"It doesn't matter if it was real or fake...Your fate is the same." Ilias said, his dark eyes spiraling with rage as his face became twisted beyond what seemed humanly possible. The crunching sound of Augen's neck was less than satisfying, and Ilias turned to his accomplice when suddenly, the weight of Augen's body in his hands became even lighter than before.

With confusion rising through the twisted landscape of his face, Ilias turned to the new yet familiar presence of Augen's as he rematerialized right behind Ilias.

"That's funny." Augen smiled, his hand forming a fist before he sent it forward, tapping Ilias right on the head, though with not an ounce of strength. Ilias's Wave Armour easily dissipated the force of the hit, but Augen's thin fingers still penetrated straight through as he was made of nothing but light. Then, his fingers pressed onto Ilias's skull, shooting him backwards in time.

"It doesn't matter if it was real or fake...your past remained the same too."

Ilias knelt down in front of a trio of men dressed in heavy military clothing with the signature Necrovian red, and a symbol of the Tornado that was made out of the Necrovian signature color, a combination of orange and red that signified the harsh sands of the kingdom and the strength in its people’s blood.

"Necrovia needs a hero, and we need someone like you." The man in the middle is one with a white beard and bold head, and a firm presence in the Wave extends out from his body. However, even Ilias can tell the limits of their strengths. All three of the Necrovian generals were limited in how much power they have in the Wave, and really, it was to no fault of their own.

Necrovia sands are harsh not just because of their roughness and dryness, but also how depleted the region is when it comes to the naturally occurring Wave. This lead to the inhabitants having only trace amounts of such power when compared to the ordinary citizens of the other countries.

In a world dominated by Wave users with powers to literally rock kingdoms all by themselves, the Necrovian government had no choice but to shut off all communications to the outside world. A life of isolation and mystery, at the very least, preserved the facade of strength.

At least until they have a strong enough protector for their country, and to get someone like that, they will spare no expense.

"That's why you are special." The generals said, placing a hand over Ilias's once skinny shoulders.

"But...what about the other kids...Where did they go...Are they free?" Ilias asked, glancing around the empty room which once housed forty-nine other children as they lived, trained, and laughed together.

"Yes. Thanks to you, they are free." The general said, fixing Ilias's sleeves and covering up the patchwork skin underneath, "You have not only saved Necrovia, but you have also saved them too. Now...you are ready to go outside to see the real world."

Ilias was so close...he had been so close to achieving true Dominance mode for years within the confines of Necrovia, but he was never close enough. Whenever he pooled all of the Wave within him into a single concentrated point, strange voices and screams started filling his mind, and that had always taken him out of the singular focus of peace and tranquility required to break through the Dominance barrier.

However, instead of developing true dominance mode, Ilias managed to come up with a faux dominance mode, instead, he drew out all of those voices and screams and imposed their wills onto the environments around him, creating the same effects of a dominance mode while he created Wave Armours all around his body in the shape of a dragon.

Then, on his last day in Necrovia before departing for the trials to enter the Infinite Academy, Ilias sat along atop the sandy castle, watching over the capital of Necrovia as the citizens walked through the desert landscape with the sun slowly setting.

"Are...you heading off tomorrow, Ilias?" A girly voice came from behind, and Ilias turned around to see a pair of sisters standing behind him. The elder one was his age, at about sixteen years old, while the younger one is no older than ten. They both carried the same brown hair that symbolizes royalty within Necrovia.

The older sister was Mila Nekova, the daughter of the Nekova family, and the younger one, though not blood related, is essentially her little sister, she's named Tonya Glaza, and a daughter of the Glaza family. Like most people of the Glaza family, Tonya had blue eyes as pure as lake water, and she watched Ilias's scarred body as he tugged on his sleeve to cover up his wrists.

"So...sorry." Tonya said shyly, "I didn't mean to...stare...Papa told me it's rude..."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I am used to it." Ilias forced a smile before Mila stepped forward, "I am sure it will get worse when I leave the kingdom."

"Not if you show them your dominance mode!" Mila swung her fist excitedly, "And beat them all up!"

"People will get suspicious if I boast my powers without control." Ilias turned away from Mila and watched the landscape as the sun sets, "That's what the generals drilled into me."

"Those geezers are too boring!" Mila said, placing hands on her hips, "Ilias. Mark my words. In years time, I will also be strong enough to represent Necrovia, and I will join you at the Academy!"

"I...I want to go too..." Tonya said, grabbing onto Mila's dress with her little fingers, "I want to see the world..."

Then, the two girls went away as a servant called them in for dinner. The old lady gave Ilias a stare of sympathy before ushering the two girls back into the palace.

Ilias signed, and he looked down at his body, the white Union armor still tightly wrapped around his torso, though the cuts left behind by Shin were still there. He felt for the rough sands under his fingers before turning around, "You have come far enough."

Emerging from behind the pillars of the palace, Augen strolled out with his eyes still covered by the headbands, "I often found the past far more engaging than the future, whenever I take these journey through memories and through time."

"How are you here?" Ilias asked, his fist clenched, "How are we here?"

"Forbidden Winter: Window of Freezing Past." Augen said, a chill starting to surround the two of them before a blizzard took away the beautiful Necrovian sunset, replacing it with a tranquil whiteness far in the background, "Nothing helps you get to know someone like their pasts."

"And?" Ilias asked, "You resorted to trickery because you cannot defeat me head on?"

"That's...the unfortunate truth." Augen sighed, "The world doesn't know you don't truly have Dominance of the Dragon, but I do, and you do too."

"So what?" Ilias marched towards Augen as his body started fading away within the mindscape of the Necrovian, "So what?!"

"They also don't know why you can't access true dominance mode. Neither do you. But once again...I do..." Augen's voice lingered on as Ilias shot his eyes open and found himself surrounded by a massive cloud of weapons conjured up by Shin's Manifestation. He was held in place by a column of ice created by Augen as the pale man with his entire face covered leapt back from Ilias's shoulders and called for Shin to attack.

“See, I don’t just see into your memories through the window of time. I saw your past.”

"YOU CANNOT CONTAIN ME!" Ilias declared with exacerbated anger, breaking through the columns of ice right as Shin fired away all of the floating weapons with himself wielding the Meat Maker Axe in tow.

"Just like how you cannot contain those voices?" Augen said sharply as Ilias glared at him and sent out a pulse of raw power, those voices in his head becoming louder and louder as all of them called out with the same intensity, “Did you ever wonder why?!”

The countless weapons from Shin all shattered after crashing into his Wave armor, and Ilias charged forward, his body colliding with Shin before they exchanged dozens of blows in the blink of an eye.

"Fatera had to confront that one voice before she was able to unlock her own dominance mode." Augen continued, as Ilias shoved Shin back before trying to get to him. However, the chef rebounded off the ground and pursued relentlessly after Ilias as Augen continued healing him from behind, "Yet you...you have forty-nine other voices to control!"

"Shut...shut up!"

"All of the other children! They are inside of you! They are a piece of you! The Necrovian generals stitched the valuable parts of their body into you!" Augen shouted, "That's what the generals did! To create one being that is far above the strengths of ordinary men, you will need the base of more than just one man! For you... forty-nine other talented children were sacrificed!"

"SHUT UP!"

The screams in his head became louder and louder, and it felt like Ilias's skull is about to explode. Those blurred-up voices suddenly became a lot clearer.

"Please! Save me!"

"It hurts!"

"Ahhh!"

"I can't...I can't deal with this..."

"It's too much..."

"Help me..."

"Is...is Ilias going to be spared, if I am killed? Okay. Please take me."

"NOOOO!" Ilias let out a roar that silenced all those voices as his Wave armor shot out in a massive explosion that pushed everything around him back, "No...Not like this...not like this..."

"I am sorry, Ilias." Augen called out to him, "But that was the truth. That was your truth."

"Everyone...all of them..." Ilias raised his head, tears welling in his eyes as his voice cracked, "They are all dead because of me..."

Then, Shin's figure appeared right behind Ilias as he turned his face around with his spirits broken and body limp.

"They are all gone because of me..."

With the backside of the Meat Maker Axe, Shin stopped Ilias's pain.