"Welcome to my execution. Is that even appropriate to say?"
The guards dragged me onto the gallows, the wooden platform creaking under the weight of a thousand hateful eyes. As they looped the coarse hempen rope around my neck, my mind drifted to the legend of the man who fought the Demon Serpent, Sajeki. When the serpent's tail coiled around his throat, he broke his own neck just to escape its grip. For a heartbeat, I considered doing the same.
But then, I saw him. The Black Wolf. He stood at the edge of the crowd, watching me with those primal, haunting eyes. In the next blink, he was gone.
The wolf made me realize one thing: I can only count on myself. The realization didn't bring peace; it brought a white-hot, suffocating rage. I refused to give these bastards the satisfaction of my death.
Taking advantage of the guards' lingering doubt—a seed of uncertainty I had planted in their minds—I summoned the Sword Magic I had kept hidden in my cell. The rope didn't stand a chance. It snapped like a dry twig. Before the five soldiers on the platform could even draw breath, my conjured blades had already pierced their hearts.
I had a choice: Flight or Deception. And though it went against my very nature to stay, I chose to fight. I wanted to prove to this world and its pathetic Gods that Celosia would never be broken, never be controlled.
To the crowd, I must have looked like a demon crawling out of the abyss. My Murderer's Mark had torn open again, blood slicking my chin. My black hair was a tangled mess, and my purple eyes glowed with a predatory hunger. I stood atop the gallows, surrounded by swords summoned from thin air.
I scanned the faces below. Lillio, Cassian, Ellery, and that traitorous bastard Darren. I should have strangled Darren in his sleep months ago. But my body moved faster than my mind. I kicked the severed heads of the platform guards down into the crowd.
"The Disciple of Chaos is worse than the demons!" someone screamed. The masses began to flee in a blind panic. Typical assholes.
Lillio immediately retreated to reorganize his knights, while Cassian just stood there, watching. He was waiting, the arrogant prick, wanting to see what kind of magic I would reveal this time.
Then came the "Brothers-in-Arms." Ellery and Darren charged me together, screaming about Zune's death. They blamed me, even though their own weakness had killed her.
Luckily, Ellery still believed I possessed Cryokinesis and Shadow Blades. Darren, blinded by grief, ran at me without a shred of defense. I didn't hesitate. I manifested a Shadow Blade and drove it through his chest.
"Why... why did you abandon us?" he wheezed, blood foaming at his lips.
"Shut up," I hissed. "You abandoned me. I nearly killed a noble for you, and you couldn't even hold a gate."
Finally, Darren was dead. One less idiot in the world.
Ellery, still limping from our fight three weeks ago, tried to yank me toward him with Telekinesis. But with the crowd gone and no one left to witness the trick, I used Sword Magic to create a blade and shrouded it in Illusion Magic to look like a double of myself. Ellery lunged at the phantom, and the hidden steel severed both his arms before he could even scream.
Lillio and his knights finally swarmed the gallows. I unleashed the Shadow Blades, reaping through the first twenty like a scythe through wheat. The rest tried to climb the wooden structure, but I used Sword Magic to pin them to the beams or shove them into the dirt.
Only Lillio and twelve elite knights made it to the top. I met them with a blast of Cryokinesis, freezing the air until their lungs burned. Lillio was the only one fast enough to dodge. But as I prepared to finish him, a blinding flash of light tore the world apart.
Cassian had drawn the Sword of the God Qelo and leveled the entire gallows with a single strike.
"Why?" Lillio barked at the Hero, picking himself up from the debris.
"I'm going to kill you both," Cassian said, his voice cold and devoid of 'heroism.' "I'll kill Celosia because he humiliated me, and I'll kill you, Lillio, because you dared to interrupt my fight three weeks ago."
Cassian, you bastard, I have feelings too, I thought, almost amused by his insanity.
I hoped they would tear each other apart while I picked off the survivor. No such luck. Both of them turned their blades toward me.
Lillio unleashed a Fire-Sword technique, a roaring inferno, while Cassian combined his Light Magic with the God-Sword's lethal edge. I had to burn through my mana, using Cryokinesis to create a frozen barrier just long enough to retaliate. I lunged, driving a conjured sword into Lillio's arm and catching Cassian in the same leg I had stabbed weeks before.
Cassian lost it. He used Earth Magic, trying to crush me between pillars of stone. I dodged, only to jump straight into Lillio's flaming path. The chaos was absolute. Cassian struck Lillio so hard he was sent flying through a nearby house, then turned back to me with Lightning Magic. I countered with Shadow Blades, slicing through the air and taking his left hand with me.
Lillio, that cowardly rat, threw his sword into my knee from the shadows before using Teleportation Magic to reposition. I tried to crawl away, but Cassian slammed me into the dirt, pinning me down while he traded Fire and Black Lightning strikes with Lillio.
This was my moment. While they were locked in their ultimate struggle, I used Sword Magic to strike them both simultaneously. I distorted their vision with Illusion Magic, making each believe the other was me.
They tore into each other with everything they had left. When the dust settled, I dragged myself over to Lillio and beat him into unconsciousness with my bare hands. Then, I turned to Cassian. I stabbed his legs repeatedly, ensuring he wouldn't be walking anywhere until his "Heroic Regeneration" kicked in hours later.
I was ready to vanish into the shadows when a glint caught my eye. The Sword of Qelo lay in the dirt. I remembered the legends of Qelo: a God of trickery, intelligence, and cowardice—a God who did whatever was necessary to survive.
The sword didn't belong to a "Hero" like Cassian. It was made for me.
I gripped the hilt, felt the dark hum of power, and disappeared into the night.
Until next time. And for once... I'm actually looking forward to it.