Darkness surrounded him, heavy and suffocating. Faint echoes of war cries and the clashing of swords reverberated in his ears, pulling him from the void.
When his eyes fluttered open, pain shot through his body. He found himself kneeling in the dirt, surrounded by bloodied corpses. His hands gripped a heavy sword, its blade smeared with crimson, and his reflection in the polished steel sent a jolt of shock through him.
This wasn't his face.
The man staring back at him had sharp, cruel features and cold eyes like shards of black ice. His armor was intricate but dark, befitting someone of high rank and of terrible reputation. Then it clicked: this was the face of Lord Kaelion, the villain from Sword of the Eternal Flame, a novel he had read before his death.
"I… I'm Kaelion?" His voice was rough, deep, and foreign to him. His mind raced. How was this possible?
Before he could process the absurdity of the situation, a furious shout cut through the chaos.
"Kaelion!"
He turned, and his blood froze. There, standing a few paces away, was the hero, Commander Ardyn of the Radiant Order. A brilliant sword of pure light rested in his hand, and his emerald eyes burned with hatred.
In the original story, this was the moment Kaelion struck the fatal blow. This battlefield was where the hero's closest allies had been ambushed and slaughtered. It was the villain's ultimate betrayal a moment that cemented his reputation as a monster.
But now, standing in Kaelion's shoes, all he felt was disgust. He didn't want this.
The hero raised his sword. "Your schemes end here, Kaelion. Prepare to die!"
Kailion instinctively raised his blade, but his heart wasn't in it. A plan formed in his mind. If he could change this moment, rewrite Kaelion's fate, maybe he could survive and avoid the tragic ending awaiting this body.
He dropped the sword.
The clang of steel hitting the ground stunned the battlefield into silence. Even Ardyn hesitated, his expression shifting to confusion.
"I surrender," Kailion said, his voice steady but firm. He raised his hands in surrender. "I don't want to fight you."
Ardyn's eyes narrowed. "What trick is this?"
"No trick," Kailion replied. "I'm done with this madness. I'll help you stop the war… if you let me live."
The soldiers surrounding them murmured in disbelief. Ardyn's grip on his sword tightened.
"You expect me to believe the Black Serpent of Kaelion would simply surrender? Do you take me for a fool?"
"You're no fool, Commander," Kailion said, meeting Ardyn's gaze. "But you know as well as I do that continuing this fight will only spill more innocent blood. If you're the hero everyone says you are, then spare me and see for yourself that I mean what I say."
The tension in the air was suffocating. Every eye was on Ardyn, waiting for his decision. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he lowered his blade.
"Bind him," he ordered his men. "We'll take him as a prisoner. If he tries anything, he dies."
As the soldiers approached and shackled him, Kailion felt a strange mixture of relief and dread. He had avoided death for now. But the hard part was only just beginning.