Criminal X : Epitome Of Evil

Pablo knew that in the past, wars used to continue for days, months and years.

The soldiers fighting in the war would not come home for years and their wives or children wouldn't worry about it as it was only normal.

Though, their families and friends used to receive news and letters from the soldiers which would tell them all about the current situation of the war. The letters and the newspapers were the way for the family of the soldiers to know if the war had ended or not, or how long it would take for it to end.

But after the men went for the war against the dragons, not only did they not receive the letters, they also didn't get any newspapers.

The families of the warriors only waited for their news. They waited for the news of their deaths and even that didn't come.

Newspapers always came. Whenever there was a war, the results were always announced. So why not this time? What stopped the people from not watching the battlefield and giving the news?

The families waited for one month at most and when no news came, they finally decided to go and check it for themselves. If they had received any kind of news, they would have waited for as much as ten years but no news made the families go and check the situation themselves.

And when they reached there…

Cupid told Pablo that the fear of that place took birth.

Pablo asked with his brows about what the families saw and Cupid told him.

"When they reached the battlefield, they saw that the ground itself had turned to ash. Smoke constantly came from it even when nothing was burning. The smell burned their noses to their depths and it seemed the ground itself had died and never recovered.

They also figured why they received no news about this war because whoever reached too close to the battlefield, died. The families were alive because they watched all this from far. And when they breathed there, they tasted old blood.

Many people vomited and ran away from the place. No one dared to go there after that and when they came back, they told everyone: No grass grows, no water runs—only choking grey dust that clings to your skin like it wants to bury you alive.

They called it The Land That Burns But Never Flames. They named it: Ashen Crucible—The Dread Horizon.

And that war against the Dragons was called: The War Of No Return.

After that incident, they decided that no one shall know about that place. That place should not be mentioned in any books. Now you may ask if no one was supposed to know about that place then how the hell everyone knows about it anyway?

Because the families who went there that day told everything to their children and those children told everything to their children. Everyone knows about it from generation to generation, from word of mouth.

Every warrior who fell in that ancient war was burned down to ash, their remains mixing with the soil. It's said their souls never left, trapped in eternal torment. On stormy nights, the wind across the Crucible screams like thousands of voices begging for release. People swore they've seen ghostly silhouettes trying to claw their way out of the ash.

And some brave and foolish men who tried to go there with weapons and shit to fight whatever was in that place, only a few returned, only because they were scared just after ten seconds. They told everyone that the Weapons carried into the Ashen Crucible rust faster. Armor feels heavier. Horses refuse to enter. Even torches dim, like the place itself devours light and strength. They told everyone that souls whisper there which even make morale melt—as if the land doesn't just kill bodies, it crucifies hope.

That's why when Malvador mentioned that place, everyone found dread in their faces. They recalled the words their ancestors told them.

When the name of that place is spoken even the fire shrinks back into its embers. A land where the ground itself is ash. Where no wind blew without carrying whispers of the dead. Men who marched in never returned, and if they returned, they never returned whole. The soil there is a graveyard of warriors long forgotten, and every step upon it is said to press your weight into the bones of the damned.

To fight there was not just to face an enemy, Pablo. It was to fight the land itself, a crucible that burned away flesh, steel and hope alike.

For the first time, your soldiers don't fear the man they would fight…"

Cupid looked into Pablo's eyes and with utmost seriousness, she ended the story.

"They fear the place where they will fall."

Pablo stayed silent.

Cupid finished that long story and went silent as well to take a break. She talked for a long time. This was the longest she talked in front of Pablo without him telling her to shut up just after a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Pablo recalled the whole story that the Angel told him and summarised it in his own words.

"So dragons died there including the Dragon king who declared that he will come back to take his revenge with Altor and after that day, the place has become haunted? Is that it?"

"Well, yes. But it's much more serious than you summarised."

Pablo shook his head. "It's nothing serious, Angel."

Cupid's brows shot up. "Did you not hear any word that I said?"

Pablo smiled. "I heard everything."

"And still you say that it is not serious?"

"Yes."

"Why!?"

Pablo chuckled. "At most, some souls will come out of the ground, or worse, the Dragon king himself would resurrect as Malvador had said that he has a surprise prepared for all of us. But so what? We are going to War anyway. And there is no better place for that other than this Ashen Crucible. If anything, I am glad that my wish came true better than I wanted."

Cupid frowned. "Your wish?"

Pablo nodded. "I said that I wanted the war to look like hell. And it turned out…"

His smile turned wide as he rested his head on the wall.

"The war will take place in Hell itself."