The curtain of battle fell. Alexander, that king of noble lineage, had kindled his might and awakened his cruelty against the brightest star of the ancient age.
Now, let us dim the lights and allow the sun of the past to shine once more in its blinding brilliance.
I ignited the flame within my heart and rose into the sky like a hollow star.
** "We will not allow those tyrants to enslave us any longer — this ends today!" **
Alexander shot forward like a meteor, his fist aimed straight at me. With a slight tilt of my head to the left, it only burned a few hairs of my beard.
I countered with a punch to his stomach, forcing blood and bile from his mouth.
I lifted the fallen Alexander by his hair. "Is this what you threatened me with? Pathetic."
From Alexander's throat burst solar flames that scorched my face and tore my grip apart.
The heat between us surged — atoms around us began to disintegrate. Our next clash was catastrophic.
I forged a blazing spear in my hand and hurled it toward Alexander, but he conjured a massive wall that not only blocked the attack but absorbed it.
The moment the wall faded, the first thing Alexander saw was my hand gripping his head before I smashed him into the ground.
** "Did you see the neighboring lands? They've risen against their rulers — they've claimed their freedom."
"Then let us fight as well — let us be the power of the revolutionaries!" **
Alexander returned, but this time his form had changed — behind his head spun a searing golden halo, and from his back spread radiant white wings. It was the Form of the Sun.
He charged with blinding speed; I barely realized it before a punch shattered one of my ribs… yet I neither fell nor flinched.
A wide smile crept across my face as my nails dug into the flesh of his face. I headbutted him again and again until my own head burst with blood.
"Not bad… but this ancient calamity before you won't fall over a little blood."
Suddenly, Alexander's fingers reached for my face — he dug them deep into my left eye.
"So, Sun Calamity… how does it feel to face the descendant of your killer?"
"My killer?" I staggered back, hand covering what once was my eye — but my mind wouldn't stop racing… what happened back then?
** "The beings below — the land's people — they're weary, exhausted."
"Then this is our chance to begin the invasion."
"Yes… this is our era. The era of the cosmic entities… the Age of Chaos." **
"I'll be serious from now on, Solarin… I can't afford to lose."
"And neither can I. Who among us seeks death, after all?"
Flames of resolve blazed from our eyes; the scent of sulfur filled the air for a few seconds before vanishing as if it had never been.
My body was enveloped in fire, and the ancient black armor covering me turned crimson.
Alexander's resistance grew in response — he formed thousands, even tens of thousands, of enormous meteors from every direction.
At his signal, they all surged toward my left flank. I had no choice but to trigger a massive explosion, the flames of which blinded all sight of me.
Alexander squinted through the inferno to locate my presence — "Where the–"
My hand pierced through his abdomen, tearing through the hardened flesh and rock-like armor that coated his skin.
A brilliant light burst from Alexander's body, his muscles tightening to trap me within him.
"Trying to blow yourself up with me? Pathetic."
I unleashed an explosion through my hand, burning flesh and organs alike before retreating from the blast in time.
**In the Age of Chaos, amidst endless ruin and destruction, two brothers were born — they held within their hands the fate and salvation of humankind.
The first of them was me, Solarin… and the other was my dear brother, Althirion.
Together, we were the key and bridge for the next generation — the path toward an age of peace.**
…But damn it, why am I remembering this now?
I turned my gaze back to Alexander, who had injected his neck with a thick, glowing fluid. His abdomen regenerated instantly — as if it had never been damaged.
"Ughh… even with all these enhancements, I still can't match you. You're a monster."
A dark rift opened above Alexander — his method of receiving supplies all this time. "Thank you, Ronald… you're a good son."
From the rift fell a sword I knew all too well — black as night, forged from the very flames I once wielded.
"Alexander… where did you get that sword?!"
A grin curved Alexander's lips, fire blazing in his eyes.
"Did I not tell you I'm a descendant of Althirion? Of course I'd inherit his blade."
"Liar! My brother would never have killed me!"
"My brother?!"
I extended my hand and drew from the depths of my homeland — an artifact buried with time itself, devoured by the earth but never conquered.
Into my grasp slid a crimson sword — its heat had never faded since I dropped it ten thousand years ago, and none but I could wield it.
"Your red hue hasn't dimmed… nor your tyranny, my old companion."
**Upon the corpse of a cosmic entity of colossal size stood ten beings of overwhelming power.
'From these fangs, I could forge mighty swords… though sadly, only two remain.'
Many debates arose that day — who among them was worthy of those blades. In the end, the brothers Solarin and Althirion were deemed deserving, despite their own protests.
And that night, above Solarin's fire, two black swords of immense strength were forged — indestructible to any heat or blade.
The moment Solarin grasped his, its surface turned red from the infernal heat — a mark that became both his symbol and his seal of power.**
Alexander's eyes wandered across the scorched battlefield — flames that did not dance, but bowed their heads to such a battle.
In short, this land had become a piece of hell… and it would remain so for centuries to come.
Alexander gathered the meteor fragments around his sword, like falling plum petals, and hurled them at me. Thousands of cuts rained upon me each passing second.
I ignored every shard and charged forward — our blades clashed in explosions that shook the heavens.
One collision after another, each ending in a blast that painted the skies in blooming, fiery lotuses.
That breathtaking beauty was enough to annihilate everything that beheld it.
Alexander's roar echoed — as if asserting his very existence among the stars:
"Solarin! I am Alexander, the Embodiment of the Sun, the Strongest of Mankind! Therefore…"
And indeed, the sky itself shimmered with words — titles born from the faith of the people and his own deeds:
「The Merciful Sun」, 「The Embodiment of the Sun」, 「The Strongest Human」.
Those words were but a few among thousands of glowing names, rising with pride and defiance.
The collective faith in Alexander, joined with his noble history, granted him the strength to overcome me.
"…so die with honor, knowing it was I who felled you."
That final clash — whose wind divided both heaven and earth — engulfed me entirely, hurling me toward the edge of the world, amidst fire and ruin.
In that moment, Alexander believed he had won.
After all, who could survive such a cataclysmic collision?
** "Brother… the guardians are all gone. Are we next?"
"Don't be so pessimistic, Solarin. We won't die that easily — not after coming this far. Look ahead… at our dream. The dream that has finally become real."
I gazed toward the blooming colony before us, and our lips began to speak the wishes we saw — one by one, together.
"...A sheltering roof."
"A safe haven, far from the horrors of war."
"Peaceful sleep."
"The laughter and play of children."
"Delicious food, and clean water to drink."
"Exactly, Solarin! These are our dreams — the world we've longed for since childhood. We can't give up now, not after creating it with our own blood."
Althirion reached out his hand toward me — I grasped it and rose to my feet once more.
"You're right." **
From the molten ground and rubble, my body emerged once more.
"You're strong, Alexander… but you're still far from understanding my power."
From my back burst a colossal ring of pure light — and more beneath my feet and around my wrists.
Together, they embodied the true form of the Sun itself.
"If you are the Embodiment of the Sun, Alexander…"
"…then I am the Sun Calamity, Solarin."