1 Stage 1

The smell of blood drenched the battlefield.

Bodies laid sprawled as far as the eye could see, and more still fell as the battle raged one. At this point only a few soldiers remained standing as both sides tried to claim victory in this unimaginably fruitless battle.

The sounds of metal striking metal and arrows piercing flesh was carried across the horizon.

Kalisto was oblivious to all of this as he laid on the ground staring at the beautiful evening sky. His wounds wouldn't let so much as move a pinky so all he could do was stare at the sky and admire its majesty.

A soldier that was frantically running around the battlefield, checking all the bodies, noticed Kalisto.

"Hey! There's still one alive over here!!" the soldier shouted to a priest as he pointed to Kalisto.

"Shut the f*ck up and let me die already!!!" responded Kalisto.

He was utterly annoyed at this soldier for killing the somber mood. He'd been quietly inching his way towards death's door in the most serene way, but the soldiers shout rudely brought him back to the reality he was trying to escape.

"Shut your damn mouth Kalisto before I shut it for you! Priest quickly!"

Without further guidance the priest rushed over to Kalisto's side and started healing him.

"He's lost too much blood, I'm not sure if there's much I can do for him," said the priest.

"Don't give me that! Aren't you priests supposed to be blessed by the goddess or something?!"

"I'm only a 2nd realm Half-Mortal, there's only so much I can do!"

"Hey hey hey! Who the hell told you that you could save me?!!"

Kalisto was more than irritated at this point. This was supposed to be his final send off, his final escape from this cruel war, but now he was being brought back from the brink by these a**holes.

Pain shot throughout his body as he slowly started regaining feeling in his dead nerves.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgh!!"

He tried to maintain consciousness as the long-forgotten wounds were coming back to life with a vengeance.

"Get the hell out of here, I didn't ask for this! The Thucratha soldiers are still fighting our guys so get out of here!"

"Shut your mouth! We've already lost everyone the more people we can save right now the better."

"His wounds are closing up for now. This is the best I can do for him," muttered the priest.

Kalisto quickly tried to figure out how he could convince the two people next to him to leave him to die in peace. Luckily for him his problem was solved in the cruelest way possible.

Thwack!!!

An arrow enchanted with mana pierced through the chest of the soldier, going through his armor as though it wasn't even there. A second arrow followed suit piercing the priest's head, killing him instantly.

Kalisto was utterly mortified as he saw his fellow soldiers die as they tried to save him. He'd long become resigned to the fact that this war would take his life one way or another, but he still wasn't used to seeing those around him die. No matter how many fell he was still struck by the number of lives this war had been taking.

Before he could even lament the tragedy of it all a third arrow pierced his chest.

Whether it was due to his luck or his body's position on the ground, the arrow barely managed to miss his heart going through his chest and piercing the ground beneath.

Kalisto started to choke as blood filled his lungs.

Slowly his awareness started to fade as he began to lose consciousness.

Before the darkness consumed him he thought about the promise he was about to break. After watching his brothers and countless comrades die, he'd decided that no matter what he'd live through this war. That he'd live through the cruelty and unfairness of it all for the sake of all those that die.

But after this sudden, and fierce, ambush by the Thucratha soldiers, Kalisto found out just how impossible a task he was trying to undertake. It was already a miracle that he'd survived this long considering he was only a 3rd realm Mortal who wasn't even able to ascend to a Half-Mortal. But still he had wanted to persevere since that was the only way he knew how to honor those that had died.

He knew that the Atrithia Kingdom, king Arslon, or even his own superiors didn't care about him or everyone that had died. To them they were just pawns for this stupid war.

Kalisto didn't care about protecting the kingdom or maintaining its sovereignty, after all when did the Kingdom ever care about the common folk like him. He and everyone else was just another worthless commoner until this war broke out and then suddenly they were precious defenders of the Kingdom.

His unspoken revolt at the kingdom was this self-made promise to never die for anyone and live for himself.

Despite his own convictions, reality still found a way to utterly crush him and return him to the dirt where he belonged.

Kalisto was now quietly drowning in his own blood, unable to fight back against the inevitable.

As he felt the last of his strength leaving his body he recited a final prayer, that was often recited for the dead, within his head.

'Oh Edros, God of Death, take this fallen soul into your embrace. Let them gently fall into the eternal slumber for life no longer holds them. Through life we find suffering and in death may we find peace eternal. Oh Edros, God of Death, take this soul forevermore.'

And with this final prayer Kalisto let the last of his strength continue to seep out of his body as the pain once more faded.

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"It looks like the whole battalion was wiped out Captain Draven. We still can't find any survivors," reported a soldier.

"So, you're telling me all 1,000 men were killed?!" asked Captain Draven in an increasingly irritate tone.

The soldier stood there not sure how to respond.

"Search everybody and make sure there actually dead. If you find anyone still alive then quickly send them to the medics."

"Understood sir."

The solder quickly ran away and joined the other members of the search party and continued patrolling the long dead battlefield. It'd been about 3 hours since the two forces had clashed and now Captain Draven was on the scene to assess the damages. He'd quickly rushed over as soon as he'd received word of the ambush, hoping to make it in time to help, but unfortunately it was too late.

"Shit this is the last thing we need right now. We're already losing the war as it is."

Captain Draven stood there wondering how he would explain this situation to the higher ups.

'Maybe they'll actually remove me from my position' thought Captain Draven in an almost hopeful manner. This 4-year war had taken its toll on many, any sort of respite was welcomed at this point.

After half an hour a soldier rushed up to him with a gleeful look on his face.

"Sir, we've found 5 survivors! Three of them I didn't recognize, but two of them I know since we're from the same town."

"We'll that's something at least. Who are they?"

"One is the butcher's son, Thomas, and the other is the son of a whore, Kalisto."

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