Helena had taken Raven in during her debacle with Afkon. One of the reasons why Helena, of course, decided to help was because she had heard that one of the girls Afkon took in as a wife tried to kill him.
Afkon, over time, derailed from the sensible and purposeful young man that Helena once knew and loved to a terrifying and tyrannical leader, senseless and vile in the most foolish of ways.
She had tried to kill him a couple of times, but the difference between a Maverick rank and the Transient rank is vast.
Most of Afkon’s misbehavior had started after he became an Ascendant.
Ten years ago, Sloria was in a worse shape, just as Lothellian was.
Helena, Afkon, and eight other students then suddenly found themselves in the middle of a throng of raging monsters.
Fortunately for them, they were experienced Drifters who were on the verge of becoming Nomad ranks.
Even though ten people fighting off a raging crowd of monsters was not any easier.
On that day, in that instance, they watched four of their mates die before their eyes.
But they were able to find a safe space.
Afkon took the deaths of those guys upon himself and decided to solo the monsters while others remained safe and found a haven to protect them.
Afkon had an advantage, and even till now, no one knows what that advantage was, not even Helena.
All they knew was that he went out at night and would come back in the morning bathed in the blood of monsters.
This continued for days. Before the rest knew it, Afkon became a Master.
Protecting them became much easier. He single-handedly got rid of the monsters.
Of course, being a force of so much power, people and authorities naturally gravitated towards him.
Even Helena could have sworn her heart beat for the kind of man he was back then.
There was no way to find a safe haven; their only choice was to make one.
And so, Afkon proposed that they build a stronghold together. People naturally accepted the idea.
Barely did they survive the first year until suddenly ten students appeared again.
It was a strange phenomenon, and Afkon was heavily bothered by it. A little bit too bothered.
Then someone from the new guys died… and it wasn’t the doings of monsters.
Blade marks were left crudely on the guy’s chest.
Deaths happen every now and then in a desolation like this. While everyone tried their best to investigate it, much attention couldn’t be paid to it.
The young and growing stronghold had to cater to other things after all. And monsters were still a high threat.
They didn’t have walls as high as they are now, then. And their number of battle-useful drifters was below average.
The only variable was that the overall power of the stronghold was boosted by some special people like Afkon.
And their numbers grew as each year passed, but every time they came, one of them usually died.
Five years later, Sloria was beginning to look less like a refugee center and more like a stronghold.
People, not just the students that were being teleported yearly but Slorians, began to come around.
Strong ones were selected to join Afkon’s army, which at that time were referred to as Protectors of The Dusk.
Simply because they were created to shield and protect whatever was left of Sloria, its fallen state, its night, its dusk.
The weak were protected, the strong were privileged.
But this was not enough. The monsters were just too much.
If they truly wanted to protect whatever was left of Sloria, they needed to enter into the rifts.
The skepticism that could be seen on Afkon’s face when they were faced with this decision could be seen.
No one understood why he was hesitating so much, after all, he was the strongest person in the stronghold and a Master!
After being pressured so much by the needfulness of the situation, Afkon decided to call a special meeting between his six generals, which included Helena.
That was where he informed them of his interactions with the Luinngard Empire and that they had specially informed him not to enter any gates.
In response to that, Luinngard would send supplies, war and welfare supplies to the Sloria stronghold. They would hunt monsters and pay the monster corpses as tributes to the empire.
They didn’t even ask for the cores, hence all the cores were monopolized by Afkon.
This was another reason for his quick progression to an Ascendant. It was an edge no one had, and it was the reason why he stayed the strongest in the city.
During this discussion was when a major disagreement began between Afkon and his generals.
Some believed he made a very crucial decision without informing them about it.
When did the Empire visit?
Or did he visit the Empire?
What exactly was going on, and what was Afkon hiding from them?
Three of Afkon’s generals disagreed and proposed that Afkon should step down from his position as a leader.
The other three were loyal to Afkon to a fault, including Helena, who at that time unconditionally loved and followed him, even though he never looked at her once.
Of course, Afkon would never leave his position.
This disagreement tore the stronghold into two factions, one led by a Nomad at the time called Terek.
Terek soon became a Master but was not even as strong as Afkon, although he had dependable allies and was cunning in his ways.
He was going to kill Afkon, however, even if it had to be by poison.
And he did try to poison Afkon.
Afkon was very close to dying, but the Luinngard Empire did send Knights to receive their tributes of monster corpses.
That graceless and crude night, only three Knights were all it took to decimate Terek and his faction.
Afkon’s authority was reinforced with the help from the empire and the constant supplies. The people continued to believe and follow Afkon.
And Afkon, drunken by absolute power, began to slowly change.
Demanding that every pretty lady should be brought down to his palace as maids.
It was better that they serve him than be killed by monsters.
And strangely, even though it was sad, the people considered living with Afkon a better choice than living within the stronghold premises itself.
They saw leaving their children to Afkon as a privilege of service.
Moreover, the parents themselves received a tag that permitted free supply of meals and priority of protection.
In a desolation like this, those that gave their daughters to Afkon lived like nobles.
Over time, people wished they had daughters. Some even kidnapped young girls and claimed to be their parents. All sorts of crimes arose with Afkon’s absurd practices.
With this level of crimes even came an even stronger and stricter level of control from Afkon.
Time passed, and Helena only saw this as madness.
Then the eighth set of students appeared… and Afkon tried to kill not just one.
But all of them.