Alrain stopped directly in front of Allen, looking down at him with pure disdain. "But you!!!" Alrain barked suddenly, his voice thundering through the silence. "You killed the one person who was truly sincere toward you! You are utterly shameless! You are disgusting! And all this time, he was the one who protected you from those stagnant nobles back at the academy!"
Instead of defending himself, Allen's remaining composure crumbled completely.
"I know!" Allen shot back, his voice just as loud despite the sob catching in his throat. "He... he told me everything before he died! That's why I feel so much guilt right now. I hate myself!"
Allen's tears spilled onto the ice. He bowed his head low, clutching his chest as if he couldn't breathe. "He even went so far as to give up... he didn't want to hurt me." Allen continued, his sobbing becoming uncontrollable. "When I drew my sword... when I stabbed him in the chest, he didn't move! He just opened his arms wide and accepted my attack with a smile, without resisting at all!"
Alrain stood stunned by the revelation. His master, a man of such devastating power, had died by choice, letting himself be killed by the first person he had ever loved.
"After I learned the truth, that it was that damn King who murdered his entire family, I felt so much guilt." Allen lamented, his voice a fading whimper of a dying man's regret. "For years, I've been on the wrong side. I was blind, lost in a groundless hatred until I killed the very person who protected me the most!"
"You should have known that from the beginning!" Alrain countered with a shout that could have split the air. "Lord Arvin was immensely powerful! He could never have been defeated by someone like you! He would never have acted so aggressively if it didn't involve the people he protected most!"
Alrain manifested his wind and lightning magic, forging a blade of pure energy. "I cannot accept his death! Stand up and let's end this here!"
"I refuse!" Allen replied suddenly, looking at Alrain with bloodshot, hollow eyes. "Please... just kill me here, right now. I won't fight back. I've killed my hero, and... the first person I ever loved in this world. And even now, this love is still there."
Hearing a confession of love from the mouth of the killer caused Alrain's fury to peak.
"If you love him, why did you become his enemy?!" Alrain roared with an exploding rage. "You are a truly heartless human! You are a savage! A bastard! A demon! A hypocrite!"
Each insult from Alrain's mouth felt like a lash of a whip, but Allen only sat in silence. He didn't argue or dodge. He accepted every word as the absolute truth of his own wretchedness.
Slowly, the pink-haired man raised his face again, looking at Alrain with a vacant, listless gaze, as if his soul had died long before his body.
"I'm begging you... please kill me." Allen pleaded, his voice trembling. "Avenge your master's death. Please, just end my suffering."
Alrain stared down at Allen, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He gripped the hilt of his magic sword so tightly his knuckles turned white, ready to take the man's head. But the blade remained still.
"Even if you die, Lord Arvin won't come back to life!" Alrain stated coldly, pointing toward Arvin's frozen body. "Look at him! He's dead! If you want to die, kill yourself with those filthy hands of yours, and don't you ever ask me to do it for you!"
Alrain turned his face away, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall again, and gazed out toward the distant horizon.
"If I were to kill you..." Alrain continued, his voice dropping to a low tone filled with heartbreak and a love that transcended the world. "I wouldn't have the face to meet him in the afterlife... because I would have killed the only person he ever truly loved."
Alrain swallowed hard, his voice shaking with the weight of it. "Because... I love him so much, and I don't want to see him sad ever again, not even in death."
Hearing that outburst of emotion, Allen's eyes widened once more. He stared at the green-haired man before him with a look of utter disbelief. His lips trembled as he tried to absorb the depth of the feelings he had just heard.
"D-Do you... love him that much?" Allen asked, his shock unmasked. His voice was hoarse, as if the words were struggling to claw their way out of his throat. "I mean... you love Arvin?"
"Of course I love him!" Alrain answered without the slightest hesitation. Tears continued to stream from his eyes, soaking into the collar of his shirt. "Even after this damn war ended, I intended to propose to him! I wanted to marry him and forge a life-and-death contract with Lord Arvin so we would never be parted! But..."
Alrain's voice devolved into a low, hate-filled growl. "You destroyed everything! You snatched him away from me before I could ever make those dreams a reality! I hate you, Allen!"
Allen fell silent, accepting every lash of resentment without resistance. However, in the midst of his surrender, Allen's expression suddenly shifted drastically. His dull eyes snapped wide with horror, staring at a void directly behind Alrain.
"Hey! Behind you!" Allen cried out in panic, his voice breaking with shock at the figure he was seeing.
Alrain's combat instincts flared instantly. He attempted to pivot his body while summoning his wind magic, but it was already too late. Before Alrain could fully turn to see the figure who had appeared soundlessly amidst the sea of ice...
Thud! Crack!
An incredibly heavy, precise blow struck the back of his neck. The sound of breaking bone echoed sickeningly through the silence. Alrain's body instantly lost all strength and collapsed onto the frigid surface of the ice.
His vision blurred immediately. He couldn't move his body. His neck was broken, paralyzing his entire nervous system in a matter of seconds. From the corner of his darkening eyes, he caught a glimpse of a pair of feet stepping slowly toward him, stopping just a few centimeters from his face.
Damn it! Alrain screamed internally. A surge of frustration and immense rage exploded in his mind, though his body could no longer respond. Who is the bastard that neutralized me like this?
His breathing began to falter. The biting cold of the ice seeped inward, extinguishing the last embers of warmth in his body. His field of vision narrowed, leaving only the faint, distant shadow of his master's remains, a memory of his older sister, and the image of Orvion's sacrifice.
My Lord... forgive me. I have failed in this war. Sister, Orvion... forgive me, I failed to take my revenge as I once promised and swore.
Alrain slowly closed his eyes. Total darkness enveloped him, and his consciousness vanished completely. He never knew who had killed him, nor did he know what became of Allen after that tragic moment.