For a fleeting moment, Alistair's vision sharpened, revealing the world in vibrant, intricate detail, only to fade away.
Alistair's Equalizer surged, absorbing the raw power from the opposing army, amplifying his strength beyond that of the five hundred men before him.
Alistair raised his sword, a red and black fiery wind blowing on its edges. He ran ahead, quickly ending the lives of each person who stood in front of him.
Under the moonlight, the battlefield was littered with the fallen, a somber testament to the night's conflict.
"Stop! Stop!" Arphus shouted from behind, his face showing hints of fear.
Alistair furrowed his brows, ignoring both the shouts of the soldiers and Arphus himself.
Alistair gripped the handle of his sword tightly and came to a halt. He allowed the silence to linger for a few moments, letting the soldiers reflect on what they had just done.
The soldiers quickly stepped back, forming a circle around Alistair, no longer wanting to fight him.
At the same moment, Alistair felt his Equalizer stoop low once more, shocking him as he was in the middle of battle.
Arphus stepped forward, clearly without his horse. He took off his silver chestplate, throwing it aside.
Following that, he threw his sword to the ground right in front of Alistair and slowly knelt, bending one knee.
Lowering his head, he spoke while stuttering, "I seek forgiveness. Please."
As he spoke, a heavy wind swept across the battlefield, ruffling Alistair's silky blonde hair and making the silence feel even more oppressive.
"I feel empty," the words left Alistair's mouth.
Alistair exhaled deeply. In a swift motion, he summoned his sword and severed Arphus's head. Without another word, he turned and walked away, allowing the soldiers to part and let him through.
Regaining his thoughts, Alistair moved without looking back. He stepped on the disappearing corpses of Sunborne that he'd killed with his own hands.
Frustration simmered within Alistair, a volatile force that had been building since his arrival in Therasia, threatening to consume him.
Eventually, after dozens of minutes, Alistair found a cave in a nearby cliff. He stepped inside and sat down on the cold stone. It was a rather odd cave, but he chose it nonetheless.
Following that, he put both hands on his face.
"Therasia was obviously a failure. I need to go somewhere less populated, perhaps hide my identity."
He rubbed his chin, thinking, "I wonder, who was that boy who saved me? It seemed like he had a Characteristic, but I couldn't read it. I never encountered someone like that before, except for Glory. Even the explosions and the man flying… How odd."
He sighed, obviously disappointed.
"If my insight is correct, there would be at least five of them there, all having a Characteristic. I wish I'd seen them myself to invite them to my faction."
He turned, then lay on his back. "This is far enough from Therasia and other cities. I'll decide where to head after I rest."
Closing his eyes, the moment of his saying he was of Thorne flashed in his head, bringing him into disdain.
Different memories flashed in his head until, eventually, he fell asleep. However, a stone fell from above as the cave shook.
Alistair's eyes widened, but before he could do something, he was already falling down a hole made where he lay.
He summoned his Rune Sword and tried to engrave it into the wall to avoid hitting the end of the hole.
However, the hole only narrowed, causing the sword to fall from his hand and be somehow absorbed by the stone wall.
"No!" Alistair said loudly, raising his palm in a helpless attempt to capture it as he felt a part of himself being taken away from him.
He crossed his arms and let his armor take impact.
Finally, the end of the hole came into sight. Alistair struck the floor hard, leaving a small crater behind.
Thanks to his armor absorbing most of the impact, he was mostly unharmed. The room he fell into was made of intricately designed wood, surprisingly fitting for a palace located so far underground.
As Alistair looked up, he saw a man with short violet hair staring at him curiously. Next to the man was Alistair's Rune Sword.
The violet-haired man munched on an apple and said in a low voice, "Another action that must be resolved."
Alistair straightened his back and quickly approached the man, but as he got closer, he suddenly hit something invisible, causing his nose to bleed.
'Huh? An invisible wall?'
Alistair was momentarily taken aback by the revelation.
The man in front of him sighed and said, "Every action creates an obligation that must be resolved. That's my defining Characteristic."
Alistair had been so focused on his sword that he hadn't realized the man possessed a Characteristic of his own.
He stepped closer, demanding, "Give me my sword back."
The man furrowed his brows and replied, "Did you not just hear me? It's not like I can control this. Let's start normally, shall we? I'm Due. Who are you?"
Alistair took a deep breath, then replied in a low voice, "Alistair Thorne."
"You fell through my ceiling. That's an action. Actions create obligations. What did you intend by coming here?" Due asked.
"I didn't intend anything. I fell here."
Continuing, Due asked persistently, "Unintentional actions still create obligations. Why were you in the cave?"
"I needed shelter."
"From what?" asked Due.
Alistair furrowed his brows, "Give my sword back. I'm not asking anymore."
Due sighed loudly, "No! You ruined it. We have to start again now! How many times do I need to say it? Every action creates an obligation that has to be resolved!"
Alistair's eyes twitched as he stepped closer to the invisible wall, then said, "If you even think of tricking me, I swear on the name of Thorne, I will bring your entire place down."
Due shook his head, "With what? You're not even able to get out of this. And you're thinking about creating a faction? How ridiculous."
Alistair raised his brows, confused. "Why do you know that?"
Due stayed quiet, taking another bite of his apple. "Your actions have consequences. I don't think it's hard to realize."
"Be more specific. I haven't told a soul about this."
Due sighed, "Well, you kind of did. Do you even know what happened after you talked with the Shadow of Former Glory so casually? No! You don't! There's a reason why no one goes to that place!"
Alistair, bewildered, sifted through his memories, searching for any peculiar moment during his journey to Glory that might explain the current predicament.
"My interaction with Glory lasted for less than a few minutes. No one warned me of anything about meeting him."
Due got up from his seat, staring at Alistair's soft green eyes through the invisible wall.
"In those few minutes, you triggered something worse than the Nameless War or the Thirty-Year War. You revived the Shadow of Former Glory, the second most powerful person in the world, bringing him back to his senses."