His brother stopped speaking, as if the man's words had struck him like a nail driven deep into the ground. The silence that followed was heavy, thick with unspoken truths.
The man stepped closer, his eyes narrowing, his tone growing colder still. "You've always been her puppet, haven't you? Clinging to her every word, using her excuses to justify your failures. She told you it was my fault, didn't she? That it was my choices that tore us apart."
He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "But you never asked yourself why I did it. Why I killed Father. No, you just let her fill your head with lies and used them to hide behind your own weakness."
He took a step back, his gaze unwavering. "You blame me for everything, but you've never had the courage to face the truth. You've been too busy listening to her, too busy holding onto your fragile little world where you're the victim. But now it's all pointless, as it holds no meaning to me..."
"Just kill me already!" the brother yelled, his voice raw with frustration, cutting off the man mid-sentence.
The man remained unfazed, his expression cold, an unshakable calmness settling over him.
"Isn't that why you attacked us? To end me?" the brother sneered, venom dripping from his words.
"So why hesitate now? Why all this talk? What's the point of it all?" His voice trembled with emotion, shaking with the weight of everything that had led to this moment. "It's too late."
The man's eyes narrowed slightly, as if the words pierced deeper than intended. For a brief moment, the cold exterior softened, the faintest flicker of something human flashing across his face. He murmured almost to himself, "You're right. It's too late."
He met his brother's gaze, his voice now stripped of mockery, carrying the weight of quiet finality. "It's too late for us... for anything to change now."
The silence that followed was thick, the gravity of the words settling between them. His gaze grew distant, the reality of the situation sinking in. There was nothing left to say.
A sigh escaped him, louder now, as if the entire ordeal had grown beneath him.
The man took a step forward, the faint squelch of his boots piercing the oppressive silence. He raised his katana, the blade singing softly as it cut through the air.
The blade glinted faintly in the dim light, its edge as cold and unforgiving as its wielder.
It happened in an instant. The blade arced downward in a flash of silver.
"NO!" Grey screamed, his voice raw with desperation as he broke into a sprint. But it was too late.
The katana sliced cleanly through his brother's neck. The severed head fell with a sickening thud, landing at Grey's feet. Lifeless eyes stared up at him, frozen in an expression of betrayal and despair.
Grey fell to his knees, his hands trembling as they hovered over his brother's body. His mind reeled, refusing to accept what had just happened. Tears blurred his vision, but the oppressive aura remained, cold and unrelenting.
The man wiped his blade clean with a flick of his wrist, his movements precise and methodical. He didn't spare a glance at the body or the head. The battlefield was silent once more, the oppressive air heavy with the finality of death.
The standing man turned, his gaze finally settling on Grey. For the first time, their eyes met, and Grey's breath caught in his throat. The weight of the man's presence bore down on him like a mountain, suffocating and inescapable. Fear surged through him, primal and consuming.
The man's voice cut through the silence, deep and deliberate. "You've forgotten who you are, haven't you?"
Grey's scream echoed across the desolate battlefield, a cry of anguish and despair that was swallowed by the void. He cradled his brother's lifeless head, his mind spiraling into darkness as the man's piercing gaze remained locked on him.