The Seven Plagues

Everyone was gathered around the small barge, all present were paying their respects to the deceased. An extraordinary person who discovered the dark future that was to come because of the Emperor's dreams of greatness for his kingdom and stood up to save his people. The spark of revolt that ignited the whole continent in flames was now in front of everyone, lifeless, her body was intact but her cause of death was not natural at all. One cold look was all it took to snatch hope from the righteous men who rose up against their oppressive and tyrannical leader. Her name Jezebel Amaranth, a famed paladin of the royal guard, hundreds of victories behind her, the bane of the enemy kingdoms, and one of the few leaders of the army that returned alive against the failed campaign against heaven. What her enemies could not, her king to whom she herself had sworn allegiance for years, her sin, betrayal, her death was filled with regret for having started the fall of the world, she planned to end the civil war by engaging the Emperor in a duel to the death, the result of the battle was the liberation of the dragons over the land. If she had known that her actions would lead us to this lost war, she would surely have stayed down to the atrocities she saw every day, for the remedy was far worse than the disease, and probably more death for all.

Nanami was by my side, holding my hand tightly. She couldn't believe that Jezebel had died so easily, I couldn't believe that the same being that killed Luna was somewhere in this damned place. The burial took place with all the honors a warrior could receive. All those present were important people or close to such an excellent warrior. I did not know her, we only exchanged a couple of glances when shortly after my arrival. She was lying down in the middle of the boat, her body was surrounded by flowers, and next to her was her sword, an orichalcum weapon that had been created for her achievements in the war campaign. The boat escorted by two priests would take her to the beginning of her final journey to eternity.

The True Dragons were brutal monsters, they specialized in reigning over death. They were the leaders of the dragons, they were the ones who led the crusade against life itself, and their goal was only one, to please their mysterious leader: Overlord. His identity was unknown, it was only known that he was to reside in the lower part of the floating continent, where there were more dragons. Eventually, we realized that we were not only at war against the Dragons but also against time itself. Every day that passed was another victory for this damned race. If they got the codex first there was no way to win, if we ran out of warriors we had no way to win, if we got sick we had no way to win if we ran out of food we had no way to win. The dragons knew how to strike where it hurt the most, the crop fields were the first to fall, the warehouses their favorite prey, stalking in the dark their nature, paranoia their weapon. 

It was said that true dragons were not equal to the rest. While the normal dragons were born from other dragons, the true dragons have their origin in their will, an unstoppable determination is what gives birth to these beings. There could only be seven, for in the words of the Overlord only that number was perfect. Their forms varied, their powers the same, some say they are related to their desires before being dragons, but their identities were unknown, or so we believe. They created themselves to defeat heaven and its gods to establish a new order.

The True Dragon of Winter, Leviathan. His mastery over water was vast, over ice superior. He was one of the most damaging in the long run. He infiltrated the human world and spread his unprecedented power over the face of the earth. But he was no fool, he waited for winter to come before he cast his curse, the humans did not realize it until it was too late. The whole world entered an endless ice age. Entire continents fell under snow, white soils could not be cultivated, whole nations fell to famine, and the few things that could be produced were quickly sent to the battlefront. I did not become aware of the existence of this dragon until much later when it was the middle of July and winter was still raging in the streets of Moscow. With him there was only one season, perpetual winter, even with his death the damage was already done, and it continued to snow even years later.

The True Dragon of the Drought, Ziz. He reigned over the sky, his huge wings possessed the heat of the sun, living beings could not approach him to be devoured by the inextinguishable flames. Its heat was such that it dried the earth completely wherever it passed. He took up residence in the most fertile areas of Atlantis, to ensure that they would never be used again. His flare was capable of turning night into day. With his death came an explosive norm that further consumed the devastated realm.

The True Dragon of the Hive, Bahamuth the terrible. He consumed and destroyed his enemies. His flesh spread like a garden that engulfed everything in its path. A terrible curse for his victims. He had the power to consume and parasitize his victims, transforming them into screaming and cruel beings. His enemies turned into dragons due to his infection. Union suffered the constant abuse of this being, thousands were the stories of people who had to kill their friends, relatives, and loved ones, because they ended up being prey to him and became dragons without heart or reason.

The True Dragon of Plague, the traitor Ulana. Her miasma was capable of inflicting hallucinations on an entire civilization, making the deepest and most animalistic nightmares real for those affected, turning paranoia into a cruel way of life for all. Ulana was the queen of a part of the lands of Atlantis when the Emperor entrusted her personally with the administration of those lands. For a while, she was quite close to Nanami, even her friend, and advisor. In the rebellion she was at Jezebel's side, she provided information to everyone, she wanted to see the old kingdom fall, just to take advantage of the vacuum and gain even more power. The day the dragons woke up she changed sides again to gain even more power, the one she always wished for, to be able to manipulate everyone at will.

The True Dragon of Death, the Emperor of Atlantis himself: Orion the champion. Nanami's father and the man who always wanted a greater and more glorious Empire. He was known for his extraordinary strength and the many women he had sex with. The one who challenged heaven and earth to battle. The one who sold his kingdom in exchange for glory, the one who sold the future of all for arrogance. He was almost all his life surrounded by war or battle, but he was never satisfied, Jezebel confronted him in a battle to the death and she won, leaving Orion mortally wounded. It was he who on his deathbed and desire for revenge drank the mysterious elixir that his magicians created and was the one who awakened the dragons when the rebellion was about to win. His great power was to kill his enemies just by looking at them. It was one of the main objectives to defeat him. I killed him with my own hands,  I got my revenge, and I enjoyed every second of it. 

The True Dragon of the Famine, Overlord, the master who wanted to be God. The Founder of Atlantis, the one on whose shoulders rested the entire continent that ruled the world. His thirst for power knew no end. A monster that consumes everything in its path, a being envious of everything. He was arrogant and intelligent. In his journey, he searched endlessly for the Codex to satiate his hunger. When I entered his throne I found at his feet the inert bodies of all the champions who challenged him to a duel, none of them managed to unsheathe his weapon. We both knew that as long as two of us were alive the other would never see his vision fulfilled. The sanctuary turned red, both from the blood inside and the flames on the outside. I had only a couple of minutes to kill it before the continent crashed to the ground at full speed. I tightened my grip on my right hand, grabbed my sword, and threw myself against him.

I kept hitting him with the same stone, again and again, his head was gone, but my anger was not, his death did not satisfy me. I had killed him with a stone that was lying around, as if it were Cain and Abel, the brutal monster that destroyed the world died because someone hit him with a stone. All the advanced weapons that humans could produce, all the magic that this empire could invoke, and its greatest leader were defeated by the first weapon that man knew.

In front of me was the Codex, the crystal that could fulfill any wish. The price for its use had already been paid. It was floating in a small Sanctuary nearby, from it I could see the earth and rather what was left of it. All this war had led to this thing in front of me, millions of lives lost in a battle to obtain it, I did not want it. Its very presence disgusted me, the air around it disgusted me. That stupid object should ask my forgiveness for existing in my world.

A girl appeared in front of me, I already knew her, but only now I saw her true identity. The angel greeted me courteously and congratulated me for being the champion of this cruel game. Lisa pointed to the crystal and told me that it was my property, I could use it as I wanted, there was no limit, only the time left for the remnants of heaven's empire to fall. I just wanted it to be over, but I could not be so selfish, hundreds had lost their lives by this time. I had to honor their sacrifice, the will of the fallen was clear, and even if the rest of my life would be unhappy, I had to pay my debt.