of children playing on the lush fields.
Peddlers traveled the dirt roads; farmers worked in their lords' fields. In the big cities, people shuffled around like busy ants while guards were yawning, standing on the walls, and leaning on their pikes like bored statues of false vigilance.
Ministers indulged in their maidservants' bosoms, even before the night had fallen, while the same was happening next to the docks' red light districts, where the huge, docked cargo ships' sailors were having fun. It was their most beloved pastime before heading back to the endless blue fields, maybe never coming back to shore after leaving.
This day was the same as every other before it. For the world, up in the north, a blizzard was waging its never-ending war with the mountain rocks. In the west, the endless dunes were trying to gobble up the horizon; somewhere on the eastern steppes, two tribes were waging a bloody battle, and the fields were soaked with the blood of men and horses by the thousands.
That's when it happened. It wasn't loud, it wasn't powerful, it was like someone tearing up a sheet of paper, soft… quiet... unimportant... but everyone heard it. Bugs stopped moving; birds ceased their constant singing; a wolf pack was just about to hunt down their prey, but they stopped in their track as if being frozen in place.
The waves on the ocean seemed to stop. It became calm, like the surface of a giant mirror. The battle on the steppes quickly halted, and the moaning of the injured under their dead horses ceased, as they couldn't let out even a whimper. Even the most vigorous sailor went limp while looking out the window as their eyes followed the sound to its source.
Everyone saw the same. Be it the lord of a country, an emperor of a dynasty, the beggar on the biggest church's steps, or just a cat, lazily soaking up the sun's warmth, lying on a porch. The scene that followed that sound… no, not sound, that feeling as it was… felt, all around the realm, by every living being, deep within their soul. It was beautiful yet horrifying.
No matter where you were standing, if you were born blind, you were seeing it, feeling it…. The Tear in the Sky. It was like two invisible hands tore a giant hole into reality itself, showing what is behind the veil that no mortal's eyes should see.
The chaotic space was filled with indigo mists and constant purple and red lightning bolts. At first, it was without sound but not for long. The howling arrived quickly, followed by the otherworldly wind… The wind didn't move any trees or even a blade of grass but knocked people and animals off their feet, blowing through their flesh, essence, and souls.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Rumbled a shout through the entire realm, deep and coarse, like two metal scraps grinding against each other.
"YOU'VE GONE MAD!
Another voice came, feminine, charming… but cold. So cold.
"You are always quick to call me that!" echoed a reply. It was a cheerful voice. One that carried satisfaction.
Above the heavens, where no mortal's eye could see, a man in a long, black garment was right below the Tear in the Sky. His white hair was hanging loosely behind his back. His red eyes were calm and collected, like nothing was happening to him. His hands were hanging beside him, useless and torn, while his golden-purple blood was slowly dripping down his fingers. Before those precious drops could fall downwards, the Tear above him gobbled them up, defying gravity and the laws of nature.
In front of him stood another somewhat skinny man in tight-fitting leather armor. His bald head was decorated with scars; on his back, he wore a battered, rusty sword that looked like it was about to disintegrate any moment.
To his left stood a young woman wearing an elegant, long, green dress. It covered most of her body, but still, it couldn't hide her almost perfectly shaped, curvy body. Her black, long hair flew freely behind her while her deep blue, starry eyes were watching him coldly.
Soon another pair arrived, wearing severe expressions, walking out of thin air. The man and woman had similar faces, looking no more than 14 years old, both wearing bright red outfits, seen on scholars and priests. Their green eyes were shocked; looking at the Tear, their blond hair danced behind them as their murderous auras arose.
“H-how… why…?” The young girl asked, but her voice was much older than her looks suggested.
"With my hands." came the clear answer, almost like a joke between family members.
"You've gone mad!" said the young boy, drawing his eyes to the white-haired man, watching him like an executioner would watch his prisoner.
"Yeah, I heard it before." he just shrugged, then rolled his eyes before scanning them again and giving a wide smile.
"You are all afraid. Afraid of what comes next. You would watch the world stag-"
But he couldn't finish his words as the bald man, moving like lightning, stabbed his rusty sword through his chest. The blade was like a sponge eating up his blood, not allowing the Tear to suck it up.
"Quick!" The green-robed woman shouted, flying past them, towards the Tear in the Sky as soon as her bald counterpart made his move. The twins followed just a step behind her, forming a triangle around it. Their bodies were emitting bright lights that tried to cover the Tear and pull it together, albeit very slowly.
"It's too late. I tore it open, and now the realm has been blessed. Even if you close it now, the pure energy behind the Sky will seep into the world!"
Nobody said anything. The bald man held the sword firmly while the white-haired man's skin started to crack and dry up. He did nothing to stop it from happening. The other three seemed like they were going to be able to patch the Sky as the Tear was slowly closing, but every one of them felt that he was right. It would never be the same.
The chaotic energy was still blowing through the Tear, washing the realm repeatedly. Some people were getting back to their feet after the initial wave, but others were clutching their heads or their stomach, moaning. They felt as if millions of animals were stampeding through their veins. Animals were groaning, howling around the world, feeling the same, and trees swaying without wind, their roots growing dozens of meters by the minute. Fishes under the ocean started swimming in weird formations while their previously glossy eyes were now filled with actual intelligence.
"You can call me mad… I'll take that title and make it my own then." the white-haired man said, looking into the Tear that slowly was closing thanks to the effort of the three.
"Shut. Up." The bald one groaned, twisting his blade in his chest, but the only reaction he got was a wide grin while he slowly raised his bloody hand.
"We were gods for eons. I ascended after all of you, yet it was still so long ago I forgot how the world looked when I was still walking in it. You are content. You are happy to keep up the balance and wallow in mediocrity. Ugh… What? Twisting it again because I'm right?"
He laughed mockingly, and his red eyes started to glow much brighter. In turn, the bald man's eyes became more severe than before. He decisively pulled out his sword, teleporting backward, while the dried-up skin on the white-haired man started to crack and glow. It was quickly causing similar cracks to appear around him in space. It wasn't the same as the Tear in the Sky, but those wound-like cracks were still terrifying, even to the Gods.
"You call yourself Gods. Gods that sealed the realm stripped it from its energy! Gobbling it up by yourselves! So that you stop the birth of more... more of Us!"
"Don't you dare call yourself the same as the US!" the green-clothed lady barked at him while they were still closing up the Sky, and the Tear was getting smaller and smaller. Their faces were pale, and their clothes were getting soaked by sweat. They no longer remembered these feelings that appeared in their minds. Supposedly only mortals were affected by it, but now it washed over them as they hoped to fix something that could not be restored.
"Yes, yes… I'm mad… I know… And I'll gladly be Mad one more time. You suppress even your factions, planting false hope in them but not letting anyone reach Our level anymore. You fear others will appear. You fear they will be stronger. Good! Remember that feeling. Because from now on, in just a few eons later, Gods will rise, and then, THEY will reopen the Sky to go further than any of Us!"
He said while he started to laugh and placed his hands on his chest.
"STOP!"
They screamed almost instantly, but everything happened in a flash. He jabbed his fingers into the hole in his chest, tearing it apart while laughing so loudly it sounded like a thunderstorm from beyond the Heavens.
The Tear that had just been patched up trembled, and a thin, golden-purple blood line formed between It and his chest, more precisely between It and his God Crystal inside his chest, while his voice traveled around the realm, ringing in every living being's soul.
"My name is the Mad God. I opened the path for you… now, walk on it! Stand up and start walking… because… it’s…”
His voice became fainter and fainter, and his body started to fall apart. His God Crystal was getting brighter and brighter, illuminating the whole realm and even the earth underground.
"Fun!"
The Crystal, fed by the energy beyond the Sky, reached its limit and shone brighter than anything for a second before going out like a candle that a pinch of one's fingers had snuffed out. The bloodline between it and the Tear broke up while the God Crystal vanished like it never even existed.
The quartet of Gods was standing, watching each other, not speaking, not moving, and not even thinking. Their minds were empty, filled with one emotion, an emotion they felt vanquished so long ago. Fear. Fear of the unknown…
…
….
…..
On a snow-covered peak, three youngsters stood somewhere in the northern mountains between 16-17 years old, two men and a woman. All three wore coarse clothes from animal skin, typical for the tribes in the mountain range. But if someone looked at them closely, they could tell their skin was too perfect, without a blemish, their chestnut hairs silky and smooth, and their brown eyes filled with vitality and power.
"Master did it." said the girl with a soft, happy voice that would enchant anybody. "A new era is upon us!"
"Yes." nodded the other two simultaneously, wearing smiles on their faces. "We need to be ready when Master comes back."
"We will wait! No matter how long. We still have a lot of work to do, but we must be careful!"
"Those four will watch everything, but Master was right. The energy behind the Sky is something even Gods can't see through."
Said the youngest-looking boy, raising his hand, which glowed with light purple-like energy before fading. They took a last look at the Sky before all three vanished…
