Orhan donned his plumed helmet, the cushioned interior feeling familiar, yet foreboding, to the battle ahead.

They chose him to fight Guanyu. He had accepted it with eagerness.

He had been allowed any number of weapons that he wanted by the terms of the duel. Guanyu had reportedly opted to just use his glaive.

Orhan, meanwhile, carried a spear, saber and shield, bow and dagger. Those weapons, along with his lamellar armor weighed heavily on his shoulders.

His fear and his determination clashed with each other in his heart, making its beat sporadic.

Orhan summoned his Shedim, yellowish green light glowing around his Scars.

“Yes?” the Shedim asked.

“I need a weapon from you.” Orhan said, “Something that will let me defeat Gongsun Guanyu.”

The Shedim frowned. “Why is it you desire to defeat him? You need only to stall.”

“And let myself continue to be held back by the death of my clan?”

“Vengeance is not the path to letting go, Young Khan.” the man muttered.

“This is not vengeance. I do not desire his suffering. This is closure. I need to know I did all I can to ensure the prince’s debts are paid.”

“And what is his debt?”

“Defeat. Defeat of himself and his army. Nothing more, nothing less.” Orhan said, “He views himself as superior and thus, feels as though he can treat everyone below him however he wants. I wish to remind him that he, too, is human. So we may both move forward.”

The man nodded. “You have great wisdom in you, Young Khan. Very well. All things die. All things must return to the earth whence they came. From that earth, we can find other lives and other purposes. The souls of your people still exist. But they wander, lacking a purpose to their existence. Offer them a new existence. But this time, do not sacrifice yourself to save them. They no longer need protection. Rather, lead them, like a true Khan.”

With that, the Shedim vanished.

Orhan had more questions of a more practical nature, but according to his allies, figuring out abilities was something one had to do on their own.

He let out a long sigh before stepping out of his tent, which was positioned directly at the edge of camp. He exited directly into the face of the sun, Guanyu’s silhouette across from him.

Hundreds of soldiers who were gathered to watch the duel parted ways to let him through.

Ruhak patted him on the back. “Good luck out there. I won’t be here to watch. But if anything happens, Cecile will take good care of you.”

“With any luck, Guanyu’s gonna be the one needing a physician.” Orhan muttered.

Ruhak chuckled, “Well, at least you’re confident.”

With that, the Hikupti man vanished into the crowd. Orhan stepped into the ring that the crowd had formed for him and his opponent.

Guanyu wore a winged helmet and Nikan lamellar, with plate armor over his arms and legs.

“I am Orhan Ucar, Khan of the Ucar.” Orhan stated.

He kept his eyes on Guanyu, watching a smirk grow on the prince’s face.

“An Ucar, eh? Funny how they send yet another one of you to die on my blade.”

“Funny how you view Khongirats as mad dogs, yet you are the same hairless ape as the rest of us are.” Orhan said, not allowing his rage to take control of him. It would be his tool, not his master.

“I didn’t know they made you people with wits. But then again, I’ve heard nothing from a Khongirat mouth I could understand. Except some broken cries for mercy in Nikan.” Guanyu was trying to poke at his temper.

Orhan readied his spear. “Let us settle this with steel, then. Perhaps it’s something you barbarians are more familiar with.”

“You are the barbarian here, horse-fucker!” Guanyu snapped.

Orhan let himself smile a bit. That was easier than he thought. Guanyu kicked his glaive into a fighting position.

Guanyu rushed in with a flurry of attacks as he spun his glaive around his body. Orhan rolled out of the way and parried a strike that was muddled by Guanyu’s change in direction. He slammed the butt of his spear into Guanyu’s chest and pushed the prince over. Orhan turned over his spear and stabbed down at him, but Guanyu caught the shaft of the weapon right before it pierced his face.

Guanyu snapped the spearhead off and tried to slash at Orhan’s shins, but his greaves protected him. Orhan stumbled back, but gained his footing enough to slam the shaft of his broken spear into the back of Guanyu’s head like a cudgel. The wood splintered, rendering the weapon unusable as Guanyu staggered forward, barely picking up his glaive and steadying himself.

Orhan tossed the shaft aside and drew his bow. He bunched five arrows in his draw hand and fired them in rapid succession at Guanyu.

In the hands of trained Khongirat, a bow in hand was just as good a short distance weapon as a sword.

Guanyu deflected each one with his glaive’s flat and wide blade.

But Orhan didn’t let up on pressure. He drew another handful from his quiver and fired them all in less than a few seconds. As he forced Guanyu back with each arrow, Orhan advanced.

He tapped his quiver, the rattling of the arrows counting his ammunition. Fifteen arrows left. He should’ve worn a second quiver.

Arrows were starting to hit Guanyu’s armor rather than being deflected. Orhan was breaking Guanyu’s defense.

Orhan drew his last bundle of arrows, the second to last one making a deep cut just under Guanyu’s eye. Orhan discarded the bow and unclipped the quiver from his belt before drawing his sword and shield.

Orhan rushed in, Guanyu still reeling from the onslaught of arrows. Then his eyes flashed green. And pale flames consumed Orhan’s vision.

_________________________________________

“Hold on, what do you mean, there’s no one there?” Ruhak demanded from Iustinianus’s scout.

“There was nobody, sir.” the scout shrugged. “Emesa was completely empty.”

“So I spent all night making these things for nothing?” Peng exclaimed, gesturing to the thirty trebuchets he’d put together all in one night.

“If they aren’t in Emesa, then where are they?” Iustinianus demanded, “Have you seen any trace of them? Anything at all?”

“No, sir.” the scout insisted, “It’s as though they just vanished.”

“Shit.” Iustinianus hissed, “What’s that bastard planning?”

“What about Orhan? He can’t keep up with Guanyu forever.” Ruhak said, “We need to do something to disrupt the duel!”

“We need to get back to camp. Make sure the Legions are ready for anything.” Iustinianus said, “Come on! Peng, stay with those machines. We may still need them.”

Both Ruhak and Iustinianus ran through the forest and out onto the floodplains of the Koini River. They entered the Koini camp a short while later.

“Legates!” Iustinianus called, “Ready your forces! The Nikan are making a move!”

Within moments, the professional soldiers of the Legions had armed themselves and were getting themselves into formation. Both Iustinianus and Ruhak mounted horses and rode out towards the dueling ground.

If only those six women hadn’t appeared.

Six young women, skin made from green jade, fell from the sky and landed between them and the duel.

They crossed their wrists and the air behind them shimmered, unveiling a mass of steel and lamellar.

A wall of soldiers appeared from nothing between Ruhak and the few hundred Legionnaires watching the duel.

“Gods and Demons.” Iustinianus muttered as he backed his horse up.

Ruhak stared, jaw locked in place. He was waiting for the onslaught of crossbow bolts. But it never came.

The other nine Legates rode up to them after a few minutes that seemed to stretch out for an eternity.

“They aren’t attacking.” One of them said, “Why? What are they doing here?”

“Making sure we fulfil the promises of the duel.” Sergia growled, “That friend of yours is going to die, Hikupti. And when he does, they want to ensure we surrender. They have hundreds of our soldiers and the Grand Marshal trapped.”

“Let us pull back and build our ranks. I take it that any sign of aggression we give will be a cue for them to attack.” Iustinianus said.

“Then what do we do about Orhan?” Ruhak asked, “Cecile’s in there as well.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. If we make a move, they’ll turn inward and kill the Grand Marshal, along with your friends.” Iustinianus growled, “I’m sorry.”

Ruhak clenched his fist. He had to do something. There was an opportunity here to take. He just had to figure out what it was.

_____________________________________________________________

Orhan’s lungs felt as if they were being torn up inside with his ragged breathing as he staggered to his feet. The fresh wound through his arm filled with lichen before being replaced by flesh.

Guanyu spun his glaive around casually, “You’re a tenacious bunch, you Khongirats. I’ll give you that. But tenacity means nothing in the face of true power.”

Orhan hid behind his shield as another wave of green flames slammed into him. His feet dug into the dirt as Guanyu pushed him back.

“What’s wrong, horse-fucker? You look just about ready to crumble from a love tap. I’m getting bored.”

The prince wasn’t wrong. He felt like the bones in his legs had been replaced with animal fat. His saber was dulled and chipped from trying to strike Guanyu’s armor. His own armor wasn’t very useful with all the blunt force hits he was receiving.

The sudden appearance of the entire Nikan army really wasn’t helping his focus. At this rate, Guanyu would have all the time he wanted to kill him.

Didn’t you intend to defeat him in the first place?

Orhan blinked. That’s right. He still had his Shedim.

But what had his Shedim even meant with all that stuff about the souls of his clan?

“What’s the issue? Suddenly gone mute?” Guanyu asked.

Orhan rolled under a sweeping arc of green flames.

What had he done to improve as a leader? What should he do?

When he was Khan, Orhan had done nothing but try to look out for his people’s safety. He tried to take the burden of their troubles all on his own. In doing so, he became a tyrant. He tried so hard to keep his people from danger that he deprived them of even having lives to live.

He became distant and aloof. He trusted no one but himself.

But now things were different. There was nobody to save. No one to protect or keep from harm.

He should’ve had faith in his clan members. Perhaps then, he alone would not have to shoulder the burden of decisions that led to their downfall. Perhaps his flawed perspective could’ve been challenged.

Perhaps, instead of being a benevolent protector who is above his followers, he should’ve been an inspiration. An example to follow.

People didn’t need to be saved. They needed to be led.

Orhan snapped out of his thoughts as Guanyu’s glaive plunged through his shoulder. He roared in pain, collapsing to the ground.

Lichen quickly healed it, but the pain had sent shock waves through his body.

“Don’t you dare think for a damned second you can take your mind off me while we fight! Arrogant dog!” Guanyu kicked Orhan in the face, sending his helmet flying.

Orhan tried to stand, but the blunt end of the prince’s weapon slammed down into his back. Orhan’s scream covered the sickening crack that came with the strike. He couldn’t feel many parts of his body. And those he felt were in excruciating pain.

“Come on, Khongirat. Get up. I’m not finished with you yet.” Guanyu kicked Orhan in the ribs.

The fracture in his spine was healing itself, but not fast enough.

Guanyu plunged the tip of his blade into Orhan’s eyes, evoking more screams from his lacerated throat.

“Gods and demons,” Guanyu muttered, “What does it take to kill you? Perhaps your head can’t grow back.”

Orhan couldn’t die this way. He pleaded to his Shedim. To all the gods of the steppe. He just needed a second chance. So long as he wasn’t dead, he could turn this around.

After all, he knew now…

“True Weakness is Stagnation.”

Guanyu raised his glaive.

Then a yellowish green arrow made of light sank through a chink in his armor.

Guanyu roared with surprise and pain as he stumbled backwards, dropping his weapon.

Spectral hands pushed Orhan to his feet and healed his wounds where they touched him. His Scars burned slightly as they extended across his body. He blinked his repaired eye and looked around at the people holding him up. Young Khongirat women made of light, all dressed in the garb of a shaman, stood around him as Khongirat men approached, bows in hand.

One man looked straight into his eyes. It was an overtly familiar gaze.

“Father?” Orhan muttered.

Then he started recognizing more faces.

The warriors who had left to join the Khan, women and girls who had been killed or taken by the Nikan during the raid. Some were famous figures from the age of the Great Khanates. There were thousands, maybe tens of thousands, all armed to the teeth.

They were souls of his clan. His ancestors and his contemporaries. His friends and family. His heroes and mentors.

The people may have been lost. But the connections still lived. These friendships. This camaraderie. That was what he had abandoned during his time as a leader. But it was also the key to being a good Khan.

One woman pulled a spectral horse up to him. He was the first horse Orhan had ever owned.

Orhan pulled himself into the horse’s saddle. As another woman granted him his sword and shield.

“My Khan. You are at last ready to lead us.” she said.

Orhan looked at Guanyu as he staggered to his feet. The prince’s face was contorted in rage. He summoned his six jade maidens.

“Kill that shit-eating horsefucker!” Guanyu roared as he tore the spectral arrow out of his shoulder.

“I only need six of you.” Orhan said, “One for each maiden. The rest of you, charge at the enemy behind us.” he held his saber up. “Clan Ucar! Trample mountains to sand! Fight to the last! Kill them all!”

_____________________________________________________________________

Ruhak stared in complete shock at the horde of yellow-green ghosts that charged head-on into the back of the Nikan ranks.

“Cataphracts!” Sergia raised her spatha blade in the air. “Charge!”

All the Legates started shouting commands to rush in. This was their chance to outnumber the Nikan army.

Koini war archers loosed volleys of arrows at the enemy as the cataphracts rammed into the infantry ranks, breaking up their formations.

While the armies clashed, the few Bane Knights Guanyu had singled out the Legates, Iustinianus included, and fought them one on one.

Despite Orhan’s sudden growth in power, Guanyu was still a force to be reckoned with. The prince had killed Orhan’s spectral horse, causing the beast to vanish.

Cecile and the Grand Marshal were being protected by the soldiers that had accompanied them to the dueling grounds, but they were quickly getting swarmed.

Ruhak lashed the reins of his horse and rode through a less densely populated area of the battlefield to reach the river bank.

He threw his wires out, wrapping them around the top hand on Guanyu’s glaive. Orhan took the opportunity and slammed his shield into the prince’s head.

Ruhak retracted with wires and dismounted his horse on the dueling grounds. The jade maidens were defeating Orhan’s specters, so he took it upon himself to spear some of them through the chest with his cables.

“Ruhak! The army doesn’t have a commander right now! I’ve got Guanyu! Lead them!”

What if they die on my watch?

“No. He’s right.” Ruhak muttered to himself, “They need a leader.”

Ruhak still hesitated before getting back on his horse. He rode around the outskirts of the battlefield, surveying the situation of both sides just as the entire Nikan cavalry smashed through the middle of the Koini front in a wedge formation.

“Shit!” Ruhak yelped.

The Cataphracts were busy on the outer flanks.

Ruhak couldn’t allow the Nikan to split the Koini army down the middle. But the Legions there were already faltering.

If the middle ranks failed, the battle would be a lost cause.

His mind raced with answers to the question, “What do I do?” Half of them involved retreat.

No. He could win this. In his mind, he held all the battlefield wisdom of the greatest generals and Legates in history.

This was what he was meant to do. This is what he had always wanted. Despite his fear, that was the truth.

Ruhak formed his metal wires into a spatha as he started a speech he thought Taya would make. “Legionnaires! Give no ground! Remember what we fight for! Your families, your empire, your lives! Rage against the dark tide of despair! Burn with passion! Fight with fury! Ruina Nikanoii!”

War cries spread across the Koini Legionnaires nearby as they suddenly surged back against the encroaching Nikan.

Ruhak found a drummer and a horn blower and pulled them aside. “Have the cataphracts retreat and the archers prepare to hold their fire. Signal the siege engines.”

The drummer played rhythms that signaled the cataphracts, while the horn-blower caused the archers to hold and let loose a blast loud enough to be heard by Peng and the people he had manning his machines.

Boulders, shells full of black powder and other projectiles from Peng’s machines soared across the sky, causing an immense blow to the Nikan cavalry and center ranks.

Ruhak frowned. The plan he had was risky. If morale for the entire army was as high as it was in Emesa, it wouldn’t work. But with the volley of siege engines, morale may have been affected enough for Ruhak to squeeze a victory out.

“Drummer,” commanded Ruhak, “Lighten the left and center flanks. Reinforce the right.”

The drummer looked at him, eyes frozen with horror. “What? They’ll encircle us, sir!”

“Just do it!” Ruhak ordered.

The drummer shook his head, but played the rhythm.

Soldiers from the left and center sections moved to reinforce the right flank.

Predictably, the left flank failed. The men there were being picked off quickly. Forces from the Nikan center were being drawn away to buff their right.

The additional men started encircling the left flank.

“Signal the archers to hold.” Ruhak told the horn-blower.

The horn blast caused arrows to slow down and eventually stop. The encircling force was now wrapped most of the way around the left flank.

“Fire on the encircling force!”

A volley of arrows rain from the sky onto the encircling soldiers.

“Have the cataphracts charge!”

The cataphract didn’t even make it to the battle before the encircling force routed and abandoned their positions.

The Koini now had the numbers advantage for the first time without aid from Orhan’s specters.

Ruhak felt euphoric as his plan paid off. This was it. This was the feeling of satisfaction he searched so long for. He was a tactician. He was here, according to none but his own will.

Ruhak looked back at Orhan and Guanyu. Cecile had joined in the fight with Orhan, but both were still being kept at bay.

He had done his job on the battlefield. He turned his horse to go help his allies against the prince.

Ruhak spurred his horse into a gallop and wrapped his wires around Guanyu’s ankles once he drew close. He caught the prince off guard and dragged Guanyu through the dirt, and threw him with all the force generated by a galloping steed.

Guanyu skipped like a rock through the dirt until he eventually caught himself by dragging his fingers through the ground.

Ruhak dismounted and walked up next to his allies.

Guanyu looked exhausted. He was covered in bruises and cuts, while his armor was chipped and dented. He had to lean on his glaive just to stand.

That being said, Orhan looked as though he was barely holding on.

Guanyu’s eyes darted between the three of them. He tried and failed to stifle a roar of frustration before his body vanished from sight.

Ruhak, Cecile, and Orhan held up their guard, looking for any evidence of his presence. But no attack came.

Ruhak cautiously let his arms down, “I...I think we won.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Taya blinked her eyes open from a rather intense fever dream, brought to consciousness by the cold whipping winds around her.

Her feet dangled in the air. She screamed as she realized she was hundreds of feet above the ground, held up only by one man’s hand.

“You know what they call you in my country, Sklaveni? The snake with four legs.”

Taya looked up at Gongsun Zedong, Dragon of the East, as he carried her and the Koini Emperor into the sky.

“The challenger to the dragon. Queen of rebels.” the dragon continued, “I must say I’m disappointed to simply drop you from the sky. I was hoping for a bit more of a challenge.”

Taya’s first instinct was to struggle, but she quickly remembered that if the dragon let go, she’d fall. And her Shedim was refusing to cooperate or else she would’ve already out-powered the dragon and landed.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the ground, even though it intensified her panic.

“We’re waiting for those friends of yours to hand over the city peacefully and not attempt to reconquer it. Or else, well...you know how these things pan out, right?” The Dragon started shaking the hand that held the Koini Emperor. “Get up, you big oaf! I’m not lugging around over two hundred pounds, so you can take a nap!”

The emperor blinked awake and screamed as he looked down. He looked up at the dragon. “O-Oh, my prince! P-please, whatever this is about, I’m certain it can be worked out differently. Have you taken my offer? I’ll disband all the Legio-”

“You continue to bore me.” Zedong muttered before dropping the emperor.

Taya took a sharp breath as the emperor screamed in terror as he fell through the sky. She couldn’t look as the emperor hit the ground with a wet splat.

“Don’t you just hate it when your captives do everything you ask? Conquest is about challenge. It’s about victory. There’s nothing to revel in if you can’t break your enemy.” The dragon held her up to eye level with him. “I’m hoping you’ll give me something to play with, my little serpent.”

He stared with scrutiny at her face, which was frozen with shock and horror.

“Hm...I can see you’re taken by fear. Oh, but there’s still a little fire to snuff out. Perhaps you will be entertaining after all.” The dragon looked past her, back at the ground, “Oh look, they’re gathering for him. Specifically, when I told them to line up on the street and prostrate themselves!”

In his now empty hand, the Dragon manifested a swirling orb of dark clouds. Electricity built within the clouds before he tossed the clouds from his palm. Lightning struck down onto the mourning citizens, creating a massive explosion that killed most of them.

Taya’s fist clenched, but her knowledge of her helplessness kept her from doing anything aside from simply watching.

This was him. The impossible enemy. A god with power over the skies themselves. An underling to an underling to an underling in the grand scheme of things. So how was she meant to fight Armageddon if she could do nothing against a prince?

“Now then, where are those little broodlings of yours, serpent?” the Dragon mused, “Maybe this will get their attention.”

Taya felt the grip on the back of her tunic vanish. She fell.

“Father!” she screamed as the grip returned just as quick as it had left.

The Dragon held her up to his face again, then burst into laughter. “Father? The Queen of rebels calls out for her father in her final moments? Hah!”

Taya was still racked with a paralysis of shock.

The dragon flew down to the gathering of her allies, just close enough to speak to them. They all looked up at her with worry. She didn’t want to look at them.

“Shedim Masters!” The Dragon said, “Bow before me! Pledge yourselves to Nikan and hand over the city peacefully. Then and only then, will I allow Sergeyev to live.”

The Shedim Masters looked at each other and at her. The Dragon rose away from them as they talked amongst themselves.

“Ooh! Perhaps you’ll entertain me differently while we wait! Tell me, strongest of the Shedim Masters, why is it that you still hold on to your father like a child?”

Taya avoided looking into the Dragon’s curious, yet condescending eyes.

“Answer or I’ll drop you. And who knows if I will catch you a second time.” the Dragon growled.

“I...I’m a child.” Taya muttered.

“A child, you say? Yes, yes, that makes sense. My sister tells me you pride yourself on your ideals. Well, do you understand how futile your little rebellion is now?”

Taya nodded slowly.

“Oh, but without your ideals guiding you, you have no one to tell you what to do or how to think,” the Dragon smirked. “Nothing to believe in. Nothing to help pick yourself up. Must be pretty awful. Especially when you can’t do that yourself. I wouldn’t know, given that my father is essentially a god at this point. I am quite far on my way to godhood as well.”

“Y-yes,” Taya had to concede. He’d hit the nail on the head.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. If your broodlings decide to do the smart thing and hand over the city without resistance, I’ve always been interested in owning a snake. I can be the one who tells you what to do.”

The Dragon tried to cup her face, but she slapped his hand away.

“And in exchange...you keep up your ideals for a little longer so I get to break you.”

Taya knew all the tales of the Twelve and each of the ways in which they were infamous. The Dragon liked to toy with people.

“You know, I’ve always had an interest in anatomy and brain science since I was young. I’ve always wanted to figure out the limits of humanity. To see in what ways they are flawed. To see humans in the most extreme pain, but also see the elation of the greatest of pleasures.”

“Sadistic fuck.” Taya muttered.

“Sadistic? No, you misunderstand. A sadist wants to see people suffer. I simply want to understand the inner workings of humanity and our masters.” Zedong said, “I want to know so I can treat humanity as it was meant to be treated. You know what I speak of, yes?”

Taya let the words pass her lips, “The decree of the Scaled One.”

“Oh. Oh.” A grin crept upon the prince’s face, “So you do know. Oh, how wonderful. So you know who the Circle of Ancients bow to? Speak his name, serpent. Speak the name of humanity’s true master.”

Taya bit on her lip. But something deep and ancient within her demanded she obey. Something that had been present in her blood a trillion years before she came into existence.

“El...Eldrylor,” she whispered.

Speaking the name felt akin to swimming in shit or being drawn and quartered in front of a crowd. An eldritch, unknowable sense of pain and shame racked her body, originating from the very foundations of her existence.

“It’s no wonder you’ve stopped fighting,” Zedong said. “After seeing our true master, who wouldn’t? But now you know what I want. I want humanity to return to him and prostrate themselves in apology for forsaking their divine purpose. We must be punished and if I must dole out that punishment, so be it. I will ensure Despair takes its rightful place in the hearts of all men.”

Part of her wanted to agree with him. The part that was still loyal to the ancient masters of all mankind. But she-Taya Sergeyev-refused to accept that feeling.

How? How could a man as vile as this be allowed to exist? Someone who wished to make all men experience endless suffering and numbness. Who wished for everyone to betray themselves and each other.

Be allowed? Allowed by whom? God? The Scaled One?

People simply existed. Humanity had broken free from its divine purpose as slaves. Now only chaos dictated the way of the world. Existence was no one’s fault.

But this man...this man no longer existed. The Circle of Ancients had thrown away and repossessed his life. By the Scaled One. By Despair. An evil she knew well. An evil who had killed so many of those she’d loved, who’d caused so much pain. If this man wanted to lick Despair’s boot, that was his choice.

But equally, if she wished to defy True Weakness, such was her prerogative.

“Oh, would you look at that?” The Dragon turned her to face her Shedim Masters and the Legion that had accompanied her.

They were kneeling. Part of her sank into the deepest darkness, letting despair in. They’d surrendered. The fight was over. Maybe it was a moment of weakness that they normally wouldn’t have succumbed to, but it didn’t matter.

Nikan had won the world.

But...another part held on.

A world with no meaning was a world waiting for meaning. Her meaning. Her will.

Yes. That’s why she fought. That’s why she conquered and cultivated and inspired. Not for the sake of saving humanity. But for the changes she would make upon the world and the adventure that came along with doing so.

It was the way she fought against Despair. The ichor that had wrapped around her heart like a sentient tar, malicious and petty.

The Dragon was right. Her rebellion was likely futile. The enemies that faced humanity were insurmountable. Bigger than universes, older than order and chaos. Powerful enough to not just kill, but corrupt and taint every single thing that had ever lived or been imagined in the minds of men.

But she had to fight, anyway. For it was in ambition far, far beyond herself that she could find the greatest meaning. It was the endless pursuit that would give her purpose. The infinite journey.

A great many things were bigger than all the humans in the world. Despair was the utmost of them. But because it was such an impossible battle, she had to challenge it. Because her goal was unreachable, she had to chase it.

Roar to the heavens. Defy the immortal, for they know not the glory of finite life. Realize your declaration of war on fate.

She didn’t need to save humanity. But so long as she gave it her all and more, she would do more for herself and those who stood behind her than she ever could otherwise.

The Dragon frowned, “Hm...Your fire is growing.”

No, not fire.

Rather, her steel was being hardened.

No more doubt. No more regret. She would no longer suffer those things, so long as she was Taya. So long as she embarked on the endless pursuit of her goal. So long as she fought the eroding tide of fate.

“I think I have an answer to your offer, Dragon.” Taya said.

“Oh? You’re considering it? Perhaps I am not the sadist, but you are the masochist.”

“A simple proverb. Very old. Let’s see if you’ve heard of it.” Taya smirked.

“I assure you, I have.”

“Very well.” Taya said. She closed her eyes as the words came to her, “True Weakness is living for Despair.”