The blue object floated before me, displaying text like a piece of glowing parchment.
But there was no time for me to read it; a blade was already swinging my way, and my sluggish body barely responded to me wanting to evade it.
Every movement was a form of torture.
My vision was a blur, distorting everything into a chaotic mess. I couldn't even trust my eyesight, making combat nearly impossible.
I was walking a clear path…
Towards something unavoidable.
Death…
My road was bound to end up in a ditch… as a corpse if I couldn't find something soon… but did I even want to?
I had no one else…
Yet, this magical paper appeared so suddenly, and the enemy seemed to disregard it completely, it had to be some kind of sorcery, maybe even supposed to help me… to save me from my certain death.
But I didn't care.
A soldier with a saber charged at me, his body passing right through the floating paper without disturbing it.
It was my only hope that this strange object could offer any assistance.
Aside from that, I saw no other way out.
Maybe this floating paper is just a fragment of my imagination, a sign that I'm losing it, just like I'll lose my life. One last mockery from my own mind, gloating over my failures.
"ARGHH!!!"
One last shout, one last scream!
I won't go down without bleeding them dry!
So let me roar like a lion!
Let me tear them apart!
Grasping my blade tighter than ever, I paid no mind to it as the world around me spun faster and faster.
So, let it spin, I don't care!
"Come at me!"
The sea of black continued to taint the fortress walls as soldiers climbed, storming the battlements—more and more of them rushing directly at the last defender standing—me.
My ears were ringing, my hearing was long impaired, I could no longer hear any of them talk, and the world around me continued to race making my death all that much more guaranteed.
"But I don't care!"
The cold was hitting my throat as I roared out, running towards the enmy with my blade, even while I felt my head split apart, I ignored the megical paper in the air.
I did not care about it.
I didn't care about anything.
I had no one to go back to.
My friends…
My brothers…
My sisters…
All the people I met on my first day in this fortress became my only remaining family after the war took everything from me.
They too are gone now…
Only I remained…
Again.
Time and time again…
I was left to be the only one standing.
But this is the last time, I follow all of you…
All I want is to go out on my own terms.
"Roar"
I was surrounded, but my blade was already blocking a strike coming my way, as the metal clashed with metal, my hands numbed, my control over my baby leaving me faster than ever.
My time was limited, but I continued to roar louder, the cold brushing against my face which I could barely feel.
Pain enveloped my body as I slashed against the air, the sea of black surrounding me, ready to push me to the depths of the sea and drown me.
But I won't be ragged down.
The smell of iron in the air, all the blood, and the screams of my fellow soldiers against the tide of black armored soldiers overwhelmed us while the only thing we could do was struggle… to die akin to dogs.
Swinging again and again while the pain that enveloped me shook me to my very core, my breath escaped from my lungs as the winds clashed against me.
"Argh!!!"
A cold blade made of iron stabbed sharply into my left shoulder while the only thing I could do is squeal from the pain before retaliating with a swift strike, claiming the life of a soldier….
Not even a drop of the wast black sea that was drowning us.
I pushed back with every ounce of strength I had left, gritting my teeth as pain surged through my body.
My breath came in ragged gasps, and my vision narrowed to nothing but the sea of black before me. Soldier after soldier fell to my blade, but they kept coming, relentless, unending, like shadows pulled from the abyss.
With a fierce cry, I swung wildly, cutting through their ranks, but no matter how many I cut down, more took their place.
The weight of exhaustion was dragging me down, the world spinning faster with every passing moment.
My muscles screamed, my lungs burned, and yet I didn't stop.
I couldn't stop.
But then… something changed.
The tide of soldiers slowed.
No more of them were rushing at me.
My blade hung heavy in my hand, dripping with blood, but there were no more enemies charging.
I stood there, panting, surrounded by bodies, but the wave had ceased.
I blinked, trying to clear the blur from my vision. For a moment, I thought I had won.
But a scream pierced through the silence, not just one, but two, then three, then more and more.
A scream unlike any I had heard before—sharp, desperate, a final cry of someone whose fate was sealed.
I whipped my head around, trying to locate the source.
And then I saw it.
The ones that screamed were all looking at the sky.
I did the same, my heart pounding, and my blood ran cold.
The sky itself was shading darker, blacker, as if the heavens were mourning.
But it wasn't just darkness—it was a storm, a rain of death.
Arrows.
Thousands of arrows, blotting out the sun, turning day into night.
My eyes widened in terror as I watched the sky vanish beneath the cloud of arrows. There was no escaping them, no running from this.
I didn't have enough time to run for cover.
I stumbled back, my legs weak beneath me, and then… the floating paper was there again. The strange window of glowing text.
I reached for it, desperation clawing at me. Maybe… maybe it had an answer. Maybe this time it would save me.
Hell, I don't want to be saved!
Just give me a chance to strike back!
My hand stretched out toward it, trembling.
But as my fingers brushed the glowing parchment—
Everything vanished.
I gasped, my eyes shooting open, the world around me dissolving in an instant. The roar of battle, the screams, the endless black soldiers—all gone.
I was no longer Doyle.
I was Liam.
The wooden floor of the theater beneath me felt real again. My clothes felt too heavy, my breath ragged as though I had truly lived through the battle.
But the battle was over.
I was alive.
And to my right, the window was shining brighter.
***
The students of the theater club watched Liam perform in silence.
None of them dared to utter a word, nor did they acknowledge the man who had stepped into the club hall a while ago. They were too mesmerized by Liam's performance.
Even before he was kicked out of the club, he had been one of their best, but now?
Since his return, his acting had only improved.
His expressions, his body language.
All of it was superb.
While their gazes were filled with genuine wonder, for one of them, it was even more so the case… Amelia, Liam's former best friend.
She clenched her teeth while her gaze intensified, and right beside her, someone gazed with the same intense gaze, but it was different.
Instead of wonder, it was one filled with hatred and jealousy.
*Clap*
"Okay, enough for now kids!"
A middle aged man raised his raspy voice, it was one filled with authority, making all of the students switch their gaze towards him.
"Mister Adams!"
The students greeted him but he only answered to them with a subtle nod of his head, his main focus was a student standing in the middle of the stage.