"L... Lucas... Why does it have to be this way?" I whisper.

With not enough vigor remaining to hold my head up, my gaze descends upon the merciless sword embedded in my chest, a cruel reminder of the betrayal that has brought me to this bleak moment. Crimson blood flows from the wound, cascading down my body, forming a macabre pool upon the cold, unforgiving ground below me.

Lucas with his hand tilts my head up, meeting my eyes with an impassive expression. But, his stoic countenance reveals itself as a facade as he lets a solitary tear form and trail down his cheek, betraying the uncaring look of his eyes.

"I apologize, Axel," he murmurs, his voice bereft of its usual playfulness. "We were left with no other option... If... if only those fiends hadn't planted that damned demonic seed in your soul, all of this could have been avoided."

As my strength ebbs away, I become a mere marionette, being only kept standing due to Lucas's sword logged in my chest. I want to reply, but it would cost me the rest of my mana and rip away any chance I have of surviving.

In one fluid motion, Lucas withdraws the sword, catches my falling form in his arms, and gently lowers me onto the dirt, still moist from the immense rain that had fallen hours prior. A chill wind blows over me as if nature itself is mourning my doomed fate. A fate I've done nothing to deserve.

On the outside, I don't even have the strength to change my facial expression, but on the inside, I rage.

Why did those two do it?! Why did they have to do this to me?! If you know you screwed up, then screw up alone! Why drag me down with you?! Was there really no turning back?! Why couldn't you two monsters just die once you knew you messed up?!

From the corner of my failing vision, I notice the presence of a man-a one-armed man I know very well. The wickedness he exudes is palpable, the twisted sickle he holds reflecting his twisted nature. A dark miasma radiates from every pore of his body-a dark, disgusting purple that fits him all too well.

Bastard.

"To witness the hero of humanity condemned as a monster... all because of my mistake..." The third man's voice fills the air, each syllable he speaks resonating with the weight of his malevolence. The man who just had to take me down with him. "...It's truly interesting." He begins to laugh while staring straight down at the ground.

BASTARD.

Inside, I have an unquenchable desire to kill him, to unleash upon him the condemnation he so rightly deserves. Yet, my vocal cords betray me, refusing to yield even a single sound. My lungs have collapsed, my breath fading. The only thing keeping me alive is the minuscule amount of mana I force to pump my blood, allowing me to desperately cling to life.

I want to, I need to scream at him, to tell him how much he deserves to die. If I were granted the power, I would tear his throat out, murder him ruthlessly...

Screw it.

"I... will... kill you," I mutter weakly, using the remnants of my waning mana to help project my voice. I succumb to my hatred and throw my chance at life away just to curse at this wretched man one last time. A curse that is as weightless as air. A curse which has no hope of ever coming to fruition, a promise of something impossible... yet, it's a curse I throw at him at the cost of my life nonetheless.

The bastard's laughter abruptly ceases, giving way to an eerie silence. He lifts his gaze, locking eyes with me and showing me a tear-streaked face. Tears that make no sense. Tears that should be reserved for the tormented, not the tormentor. Yet, they adorn his face, the man whose refusal to accept reality and desperate clinging onto a meaningless vow has tormented the entirety of humanity.

I should've let him end his own pitiful existence. If only I didn't let him teach me that saving someone could create a memory that outweighed being saved. If only I'd never saved him. If only I'd never saved him. If only, I'd never saved him...

As my consciousness ebbs away, his voice resounds throughout the air, the voice of my closest comrade turned formidable enemy reaching me one last time. "I wish... I wish it were possible... my savior," his soft spoken words carry an unknowable sorrow that betrays every action he has taken to get us to this point.

From the cold ground, I watch the two remaining men stand before each other, their gazes now fixed on each other as if I was never there in the first place.

I want to cling to life, even for a second longer, but my vision fades until I can see nothing but memories. The image of that psychopath crying seared into my mind. But now...

At least now I can forget. No more need for saviors. No more need to save... I can finally forget.

Following my vision, the rest of my senses fade. After all my senses are gone, It feels like I am floating in nothingness, an endless void. I can't hear, see, feel, or taste anything-I can only think and remember. Thoughts of what went wrong. Thoughts of what went right. Lost in my thoughts, time becomes an enigma. it's impossible to tell how much time has passed. A minute has become an hour and an hour becomes a minute. I just drift, endlessly waiting.

Eventually, time as a concept no longer makes sense to me. I have no body, no feeling. I am nothing but a collection of endless thoughts.

At some point, I run out of good thoughts and surrender to the emptiness that engulfs me. No longer reminiscing on what once was, I do nothing but question... why? Why? Why? Why? Why, WHY?! Why do people betray?! Why must I suffer?! Why can't I forget?! Why am I now in the afterlife?! Why can't this all be a dream?! Why will nobody answer my questions?! Something has to be listening to my mind, right?! So answer me goddamnit?! WHY?! Why did my consciousness have to remain?! If you're going to take everything from me, take everything! Don't leave me with memories! I'm dead so let me rest! Please, just let me forget.

This is all so unfair. Everything is unfair. Why did the gods bestow hope and power upon us, only to abandon us in our greatest time of need?... Why... Why did those damn deities allow us to die so helplessly? Why... are we not what's keeping them alive? Is that not what he said?

...Fuck

This is all bullshit.

If... if only I could change it all. Stop them from ever finding that damned book, stop them from creating that damned cult, stop them from infecting me... damn it. Damn it all. If only those two never existed then Ruby, Ryon, Shen Xiao, Bamber, Olivia, Conor, Scarlett, Jarlock, Cali, Julia, Tevon, Valentino, Aldin ...Leora... and so, so many more wouldn't have had to die.

Just...

Someone, something! Please fucking tell me-

"Why?!" I shout. Something I'd forgotten I know how to do. I feel my rhythmic heartbeat. The sound echoing in my head. Over and over the thumping steadily increases.

Before I can even begin to process the sudden return of my hearing, an onslaught of blinding light fractures the void, assaulting my eyes with its brilliance.

I reel back and cover my eyes with hands that seem to spawn from nowhere. When I finally adjust to the light and open my eyes, I instantly recognize the arm I hold up to block the light. It's my own. Furthermore, I know exactly where I am. How could I forget this place? It's where this damn shitfest started.

"Huh?" I can't help but express my confusion aloud.

Looking around, I truly am back when we were first summoned to the trials. There is no mistaking it, with my perfect memory there is no way I am wrong. I take a long inhale then a slow exhale to gather my bearings...

"Ha," I start to laugh, "heh-hehehe-ahahahahaha. I see." It seems that my earnest desire to redo everything has prompted this dream, a false reality created by my perfect memory. Just another damned vision forced onto me by tainted memories...

I clutch at the dirt, take a clump of soil in my hand, and smush it together letting the grains separate and float helplessly back to the ground.

But still... even if this is just a fabricated reality, all in my mind, I can do it all over again. I can do what I want to do. I can set things right. While this reality is just an illusion, doing things my way, and creating the future I want-I can maybe settle my heart and finally rest in peace.

But one thing is for sure, even if fake, I can finally kill you like I promised! Yes! I can end you before you even learn of that wretched book! I can save everyone. I can save... you...

First, I need to formulate a plan of operations, but, no matter how much I try, no intricate thoughts can seep into my mind. I can only think of finding them and convincing everyone to stay here for a little while. Though, those are the only two thoughts I need in my mind after all. I want to cry, I want to rage... but now is not the time. I need to find them. I don't even know what I'll do once I find them, but I must find them. After that, I'll create an actual, well-thought-out plan. They deserve to die, but there's a time and place for everything.

Blue lights begin to rain down from the sky, and after each light clears, a new person appears. I search desperately, waiting for one of the targets of all my suffering to appear. I try to ignore the panicked faces of the freshly summoned, but some faces I catch remind me of their gruesome deaths I once witnessed. I push past these terrible memories and continue to search desperately. One after another, more and more blue lights shoot down from the sky, revealing new arrivals. Then, I spot one of the heinous bastards.

"There you are, you son of a..."

Interference in memory detected. Skill <Perfect Memory> activated.

A dazzling blue screen interrupts my thoughts. This blue screen is one that all chosen ones know, but it is a distant memory from the time before the gods abandoned humanity. No, it is more accurate to say, a time before the gods began to weaken and fade. In truth, the screens

are just mere guidelines, the powers are our own. So, even if they didn't disappear they became useless. We didn't need them after we understood mana and what we were to do-However, in this moment of time, these windows are everyone's lifeline because they help us understand a power we know nothing about and what is being willed of us.

But... What is happening? What does it mean? Interference in memory? I have never seen this before.

Skill <Perfect Memory> fails to activate, overridden by the affliction <Memory Suppression>.

Huh? Wait. No. This isn't fair. Stop!

Why?!

This is a fake reality?! Why is my own mind against me?!

No... no it can't be!

Don't tell me! This is all real?!

STOP!

I wanted to forget everything before! But, not now! Now that I can do something good with my memory! Screw you, you damned false gods! Having my memories would only benefit you! So why rip them from me?! You damned beings make no sense! Just let me become the savior you want me to be so badly!

Tears begin to stroll down my face as I desperately drop to my knees and beg, "Please, just one of you gods, goddesses, demons, or whatever, have pity on me! Don't let this tragedy happen again... why condemn me to this fate!"

It feels as if a screwdriver is being run through my skull. I want to double over in pain but I need to act now. I must not forget. If it so happens it is my fate to forget and walk the same bloodied path again, I refuse it! I will refuse it by any means necessary!

I jam my finger into the grass but I can sense I don't have enough time to carve out the message I need to relay. Panicking, I pick up a nearby sharp rock and jam it into my arm. The pain is negligible compared to the future to come if I fail to relay this message. Shakily, I begin my engraving, but I barely manage a crude message before another window pops up, clouding my vision.

Skill <Perfect Memory> helps retain some memories. To cure the affliction <Memory Suppression>, find memory fragments.

[Fragments recovered: 0/10]

No! Please! Just another second!

NOOOOOO! Noooooo... no?

Where the hell am I?