As everyone walked away, one man stood incredibly still.
James's heart stopped beating. He grabbed his chest tightly. While everyone around him simply left, something Demi said resonated deep inside James.
Maybe the reality he was fed growing up was a lie.Maybe they were nothing more than useless men sent to war to die.
As he looked at the door and saw the last few people leaving, he took a step, but his leg froze. He couldn't move.
If he was nothing more than a useless man sent to war, then he had to become more than that. He had to force himself to become more than a man.
An Überman.
A man so powerful he was capable of truly making a difference in this world.
And if he was sent back to the academy, there was no possible way he could do that. He needed to reach his full potential while the bar was still high. While the environment was still hot.
So James made the biggest mistake of his entire life.
He went through the opposite door.
And followed behind Demi.
The moment he went through the door, he was grabbed by the neck as Sho seized him and smashed him through the door, right back into the courtyard.
Demi heard the impact and walked over, stopping behind his lieutenant Sho. He stared at James, who didn't leave. His piercing gaze said everything, yet he didn't even respect James enough to say a word.
James came to the simplest conclusion he could.
He had to earn his spot in this organization.
For them to see his talents, he had to fight.
Live or die.
"Dye my wool red."
Crack my skull.
It doesn't matter.
"I will never be sheep."
James whispered.
I'm dropping all my morals. I'm sacrificing my life here. Everything.
He was overcome with emotion.
I'll never lick the boot of men like you.
Demi, who had been walking away, paused."Men like me?"
As the battle continued, it was
Disappointing.
"There are no men like me," Demi muttered. "I am"
Flames erupted around them before he could finish, the air twisting with heat.
Sho blinked, confused.
James steadied himself, throwing his technology to the ground. He slowly raised his hand, pointing to the sky. His voice was steady and cold.
"There will always be men like you."
James stood beside the brown door, speaking to himself, his eyes grey and dead.
He had never entered the room.
He had entered the room.
He had never entered the room.
A room?What room. Behind the door was nothing.
An empty room.
rom.
ROom?
Whom?
The guards watched, guarding the brown door, not saying a single word.
A fly perched on the eyeball of the guard.
And they stood there. No reaction. No dilation of the pupil.
Nothing.
As fog entered and left the room, a tear ran down James's eye.
Trying his best to break free, his words slurred, "T t there will always"
Cries
"There will always be men like you."