The ocean trembled.
General Azrath stood motionless in the middle of the ruined street, yet his mere presence seemed to choke every ounce of life from Atlantis.
Dark mist seeped from the cracks in his obsidian armor, curling through the water like living serpents.
Crimson energy pulsed beneath the engraved runes on his breastplate, casting an eerie glow across the battlefield.
Around him, demons knelt in silent reverence.
Atlantean soldiers instinctively stepped backward.
No one dared move.
No one dared breathe.
His burning crimson eyes settled on me, and a slow, unsettling smile spread across his face.
“So…” he said, his deep voice echoing through the city like distant thunder.
“The last descendant of Queen Nerissa has finally returned.”
Every muscle in my body froze.
Queen…
Nerissa?
I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but Commander Kael stepped protectively in front of me, lowering his silver trident into a battle stance.
“Do not listen to him,” Kael warned, his voice firm despite the tension.
“He speaks only to sow fear.”
Azrath laughed.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t manic.
It was calm.
Confident.
The kind of laugh that came from someone who had never known defeat.
“You still hide the truth from her?” he asked mockingly.
“After all these centuries, Atlantis remains as foolish as ever.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“Enough.”
With one swift motion he raised his trident toward the sky.
“Defenders of Atlantis!”
Almost instantly, armored warriors emerged from every surrounding street.
Some rode enormous armored seahorses.
Others wielded elegant silver tridents, while a few carried curved swords forged from shimmering metal.
Within moments, hundreds of soldiers had formed disciplined ranks behind their commander.
Their blue capes floated gracefully in the water.
Silver armor reflected the sunlight filtering from the ocean’s surface.
“For Atlantis!” Kael shouted.
“For Atlantis!” the soldiers answered in perfect unison.
Their battle cry echoed across the ancient city.
Azrath sighed dramatically.
“How inspiring.”
Then he lifted one finger.
That single movement was all it took.
Every demon in the city charged at once.
The battlefield exploded into chaos.
“Everyone move!” Ethan yelled.
Blue energy burst from his palms as he slammed them together.
A massive protective shield expanded outward like a ripple across the ocean, crashing into several charging demons and sending them flying through abandoned buildings.
“I’ve got the civilians!” he shouted.
Atlantean families rushed beneath the glowing barrier as burning debris rained from collapsing towers.
I stretched both hands forward.
Psychic energy surged through me, racing beneath the streets.
Ancient symbols appeared beneath three monstrous demons charging toward a group of children.
“Lock!”
Invisible chains erupted from the ocean floor, wrapping tightly around the creatures before violently slamming them into a nearby stone wall.
“Now!”
Atlantean warriors didn’t hesitate.
Silver tridents pierced the immobilized demons, which dissolved into black ash moments later.
“It worked!” one soldier cried.
Nearby, Sarah reached toward a possessed Atlantean woman who was attacking anyone within reach.
Dark smoke writhed around the woman’s body.
Sarah closed her eyes.
“You don’t belong here,” she whispered.
The demon resisted violently.
The woman’s eyes glowed crimson.
Black veins spread across her skin.
Sarah gritted her teeth.
“GET OUT!”
A deafening shriek tore through the water as a shadowy creature ripped itself from the woman’s body.
Before it could escape, two Atlantean soldiers drove their silver spears straight through it.
The demon evaporated instantly.
The rescued woman collapsed into her husband’s arms.
“It worked again!” Ethan called.
Carlos flashed Sarah an exaggerated grin.
“Our skeptical queen is finally useful.”
Sarah shot him a murderous glare.
“I can still make a demon slap you.”
Carlos immediately raised both hands.
“I apologize sincerely.”
Despite everything…
I laughed.
Just for a second.
Then the laughter died.
Across the battlefield, Kael charged straight toward Azrath.
Silver trident met black sword.
CLAAANG!
The impact sent a shockwave tearing through the city.
Nearby windows shattered.
Ancient statues cracked down the middle.
The force alone knocked several demons off their feet.
Kael attacked with breathtaking speed.
His trident flowed through the water like liquid silver, each strike faster than the last.
He spun…
Thrust…
Twisted…
Every movement precise.
Every attack graceful.
For the first time since we’d arrived in Atlantis, I understood why the soldiers respected him so much.
“He’s incredible,” Ethan breathed.
Carlos whistled.
“Our fish prince has serious moves.”
The demon general blocked every strike with one hand, his expression almost bored.
Then…
He smiled.
“Oh.”
“I’ve grown tired of this.”
Without warning, he caught Kael’s trident with his bare hand.
The silver weapon groaned beneath the pressure.
Kael’s eyes widened.
“What—”
Azrath drove his armored fist straight into Kael’s chest.
CRAAACK!
The sound echoed across the city.
Kael was launched backward like a rag doll, crashing through three marble pillars before slamming into the side of an ancient temple.
The entire building shook.
His trident clattered uselessly across the stone floor.
Silence swept over the battlefield.
Commander Kael…
The strongest warrior in Atlantis…
Had been defeated with a single punch.
Azrath slowly rolled his shoulders as if he had merely finished stretching.
“Pathetic,” he muttered.
His burning eyes lifted once again…
And locked onto me.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Commander Kael…
The strongest warrior in Atlantis…
Had been defeated with a single punch.
Around us, Atlantean soldiers hesitated.
The confidence that had filled their ranks moments ago vanished, replaced by uncertainty.
Azrath slowly walked toward us, his heavy footsteps sending ripples across the ocean floor.
He carried his enormous black sword over one shoulder as though it weighed nothing.
“You disappoint me,” he said calmly.
“I expected descendants of the White Lotus to be… stronger.”
Ethan stepped in front of us without hesitation.
“We’re not done yet.”
Blue light erupted from his hands as three shimmering shield orbs shot toward Azrath like blazing comets.
The demon general didn’t even flinch.
The first orb struck him square in the chest.
BOOM!
A burst of blue energy exploded through the water.
When the light faded…
Azrath hadn’t moved an inch.
He looked down at the fading sparks on his armor before brushing them away with one hand.
“…Cute.”
With a flick of his wrist, dark energy exploded outward.
The force slammed into Ethan’s shields, shattering them like fragile glass.
Ethan stumbled backward, breathing heavily.
“My shields…” he whispered.
“They’ve never broken that easily.”
Carlos forced a grin despite the fear in his eyes.
“Okay…”
“I officially vote that we never fight this guy again.”
I quickly summoned the Book of Origins from the void.
The instant it touched my hands, its pages began flipping wildly on their own.
Golden light poured from between the ancient pages.
Letters slowly burned themselves onto blank parchment.
GENERAL AZRATH
Commander of the Abyssal Legion.
Conqueror of Seven Realms.
Strength: Overwhelming.
Weakness: Unknown.
Carlos stared at the page.
“Unknown?”
He looked at the book in disbelief.
“That’s literally your job!”
Another line slowly appeared beneath the first.
DO NOT FIGHT HIM ALONE.
Sarah blinked.
“Well…”
“That’s comforting.”
Azrath’s crimson eyes shifted toward the glowing book.
For the first time…
His smile faded.
“So…”
“The Book of Origins still exists.”
His gaze slowly lifted to me.
“I wondered what became of it.”
Before I could react—
He disappeared.
My psychic senses exploded with warning.
“Carlos!”
I screamed.
“Behind you!”
Carlos spun around.
Too late.
Azrath’s armored fist buried itself in his stomach.
The impact sent him flying across the city like a cannonball.
He crashed through a coral tower before Ethan barely managed to create another shield to stop him from smashing into a palace wall.
The barrier cracked violently.
Carlos dropped to one knee, coughing.
“I…”
He winced, clutching his stomach.
“…really hate this guy.”
Fear gripped my chest.
Carlos had always been the loudest.
The funniest.
Seeing him hurt like that…
Something inside me snapped.
I raised both hands.
Psychic chains burst from beneath the streets, racing toward Azrath from every direction.
The demon general merely sighed.
The chains wrapped around him…
Then shattered.
Like thread.
Impossible.
He looked at me almost sympathetically.
“You have potential.”
“But potential means nothing without experience.”
He slowly pointed his sword toward me.
“Come.”
“Join Lord Malachar.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
His voice remained unnervingly calm. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Surrender yourself willingly.”
“And I will spare Atlantis.”
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Every soldier looked at me.
Every civilian held their breath.
Commander Kael struggled to his feet, blood staining his silver armor.
“Don’t…”
he rasped.
“Don’t believe him.”
Azrath smiled.
“I never lie.”
“I simply choose which truths to reveal.”
Ethan stepped beside me.
“No.”
Carlos staggered back to his feet, one hand pressed against his ribs.
“Absolutely not.”
Sarah moved to my other side.
“You’ll have to go through all of us first.”
Azrath’s eyes narrowed.
“So be it.”
He raised his free hand toward the sky.
Darkness spread through the water.
One portal opened.
Then another.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
Dozens of swirling black rifts appeared throughout Atlantis.
The ocean shook violently.
From each portal…
Demons emerged.
Winged horrors.
Sea serpents covered in black fire.
Monstrous creatures stitched together from bone and shadow.
Hundreds of them.
Atlantean soldiers instinctively tightened their formation.
“We’re surrounded!” someone shouted.
The demons laughed.
The sound echoed from every direction.
My breathing became shallow.
There were too many.
No matter how hard we fought…
We couldn’t stop all of them.
Suddenly…
A strange sensation prickled across my skin.
Someone was watching me.
Not Azrath.
Someone else.
I looked toward the tallest tower overlooking the city.
Standing alone on its highest balcony was a woman dressed in flowing black robes.
Long silver hair drifted gently around her face.
She wasn’t frightened.
She wasn’t attacking.
She was simply…
Watching me.
Our eyes met.
A strange sadness filled hers.
Then she smiled.
It wasn’t cruel.
It wasn’t kind.
It was…
familiar.
Before I could call out—
She vanished.
Like mist carried away by the tide.
“…Who are you?” I whispered.
A deafening explosion interrupted my thoughts.
BOOOOOOOM!
A beam of brilliant silver light tore across the battlefield, striking Azrath square in the chest.
For the first time since his arrival…
The demon general was thrown backward.
He skidded across the ocean floor before digging his sword into the ground to stop himself.
The entire battlefield froze.
Standing atop the grand staircase leading into the royal palace was an elderly Atlantean clothed in flowing white robes.
His long silver beard drifted in the current.
In one hand he held an ancient sapphire staff that radiated unbelievable power.
Commander Kael immediately bowed his head.
“The Royal Oracle…”
Even Azrath’s expression darkened.
“You…”
The old man ignored him.
Instead…
He looked directly at me.
His ancient eyes softened.
“So…”
“The bloodline has finally returned.”
I swallowed hard.
“What bloodline?”
The Oracle smiled gently.
“All shall be revealed in time.”
He lifted his glowing staff toward the heavens.
“But first…”
“…your inheritance has answered your call.”
The sapphire atop the staff erupted with blinding silver light.
Deep beneath Atlantis…
Something answered.
The city shook.
Ancient bells hidden beneath the palace rang for the first time in centuries.
Silver light burst upward through the cracks in the streets.
Every Atlantean dropped to one knee.
Every demon turned toward the Royal Sanctuary.
Even General Azrath’s confident smile disappeared.
“No…”
he whispered.
“It cannot be.”
The Oracle’s voice echoed across the entire city.
“After seven hundred years…”
“…the Silver Atlantean Trident has awakened.”
Far below the palace…
Hidden within the sacred sanctuary…
An ancient blade long believed to be legend…
Had begun calling for its true master.