Benedetta

After the Abyss returned, our land becomes plagued and the entire southern part of the Land of Dawn turns into a barren place. Though the high Rantha Mountains blocks the corruption of the Abyss, Mother Nature in the southern realm continues to wither away. This once prosperous land is now nothing but a silent place filled with death, and people call it the “Despair Place”. The only passage that connects the Moniyan Empire is broken, separating the trapped refugees and the exiled wanderers from the rest of the world. They now live in fear and despair, haunted by monsters, yet still struggling to survive. For these people, the name of Benedetta brings hope and a sense of security. This courageous, persevering female ranger leads a team and fights in the land south to the Rantha Mountains, protecting the scattered settlement set up by the last survivors in the Despair Place. This is the fourth year ever since Benedetta and her team started their campaign in the Rantha region. Whenever she draws “Alecto”, the rampaging monsters will scatter in fear of this long sharpened sword infused with unstoppable power. People call her the Ranger Leader who walks in the shadow, Protector of the Despair Place. She has earned everyone’s admiration of respect in this desolate wasteland. However, the distant Moniyan Empire leaves a deep scar in Benedetta’s heart, and the wound may never heal. Alucard isn’t the only person whose life is changed by the war that happened years ago, Benedetta is also one of the victims. But Benedetta’s family is unlike that of Alucard. Her father wasn't an officer, he was just an ordinary soldier. Unfortunately, the second division was convicted of “rebellion” after they were defeated in a battle, and so no honor or glory was given to the soldiers who gave their lives for the country. As an officer's child, Alucard was sent to the Monastery of Light along with several other children and grew up with the blessing of Light. But Benedetta, who didn’t receive such privilege as she was the child of a low-rank soldier, had to struggle to make a living without her parents by her side. Ever since Benedetta was little, she had always wished that she could one day become a Warrior of Light, take back the glory that rightfully belonged to her father, and avenge her father's death by killing those monsters. To this end, she kept training and treating herself as a warrior, constantly sharpening her fighting skills, and inherited the long sword left by her father, preparing for the battles that were to come. However, the passionate Benedetta was rejected when she signed up for the trial of the Empire Army because the powerful men who ran the Knight's Order were furious because of the betrayal of Alucard and ordered that no descendants of a “rebel” could ever join the Empire Army, so that they would never seek the truth like Alucard did. Disappointed and enraged by the empire, Benedetta took up her long sword and left the Moniyan Empire, heading for the Barren Lands and preparing to annihilate the monsters and have her vengeance by herself. Even though she was mentally prepared, Benedetta was shocked by the corruption and desolation the first time she saw the Barren Lands. But what surprised Benedetta even more was that there are people who lived near the foothills of the Rantha Mountains in a harsh environment. Life there was hard, but those people were optimistic and hard-working, they fought for everything they needed to survive. And they did: they improved the soil, raised the next generation, and defeated the monsters. At first, Benedetta was not interested in these people at all. She aimlessly wandered the Barren Lands and gave her long sword a new name, Alecto. She then unleashed her anger on the monsters and slaughtered them all. But as time went by, Benedetta slowly realized that this land is truly a vast area, and the power of the Abyss and the monsters were more formidable than she had expected. She could have never saved the Despair Place or changed anything on her own. One day, Benedetta ran across a ranger squad who was in the middle of a fight against the monsters. The odds were against them, but they fought bravely together and drove back the monsters that attempted to raid the human camp several times. During the campaign, Benedetta and the rangers established friendship and trust through their joint effort. And these people who lived in a godforsaken place demonstrated the fortitude and the strong will to survive, which eventually touched Benedetta’s soul and made her believe that it was not the weapon in their hands that would one day triumph over the Abyss, it was the everlasting hope in their hearts. Afterward, Benedetta chose to stay and built a ranger squad where each member shared the same vision but had different skills. They helped those people defend their homeland. One by one, the monsters across the entire region of the Rantha Mountains’ southern foothills were defeated by Benedetta and her comrades. Benedetta would always leave a mark on the battlefield after she stroke down the enemies, reminding the monsters that Benedetta had never forgotten what they did to her. More and more settlements sprang up around the Rantha Mountains and the human civilization was able to develop thanks to their protection. They’ve been through hell, they’ve made sacrifices. But nothing could shake their will and stopped this ranger squad from walking in the shadow. Under Benedetta’s command, they believed that so long as hope still existed, they would see flowers bloomed in the Barren Lands one day. Meanwhile, Benedetta had another greater ambition: she would eliminate the monsters and recover her father’s glory to prove a simple fact to the foolish rulers of the Moniyan Empire, letting them know that honor was never given by anyone, it was hard-earned. This is not just a battle between her and the Abyss, it is also a war between her and the Empire.