They say that there was once a time when the entirety of the Maple World was almost destroyed by the powerful fallen Transcendent of Light--known back then as The Black Mage. The dark mage’s power expanded rapidly, pulling in countless monsters as well as 9 evil commanders to create a vast army. The Maple Empire and allies responded swiftly, evacuating their citizens to another continent, and mobilizing their forces and preparing for the coming invasion with all the power available to them. It was not enough. Numerous losses quickly decorated the Empire’s war effort, and the corresponding hope for salvation plummeted. Even the Empress Aria herself was lost in the midst of the conflict.
It was only through the eventual emergence of The Six Heroes that the Empire managed to keep from being utterly annihilated. With ingenious stratagems from the wise Onyx Dragon Mage Freud and his Onyx Dragon Partner Afrien, the armies managed to prevent more losses. Armies lead and sustained by Mercedes, the Queen of the Elves, and Luminous, the Scion of Light, were blessed and emboldened to continue the charge. Charges headed by Aran, with her soul weapon Maha, and The Forgotten Hero desperately tore victory from The Black Mage’s grasp. Even the notorious Master Thief Phantom, driven by his loss of the Maple Empress, joined the cause to secure supplies and intelligence to support the war effort.
Eventually, The Six Heroes were able to mount a final assault on The Black Mage and his forces. As their armies clashed for the final time, The Six Heroes pushed on toward the Temple where the Black Mage awaited them. However, unbeknownst to everyone else, Daemon, an immensely powerful demon commander learned of the death of his family at the hands of The Black Mage. Having found that The Black Mage reneged on his promise, the demon turned his unfathomable power against his former master in a brutal attempt at revenge.
Under the full weight of Daemon’s might, The Black Mage’s shield was shattered, and his enchanted robes were damaged greatly. Unfortunately, having exhausted all his power, Daemon was unable to deliver the final blow, and was instead defeated himself.
Almost immediately after the duel, the Six Heroes arrived at the location of The Black Mage, and engaged him in a final battle. Even with the six of them combined they lacked the power to bring their enemy down, but due to his protective shield being mysteriously missing, Freud was able to enact a costly plan to lock their adversary away in an inexplicable seal of time. It’s cost however, would be enormous. One of The Six Heroes would have to sacrifice their own time--their very existence itself--to power the seal, while the remaining five would have to buy time for it to activate. Without exception or hesitation, the heroes agreed on their plan of action.
Aran, Phantom, Mercedes, and Afrien charged forward together. Their combined full power amounted to nothing but a last ditch effort to stall their nemesis. Freud stayed back with clenched teeth and fists to activate the sealing spell. Luminous would be the trigger, while The Forgotten Hero offered up his time. Together they struggled, and one by one they fell. First was Aran at the head of the charge. Next was Mercedes to protect Phantom. Then, in an attempt to stop the seal’s activation, The Black Mage fired upon Freud. Though the blast managed to fell the great Dragon Mage, it did not manage to stop the invocation of the spell. Afrien’s heartbroken wails echoed throughout the temple halls as Freud’s final magic warped space and bent time.
The Forgotten Hero watched on as his body withered and deconstructed at a speed and scale visible to the naked eye. He let one last smile grace his features before he too faded away to fuel the spell’s awesome power.
An unresigned roar reverberated along every wall and shook the earth itself. The Black Mage struggled and threw blasts of magical energy at the oncoming waves of Freud’s final spell, but although nothing could stop the coming tide of dragon magic, a trace of darkness manages to push through and infect Luminous. Afraid of the possibility of a come back from the Dark Mage, Luminous quickly triggered the sealing. Distortions of space slowly wrapped around the Transcendent’s body until only a blurry outline could be seen. Then the world vanished in a flash of blinding white light.
They say that after the battle, Afrien returned to his ancestral home to mourn the loss of his partner Freud while Phantom found his way back to the old Capital to pay respects to the late Empress. Maha was brought back to Rien and Luminous vanished into seclusion--presumably to confront his new inner darkness--leaving the remnants of the Maple World’s people to retreat and resettle the lands. Some stayed on the new continent and named it Victoria, while others sought out their old homes on the other continents. Slowly life rebuilt itself over the passage of time, and a peace paid for in blood settled over the world.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
