Rain fell like blades over the ruins of Kareth'Varn Fortress. The sky, blackened by the ashes of the once majestic royal palace, now shattered and nowhere to be seen, seems to cry for something it still doesn't understand.
At the foot of his shattered throne, surrounded by allied and enemy bodies, blood and tears, weapons and banners an old Lior Vardas knelt, drenched in blood not quite sure if his or enemy, most likely both. His eyes, dark brown and unwavering,showed no regret. Just… irritation.
"So this is the end" he muttered, blood pouring from his mouth.
Dozens surrounded him, templars of the Church of Kaer'Thal, nobles for almost every house in the kingdom, only few remain loyal to him after all, exhausted knights, all in silence. None dared step closer.
No one dared to be the one to strike first. Even if the man kneeling in front of them no longer had the strength to get up, even if that man was already an old man, even if that man had already lost his life.
The pressure he emitted was not to be taken lightly. It was still the monster who had shattered five kingdoms, stood his ground against the almighty Empire and spat in the face of fate.
But Prince Revyn Halbrecht stepped forward.
His steps cracked over broken stone. His sword still steamed from fresh blood. His grip trembled—not from fear, but fury barely held in check.
He stood before the kneeling warlord and raised his blade.
"Any last words, Vardas?"
Lior glanced up, eyes half-lidded, a smirk playing at his lips—more amused than repentant.
The young prince that was pardoned had grown up to be a man who did not tremble even before the demon who once devastated his house and deprived him of his family.
"Yes" he said. "I failed".
Revyn's brow twitched.
"That's all?"
Lior chuckled, low and dry.
"No. But it's all your kind needs to hear."
Then he closed his eyes, as if welcoming the end—or daring it to come.
Darkness.
Not the darkness of sleep or death—but something older. Vaster.
A forest of roots floated around him, stretching as far as he could see. The stars above shimmered, as if watching… or fearing.
And in front of him stood the Great Tree .
It had no fixed form—only the overwhelming sense of branches that touched neither sky nor earth. A trunk made of time. Leaves whispering forgotten names.
And then, a voice.
It wasn't heard through ears. It was a thought pushed from within.A presence that echoed from the bone.
"Lior Vardas. Your cycle is complete."
He crossed his arms, bare before the immensity.
"That was it? Was the promise a lie?"
"No. The deal was clear. If you made enough mistakes… you would earn absolute power."
"And I failed even at that," he said with a bitter laugh. "Ironic enough for ten tragedies."
"You failed… but not enough."
Lior lifted his gaze. The branches of the Tree like tentacles stretching.
"So what now? Eternal damnation? An eternity in silence?"
"No. I shall give you one final chance."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Why?"
"You are not one who can ask nor should wonder about my motives."
Then something appeared.
A small seed floated before him. Bright. Alive. Within it, a cackling laugh, like the distilled concept of disaster.
"This is your new system. The Failure System."
Lior eyed it with interest. He reached out.
"A "System"? What is the purpose of this, what can a seed help me with to start"
"You will understand when u must, for now just accept it you will have more than enough time to explore all the possibilities that it can offer you."
Lior laughed. This time, genuinely. Then dark again.
He woke with a brutal gasp.
He opened his eyes to the same old ceiling. The wooden beams above him were cracked in the exact places he remembered. The air smelled of lavender and dust, just like it had, the day his father was buried. The walls were black stone, hung with banners marked with his family crest.
Lior sat up slowly.
"So I didn't come back far enough" he muttered.
His father was already gone.
Lord Elric Vardas, head of the once proud House, had died not on the battlefield, but in his own bedroom, stabbed from behind by a trusted knight.
No war. No honor. Just betrayal in the dark.
And Lior… had come back a few weeks too late to stop it.
"Tch." He rubbed his face. "I should have guessed it. Even now, fate mocks me."
But this time, he would not mourn.
This time, he would use that death. The world would believe the Vardas legacy had ended with Elric. Let them.
"Let them lower their guard. Let them laugh." Lior muttered.
They wouldn't laugh for long.
A full-length mirror showed his reflection. He wasn't the old man from a moments ago, no he had the face of a young man, with his dark brown hair, from his mother, and deep brown eyes, from his father.
Most people say that he was unlucky because he didn't get his mother's blue eyes or his father's golden hair, unlike his sister...
But there was one thing that stood out above the rest: his gaze. That gaze wasn't that of a young man, but rather that of someone who had seen everything humanity is capable of.
"…I'm back."
A sudden pain split his skull.
A notification blinked at the edge of his vision. Sarcastic. Cheerful. Insulting.
🎭 [Failure System Activated]
🎉🎉Congratulations!!🎉🎉, you're alive again. Probably a mistake though...
— Objective: Conquer the world through failure.
— Gain rewards for losing, betraying, misjudging, and being wonderfully reckless.
— Penalty for legitimate success: Probably none but I wouldn't risk finding out.
"A joke?" he muttered, smiling.
The he heard it, a voice that was not a voice. A presence that crawled into the back of his mind.
[Welcome, Master: Lior Vardas.]
[System of Failures — Version 1.0 — Successfully Bound.]
Lior blinked. "…What?"
[You have been selected by the Grand Tree. Congratulations.][Reason for Selection: You failed. Almost Gloriously.]
The words burned themselves into his vision, floating midair.
"Perfect..." Lior muttered, sarcasm thick in his throat.
[System Activated.]
[As a starting gift, you have unlocked: Minor Revelation - "Whispers Beneath the Estate."]
[Hint: Not all is dead in the old family crypt. Behind the garden lies a cave... forgotten by time.]
Lior narrowed his eyes. Then, for the first time in two lifetimes, he laughed.
"So... you're not just some curse dressed as a joke," he muttered. "What else can you do?"
For a moment, silence.
Then—
[System Response: Current Capabilities: Limited.]
[Future Features Unlockable through Sufficient Failure Thresholds.]
[Upcoming Access Includes:]
– [Failure Shop] --> Trade Failure Points for items, knowledge, and influence.
– [Territory Upgrades] -->Use resources to "accidentally" enhance your domain.
– [Historical Echoes] -->Glimpses into forgotten truths and hidden legacies.
– [????] --> [Locked: You haven't failed hard enough.]
Lior raised an eyebrow, amused. "So the more I lose, the more I win."
[Correct.]
[Lose brilliantly, Master Vardas.]
His grin widened.
"Good. Let's make history hate me properly this time."
A final message apeared before him, challenging him.
[You're back . Fail well. Fail hard. Fail until no one can stop you.]