That night, Niota arrived, bringing absolute ruin in his wake. The battles was merciless. The deafening clash of steel washed over the encampment, carried along by the biting western wind. Heavy siege engines hurled massive boulders at the advancing monsters, and death itself took root in the blood-soaked soil directly beside the blooming spring wildflowers. Kritos had often heard veteran soldiers speak of blood pooling into literal puddles on the battlefield. But now, as his nostrils filled with the foul, suffocating stench of decaying flesh, turning his stomach sour, the catastrophic magnitude of his choices finally crushed down upon him.

Whenever he wasn't stationed up in the watchtower, he was ordered to assist in the triage infirmary. The magical healers simply lacked the mana reserves required to treat the hundreds of mangled soldiers pouring through the flaps. Traditional field medics worked frantically to pack and cauterize violently hemorrhaging wounds—most often severed limbs that magical restoration could no longer save.

Kritos hadn't stepped foot onto the active battlefield, yet by the end of each shift, his clothes were thoroughly soaked in gore. His current duty was to push a wooden cart loaded with amputated limbs and ruined, bloody bandages out to the disposal pits to be incinerated. Afterward, he would have to scrub the surviving linens and hang them to dry.

He sat in absolute silence beside the roaring disposal fire, staring blankly as the discarded flesh slowly blistered and burned away. In the early days of the siege, the horrific sight had brought him to tears. But his tears had completely dried up. How many more men were destined to die because of his sheer arrogance? Every single comrade who fell was another heavy iron chain Kritos would have to drag behind his soul for the rest of his life. He had never wanted to carry chains. Therefore, tonight was the night to execute the desperate gamble he had been formulating. He would speak to Thasos the moment the shift ended.

When his friend finally slumped into their shared tent to catch a few hours of sleep, Kritos intercepted him.

"Thasos! I need to speak with you. Right now..."

"What is it, Kritos?" Thasos wearily followed him outside, allowing himself to be led into a dark, secluded corner of the encampment behind the supply tents. Kritos needed to ensure that no one could see or hear them.

"There is something... something I haven't told you. Something you were never supposed to know. But with all these men dying, I have no other choice. Do you swear upon the gods that what I tell you will never leave this shadow?" Kritos asked, his voice tight.

"I swear it upon the gods, the heavens, and the earth below. I would never betray you, Kritos. What is burdening you, my friend?" Thasos asked, his brow furrowed with genuine concern.

Kritos took a deep, steadying breath and clenched his fists to hide their trembling. "Alright... Do you remember my late uncle?"

"Of course. How could anyone forget old Selis?"

"Him. He possessed something extraordinary. Something that his son would have inherited, had he not died so unexpectedly." Kritos reached deep beneath his blood-stained tunic and pulled out the jagged metal artifact. "Just before he took his final breath, he entrusted this extraordinary burden to me."

Thasos leaned in, squinting in the gloom at the fractured metal disc. "What is so special about a broken trinket?"

"It holds the ultimate power to obliterate the forces currently tearing Aseri apart. Thasos... this is the Star of Ire." The violent tremor in Kritos's voice easily masqueraded as overwhelming awe. Here in the pitch-black shadows, Thasos couldn't possibly detect the hesitation in Kritos's eyes as he began spinning his web of lies.

"The Star? The ancient, mythic legend? What are you saying? Aren't those just bedtime stories we tell the children?" Thasos breathed, though his tone betrayed a sudden, desperate spark of yearning. He was so thoroughly exhausted and demoralized by the endless war that he was ready for a miracle.

"It is real, Thasos. Ever since the metal was pressed into my hand, I have been plagued by vivid visions. I kept my mouth shut because I am already branded as the village fool. But this shard is the absolute key to our salvation."

"Kritos, if this is true, why haven't you taken it directly to the High Mages? They would understand its properties. They would know how to weaponize it..."

"No! The true Guardian of the Star is forbidden from ever revealing their identity to the world. The law was enacted by the gods themselves. I am breaking a sacred covenant just by telling this to you right now, but the duty fell upon a weak man. I cannot accomplish what must be done on my own."

As one carefully constructed lie seamlessly reinforced the next, weaving a fabricated reality for his closest friend, Kritos watched the skepticism melt away from Thasos's exhausted face.

"Tell me what to do, Kritos. Help me understand."

"Do you see where the metal is sheared? The relic's raw power is so stong that no single mortal was ever meant to command it alone. Two distinct pieces; two bonded Guardians. They are designed to unite only in times of ultimate need. But Niota... the Demon somehow tracked down the second Guardian and stole their half. The Star revealed the entire tragedy to me in a dream. And now, the warlord is marching his armies directly toward our lines to claim the final piece..."

The false narrative was flowing effortlessly from his lips now. Deceiving Thasos was becoming frighteningly easy.

Thasos began pacing nervously in the dirt, visibly agitated. "If the Demon manages to fuse both halves..."

"Nothing in this world will be able to stop him," Kritos finished darkly.

"Kritos, we must go to the mages. The gods will surely forgive you for breaking the covenant if you saves thousands of innocent lives...

Kritos let out a dry, humorless scoff. "When have the gods ever truly cared about human lives, Thasos? They care only that their rigid rules are strictly obeyed..."

That bitter, undeniable truth was the exact lever Kritos needed to crack his friend's final mental defenses. Thasos stopped pacing and looked at him in total surrender. "What is your plan, then?"

Finally, my friend... Come with me, and let us rewrite history.

"You are a master of stealth and infiltration... You can slip past the King's elite royal guards without rustling a leaf. I need you to help me infiltrate Niota's command camp so we can steal back the second half of the Star."

When the Demon snapped the medallion in the crypt, he broke his tether and set himself free. But if I can just fuse the two metal halves back together, I will force him back under my absolute control. And the best part of it all? No one will ever discover the atrocities I committed…