Sosuke pried open the hatch and stepped onto the surface level of the prison. The air was thick with silence. They had abandoned the entire facility because of him.
Cowards.
Sosuke walked outside, his boots pressing into the damp earth. A breeze cut through the night, the first fresh air he had felt in what felt like an eternity. It should've been a moment of relief, but there was no time for that. His star eyes flickered to life, glowing with power. Trails of mana stretched before him like veins of light, each one belonging to a fleeing guard. They scattered into the dense forest, thinking the darkness would hide them.
They were wrong.
Sosuke launched forward, moving like a phantom between the trees. He tracked a group of eight first, their panicked breaths sharp in his ears. They barely had time to turn before he was among them.
The first man saw nothing but a violet flash before his throat split open.
The second tried to raise his weapon, but Sosuke grabbed his wrist, twisting until bone snapped, then drove his knee into his skull.
The others moved to attack as one. A smart tactic—against anyone else.
Sosuke weaved through their strikes effortlessly. He drove his elbow into one man's sternum, feeling the ribs shatter on impact. Another tried to run. A bolt of lightning speared through his back, leaving nothing but a smoking corpse.
Nearby—six more.
Sosuke didn't slow. He hit them harder. Faster. One soldier begged. Another fought to his last breath. It didn't matter. They all fell the same.
The forest grew eerily quiet. Only the sound of rustling leaves remained.
Sosuke exhaled, his chest rising and falling steadily. His hands were stained with blood. A year ago, he would've hesitated to take even a single life. Now? He had lost count.
Something in him had changed.
A sharp pulse of mana snapped him out of his thoughts. Sosuke's head snapped toward the air.
Not a soldier. Too powerful. Too controlled.
He moved without hesitation, crossing the distance in seconds.
The clearing came into view—a squad of Westorian soldiers stood tense, weapons raised at a lone man. He was unarmed, his posture relaxed, as if the situation barely interested him.
"Back off!" one of the soldiers barked. "Put your hands behind your head and get on your knees, or we kill you!"
The man sighed. "So cold. It almost sounded like you'd feel no remorse ending my life." His eyes scanned the group lazily. "You don't even know what I've done. How do you justify this?"
No one responded.
"Unfortunate," the man muttered, tapping his chest. "There's no emotions you can sway within me."
Then, he moved.
One moment, he was standing still. The next, he was behind the lead soldier, his arm buried through the man's stomach.
"I'll never adjust to the vulgarity of murder," he mused. Then he twisted his arm.
The soldier let out a choked gasp before collapsing.
Sosuke shot forward, lightning surging through his veins, his fist cutting through the air like a bullet. His fingers brushed against the man's cloak—
Then, nothing.
The man disappeared.
Sosuke landed hard, dust exploding outward. The second it settled, he saw the bodies around him.
All of them. Dead.
"I was hoping to savor it further," the voice murmured from beyond the dust. "Why did you have to interrupt? Unfortunate."
Sosuke's grip tightened. "What the hell did you do?"
"No point in trying to catch me, prisoner. You'll only fail. You might be faster, but my movements transcend speed."
Sosuke's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
The man raised an eyebrow, then stepped back and gave a polite bow. "Damien Cross, Imperial Knight of Astoria, at your service."
"You enjoy this, don't you?" Sosuke said coldly.
"I could ask you the same question." Damien gestured toward the bodies behind them. "You killed many of my comrades mercilessly. At least I gave your allies a painless death. You lacked the humanity to offer them the same courtesy."
Sosuke's hands clenched into fists. "It's not the same. You and your 'comrades' deserved it. I'll put an end to this."
Mana crackled around him. His katana materialized in his hand, its edge humming with power.
Damien tilted his head. "You bonded further with your weapon? Interesting. That was not in my reports." His lips curled into an amused smile. "Unfortunate."
Sosuke tensed.
"Let me be clear," Damien continued. "I am, by far, the weakest of the Imperial Knights. In fact, you are stronger than I." His gaze flickered toward Sosuke's blade. "It would be foolish of me to engage in battle so… carelessly."
He lifted his cloak.
A deep, shadowy fog spread outward.
"It is not my assignment to kill you," Damien said, his voice fading as the darkness consumed him. "So I shall take my leave."
And just like that, he was gone.
Sosuke let out a sharp breath. His grip on his sword loosened, then tightened again as he turned to the fallen Westorian soldiers.
"They died so pointlessly," he muttered. His jaw clenched, his knuckles white.
"Astorians are cruel."
"What happened?!"
A familiar voice.
Sosuke turned, his eyes locking onto Lumi. She was breathing heavily, her face lined with concern.
"Nothing," he said, his voice sharp. "It's best you get on home, Lu—"
He stopped.
Lumi tilted her head. "Why didn't you call for backup earlier?" Sosuke asked suddenly. His voice was steady, but something inside him was unraveling. "You knew I was there. You'd been there a long time. So why didn't you call in a whole team? Or the Starborn?"
Lumi hesitated.
"They…" She swallowed, shifting uncomfortably under his stare. "They didn't want to waste large resources on saving one man."
Sosuke's brow furrowed. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "What?"
"I was told you were simply a useful tool in the war, sir…" Lumi said quietly.
Tool.
The word echoed in his mind, rattling through old wounds. He let out a slow breath. "That's right," he muttered. "I'd forgotten about that. But my friends—"
"Did anyone even try to come with you? Did they even know about the mission?"
Lumi lowered her head. "It was assigned only to me because of my knowledge of Astoria." She fidgeted with her hands, avoiding his gaze. "I was only in the prison for about eight months. And they…" Her voice faltered. "They discovered its location in under a month."
Sosuke's entire body went still.
His breath hitched, his chest tightening.
A month.
They had known. For almost a year, they had known where he was. And they left him there.
His fingers curled into fists.
"Go home, Lumi," he said, his voice distant. "You must miss it by now."
"I can't leave without you, sir! It was my duty to—"
"I'm sorry," Sosuke interrupted. "But there's not much you can do to stop me." He turned away. "Just let them know I'm alive."
Lumi didn't move.
"You keep doing that," she said softly, watching as he disappeared into the trees. "So cryptic."
The forest swallowed him whole.
How could I have forgotten?
Sosuke walked blindly through the woods, each step heavy with something he couldn't name.
I knew I was a tool from the start. I even suspected it the moment Gabriel came to the school.
Gabriel never cared. He wanted a weapon. And Sosuke had let him forge one.
Is it my fault the others received the same treatment?
His breath shuddered.
Could I have saved them from this fate if I had just agreed to go alone? The Starborn program only existed because of me.
His steps slowed.
His vision blurred.
Ryoma's face flashed in his mind.
He could have lived.
Sosuke clenched his teeth, but it didn't stop the tremor in his hands.
He could have had a life outside of this.
His knees hit the ground.
His throat burned.
His entire body tensed, fighting against the weight crushing his chest. But the pain was too much, and for the first time in years—
Sosuke let out a cry.
A raw, broken sound that shattered the quiet night.
No one was there to hear it.