"Why, why did you do it, why did you betray your nation, humanity, yourself? Tell me, was it worth it? Now, finally, you got what you wanted."
"Hahaha... Do you want to talk now, in this situation, hahaha... it's serious! Now that everything has come to this point... hahaha~. You never cease to amaze me, even at the end."
Words were exchanged between the two. The tension in the air was suffocating, anything but normal.
After all, at this very moment and place, the fate of the world would be decided.
A man in silver armor, with hair of the same shade and blue eyes, stared with complicated emotions at the man in front of him: an individual with black robes, red hair and red eyes. Their presences could not have been more opposite.
Once they had been friends and comrades, but fate had taken them to opposite sides, each with different reasons, for which to fight.
Now, in an ancient castle, their battle companions had fallen. Only he was left... and his final target: the woman sitting behind the black-robed man, who watched the scene as if it were all a mere spectacle.
He had come to confront her, but his former comrade stood in his way, even killing his allies.
The man in front of him was no longer a comrade, let alone a brother, He could no longer hesitate. He carried the weight of all humanity on his shoulders, and he could not afford to falter.
"Damn it! For the sake of mankind, I'll kill you, traitor... and then I'll finish off that woman who has brought chaos to the world. Oh, God, give me your blessing to destroy-!"
Just as the silver-armored man began to accumulate a large amount of energy, the red-haired man stopped laughing and suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the neck.
"Your hero game ends here. Do you really think I'm going to stand idly by while you try to summon a divine miracle? This is the end. There are no second chances. There is nothing to save you. Chance is no longer on your side."
"Ugh... The gods... will punish you.... for what you did..."
The red-eyed man sighed.
"jaaa~... Until the end you don't understand how this world works... Hee!... It wasn't nice at all to have met you brainless idiot. Goodbye."
Without another second's hesitation, his palms began to heat up.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!-"
In the next instant, the hero of humanity burned to ashes. Nothing was left of him.
The black-robed man had achieved absolute mastery over fire, and finally, the fate of the world was decided. Without its greatest representative, the downfall of mankind was only a matter of time.
What did he think about it?
Nothing.
For him, it was all the same. Humans, demons, beasts... they had always painted things as good and evil, black and white.
But he, who had started from the bottom, understood that the world was not so simple.
The righteous and brave die early; the cowardly and cunning live longer. The strong rise above the weak, and the weak have no choice but to lean on the strong.
"hahahaha" as someone who had totally lost, sanity simply burst out laughing.
When he looked at the remains of his former companions. He was known as the "Crazy Fire Wizard", someone with no control, and who acted impulsively, he was someone who laughed as he burned entire cities and now was no different.
So many things had happened that led him to this side and to this situation... but, in the end, none of it mattered.
He wondered if something fundamental, as a living being, had been consumed within him. Perhaps it was his punishment for having been so close to the fire all his life.
But everything that once mattered to him... there was almost nothing left. Everything had been consumed. Now he only clung to little things.
Different from how he acts, surprisingly he had a clear and deep thought, he was never crazy and understood every thing he did as well as the consequences, he just laughed because honestly the whole situation was a fiasco a fiasco that left him with nothing more to laugh about.
Although he had taken his magic to the top, even creating his own system, he still did not understand the meaning of life.
Even being on this side, where he thought he could see it clearly, nothing had been different, everything kept quieting down and falling apart without him being able to do anything to stop it.
'If you could go back to the past... would it be different? Would it be different? Would anything change?'
A question that sometimes popped into his head.
The truth is that nothing is more addictive than the past. Who wouldn't want to meet a loved one again or relive the most significant moments of their life? But memories, even the good ones, have a voracious appetite.
If you're not careful, they consume you.
In the end, there was no use answering that question, because something like that was impossible.
Anyone who has explored the limits of magic knows that better than anyone else. He didn't want to lose himself in a self-created illusion, but, still... he really wanted to.
He wanted to start over.
Maybe that way, that flame inside him, which had been extinguished, would be rekindled.
It was curious how someone who had attained absolute mastery over fire... could not do something so simple.
Perhaps he never found the true essence of fire magic and was only carried away by an illusion.
"Please... forgive me."
'History is repeating itself again.... Haa~ I'm tired.'
"Hahaha~"
The laughter came from the woman who was sitting on her throne before. While he was lost in thought, at some point, she had come up behind his back... and pierced him with a dagger.
The man laughed, now there was more reason to laugh.
He thought it was funny.
He understood immediately.
The woman who had promised so many things, she who had led him to betray his own... now she was betraying him.
A punishment?
No.
Honestly, the man had already expected this to happen.
In fact, it didn't surprise him at all.
He found it funny that she hadn't waited an instant to betray him.
With this, the last thing he was clinging to... gone, he didn't mind dying in the least.
But before even though he knew the answer, the man asked.
"Hahaha~ Don't tell me.... The gods too? It's not like that, is it? Come on, you can be honest. I'm still going to die."
"I'm sorry...I'm really sorry. But with this, the prophecy has been fulfilled.... Forgive me, Cass."
"Hey... Why are you crying?" Her voice sounded mocking. "Don't act like you're the victim...? You're the queen of an entire race. You just stabbed me...aren't you happy now that I'll be gone? Tell me... what are those hypocritical tears?"
He heard the woman sobbing behind him.
What was the point of those tears?
Regret? Relief?
What were they?
Why was she even crying, when he was the one whose heart was pierced by a dagger?
"I didn't lie when I said I loved you..." she whispered. "It wasn't a lie. But, as you said, I am the one in charge of my race. Doing my duty was the only thing I could do."
"..."
The man didn't even understand what she was talking about.
He himself couldn't even say with certainty that he loved her.
Their relationship had always been more contractual than anything else.
He didn't understand where all of a sudden so many overflowing feelings were coming from on the part of the woman, who had now dropped the dagger and was hugging him from behind.
He didn't think it was funny.
He didn't want to die like that.
Still, she kept talking...
"I will keep my promise and I will follow you.... We'll be together even in the afterlife.... Aghh!!!"
"You are right about one thing, my dear sister. Now that the prophecy has been fulfilled, you can quietly follow him."
A third voice joined them.
It was a demon.
The queen's older brother.
He was now stabbing his sister in the back.
Oddly enough, the man who had thought it was funny to be stabbed before... now, ironically, he didn't think it was funny at all to be stabbed by the woman who had stabbed him.
What he was experiencing was the essence of this world, in its purest form, he had experienced it ad nauseam.
Betrayals and more betrayals, he was so married to it, he thought it was better to die at the hands of the woman, he wouldn't even hold a grudge, for it was something he expected, but now the situation was different
"I will rule the world now! Everything is under my feet! I will be the supreme lord! Hahahahaha!"
The demon was elated.
Now that the two strongest beings in the world and the human hero were dead, no one could stop him.
He had waited for this moment for so long, he had gathered all his loyal subordinates just for this occasion.
When he walked in here he expected to find a scene of attrition, with his sister and the mage severely wounded after their battle against the hero.
not that dramatic and silly scene, ... but I couldn't be happier, it had all turned out so easily.
It seemed that the gods themselves wanted him to rule.
All his subordinates would witness the precise moment when he would rise as the supreme existence.
When his sister died, the power of his family would inevitably pass to him, and he would rule unchallenged.
'I am already... tired. Very tired... But this... I will not allow it.'
The man sensed that his end was near.
And so did the woman behind him.
Just as she had said, it seemed that she really would accompany him to the end.
But if it had all been in vain, if everything he built had been destroyed... if his life had been meaningless... then he would at least make his death have meaning.
He wasn't going to let it end like this.
It was one thing to be the woman on his back.
But another was that male demon.
He couldn't allow someone like him to benefit from everything that had happened.
With that conviction, he turned around Aun with the dagger through his heart.
The woman, the demon queen, fell into his arms.
Curiously the woman was pierced, by a dagger identical to his, and now they would die in the same way.
They would die in the same way.
Almost at the same time.
But for different reasons.
"Hey... do you want things to end like this?"
"I-"
"Because I don't."
He didn't even wait for her reply.
He turned his gaze to the demon who had betrayed them.
He saw him grinning madly, intoxicated by the certainty of his glorious future.
But the more he looked at him, the more useless it all seemed to him, if someone like him is the greatest beneficiary.
And the more anger consumed him.
The demon, perhaps noticing his gaze, looked back at him and smiled mockingly.
"Let's see, what does the great fire wizard Cassiel have to say for the last time, As the magnificent king that I will be, I will listen to you in your last moments. hahaha!"
The demon laughed with mockery and arrogance.
He had no doubt of his victory.
The daggers were absolute.
His death could no longer be avoided.
But in his euphoria... he had forgotten something.
Something crucial.
The man in front of him was not just anyone.
He was a madman.
A madman that only his sister had been able to control.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You think you won? You think I'll let someone like you be above it all? That's the biggest joke I've ever heard HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
As if overshadowing the demon's laughter The man laughed maniacally and louder, as if he had been the winner with an unhinged laughter that disturbed even the demon.
The demon was sure of his victory.
There was no way the red-eyed man could use mana.
And without mana, he was nothing but a walking corpse.
"Y-you're just bluffing, you're just an impotent madman! Finish him off!"
He tried to regain his composure, but in the man's eyes he saw no fear.
Only madness.
An empty, bottomless madness.
She felt that if she looked at him any longer, her soul would be consumed.
It was like looking into the abyss.
He could bear it no longer.
He gave the order for his men to attack and turned away.
He did not want to see any more.
He didn't want to see the eyes of a madman like him.
But then...
"HAHAHAHAH-...this ain't funny at all, motherfucker."
The man's laughter stopped dead in its tracks.
"Primal Fire Arts."
And he uttered simple words And with it, the world seemed to shudder, his words seemed to be absolute laws, a higher being was speaking.
The demon felt the air around him become thick and fiery.
He turned immediately, his heart pounding in his throat.
And he saw him.
The man was engulfed in golden flames.
That should not be possible.
All his mana had been sealed away.
He couldn't do magic.
He shouldn't be able to do magic!
"Kill him now!"
He ordered his subordinates to attack him immediately.
He wanted them to finish him off before it was too late, whatever he was doing he couldn't let it end him.
But time... time seemed to slow down.
The movements of his soldiers became clumsy, heavy.
The demon sensed the danger growing.
And he was not going to stand idly by.
He drew his sword and advanced at full speed.
He was going to cut the man's head off before he could do anything.
The edge of his sword was about to pierce through his neck-.
When he saw the impossible, his sword, a divine treasure, began to melt on contact with the man.
And, if that wasn't enough, The man moved naturally within the frozen time.
Moving his lips as if it was something normal.
"Absolute completion."
"NOOOOOOO!"
The last thing he saw was the smile that always caused him dread, hatred and mostly fear.
"Ignis Infinitum."
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!