The War King
Chapter 1: Roots of a Demon
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PAGE 1
Panel 1: Splash page. Close-up on a child's eyes, wide, gray, and of a disconcerting clarity. They reflect the movement of an army on the march.
Text: Fifteen years ago...
Panel 2: Wide shot of a muddy paved street in the kingdom of Garden. The atmosphere is gray, rainy. Citizens in rags watch, silent or tearful, the passage of a column of soldiers. The men are in tarnished armor, faces grim, carrying faded standards.
Panel 3: Medium shot of young Leo (about 4 years old). He is small, thin, dressed in a tunic too large and torn. He is perched on a stone post, motionless in the midst of the commotion. His gaze follows the soldiers with an intensity abnormal for his age.
Panel 4: Close-up on his mouth murmuring, his words almost swallowed by the rumbling of the carts.
Young Leo: "They're going to lose... A lot will die. More than half."
PAGE 2
Panel 1: Among the soldiers, Commander Kio, a man in the prime of life with a scar on his cheek, turns his head. He heard. His gaze falls on the kid. He frowns, intrigued by this prophetic murmur in the sad crowd.
Panel 2: Kio approaches, his armor clinking. He crouches down to Leo's level.
Kio: "Little one, why do you say that? These are the king's brave soldiers. They're going to defend our borders."
Panel 3: Leo looks him straight in the eyes, without fear, almost without emotion.
Young Leo: "They look tired. And sad. When you're tired and sad, you make mistakes. And mistakes, in war... you pay for them."
Panel 4: Kio is speechless. This isn't a child's speech. It's the cold analysis of a veteran. The column continues to advance. Kio gets up, casting one last perplexed look at Leo before retaking his place.
Kio's internal monologue: "A kid's words... Why do they chill me to the bone?"
PAGE 3
Panel 1: A few weeks later. Dark and damp interior of the orphanage "Garden's Hope." A large room with beds lined up. Children listen, terrified, to a town crier in front of the gate.
Crier (voice-over): "Disaster at the Eastern border! Our army has been decimated! Losses are estimated at... seventy percent!"
Panel 2: Panic and sobs among the children and nurses. In the midst of the chaos, Leo sits alone on a bench, staring at the ground. He doesn't cry. He murmurs.
Young Leo: "Seventy... I said 'more than half.' It was worse."
Panel 3: The orphanage door bursts open violently. Kio enters, still in his field uniform, covered in dust and looking haggard. His gaze searches the room and locks onto Leo.
Panel 4: Jack, the orphanage director, a potbellied and worried man, steps forward.
Jack: "Commander Kio! What an honor... but to what do we owe...?"
Kio: "The child. The one who speaks little. I need to speak to him."
Kio points his finger at Leo. Jack, surprised, nods.
PAGE 4
Panel 1: Kio and Leo are in the small dead garden of the orphanage. Kio sits on a stone bench, holding his head. Leo stands before him, small but upright.
Kio (hoarse voice): "You knew. Didn't you? You saw, that day, what was going to happen."
Young Leo: "I don't know. I see. The soldiers were marching, but their feet were dragging. They looked at the ground, not the horizon. None smiled. An army that has already lost in its head... loses on the field."
Panel 2: Quick flashback: Kio sees his men again, indeed exhausted by months of patrol, demoralized by the lack of supplies. He clenches his fists.
Kio: "And if... if you were the commander. With that same tired army. What would you do?"
Panel 3: Leo thinks for a moment, his little eyebrows furrowed.
Young Leo: "If my army is tired... the enemy must be too. To be equal. You retreat, you lure them away from their bases, you make them run under the sun. You exhaust their horses before the fight."
Panel 4: Kio slowly nods, impressed despite himself.
Kio: "That's wise. But the enemy was more numerous. Fatigue alone isn't enough."
PAGE 5
Panel 1: Leo squints, his child's face taking on a strangely adult and calculating expression.
Young Leo: "Then, you use the 'Macabre Dance.'"
Kio: "The... what?"
Young Leo: "Three hundred volunteers. They charge straight into the center, in disorder, shouting very loudly. They don't aim to kill, but to get through, to cut, to sow confusion. The enemy, surprised, believes it's madness and disorganizes to engulf them."
Panel 2: Kio visualizes the scene: a small unit charging into the enemy mass, breaking its formation.
Young Leo: "Meanwhile, the rest of our army, fresh, attacks the disorganized flanks. The losses? The three hundred, and maybe a few others. But not seventy percent. Much less."
Panel 3: Kio's eyes are bright. Then his face darkens.
Kio: "It's ingenious. But... three hundred lives sacrificed in advance. Even winning, it's a defeat for the commander who sends them to their deaths."
Panel 4: Leo looks at him, not understanding this notion.
Young Leo: "You asked for a strategy to win with a tired army. I gave it."
Kio (smiling weakly): "And if I asked you for a strategy... to win without losing anyone?"
Young Leo shakes his head.
Young Leo: "That doesn't exist. But I know ten... no, a hundred. That only make you lose one man in ten. 10%. Not 70."
PAGE 6
Panel 1: Close-up on Kio's face. Astonishment, then a fierce determination. He sees in this child something monstrous... and precious.
Kio: "Tell me. Tell me these hundred strategies."
Panel 2: Leo sits next to him. And he begins to speak. The following panels show abstract visions of Leo's tactics: arrows forming diagrams, shadows of soldiers moving as on a chessboard, traps, feints.
Panel 3: Time passes. The shadow of the bench lengthens. Jack watches from afar, worried. Kio, for his part, is captivated, frantically taking notes on a parchment.
Panel 4: Brutal transition.
Young Leo's face dissolves, in a fade, into the face of adult Leo, impassive, bowed before the throne.
PRESENT.
SFX: CLACK (The strike of Leo's boots on the marble).
PAGE 7
Panel 1: The great throne room, crowded with nobles. The light is triumphant. King Mio rises from his throne, a parchment in his hand.
Mio (loud, clear voice): "By this decree, for an act of exceptional bravery and strategic genius that saved the kingdom of Garden from certain invasion, we elevate Leo, Supreme Grand General, to the rank of..."
Panel 2: Close-up on Luc and GI among the crowd, their faces tense with apprehension.
Mio: "...WAR KING!"
Panel 3: Stunned murmurs, then a rumble of muffled protests. "War King"? A title never heard before, which sounds almost like a military regency.
Mio: "This title grants him direct command over the Ten Northern Legions, a force of TEN MILLION soldiers!"
Panel 4: Leo slowly raises his head, a slight smile on his lips.
Mio: "He will also receive the title of Duke of the Borderlands, with all attendant lands and privileges."
PAGE 8
Panel 1: Leo straightens up completely. His silhouette suddenly seems more imposing.
Leo: "Your Majesty. I swear to dedicate this force, this land, and my mind, to the eternal glory and protection of Garden."
Panel 2: He bows again, then makes as if to withdraw. The crowd parts.
Panel 3: The king's voice stops him cold.
Mio: "One moment, War King. Your objective... the ultimate goal of your strategy, for Garden. What is it?"
Panel 4: Leo turns around, facing the king. His gray eyes meet the sovereign's. The assembly holds its breath.
Leo: "The supreme art of war, Your Majesty, is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Panel 5: The words resonate in the silence. Luc feels sick.
Leo: "I know the kingdom's affairs keep you busy. So, allow me to begin by applying this principle. I am going to the lands of Asia."
PAGE 9
Panel 1: Luc steps forward, red with anger.
Luc: "This is madness! Alliances, truces, that's the work of the Diplomatic Council! MY work! You are a general, not an ambassador!"
Panel 2: Leo looks at him as one looks at a noisy insect.
Leo: "Your 'work,' Lord Luc, left Asia declaring war on us. It failed. You are relieved of your diplomatic duties. Effective immediately."
Panel 3: Luc, stunned, turns to the king. Mio watches, impassive, validating the dismissal with his silence. Luc steps back, crushed.
Panel 4: Leo turns on his heel.
Leo: "I leave now. An enemy you negotiate with is an enemy who doesn't get back up."
PAGE 10
Panel 1: Outside the walls of the capital. Leo, in simple black travel clothes without insignia, adjusts the saddle of his horse, a powerful gray steed. A man with a perpetual smile and sharp eyes, Bart, approaches.
Bart: "So, my War King! Rumor says we're off on a peace mission. A bit ironic, isn't it?"
Leo: "Peace is the continuation of war by other means, Bart. We're going to the domain of Duke Aho, on Asia's Eastern border. Perfect for a 'truce.'"
Panel 2: Bart looks around him, expecting to see a regiment.
Bart: "And... our escort? A battalion of the Scarlet Guard? A company of elite cavalry?"
Leo (mounting his horse): "You and me. Zero men."
PAGE 11
Panel 1: Close-up on Bart's face. His smile doesn't falter, but a nervous tic appears on his eyelid.
Bart: "...Sorry? Zero? Alone? In enemy territory that just lost four thousand men against us? They'll skin us alive and hang our hides on their standards!"
Panel 2: Leo looks at him, one eyebrow raised.
Leo: "You don't believe in me, Bart?"
Panel 3: Bart closes his eyes for a moment, breathes deeply. When he opens them again, his smile is radiant once more, but his eyes are serious.
Bart: "Believe in you? My Lord, since the day Commander Kio assigned me to you as a bodyguard, I've seen things that defy reason. Following your shadow is the greatest honor... and terror of my life."
Panel 4: He jumps onto his own horse.
Bart: "Zero men is perfect. Fewer mouths to feed. And if we die, at least the accounts will be easy to settle!" He laughs heartily.
PAGE 12
Final double-page spread.
Left: Leo and Bart, two solitary silhouettes, gallop towards a mountain pass that marks the border. The immensity of the wild landscape dominates them.
Caption: Destination: The Lands of Duke Aho – Kingdom of Asia.
Right: Final flashback. Superimposition of adult Leo's determined face and young Leo, reciting his strategies to Kio in the dreary orphanage garden.
Young Leo's text (voice-over): "The hundredth strategy... is to make the enemy think he has won, even before the battle has begun."
Adult Leo's text (voice-over): "The first step to subduing without fighting... is to arrive as a friend."
Last panel, small: At the top of the pass, Leo slows his horse and casts one last look back, towards Garden. His expression is indecipherable. Then he resolutely turns his head forward, towards the unknown and hostile lands of Asia.
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END OF CHAPTER 1: ROOTS OF A DEMON