Admetus looks up at the towering figure standing atop the edge of the townhall building. He can't believe his eyes. A demon, here, within the boundaries of Arcadia.
People rush in every direction, chaos reigning. Some are trampled to death beneath the stampede. The courage that the Arcadians were so proud of is nowhere to be seen. What unfolds now is a waking nightmare. Strangely, all this terror only seems to excite the burly demon standing above.
"Wow, now this is what I like to see~ Marvelous!"
Admetus tears his eyes away from the demon and looks back at his friend. Khnouphis is still bleeding heavily. The spear remains lodged in his torso.
"Brother…" Khnouphis says, before coughing up blood and gasping for breath. Admetus grows even more frantic.
"No… someone… please! I need help! A medic!" he shouts, looking around, but everyone is too busy fleeing in panic.
"Oh, I need my Stygmons back. Excuse me," the demon says casually, raising his hand. The spear buried in the fallen guard tears free and flies into his grasp. Admetus watches the massive weapon soar through the air and land in the demon's hand. Then, the spear lodged in Khnouphis' body begins to tremble.
"Argh!" Khnouphis screams, writhing in Admetus' arms. The spear rips itself out of his torso, pulled by the demon's call. Admetus can do nothing but hold his friend as he convulses in pain. The spear soars back into the demon's hand. He then places both spears behind his back in an X-shape.
"Well then. I'd better stop wasting time," the demon says, raising both hands high. A massive portal tears open behind him, so enormous the entire townhall building could fit inside with room to spare.
Deûro élthe, Gaióthrauste!
The demon bellows. His deep voice echoes through the air, and from the gaping portal, massive hooves begin to emerge, each one the size of a boat. Admetus is frozen. His mind fractures under the sheer weight of what he is witnessing. A gigantic demonic minotaur steps onto the land in front of the Agora. It is titanic.
The land beneath the city of Arcadia quakes so violently that one could mistake it for an earthquake, but the colossal minotaur makes the truth undeniable.
"Hahaha! Time to have some fun!" the demon bellows with hearty laughter.
Khnouphis, barely clinging to life, struggles to lift his hand to his friend's neck. Admetus looks down at him, their robes soaked in fresh blood. Using the last of his strength, Khnouphis utters,
"I'm… sorry…" The moment those words leave his lips, his hand drops, the light in his eyes fades, and his body falls still. He no longer breathes. Admetus is so overwhelmed he can't even register what has just happened. Tears stream down his face. His heart does not forget to mourn.
"Khnum… Khnum!" he calls out, cradling his childhood friend's lifeless body, gently nudging him as if expecting a response. But it never comes.
Moments later, the titanic demon minotaur plants its hooves into the land. Hundreds of other demons begin pouring through the portal. Their presence alone seems to poison the air, degrading the sacred aura of the city. The sky gradually darkens, swallowed by black clouds.
The demonic invasion of Arcadia has begun.
***
Daniil lies on his kline inside his room. The whole family is resting after lunch. He is dozing off, staring at the ceiling, the room's warmth making him restless. He tosses and turns. Suddenly, a loud boom echoes through the air, followed by violent tremors.
Startled, Daniil bolts upright in bed, eyes wide. He climbs up to his window to see what's going on outside. What he sees defies comprehension. A towering, bull-like creature, tall as a mountain, stomps across the land, shattering his understanding of reality. He can't look away. In seconds, the sky turns dark.
Andreas, Meri, Alexia, and Agapi all wake from their naps. The entire family rushes to the front door. What they see leaves them just as stunned. Andreas instinctively pulls his wife and daughters close, eyes fixed on the distant terror rising on the horizon.
"Oh Lord…" he mutters, his heart sinking at the abomination before him.
The Gaióthrauste, a colossal demon, grips a giant club. With a mighty swing, it slams the earth. The shockwave travels all the way to the Alkmanis house. The quake is felt miles away. And then—
A massive boulder, hurled by the minotaur, hurtles toward their home. For a moment, no one inside fully registers what's happening. But the boulder looms larger with every second. Andreas's eyes widen. Without a word, he shoves his wife and daughters away from him. They fall hard, landing several feet away.
Daniil sees the boulder through the window. He leaps from the bed to run—and then, in an instant—
GRONCH-K-K-K!
The house explodes into fragments. In the blink of an eye, everything he knows is torn apart. Daniil's mind goes blank. Instinctively, he curls up, shielding himself from the debris.
A chunk of limestone slams into his left leg.
He screams, the sound of bones cracking clear and sickening. Nerve endings fire off a surge of pain so intense it nearly robs him of breath. Still, he clings to his curled position, trying to survive the collapse of everything around him.
The destruction settles. Daniil looks up, ears ringing with a deafening hum, his vision blurry and unstable. His senses are failing him.
"Father… Mother… Alexia… Agapi…" he calls out, but he can't tell if anyone is responding. Slowly, his hearing and vision begin to return. He glances around.
The room he once lived in is gone, completely wiped out. In fact, the entire house has been reduced to rubble.
He tries to stand, but the moment he moves—
"Argh!" Pain sears through his left leg. He looks down and sees bone fragments jutting through torn flesh. The adrenaline coursing through him keeps the panic at bay, but only just. He has to find his family.
Using the piled debris as support, he rises on his right leg and limps toward where the large room of the house once stood. Now, it is nothing but rubble.
A massive boulder rests in the center. Daniil's eyes follow a dark smear beneath it, starting from what used to be the entrance. It looks as though someone spilled several buckets of fresh blood. The sight makes his hands shake, the adrenaline beginning to fade.
With no certainty of an answer, he calls out, this time a desperate shout.
"Father! Mother! Alexia… Agapi…"
His voice falters. The ruin before him feels like the end of hope.
Balancing on one leg, he limps toward the boulder. As he lays a hand on its cold surface, a faint rattling reaches his ears. Movement. Heart pounding, he tries to rush toward it, but his shattered leg gives way, dropping him to his knees. He drags himself forward, pulling away chunks of debris where the sound came from.
At last, he uncovers a familiar face—his mother, trapped beneath the wreckage.
"Mother!" he cries, his voice breaking. With frantic urgency, he clears the rubble off her. As more debris falls away, he sees them—his little sisters lying beside her. Daniil pulls them out, one by one.
"Argh… Argh…"
Daniil hears another voice, familiar, pained, coming from behind the massive boulder. He doesn't think, he just moves, leaving his mother and sisters where they lay, newly freed from the debris.
It's his father. Andreas is pinned beneath the boulder from the waist down. The trail of blood beneath it suddenly makes sense. Daniil's mind reels, but there's no time to process, the nightmare keeps deepening. Andreas is breathing shallowly, his hands pressed against the stone, but the weight doesn't budge. Daniil scrambles to help, wedging his fingers into cracks, straining to lift, but it's impossible for any human to move such a mass.
Andreas sees his son's frantic, futile efforts.
"Daniil… listen to me, son…"
But Daniil keeps pushing, ignoring him.
"Listen! It's futile… Take your mother and sisters. Get them out. Now."
Tears spill down Daniil's cheeks. His grip slips from the rock as the truth sinks in. He looks at his father, his face pale, his eyes steady.
"There's no time. You… they have to survive. Flee this place… this city."
Even through the chaos, Daniil understands the weight of those words. The trembling earth gives him no chance to argue. His heart feels like it's being torn apart, but he knows, he must leave his father to save the rest of the family.
"…Alright… I understand…" His voice shakes as the tears keep coming. He turns away. Behind him, Andreas lays his head back against the ground.
Daniil kneels beside his mother, who is slowly regaining consciousness.
"Daniil…?" she murmurs.
"Mother, can you stand? We have to leave. I'll carry Alexia and Agapi. We have to move, now."
"What? Where's your father?"
"He's…" Daniil searches for words, but can't answer before she sees him, half-buried beneath the rubble.
"Andreas!" Meri cries, rushing to him. "Oh no, no, no… oh God—"
"Listen to me!" Andreas' voice is sharp, his strength nearly gone. "You have to survive. There's no time for grief."
Meri shakes her head, tears spilling. "But what about you?! Are you telling me to leave you here?" Blood runs down her forehead from a cut, but she doesn't notice.
"Please… try to understand. I beg you." His gaze locks with hers, firm, unyielding. The plea cuts through her panic. She feels the decision tear through her chest.
"…Alright," she whispers. "I understand."