Prologue - the Ten Kingdoms

Long before the birth of Yamikurai, when the continent Ausia was known by another name, the Tree of Souls bloomed each winter.

Under the mournful gaze of the blood moon, souls hung like fruits from tree’s branches, shimmering in colors that the world had long forgotten.

What was the land’s true name? you might ask.

Why did souls bloomed upon its branches?

What were the colors the world had forgotten?

The answers to those questions no longer exist. They belonged to an age devoured by the Wheel of Time. They were stolen from history

…and from me.

Today, no one remembers those forgotten lands. They remember only Ausia.

A continent divided among ten Kingdoms and countless untamed lands. For centuries, the ten kingdoms waged countless war against one another. They proclaimed justice, preached peace and even invoked the name of Yami o Kurau Mono — the one who devours darkness.

Yet the wars never ceased. After all, every kingdom marched beneath the same ambition.

To claim the mythical throne sung in the ancient legends.

“O’ Arya, whosoever unites every kingdom across these divine lands shall inherit the celestial mandate and ascend as Vahastra – the celestial monarch.”

So, the legend proclaimed.

But when the wheel turned, chaos crawled out.

In the year 1326 of celestial age, they appeared. '

'They.' 

Because even now, I do not know who they truly were or perhaps I once did and I simply forgot. 

However, Ausians named them Void walkers. Beings from beyond this world.  At first, the invasions were far less, but with time their numbers grew until no Kingdom could ignore them.

Void walkers razed across the lands of Ausia like an endless tide. They destroyed cities, vanished villages and left behind only death. It was if they were programmed to kill life. Faced with risk of extinction, the ten Kingdom did what centuries of diplomacy had failed to achieve. They laid down their swords against each other and banded together and swore a sacred pact to protect their divine lands.

Thus, on the war-torn world of Ausia, began the Great war. 

For years, Ausians and Void walkers clashed without any rest. In the end, the endless tide was pushed back. The number of void walkers dwindled until they no longer threatened the continent's survival. 

And to deal with the incoming invasions, the kingdoms established, what they called an adventurer system. Kingdoms set up guilds and hired mercenaries, travelling warriors to eliminate the void walkers that intruded upon the kingdom's lands. And so, peace and prosperity returned to many kingdoms of Ausia, even if not all.

Valkyria was one of few kingdoms where the war against the void walkers never truly ended. Like every other Kingdoms, they too relied upon Adventurer's guild to repel the invasions. But in years following the war, the invasions around their lands grew uncontrollably. The guilds couldn't no longer withstand their invasions alone.

In desperation, the crown united the guilds with the royal army. Even that proved to be not enough. The void walkers were much more both in number and strength. Decade after decade, Kingdom bled, trying to protect its people and the land.

Its borders shrank half its size. Once prosperous cities fell into ruin. Countless people, be it warriors or citizen, lost their lives. Poverty spread through the land and those could flee, fled in despair.  Hope became nothing more than a prayer.

Then...She was born.

The first daughter of King Odinor. A miracle that changed everything. 

They say, on the night of her birth, the heavens wept, rain parched the lands, flowers bloomed in desserts, while the Void walkers shrieked as if they had glimpsed their own end. 

Whether those tales were true, no one could say. What every warrior remembered was this:  At age where children played with dolls, she marched to war. And Valkyria claimed its first victory in several decades. 

No one understood how. No one understood why. Yet whenever she walked into battlefield, the weary soldiers felt as if their fatigue disappeared. The earth itself trembled beneath her footsteps, while the void walkers screamed as though fear seized them.

From that day onward, she never returned from a battlefield without victory. Soon, a single name echoed across the scarred fields of Valkyria.

Freya.

The sword of victory.

Even beyond the borders of Valkyria, her legends started to become known. The mercenaries spread her legend from one land to another. They gave her many names. 

The merciless.

The greatest prodigy under celestial order.

The prophesied queen of winged warriors.

Even sages of Ryojin, the third strongest Kingdom of Ausia, speculated.

“Is she the blessing from Athena, as the people of Valkyria believe?”

“Or is she the corrupted sword of ruin destined to plunge Ausia into chaos again.”

But how could they know. No matter how powerful their magic was. No mortal could know that.

Only the Wheel of Time could tell. And so, it shall turn again