A man stood with a katana in his hands, he looked around at the men surrounding him with a smirk on his face.
His red eyes glowed, and the wind made his white hair stained with blood flutter.
Around him were bodies piled on the soil, blood and sand mixed at his feet. He grinned wildly as his gaze pierced through the numbers and landed on a man with black hair and blue eyes.
"Andrew, you never believed I would stand right now, did you? I love that look of anger on your face right now, it is giving me all the satisfaction I need." He said as he lunged forward with his bloodied body and slaughtered the surrounding henchmen.
Andrew's face was contorted with rage, how much he had wanted this pompous fool to die, but even now he had bested his elite vanguard, he hated this brother of his with so much passion. After their father the king died, they all descended upon themselves, slaughtering each other to gain the throne, but this fool didn't fight for himself, he fought for his younger brother against him his twin brother.
Andrew watched as more of his elite force around him died. He wanted to kill him, but he knew that his brother, the best swordsman in the realm, was more powerful than him by a great margin, so he strategized to use numbers to overwhelm him, but that didn't work.
The sounds of clashing swords reduced and on the bloodied field stood two men. Andrew watched as his brother, who shared the same looks, aside the hair color, tossed the dead body in his hands on the sand.
"I never expected you to go this far for our little brother, against me, your twin. We shared everything until that event three decades ago and since then you have refused to agree with me or listen to me, ever again. Why Brother?" Andrew said. Unsheathing his great sword, strapped across his back.
"First, I no longer see you as my brother, you sly, venomous hypocrite. Secondly, Erwin has a good head above his shoulders, since you have killed every other vermin or should I say brothers who stood his way, I would rather kill you myself and die after than see you get close to him." The white-haired man said.
"Victor, you are no longer a child. Erwin is naive and foolish. How do you expect him to handle the ministers? Do you wish to see the kingdom our father and mothers build come down, in the name of good deeds?" Andrew replied with rage seething in his voice.
"Father? Mothers? I only had one mother, and you killed her to prove your loyalty to that bastard, Leonidas. Good riddance that he is dead now, but it is only you, I wish to kill after you have killed our birth mother, for your selfish desire to be recognised by that stupid prick. Tell me why should I care about a legacy he and his other women built?" Victor said as he waved the sword in his hands.
"Enough stalling, I am already getting weaker after losing so much blood. Well, that was your plan from the get-go. Let us battle now, brother, if you are worried about the kingdom's safety from the ministers. I will tell you my backup plan when you are drawing your last breath." He said as he stepped forward and drew an arc with his sword.
Andrew and Victor fought brutally. Victor narrowly dodged Andrew's attack as he clashed with his brother's great sword with a katana.
As they separated, Andrew used the momentum to cleave downwards as his great sword shattered his brother's katana and cleaved into his shoulders.
Victor, on the other hand, smirked as though he didn't feel the sword in his shoulders and moved forward, stabbing the broken blade into his brother's chest.
Andrew lost his strength as his expression morphed from shock to pain, then resignation.
Both of them fell on their knees on the bloodied sand as Andrew fell forward into his brother's arms.
"Finally, I feel the burden go off my chest, even if your weight now leans on it. I have avenged you, Mother. I know you must be sad seeing your two sons dying like this, but your daughter, our sister, will live for us and you." Victor said as he stared into the air.
Andrew's breath became laboured as his voice weakly came and said, "Tell me the insurance you have kept for our younger brother."
Victor looked at his twin, who now grew paler and drew his last breaths, "Well brother, our little sister Kira will be with our brother. I promised her your head in return for her devotion. Since I have fulfilled my promise now, she will do so. Just like our mother, Kira is also a woman of her word." Victor said as he removed the great sword stuck on his shoulders.
Standing up while his blood flowed down on his left arm, he looked at Andrew and said, "Any last words?"
"I am sorry for betraying our family, forgive me, Brother." Andrew said.
Victor looked at him briefly and sighed, "I will hold no grudges against the dead. I forgive you, Brother."
He cleaved Andrew's head with the great sword and picked it up. Walking back, the ground trembled slightly and as he raised his head he saw a boy with black hair, a girl with white hair and red eyes just like his, along with a troop riding towards him on horses.
As he saw them, his body became weaker, and he dropped to his knees. The horses approached as the girl hurried down, with tears on her face.
"Brother, don't die on me, please I beg of you, don't die here." She held him as she broke down wailing.
"Where is the healer? Come and treat my brother now." A male voice said with anxiety echoing through his words.
A man jumped down from his horse and muttered some words as a bright light enveloped Victor's body.
Victor's eyes opened weakly as he held his sister, "I fulfilled my end of the bargain, keep your promise to me, and don't worry, my two disciples will be with both of you. Thank you, Maxwell, but I will die anyway, so don't waste your mana on me."
"Sir, please, allow me to try." The healer said.
"Maxwell, Jonas, Eldon, you are the captains of the army. Keep my siblings safe. I am leaving them in your responsible hands. Arthur, Juliet, do not tell me you want to keep grudges against your master on his deathbed."
As Victor spoke, a man and a lady in their early twenties appeared before him. Their eyes were dripping with tears, but their gazes were unwilling.
"I am sorry, all of you, I have taught you all I have to teach. I was born without magic, but both of you with great magic talents respected me anyway. I am honored to have both of you. My journey ends here. Take care of yourselves, my disciples." Victor spoke as his gaze fell dim and his hand fell.
After closing his eyes, Victor felt himself falling into an infinite space, and then he felt his feet standing on a surface. When he opened his eyes, he saw himself before a black throne, and a being covered in darkness sitting on it.
"Who are you?" He asked.