It was all true… I caused the death… death of my mother…

Wiping my eyes, I continued forward, moving around the remains of the tragedy I had caused.

A smile unwittingly tugged at my face as I stood before the familiar yet unfamiliar edge of the cliff. The cliff itself was rocky with sparse vegetation. And the edge was steep, going straight down to who knows where. As soon as I saw it, my legs went limp as I toppled down to the ground. My eyes began to mist up yet again, not stopping, no matter how much I wanted.

There was dried blood and blade marks on the very edge. One mark was particularly deep, as if the tip of a sword stabbed the rock at this place, causing my heart to shudder. A faint sense of familiarity from the blood that covered the edge caused my heart to shiver.

Sorry… mother. Forgive your son, if I can even be termed that now. You gave your life to save me, and yet… I don’t even remember what happened. I don’t deserve to be your son. You gave me life, yet I… I… I only caused harm. Forgive me. I… I don’t even deserve to be sad, let alone shed tears. I am not worthy… not worthy to be called your son. I don’t deserve to live because… I was the reason for your death. Death of everyone who died here. And I am the one who ruined all the lives that day.

Unknowingly, my feet were moved on their own. I closed my only able eye as I left the ground beneath my feet behind. The sound of air screaming gradually grew stronger, as I couldn’t feel the weight of my body. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t open my eye. Every time I tried, my body would force it close. I could feel cold air hitting my body as it fell to its demise.

I’m sorry for all that happened… I’ll come over now and ask for your forgiveness, if I’m even qualified to do that.

A bitter smile spread across my face. My frantic thoughts had become as still as a lake with no ripples.

However, a few moments later, the sound of air assaulting my ear canals shrunk rapidly and I could feel my fall coming to a halt. Next, I felt my back hitting against something. My back tore open, causing an excruciating pain to spread all over. A cracking sound came from my right shoulder as the feeling within became numb. An instant later, something cold surrounding my body, making me unable to breathe.

Till the end, my eye didn’t open. I didn’t see what I crashed into, nor did I want to see. A sense of contentment flooded my mind.

It’s all over now. It’s alright.

Yet, there was just a slight corner within which felt a sense of incapacity, like a lone spec of dust in a world full of white.

Yet, before I could expand on it, my consciousness faded.

Within the veil of night, hundreds of figures clad in all sorts of armour advanced through a sea of trees, forming a total of 227 groups. Some groups ran across the ground, some jumped over the trees, and a few flew overhead in a neat formation, surveilling the area.

Amongst one of the groups charging at the forefront, a soldier turned to his superior as he asked in a low tone, “Commander Burt, is the place up ahead the rumoured forest?”

The superior turned his head to the soldier as he replied, “Yes, the forest up ahead is the forest in the tale of ascension of the new ‘lord’ of our nation. Over there, he defeated one of the major foes to his conquest while handing out justice. After they called a struggle of attrition, he bravely defeated one of the traitor’s most trusted allies, throwing a wrench in his atrocious plan and allowing him and the other enemies to be captured alive.”

The soldier who asked the question earlier laughed when he heard the response. Following his example, other soldiers began laughing.

Behind the helmet, their leader, Burt’s face darkened as he said, “Shut up you morons. Don’t make noise. We might tip off some beast group or even a patrolling force like this.”

“Come on commander, don’t be a wuss.” One soldier retorted, “While the rest of our regiment is out fighting at the border, they won’t have the time to send even a single soldier here, let alone scouts. As for beast groups, with you around, can they would pee themselves the moment they encounter us.”

“Haha, correct!” Another soldier laughed as he almost tripped.

Someone from the soldiers suggested, “This time, let’s get a lot of booze after we infiltrate. To party! And some meat as well! Not the rubbery one but the soft one!”

All the soldiers cheered in unison.

Burt squinted his eyes as he broke the atmosphere in an annoyed tone, “You all, focus! This time, our mission is very important. We must infiltrate successfully.”

Saying that, he searched through his pocket before taking out a glass bead. He looked at the bead for a while before pouring his arcana within. The bead glowed slightly as patterns appeared all over its surface. Burt looked around and nodded to his group.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed his racing heart before throwing the bead at the ground, thoroughly smashing it to bits.

The groups around his own began growing apart, like a firework scattering into sparks at the end of its flight.

A majority of the groups retreated while the remaining few charged ahead with vigour.

After checking that there were no groups in his immediate vicinity, Burt turned to his team of 24 as he said, “Now, listen carefully. Our real mission this time is to investigate a certain ancient relic for our dear lord.”

A soldier in the group exclaimed, “I knew there was something fishy!”

“No way!” Another soldier wanted to slap his thigh in realisation. “Are the rest…”

Burt gave an icy grin through his helmet as he said, “Cannon fodder. If they get their hands on something good, we all share in glory. If they die, then they sacrificed themselves valiantly for our nation. Well, now it sounds like something our lord would do, doesn’t it?"

The rest of the group broke into laughter as they charged onward into the distance.