Chapter 27

Compassion

The battle was halfway over. We've already cleared out half of their forces, and nearly all of our allies were reduced to a small number. The good thing is that our forces were alright, though we were still heavily damaged from their strongest units, mainly Nomah, who cleared out many of Sigurd's men.

Sumia and I faced against off against King Marth; Catria by her side.

"Let us fight her, my prince," she said, "I'll guide our-"

Her pegasus suddenly reacted from an arrow shot. The reaction was an immediate dodge, causing Catria to reassess the situation.

"An archer?"

"No, milady, I'm the archest of archers," Virion had a confident grin while spinning his next arrow. Cordelia flew in front of Virion with her lance ready.

"Virion, provide assistance if necessary," Cordelia said.

"Very well, madame," Virion said as he fired a volley of arrows at Catria

"Catria!" King Marth shouted as he attempted to reach out for her.

I charged in and threw a powerful swing with my sword, but it was ultimately parried by Marth. He threw a powerful elbow to my gut, pushing me backwards. I should remember that King Marth was one of the most talented swordsmen in Akaneian history. But this isn't a fight to determine who would win in a sword fight.

"En garde, outsiders!" Marth entered a fencing stance with his Exalted Falchion.

Sumia charged forward and lunged at King Marth, but had fallen victim to his riposte. He made the spear grind through the blade and he swung to his side, slicing the spear handle. Sumia had a tome on her left hand and used her free hand to fire a bolt of electricity. Marth gracefully took a step to the side and attempted to throw a lunge at Sumia. I got in front of her and used my two Killing Edges to clench his blade.

"You fight with two ordinary swords, outsider," the King said, "But millions of swords cannot best the Falchion!"

He pulled back his sword swiftly and threw an inward slash with his Falchion. I wondered why he did that at first until I realized that the swing positioned him for a drawing technique.

"Wait, is that-?"

Sumia detonated a blue bomb of electricity around Marth before he attempted to perform Aether. I slid toward Marth and threw a powerful skyward kick in conjunction with a Rexcalibur tornado to launch him high up. I used my wind tome to launch myself up high. Marth did a short backflip and anticipated my approach. We both clashed blades, two katanas against a holy sword that slew dark dragons. The holy sword pushed me back a bit, but I hovered around him while swinging at him madly while Sumia also followed with a fusion of swings from her spear and magical blasts from her tome. King Marth managed to dodge almost everything we attacked him with, using graceful spins and parries. Sumia grabbed me as soon as we were getting close to the ground. Marth suddenly found himself falling to the ground alone. Catria managed to save him in time, though the landing was a bit harsh due to wounds sustained in her fight with Cordelia. As soon as Marth got off, Catria and her pegasus were exhausted, unable to battle.

"... Go and defeat them, my prince," she said weakly.

I used Catria as a platform to leap toward Marth. My flame was ignited with fire thanks to my Bolganone tome. Marth saw me and prepared a countering stance.

"Not gonna work!" I did a series of rolling front flips and clashed with his blade. As if time were slow for him, he swiftly slid his sword forward and used the hilt as a hook to pull me backward.

"A flame enhanced attack?" Marth commented.

"No, it's not just that," I said as I got up and spun my sword.

Magic text surrounded Marth and a little spark on Marth's sword suddenly detonated, consuming Marth in an inferno of fire. Marth's years of experiencing pain made him quite study, but not too sturdy against magic. I sheathed my sword and walked over to King Marth's dying body. He was shivering weakly from the result of my explosion.

"I may have lost, but the others will finish this for me," he said weakly.

I crouched down beside him and looked him in the eye. I knew that he was suffering badly from my attack. Even though I cleanly kill people mostly because they want to kill me, my feelings of compassion toward my enemy reemerged. I grabbed King Marth's left hand and clenched it firmly much to the dying man's confusion. A Thoron tome hovered beside me and I put my right hand on his head.

"You've fought honorably, Hero-King," I said, "A world like this is cruel, and times like this, it's hard to show compassion to your enemies as your absorbed in the pride of your army."

"War... it always was ugly, outsider," King Marth replied, "Both belligerents just fought each other and disregarded their opponents lives just because we have different opinions."

"Yeah, even then, I always think about how my enemies feel before I cut them down. Every soldier is taught that war is kill or be killed, but even that simple saying could absorb them and make them discard their humanity."

"That's true *cough* I have been defeated... finish me now. The one who stands victorious is righteous," he said.

"I can't help you recover fully, Marth, but this is the only compassion I have to offer," I replied.

"Very well, I don't think I can recover completely from a staff from that attack of yours," Marth said, "My suffering... must end here."

I slowly closed my eyes and surged the beam of electricity through his head. The hand I held twitched and went limp, indicating that our opponent has died. I grabbed his Falchion. It shone a deep orange energy when he held it, but when I held it, the sword's glow vanished. I was never worthy to wield Falchion in the first place. I dug it on the ground beside Marth's dead body and moved on through the snow.

I was warm underneath my coat, so I took it off briefly and let the winter air cuddle my skin. As much as I dislike sweating, it just shows that you've put great effort in what you just did. Fighting Marth wasn't easy with just swordplay or magic alone. Heck, even Marth was experienced in aerial combat much to my surprise. There was no enemies around, so I grabbed a concoction and took a swig. The smell of it was quite peculiar, but the drink was refreshing and soothed my wounds. After that, I put on my coat again.

"Are you tired, Alec?" Sumia said as she walked beside me with Tana walking alongside her.

"Of course," I said, "Fighting with the Hero-King himself is very challenging."

"...Let me fight for you for now, Alec," she said as she gave me her hand, "I'm still a capable fighter like you or anyone else."

I chuckled and shook my head. I should really stop treating Sumia as a second banana or some sort of assistant. She's my wife for Naga's sake. She doesn't have much strength like the others, but she does have powerful magic potential; more powerful than her friend, Cordelia. I'm sure she'll persevere. I grabbed her hand and she helped me up. I got on Tana and Sumia gave the order to ascend. The smell of the winter air at high altitude is refreshing.

"Alec, I've been wondering, how did we get here?" Sumia asked.

"Nate gave me a supposed fragment from the Outrealm gate and he told me that I used this to gain a power of a king."

"Power of a King? You just defeated a King, didn't you?" Sumia replied, "Where's that power?"

"I don't think it's not from Marth, it's from-"

A pink tornado shredded both Sumia and I. Sumia and I were able to survive the wind attack thanks to Sumia and Tana's high resilience to magic. We looked down and saw a red haired girl holding a special wind tome. Strangely, I found this red haired girl to be beautiful. That red haired woman is Celica, Alm's lover.

Tana hung on for strong and dove toward the sage as fast as she could. Suddenly, an enigma in dark blue garbs stood in front of her and guarded Sumia's lance stab with the Falchion that King Marth used. That green hair...

"No one hurts my lover!" he shouted.

"You're Alm!" I said.

"You've heard of me?" He did a quick draw technique with his other sword using his other hand, but Sumia managed to avoid the sword swing.

"Nice sword technique," I complimented. I noticed a red electric aura surrounding the man, "The tales ring true of you being worthy to wield Falchion."

"I am of Exalted blood, adversary," he commented as he drew his blade; the same blade I somehow found, "I was blessed with the power of Falchion to slay evil like you."

"Evil? You're laying siege upon an army not of your realm," I replied as I got off and drew two swords, "They've been outnumbered and by coincidence, we came to their aid."

"Fight me now! I've not time to waste on you, outsider," he entered a leaping position and suddenly vanished. I looked upward and saw him up high.

"Here, let me help," Sumia said with an Arcwind tome, "Arcwind!"

I used the tornado to leap up high and clash with Alm. We glided through each other, clashing both of our steels before separating. When I passed through him, I did a short front flip before levitating in the air with my feet pointing to the ground. I saw Alm throw one of his two swords up in the air while doing a series of hand signs. I looked at his hovering sword in front of me and soon saw an Alm manifest, grabbing the aerial blade. I looked behind me and saw Alm at the apex of his leap. I turned to my right and crossed my arms with a blade in each hand and swung outward, clashing both of the swords with my killing edges. The Alm behind me disappeared alongside his blade. I looked in front of me and saw Alm with both swords preparing to slice me. I rotated my body and used my right foot to kick his left shoulder. Alm cringed in pain and reeled back his left arm, disappearing from my sight. I saw him at the ground, holding both swords in ready position. His wounds closed from a soothing green light.

"I got your back, love," Celica walked to her lover with Recover staff in hand.

I landed in front of him at a comfortable distance. I was tired after that fight with Marth, and the concoction didn't heal me fully.

"Maribelle? Lissa?" I called out.

I looked around and spotted both of them in the heat of battle. They were too busy fighting and couldn't comply to my orders. In fact, the large force of enemies fighting them would buy Alm enough time to kill me before I get healed.

"Here, Alec," Sumia landed beside me holding two Elixirs. She passed me one and we both swigged it down. Our energy restored and wounds healed, we were ready for battle once more. I should remember I have a loving and caring wife.

"Celica is a challenging opponent," my wife commented, "I think we should double team on someone."

"It's a good idea, but I have an idea."


Alm disappeared into the skies while Celica's hands were surrounded with Pink tornadoes; her tome levitating in front of her. She hovered, either from the wind power of her tome or telekinesis. She charged forward while Alm would provide a cross-up slash, putting us in a bit of a dilemma on who to strike first. Celica was flying toward us with frightening speed, so this technique had to be done quick. Sumia stored her Arcwind tome with a Rexcalibur tome and equipped a Shockstick with her right hand.

Ever since I've started to strengthen my affinity with tomes on the past battles, the current Khan gave me Mjolnir. Flavia kept two ancient tomes that she had received from an old friend from Valm. The tome's front page has the words "Command the Skies and control the power of a fierce Lightning Deity". As soon as Celica was close, I stabbed my sword into the ground and summoned a mighty thunderbolt that absorbed a large amount of space. The large bolt of lightning left a large cloud of smoke, obstructing the two's vision. Celica was in front of me while she tried to charge at us and Tana, using her natural high sense of smell sniffed me out. I looked behind me and saw Tana flying toward me, so I jumped up and Sumia grabbed my hand. She pulled me in and I grabbed her Shockstick, which she tossed into the air before grabbing my hand. She grabbed her tome and prepared to stab Celica with her wind and lightning infused spear.

"No one hurts her!" Alm suddenly guarded her with his blades. Despite the electricity rushing through him, he still stood firm, surprising both of us.

"I'm still not done yet!" Sumia let out a war cry as her spear produced a large tornado that absorbed both of them in the roaring winds.

"Alec, ready your blade!" Sumia commanded Tana to follow the victims in the tornado. I grabbed my sword and threw a powerful lunge as soon as they got closer.

"This is the end," seeing them impaled and still breathing, I used my Mjolnir tome to emit a powerful lightning bolt that threw them far until they hit a really hard wall harshly.

Despite the large amount of magic power I used up, I was still vigilant until-

"Urgh!" a sword bulged out of my stomach and also stabbed Sumia's back, causing her to yelp in pain.

"Would have worked if you knew we were the real ones," Alm was behind me, hovering upside-down, "Celica?"

"Got it!" She said in front of us as she charged both of her hands with her trademark pink wind.

"You're forgetting who you're facing," Alm said, "If you hurt my wife, I'll hurt you tenfold!"

"Alec, I'm sorry," the tornado behind her was about to consume us in overwhelming power. Alm would be smart enough to dodge that move in time. The winds shredded both of us and I saw myself flying through the air and finally landing on the ground painfully. Celica's magic power and the power of that tome was overwhelming.

"I... don't... want to... die," my last words were said in a weak tone. I saw Sumia land beside me, all bloodied and bruised.

"Alec... Will you... still love me?" she was crying and her voice was weak.

I weakly reached my hand toward her and held it as strong as I could.

"... I've always did... remember?" I smiled weakly. If I were to die, I want my friends to know I died without regretting anything I did, "Can you just smile for me... once more?"

She did the same... but she still cried from dying. We were both young, recently married, and had to win a war. I can't stop here... the spirit is willing, but the flesh... the flesh is

"Urk!"

"Alec!"

My rib was impaled by Alm's sword. I tried to breath, but my left lung was heavily damaged. My respiration ended abruptly and I soon found my vision getting blurry. I saw Alm kneel down beside me and put his hands on my eyes. My vision darkened, and the embrace of death cuddled me so gently.


All of a sudden, I woke up from a trance... or some bizarre dream. Sumia just pushed Alm and Celica with a powerful mixture of her Shockstick's edge and her Rexcalibur tornado. I looked behind me and suddenly saw Alm who was about to stab me while hovering upside down. He was clearly surprised from me looking at him. Before he could get out, I grabbed his head and tossed him downward. Tana saw Alm and threw two powerful hoof strikes into his gut, causing the blue armored man to wheeze in pain.

"Alm!" Celica screamed.

"Is that really you, or is that one of your decoys?" I asked, "I'll show you no mercy if I have to prove your tangibility."

I stabbed my swords into his arms and he screamed in pain.

"Stop it!" Celica pleaded.

"I've noticed you needed to do those weird had gestures to do that little sorcery," I said, "I'm guessing you can't escape?"

"Hands off of my lover, beast!" I turned and saw Celica's hands surrounded in pink twisters.

"No, you won't!" Sumia vehemently defended and used her Shockstick to perform the lightning tornado again. Celica screamed in pain as she was blown away, electrified, and sliced by the winds.

"Cel!" Alm cried softly.

"So this is the real you," I commented. I took out my sword on his right hand and pointed it at his neck.

"Can you get up? Can you still use your hands?" I asked, "Celica won't be bothering us, and so will my wife. Fight me with just your swords."

"Huh?"

"Look, for some reason, I survived a dirty trick that you were about to kill me with, but that doesn't mean I won't stoop to your level," I said as I drew my sword, "Now draw your sword and face me."

Alm was confused at first, but he soon nodded and picked up both his signature sword and the powered up Falchion. The Falchion radiated a green glow rather than an orange for some reason.

The blue warrior disappeared and suddenly appeared in front of me. He attempted a stab with Falchion, but I saw it coming, so I dodged it easily. I countered with a sword swing which was dodged easily by Alm. The green haired warrior disappeared again and all of a sudden, I was surrounded by multiple Alms. I switched into dagger grip for my right hand sword and spun my arms in half circles before doing a pose that involves the butts of my blades touching. I quickly opened my eyes and took a mighty step forward; the step being a stomp that pierced through the soil underneath. I swung my blades toward the left while rotating my body to said side. The sound of sharp steel was heard as I saw a single Alm blocking with both swords.

"Grraaagh!" I completed my swing path harshly, causing Alm to be violently pushed backward. His tenacity was admirable; his feet staying firm with a large skid mark in his wake.

"Such power..." he commented, "How did you become so powerful?!"

I eyed him closely, scanning his vital points. His arms... His legs... His heart...

"I didn't come to talk..." I entered in an orthodox stance and used my front foot to step backward.

The sound of a violent gust was heard as Alm approached me quickly. As soon as my foot touched the ground, I did a rolling leap backward. When I landed, I entered a certain stance, but I was secretly moving at a massive speed. Five images of me in various stances were formed. In an instant, I disappeared from sight. Alm put his swords up in defensive formation. I threw an unseen swing at his arm, which he guarded with his blade.

"You're exposed," a swift invisible swing slashed his leg, causing him to stumble.

"Arm!" I quickly sliced through his left arm.

"And now..." Alm suddenly saw five mes from all angles, with one running toward him, while the others hovered in place.

"Lunatic's Blade: Vital Nightmare!" The doppelgangers phased through him and I threw a piercing slash through his back.

I stood in front of him with my back facing against him. I flourished both my swords and sheathed them in their respective scabbards. The sounds of his wounds opening were heard in conjunction with his screams of pain. As soon as I heard him fall, I felt my wounds open up too. It hurt as if I too was slashed on my limbs. I don't get why this is a tax to my imitation, but I still felt searing agony through my whole body.

Lunatic's Blade was a technique I attempted to replicate from Asura. He subdued a man by using a similar super-speed technique that most Swordmasters use. This time, he spotted vital points and struck them with his blade. This would lead to a final execution, though Asura's technique only disabled fighters and this technique was meant for an easy execution, so he only strikes the limbs. I didn't know the taxes of the true technique though.

"Alec!" Sumia screamed in horror.

I could still move, though trying to get up would result in me feeling hellish pain. I was breathing hard; fighting for my life to continue living. I need a healer, immediately, or I'd die from this painful blood loss.

"Help... me," I weakly begged before I blacked out. I feel like I died many times, but this death feels blissful. No... it's tragic. Sumia... my love... our future...


Somewhere

I found myself floating in a blue rift; possibly a bridge between life and death. A card floated in front of me and materialized into the man in the strange garbs. I put my hand on my sword handle, but I found myself unarmed. Alm too was unarmed as well. His face was a face of soft sternness, he didn't want to fight, but I think he wanted to... talk.

"So, you've defeated me," he said with a smile, "If it's a worthy opponent like you, I'm glad to have faced you."

"Thanks..." I said with a raised brow.

"So tell me, Alec, have you heard of me?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Celica reported the names of your army. You're their tactician if I recall correctly. But anywho, would you kindly answer my question?"

I nodded, and he noted this with his own nod.

"I've heard of you."

"Huh? How is it possible that you've heard from your world?"

"You're the Exalt of Valentia, aren't you? Our neighboring country, Valm is actually your continent."

"Valm? So they named it after me after all these years..."

I eyed his blue battle armor, and the green haired swordsman noticed this.

"That's a unique kind of armor you're wearing, Alm," I said, "What class are you?"

"I wear the garbs of the Dread Fighter, worn only by the strongest warriors in my realm. They fight to better themselves and protect the ones they love. Celica always suggested that I take a compassionate approach toward my enemies..."

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

"I don't know! We're in a battlefield, kill or be killed. How do you compassionately stab someone?"

"..."

"Did I make you panic, Alec?" he asked, "I'm sorry, this is just how I feel. So tell me, do you have compassion for your foes?"

The image of Mustafa, the Plegians, and the Valmese flashed in my faces. These were soldiers who died for their cause, but also made their loved ones despair from the loss of family. Thinking about it, the Shepherds and I subdued the Feroxi even when they were trying to hunt for our blood. So, back to the question. Do I show compassion for my enemies? Yes.

"Yes, I do," I replied normally, "Listen, war is such a scary event. People on both sides will experience loss. In hindsight, I just want them to stop, but their mindset tells them otherwise. I can brutally kill a lifeless zombie, but when faced against a human, I think to myself if I'm doing the right thing. I always want to keep them alive after I defeat them in combat, but all I know is that if they're beyond help, I must help their defeat by ending their suffering. I'm sorry, Alm, but this is how I feel."

Alm was silent and surprised. He opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Wow, that's impressive. To be both strong and tender. You must have earned high respect from your army, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I can tell," I replied with a smile.

Alm produced a scroll from his hand out of thin air. He floated toward me and placed it on my hand. I could feel the same power he had through this scroll alone.

"This is a Dread Scroll. You deserve to wear these garbs for besting me in combat. You truly fit the image of a Dread Fighter, Alec."

I felt the overwhelming power of the scroll bond with my limbs. I felt the blood red electricity swim through my veins painlessly, as power was being charged into me. The scroll unrolled itself and surrounded me like a cocoon. The text filled with alien writing surged out the same electricity that flew through me. I felt my magical power being modified by the garbs, and I started to show change.

My coat changed into a long black and green scarf that spanned far. My under armor had changed into a green breastplate with a black long sleeved shirt underneath with green ropes wrapping on my biceps, acting as bangles. My purple pants and golden greaves had changed into black pants with green metallic boots, with the footwear being some sort of socked sandals. I looked behind me and saw my two Killing Edges sheathed and latched on a green metallic ring.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel strong. Is this really the power of a king?"

"Alec, the garbs of a Dread Fighter are like any class: They have potential to gain the power of a king through hard work. The Dread Fighter is a powerful warrior well versed in swords, axes, and tomes. They carry great strength and are very tough against magic attacks. The art of the Dread Fighter has been hidden after I ruled, and I was one of the most prominent Dread Fighters during my reign. Alec, I shall join your cause."

He shifted into a card with an image of him on it. It floated in front of me, so I walked over and grabbed it. I could still feel his spirit resonate through this object alone.

"Let me learn more of compassion from you."


Author's Notes

As you can see, my poll's tie has broken and Nah emerged victorious.

Nah was my actual intended ship with Nate so you know what this means? Another poll! If Nah is really what you wanted, then... I guess I won't kill my body by writing another series of support convos.

So, barring Nah, Who do YOU want to be shipped with Nate? I'm not saying I want to change it up, but it's to see what you guys wanted instead.

I won't be writing for a while because I'm busy with volunteering. So, without further ado, leave a review if it pleases you and have a great day.