Many servants can be seen rushing through a massive mansion with panic written plainly on their faces. They bustled in and out of doors carrying supplies, coins, weapons, documents, and literature of all kinds. They sprinted out the back of the mansion carrying all of this and loaded them into inconspicuous carriages.

One such servant, a teenage girl with shoulder length brown hair ran back inside without caring about the status of the other servants as she ran up the grand main halls stairs and hustling through the numerous living hallways before stopping in front of a door being guarded by an elderly but powerful looking butler. 

"S-Sir Drayin!"

The elderly man said nothing and just put on a cordial smile as he held a hand up to stop the young lady

"Please catch your breath first Cordia"

Cordia didn't dare refuse him and tried wetting her dry throat with what little saliva she still had in her mouth 

"Sir Drayin, Master Reidens and the Madames carriages are almost ready. We must prepare them for their departure immediately! The empires knights and the mages of red are already engaged in battle with our initial defensive forces! According to reports the empire even sent Swordmaster Olren of the Cayo house!"

Drayin's smile did not waver as he spoke up

"If it's a swordmaster I can hold him off and possibly kill him while the lord escapes, even on Olrens level. What we need to know is the highest ranked mage sent by the Red Pillar."

She nodded in admiration as she knew fully that the head butler Drayin never bluffed. Her confidence in him soon dissipated as she recalled the information sent by the informant from the defensive forces

"The Red Pillar seems to be incredibly serious about this matter. They sent a special forces Magiship outfitted with the insignia of the Lava Sharks."

Drayins confident and pleasing smile soon shrunk as he seriously considered the matter. While his fighting skill was equivalent to a  7 Heart Sword Grandmaster, even he would be powerless against the full force of a special forces Magiship, especially one who was captained by a notoriously dangerous 8 Star Archmage, especially when his forces were all at the least 6 Star Magi or 7 Star Enlightened Flame 

 

Suddenly as Drayin was about to voice his plan, the door behind him flung open and a man stepped out

An incredibly handsome and well proportioned scholarly man stepped out and looked at the two with his bright red eyes. 

"Don't worry about Lerjin. Drayin you just take care of Olren. Lerjin never could compete with me on any front. Him and his band of arsonists shouldn't take more than a minute to put down even with their flying fortress."

Of course Drayin was never worried. Even though his master was an Archmage like Lerjin, his master was one of a different league. Lerjin was an 8 star mage who had been handed down his position through his family and even though he was powerful he was over a hundred and fifty years old, he had been stagnating as an 8 star for the past 70 years. His master however had been born into no status, and through sheer talent and skill became the youngest Red Archmage ever at only 35, eventually going to battle by himself and honing his skills until he earned a position of nobility. 

 

That was his master, Count Herris Reiden.

 

 

His master was still very childish however as he put on a wild grin as he ran a hand through his ashen hair 

"I'll show the Empire and Red Pillar just how foolish it was to come after my family"

A noble lady walked out of the room with a small boy asleep on her arm. She glared coldly at Herris as she gave a haughty snort

"Ah yes how wise of my dear husband. To attract the attention of the entire world as we secretly escape. That's the best way to protect your family"

The beautiful woman had long and flowing turquoise hair like that of a green lake,  but her face while beautiful was incredibly cold and gave a sense of inferiority to those who stared at it

 

Herris immediately showed a change in attitude as the wild and vicious Archmage from before was nowhere to be seen, instead all that remained was a doting father and husband

 

"Bwahahaha my lovely Isina is correct as usual, of course I would only slaughter him if he dared prevent my lovely family's escape."

To his out of control laughter Isina's already frigid stare now became even colder. Her ire was so palpable that several lights and candles in the hallway had extinguished as her true nature slipped out a bit

"Hey dumbass, my child is still sleeping. If your obnoxious laughter causes him to awaken and  I have to bear through the pain of sedating him again I'll fill your heart with water"

She was notorious as the bipolar princess of the most prestigious blue mage family. In fact her grandfather who often doted on her was the legendary current Ciel of Blue. Since a young age at the Blue Pillar she had a reputation from switching between upright and calm ice princess, to a bloodthirtsy sadist who had killed any enemy she came across...well except for one. She was at the pinnacle of a Blue 7 Star Sea 

 

before the couples comedic actions could continue any further a soldier bloodied in battle with one charred arm sprinted in through the doors 

 

"MY LORD! THEY'RE COMING!!!"

The soldier having completed his mission from the general, fell over and let himself be swallowed by the warm blanket of death 

The Trio of Herris, Isina, and Drayin turned solemn as they realized they were out of time. They quickly ran down the stairs to see the dying soldier and Herris frowned before crouching over his dead body. The rest of the servants had stopped their rapid loading of the carriages to surround the lord with looks of sadness. 

 

"He knew that if he ran here it would be the last thing he ever did. He could have ran off, sought medical attention, and made a pretty penny as a mid level mercenary even with the one arm. He made a decision as a soldier to keep his loyalty to me, his lord."

Suddenly the body was set on fire as it rapidly burnt to ashes in a couple seconds. Despite this heat needing to be of incredible intensity, it did not spread from his body or even make the weak servants feel hot. His ashes were soon burned to nothingness as his mana particles flew back into the atmosphere

"May he find peace in the next world...... I know that I have asked all of you to risk your lives for the sake of me and my family, even putting your own at risk if you were to be caught alive. But I beg of you to please now leave, follow Cordia through the Western Forests and into a secret hiding place until this subsides. Then go about your normal lives and forget about your time here for your own good."

He clenched his fist as he looked down while biting his lip

"I cannot possibly repay you enough for your kindness and bravery, nor can I protect you as the master of these lands from the Red Pillar and our own Empire. But I want you to know that if any of you ever seek me out I will accomplish your requests to the best of my power, no matter what! I WILL-"

Before it could get any more intense and the ambient temperature released from him could grow any further, a small pool of water was dropped on his head. He looked back to see his beloved wife with a bitter smile.

"Jeez, Honey look around the room. These brave people already were well aware of the risks from the second you asked them to keep our secret. Don't diminish their courage and bravery by thinking or saying that they expected a reward. Isn't that right Drayin."

 

Drayin smiled like the old man that he was before stepping down with his fellow servants and looking up at Herris on the red velvet staircase

"Sir, I can't say much but I can say these people didn't help you because of greed, or pride, or duty even. They helped and continue to risk their lives like that soldier did because they saw how much good you can accomplish. You brought these lands back from ruin after taking over. Many of them have family members with full bellies and happy smiles thanks to your actions. They do this out of gratitude."

 

The servants never spoke up but Herris looked at their smiling faces with slight tears in his eyes. They all smiled happily without a worry in the world. Herris realized there was no need to say any more and that it would only bring down the current mood of the room, so he walked past them one last time with all the dignity that they had come to know from him. Isina followed suit as they reached the back door where the carriages were waiting.

 

 

Once the group had all made it outside they loaded up into their carriage the same as usual before taking one last look at the gathered staff who gave them one final sendoff as they departed onto the dark and woody road

"MASTER! MADAME! HAVE A PLEASANT TRIP!"

 

************************************************************ (Means Scene Change)

 

A man with a faint scar on the side of his neck walked into the now abandoned mansion. He was followed closely by 5 people cloaked in red battle robes. 

The man was lanky and wore a suit of dark orange armor that was covered in ash. His hands were exposed and he wore a cape with an insignia on it... a massive primal looking shark trapped inside of a volcano. He bent down to the burnt spot on the main hall floor and ran his fingers over it

"Huh... Nayunga!"

One of the red hooded figures stepped up the line and knelt behind the aloof man who had stood up to face him

"Y-YES Captain Lerjin!"

Lerjin looked down at his subordinate with a smile 

"Didn't you say you killed all the escaping soldiers who were heading to warn the Blasphemer?"

Nayunga's face under her hood grew pale as she started piecing together the puzzle

"CAPTAIN LERJIN! I SWEAR TO THE GOD OF FLAME SOLIS THAT I DID! EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS HIT BY MY LAVA INFESTATION SPELL!"

Lerjin's smile persisted

"Well technically that is true, he did die... HERE! HE DIED IN THE BLASPHEMERS HOME!" 

 

His smile was gone. Instead the scar on his neck started to glow like magma lurked just beneath

"YOU GAVE THEM ENOUGH WARNING TO ESCAPE YOU IDIOT"

He picked Nayunga up by the throat and looked into her frightened eyes as she thrashed in his grip

"I should turn you into obsidian slag for your failure...but luckily for you he can't escape."

He dropped Nayunga and turned to walk away as she was panting and coughing to catch her breath. Although a slight scorch mark now was imprinted on her neck where Lerjins hand had been. 

"Let's just say I'm not the only one who wants his blasphemy to be expunged..."

As his group walked out the door, Lerjin snapped his fingers. The ground beneath the mansion opened up suddenly as a pillar of lava erupted into the sky 

******************************************************************

 

Back at the carriage, Herris looked back on the mile high stream of lava that seemed to pierce into the heavens. Once the lava penetrated the clouds it seemingly vanished as it didn't damage the nearby forest. 

 

"We have about a 6 minute head start. His ships speed is much faster than our carriage but luckily he knows he stands no chance if he comes after us alone."

Isina nodded as she cradled the small boy in her arms 

"Indeed. My water magic is an especially bad matchup for his lava magic. If he dares come after us I'll cool his lava down inside of him."

 

They finally felt that they had a plan. Escape was in sight...is what you would be thinking life was fair. Unfortunately in this  world of magic and monsters, fair was rarely taken into consideration.

 

 

The wheels on the carriage were set aflame as the family inside fell due to the wheels being instantly turned to ash.

Herris felt a lump in his throat as he yelled out and opened the door

"DRAYIN! What the hell was...that"

As he stepped out the door he finally saw what exactly it was. In the distance an ethereal wall of blazing red flames had materialized. He quickly spun around to see it surrounded him as far back as the mansion, making a perfect cube. Herris had seen this before and was sweating bullets as Isina stepped out with wide eyes and spoke in a hushed voice.

'Trapped by red flames in an approximately 10 kilometer area... oh gods no."

A sweet but menacing cackle could be heard from above as the trio all looked up to see her there.

 

Herris' anxiety grew to new heights as he saw the alluring beauty hovering 30 feet above them

"Master."

The young adult woman above them with fiery red hair was Maya LeFeu. One of the two 10 Star Red Grand Magus' that existed. The only mage associated with the color red above her in terms of power was the Red Ciel herself. She was also the professor at the Red Pillar who had recruited Herris and personally taught him everything he knew

 

She flashed a frighteningly sweet grin as she looked at Herris

"Hello my dear disciple! I heard a little gossip that you disobeyed me. I said you could fuck, toy with, marry, even LOVE that slut from Blue... but you were NEVER to breed with her. If you sired a brat with ANYBODY else, I wouldn't be here right now. All that happens is their bloodline is a little diluted and they access a different element than the pure one like that idiotic Lerjin... but YOU! A pure bred talented, PERFECT red mage-"

She then gave a look of abhorrent hatred towards Isina

"-decided to have a bastard with this disgusting pure blue bitch. Now I heard a little something...the brats eyes were purple. Do you know what we call those eyes? Godless. The Purple Eyes of Blasphemy not associated with any God."

 

Herris froze while hurrying Isina and his child behind his back. Maya sighed in disappointment.

"Now I have to burn those two alive and even you... my dear sweet Herris."

 

 

 

 

 

Authors Note: Prologue done. What do you guys think? Be sure to comment on any feedback you have and if it's reasonable I'd be more than willing to make changes! Although I do have an Idea where this story is going. Next chapter released on Sunday!