Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 50. The sinful hero
The metal rails vibrate as the train rushes over them, heading right toward Constal. While underground in tunnels that seem to have been dug decades ago, with a set of trail rails built almost a decade ago. Edward slams the back door of the train open with Lance behind him, finding nothing but boxes of explosives.
Edward: “We could try dumping the explosives…but that would take too long. At the speed we’re going, I’d say it would take around six hours or so. So we have some time to stop this, but if anything happening at Consal, we may be too late to do anything about it.”
Lance: “Six hours!? Like hell, we’re making it!”
Edward: “Alright calm down, I’ll rush ahead. I saw Chester and Orson get on a few cars ahead of us so be prepared.”
Before they enter the train, Edward hands Lance Peters’ rope dart.
Lance: “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Edward: “Hand it off to Peter.”
Edward begins rushing towards the front of the train, with the intent to stop it and anybody who isn’t with him that’s on it. And It dosn’t take long until they find somebody. The large Orson, who’s crouching to not hit his head on the roof of the train. Lance panics but Edward knows it’s life or death, so he rushes in. Chester hears the commotion and runs into the train car to find Orson swinging wildly at Edward. With the seats in the way, Edward’s unable to swing his sword properly, which almost gets him hit.
Edward jumps over Orson's large arm, kicking him in the jaw, and pushing him back. Edward sheaths his sword, inhales, and exhales, and moves in again. Chester slides under Orson and delivers a powerful kick to Edward's chest, cracking not only his armor but his ribs as well. Though he dosn’t stop there, he continues for a quick barrage of decisive blows to Edward’s ribs and sternum.
Edward grabs Chester's legs and attempts to crush them, but he’s thwarted by Orson who swipes at his head. Edward ducks the blow and tosses Chester up, causing him to get hit with the swipe. Edward then dives under Orson, curving around him, and swings his sword. Chester lands right beside Lance, who quickly gets grabbed and held hostage.
Lance: “EDWARD!”
Chester: “YOU KILL MY GUY I KILL YOURS!”
Edward freezes and is hit by Orson, winding him. Chester begins smirking, but Lance quickly removes the ring on his finger and becomes a ball of black flames. Unlike Arthur's similar ability, Lances are like sparks that ignite once Lance forces it to. Simply put, it seems that the flames have advanced to more of a combustible ability that he can control once erupted. The flames burn through the train car and light a box of flame crystals, which promptly causes an explosion. Edward reacts quickly by thrusting his sword into Orson's shoulder and pushing him through the train wall, across the rails, and through the wall of the other train filled with goons. Lance blasts exploding flames out of his feet, pushing through the door to the next train car, also escaping the explosion, leaving Chester. Chester gets caught in the massive explosion that fully consumes the train cars as well as the tunnel. But leaping out of the way just in time, Chester pushes through and grabs onto the destroyed train car, which is barely holding on. However, he’s heavily injured.
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Chesters is wounded, his skin in chard, his body bleeding, and his vision is a bit wary, but he goes on following close behind Lance. Lance is enthralled that he gets to use his explosives flames, but he’s still looking for Peter, making sure he saves him from Chester, even though he doesn't know why he wants to do so.
Edward looks around, finding himself in one of fifty cars filled with around eight hundred soldiers. They circle around Edward, all holding their own weapons, ready to strike. Orson bites at Edwards's head, so he dodges and pushes his head aside. He then jumps back, swinging his sword in a circle, creating a whirlwind of force that mutilates ten men with ease. Orson, covered in the blood of the fallen men, roars at Edward.
Edward, strangely enough, begins smiling. Covered in the fresh blood of his enemies, he feels that this is the perfect opportunity to let out all of his pent-up rage.
Edward: “I can only expect that Constal is being attacked right now…and if my friends can hold out…I’ll kill you all…and six hours later…be met with a more wonderful battle…”
Orson: “You’re…insane…”
Edward: “...Just might be…”
Edward delves within his own mind, feeding on his pent-up emotion, accessing the warrior's spirit, and falling head first into the madness. Then, back on the other train, Peter tries making his way to the front. He hears Lance calling out for him, but with his anger towards him, he doesn't respond and continues moving forward.
Peter {Why is that asswhole here? To nag me on? He’s probably evil or something.}
Chester follows close behind, limping, but he’s still keeping up.
Chester: “Can’t…let him stop this. I’ll show Rupert, I’ll show him I don’t need his name to make myself great, not his or my brothers.”
Edward begins to go crazy, slicing through everything in his path. Orson tries to save his fellow men but Edward pays no mind and ruthlessly pushes his ever dulling sword through his thick skin, slicing off his hand. Orson screams out with horrific sorrow as he’s feeling such inflamed pain. It burns, it gushes and it hurts so damn much, but he’s not dead yet, aggravating this animalistic Edward. The soldiers don’t stop coming though, adding more fuel to the fire. Each body is another bucket of blood that covers the wall in the thick dark past that it is. Eyes getting stomped on and knocked out, teeth being crushed and shattered, brain matter coats the walls, slowly dripping down them, and bones becoming nothing but dust, all because of the End Binger being true to his name.
Edward becomes even further drenched in the blood like he’s showering in it. Any ideas that could be had are brushed aside for pure force, wanting every bit of agony he’s ever felt to be forced on these people he sees as monsters. Some try to run away, but they’re trapped in there with him unless they want to jump off the train, which will kill them anyway.
Every time Edward had used the warriors' spirit, either he willingly used it but was only in it for a short time or he fell into it for a similar amount of time when he was about to fall unconscious, using it as a safety mechanism. But here, he’s fully energized and going against an army of people much weaker than him, but he still flees to this mental hell. Though hell is a lightly chosen word, as Edward wouldn’t call it that. This is safety, it’s the reality of this torturous pain he keeps building inside of him so that he can release it in a wave of wrath.
He’s truly wrath, a sinful hero who loves to dwell in the horror that he’s become so familiar with. The broken body of Bjorn and his mother, then the eating of his mother's head play over and over. Al’s dying body lay in the grass of a place he once called home, grass pooling with his old blood. Musashi’s soul trying to keep itself from being removed, removed from the body of a man who seemingly just gave up and entrusted all of these expectations to. This triumphs over everything, Kioshi’s horrifically bloody and quick death, Ophelia's screams while she crumbled to ash, Athens melting and crumbling in on itself, his loss to Moro and the loss of his eye, everything.
So to be able to be the monster, to make what makes you scared, scared. To be the horror, the unstoppable force, the immovable object, a god of war, a devil, fear itself, death incarnate, the End Bringer.
End of Chapter Fifty