Corrin took a deep breath and looked towards all his opponents. They were a far greater number than Corrin had hoped; there also stood Hylda, whose head seemed attached to her body lopsided. There also was Ivas, whose arm was completely gone, and to whom Janis's head was tied via a rope to his hip. Of course, Corrin could not forget the most powerful enemy, Edwin. His chained swords spun around beside him, scratching the ground and causing sparks to fly up.

  Around him were dozens of the undead soldiers, most of whom were nearly dead. It seemed a breeze could topple them all over. Corrin knew they paled in comparison to Ivas, Hylda, Janis, and Edwin.

  “Tutsoi isn’t strong enough to take on Nevarii alone. You know that, don’t you?”

  Corrin did know that. He knew that Tutsoi couldn’t defeat Nevarii on his own, not because of a lack of skill, but because Nevarii was far too cunning to let Tutsoi use raw strength to defeat him. Corrin knew that he had to defeat Edwin quickly and go to help Tutsoi immediately afterward. Corrin took a long-winded breath. A golden power began to illuminate around him. For the first time in far longer than Corrin could care to admit, a vague silhouette stood beside him. Corrin gasped; he had nearly forgotten the ghost of Rotix.

  He remembered, back when he fought the Queen, this ghost had appeared and showed him every move he had to make to win. He looks at her. The hair, just as golden as before, in the light that she brought forth. Yet something was unsettling about her; she showed no emotion in her ghostly form. Corrin turned to Edwin and the others.

  In an instant, the ghost of Rotix jumped forward in a flash, and Corrin nearly instantly did the same. It was as though his legs were being moved without his command. He looked at the ghost, following every movement she made. She cut to the left, blocked to the right, dived under, and jumped up, and all of it Corrin followed. Soldiers around him fell by the dozens as he followed. Corrin began to feel an overwhelming sense of haunting in the air. Like her presence wasn’t normal.

  Corrin watched Hylda jump forth towards him, her lopsided head slightly throwing him off guard, but ultimately she did nearly nothing. The ghost told him everything, and Corrin quickly adapted to her attack. It seemed as if only a blink in Corrin's eyes, he was upside down and behind Hylda. Corrin slashed at her neck, cutting it away from her body. As it spun upwards, her eyes split apart as Corrin slashed again at her.

  A scraping sound cut through Corrin’s back as he was pushed forward and away. A horizontal wave of pain flowed through him. Yet, despite the pain, he felt the urge to turn and follow the ghost once again.

  Hylda was on the ground. Her eyes were slashed, and she would be no problem anymore to Corrin. His arm began to throb in pain, and he looked only briefly to survey the wounds once more. The blood was dry in the cold, yet it was clear his arm would never recover. But he already knew this. He looked up once again upon his enemies.

  “Their numbers are thinning.”

  Corrin heard the voice go through his mind. It was a female’s voice, light but matured.

  “Don’t stop. They don’t deserve any mercy.”

  As though a switch flipped, Corrin’s entire mindset changed. Nothing but their deaths mattered now. The ghost appeared once more by his side, and he followed it as it rushed forward towards Ivas. Ivas quickly attempted to block the attack by bringing his only sword-bearing hand up into a loose position.

  “Power!”

  In an instant, the sword shattered as golden light flew from Corrin’s blade. The earth seemed to tremble as Corrin slammed his foot into the ground, crushing it under his weight. Corrin’s sword flew to his right side as he readied himself, grabbing onto it with both hands. Dry blood scraped on the sword from his wounded left hand as he gripped it.

  “A Thousand Cuts!”

  Ivas’s body was mutilated beyond recognition as he was cut into pieces no bigger than Janis’s head, which flew into the air from the force. Corrin’s pupils began to glow a strong yellow color as he jumped up into the air, whilst following the ghost beside him. He flew past Janis’s head, and, for a single moment, it seemed as though he had missed; before Janis’s head fell apart in two.

  Corrin landed back onto the ground with hurricane winds. In fact, around both Edwin and Corrin, the wind began to pick up and flew quickly from left to right on the battlefield. Snowflakes flew into both of them quickly, though it phased neither.

  Corrin’s vision began to blur. The pain in his arm spread throughout his body. Corrin twisted his left arm back up to hold onto the sword. He opened his mouth.

  “Rotix… will control… all of the known realms…”

  Corrin no longer controlled his own body. He felt like nothing more than a vessel as someone– or something– else took control. Pain shot through his body, yet it prevailed. Corrin flew forward towards Edwin, who went on the defensive.

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  Sparks flew around them both, and smoke began to billow off of Corrin’s body. The sparks flew in such massive amounts that fires began to ignite in the rubble around them both. Bits of metal flew to Corrin, who blocked them with ease. Corrin shifted back and forth whilst moving closer.

  “Light Katana Style…!”

  Corrin seemed to disappear, with nothing but vague images appearing around Edwin as he blocked them quickly.

  “Mirage!!”

  Corrin yelled forth, the word blending into a scream of agony as the pain crackled through his body like thunder. Edwin received numerous cuts on his body, though nothing that would stop him. A thought, not his own, whispered through his head.

  “Peace.”

  Suddenly, Corrin felt his body whipping downward into the ground. The gold around him turned to a deep red, the color of blood. His eyes turned the same shade as he brought his sword down just near Edwin’s feet, who was still taking in what Corrin was doing.

  “Peace!!”

  Corrin’s body, faster than his blurred thoughts could realize, was in the air, with streaks of a blood red color creeping up in a spiraling motion. The red exploded outwards in all directions.

  As his own body turned and looked down toward Edwin, he could feel a sensation in his chest; his heartbeat. It grew heavier and heavier until its own weight seemed to pull him back down to the ground. He fell, cracking the brick as he stood, walking toward Edwin, who was now much farther away than Corrin had realized. Though it didn’t take him long to understand why.

  Blood splattered onto the ground as Edwin coughed. 3 Diagonal cuts ran along his body, though they did not seem deep. Edwin quickly began spinning his weapon again. Corrin’s body was about to stop dead in its tracks from the pain. He could hardly believe he was still walking. But he was. He moved closer and closer to Edwin, who seemed just as physically weary.

  Around them, the monsters began to slow. The Flesh dogs slowed to a crawl as they went through the houses around them. Edwin used the moment of Corrin’s distraction to fly forward. Around him, golden light began to appear, clashing against the red coming from Corrin in the skies above them. Corrin jumps quickly toward Edwin, despite his not having even been paying attention to him.

  In a sudden jerk, Corrin’s body readied for another attack.

  “Light Katana Style…”

  Corrin’s body moves in a way that is unlike any way he’s ever moved, sliding to the right, and readying his sword.

  “Challenge!”

  Suddenly, explosions blew around them like Explosive Defense, his body moved as fast on an offensive attack like A Thousand Cuts, and his body moved as quickly as Mirage. Edwin was forced immediately on the defensive in all directions as Corrin disappeared and reappeared all around him at speeds Corrin himself could not comprehend.

  The red flew in all directions, consuming the gold that Edwin emitted. Edwin fought no longer for any war or battle, but for his own life. Corrin knew Edwin could not hold on. And suddenly, the longing to murder Edwin went away just as quickly as it came. Corrin realized what was really occurring; he understood the weight of his actions. Whether or not they were his was not important. Corrin desperately pulled his attacks away from Edwin.

  Corrin began to understand that past this war, past this battle, past what Edwin had chosen to do now, Edwin was once Corrin’s best friend. They grew up eating from the same gardens, working the same horses, playing in the same fields. They had the same neighbors and the same friends. Tears began to well in Corrin’s eyes as the memories of his childhood flooded back. All of the choices he had made, how he had arrived in this very city during this battle, how many living creatures he had killed.

  “Noo!!!”

  Corrin’s sword flashed one last time. The red from his body and eyes faded into gold, then blew away in the high winds. Instantly, the majority of the pain relieved from his body, though much of it stayed. Particularly in his arm, in which the pain felt as if he had lost it rather than wound it. Corrin looked up and watched Edwin’s head roll off of his shoulders and onto the floor.

  Corrin stood for only a few moments longer before falling to the ground and passing out instantly.