Yves? Is that you?" Aemon's voice cracked.
Xerxes caught the tremble in Aemon's hands. His sapphire eyes were full of fear, his usual joyful face a mask of desperation, this wasn't anything Xerxes ever associated with Aemon, he never thought he could feel pure and unfiltered dread.
Who the hell is he? Xerxes thought, his muscles were coiled so tightly he might as well have been frozen by a tier 1 ice mage. He was unable to move, to even breathe.
The man dubbed Yves grinned, " Why of course, elder brother, it is I, but I haven't come here to warm up your celebration, I have come to end it, with the promise of death."
Conrad swiftly moved Aliya by Xerxes and Leiya, whilst Lieutenant Mairon and Conrad stood next to Aemon, one with their sword drawn and the other brandishing their axe.
Aemon stuttered in his next question, "How and why are you here?"
Yves sighed and provoked Aemon, "Have you grown that senile, you forget everything I say? I told you, I'm your finality and the person who helped me do that without even knowing...was him"
He raised his blade, the point cutting through the air as it settled, not on Aemon, but past him.
Their eyes followed the sword, and everyone said, "Xerxes" in disbelief.
'Me? I caused this...'
Yves went on to explain, "The power I sensed five months ago, it wasn't a fluke," Yves continued coldly. "You don't seem to understand, do you, Aemon? All your life, you've thought you have been helping others, but nothing has ever come of that, because in the end, you won't be able to save him, nor yourself."
A maniacal and unrelenting grin appeared on his face, "Do you see it now? Do you finally understand why I came? I've found you so that I can destroy your ideals and everything you have built."
Then, like a crack of lightning, Yves vanished from view.
In a breath, he blitzed past Conrad, Aemon and the Lieutenant. Yves' eyes were dull and dead, yet they were filled with so much hunger. His eyes locked onto Xerxes' as his blade was already mid-swing, the blade hungry to taste Xerxes' blood.
But before the edge could bite, a shockwave of wind tore through the air.
Airi, his destined companion, wasn't going to allow Xerxes to die. Her wings flared as she collided with Xerxes, and strangely, she had momentarily fused with Xerxes' body in a burst of light. Flames erupted where Yves' blade should have struck, as the sword passed harmlessly through the fire.
Aemon instantly ignited the power of truth, his eyes illuminating with the sapphire that gleamed more sinisterly. He dove through the air and threw a roundhouse kick with the force of a god, aiming it at Yves' head.
However, Yves grabbed the kick and swung Aemon around, propelling him straight into Xerxes, Leiya and Aliya as they crashed back.
Lieutenant Mairon and Conrad simultaneously ran in. They couldn't permit any more harm to their family and friends. Within a few steps, the distance between Yves and them was closed.
Conrad muttered, "Orion's hunt style; maximum output!" Mairon roared and activated his soul fragment, his body glowing crimson, whilst Conrad's shone blue.
The lieutenant swung the axe overhead, bringing it straight down like a sledgehammer, as Yves casually sidestepped the attack and reciprocated with a kick that broke all the bones in Mairon's leg.
Conrad used this time to leap towards the right flank of Yves and drove his blade straight towards his chest.
Yves watched Conrad like an eagle stalking its prey, whilst causing Mairon pain. Conrad tried to deliver the attack, but all it took to close down the loose canon was a minuscule surge in Yves' power, which pulled Conrad to Yves' feet.
Yves raised his leg high, then stomped down like an executioner's axe. The impact cracked through the air and tore Conrad's arm clean from his body.
A guttural and raw scream escaped Conrad's mouth as he clutched his arm that still gripped the sword. Yves looked down at him with an uncanny calm. "Blue hair, a snobby and shabby look, you must be my nephew. I was hoping for more. Aemon must have bred with subpar women to make you. That will likely be the same for her, won't it, my granddaughter?"
Conrad gritted his teeth through the pain, blood staining the corners of his mouth, "To hell with you, bastard," he spat, as the blood landed on Yves' face.
Yves sighed, his expression unreadable, "And here I thought I was being generous, taking a moment to show interest in my family. Aemon must have surely told you that a very long time ago, I had been a family man. Well, if you want to be a brat, then I will kill you first."
Whilst the sequence of events between Mairon and Conrad continued, Aemon and the children finally landed from the kick.
He ensured the kids weren't hurt and wiped blood from his mouth. Leiya's eyes were filled with tears, shock and desperation as she asked her grandfather, "What... what's happening, grandpa, are we going to die?"
Xerxes shared the same thought, but his face held more guilt. He thought, "If only I had listened, if only he had warned the Truth family about this, then they all could have escaped without facing Yves."
Aemon lowered his gaze, a shadow of resolve falling over his features. His expression was solemn, and he knew there was no time to use comforting words that could soften the truth and the magnitude of what was happening.
"Leiya, Xerxes... no matter what, keep your distance from the battle. Right now, you'd only hinder my battle. But when I give you the signal, run. I'm sorry, Xerxes, but all this time I could have gotten you back home if I wanted to." Xerxes rebutted, his voice full of distress.
"I don't care, Aemon, this place has become my home, I wouldn't ever fault you because I know there would be a reason, just don't leave us."
Aemon shook his head and ignored it, "I can sacrifice half of my power to create a portal. I can't control where it leads, and I can't hold it for long...But I can at least guarantee you will both be somewhere in Elaijya, your continent."
Leiya grabbed his cloak, her grip trembling. "What the hell are you saying, Grandpa? You're acting like you're not going to come with us. You, Mum, Dad, all of you can't leave me, I'm not ready." She wiped tears from her eyes, "I'm not ready to live without you. Please, come with us!" Her voice cracked as more tears streamed down her cheek.
She tried to reason with Aemon not to go forward with the battle that he spoke of, as if it were his last he would even fight, "You said yourself I wasn't allowed to go to Elaijya, not till I'm grown up, so why the hell are you lying! Why the hell are you going against your words!"
However, the dreams Xerxes had with the man in his soul core, and everything Xerxes knew about portals and stargates, were all intertwined. Stargates were ordinarily known to facilitate a certain number of people and have a cooldown period, which meant...
"Leiya, if I'm thinking right, then Aemon can't. Only the two of us can escape; it's our fate," he said regrettably.
It truly was their fate. Xerxes had been trying to understand the series of events throughout these months, why everything seemed to slightly intertwine with one another, but he had gotten his answer; he had been given a reason to leave, to grow stronger, to learn more about Airi, to develop his survival skills...all of it.
'Was it all for this moment?'
Her voice snapped as she looked at Xerxes hysterically, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, only the two of us?!"
"The portal," Aemon said gently, "Xerxes is right with his line of thought. I can only send two people. Even if I gave up all my power, that's four. I wouldn't be able to guarantee safety, or even aim the portal to a safe degree. I'm sorry, Leiya. I love you, I know you'll become someone incredible, but not here in this broken land. Remember? You always said you wanted to see the world beyond this barrier."
Leiya shook her head slowly, her hands covering her mouth. Her voice came out as a choked whisper, "Not like this. I can't... not like this..." she repeated.
Aemon rose to his feet, urgency returning to his voice. "There's no time left. When I give the signal, run straight for the castle. The beasts are closing in faster than we thought. I love you, Leiya."
His eyes shifted to Xerxes.
"And you, Xerxes, you're not broken for being different; you are forged by it. You may think the world and your fate are trying to bury that fact, but embrace it, Xerxes. Every flame that dares to burn alone lights the way for others lost in the dark. Maybe you were never meant to fit in, but that means you are here to stand apart, to rise and redefine who you are, Xerxes. Life isn't about finding your purpose but creating one."
"I love you like you're my grandson. Be confident in who you are and promise me to keep Leiya safe. I love you both."
Xerxes reached out, his hand trembling. The man in his soul core already showed him the truth. He knew escape was their only option, but his heart rejected it.
"Don't go." They both said in union, Aemon embraced them, and the two watched helplessly as Aemon began to run. He had once run from the truth, but not today. Even if it meant dying in the process.
His son was just inches away from dying, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Diving in, Aemon activated the power of truth, allowing him to read Yves' movements for 30 seconds.
He saw Yves' action in a different way than everyone else.
'Yves is going to go for a strike directly on Conrad's neck to end him, but I will not allow him to die.' Aemon soared through the air, and reared back his fist that collided with his brother's jaw. The sheer force caused the clothing around Aemon's forearm to disintegrate, revealing runes of a different nature.
Not decreasing the intensity, Aemon understood he had to set the pace of the battle, if not he would be overwhelmed.
The ordinary flow of mana wouldn't suffice. Aemon reached deeper, past the mundane mana, into the realm of augmentation mana. His mana bent and twisted, merging the currents of wind and water until the air itself grew sharp and frigid.
The battlefield howled in response. Shards of the shattered barrier were caught in the raging gale, and the water coiled into edges, honed by his hundreds of years of experience, until hundreds of crystaline blades shimmered into existence behind him.
They rose in unison, cold and merciless, then sang a hymn of despair.
Aemon pointed his hand forward as the storm of blades shot forward, each one a spear of hatred. They struck Yves in a relentless cascade, bursting into frozen clusters on impact, wrapping his body in deathly frost upon impact.
The onslaught did not pause, did not falter, did not care for who Yves had once been.
But Aemon cared.
Each strike tore at him as much as it did Yves. His vision blurred, not from exhaustion, but from tears that froze upon his cheeks before they could fall. He had buried his grief inside the attack, his pain sharpening its edge.
And so, even as he unleashed ruin upon his younger brother, it was himself that he felt like he was destroying, yet he couldn't stop attacking.
Aemon coughed up even more blood. The level of combat he was at right now was comparable to the level he had to be on in the Great War of Succession, and at his age and physical state, it wasn't sustainable, but he had to press on.
For Xerxes, for Leiya. For his own past.
Using wind to propel his movement, he soared straight towards the explosion, ready to end it here and now.
But he was forced to stop in his movement.
Shadows began wrapping themselves around the bloodied wounds that scarred Yves' body. An ebon marking of something above mana appeared to cover certain parts of his body, and Aemon could sense whose 'power' it really belonged to.
Yves began cackling, "All that lustre you had in The Great War of Succession, where has it gone?! I remember you being a far greater warrior, and you had the audacity to ask if I was really Yves. I should be asking if I am really fighting Aemon Truth."
Sprawling from the shadows, tendrils of darkness immediately grew from Aemon's shadow, coiling around his leg.
Aemon grunted and looked down, "My eyes didn't sense it?!"
"Of course they didn't, the answers you seek are obscured in my power!"
The darkness painted across Yves' face began moving towards his wrists as he returned Aemon's punch, his arms wreathed in empowering darkness that Aemon couldn't dodge.
The coiled darkness then yanked down Aemon to his knees, as Yves crouched down to his level. "This disappoints me." Yves raised his hand and slapped Aemon across his face.
Aemon's head jerked left as he spat out a clump of blood, which formed.
"I know I ran from everything, Yves, I know I abandoned you, and I'm sorry. Just don't involve them..." Aemon spoke with a disoriented voice.
Yves scoffed whilst circling Aemon, "You think because we shared the same blood that you're entitled to my mercy. Where was your mercy when you decided that blood was nothing but something you could abandon!"
Yves raised his leg and swiftly swept it through the air directly onto Aemon's face. A gnarly crunch rang through the battlefield, with pools of blood seeping out of every hole on Aemon's face.
"You disgust me, Aemon, so now, whilst you're dying, reflect on your mistakes, reflect on all your regrets and loathe in pain as you die." Yves raised his arm, ready to bring it down and execute the 'Seer of the Truth kingdom'.
But the extents people went to when they were fighting for their life, for the lives of others, far outweighed sensations like pain and emotions like anguish. Gripping his blade with his left hand and using the stub on his arm as a brace, Conrad returned to the battle.
He spun with a wild grace, generating as much power as he could muster, allowing Aemon to recover even for a moment, then he slashed against Yves and struck his raised arm.
Aemon took that moment to break out of the grip of the darkness. Empowering his fists with mana, he struck at Yves' face.
However, even with the years of training and honing skills, it was useless.
All Conrad was able to do was prevent the inevitable. Yves quickly sensed his presence; after all, he could read the exact movements and whereabouts of everyone who had a shadow. Yves casually stepped back, with Conrad being in line with Aemon's punch that was targeted at Yves.
Instead, his fist collided with Conrad's temple, dropping him to his knees in an instant.
Yves quickly glanced over at Aemon, seeing him attempt to get up, with struggle evident on his face, as black shadows emanated from Yves holding Aemon down and restricting Conrad's movement.
"Aemon, use your power, use your truth and tell me what's the only thing that is final within this world. TELL ME!"
Aemon struggled and tried to unrestrain himself, but it was useless; his body wouldn't allow it, as Aemon's mind was running with truths about what was about to occur, the power being both a curse and a blessing.
The feeling that settled into his bones made him succumb to despair. The calm and collected Aemon had been reduced to no more than a pleading soul.
"Don't you dare!" Aemon roared.
But even with Aemon's guttural warning, Yves didn't hear it as such. It was merely the voice of a begger who had no worth or value left in the world. Yves then stepped towards Conrad, lifting him up by the scruff of his hair.
"You're awake, good." Yves taunted.
Conrad could barely keep his eyes straight. But he felt as if he needed to look back. He needed to look back at Xerxes, Leiya, Mairon, Aemon and finally his wife Aliya. Conrad weekly smiled with blood staining his lips.
"Thank you, Dad, you've given me a life better than most. I love you, Aliya, and I'm glad you won't see what's next. I love you, my child, Leiya. I wish I had spent more time with you and Xerxes, carry my legacy forward."
Yves grinned, allowing him the sentiment of his final words.
A murky emerald then emitted from Yves' wrists, pouring down Conrad's entire body. It was corroding each piece of him away from the top down, but Conrad didn't scream; he merely grunted through the pain, not allowing Yves to have the satisfaction of his suffering.
Aemon screamed in deep agony as Xerxes held Leiya's body, not allowing her to take another step forward.
Conrad Truth, at the age of 36, had died on the battlefield.