"You passed."

  This assessment was far more accurate than the make-believe simulated test environment. Looking at the unmoving corpse, Ivan knew there was nothing he could do to bring the dead back to the living.

  No technology of that calibre exists…

  …At least for now.

  Even after discarding all semblance of humanity, Neptune still could hear Jupiter’s lamentation from beyond the abyss. It was futile to clasp his ears as it came from within, where the wailings of the assimilated haunted his existence.

  He had suffered a loss beyond words and moved as commanded, but was unsteady in his pace, barely following the lead of his mentor. They eventually stumbled into the crosshairs of what seemed to be a prison made up of solidified lightning with the strange sighting of a masked person. When the dust settled, the person had their back against a fallen foe–a soldier wearing the Federation’s uniform with three black chocolate bars signifying his rank.

  “They must be here, too.”

  He spared a fleeting glance at a pile of carcasses, choosing not to acknowledge them, but when memories of fooling around came flooding in like an unrelenting storm, he could not help feeling a certain way.

  As his eyes slowly crept toward the fallen soldier, he instantly recognised who it was.

  “...Sir, what a pleasant surprise…”

  Neptune looked down with disgust at the soldier, who seemed to be near the point of passing out from the damage inflicted upon him. A Machiavellian feeling engulfed him upon witnessing his weakened, vulnerable state. Like a shark swimming toward its prey, he wondered what he would do to his half-dead commander. Thoughts wavering on the borderline of madness and genius from parts unknown whispered into his ears as he contemplated how he would dissect his foe. The societally accepted justification beneath his facade faded when his predatorial instincts took over, turning his mourning expression–a facial mask he had to pretend to wear for historical purposes–into a sadistic grin.

  Since arriving at the scene, Ivan had not taken his eyes off the perpetrator behind the assault before him.

  Troy lay motionless in a puddle of his blood, his body seemingly ravaged beyond words by the esoteric powers wielded by a familiar soul he had spent time in service with before his untimely “death”. Ivan knew who it was by the Artifact and swallowed nervously hard as he inched closer. His boots caressed the crimson grass where his former ally stood at the rear with a nostalgic vortex behind him.

  “...Andrew, is that you?”

  Despite the siren calls from within pulling him in, Andrew reactively turned upon hearing someone calling his lost name. It had been far too long since someone addressed him with that, making his heart skip a beat. Andrew registered the voice, for it belonged to the man from a famed lineage who once served his illustrious family.

  “The heavens sure love playing with us.”

  He could not help but chuckle in despair. In his wildest dreams, he could never imagine having multiple reunions in such a miserable setting. He turned away from the vortex, looking at his former comrade from under his mask. Despair engulfed him as his breath was caught in his lungs upon noticing that unmistakable bleached fabric stashed behind him.

  The UAFAF. This terrorist attack. And the heaps of corpses. The paper trail led to the revival of the ultimate work.

  “Why do you still have that?”

  To see his former ally carrying on the sins from a decade ago made him sick. He wondered why the Newton heir would swear fealty toward a cause that would dye his soul with the blood of the dead.

  “What do you mean?” Ivan recognised the unmistakable confident posture of Lord Temporean’s eldest son. The habits of his dignified grace had lasted the test of time, even with the lack of practice through the years. “How did you–”

  “Survive?”

  “Yes…”

  “That’s not important.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Andrew lowered his obfuscated face and said nothing.

  "How–"

  “You don’t have to know.”

  “If you lived, you should have returned to us back home. Your son, did you know he–”

  “I’m aware. The Federation. The President. Their latest compulsory conscription policy. Everything you know, I know, too. You can spare yourself the pleasantries of explaining further.”

  Andrew remained strangely calm for a man who returned to the same homeland that left him for dead, as though he attained knowledge beyond an Ascended could ever dream of acquiring.

  “And that is why I did not come alone.”

  The greyish-red vortex behind him meant she was here too…

  “You mean–”

  “Go on, impress me.”

  “Candice survived as well? Did anyone else survive?!”

  Andrew laughed from under his mask. “That’s not the smartest question to ask, given your intellect. It seems you’re clinging on to hope. Don't embarrass your last name, Tempus Guard.”

  "That honour is not mine." Ivan could sense the inauthenticity behind that sneer.

  "It'll belong to your kin." Andrew felt Ivan jerk nervously from his words. “ And you will become the villain of his story. How tragic.”

  “I can say the same for you.”

  Andrew said nothing and lifted his head to the heavens, wondering if his ancestors were judging him.

  “Where is Candice?”

  “A strategic pivot. You won’t be seeing her today, unfortunately. But, I’ll let her know you asked. That’s the most I could do for a former ally. She would be delighted to know you survived. Since I’m a kind man, I’ll leave out the details of you carrying on your mentor's cursed legacy.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Why do you have a problem with that?”

  Andrew suppressed the urge to laugh. “That’s not a problem…for now. Besides, we’re about to make our move.”

  "To where?" Ivan wished he had worked on that project's research.

  Silence.

  “Why are you here? Why is it so coincidental that it had to be today?”

  Another question that was met with silence.

  “You have a dual objective mission. While you’re here to deal with the terrorists, Candice has come for your son…”

  Andrew folded his arms upon acquiring a satisfactory response. “I had to make you work for that. No wonder he took you under his wing.”

  “I’m sorry for what happened–”

  “You don’t have to be. The sins of your mentor no longer hold any significance. You did not know his intent. Your role involved following his orders, like a good subordinate–like how it should be. I do not hold any grudges against you.”

  “But it was your wife–”

  “Stop it.”

  “Your–”

  “Enough!”

  Andrew jumped from the vortex’s opening onto the bloodied grass, realigning his position next to his fallen understudy. He drew the rods at his waist, ready to strike until he noticed Ivan did not come alone. However, assuming those backups could even land a scratch on him was an impossibility.

  “So the Federation has given you a dual appointment. An interesting decision by the President.” All Andrew needed was one look at the backup's arsenal to know who they were.

  “You’re equally sharp yourself.”

  “Given the circumstances of the Federation’s birth statistics, it was obvious.”

  Ivan gazed upon Troy’s motionless body, wondering the magnitude of punishment Andrew had inflicted upon him.

  “What did you do to him? Why is he in this state?!”

  Andrew shook his head in displeasure.

  “Why would you hurt an innocent man?!”

  With a swift motion, Andrew removed his mask, releasing his greyish-black hair. His sapphire eyes found their mark, staring deep into Ivan’s. He joined both hands in unison, clapping at Ivan’s ridiculous statement.

  “After fourteen years, you still are as clueless as this piece of human trash lying here! The same applies to the rest of the Federation. Don’t tell me that even you got hoodwinked!” Andrew lifted Troy’s motionless body by the arm with relative ease. “You see this right here! Look at this rank! He can’t even fight! What sort of standards have the Federation fallen to?!”

  Andrew maintained a composed demeanour even as he forced those insults out.

  “He’s a useless piece of human filth cosplaying as a make-believe soldier! How does a soldier like him even possess the ability to defend the Federation from the Empire?!” His brows furrowed as his voice deepened. “It appears you are underestimating the Empire’s arsenal.”

  “They have one of it,” Ivan remembered the recovered haul missing multiple pieces of equipment upon leaving the floating island. “It can’t be…”

  “If it’s in Swaine’s possession or any of the Imperials, you know your chances.”

  Ivan was left speechless as he clenched his fists.

  “The Federation does not stand a chance. Give up. Nobody can wield it by the time they arrive on your shores.”

  That was the undisputed truth. Ivan knew the facts; the soldiers in the current rendition of the UAFAF lacked the combat prowess the Swans used to possess with him on their side. If the Drazen Empire arrived on their shores, the United Atlantea Federation would fall in a day without contest. Their soldiers had no resolve. The commanders were unmotivated. The entire military sat on a ticking time bomb but still chose to do nothing. Most importantly, no worthy candidate could wield their Artifact.

  “You are absolutely right. But…” Ivan lifted his head, understanding his role in the war effort. Grabbing the lab coat he stored at the back of his ILBV, Ivan pushed it forward for the comrade he thought had perished to view. “That’s why I have this.”

  Andrew shook his head again with a disappointed expression. “You know that the path you walk leads to hell.”

  After what seemed like a lifetime, Ivan answered with resolve. “I have prepared myself for it.”

  “It’s still early. Turn back now. Before you regret it, like your mentor.”

  It was Ivan’s turn to shake his head.

  “Why sacrifice your humanity for the Federation?” Andrew tensed up, not wanting Ivan to walk the same self-destructive path as his mentor. “The Federation you knew…It had died a long time ago! Why are you fighting for a cause unworthy of your last name?! I don’t understand. The North will never rise again from its fall! Return home to your family!”

  “You’re right…”

  Ivan wondered. Was it due to personal glory? Or simply to protect his homeland? Did the President’s rallying cry influence him to sacrifice his humanity for the pursuit of national defence?

  …Or was it because of someone he wanted to protect?

  “...And wrong at the same time.”

  When faced with this revelation of having his life’s purpose revolving around architecting the systems of calamity, he couldn’t help but wonder about his cruel destiny. If not him, then someone else would have to take his place. And for that reason, he had to bite the bullet.

  Did you go through what I’m going through, too?

  “...I get it now. My role in this. This cycle of madness that perpetuates us for eternity.”

  The lengths a scientific genius would go to even without the advent of war or a great cause. The boundaries of innovation he would once against push. Then. Now. And forever. Like the Primordial Beast of the Kingdom of Middle that bites its tail, the Ouroboros.

  The responsibility of those born with a genius’s mind wasn’t for everyone. Only those who possessed the psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies to be beyond the limits of morality could achieve glory at any price.

  “I must protect the United Atlantea Federation as a soldier,” Ivan spoke with conviction, causing Andrew to clap in disgust even louder. “Anyone who dares question the sovereignty of the Federation is my enemy.”

  “You have made your choice.”

  Ivan nodded resoundingly without hesitation.

  “That was what I thought fourteen years ago. No wonder the Federation, built on egalitarian promises, had already fallen–”

  Suddenly, Andrew felt an irritable buzzing sensation.

  Time’s up.

  However, he couldn’t resist shaking the hand of his former ally before departing. Putting his right hand forward, Andrew offered a handshake.

  “I wish you all the best. I’ll be observing all of you from afar.”

  Ivan looked at Andrew’s offer and remembered the Temporean’s condescending tone during his youth.

  “No thanks.”

  “Why are you not accepting my handshake, you lowly peasant!”

  The arrogance of a lesser being not accepting his gesture had gotten on his nerves. The ancestral genes within him blessed by the Founder could not take this disrespect lightly.

  Then, someone from a distance caught his attention. A soldier in Ivan’s entourage came unarmed–a disrespectful gesture for someone who blatantly knew this field had turned into a battlefield. From that soldier’s body language, he could sense, for some odd reason, that he had made the conscious decision not to bear arms. A strange dreadful thought enveloped him as he studied the soldier’s face. He couldn’t understand this ominous feeling from this young recruit, but his sixth sense warned him of the darkness in that boy’s heart.

  There was something about that boy he couldn’t explain in words. “Who is that?”

  “That’s none of your concern,” Ivan positioned his arm forward to protect his mentee from Andrew’s advances. Slightly turning his head to face his mentee, Ivan shouted at the intel team providing support a few yards away for their next orders. “Young Smith, join the intel team and look for survivors. I will join you later–”

  Oh shit.

  Ivan gritted his teeth from his mistake, but it was too late. That was a misstep with heavy repercussions. He noticed Andrew’s frozen sapphire eyes shaking with unpalatable anger. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots since the Swans used to invite their families together for gatherings–

  “...Wait!”