Humanity's Hero Of Despair

Justus dangles in the Emperor's grasp for dear life, his face turning an unnatural shade of purple.

The Emperor's haunting voice feels like venom.

"Is this all you got, you traitor?!"

His grip on Justus's neck tightens. My hand shakes around the hilt of my sword of darkness, and rage bubbles in my chest, but fear holds me back. Justus's eyes lock onto mine, begging me to do something.

I glance at Ignis, who is in a fiery blaze as he launches himself at the Emperor. He's a blaze of crimson flames resembling a phoenix—the same technique I saw take out a high-ranking dragon. What I know now is a lot more terrifying. The technique exchanges life force for raw power. We can only hope it will inflict some damage on the Emperor before Ignis's life force becomes too low.

My breath catches in my throat. This is Ignis's last desperate attempt. He knows how high the stakes are in this fight. If we defeat the Emperor, we might save a lot part of humanity right now. Though, what will the cost be?

The Emperor's gaze shifts to Ignis, who is flying straight at him. He releases Justus, who gasps for breath. He will at least be alright for now.

CLASH! FWOOM!

The impact of Ignis's crimson sword of flames and the Emperor's longsword of light causes an earthquake of a shockwave to spread throughout the battlefield. Flames burst around them with an intensity I have never seen before in my life. It's as if I can feel Ignis's rage. The flames flicker off his body like they are part of his soul and innermost feelings.

Then something clicks.

A new sensation washes over me. The monster within me calls out, wanting to be unleashed. This time, though, I feel in control. The passion against the Eradicators, my ability to adapt to the situation, the centeredness I feel about accepting my position within society—these emotions come to me at once. With these emotions come all the elements surging through me in complete harmony.

Origin magic.

Confidence flows through me. I meet the glance of the Emperor, no longer frozen in fear. The Emperor looks fairly burned and bruised, but Ignis looks worse. He looks like he's dying with every strike attempted against the Emperor. With a burst of light, Ignis goes flying straight up into the air and comes crashing down onto the ground. I wince, as it sounds like he breaks a couple of bones.

The Emperor turns toward me as his body glows with an aura of light. His golden eyes burn with the greed of a billion gold coins. He shows his true form as I awaken my true self.

"You finally awakened," he sneers. "Let's see if it amounts to anything."

He lunges at me, his longsword of light growing even bigger to the point it blinds me for a moment. He is strong. However, I am stronger. Flames burst onto my sword. A cyclone of wind surrounds me, preventing the Emperor from getting too close. I urge the earth to rise beneath me, and now I have the high ground.

Every element and every feeling within me occurs at once in perfect harmony. It feels like I know myself completely and not at all at the same time. I raise my hand to the sky. I know this is ironic, right? The elements flow around my hand, bursting into the sky at my command. A voice comes from within me. I'm not sure if it's me or not.

"Eleventh Affinity Level Magic, Strike Of Harmony!" I yell as dozens of elemental circles appear over the Emperor, ranging from fire, water, wind, darkness, and light. The elemental power bursts from these circles straight down at the Emperor. It's powerful enough to eliminate any person. The Emperor, unfortunately, is not simply a person.

The dust from the technique makes it hard to spot the Emperor for a moment. I hope the technique has destroyed him. Through the smoke, I see a flash of light. My gut tugs at me. I do not have a good feeling.

Ignis. Justus.

I jump off my column of stone as I think about them. Justus was last seen on the floor, free from being choked. Ignis was also last seen on the ground with a couple of broken bones. Did the Emperor take the chance while I thought he was dead to attack them?

The dust clears enough for me to see the Emperor about to attack Justus with a ray of light. "No!" I run toward Justus, but it feels like everything is in slow motion. The ray of light hits him straight in the chest, vaporizing him in an instant. The only pieces left of Justus are sparks of light floating in the air. In an instant, they are gone.

Filled with rage and tears, I turn to face the Emperor once more.

"You coward!" The surrounding elements rage like never before. It feels like I have become darkness itself. I blitz the Emperor and slam him into the nearest house with the power of a thousand spears. The house blows apart as we both go crashing through multiple walls. As I regain my footing, I notice the Emperor's aura wavering. He is struggling to get up. My technique affected him.

It is possible to defeat him. I just need a little more out of me.

As I prepare to lunge, my body falls to the floor unexpectedly. The origin magic flowing through my body stops, and the only emotion I feel now is despair. Smiling, the Emperor limps toward me after seeing this. The burst of flames coming from the side forces him to summon a shield of light, surprising him.

Ignis. He is alive and standing. Barely. He is hunched over with his hands on his knees, and it seems like a slight breeze would send him tumbling back to the ground. Ignis just saved my life even though it seems like he is about to lose his just like Justus.

We both are weak and powerless. It seems like a hopeless situation.

I don't even have the energy to use the despair in the atmosphere to draw it into my power. My lack of experience with origin magic takes its toll on my body as I use it too much. The Emperor summons a spear of light and throws it at me. It isn't a powerful attack, but I have no mana to defend against it.

Whoosh!

Ignis uses his last remaining drops of mana to burn the spear of light. He falls to the floor, still conscious but unable to move his body. Thank you, Ignis, for saving me twice, even though I can't do anything to repay you, I think to myself as the Emperor turns toward Ignis in anger. The moment of Justus dying comes to the forefront of my mind.

Please, not both of them. Not Ignis as well.

Crash!

My sister and some of my friends burst through the door of the ruined house.

"Sorry we are late. We came as soon as possible as we heard the news of one of the Emperors of Light being here," she says as she summons her twin swords of darkness. Standing next to my sister are Leena, Matteo, and Zephyr. The rest of our friends are probably outside, preventing the Eradicators from interfering with our fight with the Emperor.

Leena and Matteo rush over to Ignis as they see him lying collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. Leena's eyes take on a different shade of blood red as she glares at the Emperor with daggers.

This is the blood of war.