I awoke with a jolt, groaning as I tried to move. My body still ached from the explosion, and with the adrenaline gone, the pain came rushing back—sharp, brutal, and unrelenting.
The ground beneath me was cold, jagged, and decidely uncomfortable.
'Wait... did we fall asleep?' That was absurd right, there was no way he and Noah would be so foolish as to fall asleep outside.
Cracking open my eyes, I hoped not to see the open night sky, with the stars offering their usual quiet solace.
And I didn't.
Neither did I see the bunk above me that would've told me I was in the Unit 7 barracks.
Instead, I was greeted by something far more menacing.
A towering shadow loomed. Two faint yellow eyes glittered in the dark, watching with a terrifying intensity.
The moment our eyes met, my stomach began performing backflips. Those eyes weren't just unfriendly—they were damning, each one pressing down on me like a guillotine.
Thanason moved faster than I could process. His boot connected with my ribs and sent me skidding across the dirt.
Pain exploded through my body. I gasped, trying to push myself up, but everything hurt. Pain and exhaustion made me stagger, my body refusing to get to its feet one more time.
"General—" I croaked through clenched teeth. "Wait..."
"You." His voice was cold, venomous. "I should've known you'd be here. A coward like you should've been dead months ago."
He stepped forward, scanning the area, every motion deliberate.
"How'd you get in? Did you threaten one of my officers?"
The accusation hit harder than the kick. 'Coward? What the hell was he talking about? I just saved his damn life.'
Then it clicked.
He didn't know.
Of course he didn't.
He didn't know I'd saved him. He didn't know what I'd done in these months of war. To him, I was still that Arthur—the disgraced noble who ruined his life.
A man unworthy of forgiveness. Of trust. Of life.
Thanason took another step. His presence was suffocating.
"The fact that you're alive," he growled, voice trembling with restrained fury, "is already a damn blessing. People like you... you're the reason this rebellion exists. People like you exist only to be killed."
Before I could speak, a massive fist smashed into my face. My head snapped sideways. The ground came rushing up.
Then another kick. Steel-tipped. My rib cracked. I coughed violently, tasting blood. No words came. Just pain.
The blows didn't stop.
And suddenly—I was there again.
A lifetime ago, in a cell beneath my own estate. Beaten. Helpless. Lost in a nightmare I barely understood. Still struggling to accept the life I'd been dropped into. Those memories seemed like a lifetime ago.
And yet... here I was again.
'I'm not that person anymore', I snarled inwardly, teeth gritted. With every blow, I repeated the words like a mantra. A shield.
Then, as Thanason raised his leg for another kick—I caught it.
Instinct surged. The training from Reshi burned through my veins. My body moved on its own, twisting into a leg lock.
For one moment, I smiled. The assault paused. I'd done something. I'd fought back. That alone was all the proof I needed. I wasn't the same Arthur as back then.
Then came the weight.
A crushing, overwhelming pressure slammed into me like an avalanche. My vision blurred. Ears rang. I couldn't move. And then the world went black.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanason stood over him, fists clenched, rage simmering beneath the surface.
"Who did he threaten to get in here while my men died fighting?" he muttered, jaw tight.
But... it didn't make sense.
If Arthur had forced his way in, why was he lying on the cold ground? Why wasn't he hiding in a tent? No one was that stupid.
"No matter."
He raised his hand, ready to finish it. To end the pathetic boy who should've died long ago.
But something crashed into his side, staggering as if it had run into a steel wall.
Turning slowly, he saw a second boy—green eyes burning with defiance, blood running down his nose.
"Boy," Thanason said coolly, "you're twenty years too young to even look at me."
With a flick of his hand, he sent Noah sprawling across the dirt.
Noah groaned, but he rose. Bloodied, shaky—but standing. His voice was steady.
"Leave him alone."
Inwardly Noah scrambled, searching for that power again. He needed it now more than ever.
He could feel it, it was there, like a whisper.
But it slipped through his fingers like smoke, impossible to grasp.
[APOSTLE FORM CANNOT BE ACTIVATED. INSUFFICIENT MANA.]
Thanason's voice cut through the silence. "Why protect him?" he asked, more curious than angry. "You're not a noble. You've got nothing to gain from this boy. Whatever he promised—it's a lie. Men died because he was hiding here."
Noah spat on the ground, green eyes blazing. "Threaten? He's a friend, you dumb bastard. And you have no idea what he's done for those men you claim to care about."
Thanason's eyes flickered in surprise. "Friend?" he echoed, as if tasting a foreign word. "Him?"
In a blur, Thanason appeared before Noah.
A flick to the chin—fast and surgical. Noah's eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
Thanason stood over him, expression twisted in a strange mixture of anger, confusion... and doubt.
Too many things didn't add up.
He turned and left the two boys behind.
Two bodies lay in the clearing overlooking the battlefield. Thanason approached silently, stopping beside one that looked exactly like himself—same yellow eyes, same dark hair.
He stretched out a hand.
White light shimmered and peeled away. The illusion fell, revealing a thin, pale man with sharp features and sunken dark eyes.
"Milord," the man said, bowing low.
"How many times, Rathe," Thanason sighed, "must I ask you to call me by name? I'm no noble."
Rathe—the ever-loyal butler—nodded. "I'll try, Milord."
Thanason sighed heavily. He'd have a better chance talking with a brick wall. Then he turned toward the second body.
This one wasn't moving. A MageKnight. Dead. A wound in his chest where the life had left him.
This was the real reason he'd come—to see if Rathe had survived. The assassin was supposed to kill him and vanish.
Instead... the opposite had happened.
Thanason frowned, remembering Raleigh's expression back in the tunnels. He had been shocked, surprised.
"Tell me Rathe," he said, voice low. "What really happened here?"