Epilogue
Right after the battle ended.
I had been suppressing myself as hard as I could, keeping out of my companions' sight.
Even so—I could feel it clearly now. I was reaching my limit.
Looking up at the sky, the rims of my eyes flushed red.
Succession.
That alien curse began to close over me. My once-sharp consciousness blurred. The senses that had been holding my impulses in check grew hazy as well.
The smell of blood.
At the tip of my nose, turned toward the sky, I could smell blood.
"……"
Any attempt to resist was meaningless. The more I rejected fate, the more I would only suffer.
To remain myself, I had to submit to fate. That was the succession of power—and the succession of will that had been repeated for centuries.
"Ah… ah…"
Emotion surged back in a flood. Love. Sorrow. Hatred. Jealousy. Fragmented feelings scattered and fell away, and from beneath them the buried instincts began to rise. Holding the impulses down grew harder by degrees.
If I let go of myself completely, I would end up just like Abel Terdos.
All of this was the fruit of my own choices. I had never wanted to become a hero. This was simply the role that had been given to me from the start.
In a battle long ago, the Great Intelligence had spoken.
"The Ruler of Death shall step aside."
"The Ruler of Life shall take their place."
Yes. This seat had been mine from the beginning. No one else could claim it. That, without question, was fate.
"Sinel."
"Yes."
Feeling the power pour into me, I knew at once. I had already reached the 6th Circle. This was not human strength. A monster surpassing the previous Successor was about to be born—a being that did not understand the human heart, set loose to trample it.
I did not want that. If it could be stopped, better to stop it now.
"Kill me with your own hands."
There was still time before the next succession. The only moment I could be killed was now—now, while my mana was spent, while Resurrection would not trigger. That was why I entrusted myself to Sinel.
"……"
Sinel's hand, lifting the dagger, trembled. From the eyes that looked at me, a tangle of feeling came through. Love. Pity. And again, love.
"……I—"
The dagger. The shaking hand. A face covered in blood. Holding the blade amid all of it, Sinel spoke.
"I can't."
Clack.
The knife hit the ground and began to roll. Watching it, Sinel smiled.
"The Empire. Let's just wipe it out."