“Nodnol in Ruin: The War Beyond the Portals”

fourth chapter from:

THE MANUAL OF MAGIC

the fathers of magic original opera

In Nodnol (note: the Reverse Kingdom of London), Fate had chosen the party of the young Salazar in the senate as the trigger of the war. Salazar and his allies supported the “revolutionary” movement and preached a world where everyone could live in peace and harmony, as in the beginning of the magical ages. They hated the Templars, believing them to be the true cause of the plague. Salazar therefore distanced himself from the magical world and from the persecution of witches, and this led to serious clashes between factions.

In the Year of Our Lord 1620, a bloody conflict took place, led by Salazar and his men. Many of them suffered, but Salazar had an ace up his sleeve, which he had kept hidden from everyone for a long time: dark magic. He had come into contact with it years before, although how remains shrouded in mystery. Salazar managed to rout his enemies. Then, convinced of his superiority, he decided to attack Parliament directly. In January 1621 they were victorious, and Salazar officially took possession of the Hidden Kingdom (also called Nodnol).

Now that he had become emperor, his plan remained that of a planet to call home, where everyone could live in peace under his rule. Anyone who dared disturb that peace would be killed, like a rotten apple that might infect the others. Salazar therefore began his ambitious project somewhere in space.

But someone bravely opposed him, although about ten years after the rise of his reign of terror. They called themselves the Partisans and fought for freedom from tyranny. In an attack on Salazar’s castle, the Partisans managed to kill the dark lord and believed that Nodnol could finally rest.

But before any other Partisan king could be elected, a hooded figure appeared—clad in black, with bat-like wings and a staff imbued with dark magic. The inhabitants learned to call him, in fear, “He.” He was the younger brother of Mino, the ruler of Hell, and both were evil. He showed no mercy to his opponents, becoming far worse than Salazar. He had a fleet of ships built of every kind: ones that could fly, ones that could sail, and even ones that could pass beneath the ground. He also created an army of stone spirits, ready to defend him and to bravely give their lives in battle.

And many clashes followed. For He, like his predecessor, sought to create his own peaceful world, but like him he had no problem resorting to violence. Yet He was even more obsessed than Salazar, and his main goal was to annihilate the Partisans once and for all.

Then something unbelievable happened. During an ordinary conversation with a priest of Fate, He learned of a prophecy written by Fate itself. It read:

Upon hearing these words, He was deeply shaken, gripped by the fear that someone might kill him. To prevent this, he ordered all the magical Portals that allowed access from the Parallel Worlds to Nodnol to be sealed (though he was betrayed by some of those tasked with the job, who left one open, still hoping that these three heroes would arrive to break their chains). He then attacked the Partisans’ base, convinced that the heroes who could destroy him were hiding there. He killed men, women, and children, yet never found the heroes, even to this day.

Over time, hope turned into a cult, elevating the heroes into true gods or demigods.

The influence of He spread so widely that he gained so many supporters that defeating him became impossible. Meanwhile, the Partisans’ numbers dwindled more and more.

For them, the end had come.

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