A heavy gasping could be heard as the battlefield falls into silence. Out of thousands of soldiers, knights, warriors, and mages, only one knight remained to oppose the stillness.
"Fuck. It didn't have… to end like this."
The sole survivor muttered, as every second that passed dragged him closer to death. He slumped against a pill of corpses. In every direction, lifeless bodies laid down as if they were the ground.
Except for one small place, beaming with a radiant and warm light. In the center of the light stood a heroic figure wrapped in a beautiful white armor. The heroic figure gazed up to the sky as if it was admiring at it, but no life could be sensed from the individual.
"Smiling, really? Ha, ha, that idiot…really did it."
With the last of his strength, the knight look up to the sky. A serene twilight greeted him, embracing his soul, calming the racing thoughts he had. Time seemed to slow down as he observed the most beautiful sky he's ever seen. Seconds passed, or perhaps minutes, until he regained some clarity.
'Today should be a happy day, after all we finally killed the Demon God, yet I only feel regret and sorrow. Damn it, I miss my family, my friends, and…my fiancée.'
Slowly losing the senses of his withering body, memories of his life surfaced, the moments he shared with his loved ones, his training to become a knight, and countless wars he fought to protect the ones he cared for.
Yet in the end, all was in vain. He failed to protect the ones he swore to safeguard. He let them go under the excuse of saving the world.
'Why did I let the hero do whatever he wanted? I lost everything, not only me, but many lost much due to the stupid decisions the hero made.'
He never truly opposed the hero. After all, the hero was the only one capable of successfully defeating the Demon God. But the hero was childish, stubborn, dumb, and naive even if his decisions carried righteousness, they came with enormous consequences.
As his body went numb, rage and regret swelled within him.
'I should've never let the hero order my father to the front of the battlefield. That idiot had no clue how a true battlefield works.'
Flooded by memories of the past. He recounted how the hero had stubbornly insisted that a path be forged in the middle of the war zone to rescue the humans enslaved by Demon God mental control.
'My father pioneered a path to save many civilians, dying in the process. For what?! After rescuing them, they just died anyway because breaking the mental control meant death.'
His father did a noble sacrifice that in the end meant nothing. As a proud son, he felt disgusted and wronged that the death of his father and his knights was meaningless.
'My fiancée… I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to talk you out of going to the line of defense to offer assistance.'
Watching his fiancée back fade into the distance as she boarded a carriage, may have been the most regretful memory the knight carried.
'I only had to convince you to stay, yet I let you march away to your death. If only that bastard hadn't inspired you to go.'
As the blame kept staking upon the hero, coldness grew more intense. With only minutes left, the thoughts returned to his friends.
'My dear friends, you all died honorable deaths. I promised to remember, but it seems I can't keep that vow. Please…forgive me.'
Not all promises can be kept, but perhaps if he had taken different choices, his loved ones would be alive.
'If I see the hero in heaven, I swear I'll kick his ass! He should've never been the hero!… If only he had respected our opinions, we could've saved more lives.'
The knight seethed with fury. Yet, despite condemning the hero, in reality who he hated the most was himself. If only he had been stronger or wielded more influence, he could have saved his loved ones and protected even more people.
'In the end, that dumbass succeeded in his mission. And me? I'm the one who failed… I'm pathetic…blaming the hero for my shortcomings.'
In his final moments, he started to dream about all the different choices he could've made. As several ideas surfaced in his mind, each one brought only more regret. Exhausted, he decided to put a stop to his rapid thinking.
Soon all thoughts came to halt, with whatever few strength he had left, he lifted his head and looked to the sky one final time. The enchanting twilight shifted to a magnificent crimson red, full of stars. It was a sight beyond imagination, a sky never seen before in this world.
Everything slowly turned to darkness, announcing with it the end of the knight's life. In the cold, as he silently descended into the void, something otherworldly happened. A noise of no renown echoed through the air.
"Ď• %∇∅ ℛ℈⁊∫⇟Ț ǃǂ¿"
The bizarre, intrusive, and penetrating sound ripple the very fabric of the world, but the knight paid no attention to it. With no energy left and no will to decipher it. His focused remained on his final thoughts.
'I truly…regret it, all of it.'
His first and last genuine confession, offered with every ounce of emotion he had left.
"ℳ∯⋁↑ ∂↺ %∆∅ ∑∀₼Ⅎ¡"
The unearthly noise seemed to pierce the world. The sky snapped, and the crimson red twilight branched wide and far, as though attempting to consume the entire world. Yet, the dying knight remained undisturbed. Perishing away, his only concern was his regret.
'If I had… one opportunity, I…would've saved…everyone.'
As his thought concluded, the world shattered with sound so grandiose and powerful that it felt capable of destroying a universe and rewriting it.
"Pr∅∀e iǂ!"
Then, the voice called out.
"Leo Reylheart."