[RAW] Dark Exodus -- Chapter 1

I had an idea for a dark, OP MC story.  Taking a break from my current projects, I wrote the first few chapters.  They are completely raw and mostly unedited, so be aware there will be errors.

Let me know what you think; if you enjoy the story I might develop it into a full book or series in the future!  The first two will be available to the public, with the remainder three open to my patreons.  Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

The cursed blade sliced cleanly through the last defender. The red gem set into the hilt flared with malevolent light.

Like me, it had been freed from the control of the Alleria Kingdom, from the lies and illusions that had kept us bound and enslaved. Each person I killed fed the cursed weapon; I could sense something malevolent stirring.

I had to hurry; I had no clue what kind of spirit or demon was held in the blade, but I needed to finish my work and escape before it fully awoke.

Kicking aside the bodies, I forced open the doors to the palace’s teleportation chamber.

The cathedral-like room rose around me. The air smelled of incense and mir, overlaid by the copper stench of blood I had left in my wake.

Huge, marble columns fluted with silver and gold held up the beautifully decorated ceiling.  Images of holy angels and the goddess Alleria, namesake of the country, were everywhere. The artwork depicted winged angels sheltered the people of the kingdom from threatening shadows, while the goddess anointed her champion to protect her sacred land.

It was a bunch of hypocritical bullshit.  The Alleria Kingdom was a nation built from lies and murder.

And I had been the bloody instrument of conquest.

Stained glass cast golden rays of sunlight across the room.  It was just minutes after dawn. I left bloody footprints across the floor as I climbed the stairs leading to the teleportation pad.

I pulled the spell scroll out of my pouch.  I wasn’t a wizard myself, I had no talent with magic.  Normally I wouldn't be able to activate the complex, magical array used to power the teleportation pad.  Thankfully, Alleria’s army owned a few spell scrolls that could be used to power the pad in case of emergency.

Unfurling the scroll, I watched as blue motes of magic flowed out of the paper.  The intricate lines and glyphs that ran around the edge of the pad lit up.

“Theodore!”

Looking toward the chamber’s entrance, I spotted Crown Prince Marcus and his honor guard. They marched into the room, weapon’s drawn and leveled toward me.

“Good morning, Marcus,” I called.

The prince looked shaken.  “What are you doing, Theodore?”

I grinned at him.  Hate, pure and pitch black, flowed through me.  Dropping the scroll, I raised the cursed blade.

“I’m leaving,” I answered.  “I’m done being your Hero, your murderer.  You, and this entire fucking kingdom, can kiss my ass.”

The guards bristled, but the Crown Prince’s eyes went wide.

My smile grew even wider.  “That’s right, Marcus.  Your spells, your illusions? They no longer work on me.  For the first time in sixteen years, I can see clearly.”

“How?” he uttered.

I brought up my stat window, then showed him

Passive: True Sight (Divine)

The bearer of this divinely bestowed gift is immune to illusions, memory alterations, and mind-control effects.  They can also resist the effects caused by individuals with high Charisma and have an intrinsic knowledge when someone is lying or trying to deceive them.

“You remember the siege on the Church of Durmon?” I asked casually.  “You told me they were demon worshippers, that they were sacrificing innocent people.”

I leaned forward. “That was a lie! They were simple monks, nothing more! You just wanted the land they owned.”

“What we did, we did for the –”

“Bullshit,” I interrupted. “Your father annexed the land before their bodies were even cold!”

“Theodore, you’re sick! Someone or something is twisting your mind, driving you mad!” Marcus stepped forward, his hand outstretched. “Please, stop this, let us help you!”

I could feel his magic trying to ensnare my mind again, to cloud my perception with the illusions used to keep me contained.

“Stop it!” I snarled, raising the cursed blade. “It won’t work!  It turns out pissing off a god was a worst decision you and your fucking family could have made.”

The sword growled. The unnatural sound echoed around the chamber.

I clutched the weapon more tightly. “Durmon was a bit offended by your naked fucking greed.  He bestowed me with True Sight, revealing the horror I had become, the genocide I had committed in your name!”

The gem inset into my blade began to glow.  Red, bloody light spilled across the room.  The growl became louder.

Murmuring in fear, the royal guard tried to pull Marcus back.

“Do you remember when your family gave me this sword?” I asked.  “You told me it was a holy weapon, the sacred sword Escalon, a gift from your goddess. Wielding it made me your Hero, granting me power beyond mortal men, a champion for good and righteousness.”

The blade roared in hateful rage. It sounded like the screams of a starving monster, of men dying and women weeping.

It was the sound made when all hope died, choking on consuming darkness and madness.

When I had been under Marcus’s control, the blade had appeared as a silver longsword, its edge straight and true.  Gold and lapis lazuli had run across the guard and hilt, making it truly look like a divinely bestowed weapon.

“There is no Escalon,” I hissed.

Freed from the illusions that had bound the blade, it had returned to its true nature.

The black, pitted blade featured jagged, cutting teeth on both sides, making it appear more like a tool of slaughter than of war.  Blood, impossible to wash off, was caked along the length of each curved tooth.

A ruby the size of a man’s fist rested in the middle of the crossguard.  Ever since I had received True Sight, I had noticed a sullen light glowing from the gem.  Each man I had killed since had increased the glow, waking up whatever horror empowered the cursed weapon.

For the first time since arriving in that world, after being kidnapped and brainwashed by Marcus and the Alleria Kingdom, I knew who and what I was.

Theodore Brask – Cursed Knight of Blood Lvl 174 (Human)

HP: 100%

SP: 84%

Skills:

Analyze

Cursed Slash

Drain Blood

Murderous Impulse

Madman’s Resolve

Slaughter’s Call

Passives:

True Sight

World Waker

Combat Celebrant

Murder and Mayhem

“I’ve killed countless people for you, Marcus,” I said. “The Battle at Pine Pass, The Molten Crusade, The Redemption of Pondor, the list runs on and on. Your family claimed to have summoned me here since I was destined to be the Alleria Kingdom’s Hero. I was fated to save you from your countless foes, the enemies at your borders.  Instead, I was a tool of conquest and murder.”

Marcus took a deep breath.  When he looked back at me, his expression was utterly cold.

“You can’t escape,” he said flatly.  “We’ll hunt you down wherever you go, we’ll take back that sword, and we’ll execute you for treason!”

He gave a bitter laugh.  “Hells, once you’re dead we’ll just summon another fool. We’ll find someone compatible with the cursed blade and do the same thing to them that we did to you.  None of this matters, Theodore.  You’re nothing, just a rabid dog we leashed and trained.”

I glared at him.  “For sixteen years, Marcus, I considered you my best friend. I trusted you above all others. We fought side by side against seemingly impossible odds.  I don’t even know how many times I’ve saved your life and you saved mine.”

I took a deep breath. “And it was all a lie, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he admitted easily.

The royal guard began to advance, surrounding the platform.

“Even if you manage to teleport out of here, we’ll just chase you down and take back what is ours,” Marcus stated flatly. “Our kingdom is meant for greatness. With our chosen Hero and Escalon we’ll conquer the entire content of Thure.”

He spread his hands.  “Someday, the entire world will be ours.”

I snorted. “You're forgetting one thing.”

“Oh?” He tilted his head.

I kicked the scroll at my feet.  The teleportation pad began to hum; it was nearly charged.

Marcus snorted.  “What, that?  I assume you must have stolen it from somewhere, all part of your hairbrained scheme.”

“You’re right, I did steal it,” I answered.  “I grabbed it from the Army’s general headquarters.  I went there last night and I slaughtered everyone I saw.”

For once, his shock was not an act.

“General Paul, Commander Felix, Lady Abdulla, their adjutants and aides too” I said.  “The place was a complete bloodbath.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “And just to make sure you couldn’t chase after me, I stopped by the academy and killed the headmaster. Had to clean out his little helpers and sycophants too.”

“Archmage Reddon? Marcus said, eyes wide in horror.

“The old bastard was tough, I have to admit, but it felt real fucking good when I ran him through.” A sensation, the echo of sick thrill, ran through me from the cursed sword.

In a single night of vengeance, I had decapitated the Alleria Kingdom, killing not only their military leaders, but their most powerful wizards and knowledgeable scholars.

I chuckled.  “I was real, real busy. But don’t worry, I had a few minutes to stop by and visit the Royal Bank too.”

Outside, we could hear bells ringing.  It wasn’t the normal call to worship the kingdom woke up to.  It was a call for aid, a warning of disaster.

Either someone had started finding the bodies I’d left all over the capital, or the smoke from the fire I’d set within the Royal Bank had finally been noticed.

The Crown Prince clenched his fist.  “You’ll never get away with this! You will pay!”

The teleportation pad began to shimmer.  Arcane energy filled the room.

“Maybe,” I admitted.  “Once your neighbors, your victims, realize the weakened state you’re in, without your Hero or your Holy Sword, I imagine they’ll be more than happy to pay you back for all the suffering you’ve cost them.”

The nations of Thure would fall on the Alleria Kingdom like wolves, of that I was certain.

But I wouldn’t be there to see any of it.

“As for following me? You might be able to do it, without Reddon, but–” I raised the sword in a two handed grip, then pointed it down.  “In truth, I don’t know where I’m going, nor do I care.  Anywhere is better than here.”

Marcus tried to yell something, but it was too late.

The teleportation spell reached its climax. I could feel the world shifting, carrying me away.

I stabbed the blade down, right through the middle of the teleportation pad. The spell shuddered, then broke.

The world lurched, and then I was gone to the gods know where.