Illusions, Lies, Truth - Volume 1, Chapter 3: Jiang Ziya Part 3—Inferno

By the fourth year of Su Wan's career, every league rookie hears the same warning from their coach and veteran teammates: “You can try to impress him. You can even try to defend him. But no matter what—no matter if he hurls the most brutal insults your way—never, ever talk shit to him!”

Welcome! If you want to jump in without any spoilers, feel free. Otherwise, here's a story primer, with a list of more specifics on what to expect from my work further below.Our story follows a fallen knight haunted by his past, in a world afflicted by war and supernatural wounds. Alken is the Headsman of Seydis, an executioner tasked by the divine powers of his homeland to hunt dark sorcerers, warlords, and traitors of all varieties, lest they drag the world into calamity.Once a paladin, this role ill suits him. Forced to cross lines that shake his beliefs, tempted by dark forces, and seen as an ill omen wherever he wanders, his path is often a bloody one. The longer he spends in the shadows of his world, the more he comes to realize just how many have been disenfranchised by the existent order. During his lonely battles through a land haunted by the restless dead and ancient magics, his journey becomes increasingly strange and personal.Enter a realm where the dead stir in every shadow and brooding demigods wage a millennia long war for a ruined heaven, where blessed knights wield gilded flames and sorcerers battle with weapons forged of their own souls. Enter a world of faustian alchemists, of saintly demons, and of time-weary elves.From Oathbreaker you can expect— A setting heavily inspired by Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Fromsoft games, and authors such as Michael Moorcock and Kentauro Miura. — A first person POV from an older protagonist who already knows a lot about his world’s history and cultures, who shares this information with the reader as it becomes relevant.— A mix of action adventure and quieter moments where the focus is on character development. Lore is shared piecemeal, usually only as it relates to a particular arc or character beat.— A heavy focus on mystery, both with the setting and the protagonist. The main character’s backstory isn’t shared up front, and a lot of the narrative involves learning about him a bit at a time, either from his own narration or other characters interacting with him.— A semi-soft magic system where many mages manifest unique powers tied to their own soul, or gain unique powers through eldritch pacts.— Romantic elements. These don’t crop up much until later in the story.— A variety of supernatural beings, such as elves, vampires, gargoyles, chimera, and trolls. Many are familiar, some are not, and most of the familiar ones have my own twists put on them.—Nobledark fantasy. This means that the world is often themed around tragedy and horror, but it’s not dedicated to being gritty. There are elements of high fantasy intermixed with the scarier stuff.—Episodic arcs. Each story arc usually has a specific locale and antagonist or set of antagonists, but certain overarching plots tie them together.— A long running narrative. I don’t have a specific projection of how long or how many arcs or books, but you should expect this to be equivalent to a long running serialized work.This is my first web serial! I hope everyone enjoys it. For trigger warnings, readers should beware that there are some heavy topics in here. When I think something might upset certain readers, I’ll put a warning in the author notes above a chapter. If I miss or overlook anything, feel free to let me know in the comments! I am currently publishing the same story on my wordpress, which is linked below and in my profile. I release three chapters a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Thanks for reading!(I originally had a link to a wordpress, but I'm in the process of overhauling that space. It's not a priority since my readership is all here, but just in case anyone noticed and was wondering)

[Pre-Author's Note: MC develops as time passes, it starts out slow but surely]“The Apocalypse isn't just fit for anyone... Without Strength, you're just a tool waiting to be exploited, So hurry the fuck up and get some strength already,”The world ended in an instant.One moment, Simon, a 20-year-old game designer, was sitting at his desk, immersed in code.The next, the sky cracked open and monsters poured into the streets.Werewolves with claws sharp enough to slice through steel.Undead skeletons that marched with deadly purpose and Zombies that infected humans with the power of their bite.The gods had unleashed an apocalypse, and humanity was no longer at the top of the food chain.Simon ran, he survived... and then he was granted a power.|Congratulations You have been binded to the Vampire Overlord System|He was something else.A vampire overlord.Yet the Apocalpyse had only just begun...

When natural disasters ran rampant, with extreme cold and storms spreading endlessly…When the world mutated, zombies surged like tides, and eerie horrors emerged…When the apocalypse descended, massive Devouring Abysses hundreds of kilometers in diameter began appearing around the globe…When people looked up at the atmospheric cloud layers and saw the slowly emerging corpse of a colossal evil god…From that day, people began to notice that daylight was arriving later and later, until the sun no longer rose, plunging the world into an unending polar night.For survival, on that day, the Apocalypse Radio made its final broadcast to the world:“Everyone, flee eastward—escape to dawn!”…Lin Xian awakened the [Mechanical Heart] ability. He could devour machinery to gain various mysterious skills, scan machines to obtain blueprints for manufacturing, and even use his thoughts to achieve unified control of different machines.Thus, he found a 200-ton heavy gas-powered locomotive, towing specially modified storage, planting, production, medical, and living carriages, and embarked on a 320,000-kilometer journey along the planetary orbital rail—charging eastward toward the dawn!