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Setsuna stared at the hellish scene, gripping his spear's handle tightly. The corpses of hundreds of enemy soldiers, incinerated by his spear's flames, littered the ground.
Those consumed by the blaze, their heavy armor half-melted, likely had no time to feel regret. Did they feel pain?
(I killed them.)
Terror gripped Setsuna, belatedly. Too late. Far too late. He'd chosen to wield a weapon and step onto this battlefield. Excuses would only sound pathetic.
Yet, despite his cold rationality, his emotions recoiled at the consequences of his actions. His hands trembled, the shaking spreading through his body, reaching his heart.
(I killed people!)
Countless lives, snuffed out in an instant, so easily, so unexpectedly. He hadn't hesitated or even intended to kill. By the time he realized, the enemies before him were reduced to mangled corpses.
The power was terrifying.
The outcome, unimaginable.
He'd stayed calm only because the situation was so far beyond normal.
He'd crossed a line.
No matter his status as an Armed Summoner, he could never return to the boy he'd been. His hands, stained with invisible blood, had destroyed countless lives with brutal force.
Setsuna gritted his teeth. A torrent of emotions—guilt, horror—surged from his core, tormenting him. The moral code drilled into him since childhood, forbidding the taking of lives, now struck like a blade.
Even gripping the black spear couldn't quell the storm of emotions. The more he acknowledged the spear, the more his feelings raged, accusing him.
"Setsuna!" Faria's urgent cry came from far behind.
"!"
Setsuna snapped his head up, startled. His vision, locked on the battlefield's horrors, caught the glint of incoming objects, their tips brimming with lethal intent.
Too late to dodge.
(I'm going to die!?) His mind screamed. The fifteen arrows were unstoppable, even with his spear's power. Despair wasn't an option either it happened too fast, much like when he'd unleashed his flames, killing countless soldiers.
Yet, the arrows were shot down before reaching him, all at once.
Setsuna couldn't comprehend what happened. He only realized he was safe when a large hand slapped his back. The fact that the arrows were intercepted didn't even register.
"You okay, Setsuna?" Sigurd Folia's booming voice was almost painfully loud, but to Setsuna, teetering on the edge of losing himself, it was a lifeline.
"Y-yeah… somehow," Setsuna stammered, wincing at the sharp pain in his back despite his light armor. Such thin protection shouldn't hurt so much from a mere slap, but Sigurd's massive frame suggested otherwise.
"You seem fine. That's a relief," Jin Clair said, his smile bringing Setsuna a wave of calm. Only then did he grasp he'd survived. But what happened to the arrows?
They'd been on a perfect trajectory, unavoidable, yet missed their mark. Puzzled, Setsuna looked toward their origin but found no answers. Beyond the pile of corpses, Lux Vain stood, and farther still, the main battle raged. Logner's forces, gripped by panic, clashed with Gandia's main army. Leongand was out there, somewhere.
Had he seen the spear's flames?
"Man, that weapon of yours is something else," Sigurd said, eyeing the black spear. Setsuna felt a flush of embarrassment, perhaps a sign of growing attachment to the weapon.
This was only his third time summoning it, and much about it remained unknown. Still, he owed his presence here to the spear, and he had no reason to reject it only gratitude.
"That strike didn't just devastate their right wing," Jin said. "The shock of your power has rattled their entire army. It's sapped their morale, and low morale will surely crush their will to fight."
Setsuna was genuinely stunned by Jin's clear analysis. The spear's power was undeniable countless soldiers had perished in an instant. But to think it could shift the entire battle? Setsuna couldn't believe he'd done something so significant. He lacked the sense of accomplishment.
He'd only summoned the spear and unleashed its overwhelming power, the flames absorbed from Karan's blaze set free. He hadn't aimed to turn the tide or secure victory. He'd just followed Lux's advice: take down the enemies in front of him.
And this was the result.
Before him no, all around lay countless corpses, most killed by his spear's flames. They'd had no chance against the sudden inferno, likely unaware of its source.
Setsuna's frustration at his own inadequacy deepened. He couldn't even muster the will to rally himself.
"Numerically, they still have the advantage," Sigurd said, "but they can't recover now."
"That incompetent general of theirs makes it worse," Jin added.
"Exactly. Either the king's luck is stellar, or Logner's just stupid. Either way, works for us. Though, luck's always nice," Sigurd grinned.
"It's Logner's blunder, no doubt, but the king seized the moment, and Setsuna's the one who shaped this battlefield," Jin said.
Caught off guard, Setsuna looked up at Jin's intellectual face, still smiling. The praise left him flustered. So did the countless curious gazes from the mercenaries who'd gathered around him, free of hostility or malice but overwhelming nonetheless.
"Me… the key player?" Setsuna echoed, testing the words. He felt nothing. Could he take Jin's words at face value?
When he looked to Sigurd for answers, the captain returned a ferocious grin. "Hell yeah, you're the key! Anyone seeing this would agree." He gestured at the sea of charred corpses.
Each glance at them brought Setsuna a growing, reluctant realization: he'd killed them all.
"I'm damn glad you're not our enemy," Jin murmured, perhaps the highest praise Setsuna could receive.
"Right. Time for us to shine too," Sigurd said.
"Let's earn our pay, at least," Jin replied.
"Hell yeah!"
Sigurd stepped forward, scanning the mercenaries. Then, in a voice that threatened to burst Setsuna's eardrums, he roared, "Listen up, you bastards! Match Setsuna's performance, and you'll have all the gold and women you want!"
"Captain, that's impossible!"
"What do you take us for?"
"Even Captain Lux couldn't pull that off!"
Laughter erupted among the mercenaries, only to be drowned by Sigurd's bellow. "Don't talk like you've already given up! Get out there and do it!"
The deafening shout rattled Setsuna, but before he could protest, Sigurd charged toward the enemy like a gale, Jin and the nearly two hundred mercenaries following like a pack of ravenous beasts.
"Noisy bunch," Faria Belferia said, her voice like a cool breeze. "But maybe you need that to survive a battlefield."
Setsuna turned to her. With her monstrous bow in hand, she seemed… different.
"So, how's it feel to kill?" Her blunt question startled him.
He'd killed. Being called a key player didn't change that. But he had no words to respond.
"…" Setsuna looked at his spear. Not a drop of blood stained it. He hadn't slashed flesh or pierced skulls. He'd only unleashed flames. No intent, no will just fire. That's why he felt no real weight. But he wasn't foolish enough to use that as an excuse.
He wouldn't look away from the truth of his slaughter.
Even without blood on his hands, he'd taken lives.
"You crossed a line," Faria said coolly. "The line between commoner and warrior. No, you leaped it. That one strike took hundreds of lives."
Her words forced Setsuna to confront his actions anew.
A leap across the line that summed it up.
"Think you can go back to who you were? Impossible. You've killed countless people. When this battle ends, Logner's hatred will focus on you. War or not, they won't forgive someone who massacred their kin. There's no returning to yesterday."
"I'm not" Setsuna shouted, unable to contain his surging emotions. He had no way to suppress them.
But Faria's gaze silenced him. Beyond her lenses, her eyes held no malice, only genuine concern.
"I didn't say I want to go back…" he mumbled.
"You're right. My assumption. I'm sorry," Faria said, her apology sincere. Her immediate admission of fault stirred a vivid fondness in Setsuna. It was a small thing, but such sincerity mattered in human connections.
"No… I'm sorry," Setsuna said.
"It's fine. As long as you're safe, that's enough. But…"
"But?" he echoed, soothed by her words.
(As long as I'm safe…) Her kindness, even if not entirely heartfelt, warmed him. His cheeks softened slightly unavoidable, perhaps.
"No spell for summoning? That's cheating! You cheater!"
Faria's sudden ferocity and dramatic shift left Setsuna dumbfounded.