The campfire crackled between them, low flames dancing orange across Aden's sharp features. Tents dotted the dark hills behind, rows of trained warriors sleeping under stars and steel. The scent of burning oak drifted through the cold air.
"So…" Egmund took a bite, chewed, and spoke through it. "You've been lookin' like someone dumped a bucket of secrets into your head. Spill it."
Aden didn't answer right away. His gaze was fixed on the fire, brows drawn low. Thoughts swirled — names, timelines, events — all lifted from pages he remembered like etched prophecy. It's almost time, he thought. The protagonist… he'll appear soon. If not already hiding in plain sight.
Egmund waved his skewer. "Yo. Earth to murder prodigy. You good?"
"I'm thinking," Aden muttered. "About someone important."
"Lemme guess. Serenia?"
Aden shot him a sidelong glance. "No."
Egmund smirked. "Damn. Worth a shot. You two did have that vibe, though. Tension, eye contact, slow breathing—"
"Shut up."
"Fair."
Aden leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I need to tell you something. About the future. Or… the one I read about."
Egmund stopped chewing. "Go on."
"There's someone," Aden said. "A noble. From a small, forgotten county in the Empire. In the original story, His family was overthrown, his land was reduced to ashes. His people slaughtered. He was powerless… until a constellation intervened."
Egmund narrowed his eyes. "You're talking about a chosen one?"
Aden nodded. "In a way. The constellation gave him a second chance. It sent him back in time, to before the fall. Gave him a system. A power that grows constantly. As long as he struggles, he gets stronger."
"What, like… video game logic?"
"Almost exactly."
Aden's voice dropped. "His name's Kairus Varkaine."
Egmund blinked. "Kinda badass."
Aden ignored the comment, thoughts racing. 'Kairus, the regressor. He wasn't flashy at first. Just determined. Calculating. Kind. He built his strength from scraps, gathered allies, tamed beasts, bent entire factions. The type of character you root for until you realize…'
"He becomes unstoppable," Aden said aloud. "By the end of the novel.. Kairus had already became king , unified two kingdoms and fought off empires all by himself."
Egmund scratched his chin. "And you… in the book?"
"I was a background antagonist. A rival from a powerful house. A stepping stone. I died before the original story even started."
"Damn. Sucks."
"Yeah."
Silence stretched. The fire crackled again, sending sparks into the night air. A distant horn echoed from the outer watchpost. Routine. Nothing urgent.
Egmund finally asked, "So what's the problem?"
Aden hesitated. Then:
"The system. That's the problem. It scales him endlessly. He doesn't hit a ceiling like the rest of us. Every time he survives something hard, he becomes stronger. Physically. Mentally. Even politically. The story bends for him. He's the axis."
Egmund whistled. "So he's like… chosen by fate?"
Aden shook his head. "He is fate."
He thought of the early chapters in the novel. Kairus enters the Academy. Him befriending Serenia. Saving her from assassins during a royal ball. Earning the trust of the dying King of Aethryn. Resurrecting a dead knight with constellation-blessed magic. It wasn't fair. But it was compelling.
"And now?" Egmund asked. "You think he's already here?"
"I'd bet on it," Aden muttered. "Maybe not as a pillar or a duke. But somewhere. Quiet. Gathering strength. Waiting for the right moment."
Egmund leaned back on his elbows. "So what's the plan? Kill him before the tutorial ends?"
Aden gave him a look. "No. I don't even know if I want to fight him yet. He wasn't evil."
"But?"
"But the world around him… becomes chaos. Wars, rebellions, power struggles. He triggers all of it. Even if he doesn't mean to."
Egmund squinted. "So you're saying we're about to get swept into his wake, whether we like it or not."
"Exactly."
Egmund blew out a breath. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You're the black sheep of a super-house, somehow not dead anymore, have memory of an entire novel world, now a high-ranking war general, and your greatest concern is that the main character of that world might just be alive and gearing up to steal your spotlight?"
Aden stared at him.
"Just checking," Egmund shrugged.
They both fell into silence again, but the air between them felt heavier now. Aden clenched the brooch from House Joshua in his coat pocket. A family on the brink. A regressor on the rise. And an empire staring down an abyss it didn't even understand.
He wasn't the hero of this world. But maybe he didn't need to be.
Maybe it was enough to be the only one who saw the tide before it crashed.
In the distance, the army of the Twelfth Pillar trained under moonlight. Silent drills, synchronized movements. Like blades being sharpened in the dark.
Aden stood.
"Come on," he said.
Egmund rose with a groan. "Where to now?"
"Dahaka."
He glanced back once at the glowing camp, then ahead to the haunted frontier.
Dahaka was waiting, this time with something more vicious than monsters.