The Day of Shadows, contrary to historical records, did not end with the collapse of Kingdom Terath.
Instead, what occurred was far more appalling and miraculous.
It was the work of the supernatural.
The doing of God.
Yes, God. A term that no Emontarion deigned to speak of.
All Emontarions, though bearing different cultures, had a general understanding when it came to the divine or the supernatural.
That was, they never existed.
No miraculous hand reached out to create the universe and then blew life into it, letting creatures of all types blossom under the radiant rays of the sun or beneath the twilight of night skies.
The universe, as they knew it, simply came to be out of necessity, and so did they, for creation itself was a false concept.
Reality was never conjured.
It emerged continuously from the impossibility of nothing.
The six Philosophers of Old Age taught that the very notion of absolute nothingness was impossible.
To speak of nothingness was to define it.
To define it was to distinguish it from something else.
To distinguish was to create meaning.
And meaning was the first stir of emotion.
Thus was born the Doctrine of Necessary Emotion.
According to their teachings, emotion was not a byproduct of existence.
Existence was a byproduct of emotion.
Before stars, before worlds, before life, there was neither matter nor energy, but the necessity for reality to experience itself.
So there existed no religion in the world.
However, on the Day of Shadows, as the Nightmares stood on the blink of collapse, as their ruler could do nothing but watch in despair, his dark room was suddenly swallowed by a bright golden light.
Lifting his hand to block the light, he was instantly pulled by an unknown force to the floor before sinking into it as though it had liquefied.
He fell for a good number of minutes before he hit the seabed, which eventually cracked, revealing a serene dark sky plastered with an embellishment of stars.
No longer under the influence of the unknown pull, His Grace drew out his long black glistening sword as he landed in an extravagant blue foggy expanse.
It was so incredibly foggy that seeing anything beyond the mist, even for him, was downright impossible.
Tentatively looking around, His Grace saw gigantic pillars on either side of him.
At that moment, he realized he was in a gigantic mysterious hallway, and from behind, where the blue light seemed to come from, was a presence he had never encountered.
Its overwhelming energy was unlike anything he had ever perceived.
It was so calm, almost alluring, yet deigned not to be looked upon by a being such as he.
His Grace, who had held the teachings of the Great Philosophers since childhood, at that moment, being subjected to the unknown majestic energy, debunked their theory.
There were indeed entities above the Emontarions.
And one of them, if not the most powerful—or rather the only one—was looking at him from behind.
He did not know what this entity wanted and dared not speculate.
His first priority was not to anger or disrespect it.
The majestic ruler of Terath dropped his black glistening sword and, without turning, fell to his knees with his head lowered.
Like a child being punished, he maintained the position for about ten minutes, shaking from the inside.
Before his composure wavered, the air in the blue foggy hall vibrated, producing an ethereal and calming sound.
"Elmas Vikas, son of Tyler Vikas, Fifth King of Terath. What is it that you seek?"
The sudden question appalled him.
Could this entity have no ill intentions toward him?
Elmas carefully considered the question before earnestly answering as though he were speaking to a being who held more power than him in Terath, copying the tone of his subjects.
" Great Unknown, i wish for the war to end."
"Your actions to realize your wish are contradictory, for you stand by and watch as your people weep before dying in ignorance and despair." The Voice seemed to know just how powerful the King was and questioned his aloof stance in the matter.
After a pause King Elmas, with a heavy heart, said,"My only option for ending the conflict will result in the loss of many lives, and I simply do not want that."
"You don't want that?"
"No."
The entity paused before speaking again,
"What is more important to you, your kingdom or your ideals?"
The question he had internally debated as he watched his race get massacred was thrown at him once more, but this time he had to answer.
The supernatural was waiting.
"My kingdom. But if it lacks ideals, how is it any different from a forest harboring wild beasts?
Wars ended by bloodshed lead only to more bloodshed.
I do not intend to build my kingdom upon corpses."
"Mmm, pacifist. Give as you may, the world is analogous to a bearer of the sin affinity of Gluttony. It only takes. And at the end of the day, one ought to decide when to stop being the giver and turn into the collector."
Just after those confusing words resounded through the air, King Elmas felt the entity's energy grow even more magnificent.
Consequently, the land below shifted, and his back was no longer facing the entity.
His face was.
And he could not move.
His eyes slowly made out a figure shrouded in glowing white robes descending from a high throne fixed in front of an enormous blue moon.
The entity's skin was alabaster, and its white hood revealed only its smiling face, soothing his nerves entirely.
'This is God!'
That became abundantly clear at the moment.
"Your cries have been heard, Elmas Vikas. You need not worry, you need not suffer and you shouldn't despair for the threads of fate that bound you have now being released.
From today and onwards, The Pawn will be your benefactor.
Your worries are mine to weap over, your victories mine to celebrate, your dreams mine to conjure, your enemies mine to erase and your subjects mine to guide." The soft voice layered over itself, long enough to make the king of Terath surrender entirely to God and tear both in relief and desperation.
" Thus, The Pawn promises to bestow upon you and your people a world outside the domain of evil, a world free of discrimination, stereotype and injustice.
Where you can raise livestock and grow as much greenery as you wish."
Upon reaching the challenged King of Terath, God reached out a glowing hand.
"One where Solace is no longer a distorted dream but a vivid reality."
As that promise left God's lips, golden light drifted above the outstretched hand, forming a symbol of a golden pawn inscribed within a circle.
It glowed and glowed until it transformed into a ball-like relic.
"Save your people, Elmas Vikas, Pacifist Nightmare."
The next thing King Elmas experienced was instant drowsiness.
He then felt something pull him upward before his eyes shut completely.
Reopening them, he found himself sitting on his bed, and in his hand was a ball-like relic.
Though it was dark, for the sun outside was shrouded by dark clouds, he could, due to his ability, still make out its silver color.
Curved around it were several pawns inscribed within circles, wrapping around the surface of the relic.
His tearly eyes shone in awe.
"The gift of God."