Journal Entry 1 - 17th of Ehrub's Grace 127ALD

I am writing this journal in the hopes that you, who is now reading this journal, will learn from what is written in this journal. That you will know and understand the knowledge and wisdom I am imparting. That you will never repeat the same mistake that I have made. The mistake that has doomed our world. A mistake that we may never recover from.

My name is Marius Trellen, Head of House Trellen, Tenth-Circle Magus of the Elranthine Conclave, Sword Saint Warblade of the Burning Crimson Order,, Lord-Commander of the Crusaders of the Golden Sun.

And the destroyer of Ehretrinia.

I didn't destroy the world by myself. But it was my decisions and actions that has lead the world to its doom. And how? Let me tell you a story from my youth. A story that lead me into this path. The path that brought about the beginning of the end.

Thurinio, the 'Shining Jewel of Eastern Friesienne'. The capital of the Harnov Imperium. Boasting a population of 15 million within its confines. And a transient population of 5 million, mostly merchant caravans, adventurers groups and mercenary companies. Surrounding the city is a massive wall: 10 meters thick, 100 meters high, and spanning the length of almost 12 kilometers. Infused with wards and enchantment to boost its already impressive defense by triple and durability by four times. A garrison of around 250000 men, 10000 knights, 1000 gryphon and wyvern riders, 100 battlemages of 5th Circle and higher, plus a quarter million more of assorted adventurers and mercenaries. It should have been all but impregnable. A grand citadel designed to display the Harnov Imperium's might, wealth and capabilities. A mighty fortress to turn back even the vast hordes of the barbarian warlords of the Central Plains.

But alas, it faced an even mightier horde. A monster horde. A veritable tide of thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of monsters, surging forth from a dungeon, sometimes from multiple ones that converge and become a larger horde, devouring everything in its path. The horde that attacked Thurinio has around 17 million monsters, the largest recorded in history. What's worse is that the monster horde does not have only one, but six Colossus-class monsters. Ancient Leshen, Nine-headed Chromatic Hydra, Grand Bone Wyrm, Swarm Emperor, Titanic Infernal Lord, Behemoth King. Each one capable of destroying the city of Thurinio on its own. Each one brings misery and desperation to even the strongest of adventurers, requiring more than a hundred Mithril- or higher ranked adventurers to defeat them. They were only been defeated them with a Class-13 Forbidden Ritual "Remat's Fall", Avatars of the War God and Goddess of Protection, and the Guardian Spirit of the city itself. Even then, the city did not escape unscathed. An area outside of the city a kilometer in diameter turned into a molten crater by "Remat's Fall". More than three quarters of the city turned into rubble, including the entire inner citadel and the Imperial Palace. Both Avatars were destroyed, causing loss of power for both the War God and Goddess of Protection, a loss that They will only recover from after a hundred years. The Guardian Spirit survived, a mere wisp of itself, due to the fact that the city core was intact. Less than one in every seven men will survive the end of the battle, half of them dying before the end of the year due the injuries sustained in the battle. This does not even account the lives and property lost from the of towns and villages that was in the path of the monster horde.

And I was there. I saw it all. I survived the Monster Siege of Thurinio. The attacks on Leiken, Ishanov, Marashtem. And two dozen more villages and towns that I no longer remember the names of. Heavily damaged or even outright destroyed.

Even my hometown of Ellington. It never survived a monster horde of a hundred thousand. And I was there. I survived it. I witnessed it all. I lost my friends and adventuring companions. Markham, Ell'isef, Broganr. Of my family and relatives, only Lizzet survived. Even my wife, Aiyana was killed. Impaled with the blade arms of a Lord-Class Golden Demon Mantis. And I grieved. To this day I still grieve the loss of most of my family, relatives and friends. And the loss of the one and only woman that I have ever loved.

It's as if they have known. It's as if the monsters had known that there will be more than three times the number of people in town because of the wedding. The wedding between me, heir of Barrom Harolus Trellen, Lord of Trevinten, and Aiyana, rising star of the Elranthine Conclave Magic Academy, protégé and sole disciple of Le'iena Allin, the youngest 8th Rank Mage Lord of the Conclave at 63 years old. Well-wishers and attendees came far and wide. Almost the entirety of Trevinten came to the wedding. And many more from neighboring barromins. The only reason that there were any survivors was because the Terne of Velenmir, our liege lord, has planned to attend wedding but was delayed by a day due to a smaller monster horde crossing their path. The Terne has brought with him almost two thousand men, including 500 full-fledged Knights and Knight-Sergeants and command cadre of 20 Knight-Lieutenants, 3 Knight-Captains and the Terne himself, who is a Knight-Commander.

To me, there was one simple solution. A solution that will bring an end to all the monster hordes that plague the entire world. Destroy all the dungeons. Why not? It can be done. It has been done many times. You just have to destroy the dungeon core. It's very difficult to accomplish, especially for higher-ranked dungeon. Difficult yet simple. Highly-demanding but very straightforward. Millions of people, a vast many of them survivors or, at the very least, have lost someone to the monster hordes, were clamoring to bring an end to the monster hordes. Even Lukas III, Emperor of the Harnov Empire, has pledged a quarter of taxes collected every year by the empire to this endeavor.

It was good plan. A grand undertaking, one that will prevent more death and destruction. Even when the casualties from this endeavor reached millions, we thought the sacrifice was worth it. We thought we were saving more than we have lost. We claimed this was necessary to save the world.

But many also disagreed with us. Adventurers that live off in dungeon-diving Mercenaries that hunts down monsters, nobles that seek excitement and glory from seeking powerful monsters to slay. They well they lose their livelihoods and sport. Scholars and wise beings that tells us there will be dire consequences if we continue in this 'mad quest' of ours. Gods both Above and Below, warning us that they withdraw their blessings to anyone that participates in our endeavor. That they will abandon us and this world if we continue on this path.

We ignored the adventurers, mercenaries and nobles. We thought them greedy fools and glory-seekers. We ignored the knowledge and wisdom that scholars and wise beings have shared to us. They don't know how to stop monsters from spilling forth from dungeons, so what is the use of knowledge that share. We even ignored the warnings given to us by the gods. What do They know? They sit there in their own realm, not caring for anything but their wants and desires. They do not suffer. They have not experienced the death and destruction caused by the monster hordes.

We should have never ignored them. Learned the knowledge that they have shared. Understood the wisdom that they have brought forth. Heeded the warnings that They have given.

But in the end, it was all for naught. We have doomed the world. And we have only ourselves to blame.

And now I can only hope. Hope that somewhere hidden in the Nether is a dungeon waiting to be discovered. It means that the Nether can be cleared. It means that magical creatures, beings and materials can be found once more. It means salvation to the world.

It means I can atone the mistakes I have made in the past.

Even if the price for finding the dungeon is my soul. It will be all worth it.