Death

“Hey.”

Roz heard a voice call out to him.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Who……?

“So lameeeee!”

The voice laughed.

“I never thought the great Alain Isebran would be this weak! Are you really the person I lost to?!”

A fist knocked on his head.

“Wake up, sleepyhead! You’ve still got work to do!”

“Just let me take my nap,” Roz muttered.

“And let those barbarians take my town?! No way!”

“What….?”

Roz opened his eyes.

A boy was kneeling in front of him, still knocking on his head. As Roz gazed upon the person’s face, it was like he was staring at the reflection of the sun. With such bright orange hair and a radiant smile, he felt a strange, yet comforting warmth on his chest.

“Quit staring at my handsome face and get up already, you idiot!” the boy slapped Roz’s face lightly.

“L-Lucian? But how?”

“That’s not important,” the boy said. “What is important is the future of this town.”

He stood up and extended his hand towards Roz.

“Well? What are you waiting for?!”

Roz bit his lip and looked away. “Lucian, I’m sorry for everything. I don’t expect you to forgive me for what I did to you, but please, just know that I’m trying to make things right!”

Lucian’s lips curled down. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Come on, stop being such an apologetic crybaby! I never blamed you for what happened anyway!”

“What….?”

“It’s not your fault, so can you please stop acting like a wimp and take my hand already?!”

“I see….”

Roz grabbed Lucian’s hand and pulled himself up.

“There you go! That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” The boy gave him a smile.

“Thanks.”

Lucian patted his back and started walking behind him.

“Now go take down that stupid barbarian. You’re my rival, so there’s no way you’d lose right?”

Roz smirked. “Right.”

“See ya in the afterlife, brother. And uh-please take it easy on my idiot obsessive sister, okay?”

Roz turned back, only to see that Lucian had disappeared.

Whether it was truly Lucian or a figment of his imagination, he would never know. What mattered was what was in front of him and his duty to Bordertown.

“Soul of Invention: Ice Dagger.”

My last spell.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t get back up again, you ice bastard!” Taiga yelled at him.

“Roz! You’re alright!” Lupa sniffled and wiped away her tears.

“How dare you pass out in the middle of the fight!” Bianca crossed her arms and looked away. “I would have killed you if you did!”

“If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me, hehe.” Sonia raised her arm. “My spell was far too unstable.” The elf looked as drained as a dried grape. The Restoration spell she casted on Roz must have taken a toll on her body, so it was nothing to be surprised about.

“Make sure you take down that perverted chief, Roz!” Bianca said. “I’m counting on you!”

Roz nodded at turned to face Taiga once more, spinning the dagger on his hand. He took the first step and sprinted forward. Taiga moved right after, his eyes filled with a composed thrist for blood. As they both moved closer to each other, Roz tried to predict what kind of Soul Art he would have.

He tried to close the distance, so he can’t be a Dominator. He can’t be an Inventor or an Evoker either because he hasn’t summoned or created anything. He’s most likely an Annihilator.

Taiga swung his axe first. Roz stepped back and kept his distance. He had to stay cautious. Roz was unsure on what his Soul Art could be, so he had to figure that out first. Meanwhile, Taiga was the complete opposite, chasing after Roz with his axe and trying to close the gap between them.

“Are you just going to run away from me?!” he laughed as he swung his axe around.

“What is your Soul Art?” Roz asked him.

“That’s a secret.” He stuck his tongue.

Taiga threw a kick towards Roz’s head, catching him off-guard. His limbs were longer than he had anticipated. Roz managed to block Taiga’s leg with his forearm, but he felt something crack deep inside.

He winced and leapt further back.

Not only were his limbs long, they were also capable of dealing powerful blows. Roz acknowledged the man’s muscular physique.

His demeanor may not show it, but I’m certain that he’s a man who was disciplined enough to push his body to its absolute limits. Transmutators wouldn’t need to train that hard.

Taiga swung his axe sideways, making Roz duck, but then he spun around and launched a back kick straight towards Roz’s abdomen. Roz gasped for air and clutched his stomach in pain. He tried to do a sweeping kick for one of Taiga’s legs, but the barbarian chief lifted it up on time and countered with a kick using his other leg. Roz extended his head away from Taiga’s leg and rolled backwards before standing back up again.

“You’re so agile. No wonder the barbarians had trouble with you,” Taiga said.

Roz narrowed his eyes. “Why won’t you show me your Soul Art? Are you underestimating me?”

Taiga shrugged him off. “Who knows?”

He thrusted the axe forward, forcing Roz to block the blunt end of the metal head right before leaping upward to kick with his knee. Roz weaved away from Taiga’s leg and countered with a slash through Taiga’s side, giving him a minor cut. Roz followed up with a thrust aimed straight towards Taiga’s heart, but Taiga managed to catch his arm before it could land right against his skin. Taiga was about to crush his arm, however, Roz let go of the dagger, caught it with his other hand and sliced Taiga’s arm. The barbarian chief grunted in pain, releasing Roz’s arm.

If he were a Restorer, he would have tried to heal his wounds by now. Navigator sounds like a stretch too, so he might really be an Annihilator.

After what had happened just now, Taiga started being more cautious with his movements. He and Roz both moved around in circles, none of them making a single move. They were waiting for the other to strike, or at least, they were waiting for the opportunity to strike. Either way, someone was going to break the stalemate, it was only a matter of when.

He’s too patient for an Annihilator. If he were, it would be faster if he just used his abilities on me. So what could he possibly be? Is he just trying to mess with my mind?

Taiga smirked.

He knelt down to the ground, then he threw some dirt on Roz’s face.

“Surprise!”

Roz shielded his eyes on reflex, giving the warrior chief an opportunity to strike.

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Taiga slammed his axe down on the blind Roz, but the sneaky vigilante was still able to evade the incoming attack.

“I figured it out,” Roz said.

“Figured out what?” Taiga wondered what he was on about.

“You never had a Soul Art to begin with.”

Taiga’s golden eyes widened. The crimson-haired barbarian became too stunned to speak. Then, his lips curled into an amused grin. He brushed his long hair upward and burst out into a fit of laughter.

“Truly, truly what a clever bastard you are! Consider me impressed!” he said. “It’s true. I really don’t have a Soul Art.”

“But it doesn’t make sense. How could someone without a Soul Art rule over the powerful Crimson Desert Tribe?”

As Roz uttered those words, Taiga’s lips morphed into cold, bitter lines.

“I don’t need it.”

Taiga extended his hands up into the air and looked up to the sky.

‘Everyone told me that I wasn’t going to amount to anything,” he said. “Without a Soul Art, I was nothing but a weakling who would forever be at the very bottom of the tribe. Yet I crawled my way to the top with my own strength, and my strength alone. With nothing but my blood, sweat and tears. The odds mean nothing to me. I am the one who overcomes all!”

The proud warrior pointed his axe at Roz with a sneer.

“Your Soul Art means nothing to me!” he cackled.

Roz chuckled. He may have hated Taiga, but he had to give the opponent his respect. He was always one to appreciate hard work and dedication. A thought came into his mind. Perhaps if Taiga wasn’t born a barbarian, they might have been very good friends.

“But this final blade of mine means everything to me,” Roz said.

He spun his dagger around his hand, then he dashed forward and lunged at the barbarian. Taiga deflected the attack sideways with his axe and countered with a swing of the leg, but Roz had already seen this play out before. He weaved his body away to evade the man’s kick and tried to close the gap again. The two duelists continued to swing their weapons at each other, dancing back and forth in a tango without landing even a single hit. Metal clashed against ice and ice clashed against metal, neither of them willing to take the fall. It had become clear to them that they could both predict each other's moves. Roz knew exactly when Taiga would swing his axe and his kicks, while Taiga could read Roz’s feints and counters like a book. This was going to be decided by a battle of endurance.

However, Roz knew he didn’t have the luxury of time. He was already bleeding from his previous injuries, and it felt like he was on the verge of passing out at a moment’s notice. He couldn’t stay focused forever. Roz had to end things here and now.

“You don’t look so good, Roz,” Taiga taunted.

Roz wiped off the sweat on his brow. “I’ve never felt better.”

He scoffed. “What a stubborn man. You should have run away when you had the chance.”

“Run?” Roz tilted his head and looked at him with a frigid gaze. “Why would I need to run?”

There was no point in thinking about it anymore. Roz had to try it.

“I do not fear death,” he muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Taiga couldn’t hear him.

Roz lunged forward with his entire body, invading the barbarian’s area of swing. He was far too close to leap away now, this was a gamble he could no longer back down on.

“Y-You crazy bastard!”

Taiga never predicted that Roz would take such a risk. The ice guardian’s body was wide open for the taking. All he had to do was swing. But the barbarian was a split second too late. Roz threw his dagger straight towards Taiga’s foot, distracting the warrior with excruciating pain.

“ARGGHHHHHH!”

Before Taiga could regain his senses, Roz struck his fist straight through the man’s solar plexus, cutting off the air in his lungs and swung his foot right against the temple of his head. Taiga staggered back from the blows, but his dagger pinned on his foot made him lose his balance and crash down to the floor. Immediately right after the barbarian fell, Roz pulled out the dagger from his foot, gripped it with the underhand, and sank it straight through his heart.

At least that was what it looked like.

Taiga managed to catch his arm right as the dagger managed to pierce through his skin. He clenched his teeth and glared at Roz with vicious eyes.

“I am the one who overcomes all!” he yelled and tried to push back.

At this very moment, Roz had finally found his equal in terms of physical strength. The ice dagger was stuck in place. Both of them refused to budge. One of them was trying to keep his life, while the other was trying to take it. Roz grunted as he pushed down with all of his might. He knew this was his only chance left. He had to give it his all. For Bordertown. For Lupa. For Bianca. For Sonia. For Amity. For Lucian.

But Taiga’s ego was unwilling to let him die. They both had their reasons for fighting. It was only a matter of whose will was stronger.

Glinting steel caught Roz’s eye. The sight alone made him soften his grip a tiny bit, allowing Taiga to push the dagger further upward.

“You’re getting weaker, Roz!” Taiga spat at him.

“Sometimes, you have to learn to let things go,” he replied.

Roz released the blade and jumped away from Taiga, right towards where the barbarian’s axe had fallen.

“I will never die!” Taiga yelled as he threw away the dagger.

Roz hurled the axe straight through the barbarian’s skull, ending his life with those final words.

Did I do it?

Roz stood back up and walked over to the body. There was no doubt about it. The barbarian chief had an axe struck deep inside his skull, and his eyes had lost the color of life inside of them.

“It was a good duel.”

Roz raised his fist up in the air, basking himself in the glory of the sunlight.

Then, he fell down to the floor with a smile on his face.

I did it, Lucian. I finally did it. I fulfilled my purpose. I’ll leave the rest up to the others.

Now, I can finally take a long, hard nap.