[Orsted POV]
"What a detestable creature," Orsted snapped as he looked around.
"That fucking Hitogami..." The furious comment seemed to flow from his mouth as if he'd said it a thousand times. Which was probably an understatement, but who cared about the small details? The ones who did are gone now, and probably never to return.
Those were the first words he managed to utter since returning to the forest.
He remained silent, staring up at the sky, reflecting on everything that had happened. After Rudeus's death, his goal was to make the last words he'd spoken to him come true.
To seal away that cruel and capricious god who used people for his own benefit, for all eternity.
It was a long and arduous journey. Betrayals and threats abounded, but they finally succeeded. They sealed that bastard away. But when Orsted left that empty world and came to his senses...
"Just seeing this forest makes me furious..."
He didn't know how much time had passed since he found himself there. He lost count from the anger that tormented him.
Meanwhile, he found himself wandering through a stupid forest that meant nothing for days.
He walked listlessly toward a log where he could sit when he grew tired of walking.
"I can't take it anymore..." When that thought came to him, it felt like a red-hot iron was being driven into his skin.
"I had fulfilled my destiny, hadn't I?"
Orsted had reached the end of his seemingly endless journey of more than 20,000 years, which he believed to be eternal.
He had achieved the impossible; they had achieved the unthinkable; he had finally crossed the finish line.
"So, was it all in vain? Had I done all this in vain? Had I wasted my only chance?" His thoughts didn't help him in his plight.
A feeling of foreboding slowly crept over him, something he deeply disliked. However, this time was so different that he didn't know what to do first or what course of action to take.
Though time and again he had left this same forest and continued on his way.
He had moved forward steadily, but this time he reached the end. He had fulfilled his curse, so why had he failed?
"It was that son of a bitch's fault!!" With a simple wave of his hand, he annihilated everything around him, turning a section of a once-leafy forest into a desolate wasteland.
Normally, he kept his anger at bay, for it would cloud his judgment, but every time he thought of that bastard's face, he couldn't contain himself.
"Why? Why didn't it work?! We were right there! We'd done it! Right, Rudeus?..." His face flushed with emotion, he could only stare up at the sky, hoping someone would answer him, someone would respond.
But no one did.
"Didn't I make that dream of yours come true?!" Didn't I rid this world of that being?!" Didn't I do what they asked of me?!"
His self-loathing was the only thing driving him forward, the only energy he had left at that moment.
"I just want to be done. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." As tears began to flow, he began to think.
It was funny, in a sick way, that the most feared and hated being in humanity was crying for failing a human. He hated being like this.
Thinking back, he'd never felt like this before.
He'd never felt so distraught over the loss of a loop. But how could he not be devastated by what had happened? He'd made a friend, a word he thought he'd never fully understand, but Rudeus Greyrat changed him.
He befriended a man like the Dragon God Orsted and stayed with him through thick and thin, even with his extravagant requests and the dangerous tasks Orsted entrusted to him.
That's why I'm like this now, isn't it? That's the only solution to my plight.
After all, Rudeus Greyrat was unique. A man worthy of being Orsted's comrade.
A comrade I'd only have once, and he squandered that chance.
"To think I'd be moaning alone in a forest, how embarrassing." He rubbed his hair with his hand. "How would your Sylphiette react?" Her comment made him give a dry laugh as he tried to ease the tension.
What should he do from now on? What was his plan of action?
"The only option left for me is to leave and continue." He stood up.
"What a drolling cycle."
However, the feeling of failure followed him.
"I can't do anything right, can I? I'm sorry, Rudeus." With a final apology, the Dragon God Orsted began to move.
His two hundred years of solitude began once more.
...
Orsted managed to get out of the forest and continue his mission.
The time he spent with Rudeus and his children affected him more than he imagined.
On his journey, he met many people, some he already knew. Others he didn't quite remember. But all of them were terrified and furious at him, the work of his curse.
It put into perspective how much fun he'd had in the last loop. From Cliff's invention of the curse-fighting helmet to the allies he had in Rudeus's children.
"I should start making the helmet, shouldn't I?" Even though Cliff proclaimed himself a genius, he wasn't wrong in that statement.
"I still remember all the people who helped him and helped me become who I am today."
As a child, Lucy mistook me for her father, much to your dismay, but overall, she was a well-behaved child. After she realized I wasn't her father and started opening up to you, she continued to play with me.
It wasn't unusual for her to ask me for piggyback rides around Sharia when she was little. What I felt must have been similar to what an uncle felt.
That young girl deserved nothing but happiness in life.
I remember how often Lara spoke to me.
Sure, whenever I asked her a question, she'd get annoyed, but she seemed to enjoy my company most of the time, and that was all I could ask for.
Ars often complained about not working hard enough; she was like you in that way.
Lily still tinkered with magical tools in her workshop, though she'd come over for advice from time to time. We'd even share our discoveries over a cup of tea or coffee.
Comparing themselves to you didn't help boost their self-esteem, though, you know? In the end, you left a huge mark on the world. It was so big that you couldn't go from one city to another without hearing mention of Quagmire or Rudeus Greyrat.
I'd like to pay my respects and repay my debts to these people, but I'm afraid I can no longer do so.
After all, he was the person I enjoyed the most. The one I spoke to the most, the one with whom I shared aspirations, the person who knew how to read me like an open book. After all, he was the father of those children, and he'd already passed away, and I'm afraid you'll never return.
"You called me friend. Even if it was just once, even if it was on your deathbed, you told me how you felt about me.
But I could never tell you. You died without giving me the honor..."
Orsted said to himself as he gazed at the distant fields of asura barley.
It may have been seventy-seven years since I came to that forest, but here I am now. At the beginning of your story, Rudeus. In Buena Village.
"You changed me, and I must repay you. No matter what." They had to prepare, and quickly, for there was little time left until the deadline. "We have no unfinished business, friend Rudeus Greyrat?" Orsted asked as he looked at a house he had barely seen, but knew exactly whose it was.
I'll be here, waiting for you. He could see it even from there.
The house that had just been occupied. Sure, he had to keep his distance because of his curse, but distance mattered little to the Dragon God.
Not long after his arrival, everything came to a head in K407.
It was then, in the Greyrat house in Buena Village, that Orsted heard no voices of sadness or grief. Nor the bloodcurdling cry of a mother's despair.
But instead, voices of jubilation, relief, and cries of joy filled the air.
"You never cease to amaze me, you know?" He felt his eyes water, an emotion he had somehow grown accustomed to.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and oddly enough, the weight she'd been carrying since the loop vanished in an instant.
In a window of the Greyrat house, sitting in a chair with Paul at her side, was Zenith. There, she raised a boy with light brown hair and green eyes.
They named him Rudeus Greyrat.
Orsted stayed in Buena for three years.
He didn't quite understand why he had waited.
He didn't need to talk to Rudeus now. Although recruiting him earlier than planned would benefit him, Orsted quickly decided against it.
While he was in Buena, Orsted didn't attend to other, more pressing matters, so time to visit him was running out.
Anyway, he had no reason to interfere, and Rudeus had already told him what kind of person he was upon coming to this world.
Interfering now would ruin everything he would become, and with the helmet Orsted had made from the notes he had taken from Cliff, he was confident his time in this loop would be easier than the previous one.
With everything Orsted currently had, he could recruit Rudeus earlier than usual, but he would have to wait and see how this loop played out.
Even if he didn't speak to him now, he knew Rudeus would surely find him in the Red Dragon Mountains, just like he had all those years ago.
He had to play by the rules. Yet thinking about it always brings back that memory.
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but if we fail, find me."
Those words he'd spoken on his deathbed came back to Orsted as he left the village.
Those were the last words Rudeus spoke to him. He didn't seek his response; he simply made a request.
Afterward, Rudeus shared his last words with Roxy and Sylphiette, kissing them goodbye and, shortly after, passing away.
...
Orsted always stayed around Buena Village, despite his now brand new helmet he couldn't risk being seen by anyone.
But then he noticed something
"Paul Greyrat and Laws DragonRodad are on their way to Roa..."I guess now it's time for Rudeus to meet Roxy Migurdia," Orsted muttered.
Perhaps it was by simple intuition or by simple whim but Orsted decided to follow Paul from a distance and when he was sure that he would return to Roa then he would finally leave.
But something unexpected happened, Nuckle and Gard, the North Kings were there and wanted to kill Paul...
"Why? Rudeus never mentioned anything like this before, so why?" Orsted muttered as he approached the battlefield.
Paul Greyrat fought with everything he had but in the end he was overwhelmed by the power of his two opponents.
Orsted knew that he shouldn't intervene, otherwise the loop could take an unpredictable turn.
But seeing Paul Greyrat on the verge of death, Orsted made a decision.
"I need Luciela Superdia after all," he said to himself with a disdainful smile as he approached the battlefield.
The North God's swordsmen immediately froze at Orsted's presence but he didn't flinch as he walked towards them.
"w-who the f-fuck!-"
"who are you?!!"
They both screamed in terror but neither of them moved.
"Before I kill you, tell me who hired you." Orsted's voice came out in a monotone, but that made it even more terrifying.
"Who do you think you are? Do you think we'll tell you-"
"I-it was Darius! Darius Silva Ganius! H-he hired us to kill a family that's all! N-nothing personal!"
Orsted smiled.
Knuckle wanted to challenge him but Gard was smarter.
And just as Orsted smiled his expression turned stern, if Darius wanted a family dead and more specifically this family then it means that Hitogami has already discovered Rudeus.
This changes everything again but Orsted doesn't care.
"Idiot! We can handle him!" Knuckle screamed but before he realized it a fist had already pierced his heart.
"gah!"
"son of a bitch!!" Gard screamed as he charged at Orsted at full speed but Orsted stopped his sword with two fingers and with a simple slap he destroyed his lungs.
"uurgh!!" Gard simply fell to the ground as he drowned in his own blood and Nuckle could only stare in terror as the light escaped from his eyes.
Orsted was not fazed, for he was nothing more than obstacles that he had to erase.
So without saying anything else I walk over to Paul and Laws and quickly heal their wounds and the lost arm.
Before Orsted would have seen this as an unnecessary waste of mana but he trusted Rudeus, he trusted his companions and he would reciprocate that trust.
So without further ado Orsted left Buena Village after three years.