Sol and Andre stood at the ready. Though they looked ragged and worn from several grueling days, the intensity with which they threw themselves at the enemy was nothing short of vicious.

Andre, once a commoner and now a knight of the imperial order, was skilled enough for it to be expected of him. But Sol … Sol adapted to the battlefield as though proving that the fame from his past life had not been exaggerated.

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha! Ahahahaha … hah! Sol! Sol is here!”

No, he hadn’t merely adapted. He had lost himself in the frenzy of war. So much so that both allies and enemies were now running away just at the sight of the two.

[Sol’s major fate “Combat Instinct” is writhing, on the verge of blooming.]

“Sol? Sol! Get a grip!”

“Andre! Let’s kill them all!”

Clearly, those two were fine. Aziel turned his attention to the battlefield, which was now entering its final stages. 

Then, 

“Graaaagh! Die! Die, you imperial dogs!”

A towering man, swinging a massive axe, was still fighting with wild fury.          Among the scattered remnants of the fallen, where morale had crumbled, he alone burned with defiance.

“What are you all doing?! Don’t drop your weapons! Fight! Fight, damn it! If we can just take the prince’s head, that’s enough! That’s the meaning of all this!”

He tried to rally the soldiers, but the momentum was gone.

Aziel recognized him.

In the original course of events, that man would have become the new king of the eastern front. After the fortress leader was assassinated, he would have seized control, gained mysticism from somewhere, and united the scattered remnants of a fallen nation to build his own country. And after that … endless war.

He would burn his life away, never realizing he was a puppet in someone else’s game … A tragic life.

So proud of founding a “nation,” never realizing the soldiers around him belonged to other countries. 

Fighting like a man possessed. Watching it now brought only a sour taste to Aziel’s mouth. The sight of someone so lowly striving to become something noble irritated him. The tyrant’s arrogance and cruelty stirred within. He watched the man for a moment … Eventually, he stood alone, swinging his axe in a frenzy.

“You are invaders! You stole our land, our culture, our children! How can you look at me with such pride?! Imperial bastards! One day your land will be stolen just the same!”

The man’s shouts caused a pause among the soldiers …The word “invaders” seemed to strike a nerve. Watching it all unfold, Aziel clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

He couldn’t help himself.

“Let him come. He so desperately wants to see me , it’s only right I grant him an audience.”

Aziel beckoned him forward.

A man dreaming of a new nation now stood before the very prince who had crushed that dream. The difference in height between the fortress wall where Aziel stood and the blood-soaked ground below was symbolic of the gulf between them.

The man, bleeding, glared up at him with eyes blazing. Aziel, in contrast, looked down at him with a gaze steeped in arrogance.

Would that make him the villain in this tale?

That thought was oddly satisfying.

“Come up here. I can’t let the soldiers kill you. It should be me.”

At Aziel’s words, the man bared his teeth in a grin.

“You dog of an invader! Are you afraid I’ll speak the truth about your vile deeds? Just have your dogs kill me and defile my corpse! Scream and rant like cowards!”

“Come up.”

“Fine! I’ll climb up and slice off your head myself! I’ll see you on your knees, sobbing and begging for your life! Then I’ll die without regrets!”

The man stormed up the fortress wall.

“Your Highness! This is dangerous! There’s no reason to take such a risk!”

“Your Highness?”

“Let me fight him, Your Highness! I …Andre , will handle it!”

Voices rose from every direction, trying to dissuade him.

“Silence. I make all the decisions. Let it be.”

Aziel dismissed them all with a single command.

The man had no idea …  That in his original fate, he had indeed created the nation he so longed for, lived a life full of war, and finally learned it was all a lie. That despair …It was familiar. Too similar to Aziel’s own past life. He had twisted that man’s fate … Stolen it. So it was only right that he be the one to end it.

[Investing mysticism points into the greatsword Breaker! Also investing some divergence points!]

[The rust on Breaker is stripped away! The fates tied to the Breaker reveal themselves!]

“Crackle,!”

The rust coating Breaker, now filled with mysticism and divergence energy, crumbled away like dust. Its powerful black blade gleamed beneath. 

As the man finally reached the top of the wall … 

“Invader! Do you know your history? Do you know your atrocities? The countless massacres?! The cultures and peoples that once thrived here,     how they were slaughtered!” He ranted.

Aziel didn’t bother listening. He simply focused on drawing the fire that coiled around his heart, connecting it to the awakened Breaker. From the ring of flame encircling his chest, he drew out the overflowing fire and compressed it into a single line.    That line followed the purified path through his body, down his arm, and into the sword.

With fire as the medium, Breaker, now one with him, began to heat up. And still, 

“You destroyed our royal capital! Spilled blood like rivers! That’s your legacy! The Empire was built on the corpses of the weak!”

The man continued to scream, still no sign of attacking.

So Aziel cut him off.

“And so what? The strong and the weak write different histories. Your words are nothing more than a loser’s excuses.”

“…What?”

The man’s voice died instantly …His eyes bulged, blood vessels rising, his jaw clenched hard enough to break teeth. A flush of pure humiliation and rage stained his skin red.

Aziel, ever infuriating, doused that fire with fuel.

“You were weak. So you lost. And because you lost, you were humiliated. What more is there to say? It’s a common tale, repeated through the layers of history. Are you planning to avenge every loser who’s ever lived?”

“I’ll kill you!”

The man lost all reason and charged, swinging his axe with wild abandon. He wasn’t even thinking about defense. 

To meet him, Aziel activated Breaker, “ROOAAARRR!!”

The massive sword, now filled with fire, screamed as sparks exploded from it. The warped, jagged blade spun violently. Flames and steel cried in unison…Smoke, thick and dark, poured out like choking coughs. Then, 

“Uraaaaaagh!” The man screamed as he lunged.

Aziel met him calmly, putting all his strength into one clean strike. The massive axe and the greatsword collided.

“KRRAAAAACK …!”

In an instant, Breaker devoured the axe. The sound of shattering steel echoed through the battlefield. The man tried to resist, but the axe split apart, flames spurting from it like blood. But Breaker’s hunger, awakened from a long slumber, wasn’t satisfied with just steel.

“Gaaaaaah!” The jagged blade surged forward, and cut through the would-be king.

Flames and blood burst forth … A death too similar to that of his weapon. 

Blood splashed across Aziel’s face, the battle ended in a single blow. 

With a heavy thud, the man’s body collapsed. His lips moved faintly, trying to say something. But, 

“······.” He died staring up at the clear blue sky.

Was he trying to voice his resentment? Or cry out his ideals? No one would ever know.

Aziel withdrew the fire from Breaker and gently closed the man’s eyes. That, at least, was the bare minimum of courtesy, no long-winded explanations. No false comfort. They had fought. Life against life, and the outcome remained. That was all.

[You have devoured the core fate “King of a Fallen Nation”! It is a massive fate! You have gained mysticism and divergence points! Overflowing fate now surrounds you!]

[The scale of your mystic fate “Devourer” has increased! You can now consume even greater fates!]

[“Devourer” has been enhanced, mysticism and divergence points can now be invested into larger objects!]

[A new fate is stirring! New minor fate acquired: Victory!]

As the flood of messages rose before his eyes, Aziel felt it sink in. That man had met his end with death and defeat. Aziel had gained life and victory, and that was enough, it was just one step in the long road ahead.

The wind flowing across the battlefield carried the stench of blood and lingering resentment, it clung to everything like oil.