[Romulus POV]
The explosion of mana blinked out. I stood frozen, tense waiting as the smoke slowly dissipated.
Opposite me a comet of gold flickered into life.
"Haaahhh", I exhaled, letting out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding..
Vedici was still alive…
His armour was wrent apart, revealing large gashes all over his body from where my attack had landed. He was breathing heavily, barely upright.
Not that I was in much of a better shape. Despite my best efforts, my hands couldn't stop trembling. My body had its own score of wounds and burns where his holy mana had scoured me.
I chuckled. 'He's become quite the pro at holy magic.' Holy affinity hurts like hell. That made me laugh louder.
"Hey Vedici" I called across the smoke.
"What?"
"Your holy affinity hurts like hell!"
Then I laughed again, louder, almost manically.
Man it felt good to laugh.
After a moment, his deep chuckle joined mine….and for a small time, we weren't enemies who had been trying to kill each other.
We were brothers again, enjoying a dumb joke that no one else would've laughed at.
Then the laughter died away, and the cold silence returned.
"Why?" Vedici whispered, his voice quiet but still fierce enough to carry across the distance between us.
"Why?" I mused. "Because no matter how good you are Vedici…you are a noble. You didn't understand how common folk were treated. How we were treated."
"I always treated you well Romulus."
I nodded. "You did…always. But what of the others? I was lucky, but not everyone had a friend like mine. Not every commoner had someone…like you."
"I would've helped you" he replied, voice growing angry. "For Fuck Sake Romulus…I would've helped you. Do you think what you're doing now is going to change anything? What if you get independence, what then?
What if in your own little country you manage to establish equality. What then? Are you happy to abandon the rest of the Thoracen Empire commoners to their treatment."
I grit my teeth, his words hitting home. "You don't understand" I growled. "There's more to it than that. I have to do this…I don't want to."
"Why?" He repeated, his voice pleading. Desperate.
I stayed silent. There was so much Vedici didn't know. About me, my past. For a moment I regretted it.
'Maybe if I had truly told him everything, it would've turned out different. Maybe…may- No!' I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts.
'I've walked my path, far too late to start looking back now.'
"Hey Vedici" I called.
There was silence.
"If I don't win, I want to let you know. I placed letters in my house detailing my plans to betray you. It should save your house from any incrimination….this - me, it was never meant to be about betraying you. I need you to know that."
"I know."
"And another thing…if I die, please apologise to her in my stead."
"I'll expect I'll have to do a lot of that."
I nodded, that was everything, the last of my loose ends tied.
Then I flared my mana, feeling it reinvigorate my breaking body. A similar wave of golden mana erupted from ahead of me.
I could feel it, and I know he did too.
We were reaching the end of our fight, one of us was going to die now.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I carved a sword from mana. It glowed living green, pulsing not with anticipation but sorrow.
'I am sorry Valaria.'
.....
"Congratulations" the headmaster of the Royal Thoracen Academy called. In all my years, I had only heard him once before. When he congratulated us for entering the academy.
The headmaster rarely interacted with the students of the academy.
'Had it been five years already?' It felt like yesterday I entered this place.
Next to me Vedici crossed his arms, dark eyes fixed on the headmaster in a serious expression.
"As stoic as ever" I teased, nudging him slightly.
This time, Vedici never took to my teasing. Instead he stayed silent.
I paused. "What's on your mind?"
Vedici turned to me, his gaze intense. "Romulus, what are you planning to do now?"
"Not sure."
"Why don't you come under my family's employ."
I paused.
Vedici rushed on, his words coming out in a tumble. "I know we're just a Barony, but I promise I'll make sure you're treated properly.
You won't have to obey commands from me that you don't want to. I'd give you lodging in my estate, hell I'd give you your own if you want. Just d-"
I broke out into laughter, cutting him off. "This been on your mind for a while huh? Sure, sure I'll join your family Vedici. Why not?"
Vedici broke out in a rare toothy grin. "Nice."
....
Weeks later, I was entering the Redorist estate, trying not to make my eyes pop out of my head.
"Come on then" Vedici growled gruffly as the carriage rolled to a stop. Despite his tone, I could tell he was excited to show me inside.
I chuckled. Those who didn't know Vedici well would see him as firm. Gruff, grizzled despite his youth, not too unlike a bear.
Everyone who did know him well though, knew he was more of a man-child than anything else, once you got through that rough exterior.
The house was larger than everything I had ever seen. But then again, I lived in the slums where houses didn't exist, so I guess my standards weren't exactly up to code.
As we entered through the large wooden doors a feminine voice caught my attention.
"Brother?"
I looked up to see a lady with long dark hair, and eyes like liquid pools of midnight look down at us. With fair skin and regal features.
'Beautiful.'
That's all I could think of. The most beautiful person I'd ever laid eyes on. My heart skipped a beat as she locked eyes with me, and for a moment I forgot myself, lost in her gaze like some drunken fool.
"Who's he brother?" She asked disdainfully.
My reverie shattered. Quickly I averted my gaze. 'Brother? Was that Vedici's twin sister he'd always talk about.'
"Damn" I breathed softly.
I could see Vedici eyeing me through the corner of his eyes, but I kept my gaze locked onto the floor, pretending to be morbidly interested in its patterns.
'What a liar' I thought sadly. 'How are they twins? She looks like an angel, and he looks like an inverted bull. There's no way they share blood.'
"Hello Valaria" Vedici replied. "This is my close friend" he replied, placing his arm around my shoulder. "And I consider him a brother."
......….
Two years passed since I first stepped into the Redorist estate. I walked with the gardens with Valaria, enjoying the rare moments of peace.
"Are you going to tell him?" She asked nervously.
I hesitated. "I will" I replied slowly, hesitantly. Everytime I thought about telling him, the only thing I could picture was Vedici running me through with that spear he loved so much.
She nodded. "Good."
"…But maybe I'll tell him by messenger… when I'm a thousand miles away. That way he might've cooled down a bit by the time he gets to me…hopefully."
She chuckled softly. "Your overreacting Romulus. My brother isn't like that."
I snorted. Obviously Valaria had never seen Vedici angry.
She led me through the maze of bushes expertly. I knew she had long memorised its layout as a girl.
Despite it being night time, there was an abundance of silvery light from a bright starry sky, its gentle glow only enhancing her ethereal look.
She locked eyes with me, smiling.
I paused, seeing beyond the honey trap.
She was smiling….a little too widely.
That was her smile when she was setting me up. I narrowed my eyes, "what did you do?"
"Ahh Romulus, finally!" A firm deep voice called from in front of me. "What did you want to talk to me here about?"
I froze.
Ahead of me the maze opened out into a balcony looking down on the rest of the gardens that flowed down the mountain where the Redorist estate was built on. And leaning on that balcony was Vedici.
I turned to see the Valaria was already walking away. She flashed me a thumbs up, dark eyes glittering with amusement.
'That little she-devil. I take it back, they're definitely siblings.'
"Romulus?"
Turning back to Vedici flashed an unsure smile, walking closer to him.
'Might as well' I thought resignedly, rubbing my stomach in the place where I expected Vedici's spear was going to run through. I joined him at the balcony, my eyes fixed forward on the grounds ahead.
"Yeah, I do have something to tell you."
Vedici frowned. "Well, get on with it then."
"I need your blessing, Vedici."
"Blessing? Blessing for what? Romulus just tell me, you know I hate dancing around the subject."
I sighed. 'Here goes nothing.' "I want to marry Valaria."
Silence.
I didn't dare turn my head. Didn't dare look at the expression on Vedici's face.
But the silence continued to stretch painstakingly, so, despite my fear, I turned to look at him.
I expected rage. Anger. Shock, betrayal. Maybe even disgust.
What I didn't expect was joy. Pure, unfiltered, shimmering joy. Vedici was grinning wildly, practically shaking with excitement.
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "You're okay with it?"
"Okay with it?" Vedici replied dazed. "Fuck sake I've been waiting for it for years. Now we're finally going to be real brothers. What took you so long to ask, for a moment I thought you swung the other way."
"You knew" I breathed, dazed. "You knew I liked her?"
Vedici roared with laughter. "I knew on the first damn day you came here, looking like a lost puppy when you saw her."
I grit my teeth. "I wasn't looking like that" I muttered.
Vedici laughed. "Forget that, when is the wedding going to be?"
"Soon" I smiled, masking my thoughts. 'As soon as I finish wrapping up some old problems.' Just thinking about it made me feel a wave of guilt and fear, but I fought it down.
'Not today.'
Vedici grabbed my shoulder. "Tonight we're going out. Not as knights, but as brothers. Tonight will be a night to remember."
I laughed back, corrupted by Vedici's infectious joy. "I think you're right."
...…..
I shot forward, my mana blade pulsing with energy, pouring every last ounce of my strength into the strike.
Vedici did the same, Ascension glowing like a sliver of the sun. His mana surged, intensifying, stacking upon itself like an unstoppable tide.
'Another move?'
Through the deafening roar of power, I heard his voice—calm, resolute.
"Holy Series, Final Strike—Faith's Crucifixion."
The moment those words left his lips, his mana tripled. The sheer force of it pressed against me, suffocating, an overwhelming radiance that burned through the battlefield.
I staggered backward, heart pounding. 'How much stronger can you get? How much more!?'
Vedici took a step forward, and in that instant, I knew—I wasn't going to win. The truth settled deep in my gut.
His strength had surpassed mine, completely.
But I couldn't let that stop me. It wouldn't stop me.
Tightening my grip on my blade, I braced myself, ready to charge forward one last time. One final clash.
Vedici moved in unison.
BOOM.
A sickening thud rang through the battlefield. My breath hitched as I heard it—a wet, choking sound. Blood spattered the ground before I even saw the arrow.
"No!"
---------
[[Third-Person: Vedici's POV]]]]
Vedici staggered, his fingers trembling as they reached for the arrow lodged deep in his throat. Its anti-mana properties burned through him, disrupting his already fragile body, ravaging his core from the inside out.
His vision blurred, darting across the battlefield, searching for the one who had loosed the fatal shot.
But there was no one.
Just the wind and the fading echoes of their battle.
'Shit… I'm going to die.'
The realization settled like ice in his veins.
There was a horrible finality to those words. I'm going to die.
There was no fighting it, no anger, or frustration. Just a cold realisation.
He had made a mistake. The arrow had slipped past his defenses, and his body—already pushed beyond its limits—was unraveling. His potent mana, once a storm of holy brilliance, twisted into instability.
His gaze met Romulus's, and in those olive eyes he saw it. Shock, devastation and rage.
'Good. He didn't plan this. That's good.' Whatever his brother was, at least he had not completely forsaken his honour.
A weak smile tugged at Vedici's lips.
There was only one option left.
'It's such a shame…I always wanted to settle down. Have a family…grow old.'
It was a foolish thought. He was young enough to ignore that dream for at least another decade.
And yet…it had been his dream.
Summoning the last of his strength, he forced all his remaining mana inward, condensing it, compacting it, forcing it to collapse upon itself.
A final, desperate act.
'I reckon I would've been a good father…and probably a good uncle too.'
BOOM!!!
The battlefield was consumed in a blinding explosion of light and fury, a deafening eruption that obliterated everything in its wake.
Two warriors.
Two lives.
Two corpses…