Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1810
The day that had been eagerly awaited for years in the Kislavein Dynasty had finally arrived.
Today, the Heir of the Kislavein Dynasty and the Western Lands would finally be revealed.
In the capital city of Kislathor, people were eagerly awaiting the cheers that would rise from the Colosseum. The person whose name was mentioned in the cheers would be the future Dynasty Lord.
The people, the army, and even the countless Dynasties ruling the Western Lands were secretly placing bets among themselves on who would win.
Everyone was in great excitement and curiosity.
Who would be the Heir of the throne of Kislavein and the West, Seth or Ricardo? The answer would be revealed today.
Seth had had a sleepless night. His tiredness and weakness were evident in his eyes. Seth's close friends noticed this situation and started to worry.
"Young Lord, why didn't you rest? Today is the most important day of your life. You could die with one mistake."
Feeling guilty in the face of his close friend Qervin's concern, Seth stood up and washed his face with his usual fake smile.
"Don't worry, even though I don't look like it, I'm full of energy. Go and get ready."
Although they didn't really believe their Young Lord's words, obeying the order from the Lord in the West was almost a genetic thing.
When his friends left the room, Seth started to prepare.
When his preparations were finished, he drew his sword and looked at it for a long time. It was given to him by his sword master.
"Forgive me, Master. This is the right thing to do."
When Seth came out of his room, all the seniors loyal to him were waiting for him right outside his door.
When the seniors saw their Young Lord Seth, they knelt down, bowed their heads and started to speak in a deep and powerful voice.
"OUR YOUNG LORD SETH, WE SWEAR TO CARRY YOU TO VICTORY TODAY."
This welcome made Seth very emotional. He wanted to thank them all, but he couldn't. He was a Kislavein. Such nonsense as emotion couldn't exist in his book.
Seth just had to follow the tradition. He should have drawn his sword and raised it in the air and continued the oath, but he thought darkly inside.
"What would happen if I stopped being a Kislavein at least once today?"
These thoughts crossed his mind. He raised his hand in the air. This meant everyone should stand up. Seth's subordinates could not make sense of this, but they obeyed the order.
When everyone stood up, Seth would make a move that would never be expected from a Kislavein.
"Thank you all. I am grateful to you for being with me all the way here."
Everyone in the hall was speechless in surprise. What they heard could not be true. Did a Kislavein Young Lord thank them?
Some thought they had heard wrong, some thought they were dreaming. No one could believe it.
As they tried to get over the shock, Seth continued his speech.
"We walked this far together. Many of our friends died for me, and you probably prepared yourself for death.
If it was possible, I would want a path where no one would die. I tried to save as many as I could, but it didn't work.
Many people died, but I can promise you one thing. No one will die today."
No one could believe what they were hearing. The students were whispering among themselves.
"Did a Young Lord say thank you?"
"Will no one die?"
"Is that possible?"
"What did I just experience?"
Seth said nothing else. He walked past his subordinates, friends, and comrades.
He didn't look at anyone's face. He just walked through them silently.
In fact, Seth was walking slowly to see everyone one last time.
He was looking at his friends' faces one last time.
He knew he would never see them again.
Ricardo woke up in great confusion, still thinking about his conversation with Seth last night.
He still couldn't digest that conversation.
"Was Seth sincere, or was he just faking it to confuse me and make me hesitate? But those eyes, those attitudes were serious in every way. But what can we do? Today both sides will fight to the death. What can we do from now on?"
Ricardo got up from his bed.
He started to prepare for the Final Battle.
He put on his armor, cleared his mind of thoughts, drew his sword, looked at it for a while and sheathed it.
He took a deep breath and when he opened his eyes, he looked at himself in the mirror.
He saw his face from his previous life. He looked at his face that was sharpened by wars, torn, strengthened, hardened.
A tired old man with frowning eyebrows.
He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath.
"I'm not him anymore."
Ricardo opened his eyes and saw himself in the mirror and smiled.
Although he never forgot his past, with his new identity he was now one, independent of the ashes of his past.
He was Ricardo Kislavein, the future Lord of Kislavein.
Ricardo turned around and headed towards the door.
Ricardo was now ready for his final battle, both mentally and spiritually.
When he left his room, he saw his subordinates waiting for him.
They all knelt down at the same time, bowed their heads and began to speak with a strong voice.
"YOUNG LORD RICARDO, TODAY WE SWEAR TO CARRY YOU TO VICTORY."
Ricardo had read about this tradition in books in the library.
Before the final battle, the subordinates would swear that they would lead their Young Lords to victory.
Ricardo drew his sword and raised it in the air to fulfill his part of the tradition.
"I, YOUNG LORD RICARDO, ACCEPT YOUR OATH. TODAY VICTORY WILL BE OURS."
Ricardo's subordinates shouted with all their might.
"LONG LIVE RICARDO!"
"LONG LIVE RICARDO!"
With cheers, Ricardo walked among his subordinates, friends and comrades and headed towards the coliseum for the battle that would take him to the Throne of Kislavein.
At 12 o'clock, with the sun at its peak, the two armies met in the coliseum.
Both sides were ready to take and give their lives to make their Young Lord the Heir to the Throne.
All the students and Masters of the Blood Academy were aware that this battle would be the last battle in the Blood Academy.
There would be no more all-out battle to the death until the sons of the next Dynasty Lord grew up and came to the Academy.
Besides, this war would determine the heir to the throne.
The entire coliseum had their eyes wide open. People were afraid to even blink.
They didn't want to miss even the smallest detail.
The Head Master of the Blood Academy, Kisrael Kislavein, raised his sword.
"Young Lord Seth, the Leader of the Upper Classes, and Young Lord Ricardo, the Leader of the Lower Classes, come to me."
Ricardo and Seth approached Kisrael. The two brothers were perhaps side by side without fighting for the last time.
Ricardo wanted to draw his sword but the conversation from last night came to his mind.
"I don't want anyone to die because of me anymore."
When Ricardo remembered these words, he stopped drawing his sword and instead extended his hand.
Everyone in the Colosseum was stunned.
Even Orsman, who was watching the battle from a corner, didn't know what to say.
Seth was also surprised but happy. He could entrust his friends to his brother without worrying.
"Thank you, Ricardo. I can't thank you enough. I wish I could shake your hand here, but I have a different role."
Seth drew his sword and handed it to Ricardo.
While the people in the coliseum were expecting a second surprise, Seth was relieved that he had done what had to be done. Of course, this relief would be short-lived.
Seth dropped his sword. While it was still in the air, he held the hilt upside down, raised his sword into the air and quickly stabbed it into his heart.
Ricardo, Kisrael and even Orsman were stunned.
Seth looked into Ricardo's eyes before he died.
"Thank you, Brother."
Ricardo was horrified.
"Is it going to end like this again? My son from my previous life, and now you, do you all take pleasure in committing suicide?"
Everything happened in seconds. Even those who boasted about their reflexes couldn't stop Seth.
Seth's friends ran towards Seth's dead body in fear and terror to help.
"YOUNG LORRRRD!"
Screams and wails shook the Colosseum.
Those waiting outside the Colosseum couldn't make sense of the screams.
Everyone was in shock. No one knew what to do.
In fact, there was nothing left to do. Seth was dead, or rather, he had committed suicide.
Kisrael raised his sword and shouted with all his might, strengthening his voice with mana so that those outside the Colosseum could hear.
"YOUNG LORD SETH COMMITTED SUICIDE. YOUNG LORD RICARDO IS THE ABSOLUTE VICTOR OF THE WAR OF THE HEIRS!"
Seth's friends were kneeling and crying. Some of them were hugging Seth's dead body tightly.
Ricardo's friends were shouting Ricardo's name and declaring his victory.
Yes, there was no war that day. But Seth's sacrifice ensured that those who would engrave their names in golden letters in the Kislavein Dynasty in the distant future would survive, and with this, the War of the Heirs ended with Ricardo's victory.