I never quite knew where the desire to know the history of the world and its eccentricities came from.
Sometimes I caught myself thinking about how it would be when I grew up — but, deep down, I just wanted to be happy. Life wasn't easy for me, but I think it was never easy for many around me; after all, we were all cattle. Maybe the studies about the world and about what it meant, about the heroes, the villains, everything humanity did that was good and bad, were just an escape.
But I saw myself in that world.
Making the same choices. Or trying to understand why something hadn't been done — even being the best way, and, many times, the most obvious of all. It was the kind of thing that served for nothing in real life: a farm boy knowing by heart why a city fell three thousand years ago.
Either way, there was nothing I could do about my pathetic life except live it in an unpretentious and insignificant manner, seeking to make my lineage the last.
Nothing that could truly matter.
Until she appeared.
There was nothing cinematographic about it. No soundtrack, no decisive moment. She was simply there one day, and then she was there every day — and, at some point along the way, the world stopped being something I studied to pass the time and became something I wanted to continue in. She saved me when I didn't know I needed saving.
✦ ✦ ✦
My sister was happy. She always was.
While I got stuck in my own thoughts, trying to understand a world that didn't give a damn about someone from the outskirts, lost in glories that no one around me considered glory at all… she saw happiness in the small things, ignoring the decadence of the world around us while living what really mattered, which was the day-to-day.
In dreams. In love. In the quiet.
She was the person who stabilized me. Who kept me on the right route when I myself no longer saw any route at all. Without her, very probably, I would have left that world a long time ago — and not in a beautiful way.
It was to protect her that I chose to be where I was.
It wasn't a lottery. It wasn't bad luck. It wasn't the finger of destiny pointing at the wrong name. The drawn name was hers — and I took her place before anyone had time to argue with me about it.
"I'm not going to die…"
My eyes saw the two Burmans become unsettled, irritated at my attitude.
But, in that moment, I was protecting much more than Morgana and Livina. Much more than the heroes at my back, or than the kingdom behind the wall. I was fighting to return to the person who always took care of me — the one who showed me a world where I could be different, where my defects could be qualities, and where being as I was wasn't a mistake.
It was the only path.
Many people go to war for glory. Some for vengeance. Some because they don't know how to do anything else. I was on that field, surrounded by creatures that existed before my species learned to write, for an embarrassingly simple reason: I wanted to go home.
"I'm coming back to you, sister. I just need to get rid of some inconveniences."
✦ ✦ ✦
I turned around while applying healing to my own body.
The exit had to be slow. I couldn't demonstrate weakness — not for a single step. I asked the two warriors to cover my back, and not only to defend me: it was to cover my pain. So that neither of those two pairs of eyes on the other side of the field would see how much each step was costing me.
If there's one thing I knew about the animal kingdom, it's this: what most excites carnivorous creatures are wounds and fear.
No lion in the world attacks the youngest and strongest bison of the herd. The meat is the same. The taste is the same. But the difficulty between one and the other is colossal — and some said there existed an ancient rule, passed among generations of predators, that taught the difference between what is prey and what is danger.
They needed to see in me the person who killed Bestaria.
Not the human who could barely breathe without feeling his rib scrape from within.
Each step was an exercise in acting. Shoulders straight when the left shoulder wanted to collapse. Constant rhythm when the leg begged to drag. And the healing working the whole time, erasing the trail of blood before it reached the ground. Never let the predator see where you bleed.
I advanced until I finally reached the gate, which opened.
And, before entering, I still gave them one last look — provoking.
But there was no smile on the other side. Their faces were neutral. And I knew exactly what that neutrality was: incomprehension first. Worry after. And, deep down, very deep down, but undeniably there…
Fear.
Not the fear of dying — creatures of that level probably don't feel that anymore. It was the other kind. The fear of standing before something that fits into none of the categories you spent your entire life learning to recognize.
✦ ✦ ✦
"My Lord… are you ALL RIGHT?!"
Morgana jumped on top of me, nearly dismantling me — while my healing was still working. Fortunately, the gate was already closed.
"I think I've won at least one more day. How is everyone?"
While I spoke with Morgana and Livina, Eris approached. And, beside her, the great Centaur also came — and crouched.
"You are an excellent warrior… Forgive my indiscipline."
The Equine Centaurs were an intelligent race. And of a very strong sense of justice.
She had probably seen the entire fight — and, in the end, that battle brought me far more benefit than I expected. Because, until that morning, I was still only a Lord with a decent kingdom. Now I was, also, someone capable of winning a fight against relevant races of the Oasis.
And that caught me by surprise.
Of course I understood perfectly how much Vo'ruun's status had helped me. Without it, I would hardly have reached those numbers without many years of work and much neglect of my own kingdom.
But victory was victory. So I just smiled.
"Thank you very much… You're also an excellent commander. Eris, thank you for making her available to help us."
Eris gave an awkward smile.
Deep down, she knew she had no experience at all. But I wasn't congratulating her for what she did in the field — but rather for the simple fact that she understood her own limitations and, without any arrogance, delegated to whoever was more capable.
To me, that alone made her better than many human Lords I've known.
Most of them died, by the way. Exactly for not knowing how to do that.
"Very well… I'm going to focus on creating more soldiers. Please, watch the wall. They'll act with caution now — we're probably safe."
✦ ✦ ✦
And it was exactly while I was saying that that Prince descended too fast, kicking up sand.
"My Lord! The two Burmans are advancing!"
My mind locked.
That made no sense. How? Why? I had done everything right. Every word, every slow step, every drop of pain swallowed in front of them. Did they know it was all a bluff? Damn.
My head flew between the possibilities while everyone around grew tense.
"Wait… Are they coming alone?"
"Yes, my Lord."
And that changed everything.
Two Burman Lords walking alone to an enemy's wall wasn't an attack. It was a conversation. But it was impossible for there to be any kind of truce — I was marked, and the Achadrar doesn't negotiate.
They wanted something else. And I needed to find out what.
There was also a risk I couldn't ignore: if I refused to come out, they would have the answer they came to seek for free. The human hides when pressured. And, from there on, every move of theirs would be calculated on top of that truth.
"Open the gates."
"But, my Lord—"
"I'm going with you."
Morgana and Livina were worried. They knew exactly how wrecked I was.
"It's better for me to go alone, girls… Trust me."
I activated the mark again, covering my entire body with the complete armor.
And the reason was twofold: first, because that way I would manage to keep the healing magic working hidden beneath it; second, because the armor would protect me from any sudden attack — and would give me enough time to run back to the range of my towers.
✦ ✦ ✦
And it was while I was trying to convince those two that a creature approached from behind me.
Something large enough to reach my shoulder. I turned around.
"Pegasus…?"
Morgana and Livina looked at her — and understood right away what she wanted.
"My Lord, the two of us accept not accompanying you. But take at least the Cockatrice."
It had been a long time since she did that.
In truth, she was already enormous — and, even so, she remained the same stubborn creature as when she came out of the egg. Sometimes I caught myself surprised by the simple fact that she had spent so long unglued from me.
"Do you know something?"
I ran my hand over her head, which now nearly reached my eyes.
"ARGHHHHH!"
Her scream was shrill. But it wasn't hostile.
And I didn't dismiss that. Pegasus was a Cockatrice — a creature that, in raw power, was second only to dragons within that world. If she felt something I didn't feel, that wasn't stubbornness. It was a warning.
And, looking back now, that was the moment the battle was really decided. Not by what I calculated. By what she smelled.
"Very well… Let's see what those cowards want."
✦ ✦ ✦
I had just come back from a battle. And there I was, going out again.
The gate opened, and I finally managed to see the two Burmans staring at me with rage in their eyes — rage that turned to surprise the instant they saw who was at my side.
The sky was darkening. It seemed night would arrive faster than normal.
And, looking up, I caught myself thinking about what my sister would be doing at that exact moment. I missed her. It's crazy how much longing surpasses any logic: sometimes you go years without seeing someone and feel nothing. Sometimes you can't stand even a few hours.
I only know that, when I go back and she asks if it was worth it, I'm not going to lie.
It wasn't worth a damn thing.
I gripped the shield. And the sword.
"Let's go, Pegasus."
My steps were slow and cadenced.
I didn't want to be caught by surprise by the Burman with the bow. In truth, she had nothing in her hands — but I couldn't trust that this would stay that way long enough.
Fortunately, the advance wasn't interrupted.
Until, a few meters from them, my steps stopped. For two reasons.
The first was simple: that was the maximum radius of my towers' reach. Beyond that point, I would have no protection at all, and those sons of bitches probably knew that.
An invisible line drawn on the ground that I knew by heart — and that, in that moment, I still believed meant something.
But the second reason was much more interesting.
✦ ✦ ✦
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
The great Burman began to clap. First cadenced. Then fast. And then he stopped all at once, as though he had never begun.
"You're a very interesting specimen… Now it makes sense to understand how that fool died. Not just one — two creatures of level S submitted to you."
I said nothing.
Hidden inside that helmet, my face of confusion wasn't on display — what they saw was only a stoic feature of black metal. And, of course, what he said was much more monologue than anything else.
So I preferred to simply ignore it.
Silence is also an answer. And, against someone who is trying to measure you by the way you react, it's the only answer that gives away nothing.
But inside, I registered every word. He knew about Arachne — a Yokai Queen. And now he knew about the Cockatrice standing at my side. Two creatures of level S obeying a human. It was exactly that kind of anomaly that made ancient races lose sleep.
And there was something more in that compliment, hidden beneath the venom: they didn't know about the dragon.
If they knew, they wouldn't be worried about Yokais and Cockatrices — they would be worried about something else, completely different.
They didn't even bother to ask. Neither Irepia nor the great Broxes, about why they were talking to me instead of killing me. They executed their own allies without spending a single question on them — and the arrogance that blinded them cost exactly that: what existed beneath my kingdom.
There, the secret remained solely mine.
"Honestly… if you weren't marked, I would have preferred to have you as an ally. Someone with so much potential, and so young. This is really a shame."
I still couldn't understand where he wanted to go with all that senseless nonsense.
Until he began to take something out of his ring.
✦ ✦ ✦
Pegasus, who was standing at my side, advanced right away — placing herself in front of me.
I formed the sword and shield with my mark and steadied myself in a defensive position.
And the item that appeared in his hand was… a small model. Of what seemed to be a kingdom.
But it wasn't specific. The constructions were neutral, generic, with no flag nor mark — houses, towers, and walls that could belong to any territory of the Oasis.
I didn't know what that was. But I felt danger coming off it — and Pegasus did too, because the feathers on her neck rose all at once.
"Do you know what this is…? I don't think so. Honestly, I didn't want to need to use it. But you left my companion with a lot of rage. This item has a very interesting power, you know…"
I observed that model trying to understand what all of that meant.
I was certain of two things: that item was the reason they hadn't attacked along with Broxes and Irepia. And it was, also, the reason they had brought me there — to that exact point of the field.
But I still couldn't assemble the puzzle. I felt all the pieces on the board and couldn't see the design.
Until it came.
It was the model that gave it away. Constructions with no flag, no owner, no identity. An item isn't generic by accident — it's generic because it works on any target.
There was one thing I was counting on to protect me. One thing I considered impossible to undo — as solid as the ground itself. And it was exactly there that I would be punished.
"Pegasus… WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE KINGDOM NOW!"
✦ ✦ ✦
I jumped on top of the enormous Cockatrice without caring whether she would hold me.
And, in truth, more than instinct, it was something I felt she even wanted — because she was already crouching before I arrived.
Looking back, I finally saw it: a sinister smile on the larger Burman's face while he activated the item.
I already had the suspicion. But it was when Zeus spoke to me that I understood everything.
[ A legendary item of temporary control has been activated. ]
[ The target of the item is — Towers. ]
[ They will be disabled for 10 hours. ]
"What kind of shit item is this?!"
It could have been any construction. The Barracks. The Magic Tower alone. The Incubator. The Temple of Heroes.
They chose the towers. They chose the one thing that transformed my territory into a fortress instead of into fenced ground.
Ten hours. That was the number. Ten hours of naked wall, without a single ball of fire falling from the sky, without the Magic Tower feeding the others, without anything beyond stone and the bodies I could put on top of it.
And, on the other side of the field, an entire rested army.
Pegasus turned to the side so fast she nearly threw me off.
I was still trying to understand the reason — until an arrow passed a few centimeters from my head, so close that I heard the air tear beside the helmet.
A second was coming toward my chest. But Pegasus bit it in mid-air, breaking it in half with an absurd speed.
I clung to her plumage while the arrows rained down. She dodged most of them with almost acrobatic movements — and, of those it was impossible to dodge, of those that came exactly in my direction, she broke some with her beak and kicked others with her enormous claws.
Unfortunately, that was too fast for me. In truth, just staying on top of her was already an almost herculean challenge.
But, the same way they began, in a few seconds the arrows finally stopped.
I looked back.
The two were finally acting.
Who would have thought they would be so cunning as to do that — wait for the enemy to be alone at the limit of the towers' radius, disable the defense, and only then shoot and pursue the prey. In the end, it no longer mattered.
Each stride of Pegasus kicked up burned earth and pieces of what, hours before, had been the army of Broxes and Irepia. I crouched against her neck, gluing my body as much as the broken rib allowed, transforming the two of us into a single target — and a smaller target.
Now it was a race of life or death.
"Run… RUN!"
✦ ✦ ✦
They wanted to have killed me right there.
By luck, I understood a second before what was happening. But, now, I had another problem — and that one was much bigger than two arrows at my back.
How would I survive an attack without the towers?
And it was then that the entire horizon moved.
The Burman army — the one that spent the whole day standing still, watching allies die without raising a single weapon — finally advanced.
And, in that instant, everything fit together at once.
The passivity wasn't arrogance. It wasn't contempt. It wasn't cowardice, nor political calculation, nor any of the theories I constructed during the entire day. They never needed the Fairywood, nor the great Orghaal, as a shield of flesh. They never needed to spend a single unit against my towers.
They were only getting rid of enemies while they waited for the opening to end the fight fast and without casualties.
Fortunately for me, they didn't manage to kill me. And, unfortunately for them, the fight now would be as it should have been from the beginning.
Only, on my side, all that remained was wall and flesh.
Those sons of bitches had this planned from the first minute.
And, in the middle of the run, with the wind beating on the helmet and the ground vanishing beneath Pegasus's claws, a single feeling continued burning inside my head.
"Sons of bitches…"