[Began Memory Transfer]
I was a failure.
In the Degurathon family, I was a child born of a mistress.
My father, one of the persons with high status in the Degurathon lineage, was confident in my potential. As he too was a magical swordsman able to wield many elements at once, that expectation was naturally forced upon me as well.
At first, I was confident and I dreamt of becoming a Knight so great that I would be sung about in songs.
The only difference was that my abilities turned out to be far below what he could have imagined. I was only able to wield wind and fire.
"You are a disappointment, Cobalt Il Degurathon. I don't ever want to see your face in this house again..."
That was our last interaction. I began my work as a mercenary for god knows how many years.
I collected and delivered elven drugs. Substances that would make yourself feel good, forgetting the realities of war in our conjoined worlds.
I extorted businesses to pay protection money.
I stole from elven nobles and sold it to other races to avoid getting traced.
The people with power took everything from people who are powerless — that's how I viewed the world. An endless cycle of power clashing with power.
Which made me surprised when I got a letter from my extended family, delivered by Puck the fairy of King Oberon. The jester really freaks me out; he talks like a psychopath. But perhaps it's just his way of acting.
The letter told me to enroll in Vanguard Academy, where I would be granted amnesty for my crimes by the fairy king himself. In exchange for one small rule: "Follow the orders of Celathis."
Following orders was something I did every day just to fend for myself. To me this was an opportunity to release myself from a life of crime into a much safer environment. So it wasn't exactly that hard.
I went to Vanguard Academy and enrolled as a normal student, learning magic from the basics once more with esteemed professors. Theory really helped me in progressing rather than just pure practical knowledge, since the fundamental of magic is tied closely to imagination and perception. How one analyzes, how one visualizes, and how one perceives something plays an important part in manifesting said magic.
Celathis asked me to report about my days in the academy as she was preparing to search for High Human Artifacts. She was also one of the few people who actually cared about how I was doing. She was the one who introduced me to Istar, Oryba, and Thierus. We were the chosen first years expected to be the next heroes of the United Front. The Hero Candidates of the first Vanguard Academy student batch.
It wasn't long before I finally met the three anomalies. The Chronic Eater, The Fiend Kaiser, and The Saint. Their titles alone in the first year of studying really showed how capable they were. The Chronic Eater has a magical reservoir that is incomprehensible. The Fiend Kaiser can easily use any spells with exceptional magical energy control. While the Saint is easily the second coming of Grand Saint Veuz.
I wasn't surprised they were regarded as highly as possible.
We shortly became comrades at arms fighting Focalors and Vepar.
But I am still disappointed in myself for threatening them at the time. Even though they were the game changers. I continued my creed to follow orders.
At the time, I never once doubted myself in following her orders. After all, she was my employer and I was but a lowly mercenary. I should just follow orders. No matter how powerful Thalamik is, he is ultimately no match for the higher-ups in Vanguard Academy.
Until The Fiend Kaiser proved me wrong and showed me what true power looks like.
-~
"DID I STUTTER?!" Thalamik's voice exploded, echoing through the ruined estate. The fiends he summoned tensed, ready to lunge.
Thierus, Oryba, Istar, and I dropped our weapons, falling to our knees and trembling. "Please come with us… Celathis wanted to know what happened… She wished for you to—"
"My answer's still no." Thalamik spoke.
Thalamik seized me by the chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
"Now, on the count of ten, you'd better scram, or I'll order my soldiers to gut you all like fish. I answer only to Director ----"
"Ten…" Thalamik's voice was low and deadly.
"GO!" I shouted, scrambling to my feet.
The others followed me as we fled.
-~
I had never once fled in my entire life.
But that person made me flee.
That person possesses power no one else has. The power of determination. His sheer determination exceeds any common logic. Even if the world were to fight against him, they would all fail and bow at his might. That is what makes Thalamik strong. Even when he is not as capable as Carmilla nor as Raymed, he is the weakest yet the strongest, due to having the greatest mentality.
I could not have imagined the horrors of what he had experienced to have that kind of mental power.
Which is what prompted me to find out more about him.
I asked the Director of Humanity.
-No, that can't be right.
-No one has ever been the director of humanity.
-But why is there such a position?
In any case, I found out about him. His distaste for elves, the South Jaka City Incident, and the loss of his mentor. Even through all that pain, he still moved forward, trying his best to achieve what he wanted. I admired his strength.
I began to question my creed of following orders.
Did the people who ordered me around genuinely wish for my wellbeing? Or were they only cordially caring for me in order for me to continuously remain loyal to them?
That was my spark. The first idea that moved my heart to aid him in the battle against Raumstar.
We were told not to join the battle by Celathis. But soon after the stream which exposed the true identity of Demon Lord Envoy Raum, we proceeded anyway through the loophole in the rules of the academy, which allowed students to participate in the event of a Demon Lord Envoy attack.
In that battle I was again beaten to my limit.
Our savior was a healer who by all sense shouldn't compare to our combat strength. Yet her mental strength exceeded all of her own body's limitations, delivering a decisive blow to Demon Lord Raum. She showed me once more the strength of mindset — it was as if a mere way of thinking could truly create miracles.
But at the time, I also finally understood the cost of such power.
"To pursue power and success, sometimes you must even sacrifice your own life in the process."
That person died a hero. She certainly didn't die in vain and will be forever remembered.
Illias Angelina Grace.
It was only after a few more weeks that I made up my mind.
Illias, for me, was the deciding factor. The factor that finally broke me out of my own caged mindset. That finally made me begin to live my life with hope and determination in order to realize my dream — my dream to have true power, which is the strength of heart, and to protect those I cherish.
The one that made me abandon the fear of not following orders. The one thing that inspired me to move forward and defy the rules of this Alterity.
Inside this new reality created by The Sword of Darkness, we were forced to kill each other. Yet I didn't oblige. Along with Istar, Thierus, and Oryba, in the first round we began to search for ways to escape this world. We encountered hidden dungeons made by The Sword of Darkness, hidden villages where the spirits of the previous owners of the sword lived, only to find that there was nothing I could ever do to escape this world.
And yet what we found was.
...
There is no hope.
...
Determination would bring me nowhere.
...
There is no more dreaming.
...
I will die in this world.
Fated to be defeated by the true Swordsman of Darkness.
Thalamik.
...
So, this is my present for you.
I have defied the Sword of Darkness and its wish for despair, committing unforgivable acts that would cause you to lose your morality, or worse your sanity. I have killed god knows how many innocent people in this world, accumulating the fragments of Blastar in order to have the ultimate strength.
This power is enough to drive anyone insane.
That's why, in our battle, I will kill myself and let you inherit the power I have accumulated.
[End of Memory Transfer]
"COBALT!" Thalamik rushed to my aid as he saw what I had done.
Just as the round I was supposed to fight Thalamik and Momoka began, I stabbed Ritos from behind before decapitating him. Only then did I thrust my own sword straight through my heart, destroying it in the process. Though the fragment of Blastar sensed my determination and proceeded to keep me alive, buying me just enough time. I transferred my memories to him.
Tears began flowing from his eyes as he witnessed my narration.
"I entrust to you my hope and dreams. Forever resting in your determination," I said with blood slowly flowing from my mouth.
My mouth could manage no more words.
I was slowly dissipating into dust.
I could still see Thalamik's crying face.
From the start, he was the one chosen to inherit Blastar. Yet he was unfit, so Blastar tried to make him fit — by giving him despair slowly, hoping to change him to his liking.
Yet I defied.
It is all up to him now. Only he can decide whether to succumb to the darkness or to tame it.
***
Thalamik watched the remains of Cobalt fly with the wind.
The three months he had spent anticipating the fight suddenly met with an unexpected end. Memories flowed into his mind of the struggles Cobalt had faced. He had searched to the corners of this world to find another way, to find hope, and had failed. Yet Thalamik himself had done nothing but wallow in his own self-pity and disappointment.
Let down.
That's how he felt.
He was a letdown to everyone.
If only he had remained determined. If only he had not given up hope.
Thalamik's knees fell to the ground as he began sobbing.
"Why am I so useless?"
"Why am I so USELESS!"
"AAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!!" Thalamik cried as he punched the floor of the colosseum ring. Looking to the sky he shouted once more, "PLEASE ANYONE KILL ME RIGHT NOW! I WANT TO DIE." He begged, before putting his hands onto his head.
"How can someone this incompetent who didn't even try to do anything be given a chance like this? A chance to continue living on and on, while those who deserve it die sacrificing themselves for me?"
Momoka slowly walked toward Thalamik, who was in distress.
Thalamik headbutted the floor repeatedly as cracks appeared beneath him.
"Master..." Momoka called to him.
"Don't look at me. Don't look at this failure of a human."
[Cobalt and Ritos — Died. Congratulations, Thalamik and Momoka!]
Momoka looked at the notification with a solemn expression. She knelt beside him and placed her hand on his head. "Be like that for as long as you need, Master. I will be here for you always." Her voice was almost soothing.
Thalamik slowly began to sob once more, his voice the only sound inside the empty colosseum.
"It's all my fault."
"It's all my fault."
Momoka slowly shed a tear, shaking her head.
The Final Battle of Artifact War was upon them.
[Info! Your next opponent has been revealed.]
[Your next opponent is Isval Il Opache and his mentee Linon. Be sure to prepare yourself as the battle will start in a week.]