Perspective: Roko
What Seiji showed me was beyond belief. We found traces of hands equivalent to three hands. What happened to Nemoria was similar to what happened to Valimir, but I find what happened to Nemoria far more gruesome than what happened to Valimir.
We are now in the heart of the city. With every step, the natural urban beauty turns into deadly darkness. You never know what awaits you… or what will appear in the next minute. We are only walking, and our fate is equally unknown.
The deeper we venture, the more mysterious it becomes. I feel strange things lurking from the depths.
A burning sulfur scent mixed with the unbearable smell of phosphorus sneaks around me. Something around me is about to ignite.
I am ready for whatever awaits me in this kingdom. I no longer care.
In the Empire of Kagutsuchi – 9:05 PM
Akayama sat on a wooden chair, placing the katana sheath beside him in a small, unknown library, half of its lights extinguished, darkness claiming most of the place.
Akayama smiled a side smile that carried complete indifference to what lay behind him. He stretched his legs over the table, scattering the books, and the creak of the wood revealed hidden sarcasm in his movement.
"Thirty days made the Emperor replace the Third Commander and consider him dead," Akayama said with a smile.
Akayama directed these words to a mysterious person sitting behind him. The one behind Akayama wore a worn gray cloak that hid most of his body and a wooden mask covering half his face. Black and white strands of hair emerged from under the mask, and his eyes were only clearly visible when reflected by the nearby firelight.
Akayama said in a deep voice, "I heard a story about a ruler called the Mad Ruler. Can you tell it to me, sir?"
"The Mad Ruler? That's a new name. He was only known as the Bloody Ruler. He wasn't just human, but a mad dragon who devoured everyone around him, burning kingdoms with his flames in the Hundred Years' War, rampaging like a monster killing all nearby, then turning into a human wielding a spear with which he took thousands of lives in every battle. His blue hair turned red from the countless victims killed by his hand."
"Didn't you know where he came from?" asked the mysterious person, driven by curiosity.
"Well, it is said he appeared from the First Kingdom. Yet the First Kingdom denied it and accused their scholars that it was the Seventh Kingdom from which he appeared. Their answer was convincing: he destroyed it with his hand, and it was the first kingdom to fall in that war. But can we be sure of their words?"
The mysterious person fell silent, unsure how to answer Akayama's indirectly posed question.
"So no, not everything we read should be believed, even with their evidence. Did we witness the war in its early days? Even his death is mysterious; it was never confirmed. They say he reached Kagetsu and confronted the Heart Eater, and a battle ensued. The sky turned red, clouds blackened, and blood flew everywhere. The fight lasted four days; the Bloody Ruler's chest was split, and in the end, their fate remained undetermined. Still, there is evidence of his death. On the path where he killed everyone who entered, he said he heard screams and laughter, saw faint shadows appearing and disappearing, described as madmen. Yet, his last appearance after his chest was split cannot be denied—he laughed and laughed as if saying, 'I will return.'"
Akayama gripped his sheath and drew his dark katana, then smiled with confidence.
"I haven't seen you in a while, Somiyaro. Or should I call you the Third Commander from now on?"
Somiyaro responded with a greeting, drawing his katana to parry Akayama's strike.
"I didn't know the Madman had started telling stories."
Akayama laughed.
"And who asked me to tell him the story of the Bloody Ruler?"
Akayama and Somiyaro returned their swords to their sheaths. Akayama began to leave the library, and before exiting, he said to Somiyaro:
"I am leaving now, but you must accept Ryota's complaints from this moment. He has reached the highest level of laziness. It seems your fate is to become the commander instead of Roko, and Roko's fate is to go to the Old Kingdom even after the mission was canceled. Be cautious."
Akayama left, leaving Somiyaro stunned by his words.
"Is he mocking me? That bastard."
Back to Nemoria
Seiji decided to dig the ground, sensing a truth hidden beneath this city. He continued digging with his bare hands until his clothes were dirty and his face and gray hair were covered in dust.
I stepped back a little, but his face became grim, like someone who had discovered a gruesome crime. I decided to see.
Now I realized the reason for his silence. Truly, I was not shocked. The beautiful trees and plants that grew among the towering buildings, representing the wonder of this era, were actually plants grown from corpses.
A big smile formed on my face as I looked at Seiji, saying,
"Hahaha… even the Old Kingdom hid a gruesome crime and made the world applaud it. How amusing."
Without doubt, this was an experiment on humans. Yet I did not know the purpose or reason for this experiment.
I decided to move, but Seiji shouted,
"Lie down quickly!" and drew his sword.
I felt nothing from behind me except a hand about to tear my body. I fell to the ground, and what a terror of the same magnitude as we had found: a huge hand, a toothless face, long black hair, massive size, jaw unsupported by bone, no tongue—it was a grotesque monster.
I couldn't bear its sight. I jumped at it, tore its face, cut its ears and nose. It became sightless and tried to attack me with its hands. I froze it with my ice and shattered it with the katana.
The monster screamed loudly, "Kyaaaah!" and its body collapsed. We couldn't assess the situation until we found ourselves surrounded by more of them.
Seiji swung his sword and rushed toward them, burning some of them, but what could we do against this huge horde?
These monsters were the residents of Nemoria, and defeating them would take a long time.
At a moment, they began charging at us like leopards attacking prey.
Perspective: Seiji
The buildings began to collapse while Roko killed most of them. The clash intensified. Their weakness was their faces, yet we could still die against such overwhelming numbers.
I found myself falling to the ground. The floor collapsed, monsters leapt at us, and just before I fell, I grabbed a rope.
I held on as Roko landed, but then I heard him shout,
"Hold the rope tight, Seiji!"
I pulled my feet from them, fell to the ground, and felt intense burning in my left hand. When I looked, half the skin had peeled.
Monsters gathered around me, unarmed. Roko froze them, then leapt like a dragon soaring into the sky, not to unleash fire but to release his ice.
At that moment, many memories surged.
I was born without knowing my father. My mother died after my birth. My brother and I were separated, adopted by different families. He went one way, I went another.
My family wasn't wealthy—middle-class—but I lived neither a good nor a miserable life, just ordinary. Yet one moment I will never forget: they were all killed. With their deaths, I could not describe what I saw. They turned into monsters and started chanting my name. I had killed them by mistake.
I discovered within me powers I could not control. That's when I understood why I was called the cursed child. My power was uncontrollable, so I turned to reading and learning to compensate for my lack, until I became a vice to a boy my age and became a leader—Roko.
He smiled strangely even when speaking to humans, indifferent to the seriousness of our situation. I thought he was insane, yet the painful truth is that he is not insane—only we, the weak, take things seriously, unlike him.
We give commands beyond our capacity and become obstacles to those stronger than us.
I continued my days analyzing, wondering why no one approached me, why everyone mocked me. Was it because my father was unknown and abandoned me? Or because my brother and I were blamed for our mother's death? We did nothing to deserve punishment.
Life is unjust; people blame you for things you didn't cause, as if you were the one making the decisions.
After thinking all this, I found before me a barrel labeled "Blue Fire." I knew Roko could defeat them, yet there was a possibility of his death. I rushed, leaving the monsters behind, toward the barrel, aware of the consequences. Roko looked at me, shocked, and shouted,
"What are you doing… Seiji, move away, immediately!"
I smiled at him. Roko couldn't catch up. The monster tried to pull me, but I struck the barrel.
Suddenly:
"BOOM."
Blue fire erupted. Roko couldn't comprehend what had just come out. The fire devoured everything along with the monsters, and the ice melted. A destructive explosion reached the sky.
From afar, in the Old Kingdom, a samurai observed the fate of the two. He did not move a step until witnessing the explosion. He dismounted immediately and watched.
One shouted with a loud, anxious, fearful voice,
"Did a powerful entity descend from the sky?"
"No need to go. It's over. The commander and his deputy are finished. We must report to the Emperor immediately."
The explosion was extraordinary, reaching the sky of the world of rulers. Even from afar, Nemoria witnessed the sorcery of the explosion heading toward it rapidly.
In another continent – Nivaria
Perspective: Nokuro
I feel a strong headache, as if someone I know has died.
"Well, can you explain this headache to me, doctor?"
At that moment, Nokuro smiled, his hands covered in blood. Before him lay a man's corpse tied tightly, his head completely opened, half his skin peeled. Nokuro stood over the corpse, revealing his madness in that moment.
End of Chapter