Prologue : Sion AstalWhile standing, the girl"s face reddened as she blushed.
Her face showed that she seemed shy and nervous.
"Wh, what is it, suddenly saying something like this..."
After saying that once, she stopped talking.
Her face also became red.
Her expression became somewhat hesitant to speak, almost like crying, she also showed a "wanting to run away" look right now.
Even so, she was determined to do something,
"You, you know, that... I, love you, Sion."
She, said so.
He thought while looking at her.
Looking at her long flaxen hair.
Looking at her transparent white skin which dyed bright red up to her ears, Sion Astal thought.
If it"s now, I guess the time is still not right.
Obtaining a normal happiness, is not possible for me.
If I accept her modest love, in a way, the whole world will become perfect, Sion thought in an instant.
She was very beautiful.
Becoming his comrade upon entering this Roland Empire Royal Military Academy.
She is always cheerful, encouraging everyone, giving childlike smiles.
Surely if I accept her love, I think I will get used to simple happiness.
Even in this rotten country.
"........"
Even if the insane king, whose desire widened the division between n.o.bles, governed this Roland Empire.
Loving a single girl, protecting her, if I were able to smile, that is, in a way, perfect.
What choice do I have, Sion thought for a moment.
What a troublesome thing, what am I afraid of in this world? He thought so in the moment.
But, still.
"........"
Sion kindly smiled, refusing her love gently.
To be in a relationship with a beautiful girl like you, I don"t deserve it.
I"m the king of Roland"s illegitimate son, the other princes had my life targeted. If I go out with you, the danger will fall upon you too. Because of that, we can"t go out currently.
However, I really like you.
Even though you are truly charming.
But currently.
Because now is not the time, I can"t go out with anyone yet.
Refusal phrase like that, he had prepared many of them.
Each time someone showed their affection, he would choose one of them.
Afterwards, the girl showed a tearful face. No matter which girl, they would show a tearful face. Then immediately, as I thought, I don"t suit Sion after all, do I? A smile floated on her tearful face.
"........"
Seeing those girls" smiling face, Sion really hated himself.
The truth is, I actually want to accept that love too.
I"m merely a seventeen year-old boy, there"s no way I"m not happy being confessed to by a girl.
This girl is nice, and beautiful, if we"re together it would be fun, it"s impossible to not desire it.
But, even so.
"........"
He rejected those girls" feelings.
Those girls" feelings which made them muster their courage to confess, he trampled on it.
Until I change, this crazy country.
Until I change, this country which treats people like they are trash.
His mother was discarded like trash, and until he took revenge on those guys who called her a lowlife dog, he couldn"t possibly stop progressing.
But, instead, he promised.
In the future I create, you will be able to smile for sure.
Then, certainly you will also find a better man than me, marry him, have children, live in happiness.
You should live with a smile forever.
If by any chance that partner is, might even be me, that is well, I don"t understand either.
But, because I promised.
Because I promised, to create that kind of world.
That"s why until that day, would you accompany me?
Would you fight together with me?
If you follow me, you will definitely get hurt.
But it"s fine.
I will show you that I would protect you without fail.
So Sion, promised.
Female, male, he asked them to become his comrade, he really promised anybody.
Then, he showed them his dream.
To those who followed him.
The result.
At a little distant place, Sion Astal found a mountain of corpses.
Within those corpses, Sion found the face of the girl who recently said she loved him.
Her face was distorted by fear. Her large eyes which looked like they were asking for help were open, looking at him. Of course, there were no lights in those pupils.
"........"
He thought to at least close her eyes, however, Sion shook his head.
Because the mountain of corpses there were all his comrades, closing all of their eyes was impossible.
He already knew the number of the dead.
One hundred and seventeen people.
All of them, when they were Roland Empire Royal Military Academy"s students, were comrades who entrusted their life to Sion, that life Sion had promised, to supposedly protect without fail.
Yet, what was the result?
What was the result?
And so, he heard a questioning voice in his head. In a condemning-like tone, the questioning voice could be heard.
"........"
However, Sion didn"t say anything.
He just simply stared directly at the mountain of corpses.
n.o.bility could be felt from his silver hair, and strong determination enveloped his golden pupils. He had always hid his dazzling radiance inside of him. No one could help being captivated, by that powerful light.
Being called a terrible lowlife dog, born from a lowly woman, it"s almost unthinkable that he had such a fascinating light.
Inherited the blood of this country"s extremely insane king, it"s almost unthinkable that he had a bright light.
Anyone who were captivated by that light, would be completely like a flies diving into fire, and couldn"t help but show their dreams to him.
Maybe.
Maybe if it"s him, wouldn"t he be able to change this corrupted world?
But now,
"........"
The powerful light that should be hidden inside him froze a little of his sadness, regret, and despair. He doesn"t believe he has enough power to change the world at all, his empty pupils simply gazed at the mountain of corpses.
Fahl"s corpse.
Tyle"s corpse.
Toni"s corpse.
The one who said she love him and had blushed, that girl"s corpse.
The comrades who should"ve shown their dreams to him, their remains.
All of them over there were the fragments of comrades who, until just the other day, went to the same academy, taking tests together in the cla.s.sroom, and laughing like idiots.
All of them, were frightened of war.
When informed that the Roland Empire and Kingdom of Estabul had started a war once again, they shivered in fear.
However at that time, Sion spoke.
To his comrades who were crying, trembling because they might die, Sion said :
"It"s alright. We won"t die in this war."
To his comrades who were shivering in fear, he said so.
"If you follow me, it will be alright. I will arrange so all of my comrades are a.s.signed to one unit. Additionally, the unit we entered will also nearly not get involved in battle at all. We will be dispatched to a remote region. Therefore, don"t worry. You guys will not die in this war."
Hearing that, everyone made a face that looked like they"re seeing a dream. Staring at Sion, making face as if they have seen the dream inside him.
Then after that, Sion spoke.
—Hey? Following me is a good thing, right?
With an awful face, Sion spoke.
—Hey? Following me is a good thing, right?
The result.
"........"
The comrades who came with him and survived, were only three people.
Three people, out of one hundred and twenty.
Ryner, Kiefer, and Sion made up those 3 people.
Sion turned around.
Then he checked the current situation.
The battlefield was over there.
That"s also where the battle was the most intense, the frontline.
No, in fact, this place should be a worthless remote region, and shouldn"t have turned into the frontline. There is no castle, no fortress, no army storehouse, no town or village, asides from being too far to be a base to attack Roland"s center, it is simply a mere spread of plain fields and forest, a place which had nothing of value.
There is truly no military purpose from obtaining this place here among all the other battlefield, this place should be the safest.
However, Estabul"s strongest unit that should be dispatched to the most important battlefield, appeared.
The Kingdom of Estabul"s Mage Knight Battalion.
Carrying a huge scythe, like a grim reaper, with body wrapped in crimson armor, those monsters didn"t capture anyone and continued to slaughter Sion"s comrades in front of his eyes.
At that Sion cried out, Why?
Why did Estabul"s Mage Knight Battalion appear in this remote region?, he exclaimed.
However, the reason was simple.
He was trapped.
By his brothers.
This is because, despite being the son of a lowlife dog and having low social status, he had the filthy blood of the king of this country flowing within him.
That same royal blood also flowed inside them, that"s why it"s unforgivable.
Therefore, die.
Die like trash.
However, unaware of that, Sion spoke like an idiot.
Hey? Following me is a good thing right?
Using the network within the military that he thought he spent a long time to create, he and his comrades, would not be exposed to battle, dispatched to a safe remote region, they completely trusted Sion.
The truth is, that was all a trap.
Inside the network that he thought was perfect, there was a traitor.
Sion was unaware of that.
"....This mess."
Sion muttered softly
After that, he saw the figures of his comrades who survived from inside the jaws of death.
One of them, made a face even emptier than Sion"s.
With messy black bed hair, that tall and lean figure stooped.
Ryner Lute.
He gazed at his feet with dark eyes which were about to cry.
At his feet, an abnormal spectacle had spread. People were shattered, smashed, or disintegrated into sand.
All of them had ma.s.sacred Sion"s comrades, confronted by an overwhelming power, Estabul"s Mage Knight Battalion"s corpses—were beyond recognition.
The one who did this was Ryner.
No, something inside Ryner"s eyes did it.
Sion stared at Ryner. Afterwards, at the center of his blank, dark eyes which were about to cry, a bright red pentacle emerged.
It was called «Alpha Stigma», a cursed legacy.
That cursed eyes went berserk just now.
And then, the Mage Knight Battalion were annihilated in an instant. Rampaging around like crazy, he was even about to kill his comrades, Sion and Kiefer.
"....Again."
He said no more than that. With a regretful and almost crying voice, he murmured.
At that, Sion looked away from Ryner.
And looked at the other person.
About to fall on her backside to the ground, the figure of one girl who fell silent.
Kiefer Knolles.
With her short-cut red hair and also her red eyes that always look determined. But now, from that eyes of her, tears were flowing.
Tormented by the Mage Knight Battalion, watching the rampaging Ryner nearly killed her, her whole body was covered in wounds.
However, what tormented her now was not the pain of those wounds.
The reason why she was crying was because all of her comrades died.
Furthermore, they died because of her betrayal.
Kiefer was Estabul"s spy. On her mission, she informed the Mage Knights that Sion and his comrades were here, and they were attacked as a result.
By selling intelligence to Estabul, Kiefer betrayed Sion, Ryner, and her comrades.
However, why did she do something like that?
For the Estabul"s Mage Knights, something like the life of the king"s illegitimate son was not significant at all. This remote region was not worthy to obtain at all either.
So why did the Estabul"s Mage Knights attack this location with the intel from Kiefer?
That reason is simple if you think about it a little.
Kiefer also betrayed her homeland, Estabul.
Probably, Roland"s n.o.bles and Sion"s brothers held her weakness, so to kill Sion, and annihilate Estabul"s Mage Knight Battalion, she had received both missions.
Thus, h.e.l.l had been waiting.
Kiefer"s betrayal, resulted the death of her comrades, moreover Ryner also went berserk, and the Mage Knight Battalion also perished.
And now, in her surroundings, only corpses remained.
Corpse to her right.
Corpse to her left.
Corpse, corpse, corpse, corpse, corpse.
And then, the one who failed to prevent this h.e.l.l,
"...is me"
Sion, said that.
I was in the position to prevent all of this. No, I had the duty to prevent it. Because I promised. To everyone. Because I said if you follow me it would be alright. I will protect you without fail. I will change the world.
"........"
It"s a terrible joke. A weak guy like me, how can I change the world?
Whose sadness did I stop?
Sion spoke.
Toward the crying Kiefer.
Toward Ryner who kept blaming himself.
I said it wasn"t necessary. Since the one who should take blame, all of it, is me.
Sion said.
"Becoming your comrade is my fault too. Tyle, Toni, Fahl....the death of my comrades is my fault as well. The war that happened is also....I"m not the king now...."
In the middle of h.e.l.l, Sion said so.
However, those words were not transmitted to the other two. Each of them kept blaming themselves.
The three who survived were all feeling guilty.
I"m the worst.
Sion thought so.
I have brought my comrades to the worst place, Sion blamed himself.
A loud earth-shaking sound originated from afar.
In the direction of that sound, Sion turned his head. Far beyond the prairie. At a place still barely visible from a distance, raising a cloud of sand, a marching large army could be seen coming.
The large army had the national flag of Roland Empire set up.
Nonchalantly appearing in Roland"s remote region, it was the large army whose purpose was to obliterate Estabul"s Mage Knight Battalion who were deceived by Kiefer.
Army.
Group of soldiers.
A group organized only to kill people.
Seeing that, Ryner said.
"Worthless."
He muttered in small voice.
At that, Sion,
"........"
As expected, he didn"t say anything, however, his thoughts were the same as Ryner"s.
Worthless.
Too worthless.
Everything is worthless.
Now, the unfolding scene in front of their eyes, was nothing but worthless things enough to make them disgusted.
War, desire, betrayal, despair, death.
Even though anyone understood nothing will be born from such things, I keep walking, only to lose. I just lost what is important to me, everyone would understand if I just cry and shout.
Nevertheless, the world won"t stop.
If someone does not stop it, the world would continue rotating like this, with desire, betrayal, and despair as its gears.
Worthless, that murmur escaped from him.
Losing what is important to me is frightening, that words escaped from him.
"........"
And my future too, will full of losing.
Sion stretched out his spine.
At his back, he was burdened with the mountain of corpses of his comrades, even so Sion stretched out his spine with a *pin*.
"...And yet, I..."
Approaching the large army.
An army released by Roland. Are they enemies or allies? He didn"t know that. Are they a subordinate of Sion"s brothers who want to kill him? Or, a partner who can discover a little chance of winning? He didn"t know that.
But even so, it couldn"t afford to break his heart.
Because, he had promised.
If you follow me, consequently I will show that I would protect you without fail.
If you follow me, consequently I will show you a new world.
One promise...is broken already.
But, I won"t allow both promise to be broken,
That"s why he straightened himself. His sharp golden eyes stared at the large army. Furthermore earlier, he antic.i.p.ated the future. Inside of Sion at that time, the light returned once again.
No one could help being captivated, by that powerful light.
Enough to change the world, was that powerful light.
Then, Sion spoke.
Burdened by the death of his comrades as it was,
"....Even so, I will keep moving forward."
Thus, Sion Astal"s real struggle had begun.