Reinhard felt a hollow ache in his chest as he looked at the corpses of Marcos and Leandro.
One was his captain; the other was his friend. Both were respectable men, and both had died protecting the kingdom. Even with far less power than Reinhard, they had accomplished so much more than he ever did.
What frustrated Reinhard the most was that despite all his abilities, he always failed. He was an artificial hero, forced into a burden of responsibility that was simply too much for him to bear.
"No matter what I do, it's always the same..."
The young prospective hero lowered his head. Suddenly, he felt small and utterly alone, lost in the dark depths of his fears and guilt. The sword and uniform he wore felt far too large for him, as if he were merely a child playing dress-up, pretending to be someone he could never truly become.
Reinhard began to murmur under his breath, his voice trembling with frustration and uncertainty.
"Why? Why me? You could have chosen anyone else, and they would have done a better job. I'm just... not fit for this. I'm not built for it."
Reinhard's existential crisis was cut short by an exclamation that pulled him back to reality, reminding him that he still had a threat to eradicate.
"That was a good hit, you bastard!" Reid's voice boomed across the entire city, his laugh dripping with delight and excitement, causing Reinhard to tense up.
"You... You shouldn't be here."
For the first time, the Sword Saint's graceful face contorted with hostility. He stared at his ancestor as if the man's very presence were a flaw in the world. Just like himself.
"Well now, I like that fierce look in your eyes! You've got the mark of an Astrea!"
Reid didn't take long to notice the resemblance between them, but what truly caught his attention was the sword hanging from Reinhard's waist. His lips curled into a smirk.
"Oh? That sword you've got there looks familiar," mocked the owner of that legendary relic. "Since you're itching for a fight, I suggest you draw it, because I don't plan on holding back against you."
In response to his ancestor's confident declaration, Reinhard narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, all the mana in the surrounding atmosphere converged upon him as though his body were a black hole.
"The sword refuses to be drawn," the younger red-head replied dryly. "But I don't need it. I will use all my power to end you as quickly as possible."
Reid burst into another fit of laughter, seemingly amused by his descendant's attitude.
"Now where's the fun in that? Besides, you sure talk a big game for someone relying on blind confidence. I wonder if you're just being arrogant, or if you can actually back up those words..."
Reid twirled his chopsticks, practically buzzing with pure excitement.
"Start whenever you're ready, kid."
Reinhard stared at him without blinking. His expression was far from indifferent; it was laced with utter contempt.
"My apologies to the hero, Reid Astrea."
"Huh?" Reid raised an eyebrow.
Reinhard took a single step forward, instantly appearing before Reid as if he had been standing only a meter away all along. In that split second, the world stopped for everyone except the two of them.
"My apologies for allowing an imitation to tarnish the name of a legend."
Reid didn't see Reinhard's fist coming, but he definitely felt it. His body was struck by a force far beyond his comprehension, and the sheer impact launched him upward like a cannonball.
It was a simple uppercut, but the speed and power behind it were so immense that a massive shockwave exploded a fraction of a second after the hit connected.
Reid slammed violently against the cavern ceiling, causing another tremor to ripple through the structure. Reinhard's blow had been so devastating that it forced Reid to cough up blood, momentarily knocking him unconscious.
Yet, rather than growing angry or frightened, Reid became more thrilled than ever. Relying on raw strength, he broke free from the crater where he had been embedded and propelled himself downward, plummeting toward Reinhard at full speed.
"ALRIGHT, NOW WE'RE TALKING THE SAME LANGUAGE!"
The chopsticks traced a series of slashes that seemed to cut through concepts themselves, but Reinhard moved with absolute precision, dodging the repeated death sentences as if he were engaged in a flawless dance.
Reid quickly leaped back upon seeing his attack fail, but Reinhard instantly proved that distance meant nothing to him. He kicked off the ground, generating another violent shockwave that threw his ancestor off balance as the earth shattered beneath their feet.
Exceeding Reid's reaction speed, Reinhard closed the gap and unleashed a rapid, brutal volley of punches. There was no respect or chivalry in his fighting style; Reinhard was being more ruthless than he had ever been in his life.
With every exchange, the ground cracked and trembled, giant boulders broke away from the ceiling, and it felt as though the world itself was going to shatter under the relentless force exerted by its strongest creation.
Reinhard knew he couldn't keep fighting at this intensity for much longer, as doing so would put the others in danger. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to stop.
He was sad, but above all, he was angry. Not at Reid, but at himself, and at the world that had given such power to the wrong person. He had already blamed himself enough, but he had never asked for these powers in the first place... well, not all of them, and he certainly hadn't asked to carry the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders.
"PFFFT! BASTARD, YOU REALLY ARE POWERFUL!"
Despite being completely outmatched, Reid found the overwhelming difference between them hilarious. While their raw strength was somewhat comparable, Reinhard was slightly superior. Yet, it wasn't power that tipped the scales—it was Reinhard's direct, lethal intent. That ruthless focus was what allowed him to overpower Reid and completely dominate the battle.
Reid wasn't upset in the slightest; on the contrary, he felt a deep sense of pride toward the young man who shared his bloodline. Talent truly ran in the family, it seemed.
Reinhard, however, felt nothing upon receiving praise from someone he considered a mere fake of his honorable ancestor. He continued his merciless assault without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the underground chamber was beginning to collapse. The falling debris grew larger by the second, and the tremors grew increasingly violent.
"Reinhard, stop! The whole place is going to cave in!" Julius shouted in desperation, but the red-haired youth offered no reaction, completely absorbed in his battle.
Felix, still in shock from Leandro's death, stared at the uniformed stranger and blinked in confusion. Crusch and Fourier shared a similar reaction upon noticing a knight in a place like this.
"Damn it, I'm not staying here to die!" Seraphina, who had been one of the city's three rulers, knew the way to the nearest exit. She immediately sprinted off to avoid being buried alive.
Seeing her run, the others didn't hesitate to follow. Only two people remained motionless, searching for the warmth and radiance of the light that had once illuminated their dark lives and shown them the path forward.
But that light had been extinguished.
"Rem, Ram, you two have to come, too!" Crusch urged, stopping to bring them to their senses.
"I won't leave," Rem whispered, clutching Leandro's torso with a vacant look in her eyes. "I won't leave him alone... not again..."
Ram knelt beside her sister, looking just as dead on the inside. Both of them shared the same desperate wish to stay right there, guarding the remains of the young man who had sacrificed everything for them.
Crusch felt a sharp pang in her chest. She knew the agony of losing a loved one, and considering that Fourier had been brought back to life, she realized how hypocritical it would sound to persuade the sisters to abandon Leandro—or what was left of him.
As Crusch hesitated, Felix was the one who stepped forward.
"Then take him with you," he said, dropping to his knees. He began gathering the scattered entrails from the ground, fitting them back into Leandro's body like loose puzzle pieces.
Watching this, Crusch felt deeply nauseated. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but it wasn't enough to stop the vomit from surging up her throat.
Rem and Ram felt far more distressed than shocked, their eyes tracking Felix's every movement.
Then, Felix activated his healing magic on Leandro. Of course, it was far too late to revive him, and Felix was well aware of that.
Within seconds, he managed to restore the severed body, piecing it back together into a single whole. Once finished, he stepped back and murmured through a broken voice:
"This is all I can do for him..."
To his surprise, Rem gave a subtle bow.
"Thank you, Master Felix."
Now, the blue-haired girl stood up, hoisting Leandro's body onto her shoulder. With a small weave of her magic, she coated the young man in a thin layer of ice to halt his body's decomposition.
"We have to leave now, or we'll be crushed!" Fourier helped Crusch up as he raised the alarm.
The twins and Felix finally snapped out of it, partially breaking free from their melancholic trance to run after Seraphina. Since she wasn't particularly agile or fast, everyone managed to keep up with her easily.
Even as the city collapsed around them, Reinhard and Reid refused to stop fighting. The current Sword Saint had to pulverize massive boulders falling from above just to keep landing strikes on Reid, who put up impressive resistance despite Reinhard holding nothing back.
In the end, Reid managed to reach Reinhard once with his chopsticks, but all he succeeded in cutting was a single strand of hair. Immediately after doing so, Reid smiled, experiencing a sense of relief and satisfaction he hadn't felt in a very long time.
"I see... So this is my limit."
And then, Reinhard delivered the final blow.
Somewhere in Lugunica, a mountain collapsed in on itself, sinking strangely into the earth as if a massive void lay beneath it.
The violence of the collapse triggered a localized earthquake, sending a cascade of falling rocks down the slopes before settling into a dense cloud of dust across the region.
Minutes later, a group of people emerged from the haze. They walked in silence, their expressions somber and defeated. They were survivors, victors of a war, yet none of them felt victorious.
No one wanted to speak. The only sound was the crunching of the frozen corpse, rustling like shifted snow as it swayed with every step of the blue-haired maid carrying it.
The setting sun bathed the valley in shades of orange and gold as it slowly faded beneath the horizon. Yet, not a single person in the group cared to admire the view.
Finally, someone dared to break the silence.
"Hey."
It was Seraphina. She stopped in her tracks and looked back at the others.
"Take a look at this."
She pointed to the mark of the slave curse, which was still glowing on her skin.
"This thing is still active. It's supposed to break when the master dies."
She glanced at Leandro.
"He doesn't look very alive to me, so... how do you explain this?"
Everyone gasped in shock. Felix was the first to react.
"That's impossible! For that to be true, his soul would still have to remain in this world... but if it's not in his body..."
Rem finished the question for him.
"Where is it?"
The revelation chilled the air around the survivors, filling them with unease—and, to a lesser extent, a flicker of hope.
Doubt was immediately replaced by newfound drive.
"We have to find him."
Reinhard spoke up, tightening his fists with newfound resolve.
Felix nodded, feeling far more responsible for the day's tragedy than anyone else.
"..."
Julius wanted to join his friends' cause, but after being abandoned by his spirits, he wasn't sure if he had the means to search for a lost soul.
"Then we will return to the mansion."
Ram concluded that Emilia and Beatrice might be able to help in that regard. Of course, they would first have to break the news of Leandro's "death" to them.
Even if they explained that all was not lost, it would still be a devastating blow.
Rem looked at the frozen body and held it just a little tighter against herself, taking care not to crack the icy coating.
"You'll come back to me, won't you? You have to, because I believe in you."
She let out an anxious sigh.
"If you don't return to my side soon, I…"