> A Star Demon fell on Earth.
It destroyed everything.
Mountains, kingdoms, armies — nothing could stop it.
Then one man stood up.
Lihan, King of the Zero Kingdom.
For two weeks, the sky burned with their battle.
His power was immeasurable.
In the end, he sealed the demon — but the seal cost him his life.
Humans gave him a name that day:
> LIHAN, THE UNIVERSAL HERO.
Fifteen years later, in a small place called Kisolo Village, a boy named Raider found a Golden Notice
Morning come slowly to the kisolo village.
The sky was pale orange above the small houses.
Smoke rose from cooking fires.
Chickens moved through the dust near the road.
Far beyond the village, dark mountains stood under the early light.
Raider ran down the narrow path with fast steps.
“Catch me if you can,” he shouted.
Behind him, Rambo breathed hard.
His legs hurt, but he kept running.
“You always say that,” Rambo said.
“One day, I will beat you.”
Raider laughed and looked back.
“That day is not today.”
Rambo tried to run faster.
He jumped over a broken piece of wood and nearly fell.
Raider stopped near an old mango tree and waited for him.
“You are stronger than last month,” Raider said.
“But strength is not only about running.
You need to watch the road.
You need to listen.”
Rambo put his hands on his knees.
“I am listening,” he said.
“I can hear you laughing at me.”
Raider smiled, but his face changed suddenly.
A scream came from the cassava fields.
Both brothers turned toward the sound.
“Help!” a woman shouted.
“Someone help me!”
Raider grabbed a long wooden branch from the ground.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Rambo followed him anyway.
They ran into the tall cassava plants.
The leaves shook in the wind.
A basket of vegetables lay on the ground.
Near it, an old woman from Kisolo had fallen beside a small ditch.
Something dark moved in front of her.
It was shaped like a dog, but it was too large.
Its fur was black and rough.
Its eyes were red.
Its mouth opened slowly, showing long teeth.
Rambo stopped.
“What is that?” he whispered.
Raider did not answer.
He raised the wooden branch with both hands.
The creature moved toward the old woman.
Raider ran forward and hit the ground in front of it.
Dust rose around them.
The creature jumped back, then growled.
“Get her away from here,” Raider said.
Rambo was afraid.
His hands shook.
But he saw the woman trying to move, and he remembered his mother, Nanu, leaving every morning to sell vegetables at the market.
He could not leave her.
Rambo ran around the creature.
He picked up a stone and threw it as hard as he could.
The stone hit a tree near the creature’s head.
The creature turned toward him.
“Rambo, run!” Raider shouted.
But Rambo did not run.
The creature rushed at him.
For one second, everything became quiet.
Rambo lifted his arm to protect his face.
A strange heat appeared in his hand.
A thin black mark flashed on his skin.
The creature stopped in the middle of its jump.
It cried like it was in pain.
Then it disappeared into a cloud of dark smoke.
Raider stared at the empty space.
Rambo stared at his hand.
The mark was gone.
“What did you do?” Raider asked.
“I do not know,” Rambo answered.
The old woman was breathing hard, but she was safe.
Raider helped her stand up.
“Thank you, boys,” she said.
“That thing came from the mountain side.
I have never seen anything like it.”
Raider looked at Rambo again.
His voice became serious.
“Do not tell anyone about your hand yet.”
Rambo nodded.
They walked back to the village without speaking.
When they reached the old mango tree, Rambo stopped again.
Something golden was hanging from the trunk.
It had not been there before.
A large notice was fixed to the tree with a black nail.
The paper looked new, but the village was full of dust.
On the top was a strange symbol: six silver circles around one black circle.
Raider touched the paper.
“It is cold,” he said.
Rambo stepped closer.
His heart began to beat fast.
The words on the notice were written in bright gold.
> THE PRINCESS OF THE SIXTH KINGDOM CALLS FOR SIX YOUNG GUARDIANS.
> A TOURNAMENT WILL BEGIN IN THE CAPITAL IN FOURTEEN DAYS.
> THE WINNERS WILL RECEIVE GOLD, HONOR, AND A PLACE BESIDE THE ROYAL THRONE.
Below the message was one more line.
> ONLY THOSE CHOSEN BY FATE MAY ENTER.
Raider read the message twice.
“Six guardians,” he said.
“This can change everything.”
Rambo looked at the small houses around them.
He thought about their mother’s tired hands.
He thought about the rain entering their roof.
He thought about the medicine they could not always buy.
“The capital is far,” Rambo said.
“So is a better life,” Raider replied.
Rambo reached toward the symbol without thinking.
His fingers touched the black circle.
Pain crossed his palm.
He pulled his hand back.
A small dark mark appeared again, then vanished.
Raider saw it this time.
“That mark,” he said quietly.
“It is connected to that thing in the field.”
Rambo looked frightened.
“Maybe we should not go.”
Raider folded the notice and held it tightly.
“Maybe that is exactly why we must go.”
When they returned home, Nanu was outside, cleaning the ground near the door.
She looked tired, but she smiled when she saw them.
“You are back early,” she said.
“Did Raider win again?”
Raider gave a small smile.
“Of course.”
Rambo did not smile.
He gave the notice to his mother.
Nanu read the first lines.
Then she saw the symbol at the top.
The broom fell from her hand.
“Where did you find this?” she asked.
“On the old mango tree,” Raider said.
“It was not there yesterday.”
Nanu held the notice with shaking hands.
“No,” she whispered.
“It cannot be.”
Rambo stepped closer.
“Mother, what is that symbol?”
Nanu sat slowly near the door.
For a long time, she did not speak.
“Fourteen years ago,” she said at last, “your father served King Lihan of the Zero Kingdom.
He was not a rich man.
He was not born in a palace.
But he was brave.”
Raider and Rambo listened carefully.
“Then the Star Demon came,” Nanu continued.
“It brought darkness to our land.
Your father fought to protect the king.
He never came home.”
Rambo lowered his head.
Nanu looked at the notice again.
“The symbol of six circles belongs to an old royal order.
Your father once told me to stay away from it.
He said that if it ever returned, our family would be in danger.”
Raider clenched his fists.
“But the tournament can help us,” he said.
“We can earn money.
We can protect you.
We can become stronger.”
Nanu looked at both of them.
Tears shone in her eyes.
“You sound like your father,” she said.
Rambo took one step forward.
“We will be careful,” he said.
“We will come back.”
Nanu placed her hands on their shoulders.
“If you go,” she said, “you must promise me that you will protect each other.
Gold is not more important than your lives.”
“We promise,” Raider said.
That night, Raider trained outside with his wooden branch.
Rambo sat near the door, looking toward the mountains.
The wind became cold.
High above Kisolo, on a rock between the trees, a person in a dark cloak watched the village.
The stranger held a black mask in one hand.
“The notice has found them,” the stranger said.
Below, the golden paper shone weakly inside Raider’s hand.
The stranger smiled.
“The sons of the king’s guardian are finally moving.”
End of chapter 1
**Who sent the Golden Notice to Kisolo Village, and why were Raider and Rambo chosen?.