"Are the sins of the father the sins of the son!? Isn't it enough that I tried to rectify my father's mistakes!?" Solaan bellowed, saliva sprawling outward.
"Isn't the wealth of the father the wealth of the son!? It became yours, inherited consequences of your ancestors' decisions, no matter how much of it you spend! Just because the world has changed, doesn't mean anything. No matter how much you try to rectify, the past does not erase itself for your comfort!"
Boom!!
Blade and sword collided, bringing both aggressors to a standstill.
The shockwaves from their collision razed through the ground and flattened the earth. It shattered mountains dozens of kilometers away before splitting the sea.
It was as if the world could barely contain their fury.
Solaan's black hair danced wildly, whipping the air as veins bulged around his temple.
"After all these years—decades of brotherhood-you—you-you carried such hatred in silence, Gillard!?"
Pulling his blade back, Solaan slashed down, and it was as if the world was behind his strike.
Boom!
Gillard was thrown back, taking a huge chunk of the earth away with his retreat. After a few hundred kilometers, he got his footing and slashed his sword furiously at his front.
Silence.
There was no one, and nothing before Gillard, however, the unmistakable sound of metals clashing rang out.
The clash.
The sound—
Had all arrived before the person.
Twisting his sword to the side, Gillard redirected the force behind Solaan's strike to the sky. The once pregnant clouds burst apart, sending rivers of rain down the edge of the sky.
He then twisted his waist slightly and dodged the sharp slash at his face.
A fist full of blonde hair fell from his head.
"Isn't my hatred justified!? Was I not a victim of your clan's barbarism?!"
Gillard's eyes shone with an eerie green light, one that came with wails, as though thousands of souls were trapped within his gaze.
A cold wind blew at Solaan, slowing his moments.
"You call it hatred… I deem it retribution!"
He brought down his sword, going on the offense this time.
Boom!!
Solaan retreated a few steps. His feet left deep gouges on the floor before he steadied himself.
Despite the fury in his gaze, Solaan's heart trembled at Gillard's words.
He was a victim?
Even as his mind reeled, his body moved on instinct—parrying the incoming sword and redirecting its force. He then twisted with precision, slamming the sword down before driving a brutal kick into Gillard's chest.
"Retribution for what?!"
Gillard coughed blood and his face flushed red.
"If you weren't you, I would have left you alone." He cleaned the blood off his lips. "For the years of kindness that you have shown me. For all you have taught me…
"However, you are Solaan Khan… descendant of the mighty Khan. War and death flow through your very essence. If I spare you, the day you decide you want revenge is the day I die."
Conflicted thoughts and mixed emotions filled Solaan's chest.
To him, Gillard was the brother he never had.
They had grown together over the years, covering each other's backs.
Just a few days ago, Gillard convinced him to accompany him into the Unknown Lands, in search of a way beyond the Realm they had cultivated.
It's been a decade since they reached the peak, young as they were, they had climbed their way to the top, together.
After battling ferocious beasts for over 3 days, Solaan was exhausted. He was also affected by the poisons of one of the beasts he fought. It was at this point that Gillard ambushed him.
"Vengeance?" He uttered, unsure if he had ever experienced such a feeling before.
As the first son of a prominent and powerful clan, very few offended him, and even at that, he had never seen his retaliation as vengeance.
Rather, a natural order of things, a superior correcting a subordinate.
For the fact that he possessed martial talents and was able to stand outside his family's shadow on his own, even fewer people dared to offend him.
He was a pioneer of his own techniques. A genius when it came to cultivating. But just like every genius, he lacked something—understanding another's heart.
He could sympathize.
But he could not empathize.
His reality had him so.
Solaan had pushed for Justice since his younger days, and felt like he had achieved a bit down this road.
However, he had failed to understand the heart of his closest friend.
Was it my fault? Did he hide it so deeply… or did I stubbornly refuse to see it?
Though his emotions lay heavily on him, so did his fatigue.
Solaan's eyelids trembled as he found it hard to keep them open. The poison was rampaging in his body.
"Worldbreaker: Sword's Might!"
Gillard positioned his sword to his side, and a terrifying power converged on the edge of his blade.
Seeing this move, Solaan became even angrier. "I taught you this move! Worldbreaker: Blade's Descent!"
Fueled with fury, he raised his blade to the sky and slashed downward. And an equally terrifying power came with the downfall of the blade.
Even from a distance, the opposing energies clashed, and both sides fell into a stalemate, only for a few seconds before Gillard lost.
As though the void couldn't contain the collisions of the clash, it cracked. Opening holes in space.
With Solaan's victory, he paused and touched his neck.
A thin needle, as thin as a strand of hair, was stuck onto the side of his neck. The needle was laced with a poison so potent that his neck turned purple as it began to swell.
His heart squeezed so tightly that he was sure his veins would implode if he moved.
"Anomalous Poison. I had to wait for the right time to use it." Gillard said as he struggled to stand on his feet. Unlike Solaan, he wasn't poisoned.
And yet, he had struggled to get the best of him without resorting to underhanded tactics. That's how monstrous Solaan was.
"You, Solaan Khan, will forever be remembered as a pioneer… as my brother. You have taught me everything you know, and I will forever be grateful for that. I wish to keep our relationship living, but only as memories." Gillard paused, conflicted as though his words didn't match his emotions.
Unable to move from where he was, Solaan raged internally.
Then we shall both become memories.
A bitter thought… but a final truth.
He had spent his life trying to carve a path free from the sins of his bloodline. He had fought to be more than the legacy of a monster. Solaan had believed—perhaps foolishly—that he could rise above it.
With no more care for his well-being, Solaan raised his blade once again.
"The more you move, the faster you die. The Anomalous Poison must have already devoured your Neili."
But he didn't care.
Closing his eyes, a calm air rolled around him.
"Severance…" he uttered hoarsely and the world changed.
The sky turned to night in an instant and then exploded into a sky of stars, scattered like wounds across the heavens.
Each star pulsed, each one a heartbeat of something ancient and vast. A force beyond comprehension.
Gillard's pupils constricted as he staggered to the ground beneath the pressure.
"What is this!? You still had this under your sleeves!?"
He roared in anger, feeling cheated that Solaan hadn't taught him everything he knew.
Even at this point, what he cares about isn't his chances of surviving, but the fact that I didn't teach him everything.
Where did I go wrong?
What a greedy man…
Unable to continue, Solaan's blade dropped unceremoniously to the ground as the last bit of life dwindled out of his eyes…