The light enveloped Ansel's eyes. And in an instant, he found himself standing in the heart of the forest. The air was thick with the scent of pine and earth. The shadows of towering trees stretched around them like silent guardians.
In front of him, embedded in the ground was Viorenving. Its blade gleamed faintly, as if alive with a power of its own. The vibe gave a shiver down his spine.
Behind him, Rhea stood with her wings unfurled. The delicate feathers shimmered in the dappled forest light. Then, she approached Viorenving. Her wings reach out as if urging Ansel to take hold of the sword. It was obvious, she wanted him to wield it.
Nevertheless, Ansel hesitated, his heart pounding with doubt and fear. He knew what holding Viorenving meant. It meant confronting Heka, the dark force he had long dreaded.
Thus, he must kill him. But he didn't want to do it, not if there was any other way, another hope to change the fate.
His voice trembled as he pleaded. "Rhea, sorry I can't do this. I don't want to kill anyone. Help me and stop me, please."
Rhea's eyes met his, filled with a quiet understanding but also a resolute strength. The forest around them seemed to hold its breath, waiting for his next move.
Ansel's hands trembled as he looked at the sword, the weight of destiny pressing down on him. The choice was his, but the path forward was shrouded in uncertainty and danger.
Ansel prostrated himself before Viorenving and Rhea, his forehead pressed firmly against the cold earth. The weight of the moment pressed heavily on his shoulders. His heart pounded with a mixture of fear and resolve.
Yet, despite his reverence, Rhea's expression darkened with anger. She was furious that Ansel refused to grasp Viorenving, the sword that symbolized the burden he was destined to bear.
Without warning, Rhea lunged forward and pierced Ansel's hand sharply. The pain was immediate and searing as if her bite was no mere illusion but something painfully real. The sharp sting pierced through the haze of his vision, jolting him awake.
"Oughh…" Ansel groaned. He clutched his hand where the bite had landed. The pain throbbed intensely, grounding him back in reality.
To his surprise, as his eyes adjusted, he saw Andrew standing nearby, concerned etched deeply across his face. Besides Andrew, Rhea watched him with a mixture of worry and something softer.
Andrew's presence woke him from daydreaming, from the vision of his fate. The fate he hoped never happened.
"Ansel, what's wrong with you?" Andrew asked. He stepped closer. His voice was laced with genuine concern.
Ansel shook his head, trying to dismiss the pain. He replied. "Nothing."
However, the ache in his hand told a different story. Rhea didn't just bite him in his vision, but also in real life.
After a brief pause, Ansel's thoughts turned inward. He found himself asking a question that had been gnawing at his soul. "Andrew, what will you do if you have to kill someone?"
Andrew blinked, caught off guard by the question. To him, it sounded weird and unsettling. He said quietly, his eyes searching for Ansel's face for answers. "Why do you ask like that? It's so terrible."
Ansel's gaze dropped to his bitten hand. The pain a stark reminder of the harsh reality he faced. He admitted. "I don't know if I can do it."
Ansel paused for a moment. Then he added. "But it seems like it's something I might have to do."
"It's truly that it's terrible." Ansel admitted quietly. His voice was barely above a whisper.
The thought of taking someone's life with his own hands was something he dared not fully imagine. It was a burden, cumbersome that it pressed down on his soul. It threatened to crush the hope he clung to.
He looked at Andrew, searching for some kind of guidance or understanding. His eyes filled with a mixture of fear and desperation. He asked. "Then, what do you think? If you were in my place, what would you do?"
Andrew hesitated, his brow furrowing as he considered the question. It was not an easy thing to answer. How could anyone truly prepare for such a moment?
After a long pause, he finally spoke. His voice was steady but thoughtful. "If I have to kill someone, I will definitely kill myself in front of the person I killed. After all, killing someone is a sin that is not easy to forgive. I think life must be paid with life."
His words echoed in Ansel's mind. It stirred a whirlpool of thoughts and fears about what might come after the inevitable confrontation with Heka.
The weight of destiny pressed heavily on him, and a dark, unsettling idea took root. Perhaps he should also die alongside Heka once the battle was over. The thought was both a surrender and a grim acceptance of the cost that victory might demand.
"You are right. It's so unfair." Ansel murmured. His voice was barely audible, as if confessing a painful truth to himself.
Andrew's eyes softened with empathy. "I think... sometimes, we don't get to choose what fate hands us. But we do get to choose how we face it. Killing someone... It's not just about ending a life. It's about what comes after. The guilt, the pain, the questions that never leave you."
"Honestly, I don't want to kill. But if it's the only way... I have to be ready." Ansel confessed, his voice trembling.
Fear gripped him tightly, a cold and relentless force that seeped into his bones. The journey to Japan had been his attempt to escape, to find a place where his mind could rest and his heart could find some remembrance of peace.
But instead of solace, he found his fears magnified. His anxiety deepened by the looming shadow of the most terrible day yet to come.
He had hoped that distance and time would dull the sharp edges of his destiny, but the opposite had happened.
The closer he came to the moment of reckoning, the more vivid and terrifying his visions became. The thought of confronting Heka, of wielding Viorenving to end a life, filled him with dread. Not just for the battle itself, but for what might be lost in its wake.