His eyes fluttered as He woke up. Who He was, He did not know. He tried to move but only heard the *clang* of his confines. In the limited light, he saw that he was chained up against a slightly glowing large crystal.

“You’re awake.” The voice of a young girl said. She quickly came from her dark corner and stood in front of him. She appeared to be about seven or eight years old wearing naught her clothing and rags. “Good, you finally woke up. What’s your name?” she asked him with a relieved smile.

“Name? I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember? You should have a name. Can I give you a name?”

Okay.”

“Let me think.” She said as she scrunched her eyebrows cutely. “Shiba; Your name is Shiba.”

“Fine, my name will be Shiba. What’s your name?”

“Hanahime.”

“Hanahime, where are we, how did we get here, and why am I chained up?”

Hanahime’s face became depressed. “I don’t know where we are. My father left for the day, and some bad men came and took us.”

“Do you know why they took us?”

“I think they took you because you can power Energy Crystals. As for me... They said that their Emperor would want to see me, and I could take care of you in the meantime.”

Shiba’s eyes turned cold when he heard this. Even though he lost his memory, his knowledge was reasonably intact. He knew that they didn’t have anything good planned for Hanahime. He struggled against his restraints, but couldn’t make them budge.

“Are you hungry? I can get some food.” Hanahime said as she quickly shot off. Shiba was impressed that she didn’t seem to be bothered with the situation. Either she was extraordinarily strong-willed and adaptive, or she was in denial of the situation. Hopefully, it wasn’t the latter.

Over the next two weeks, Shiba and Hanahime spent most of the time together unharassed by the Romans. The Energy Crystal that he was strapped to was enormous, so it would take a long time for it to fill. Locked up, the two of them could do nothing but spend time together and very quickly became close. However, it wouldn’t last as the door opened one day, and a middle-aged man walked in.

“Nice.” The older man said as he obscenely licked his lips when he looked at Hanahime. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Let go of me!” Hanahime shouted.

“Bastard!” Shiba shouted as he strained against his bonds.

“I like them feisty.” The man said. “Bring it.” He said as he motioned for a guard who promptly returned with a red-hot poker.

Hanahime’s face went white, and veins appeared on Shiba’s forehead.

The middle-aged man sneered at them as he brought the hot poker toward Hanahime.

Overcome with anger, frustration, and helplessness black smoke began to emanate from Shiba’s body as his eyes became bloodshot and turned into that of a Black Dragon. A roar escaped from his lips, muffled by the sound of an explosion that rocked the ground.

“What happened?” the man asked.

“Enemy raids!” a voice in the distance shouted.

“Damn!” The man shouted. He was about to leave, but he turned his head when he suddenly heard a snap of metal just in time to see a black scaled fist strike his cheek and send him flying.

Shiba scooped up the terrified Hanahime and bolted out of the room. He finally realized that they seem to be inside of a natural cave system repurposed as a base of operation. Currently, the majority of the Roman soldiers were facing toward the entrance, and Shiba didn’t want to clash with them in the confusion because he wasn’t sure how strong he was. However, he did notice that there was a hole in the ceiling. Acting on instinct, he was able to wall jump his way out and dashed away.

“Damn!” The man exclaimed in anger as he felt that his entire cheek was gone.

“Emperor Nero, you need to leave out through the secret exit. The barbarians came in force, and the mages have an advantage in this small space.”

Nero gloomily watched the fight in front of him before he glanced up the shoot where Shiba had disappeared. “Good, your sacrifice will be remembered.” He said to the soldier before he ran off.

...

Half an hour later, the Khon fighters captured the hidden Roman outpost.

“General, I asked the captives, and I have bad news and good news.”

“My daughter?” The general asked.

“The bad news is that she’s no longer here.”

“The good news?”

“We came at a most opportune time. It’s a pity that we just missed the Emperor, but we managed to stop him from harming Hanahime. In the confusion, a prisoner broke free and escaped with her.”

The general went over to the chains. “This person must be incredibly strong.”

“If you think that’s unbelievable, he exited up there by jumping on the walls.”

The general looked shocked. He didn’t think it was physically possible to exit up the path without crawling. “I hope he can protect her. So long as she is safe, that’s all I ask… Look for them, just in case.”

...

Shiba quickly ran for two days and nights without rest. He was in an unknown land heading in an unknown direction. He just intended to keep running until he found some form of civilization. Eventually, he finally found a shrine before he collapsed from exhaustion. Hanahime, who he carried the entire time, ran into the shrine and found a middle-aged shrine maiden and a retired samurai who sheltered them. They spent two weeks recuperating before they decided to be trained by them.

The shrine maiden wasn’t an average woman as she was also a Kunoichi, a female ninja. She was very skilled with hidden weapons as well as the concoction and application of many different poisons. She was also a relatively rare and potent mage, even at this time.

Besides being a powerful samurai, the man was also a doctor and had vast knowledge about the human body. He also fought with weapons that were inscribed with an ancient technique to allow them to cast magic without writing. These were weapons he made as he was also a blacksmith.

The two of them began to pack in all kinds of knowledge to Shiba and Hanahime. They had high praise for the two of them as they learn quickly, but they considered Shiba to be a monster. His memory was too good. All they had to do was teach him once, and he would remember. On top of this, his strength was abnormal, and he could get dangerous if he fought purely out of instinct.

...

At this point, two years had passed. Hanahime had reached around twelve years old and was growing quite quickly. The war had been going on for almost three years. Based on the information they were getting, though it would take a long time, the Romans could end up being victorious. Kuhon’s only hope was to be able to drive out the enemies before they could land too many subsidiary troops. However, Shiba did not want to leave this to chance. Under his insistence, the shrine maiden and the samurai finally agreed to help them train a small elite force that would be prepared in 5 to 6 years. This was the quickest that it would be able to be completed.

To find appropriate candidates, Shiba went to the places where human resources were abundant, the orphanages. The idea was to take children between the ages of 10 and 12. These orphans would not like the Romans as they had suffered firsthand from them, and they would still be young enough to learn quickly as well as be trained to be obedient.

...

Shiba spent six months traveling around and found a couple of dozen children who he accepted. One of the things he looked for most was those who had strong willpower and a desire to fight but did not lust for revenge as it could impair judgment.

As he was making one of his final stops, he finally noticed a child who caught his interest. The child was filthy and had poorly cut short hair. What caught his attention as he saw this child had stolen some food for another. Shiba also noticed that this person didn’t have an adams apple, and he figured out that the child was a girl. This girl was smart to have purposely disguised herself as a young boy to avoid unwanted attraction.

“What’s your name?” Shiba asked her.

She looked at him and hesitated for a moment. “Kuromi.”

“Kuromi, if you had the strength to fight off and kill the Romans, what would you do?”

She looked at him, surprised by his question. However, her face remained expressionless with a hint of cold. “I would fight so that this wouldn’t happen.” She replied as she nodded towards the rest of the overpopulated orphanage.

Shiba nodded. “If you want that strength, follow me. However, be sure of your decision because once you walk on this difficult path, you will not be able to choose another.” Shiba said as he turned around to walk away.

Kuromi didn’t even hesitate and immediately followed him.

Shiba managed to obtain 24 recruits, Kuromi being the only female. This wasn’t Shiba being sexist, but because he never found any girls that fit his standards. Being around the same age, Hanahime and Kuromi often spend time together and became friends. However, Kuromi often drew a line with being subservient to her because Hanahime was stronger. In the future, this only deepened when Hanahime and Shiba eventually married.

...

Six more months went by, Shiba and Hanahime begin to learn how to use magic. Remembering that hot poker, Hanahime decided to focus on ice magic. Shiba felt that fire best suited him, but this wasn’t only their focus as they could cast any spell.

It was around this time that the shrine maiden and the samurai approached Shiba privately. This was because he showed incredible magical talent and an extraordinary amount of mana.

“Shiba, we asked you here because we want to try and unlock your potential.” The shrine maiden said as she brought forth an old scroll. “This is a record of what was known as Soul Armaments. Only a few individuals have them, but these people have an extreme amount of mana as a common denominator. Try to utilize your mana as is written here so we can see if you have one.”

Shiba nodded as he took the scroll. The content of the scroll was reasonably straightforward but complex enough that the average person wouldn’t stumble on it. Mana was believed to have come from a part of the soul. To awaken a Soul Armament, one had to return the mana to the soul to try and bring it out. This was simpler said than done as many had tried, but only a few had succeeded. It wasn’t known whether it was because they didn’t have one, or because of another unknown reason. Shiba closed his eyes and focused his mana as written.

A few seconds after he began, the shrine maiden and samurai’s eyes shot wide open in shock. Every Soul Armament was different, and only similar ones existed. What the Soul Armament was would be influenced by the person in question. For example, someone who dedicated their lives to the sword would be more likely to have a sword Soul Armament’s, but this wasn’t guaranteed. However, what shocked the two of them was not Shiba’s Soul Armament, but the number of Soul Armament’s that appeared.

On his head was a blue helmet and a golden crown.

On his legs were a set of yellow boots.

On his hip was a white bow and quiver of arrows.

On his legs were brown leg guards.

On his chest was green chain mail.

On his back was a pair of golden feathered wings.

All these were opaque and slowly faded away into nothingness. But these weren’t the only ones that had appeared on Shiba.

On his back had a circular red disk.

On his hands was a pair of black grieves that had sharp points and had scales.

On his left arm was a small golden round shield.

On his chest had a golden breastplate with an anatomically correct heart embellishment.

However, unlike the others, these were solid and remained. Shiba opened his eyes and looked at his body. “I guess I was successful.” He said.

“Far more than successful.” The samurai said. “You seem to have four armaments, and you almost made more! You just blew common sense out the roof. Now we will see if you have another talent.” The samurai continued as he motioned for Shiba to follow. He followed him into a remote location into a blacksmith’s workshop.

“I’m going to teach you how to become a smith and forge your weapons. Eventually, I want you to be able to craft with that.” He said as he pointed to a large piece of metal. “That is adamantine. It’s sporadic, heavy, tough, and hard to craft. However, a weapon made with it will be among the best.”

The old samurai pounded every bit of information he had into Shiba’s head. Soon, Shiba became a competent blacksmith. He even learned the art of engraving their magic on weapons. He took to fire exceptionally well and could withstand the extremely high temperatures required to smelt adamantine. When he was fully confident, he finally created four katanas out of adamantine. The first two were fully functional and used for practice, but the last two were special. One was for him, and another was for Hanahime. Both were engraved with a magic spell so they could increase their power in a melee. He used a technique to make Hanahime’s blade pure white and gave it the name Shirokori(White Ice). He made his sword pure-black and named it Kuroka(Black Fire).

...

Time slowly rolled on. Shiba spent time personally training his band of experts and was especially tricky to Kuromi. One day, he walked into a wooded area, and it was Kuromi’s mission to land a killing blow against him without being discovered. Shiba walked along before he quickly flicked a stone to the side.

“Ouch.” A voice exclaimed from where he flicked the rock. Shiba didn’t know why, but no matter what type of ranged attack he dealt, he always knew exactly where to aim. This was the reason why throwing needles had become one of his favorite weapons. However, he had to act like it was a real-life assassination mission. Having struck Kuromi successfully, he immediately dashed over to her. He was faster, so she gave up fleeing and tried to strike a killing blow. She didn’t stand a chance, and Shiba quickly pinned her down to the ground. “You are lucky this is only practice as, if I were an actual enemy, you would suffer a Fate worse than death,” Shiba said seriously. This was also the reason why he was very strict with her. Especially after what almost happened with Hanahime, he didn’t want that to happen to any girl.

“I’ll commit suicide before that,” Kuromi replied coldly. Recently, only Hanahime seemed to be able to work out a smile from her.

“There will be no talk of that. I’m not spending all this effort on you only to have you commit suicide because you failed. Your priority is to return safely. You need to become stronger so that this never happens.”

“It’s not fair; you’re far more perceptive than anyone else.”

“It’s for the best because you start with the highest difficulty. You still have much to learn, and you didn’t effectively hide your position. You need to take advantage of the shadows, use them, merge with them.” Shiba said. However, as soon as those words left his lips, he felt his strength drain from him. In the next moment, Kuromi disappeared into his shadow. Shocked, Shiba shot up and looked around only to have Kuromi appear from behind him and put the practice knife to his throat.

“What happened?” she asked, concerned.

“I don’t know. I told you to merge with the shadows, but I didn’t mean it literally. Can you do it again?”

“I can try,” Kuromi said. A couple of seconds later, she successfully changed back into a shadow.

“Good,” Shiba said with a laugh. “Kuromi, you’re going to be my number one assassin.”

“Yes, Master.” She said, respectively. She was not a fool. Even if Shiba didn’t seem to be aware of it, she felt that the energy that went into her body came from him. She felt very grateful to him. He appeared to unintentionally give her this strength out of his concern for her. Even though she had faced the cold aspect of society, a warm flame lit in her heart at that moment. However, even when she realized what that emotion was years later, she didn’t dare act on it.

...

Time continued to pass. Eventually, several of the others, including Kuromi and Hanahime, managed to activate their Soul Armaments successfully. Hanahime’s Soul Armament was a white fan that blew a strong wind when waved. Perhaps because it was mana based, she successfully managed to utilize it in conjunction with her spells. Kuromi’s Soul Armament was a dagger made of shadow. Like other Soul Armaments, it could fuse with its material counterpart, and it made Kuromi’s attacks even more deadly because she could quickly attack and dispatch her foes even when she was in shadow form. She also became far more efficient in utilizing her newfound ability and became the ultimate spy and assassin, heavily favored by Shiba.

Soon, six years past and they were nearly prepared to enter the war which had been increasingly ramping up. Shiba overlooked the sunset from his residence. He was enjoying the time he had before he went to war. He wasn’t strange to this concept. During this time, he and his elites all had killed several times. It was a necessary part of the training as they had become used to killing. However, Shiba never could get rid of the sad feeling he felt whenever he took a life. He didn’t know why the part of him seemed so sorrowful.

“Is this seat taken?” A pleasant voice asked which broke the silence. Hanahime came up and promptly sat on his lap.

Shiba couldn’t help but look away awkwardly.

“What’s wrong? Am I so ugly you can’t bear to look at me?” Hanahime asked with a pouty face.

“No, it’s not that at all. It’s just… Hanahime, you aren’t a child anymore. You’ve become a beautiful woman, and sitting on a man’s lap isn’t appropriate.”

“But I’m not sitting on any man’s lap; I’m sitting on your lap. I don’t mind if it’s you.” She replied, acting a little shy. “After all, you did save me.”

“Naturally, I saved you. You saved me, after all. I still feel like I owe you.”

“Really?” Hanahime asked, unhappy that he still felt that way.

“Yes.”

“Then you can do something to pay me back completely.”

“What?”

She looked him straight in the eye. “Marry me.”

Shiba looked at her, shocked. “Hanahime, that isn’t something to joke a-” he began, but was interrupted when she forcibly kissed him. It was extremely clumsy, but also adorable.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked her gently after they parted.

“Yes. I’ve loved you for a long time. It’s been my dream for years.”

“I’m probably old enough to be your father.”

Hanahime broke into a sly smile as she came up to his ear. “I’m up for father-daughter play if you want it.”

Shiba looked at her, both slightly surprised and a little disturbed. “Hanahime, where did you learn this kind of thing?”

“The shrine maiden. A Kunoichi must know how to seduce and pleasure her target, especially to get information.”

“You absolutely will not be using any of that knowledge in the field.”

“I learned it only for you.” She alluringly said before she gave his ear a little lick.

Shiba trembled. “Are you sure about this?”

“Completely. So long as you want me, I’m all yours.”

Shiba didn’t answer her verbally but kissed her. A tear fell from her eyes as she kissed him back.

“Do you want a ceremony?” He asked her as he stroked her hair.

“No. I don’t want anything fancy. I just wanted to announce tomorrow that we decided lifelong in private.”

“Of course,” Shiba said before he smiled badly. “Then does that make tonight our wedding night?”

Hanahime blushed. “I’m yours from now on, whenever you want me.”

Shiba raised an eyebrow. “Whenever?” he said with a chuckle before he reached down and kissed her. Eventually, he brought her into the bedroom.

...

The next morning, Shiba woke up with the beauty in his arms. He reached down and kissed her. “No regrets?” He asked when he saw that she was stirring.

“Let me recover a little; then we can do it again,” Hanahime said with a smile and closed eyes.

“I meant about marrying me.” He said he pinched her cheek.

“Only if last night was a one-time thing.”

Shiba rolled his eyes as he laid back down with her. In a week, they would start to fight.

...

The war had been going on for over eight years. The locals had begun to employ guerrilla tactics against the Romans as it would take too long for the Romans to get reinforcements from their country. By using guerrilla tactics, the locals could inflict maximum damage and take minimal casualties. Unfortunately, this tactic also prolonged the war, which wasn’t to their benefit.

In a forest, the locals and the Romans were currently in conflict. Spells and arrows shot through the trees while the sounds of clashing swords echoed in the foliage. The locals had come across useful intel. They knew that the supplies they were attacking were not only essential for the Roman offensive but also extremely useful. Unfortunately, this also meant that the supplies were heavily guarded.

The Romans had already started to obtain the upper hand and, if this weren’t changed quickly, then it would soon turn into a one-sided slaughter.

A Roman Captain smiled. “Kill off these barbarians!” he shouted, the last order he would ever make. As soon as those words left his lips, a shadow suddenly extended, turned into a dagger, and slashed his neck. The last thing the captain felt was a cold sensation across his neck right before he lost consciousness and collapsed, never to wake.

“The captain’s dead!” Someone shouted. His death sparked chaos, and those who saw him die were terrified. However, this was only the beginning.

Ninja stars and needles suddenly rained down against the Romans, many of them being fatal.

The locals looked on in shock at the sudden turn of events. “General, do we have reinforcements?”

“I have no idea.” He said, equally shocked before he turned to his soldiers. “Holdfast! Victory is at hand!” he shouted, but his last shout was drowned out by two massive magical attacks that flanked the Romans. On one side, a giant freezing tornado suddenly appeared. On the other, a giant serpent made of black fire smashed into their troops. Hanahime and Shiba immediately charged into enemy troops.

Hanahime’s blade was covered with a light layer of frost. Every strike she made carried a bone-chilling cold that made the enemy’s armor frail, slowed their movement, and even outright killed some.

Shiba’s pitch black blade was covered in black fire. This fire was perfect for stealth as it did not emit any light, but the heat he released could be felt from a decent distance. His blade slashed through armor like a hot knife through butter and was abnormally quick, precise, and deadly. Every time he swung, a person died. Unlike Hanahime, Shiba held his katana with only one hand. His left hand constantly threw needles with terrifying lethality as they struck the fatal locations that were not completely armored.

Kuromi silently dispatched the higher officials in the chaos. In her shadow form, it was difficult for others to harm her. This was initially balanced out by her not being able to cause any harm. However, her Soul Armament turned out to be a shadow dagger which she could use in her shadow form with terrifying lethality.

With their sudden appearance, the fight soon became a one-sided slaughter. The Romans quickly dispersed, and Shiba ordered his soldiers to give chase, but he and Hanahime stayed behind.

The general, having seen that they were well-meant, decided to thank them personally. “Many thanks for your help.” He said though he could see neither of their faces as they were facing away from him.

Shiba turned and was going to respond, but he was interrupted by Hanahime. “Oto-sama?” She asked in surprise and happiness.

The general was utterly taken aback when he heard Hanahime, and he looked at her. “Hanahime?” he asked, not daring to believe.

“Oto-sama!” Hanahime said again, and she rushed up and hugged him, tears filled her eyes.

“You are all right, thank goodness.” He said with relief as the biggest stone in his heart finally dropped. “You are?” He asked, addressing Shiba.

Shiba looked at him a little sheepish. “In private, you can call me Shiba, in public, Mahesvara...” Shiba began to reply. They decided to establish a name for the group, but Shiba Shadow didn’t quite seem intimidating enough. So, they decided to change Shiba’s public name. Shiba didn’t know why, but the name Mahesvara came to his mind.

The general was a little confused and was going to return his greeting, but was frozen by Shiba’s next words: “...Father-in-law.”

The general suddenly looked as though he had swallowed a fly.

“General, congrats on reuniting with your daughter obtaining such a powerful son-in-law.” The general’s captain said to ease the situation.

The general looked at Hanahime. “Are you happy?” He asked her, feeling guilty.

“Very happy.” She replied before she gave Shiba a very loving glance.

“Father-in-law, we should figure out how we are going to win this war,” Shiba said.

“Good. If you and your group will help, I have a lot of confidence.”

...

The war continued for another two years. With Mahesvara’s Shadow, the locals began to take back much of their lost territory quickly. Hanahime and Shiba fought on the frontlines a lot. Naturally, they also spent some time off. Their favorite place was the lone cherry tree where she told him they first met. Usually, they also enjoyed their married life to the fullest. Shiba was shocked when Hanahime started talking about, including Kuromi in their private life. She wouldn’t give him a straight answer as to why she made the suggestion, but she didn’t bring it up only once. However, Shiba had no intention of accepting.

Soon it became clear that the only way to finish this war was to kill Nero. As such, they devised a plan. They tried to assassinate him with Kuromi, but he had designed magic to protect himself, and Kuromi was almost captured. After that, they had to figure out a less direct way. Soon it was decided that they would poison him. Nero was known to take attractive local women, and it was prevalent for them to test his food for poison. Because these women often wore heavy makeup, it would be straightforward for Kuromi to sneak in and take that person’s place. The poison would naturally have an antidote that she would take beforehand. The plan set in motion, yet no one, not even Shiba, knew that Kuromi wasn’t the one to take the position. Without anyone else’s knowledge, Hanahime decided to do it personally.

Hanahime could never forget what Nero had almost done to her, and she wanted to kill him personally. With Kuromi tagging along as protection, and with the element of surprise, she felt reasonably confident in her chances of being successful and escaping. She was successful; Nero drank the poison.

Shortly after he drank, he coughed up a little blood. He looked at Hanahime with hatred. “What did you do?”

“What’s wrong, Nero, did you forget about me? Ten years ago, you almost burned me with a fire poker?” Hanahime replied with a sneer.

“It’s you! I knew that Mahesvara was that bastard.” Nero said in a fury. “Well, if I’m going to die, at least I’ll get to enjoy you.” He said with an evil smile.

“In your dreams!” Hanahime said as she summoned her fan. Even without magic, the gust of wind could blow a grown man off his feet. She quickly knocked Nero back while Kuromi dispatched the guards. Hanahime immediately rushed out followed by Kuromi as she cast a spell which marked the signal to attack. Suddenly, arrows and spells launched into the camp. Unfortunately for Hanahime, there were a lot of Roman troops between her and her allies. With Nero right on their tail, they could only run in the opposite direction. Nero, knowing that he would soon die, didn’t even bother to command his troops and intimately chased after them. “Kill them both.” He shouted.

The archers fired at them, and Hanahime would be hit, but Kuromi used her body as a shield.

Hannahime watched as three arrows embedded into Kuromi.

“Kuromi!” Hanahime shouted in shock.

“No!!!” A voice suddenly rang out across the battle.

When she heard this voice, Kuromi broke out into a relaxed smile. “Mistress, run quickly.”

“… I’m sorry.” Hanahime said before she ran. Staying would only mean wasting Kuromi’s sacrifice.

Nero completely ignored Kuromi and chased after Hanahime.

After Hanahime was successfully out of the archers’ range, Kuromi finally relaxed. [Master… Shiba, I’m sorry. I won’t be able to come back alive.] She said as tears melted her cold face; her life was draining away. When she recalled the shout that echoed louder than any other noise on the battlefield, she felt an incredible amount of warmth. [Hanahime, I’m sorry, I want to be selfish. If there is a next life, I want to be his wife, even just his woman.] She thought as she weakly drew up one final spell. Right after her spell finished, she breathed her last breath, and the spell cremated her body so there was no chance she could be dishonored.

Shiba was fighting with reckless abandon. He didn’t find out that Hanahime had decided to kill Nero personally until it was too late. He could only hope that nothing would go wrong, but it had; Kuromi died. Shiba was not a fool. He didn’t know why, but he was always sensitive to the emotions of others. He knew full well that Kuromi had feelings for him. However, he couldn’t bring himself to do that to Miyuki, even when she brought it up herself. Now, Nero was chasing after Yutsuki, but away from him. His body was soon covered in wounds as he desperately tried to break through. Running out of options, he decided to do something crazy. He fell back quickly, sheathed his sword, raised both his hands up, and began to simultaneously cast two spells intent to merge them into one, a reckless attempt that he only succeeded in doing once before. However, now, he couldn’t afford to fail.

*Bang!* An explosion caused by a spell sent Hanahime flying. Her body had several cuts, and she was bleeding internally from several of Nero’s attacks. Now, she focused on running away in a single direction towards a familiar place, where she and Shiba had first met, by the lone cherry tree.

“Give it up, Snow Miko! You can’t get away from me!” Nero shouted. Suddenly, an immense roar shook the land. Nero looked back in shock and Hanahime looked back ecstatically. There, they both saw a blue dragon made of flame arise and repeatedly fall into the camp.

Hanahime sneered. “It looks like my husband wants to end that fight quickly.”

Nero was shocked as it was the strongest spell he had ever seen, but this only made him chase Hanahime more crazily.

After he recklessly cast his spell and decimated over half the Roman army, Shiba dashed madly through the camp. He made no effort to stop his bleeding because he could not afford to waste any time. He only stopped momentarily at a pile of ashes as tears began to fill his bloodshot eyes before he ran off even faster because he couldn’t let this happen to Hanahime too.

Hanahime, extremely tired from the non-stop running, finally saw the cherry tree in the distance. She had been running to and fro in an attempt to draw the chase long enough for Shiba to reach them, but she still didn’t know where he was. Now, she could barely keep running, tired from both her sprinting and anemia. Up against the cherry tree, she finally collapsed.

“Finally stopped,” Nero said before he coughed blood. “I’m going to make you pay!” he said as he walked up to her. When he reached her, he slowly raised his sword.

“Over my dead body!” A voice suddenly shouted. Nero quickly turned to the side only to see Shiba shoot over like a bullet. With his black gauntlets, he punched Nero, who was sent flying almost 100 meters away. Blood trickled down Nero sword as he flew back, having stabbed Shiba fatally. Tired from the blow and blood loss, Shiba collapsed next to Hanahime.

Nero, who found he couldn’t move began to cast a spell, but it failed when he coughed up black blood. “Damn you, Snow Miko! How dare you poison me! Damn you, Mahesvara! I’ll pay you back tenfold for my face! Even though I already have a foot in the grave, I’ll bring you both down with me!” He angrily roared before he began to write again.

However, it seemed to fall on deaf ears as the two of them were in their little world. “Shiba, I’m sorry,” She said gently to break the silence.

Shiba had no anger or hatred in his eyes when she spoke these words. Instead, his eyes were filled with the immense love he felt for her. A slight smile came across his face as it continued to pale. “Hanahime, it is all right.” He weakly said while he tightly grasped her hand as tears slowly began to run down her face. He took a deep breath as he felt his life fade, and his consciousness grew weak. “If anyone should be blamed, it should be me for I have failed to protect what was most precious to me again.”

“Again?” Hanahime asked Shiba with a confused look on her face before her eyes widened. “Could it be you remembered who you are?”

“I…” Shiba started before he blacked out for a moment. But that moment, to him, seemed like an eternity. Memories flashed before him like a dream before they faded away.

“Shiba?” Hanahime asked him as she noticed something had happened.

“Yes, I have remembered; Not everything, but enough. To think that even in this world they called me a hero. But I am no hero.” He said with a soft sigh before he coughed up some blood. Concern flashed across Hanahime’s eyes as she lightly touched the wound on his chest. Because of this, she did not see the anger in his eyes. The anger he felt against himself. The whole reason he had come here, his entire reason to continue to exist had become an impossible dream; A delusional denial of reality. Not only had he forgotten, he only remembered as his life drained from him. His hope to correct his wrongs was dashed. “I’m sorry, Hanahime, for you to have such a weak and undeserving husband. I’m not worthy of you.”

“Don’t say that!” Hanahime immediately responded with clenched fists and a hint of anger in her voice. “You don’t get to decide if you’re worthy of me! If not for you, I would have had to have gone through torture and humiliation worse than death. You saved me and loved me more than I could’ve hoped any man to do. So, I promise you that if I have the fortune to be reborn, I shall never know any other man but you. So please promise me that when I am reborn, you will find me and make me your wife in the next life and life after that,” she said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Shiba looked and saw the stubborn resolve in her eyes. At this point, he could do nothing than accept his Fate.

“I promise,” he said with a slight smile tinged with a hint of self-deprecation.

A gentle smile also appeared over Hanahime’s face as the wind lifted her hair and made her look all the more beautiful before she laid down her head on his chest. “We live together, we die together, and will eternally be together. Not even till death do us part,” she softly said as Shiba struggled to get his arm around her before he pulled her closer.

[If I get another life; if the Well of Souls exists; if I do find her, I must become stronger. Strong enough to never again lose that which is important to me,] He thought as he held her to maintain the small amount of heat shared between them.

Except for the voice from the words the man 100 meters away had written, there was only silence.

“Who are you?” Hannahime asked Shiba softly.

The man 100 meters away had finally stopped as the words glowed with fire before becoming a giant flaming snake which prepared to charge with the intent to destroy them.

“I have been known by many names, but I promise you that I am your Shiba, I am your husband, and I love you. I am the one who has failed time and time again to protect that which I hold dear. I am a man with a broken soul,” he said softly as the flaming snake charged at them. Just before it reached them, and they departed in each other’s embrace, he managed to get one more sentence out. “I am only a Fake Hero.”

Then, Marty woke up.