Sami lay on the ground, his foot bleeding from the bullet, his body broken from the pressure, his mind weary from too much thought… He had completely failed.
Or rather, he hadn't failed; he hadn't even been given the chance to fail. He hadn't done anything at all… he had just been useless.
And yet, he survived.
The sky was turning the colors of dawn, and the smoke was beginning to clear.
The fighting hadn't stopped… it had ended.
He stared at the sky, thinking about everything that had happened to him.
His first ordeal hadn't held real meaning; he hadn't gained much power from it, but he had survived and ended it with merit.
After that, he entered the Colosseum, made friends contrary to his expectations… if they could even be called friends.
Then what? A direct attack on his second day, many died, and he himself suffered greatly.
"But it was good… it made me think, that's my drive. Isn't the life of a main character usually like this?"
Then the Colosseum stopped after two days. He didn't get to live the academy life he wanted, but it was okay.
He returned home, trained, learned more…
Then this attack came, and his clan was completely destroyed.
"What kind of nonsense is this…? If this is season one, please stop.
I don't want to see the rest of the episodes."
Sami wasn't a bad person, nor was he strong.
He wasn't accustomed to a harsh environment.
He had lived quietly and kindly…
He would feel sad for a whole day just from seeing a dead cat in the street.
He was kind…
Liked by everyone…
So why did everything change?
He never asked to suffer like this…
But this was his life now.
He had known that since his first ordeal.
It always breaks a person… and shows them their future.
And just as it ended, his future was filled with violence, fighting, sorrow, and loneliness.
This was his life now.
But he refused it.
Rather… he hated it.
He just wanted to go back to what he was… to his old self.
"Why did I become someone like this? I never wanted this…"
He crawled toward the nearest destroyed wall and leaned his body against it.
He slipped his trembling hand into his pocket and pulled out his notebook.
The same notebook he had risked his life for on the day of the Colosseum attack.
It was a little burnt and covered in debris…
He wiped it off with his hand and opened it.
On the first page was written:
"The victor never gives up…
And the one who gives up never wins…"
"If you truly want something, and are willing to sacrifice the whole world for it,
You will undoubtedly achieve it."
"Those who cannot bear suffering and pain… do not deserve peace and happiness."
Three sentences, seemingly written by himself.
They might seem silly or childish… but they had helped him.
He smiled despite the pain and put the notebook back in his pocket.
"The situation isn't that bad… I survived.
I just need to analyze everything."
He began to think slowly:
"The Colosseum attack was to kill that devil…
And it seems the Water Turtle was somehow involved. Maybe he was the spy…
And if I'm not mistaken, that Entity is the Sword Demon… the former Commander. That's good information.
It seems the Water Turtle somehow helped him achieve his goal:
Destroying the core of the Sorrowful Wind clan.
I don't understand the exact reason…
But it's okay, it doesn't matter in the big picture."
Suddenly, his train of thought stopped.
He remembered something…
"My siblings… I left them under that tree…
And it seems Mom wasn't home when I looked for her.
Makes sense… a woman of her power shouldn't have been there. She must have gone to defend the clan."
He thought of the others…
"Wasn't Young Eagle one of the nobles? I hope he survived…
And Niko lives in the lower districts with his sister… probably fine.
And Asia trains in the Colosseum, so she's safe.
But… why do I feel I forgot someone?
Oh… the romantic drama girl.
She's the Commander's daughter, and the attack clearly targeted him.
I assume she's fine… Let's hope everyone survived. I survived too.
And now, let's try to stand."
With difficulty, he gathered his strength and forced himself to stand.
He succeeded…
But the moment he straightened up, he fell flat on his face.
"Damn… I'm still weak. I'll stay here and wait for the clan's support…"
Suddenly, he glimpsed a misty shape approaching in the dawn light.
He could only make out the color red… Terror washed over him.
"Is it possible… no, impossible… the clan couldn't have been defeated like this,
even if the Sword Demon himself was the attacker."
But as the shape drew closer, its features became clearer. It was a girl.
And the red wasn't a majestic cloak as he had imagined, it was nothing but blood… she was completely drenched in it.
She was staggering, bleeding, and every step she took seemed to defy death itself.
Her iron will was what brought her back here, and nothing seemed able to stop her, not even this fierce bleeding.
She approached until she was standing directly over Sami, who stared at her in astonishment… he recognized her.
Her long black hair flowed like silk, her sharp eyes, her harmonious facial features… there was no doubt. It was her.
The daughter of the clan's Commander.
For a moment, Sami felt relief. But he soon noticed the other details…
Her white clothes were completely stained with blood. A deep wound on her left side, an arm bleeding nonstop, and her face… it didn't carry its usual sharpness, nor confidence, not even the shyness he used to see in her before.
She was utterly broken.
Tears streamed down her eyes profusely, making Sami feel a slight pain in his chest.
"Well, on second thought… this isn't strange."
"Unlike me, she never cared about the clan's affairs… She, the Commander's daughter, was raised for the clan and all it represents. And in one night, her clan was completely destroyed."
"Most likely… her father was killed, because the attack targeted him. And this place… I only just realized it now, this is the command center, the clan Commander's palace. This is her home."
"She's lost everything."
Sami looked up at her. She was frozen in place, looking around with tearful eyes and a face drowned in sorrow, looking like a sad piece of art.
He finally decided to speak. Despite his own problems, he felt he had to say something.
He said in a soft voice:
"Well… it seems it was a bad night, wasn't it?"
Then he sighed inwardly, "What a terrible way to console someone…"
He added:
"You must have suffered a lot."
She looked at him, as if finally noticing his presence.
She wiped her tears hurriedly, stared at him for a few moments, then said in a tired, whispery voice:
"Who are you?"
This wasn't surprising.
Sami was smeared with wounds and blood, wearing his torn gray home clothes, and his slicked-back hair changed his usual appearance. It wasn't strange that she wouldn't recognize him after having met him only once or twice at most.
Perhaps she was special to him, but to her, he was just another number… not special enough to be remembered.
He felt a pang of disappointment… but only a slight one.
He said quietly:
"I'm Sami… from the Colosseum's Bound Ones."
She looked at him in surprise:
"Sami? What are you doing here? And how did you survive?"
He replied:
"Honestly… I don't know. Some things happened."
She averted her gaze, then whispered slowly with her lips:
"Yes… It truly was a bad night. The clan is destroyed, we lost so many people… I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
Sami answered her, in a slightly lighter tone:
"I don't think you have to do anything now… you're exhausted.
I know your type of person… you blame yourselves for everything, even what isn't your fault.
Just… sit down. Take a breath, and we'll wait until morning."
She looked at him in surprise, then a small smile formed on her face, and she whispered:
"I… am really tired."
She sat down beside him but kept a distance between them.
He glanced at her for a moment, then averted his gaze.
He asked her:
"Did the attack stop?"
She answered:
"I don't know… but it suddenly disappeared, after destroying everything."
Sami said with a faint smile:
"Well… that's good, in a way."
She looked at him in astonishment:
"Good?! The clan is destroyed! So many died! What's good about that?!"
Sami smiled:
"If we look from a different angle… it means the vacation will be longer, right?"
His response surprised her, and she burst out laughing, despite her pain.
Sami laughed with her.
It was a scene worthy of any drama…
Two people, drenched in blood and wounds, sitting in the midst of a destroyed building's rubble, surrounded by burnt corpses and a burning neighborhood…
And yet, their laughter was the most beautiful thing in existence.
---
Under the glow of a new morning…
They were walking amidst the rubble with slow steps. Sami walking with difficulty, and beside him the blood-stained girl.
Shattered houses, burnt structures, and debris everywhere.
The clan had been completely destroyed, and it seemed this would be… its last day.
Sami thought:
"If the world wants to break me… I'll break the world."
A bold statement… and foolish,
Because he hadn't yet realized the kind of wager he had placed himself in.
And suddenly…
A massive yellow beam appeared from the horizon.
It was immense, terrifying, completely engulfing the city and its surroundings.
It covered everything: the destroyed district, the city, the farms, the Colosseum… dozens of kilometers.
In scattered places:
– Asia was in her room tending to her sword when the yellow color enveloped her.
– Niko was sitting on the edge of an old rooftop, looking towards the upper city, when the light swept over him.
– As for Young Eagle, he was asleep on the soil of an ornate grave when the same color engulfed him.
As for Sami… he watched the yellow beam approach, swallowing everything.
He looked around… everything vanished under this overwhelming light.
Everything became pale… then disappeared.
Nothing remained.
No street, no rubble, no people.
Just… pure yellow.
Then…
He vanished too.
The place where Sami and the clan Commander's daughter were walking just a moment ago…
Became completely empty.
---
Volume One of The Bane of Choice has ended.
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