On his deathbed, Liam remembered.
'Only to the Kaiser!'
'You must follow the Kaiser! You must live for the Kaiser!'
'The Kaiser adores and serves God, and you serve the Kaiser!'
'You must bow your head and kneel only to the Kaiser!'
'Kaiser!' the soldiers shouted, an endless crowd. They surrounded the carriage of Kaiser Egon IV, Emperor of Egon, as he paraded through the military camp.
Battalions roared in unison, smiling with pride at their emperor.
'Kaiser!'
On the highest platform of the enormous imperial carriage, Kaiser Egon IV waved coldly, accompanied by Marshal Vens. Surrounded by gold and a red mantle dyed with fragments of diamonds, he swept his gaze over his own soldiers with critical scrutiny.
'Fragile as glass,' Kaiser thought, not even bothering to fake a smile.
'So many injuries…' Idna, the Kaiser's younger sister, commented.
Below the upper platform, the emperor's two younger sisters whispered, mocked, and criticized the state of the soldiers who served them.
Among them, Liam was the only one not shouting the Kaiser's name—yet the first to stand out. He remained at the very front, his posture denser and more imposing than the rest of the crowd. With sharp eyes, he stared directly at the emperor.
'Look at that one…' Idna said, pointing in Liam's direction.
By instinct, the Kaiser's eyes followed his sister's gesture.
'All mutilated… That cut on his throat looks the worst. Poor thing,' she pouted.
'The scar at the edge of his lip is agonizing. But he's still kind of cute, isn't he?' Kayna, the second sister, countered.
'He is! Brother, I want him!' Idna shouted.
'No! He's going to be mine!' Kayna protested, grabbing her sister's shoulder.
'What? You said his scar was agonizing! Take the other little blond one with his eyes half-closed!'
Staring straight at the Kaiser, Liam rubbed his throat and cleared it in discomfort.
'The emperor's sisters seem to be arguing. How dramatic…' James said, an agent beside Liam, whose blond hair covered his ears while his eyes remained half-lidded.
'Who cares about them?' Liam replied, wincing from the pain in his throat.
'Yikes. You need water, huh?'
Consumed by the shouts of the other agents passionately praising the Kaiser, Liam chose to save his words. His throat throbbed from the deep, healed cut, forcing a bitter expression upon his face as he stared at the emperor.
The Kaiser, however, felt threatened.
'Der Kaiser…' Marshal Vens called, hands clasped behind his back. 'That is the twenty-sixth unit, commanded by Oberst Hans Mason. I would like to highlight the two individuals who—'
'Who is that blue-eyed one, covered in scars?' the Kaiser asked, interrupting Vens.
Clearing his throat, Vens resumed.
'Precisely. That is Liam Mason Le Fay, the unit's lieutenant. He is known for never being wounded on a mission, even after spending a year on the front lines against Mikoto.'
'Never wounded in battle? And all those scars?'
Confused by the Marshal's statement, the Kaiser frowned, awaiting clarification.
'His own father. Apparently, Liam was part of the mental rehabilitation program… There are multiple reports that Oberst Hans Mason educated his own son with… a glass bottle.'
'Ah…' the Kaiser muttered.
'Liam became lieutenant one month after beginning his mission on the battlefield. At eighteen years old.'
'Wow. Lieutenant at eighteen…' he whispered, intrigued.
The Kaiser's eyes gleamed—not with joy, but with pure magic. The Emperor of Egon did not possess absolute power, but eyes that saw everything.
Kaiser could perceive the metaphysical manifestation of individuals—the spirit—revealed as a dense mantra of energy, the symbol that defined all peculiarities. A color. A meaning.
The brighter an individual's aura, the more loving, naive, gentle, and positive they were—thus, weaker. The strongest, however, were the opposite…
Cruel. Abominable. Monsters. Neutral colors, sometimes extremely dark.
Yet when he looked at Liam, the emperor's composure faltered.
'There's a phrase that circulated over the last year… spoken by the units that witnessed Lieutenant Le Fay fight…' Vens said, watching the Kaiser's expression.
The emperor's eyes were wide in perfect ecstasy.
'Science defines human laws, and magic is the way theory reveals itself to the world. But Liam Mason… stands above all of it; he stands above the world.'
Liam's mantra bore no known color. It was an almost diabolical mixture of neutral shades—ruined, like open wounds. A unique sensation that the Kaiser's heart impulsively named: Void.
Without warning, the Kaiser leapt down, landing on the thick mud field. His red mantle revealed a royal-blue interior as diamond fragments shimmered in the wind.
Walking straight toward Liam, he wore a genuine smile.
'You. Introduce yourself. Ethnicity and age…' the Kaiser said, stopping before the lieutenant.
'Lieutenant of the twenty-sixth unit, Liam Mason, nineteen years old. Egorian and Le Fay…' he introduced himself, only to be interrupted by Vens.
'Only nineteen?' Idna thought, adjusting herself in her seat.
'This is Kaiser Egon IV, your emperor, Lieutenant Le Fay. I suggest lowering your head slightly,' Vens said, stepping in front of the emperor.
'Sir, forgive him!' A voice cut through the uproar of cheers for the Kaiser.
Hans Mason, Liam's father, emerged and shoved the lieutenant back. The medals pinned to his chest caught the Kaiser's attention; an Oberst taking responsibility for his own son's insolence.
'I am Oberst Hans Mason, responsible for the twenty-sixth unit.'
Grabbing Liam by the shoulders, James pulled him away from royalty and dragged him back into the crowd.
'You're crazy… You know that's the emperor, right? The man who commands all our lives. If he wants, he can have everyone here kill you and—' James said, clutching Liam's uniform.
'As if they could,' Liam retorted, averting his gaze.
Sighing at his stubbornness, James straightened Liam's attire and regained his composure.
'Look around. These guys would love for the Kaiser to look them in the eyes for a second… Am I wrong?' he asked a random soldier.
'No!' the soldier replied, baffled by Liam's indifference.
'See? Do you even know what that means?'
Liam turned his face away and leaned slightly, but he listened.
'Brother… We grew up under the same circumstances. A sorcerer always inherits a gene from one of the ancient sorcerers. Unfortunately, we inherited from Morgana.'
'I know, idiot.'
'Listen to me, damn it!' James snapped, barely restraining himself.
At the shift in tone, Liam looked at him again, sharp-eyed.
'They say the Egon family genes are always related to the eyes. The former emperor could detect the affinity of a gene—that's how he chose his Marshals and Generals. The Kaiser…'
Glancing sideways at the emperor, Liam felt irritation at the gentle smile directed at him.
'He can see the flow of energy within every sorcerer. Something beyond what the physical world offers. He sees our Weltna… And to him, the brighter it shines, the weaker you are. The darkness in our souls is shaped by mentality and strength…'
'And what is that supposed to mean for me?' Liam asked, his hoarse voice weakening.
'Man… Look at your life! The Slayer of Shoguns… The Duelist of Death… The One Who Caused the Two Hundred Deaths… Your life's been a disaster since your first breath. How do you think your Weltna looks to the emperor?'
Destroyed. Empty.
'Lieutenant, present yourself again,' the Kaiser called, chest puffed. 'Have you ever been to the capital?'
Walking between soldiers, Liam met his emperor's eyes as he answered, 'Only when I received my rank.'
With a soft smile, the Kaiser stepped back. Accompanied by Vens, he walked toward the carriage in inviting strides.
'Come. You and your sub-lieutenant.'
With a hard shove from James, forced to follow, Liam walked with firm, confident steps, showing not the slightest sign of respect.
The attitude irritated Vens, who interrogated him with a glance over his shoulder. It was despicable—even for someone of high rank—to reject the emperor himself.
After all…
'You must follow the Kaiser! You must live for the Kaiser!'
'The Kaiser adores and serves God, and you serve the Kaiser!'
'You should lower that nose of yours a little, young lieutenant…' Vens suggested, almost like fatherly advice.
But that was not how Liam felt.
'You must bow your head and kneel only to the Kaiser!'
Feeling Hans's judging gaze upon him, Liam lifted his chin even higher.
'We must bow our heads only to the Kaiser… right?' he asked, halting the procession.
Silence dominated the camp. Those closest to Liam anticipated something truly controversial.
If the Kaiser could see a person's essence, Liam saw strength. Filled with a neutral, almost empty feeling, his hoarse voice slipped past parted lips.
'But I refuse to bow to someone far weaker than me.'
But at some point in life…
'And I bowed…'
It was not resentment nor regret, yet bowing to someone inferior was what led Liam Mason to this state.
Left upon a stone in the middle of a clearing, the glow of a crimson moon bathed his body. An ethereal, divine touch—a farewell festival… for someone who did not deserve it.
As weakness consumed him, Liam strained to touch where he had been struck for the last time: his stomach. Feeling no movement beneath his chest, he pressed against his pierced abdomen, soaked in his own blood.
Raising his fingers, he watched the viscous blood drip onto his face.
The Legitimate Son of the Universe—one of Liam's given titles. A name equal to the strength he bore, yet…
Where was that strength now?
If you do not strike, you die. That was Liam's motto…
'I hesitated…' he whispered, coughing blood immediately after.
The neigh of a horse echoed in his ears—his final chant.
Liam's entrails were exposed; cold wind ran through his body; his organs failed one after another.
'Liam Mason Le Fay…' a voice called, like a whistle of wind.
'Would this be the moment to regret my choices?'
'Do you regret them?'
'Not for a single minute… The envy I felt in life brought me here. I do not regret who I am, who I was… I only hope there is no hell after all this, for I have already tasted it…'
'I will treat this as a signed contract… I will say you accepted your death.'
Disappearing into the forest, the gallop of a horse cut through the wind.
Liam's body grew heavy; his eyes fell shut. Even so, for a moment, he felt crushed.
Seconds later, however, his body felt light. Almost floating…
The feeling of death was ethereal.