Chapter 36: Your resolve

“RAHHHHHHHHHH!”

A jarring roar shook the battlefield, sending tremors through the earth below.

Soldiers ran, their movements frantic.

“Take cover, it’s the titans.”

“Shit! Run… retreat.”

“Protect the Eastern gate.”

“Run… c-captain, where’s the captain.”

“I-I don’t want to die.”

“We’re all gonna die.”

“Save me… arghhhh, help oh gods—ahhhhh”

The battlefield was an absolute nightmare, the earth rumbled like thundering quakes, trees splintered from the sheer force of their approach.

The Titans.

Nightmarish horrors beyond the scope of what mortals could handle.

They appeared on the battlefield, carving a path of blood and corpses in their wake.

Every movement claimed the life of a random soldier, even smaller beasts fell victim to the devastation; they didn’t discriminate between allies or enemies, they only killed.

The first Titan which the soldiers referred to as Misery was a monstrosity so grotesque, even laying eyes on it was enough to terrify a seasoned warrior.

It was vast, not by a small comparison, even mountains felt like an ant mould in its presence.

Two elongated fangs curled like ivory scythes, each one easily as long as a war horse.

Muscles rippled beneath its frame with predatory grace, yet despite its size its source of terror lay somewhere else.

Its hide.

The aberrant sabertooth tiger known as Misery didn’t possess furs as one would expect, instead its skin was a patchwork of anguished faces, human faces to be precise.

When it roared, the faces wailed, mouths gape silently in mid-scream.

It was just too repulsive to stare at.

And that was just one of the three horrors devastating the battlefield.

The second Titan was a collosal serpent.

Its abyssal scales gleamed like polished obsidian, each one edged with a green sheen which pulsed like heartbeats.

Two heads sat on its sinuous neck each one the same yet different.

From the midsection of its body extended two grotesque appendages, sinewy limbs tipped with hooked claws which dug the earth with each movement the abyssal serpent made.

The third Titan was more peculiar than the rest.

It appeared during the night, like a moon fallen from the sky.

A collosal skull floated in the air, it’s bones bleached beyond ivory, almost luminous.

Its eye sockets were like cavernous voids, each one deeper than the night sky.

Its jaws hung beneath, with teeth clacking together to release an ominous noise.

The air around it warped, as if rejecting its very presence.

From the hollow darkness of its cranium and jaws, man-eating vultures spilled endlessly. It felt as though the skull was a cracked urn releasing streams of blackness with wings beating in constant frenzy.

For every hour a wave passed, another would follow.

Every single soldier instinctively knew that it was a battle that couldn’t be won.

Yet even in the face of this nightmare, hope wasn’t lost.

A lone hero stood.

A madman, some called him.

Suicidal, others would say.

But they knew one thing.

No matter how devastating the battlefield became, no matter how impossible it seemed, he never ran.

He always stood, alone, lonely and fearless.

Despite the names they called him, only one name stuck, reverered by all.

A beacon of hope to humanity.

The lone star.

****

Elias watched the sunset from the peak of a mountain.

His blonde hair—Now long and disheveled—Had lost its luster, taking on a pale wheat color.

Blue eyes which were once intelligent now carried a glossy lifeless look.

A sigh escaped his dry lips as he stared at the scenery below.

His gauntleted fists grabbed the sword at his side.

A holy longsword forged from mystical steel, with gold accents decorating the pummel.

Even in this grim battlefield the sword looked regal in every sense.

“What will you do? Will you still fight?” a voice asked.

Elias stared at the sword within his grasp.

He let out a humorless laugh then scoffed.

“Why ask Sol? You already know my answer.”

The blade hummed.

“Was twenty seven deaths not enough to break you? After twenty seven failures, why do you still fight, what are you fighting for?”

“What am I fighting for?” Elias repeated.”Truthfully… I don’t know.”

He was confused, ever since he entered this strange place, he’d always been at war.

One moment, he was sleeping within the cave where Azazel had promised to keep watch, and the next moment he heard a voice saying he was going to be tested.

After that he was suddenly transferred to a different space where he met Sol, a divine sword or so it claimed.

The blade had explained that it was a relic of Amun Rá, the sun god and the reason for his trail.

’To claim Sol.’

Elias sighed.

Thinking back at it, was it really worth it?

For as long he could remember, he’d wanted nothing more than to wield the power he had now in this endless fantasy he was forced to repeat.

But at what cost.

Gone was the lavish life he once knew, heck he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d heard his sister’s voice.

’Veyre… by the end of this will I truly be able to shoulder your burdens.’

“I don’t know what I’m fighting for, I don’t know how many more loops it’d take before I lose myself completely, but… I’ll fight, even if I’m the only left on this battlefield, I’ll fight even if I’m on my last breath, if It means I’ll be able to leave this place then I’ll fight, no matter how many loops it takes, I won’t ever give up.” He clenched his jaws.

His eyes gleamed subtly with strange golden hue.

A wave of gold flowed onto Sol’s surface , covering the entire blade in a burning aura which blazed like the sun.

Sol resonated, vibrating aggressively in satisfaction.

“For a kid who was nothing but a sack of bones when he first started my trial, you aren’t half bad.” It remarked.

The golden aura converged into a single point at the tip of the blade,

Elias exhaled, steadying his breathing and heartbeat to match the tempo of Sol’s thrumming.

In the next second his eyes blazed and a string of words escaped his lips.

“Sword heart, final stance.”

When the divine’s sword thrumming had reached its crescendo, Elias slashed.

Sreeee…

“Solar severance.”

A thin streak of light followed the path of the slash with blinding speed.

A cacophony of wails reverberated across the battlefield, blood spilled like crimson rain while beasts scattered in a frenzy.

Elias expression grew taut, he clicked his tongue in mild annoyance.

“Too shallow.” he said.

Muscles coiled like spring, exploding with force as he launched himself into the beast horde below.

What followed next was a massacre on a grandiose scale.

Elias ducked as a claw slashed at his head, using the force of its momentum he grabbed the beast by the wrist then slammed it to the ground.

His sword dug deep into the creature’s hide, ending its life in that instant.

The next creature opened its maw to maul him but Elias was faster, sol glinted with holy radiance ending the creature’s pathetic attempt.

Elias adjusted his stance, both hands held the pummel of the longsword, torso steadied for a more explosive attack while his footwork was quick and nimble.

Noticing the lone Star holding the beast horde back all on his own, a strange feeling ignited deep within their heart.

A battle cry tore from the throat of the legion commander, instantly boosting the morale of his men.

“For humanity!” He yelled.

A chorus of voices answered in unison.

“FOR HUMANITY!!!”

Steel met claws and shields resisted canines.

They fought like mad men with nothing to lose because they knew, there was no escaping the Titans.

So why die a dog’s death? As soldiers it was their duty to ensure the peace of their nation or die trying and that was precisely what they were doing.

Elias fought the fiercest of them all, taking down more than half of the monster horde himself.

However, by the end of it, it wasn’t simply enough.

For the first time since the seemingly endless loop, Elias had killed the Titans.

Misery lay motionlessly on the dusty sands below, the patchworks of anguished faces went quiet as well.

The abyssal serpent was missing one of its head while the other was riddled with cuts which oozed out a viscous green venom.

The third Titan, the carrion of the endless lay broken on the floor, its bones broken and scattered in various directions.

Elias had his kneel on the ground while his hands rested on the hilt of his blade.

Another hand covered a gaping hole in his chest, a parting gift the abyssal serpent had viciously left him.

His breathing became labored the more time passed.

It had taken him four days of nonstop fighting to kill the Titans.

Elias wanted nothing more than to close his eyes, even the soldiers who’d fought bravely alongside him had passed on in the end.

’Maybe I cou—’

He never got to complete his thoughts because at that moment an earth shattering roar sent his body into a state of panic.

Far into the distance Elias could see an army of titans, just like Misery and the abyssal serpent, they were ridiculously huge, colossal creatures which made mountains seem like a footstool.

Elias’s expression gave way to fear and acceptance.

The sheer scale of the army, it wasn’t something he could handle.

Gritting his teeth, he winced as he got up.

Coughing up a mouth full of blood, he steadied himself… then waited.

However the horde never came, instead it was Sol’s voice that sounded.

“Hahaha, you were actually thinking of fighting them, I don’t know whether to call you stupid or just hopelessly brave.”

It lingered for a breath then continued.

“You proved your resolve Elias, you’ve passed my test. I sol accept you as my master as you would to me, a companion.”

Elias was dumbfounded, his mind was too broken to even process what was happening.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a single sound, Sol pierced his chest with its blade wrapped in gold radiance.

“Let us become one, child of Rá.” it said.

And then…

Everything went black.

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