An Unwelcome Hero - shadow slave

The two stared at each other as time around them stopped. Chiron's sick Smile calmed down and he chuckled at the giant man staring at him "My sweet benefactoooorr! Elbaf! I thought you wouldn't recognize me, but your expression says it all. Why don't we step away and chat?" His smiled suddenly dropped, as his face took on an icy and ruthless temperament "or do you wish for me to join the battle?"

Elbaf took in a cold breath. He knew he stood no chance against the current Chiron. He was a defense specialist and can withstand all physical injuries from people even in the ascended realm, but Chiron didn't use brute force, he used the fire of his blazing glory to kill. With such a powerful offense, the only thing that mattered was speed and Chiron had lots of it.

The master didn't want his men to be massacred further before his eyes and decisively stepped back and nodded at Chiron. The atmosphere suddenly changed from the tense aura of death to a warmer one, as Chiron smiled and climbed into a rooftop, with Elbaf following him.

Hs he jumped up onto the 2 story building's roof and stood opposite to Chiron. Chiron's smile returned, as he looked down and said in a singsong tone "Yoo-hoo, boys!" He waved at his soldiers, as his tone dropped to 0 kelvin "clean the vermin!"

He slowly turned back to Elbaf smiled once again "You know, I have to thank you. With the state your army left me in, I was able to reconstruct myself from ground up! When it would have been a miracle if I ever used any of my limbs again, now I am stronger than ever! I have ASCENDED Elbaf! And it's all thanks to you! You allowed me to achieve my full potential and now you will pay the premium price for your mistake!" *Well, technically I learned how to use the powers I already had properly, but him thinking I am also an ascended is much more beneficial.*

Elbaf frowned and sighed "I am guessing you are back for revenge and seeing as how you aren't using your original defense technique, I can only conclude I am dead meat." Chiron nodded his head "Oh yeah, you stand absolutely no chance. The fact, that I am even talking to you should tell you how seriously I am taking this fight and you as an opponent. Hell, I don't think anything below a transcendent would stand a chance against me! Aren't you happy, Elbaf? You contributed so much to my growth! Your Guardian Corps was the one, that originally took me in."

Elbaf looked down in regret. He couldn't understand where he went wrong with Chiron. He had held training ventures, where Chiron took part and had a somewhat negative impression of him, as the previous Chiron was a simple slacker and was only taken in due to his genetics being perfect for the Guardian Corps.

Even with all of that, he never thought any of his men were traitors, so his last request before he was killed was a simple question "Why?!" Chiron raised his eyebrow and looked at Elbaf, a bit confused and motioned him to elaborate.

"Before you kill me, at least tell me the reason. I wish to hear if it was my own mismanagement of the Guardian Corps, that brought down Aranai. I want to die knowing what I did wrong, so I can pay for my sins with my life! I am no coward, I only wish for my rights to be read to before I die. Why did you betray Aranai?"

Chiron froze on the spot. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer, He had nothing better to do than extract information about Aranai while his men earned him more memories. The problem was that he didn't have one! *It doesn't matter, he will die anyway, so might as well.* Chiron looked Elbaf dead in his eyes and said "You know, I have no idea myself."

"..."

Elbaf's face froze as his jaw dropped. His mind stopped working completely when he heard that. "Umm. When I came here, I killed some assassin guy and like REALLY got into my role of a soldier and got... Kinda... Carried away?"

The warrior Elbaf dropped his hammer for the first time in his life! The hammer he swore to wield until death fell, just like that after hearing Chiron's answer. But the psychological assault didn't end there.

"Like, I didn't know they were OUR troops marching that day and decided to, Y'know, become a hero and save Assai to better infiltrate their ranks and get some momentum going and open opportunities for myself. But it turned out I fought my own countrymen and now I am in too deep and need to avenge myself!"

Chiron's brain seemed to have caught up with what he was saying himself and his one good eye widened. *The f"ck? I don't give a shit about revenge! I'm only here to farm memories to take away from this nightmare and live a better life out there!* He thought about his reasons for fighting and couldn't think where in the priority list revenge fit, if even.

At some point, Chiron confused himself to the point of talking aloud. "Actually, why AM I fighting for... Wait, what was the name of the country I am on the side of again?"

"..."

"..."

"... Analand."

"*S"ht, did I say that out loud? Nevermind, it doesn't matter.* Right! I am fighting for Analand, Aranai's sworn enemy! ... Analand IS Aranai's sworn enemy, right?"

*Clink, clank. Clink clank. Clink clank.*

Elbaf's mind couldn't comprehend what he had just heard. His mouth hung open, his eyes wider than an owl's. Even with all the time Chiron gave him, he still couldn't comprehend what was going on and barely kept up with what he was even saying.

Chiron not even knowing the name of the country he waged war against his own motherland for was the final nail in the coffin. At that moment, Elbaf's mind stopped thinking, permanently. He lost the ability of thought and would never recover!

"Nevermind that! Now I do have a reason. I got carried away pretending to be on Analand's side and am now, probably, the biggest fugitive of Aranai and a war hero of Analand, or something. Anyway, I can't return to Aranai and I don't want to die, so I can only go to Analand. Yeah, that's a good enough reason. Welp, time to die, Elbaf."

The threat on his life suddenly kicked Elbaf's mind back into working. "WAIT! You CAN come back to Aranai!"

*This is... unexpected.* Chiron stopped his advance. His attention had been successfully caught and he looked at Elbaf with interest. "Go on..."