Monster and warrior stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Then, they clashed again.
Mathew, the monster, fired his freezing ice beam. Archie easily dodged the attack, then gathered a huge, massive fireball of his own mana and launched it at the creature's back. The ball hit perfectly.
The monster was severely injured and crumpled, unable to stand. Archie wasted no time. He moved in, his mana-enchanted sword slicing down, and cut the monster's head clean off.
Meanwhile, Leaxer finished off the last of the remaining soldiers.
"It's your time now, Marchus," Archie said, his voice cold with fury.
Marchus, desperate from the loss of his monster and his soldiers, shouted furiously, "You will pay now!"
Before the battle could resume, a General and a troop of loyal soldiers arrived. "My Lords!" the General reported. "We cleared the gateway. There are no enemy soldiers left; we killed all the bastards."
"Not all, General," Archie corrected, his eyes fixed on his brother. "One bastard is still alive."
Archie and Leaxer stared down Marchus. Marchus, eyes blazing, threw one last, large fireball toward Archie. This time, Archie cut it down easily. The fire lacked the devastating power of the earlier attacks.
"You lost, fool brother," Leaxer sneered. "Your power is gone. You can't even generate that much energy now."
"How?" Marchus whispered, confusion replacing his rage. "It's not possible! I'm stronger now!"
In an instant, a swirl of thick black mist began to cover Marchus. A chilling voice echoed from the mist, "You lose. You didn't utilize my power. You lost everything—my monster, my soldiers, Marchus."
"No!" Marchus screamed. "You can't do this to me! You promised me you would help me conquer the House of Rehanyard! You're betraying me!"
"No, I'm not forgetting the promise," the mist hissed. "You won't conquer it now, but there will be no Rehanyard for anyone else, either."
The dark mist then violently forced its way into Marchus's mouth and body. His body began to glow, and his mana started increasing at a terrifying speed.
"What's happening, Brother?" Leaxer cried out.
"I don't know, but his mana is rising rapidly!" Archie shouted back.
Marchus let out a cry of pure agony. "Stop it! It starts hurting! Please stop! Someone help!"
The General interrupted, his voice laced with fear. "Young Lords, I think his mana core is overloading. He's becoming like a bomb and will blast himself!"
Archie turned to the General, surprised by the certainty in his voice. "You seem confident in that assessment."
"I've never seen anything like this, my Lord," the General replied, "but I know in my perspective, it is right."
"So, we stop him from destroying himself," Archie determined. "If we can't do that, the whole palace will be lost. His mana is completely out of his control now."
"What will we do?" Leaxer asked desperately.
"First, we need everyone to escape from this area," Archie ordered.
But it was too late. Marchus was already becoming violently unstable. His eyes glowed with raw energy, his muscles began to tear, and unstable energy was visibly leaking from him.
"It's too late, my Lord!" the General shouted fearfully.
"Not yet!" Archie yelled. He launched himself forward.
"Brother!" Leaxer screamed.
Archie moved with impossible speed, using his sword to frantically cut and dissipate the radiating mana field surrounding Marchus. He closed the distance and drove his sword straight into Marchus's chest, but the sheer volume of uncontrolled mana deflected the blade.
Instead, Archie gripped Marchus tightly, wrapping his arms around his exploding brother. He burst through the nearest stone wall of the castle and leaped out.
"BROTHER!" Leaxer's heartbroken cry was lost as a massive blast erupted, leveling everything in the immediate vicinity.
Archie's Point of View
It's over.
My life ended. It was a very short life. I wanted to live, to see the world. I wanted to make friends and do much more. If I had been born normal, I could have done everything.
But it's over.
There was only darkness.
Wait. What's that light? Where did it come from?
It grew closer, and then I saw a woman smiling. A man with yellow hair was saying something I couldn't understand. But my eyes fixed on a boy sitting in a nearby bed. He had blue eyes and a white flower brooch in his hair.
Why are they all staring at me?