The battlefield was quiet at last, a silence that felt heavier than the screams that had filled it moments ago. Blood soaked the earth of what would forever be known as the Grand Alexandros Wargrounds. Amid the corpses and shattered banners stood a lone man, his pale skin almost ghostly under the ashen sky. He swayed on his feet, his body broken, but his eyes burned with pride.
"Finally…we've won," he murmured, voice hoarse with exhaustion. "Father…are you proud of me?"
He closed his eyes, imagining the distant halls of home. For once, the youngest of the Alexandros family, Saron, had achieved something. Something that might finally erase the stain of his incompetence. In the war for succession among the ten children of Heitr Alexandros, the feared "Domain Observer", Saron had been the expendable piece sent to die. Yet he had delivered them victory.
He allowed himself a small, bitter smile "I'll see Mother and Father...I'll go home."
But fate had other plans.
A sudden, suffocating bloodlust pricked at the edges of his senses, a predator's gaze, close and sharp. He turned too late.
Steel erupted from his chest.
Saron's body convulsed as a blade slid free. He staggered forward, his blood spilling across the dirt he'd fought to claim.
Behind him, a voice sneered. "Young master Roland says to live a better life out of his way in your next life."
Saron's eyes widened. "…Roland? Unbelievable…but, he was kind to me. Even when everyone else called me incompetent." His teeth clenched, anger and confusion twisting his expression. "He betrayed me…?"
His vision blurred, but deep within his dying body, something stirred, a flicker, then a surge.
[ NOTICE: THE USER HAS AWAKENED. ]
[ NOTICE: DAMAGE CRITICAL. REVERSING INJURY. ]
Saron's head jerked up. "What…what is this voice?"
[ ERROR. ]
His thoughts raced. "If only I could go back in time…redo this…"
[ RETRYING… ERROR. ]
"Enough… be quiet. I just want to die in peace," Saron rasped, collapsing to his knees as darkness closed in.
[ … ]
[ THE USER HAS DIED. REVERSING TIME. ]