Chapter 31: The Forgotten Rule
Night blanketed the battlefield.
The endless clash of steel and flesh had finally ceased.
For the first time since dawn, silence ruled the Plains of Emberthorn.
Thousands of campfires burned across the human encampment.
Far away, crimson flames illuminated the demon camp.
Between them stretched a wasteland of corpses.
Human.
Demon.
The dead covered the battlefield so densely that the earth itself was no longer visible.
The smell of blood lingered in the cold wind.
At the highest point of the demon camp stood Kajkha.
The Demon General silently observed the distant lights of humanity’s camp.
His crimson eyes remained fixed upon the horizon.
Behind him, thousands of demons rested.
Some consumed the bodies collected from the battlefield.
Others sharpened their weapons.
Many simply waited for dawn.
A young demon warrior suddenly approached.
Unlike the others, confusion was visible upon his face.
The demon knelt.
"General Kajkha."
Kajkha did not turn.
"What is it?"
The warrior hesitated.
Then finally asked.
"If the humans are exhausted..."
His gaze drifted toward the distant campfires.
"If they are wounded and vulnerable..."
The demon frowned.
"Why don’t we attack now?"
Silence followed.
The warrior continued.
"Wouldn’t it be easier to wipe them out during the night?"
The question lingered in the cold air.
For several moments, Kajkha remained silent.
Then-
A faint smile appeared beneath his helmet.
"You wish to know why the demons never attack after sunset?"
"Yes, General Kajkha."
Kajkha slowly looked toward the moon.
For a moment, his eyes seemed distant.
As though gazing into the past.
Into memories buried beneath two thousand years.
Then he spoke.
"Because we learned that lesson through blood."
The young demon frowned.
Kajkha continued.
"Two thousand years ago..."
His voice became quieter.
"When demonkind ruled this world..."
The wind howled across the battlefield.
"We ruled everything."
His crimson eyes darkened.
"Human kingdoms did not exist."
"There were no armies."
"No nations."
"No heroes."
The young demon listened carefully.
Kajkha’s voice remained calm.
But something ancient lurked beneath it.
"Humans were livestock."
The demon warrior froze.
Kajkha continued.
"We burned their villages whenever we pleased."
"We took their children whenever we wished."
"We branded them like cattle."
"We forced parents to watch their children being devoured."
The young demon remained silent.
"We hunted humans for sport."
"We chained entire bloodlines for generations."
"We fed upon newborns before their mothers."
"We turned cities into feeding grounds."
"We used their bones to build monuments."
"We made them forget what freedom meant."
The night became silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
"For thousands of years..."
Kajkha looked toward the distant human camp.
"They lived only to suffer."
The young demon swallowed.
To him, such cruelty sounded unimaginable.
Yet to ancient demonkind...
It had been normal.
"Then everything changed."
Kajkha’s voice hardened.
"The humans discovered Dominion."
The warrior frowned.
"Dominion?"
"The power born from self belief."
Kajkha slowly clenched his fist.
"A power unlike any other."
"The stronger their conviction became..."
"The stronger they became."
The young demon nodded.
Everyone knew that much.
Dominion was the greatest weapon of humanity.
But Kajkha continued.
"There was another reason."
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"The humans stopped believing in salvation."
The warrior blinked.
Kajkha laughed softly.
"They prayed for centuries."
"They begged gods for mercy."
"They begged heaven for protection."
"They begged for miracles."
The Demon General looked toward the stars.
"No one answered."
The battlefield remained silent.
"So they changed."
The pressure surrounding Kajkha increased.
"They stopped believing in gods."
"They stopped believing in destiny."
"They stopped believing in miracles."
The young demon listened carefully.
Kajkha’s next words were cold.
"They chose to believe only in themselves."
The warrior’s eyes widened slightly.
Kajkha nodded.
"That belief became Dominion."
For a moment, silence returned.
Then Kajkha continued.
"The First Demon War began shortly afterward."
His eyes narrowed.
"We underestimated them."
"The First Battle ended in our defeat."
The young demon looked shocked.
Defeat?
Demonkind?
Kajkha continued.
"But we adapted."
"We learned."
"We evolved."
The pressure surrounding him grew heavier.
"The Second Battle was different."
A cruel smile appeared.
"We slaughtered them."
"We crushed their armies."
"We shattered their cities."
"We dominated every battlefield."
The warrior nodded.
That sounded more like the demonkind he knew.
"But..."
Kajkha’s smile vanished.
"We made one mistake."
The young demon frowned.
"What mistake?"
Kajkha slowly looked toward the moon.
His voice became quiet.
"We attacked during the night."
The warrior blinked.
"...What?"
"We attacked their camps."
"We attacked sleeping soldiers."
"We attacked wounded survivors."
Kajkha’s eyes darkened.
"We broke the ancient rule of war."
The young demon stared.
A rule of war?
Even now he didn’t understand.
Then Kajkha spoke words he had never shared with anyone.
"I remember that night."
For the first time, something strange appeared in his voice.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something else.
Respect.
"The battlefield was drowning in blood."
"The humans were collapsing."
"The war was already won."
The young demon listened carefully.
Then Kajkha continued.
"And then..."
The Demon General slowly clenched his fist.
"A golden ray descended from the heavens."
The warrior froze.
"What?"
Kajkha’s crimson eyes narrowed.
"It appeared before me."
The night suddenly felt colder.
The young demon remained motionless.
Kajkha’s voice became quieter.
"It spoke."
"What did it say?"
The Demon General stared toward the stars.
As though reliving that moment.
Then he repeated the words.
"’You have broken the rule of war.’"
The young demon felt chills run down his spine.
Kajkha continued.
"’You attack when warriors should rest.’"
"’You attack when the wounded should heal.’"
"’You attack beneath the protection of night.’"
Silence filled the air.
The young demon swallowed.
"What happened then?"
Kajkha’s eyes darkened.
"The golden ray ignored me."
The warrior frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It chose a human."
Kajkha’s voice became colder.
"The weakest human on the battlefield."
"A nobody."
The pressure around Kajkha intensified.
"And before my eyes..."
"He became the first human to awaken the First Stage of Dominion."
The young demon’s eyes widened.
Impossible.
Kajkha nodded.
"His body transformed."
"His belief transformed."
"His very existence transformed."
The Demon General looked toward the human camp.
"The next morning..."
"He slaughtered thousands."
"He destroyed our strongest warriors."
"He changed the course of the war."
The warrior remained silent.
For the first time, he understood.
Night attacks had consequences.
Consequences even demonkind feared.
"But General Kajkha..."
The warrior hesitated.
"If humans no longer believe in gods..."
"How did they never see the golden ray?"
Kajkha laughed.
A quiet laugh.
"Because it was never a god."
The young demon froze.
Kajkha’s gaze shifted toward the stars.
Toward something beyond mortal understanding.
"Humans abandoned faith long ago."
"They believe only in themselves."
"They cannot see what they refuse to acknowledge."
The wind howled across the battlefield.
The Demon General slowly turned back toward the human camp.
"That is why we never attack after sunset."
His crimson eyes glowed faintly.
"Some rules exist for a reason."
The young demon lowered his head.
Understanding finally appeared upon his face.
Far away, within the human camp, soldiers rested beside flickering fires.
None of them knew the story.
None of them knew what had happened two thousand years ago.
None of them knew why the demons feared the night.
And as darkness stretched across the battlefield...
Both armies waited for dawn.
For when the sun rose-
The war would begin again.