'What? Who?' Aurelius thought as his eyes began to sting.

"Ah, you must not know who I am. Apologies for my bad manners," the man said as he lifted a hand casually. He then nodded slightly as he introduced himself, "I am Izir, Son of Klaz, leader of the Evaporation Squadron. I wish to have a discussion."

Aurelius furrowed his brows and took a step back without thinking.

Izir simply gestured forward. "Please, sit and have a talk with me."

He then moved his arms and materialized walls that he moved in order to push fallen trees out of the way. Having cleared the area, he made a table and two chairs out of essence.

Aurelius watched the display of mastery and froze.

'Thirty is too many,' he thought. 'Even if they aren't all as good as this guy, we probably can't beat them. Should we escape? Can we escape? Cade and I probably can, but is Balgair fast enough?'

Aurelius glanced back at Balgair and gritted his teeth. Cade and Balgair were still both frozen in place. Cade's eyes were hostile. Balgair's were full of despair. They both sensed what he sensed.

Aurelius looked to the man exuding confidence as he sat at the table of essence. 'Why waste essence when there's a battle coming? They are here for a battle, right?'

"Come now, don't keep me waiting in this rain," Izir hollered from the table. "If this keeps up, we'll be drowning in mud soon."

Aurelius glanced warily at the members of the Evaporation Squadron. He'd never seen a group with an aura like the one they had. Each man seemed built from stone. It was like their presence demanded death.

Seeing no other option, Aurelius took a step forward. Cade reached out a hand, but then just let it fall. Aurelius' wet shoes sloshed in the fresh mud. The drizzle was intensifying by the second. His hair was already wet and sticking to his face.

Izir's lips curved as Aurelius pulled the ethereal chair on the other side of the table and sat. Izir placed his open hands on the table. Aurelius saw it as a gesture and mirrored him.

He breathed deeply before breaking the silence. "Izir, Sir, I don't desire a battle. If we can resolve this peacefully, I hope we will do so. It would be best for both parties. Many people would die otherwise."

Izir raised his brows. "Oh, please elaborate. What will happen if a battle breaks out."

Aurelius interlocked his fingers and tilted his chin down, coldly gazing into Izir's black eyes. "If you resort to violence, I will be forced to do the same. We will do battle. We will go all out. And I will kill every single one of you."

Izir cocked his head and snorted. Then with a flick of his wrist, he made Aurelius' chair disappear. Aurelius fell into the mud with a surprised yelp before jumping up in an instant. He could hear the members of the Evaporation Squadron scoff and Cade grind her teeth.

He looked at her partner and held up a hand after seeing her murderous eyes pointed through him at Izir. He couldn't let a fight break out as long as there was just the slightest chance that it wouldn't.

He materialized himself a new seat and sat down. "That was awfully childish. I thought we were supposed to have a mature discussion."

"Oh, I am trying to have one, but it's difficult with a foolish child as my counterpart."

"I'm foolish because I trust negotiation efforts?"

Izir blinked slowly before answering simply, "Yes."

Aurelius hardened his gaze once again. "What do you want?"

"You should know."

"Money?"

"No?"

"Glory? Fame? Approval?"

"No, no, and no."

"Fine then. Don't tell me. But you are here on the orders of the leader of Numen, yes?"

"I don't take orders from him. The Evaporation Squadron is more of a part of Mircrest's military than a part of Numen."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"So what? The leader of Numen controls both."

"No, he doesn't. He's just under the illusion that he does."

"So he isn't as powerful as he is thought to be?"

Izir paused before leaning forward. "He is none of your interest anymore. You are none of his. You've already fulfilled your purpose in his plans."

'Fulfilled my purpose? How? What have I done?' Aurelius wracked his brain. 'The Verdua massacre! I'm the scapegoat. That's his crime and he needed someone to bear the fault!'

"So I've fulfilled my purpose, and you're here to kill me because of it? You are just following orders after all."

"I'm not," Izir insisted, putting weight on his words.

"Then what do you want?!" Aurelius roared so loud it echoed.

Izir ground his teeth before uttering, "Revenge."

"What?" Aurelius' mind shook as he looked through his memories. But he found that there was too much. He had hurt and killed too many to determine why he was wanted dead. It was the most shameful realization in his life. He was about to hand his head when he heard Izir.

"Not against you."

Aurelius raised his head, his brows furrowed.

Izir cracked his neck before explaining, "I've lived in Mircrest for most of my life, but I spent my childhood in a western country named Lundkirk. I am proud to say, my father, Klaz, was a part of the legendary Kendrick's first campaign. He was one of the original members of the army that helped the Conquerer of the West grow Lundkirk from a small, oppressed nation into the largest empire the world has ever seen."

Izir paused to take a deep breath while Aurelius stared straight ahead.

"Lundkirk was built of blood and bone, but my father survived all the hell he was put through just so he could make the world better for my mother and myself. He told me that each time he went to battle, he thought of the day I was born. He told me he had never experienced happiness akin to what he felt that day. The memory of that happiness gave him hope while crawling through the battlefield with multiple stab wounds. It's what brought him home to me. Until it didn't. Until he faced a god in man's clothing. Until he went up against your father with ten thousand of the most capable soldiers Lundkirk had and was cut down in a millisecond."

Izir slowly leaned forward only to spit on the table in front of Aurelius while letting his words linger. Aurelius paid it no mind. He was frozen in thought.

"Did you know your father treated enemy soldiers like ants?" he asked, his face alarmingly close to that of Aurelius. "You've heard of his mythical technique Divide, yes?" He leaned back and observed as Aurelius' eyes grew slightly wider. "Oh, you haven't? I suppose even such legends don't carry over the Great Ocean. Hmm, so you know very little. Want me to enlighten you?"

Aurelius said nothing. He did not know what he was waiting for. He didn't want to hear about the technique. He wanted Izir to close his mouth and never utter his father's name.

"You see, your father, Ares, was born when the Emperor of Zalfari, Alexander the 5th, decided to have a child with the Empire's strongest female soldier. I'm guessing the female soldier had no real say in the matter. She had family to protect, so better do what the Emperor says," Izir explained calmly in an almost sophisticated manner, making slight gestures with his hands.

Aurelius sat like there was a rusty nail as long as a leg going through his spine, his nails trying to rip into the table of essence. His only comfort was the uncertainty behind Izir's words.

Izir seemed a little amused, but his tone only got darker. "It's not clear what happened to the woman after Ares was born, but I guess all that matters is that the Emperor now had the materials for the perfect soldier. And oh did he capitalize on that. Already as a teenager, Ares was a numb killing machine. Lifeless as a doll. His name was known by all, but not a single person loved him. The only person who didn't hate him was his father. That's why he just nodded at every single order, no matter what," Izir spat the words through his clenched teeth as the pace of his speech built up. "He was so hungry for even a single drop of affection that he went around killing thousands of people who had parents, siblings, friends, wives, CHILDREN! And you know how he did it?! He rushed through fields, wielding his Divide, separating people's heads from their bodies without sparing a SECOND to look at the faces of the men from whom he stole EVERYTHING!"

Aurelius shook as he looked down at his hands that had lost their tenseness. Every word coming from Izir should have angered him, but he did not feel a bit of hatred.

"You're the same as him. I hear you killed David. He was a former member of the Evaporation Squadron, but he fell in love and had a daughter. Eventually, he came to me wanting to quit for a safer line of work. I understood. I let him go and even made sure he got a nice position as a guard for the Boerlow family. Then you shoved a hand through his chest. And here you are, thinking you're a hero. Just like you father," Izir said before taking a deep breath, as if making sure he didn't explode. "His wife and daughter fell into poverty after you killed David. They would be living in the Slums had I not stepped in and ensured that they'll be able to live well until his daughter grows up. Not that you'd care."

Aurelius' eyes shook, but Izir couldn't see. "Thank you," he whispered.

"What? Don't thank me. You have the right to be what you are. That is your heritage. You are the result of a monster, a whore, and whatever incestual moronic villagers that made your mother. You're an abomination, and in this forest, I will rid the world of your filthy bloodline. That I swear in the name of my father, Klaz."

Aurelius slowly raised his gaze to meet Izir's burning eyes as the drizzle had transformed into and downpour. "My father killed your father. In war. In a battle in which he died. He was protecting his country."

"He was protecting a tyrant. Kendrick would have made Zalfari better. The only ones who would've had to pay were the royals. Your father killed my father for nothing, and he did it with no respect for life. He killed thousands that day. His death alone will not suffice."

"So you've come here to kill me in the name of all those my father killed? Will you act like it's not simply what you desire? You act like a hero as you thirst for blood and condemn my father who only ever wanted to protect."

Izir drew a deep breath. "You still think of your father a hero?"

Aurelius remained steadfast. "Of course, I do."

"Hmm, I suppose you would," Izir said, his tone solemn for the very first time. Then he straightened himself as the atmosphere grew tense, the rainfall louder.

And then it began.