Hero From The Dark Dimension
Chapter 2: Darius Hunt

Time has long passed...

The hero knight still survives in a dark dimension. Living in a big cave. With a campfire as the only heating and lighting source. Darius had forgotten how long he had been trapped inside this dark dimension.

The dimensions are inhabited by various beasts, large and strange. The monster nest is a proper nickname for this place. There is no plant or animal that should be consumed or a source of clean water that is suitable for drinking.

Darius ate the flesh of the monster he defeated to overcome hunger. Sari from wild plants around it he made as a thirst quench, a substitute for water. That's all he can do to survive. He did not want to die before returning to his country and reuniting with his family and friends.

Darius has been stuck in the dark dimension for a long time. During that time he also ate monster meat that should not be consumed. The meat he ate had a very visible impact on his body. Growing one horn on his head, his eyes blackened with red pupils and his physical abilities increased. His body was bigger than before.

Darius realized the changes in his body were increasingly prominent. But he had no other choice. There was no other food source he could get.

Hearing his stomach make a sound, he immediately took his sword and came out of the cave where he was sheltering. He had to find food to fill his stomach.

"This time, what can I eat?" Inner Darius, while tracing the area around him.

A moment later, a huge tiger monster was seen. With a silent step, Darius approached the monster. He was ready to strike with a sword in his hand.

But the monster's sharp instincts managed to detect his presence. The tiger monster realized Darius' position. Darius' intention to attack secretly was canceled.

The monster stared intently at Darius and showed his pointy fangs. His large, sharp claws were already preparing to tear the body of the Knight from the Invandara. Darius anticipated the move that the monster would make.

"GRAAA!!!"

Auman followed by a quick attack. The tiger monster attacked with sharp nails. The claw is able to throw a sharp wind that cuts neatly the rocks around it.

Like cutting a fruit, the wind cut through a very hard rock. Brutally, the monster continued to launch its attacks.

Realizing the prey was disappearing, the monster stopped attacking. Darius suddenly disappeared from the sight of the monster. Unexpectedly, Darius was already right behind the monster. The sword he was holding was already covered in blood.

The tiger monster was motionless. The area of the monster's neck started to bleed. A moment later, the monster's head was cut off and rolled onto the ground. Blood poured out from the beheaded monster.

It turned out that Darius was attacking at a higher speed right when the monster attacked him. It moved so fast that the monster did not see its movement. Even the monster was unaware that its head had been severed when it lunged at Darius. What an abnormal speed for a human being.

"Looks, to deal with a monster like this I need more power and a long time. But now it's not." Inner Darius. She felt abnormal changes in her body.

Darius' physical abilities increase drastically as he continues to consume monster meat. Now he wondered inside.

"Am I still human?"

He was worried that his appearance would scare the people who saw him. His current form will definitely be the center of attention when he returns to Invandara.

Darius began to think about the reaction of his friends and family when he saw his present self. Will they still accept it under these conditions?.

"Oh.., why am I thinking of the no-no? they are my family and my friends, they will definitely understand me and my condition. Anyway, I'm like this to survive so I can see them again." Darius threw away his negative thoughts.

"Truely, they will still accept me. I can't be so prejudiced against them, because they love me so much." Darius' spirit is pumped back. With his recovered spirit, he brought his hunting monster to the cave.

Today he made a tiger monster as his meal. Long before that he had eaten all sorts of monsters. Starting from the ordinary to the most bizarre. Giant octopus, dragon, Hydra and so on. All that he had eaten.

When he first hunted monsters in the dark dimension, he almost lost his life.

Gradually as his physical abilities increase. Hunting monsters was no longer a difficult thing for him.

Now he only needs a few minutes to get the hunted monsters. Darius arrived at the cave, he immediately skinned the monsters he hunted. The monster meat he ate raw greedily. While his skin he used as a base for sleeping.

Darius had to eat every piece of raw meat. Since the first time he had obtained a game monster, he had tried to process the meat into cooked meat by burning it. But the meat was not burned at all. Not a single bit of that piece of meat was affected by the fire.

I don't know what is in it that makes the fire not work. That's what forced Darius to eat raw meat while trapped in this bad place.

Darius took off his fatigue after eating. He threw himself on his bed. Hopefully tomorrow he will find his way home.

...—/—/—...

Ezius Kingdom. The Invandara State, 1630....

"Sister, let's fight again!" A teenager named Drake forces his brother to fight.

"It's getting dark, we've got it for today. After all we have fought 34 rounds starting from the morning blind. Don't you feel tired?" Darius asked his sister who remained clean hard.

"I won't stop until I beat you, brother." Drake is still stubborn. He did not accept because he always lost to his brother.

Every day, she challenged her brother in every way. Start from swimming, catching fish and much more. Even she wanted to win from her brother in a fight as well.

Drake spent the night training with the sword. So that he can defeat his brother. But the result was the same, he still lost.

"Have it done, it's not good for you to force yourself like that. Here.., I'm a sling." Darius lifted his beloved sister to his back.

Meanwhile Drake scowled in annoyance. He's been training all night for 10 months. But it did not produce results. Now he has to go home with his brother because his legs have been really sore due to the fight earlier. That adds to the taste.

"Hey, don't pout that way. You fought pretty good. You could almost hurt my forehead," praised Darius, intending to wipe his sister's pouting face.

"That doesn't make me happy at all, sis," Drake replied.

"Don't put on such a gloomy face. Tomorrow, you can challenge me again. Surely after I'm done with the job." The words of Darius lit the fire of his sister's spirit. Drake's pouting face was gone.

"Alright then, tomorrow I will challenge big brother again. Not just in a fight, I hope you're ready for my challenge, brother," Drake said excitedly.

Darius was happy to see his sister's smile. The two of them returned home to the palace, before it grew darker. Grand Elzim is a large palace in the center of the city of Tideo, also the center of the government of the kingdom of Ezius in the land of Invandara. This is where Darius and his brother lived.

Both brothers were adopted by Reivan Warden as the ruling king of the Ezius Kingdom. Both of their parents were killed by Dark Lord forces who attacked the village where Darius and his younger brother lived first.

Darius was 7 years old and his brother Drake was 3. They were born into a family of apple farmers and lived in a small village some distance from the center of the kingdom. The village became the first victim of the Dark Lord's cruelty when the dark lord first appeared.

The king and the royal army arrived there after the village had been ravaged. The king also regretted his delay.

He ordered his troops to inspect the entire village to make sure, are there any survivors? one of his soldiers found two children hiding in a basement in a small house.

The king adopted the two children as a form of atonement for his delay in saving the village and its entire population. The king took care of and trained the child he adopted until he grew up.

Now one of the two children had the authority to command a group of golden knights as well as being the highest knight in his kingdom.

He was 26 years old. Darius climbed the pinnacle of success as a knight. He managed to reclaim a portion of the area controlled by the Dark Lord. Some of the big cities in Invandara had already managed to secure it from the Dark Lord's army. The king was proud of his son's success.

The greatness of Darius until it was heard to the territory of other kingdoms. Even across the country. The three neighboring kingdoms of Ezius were Xeranos, Pelnoraf and Windland. All the kingdoms recognized Darius.

That's why he got the right to lead a group of golden knights, a group consisting of the best knights of all the kingdoms in the Invandara country. The group was formed by the four kingdoms with the aim of defeating the Dark Lord. To save the land of Invandara from destruction.

His younger brother Drake had already achieved achievements in the field of the royal magic academy and managed to become the leader of the magic army at a very young age. This had a major impact on the kingdom's military advance.

The king began to think that what he found in the destroyed village was not just two human children. But the light of hope for his kingdom and for the Invandara.

"Where have you guys been? why did you just come home this night? and why don't you bring your bodyguards when you get out of the palace?" Queen Obella asked with worry. Darius and his sister knelt in respect.

"I'm sorry we're queens. We were too busy practicing, we forgot the time" replied Darius.

"I'm sorry we forgot to bring a bodyguard" Drake said. Though the reason why they don't bring bodyguards is because they want privacy.

Because their status that has a great influence on the kingdom makes them always escorted wherever they go. So this time they really wanted to spend time together as brothers.

"I'm worried about you, my children." The queen rubbed the heads of her two children. Queen Obella suffers from infertility, so she has no children. He was grateful that the king made these two great knights his sons. The Queen loved them more than herself.

The Queen allowed her two sons to stand up and gave them a hug. Before finally one of the bodyguards came to deliver a message.

"Prince Drake, His Majesty calls you. Soon you will establish yourself as the next heir to the throne" the bodyguard said.

Drake's heart stopped beating hearing the news. He looked directly at his brother.

"But big brother, you are the one who will inherit the throne of the kingdom" Drake said.

"I've given you that position, my brother." Surprising answer from a sister.

"T.. but why?" Drake still did not understand why his brother had handed over such a precious position to him.

"I'm such a fool. My intelligence comes out only when I'm fighting. You're smarter and wiser than me, you're the one who deserves it. I will still survive as the commander of the golden knight," Darius replied as he patted his sister on the shoulder.

"T. but I'm not as strong as you." Drake's nervous amazing. Darius touched his forehead to his sister's forehead. With a smiling face he said, "This kingdom needs more wisdom than strength. I'm sure, with your wisdom, this kingdom will be more prosperous and I'm here to protect you, because I'm stronger."

Nervously. Drake accepts himself as the next heir to the throne. Thanks to his brother's support, he was ready to assume this important position. Amidst the nuances, Darius got the news that he had a meeting with the golden knights.

He withdrew from the presence of the queen and her sister. Darius went to the royal meeting room. There all the golden knights from all over the kingdom gathered.

Glenn Ornin: Protective sorcerer from the Xeranos kingdom.

Fiona Blanca: The fastest knight in the Invandara of the Pelnoraf kingdom

Kay Runin: Magic Archer from Windland.

Yui Clascof: A healing and dimensional transfer sorcerer, who is also from Windland.

They gathered to discuss strategies to defeat the main enemy of the Invandara. Darius the swordsman who came from Ezius led this group.

Yui has found a way to go to the dark dimension, but not everyone can go there. Only people with certain powers could pass through the portal to the dark dimension.

"So we can't bring troops?" Ask Glenn. Yui nodded.

"As I explained to you. Only people with certain powers can pass through the portal to the dark dimension" Yui replied.

"That could mean not all of us can get in there." Kay came to a conclusion.

"it sucks." Fiona growled while playing her favorite knife.

"So what kind of person can get in there?" Ask Darius.

"The only ones who can fit into the dark dimension are people like us." Yui's reply made all the knights who were in the room wide open.

"J.. So only we can get in there?" ask Glenn. Yui replied with a nod.

"There was actually one more man, Prince Drake. I've seen the energy from the power of everyone from each kingdom including us" explains Yui.

"After four years of energy matching and research. I finally learned that the portal into the dark dimension can only be passed by people of rare powers." Yui continued her explanation.

"So you're saying I have rare powers?" ask Darius. Because as far as he was, he was just a knight who relied on physicality to fight. Although his physique was much stronger than ordinary humans.

"That's right, you have rare powers other than physical strength, yet you haven't realized that yet" Yui replied.

If Yui said that Drake has rare powers, Darius would believe. Because his younger brother was able to obtain achievements in the magic academy thanks to his strength that was different from the others. But Yui also said that Darius also has rare powers. This caused Darius confusion.

"What power do I have other than physical?" Ask Darius a second time.

"I don't know, but I can feel that power from you." That answer made Darius more confused.

"We leave aside your rare power, Darius. Now you know that only you and Prince Drake can go there. So what's our plan?" Ask Yui. They began to think of the right plan.two hours passed and they still did not have a mature plan. Darius finally made the decision.

"We will go there alone to defeat the Dark Lord and I will not involve my sister for our plan this time." Darius conveyed his plan. To be honest, it was difficult to defeat the Dark Lord if only they were to deal with it. But there is no other choice but this.

"But if Prince Drake helps, then we will have an easier time dealing with the Dark Lord" Yui said.

"He was the future king of Ezius. I will not let him die, before he becomes king and brings forth the kingdom of Ezius and the entire population of the Invandara" Darius replied. All the knights understood Darius' words and agreed to them. They also set this plan as a way to defeat the Dark Lord.

The next day....

The golden knight group carried out their plan. Darius was already complete with his sword and armor. He's ready to go. The whole people of Ezius' Kingdom encouraged him when he began to depart.

"Show the power of Ezius' knight to the dark lord, Commander!" Cheers of one of the soldiers.

The entire population of the Invandara gave their spirit and hope to the golden knights who would fight for them. All the higher-ups of each kingdom came to offer prayers before they departed. King Reivan, Queen Obella and Prince Drake offered prayers to their struggling son.

"Defeat your enemy and return safely. Bring victory for Ezius and Invandara" said the King, the King peeping his son's forehead.

"Go home safely," said the Queen, he also gave a kiss to his son.

"Don't lose, before I beat you" Drake said, hugging his brother.

The prayer to the knights was over. Yui had already opened a portal towards the dark dimension. The entire population of Invandara paid their respects.

That respect was the last they saw before they entered that dimension.

That's what happened before Darius was trapped in the dark dimension.

...—/—/—...

Right now in the dark dimension.....

Darius retraced the dimension he did not know the end of. On his way through this dimension, many monsters were blocking him, but in the end the monster ended up being his meal. Right in a large place, Darius saw a stone that was different from the other stones. It was dark green and engraved an inscription on the stone.

..."For the people trapped in this place. Read this message...."...

Seriate...