Long ago someone once said that the brightest stars in the night sky were the ones that would fade away the fastest. If that were true, then the stars we see today are the stars that were outshined and left behind, who themselves have also begun to fade. What purpose did they serve besides leaving remnants of what once was? By extension, as the lone star that remained within my sky, what was my purpose?

“Former Squad captain Arata Eos, I have come for your head,”

The sound of footsteps echoed through the silent halls of the rift. Staring down my attacker it was obvious what organisation he was from. A mere glance at his purplish black robes and the checkerboard-patterned masquerade mask covering his face gave away everything.

“What could the Legion want with a retired soldier like me,”

“You may be retired, but the damage you have caused us is quite severe I’m afraid,”

He took off his hood and mask to reveal his rugged and war-torn face, which had a small scar underneath his left eyelid. However, the most striking aspect was a large burn mark covering the right side of his face.

“I had always wanted to clash against you in your prime, especially after you had done this to me,” he began, pointing to his burns. “But rest assured, that was not the reason for your sentence. Arata Eos, I Zaven of the legion, hereby sentence you to death for the failed protection of the dragon heir.”

Dragon heir? What the hell was this guy on about? Before I had any more time to think, Zaven hauled the scythe stored on his back, pointing it at me.

As he ran his fingers across his scythe it ignited, coating itself in a mantle of flames that burned a deep crimson. Spinning the scythe around in his hands, a dissatisfied look grew on his face.

“No no, this won’t do. How could I ever hope to defeat the great Arata Eos with such simple flames?” he jested, letting out a deep breath before muttering his next words.

“Contract Release”

His flaming scythe erupted into a plethora of colours, and the fire in his eyes took on similar shades, an eerie mix of blue and violet. He stared me down in pure bloodlust as sparks of energy danced between the strands of his spiked blonde hair like lightning.

A demonic contract huh? This is gonna be a pain.

Two main forms of magic existed in our world, derived from two conflicting sources of power mana and aether. Old legends and fables claim that these two forces were once the very lifebloods of two gods, wielding the powers of creation and destruction respectively, yet if those ancient texts were false, then the true origins of these powers have long since been lost to time.

Mana is imbued with the ability of construction, and when correctly allows for life’s biggest fantasies to be brought into reality. On the other hand, aether is derived from the idea of destruction, leaving behind trails of corruption in its wake. Very few beings can tame such devilish power, with the most common being demons due to the abundance of aether within their territories.

Dashing towards me, Zaven swung his scythe at me as I drew my blade to parry, our two flame-covered weapons collided, the force intense enough to push both of us back, yet we both clung on, the demonic energy coating his weapon beginning to eat through my own. But it wasn’t just neutralising my flames, no Zaven’s mana was also being devoured, with pitch-black aether oozing out to take its place. Mana and aether were conflicting forces, cancelling each other out when they came into contact with each other.

In most cases, humans cannot manipulate aether on their own, but due to aether's superiority in raw destructive power, some humans choose to form contracts with demons, sacrificing something valuable in exchange for temporarily harnessing its power. In any case that meant that right now, by continuously imbuing aether into his weapon, Zaven is effectively nullifying the mana present within his spell, substituting it with aether to increase its power. However he’s likely not able to control aether as efficiently as mana if he’s using such a roundabout way to cast aether arts, and combined with the fact that his contract has a strict time limit, as long as I stall him out for long enough, I would win.

[Flare burst]

I shot out a ball of fire from my left hand, which collided with Zaven’s chest causing him to lurch back. I had caught him off guard. In the brief moment of time, before the opening disappeared, I delivered a swift kick to his side, sending him crashing into the wall.

Though our blades were locked together in a fierce clash, I freed my left hand and quickly conjured a ball of fire which collided with Zaven’s chest causing him to lurch back. Feeling the force from his scythe begin to ebb, I continued to press my weapon forward, carrying the momentum as I spun around to deliver a flame-enhanced slash on the left side of his body.

The two of us both created some distance between us, but I knew that I had to continue aggressively before the brief opening I had created disappeared. Not giving him a moment to recover, an orb of flames formed in my hand as I drew it out into the shape of an arrow, a typically weak technique, yet one that I had spent years perfecting which had allowed me to improve its mana density and destructive power several times over.

[Flame Arrow]

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As I released my spell, it let out a deafening roar as it soared through the air, and with its eruption, showered its fiery brilliance upon our surroundings like a volcanic eruption. Soon, the debris around us began to settle and I locked eyes with Zaven’s visage, his blood-red eyes no different from that of a demon’s glaring daggers at me through the thin veil of dust.

“Man you really are something,” emerging from the smoke, his scythe was resting on his shoulder, as he wiped the dust off his face with his spare hand. Apart from a slightly tinged robe and the slash I had landed on him earlier, it seemed that he had sustained no damage from my spells.

“If it wasn’t for my control over the aetheric arts, you would have greatly wounded me. You truly are one of the continent's greatest fire mages, when it comes down to it your control over fire surpasses even my own. But I can’t just let Lady Third’s blessings go to waste. Forgive me but I rarely get a chance to go all out, so indulge me for a bit.”

Cracking his neck, he took a few steps towards me before he stopped. I sensed the shift in his presence immediately as he gripped the handle of his scythe with both hands. By now Zaven’s “flames” began to burn a pitch black, as if the night sky had gilded itself upon his weapon. In the instant he swung, a crescent wave of black fire flew outwards in my direction, with every part of my body telling me to move, and my instincts kicking in before I even processed what was happening.

I was already trying to dodge, but I knew I didn’t have enough time to evade completely, nor gather mana quickly enough to launch a counterattack. Instead, I began channelling mana rapidly into my sword, swinging the inferno I held in my hands to meet Zaven's attack head-on. As his black flames met my weapon, I felt the aether beginning to eat away at my fire. It was heavy, my arms felt like they could snap at any moment and I felt my legs being driven into the ground as if I were some stake.

Before I had finished defending against his attack, Zaven had already closed the distance, capitalising on the fact that I wasn’t focused on him right now to sneak up on me. He swung his scythe ferociously, carving two large lacerations in the shape of an “X” across my chest with the seams instantly set ablaze by his flames. Zaven was relentless, continuing his assault with a swift kick that hurled me into the rock walls of the rift, followed by two more ranged crescents of black fire that cleaved across my shoulder.

The wounds inflicted by Zaven had caused aether to seep into my body, which acted as poison whilst also making it difficult for me to gather mana. Everything hurt as if my whole body was on fire, the foreign aether rampaging through my system, and the cuts and wounds oozing with crimson blood.

My body collapsed onto the ground, I could feel my limbs growing more and more limp by the second, and the edges of my vision began crawling inwards, and the air around me seemed to get heavier and heavier. I tried to get up, commanding my body to move yet it wouldn’t budge. I attempted to channel mana through my system to aid my movement but as soon as I did I felt an unbearable pain in my abdomen as blood erupted from my mouth. Shit Aether Poisoning.

“You were certainly an admirable opponent Arata Eos, however for someone who was rumoured to be one of the strongest fire mages in all the lands, I have to say I expected a little more”

So this was the end, wasn’t it?

“I guess I’ll be joining you guys in a bit,” I muttered, staring upwards. I had missed them all, not a day went past where I didn’t ask myself why I was the only one who was left behind. The time we spent together studying at Lexion, the brief yet fun times we spent as adventurers, raiding tombs to claim long-lost treasures, the times we stood united on the frontlines as the last line of defence against the legion, all the memories that I had spent years suppressing seemed to come into my mind.

But if I died now, then the final star would fade away, and those who look up at the night sky would have never known the memories and traces of the brighter stars that preceded it. When all of them gave up their own lives and fought to their very last breath so that I could live on, could I really bear to face them if I died such a cowardly death?

In those moments a voice seemed to ring in my mind, it was deep like the sound of echoes in an empty cavern, yet its tone was eerily melodic. “Do you wish to die?”

The voice wasn’t coming from Zaven. It felt as if it were everywhere yet nowhere at the same time, I felt my heart drumming in my chest, my veins pulsing rhythmically as my mana circuits began to tingle as if they were alive.

“Do not fight against the aether, for those who deny the abyss have no right to claim its power,” the voice commanded, yet it sounded paradoxically soft and gentle at the same time.

I complied and in that instant, the aether in my body seemed to surge to life. It hurt, no, that couldn’t even come close to describing the pain I felt at that moment. It felt as if my very essence was slowly being torn apart, disintegrating with every passing second. My body screamed in agony, but beneath the pain was something raw, something alive.

I tried to think logically as I leapt towards Zaven. Channelling aether would damage my circuits, meaning I should focus on the quality of my attacks rather than their quantity. Yet that brought up a whole other set of questions about how I could even use aether. Were its characteristics similar to pure mana, or should I treat it the same as my elemental mana and shape it into fire?

But before I had any time to come up with answers sufficient for any one of those questions, the purple energy had already clad itself around my fist, with my body already preparing to drive it into Zaven’s face. I quickly drove my fist into his face, sending him crashing into the stone wall. An almost indescribable feeling was pulsing through my veins, adrenaline mixed with whatever side effects demonic power coursing through my body entailed, but strangely I felt so alive, as if my soul had been torn apart and stitched back together.

Zaven threw his scythe at me in frustration as he tried rushing me down, his thrown weapon forming a vortex of flames as it flew towards me. By now, the duration of his contract had expired, and the flames coating his scythe were comprised purely of mana, the very energy whose antithesis I now possessed at my fingertips. I reached out with my hand and effortlessly managed to catch his weapon, the mantle of flames being quickly devoured by the aether on my hand as a dumbfounded expression fell upon Zaven’s face.

Zaven continued to charge towards me, but he was quickly met with the blade of his own scythe which plunged itself deep into his chest. His body lurched over as blood gushed out from the wound. I calmly walked towards him, my fingers straightened into a gun as aether began gathering on my fingertips. I poured everything into that attack, the rage, the hunger, the pain, as the purple energy began coalescing into a bullet.

[Aetherious Shot]

“Bang”, I exclaimed the bullet of aether burst off my fingertips, and in the next moment, the left side of Zaven’s chest, alongside his heart and left arm vanished alongside the flash of violet light. I couldn’t remember what his dying expression was if his final moments were spent showering me with curses, or accepting his fate, for I too soon found myself at the gates of death. Well, at least I thought I did.