Chapter 30: End Of The Line

Upon hearing those words, Katsu’s body shivers once more. However, looking at him, somehow, I can tell that neither “fear” nor “anger” is the right word to describe his emotions right now. Oda Petoro… The late crowned prince of Japan, the would-be next puppet of the angels. If this young man standing next to me is indeed him, then it would mean that the whole rumor of Otsuya killing the prince would just be something staged. Either by Otsuya herself or by the angels as they couldn’t retrieve the prince back. But, if that’s the case… then why are you looking so sad, Katsu?

“… I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the young man finally opens his mouth, but his head does not rise one bit. “Lord Oda Petoro is dead, by the hands of my own mother.”

“Kehehe… You’re still going on with those lies, Your Highness?” The Demon, however, is still not letting go of his victim just yet, as he continues his attempt of twisting the knife into Katsu’s wound. “Just admit it already: Otsuya isn’t your mother, and Otsuya didn’t kill the prince. She took the blame onto herself so that you could live an easy and carefree life, just like the loser you are!”

“… No… it’s not true…” Katsu denies, yet his shoulders continue to shiver, his voice starts to sniffle, while streams of tears can be seen flowing out of his eyes.

“Just admit it, boy. It will make you feel better.” No matter how hard he denies, the Demon opposing him refuses to let him go. “Admit that you’re nothing but a failure who can’t do a single thing in your life!”

Somehow, my body starts to heat up uncontrollably. It’s strange. Just a moment ago, when I first saw Byleth descending down from the sky, I felt afraid. Too afraid to do anything. I knew what I had to do, but my body just wouldn’t move. But now… Now it feels much easier. Yeah, that’s right. I can’t believe I forgot how easy it is to just move. To summon a spear. Coat it in my burning flames. And throw it with all my might.

The spear flies away like a flash of lightning, aiming directly at the annoying horse’s eyeball. If it lands, it will sting. Much more than just a few words of insult, bastard.

However, in the heat of the moment, I’ve forgotten that the Demon in front of me is still not an opponent to be taken lightly, and just with a flap of his wings, he has already reminded me of that fact as he blows away my spear with a simple gust of wind. Retracting his stupid grin, Byleth now grits his teeth in anger:

“I don’t have time to deal with you, Asmodai!”

“Sorry to break it to you, but the stupid dragon is not here right now.” Replacing the spear from before with my flag spear, I answer with a grin of my own. “Too bad, horsey, but your opponent is me.”

“Bold words from someone still wet behind their ears.” The Demon, having regained his composure from the fact the only equal to him is gone for the moment, lets out his infuriating grin again and retaliates. “You’re no match for me, not in a million years.”

“And? Do you think that just because I’m weaker than you that I’m willing to let you stand there and badmouth my friends?”

After hearing my answer, however, the Demon then breaks into uncontrollable hysterical laughter. “Keehhehehehe! I see! I see! This is why you humans are so interesting! ...”

In an instant, Byleth disappears from my sight. Before I could find out where he has gone to, a giant shadow casts over my head, and in the time it takes for me to look up, the giant horse has already unleashed his terrifying winds:

“Now, let me break that will of yours to pieces.”

The gust he creates is enough to blow away an entire building. There’s no chance that I, or anyone else that’s around me, can withstand that matter. All three of us are blown up into the sky, and each falls down in a different place. I get pummeled into the roof of another house nearby like a rock being thrown into a lake. As a sharp pain runs through my nerves, a spurt of blood comes out of my mouth. Ugh… Was that my rib? It’s getting hard to breathe… I think the fall broke my lung or something…

By mustering all of my remaining strength, I manage to stand up on my own again by planting my flag into the ground and having it act as a temporary cane. However, even taking a step hurts like hell now… I don’t think that I can even conjure up another spear anymore, let alone fight properly…

“Hey… stupid dragon… can you hear me?”

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“Yeah, I can.” Letting out a sigh, Asmodai answers. “Sorry that I couldn’t help you in time.”

“You bet… it’s your fault… So… how about… fixing all of this for me?”

“Unfortunately, even if I borrow your body again, we can’t continue on. It’s still better than an average person, but my regenerative ability can’t hold a candle to the likes of Balam or Belial. There is zero chance you can recover enough to be in a decent state in such a short time.”

“So… what do we do now?” Biting my lips to ease the pain in my chest, I ask.

“… Hope for a miracle. That’s all we can do.”

Shit. Just the words I don’t want to hear the most. Miracles… if there’s such a thing called a miracle, then we wouldn’t even be in this situation in the first place. No matter how much we want to cling to the glimmer of hope that is the word “miracle”, it simply does not exist in this world. Reality is a survival of the fittest. I’ve been drilled that lesson into my mind when I was still in the slums. But the peaceful days I’ve spent here made me forget about that. Good… evil… it doesn’t matter. Even if your heart is pure and your intentions are for the better, if you’re weak, you can’t survive. I wanted to be the one to protect the good in others, but it looks like I still have a long way to go. And that way, in the end, seems to be out of reach after all.

The last of my strength finally leaves my body, as I fall down on my back, forcing me to gaze at the ominous black clouds and crackling thunder through the tiny hole I fell through. The fall shakes up my bones and inner organs, causing yet another spurt of blood to form, but at this point, even crying out in pain is too much for me. Unable to even wipe the tears flowing out of my eyes, with what little I have left, I utter:

“Damn it… I can’t even get a clear blue sky for my final moments, huh…”

Suddenly, a voice echoes from outside. The voice is weak, and its owner is still sobbing, but the fact that it still sounds is almost impossible to imagine already:

“Stop… Demon… You won’t hurt my family anymore!”

That last cry sounds like something coming from a fairy tale. A dashing hero jumps in to save the girl in trouble. However, the hero is but a small child, with almost no fighting experience, and the damsel in distress is another boy too afraid to escape his own shadow. I don’t even need to see it to know of the outcome, and it’s something that I wish I could stop hearing altogether.

“Die like the insect you are!” The Demon howls in ecstasy. The boy is not even considered a match. I can already hear the raging wind, the clean slicing sound of it cutting through the boy’s flesh, the drilling sound of the tornadoes piercing through the boy’s body. It’s a tragedy to witness, but I don’t have the strength to turn away, and yet I’m still alive enough to maintain my consciousness. Curse my state of limbo… In the end, I cannot rest easy. Not when my ears are still pummeled with the deafening scream in pain of the young child who was foolishly brave to throw himself into the fray, as well as the cries of terror from the remaining boy, unable to bear his closest remaining family getting brutally murdered in front of him.

“W-What? How… How could this be?” Byleth’s voice sounds again, but this is not what I expected at all. Within his words are emotions of doubt… no, of fear. Something impossible for the victor in this battle. Something is happening outside. I want to see it. Ugh… It still hurts to move… But I have to. Come on, my body. Exert every last ounce of strength left within you… And help me move once more!

“Die! Die! Die! Die!” Byleth’s screeches echo as I desperately cling onto a shard of broken stone and pull myself up. I’m already exhausted beyond the point of summoning any spears or armor left, so even if my hands bleed, I have no choice left. Slowly trudging my way through the debris and making my way outside, I can hear Byleth’s screams getting more fierce… more frantic. As if he’s seeing something that shouldn’t have existed in this world, and yet it still appears in front of him.

As I finally get myself outside of the house, I see it. In the middle of it all stands Byleth. His face is terrified as he desperately gasps for air, but other than that, there is not a single scratch on his body. Beneath his hooves stands a lone boy. His body is covered in slash marks and feathers as if he’s just gone through a barrage of swords and arrows. Blood flows outside of his body like a river, dying the ground in a dark crimson. I can’t see his eyes from where I am, but I know for a fact that he is dead. And yet, his body still stands tall, much taller than what his original height might be, and touching the giant hoof of the fearsome Demon is his tiny fist, refusing to back down even in his final moment.

And that scene is the last thing I see, as my body falls down on the ground once more, and my mind ventures into the deep darkness.

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