1 Hero of ruin

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"This is how it ends," Leon said.

He stood by a massive panel of glass that revealed a wide view of the scorched ruins of the city. The acidic rain ate away at the blocks of concrete, reducing the former glory of the capital to its current sorry state.

Leon's eyes changed focus. He turned his attention to the see-through reflection of his own face.

His dark-brown eyes stared right back at him, judging his face covered in scars and wrinkles.

'I certainly do not look my age,' Leon thought. He then glanced over his shoulder. "And you, what do you think?"

Leon looked at his only guest.

It was an old man in a military uniform. His chest was decorated with all the distinctions one could find in the entire country. And yet, he was strapped to his chair with velvet bounds and his mouth was filled with the softest gag.

"Oh right, you don't seem to be enjoying my hospitality," Leon remarked, turning his eyes back towards the window.

'I'm only twenty-five and I already look like an old man,' he lamented, staring down at his reflection. His hand moved up, smearing against his devastated face.

His jaw-bones nearly cracked when Leo gritted his teeth.

"Well then, let's not take too long," he suggested, turning around and looking down at the bound man. "We need to let the world be reborn, don't we?"

Leon took three steps forward, reaching a simple, wooden desk with a small suitcase placed on top. He first caressed the upper part of the case with the tips of his fingers.

Then, he slowly raised his eyes.

"I bet you didn't expect it would ever come to this," he said.

The unhinged satisfaction from before was now nowhere to be seen in his voice. The emotion burned out of Leon's eyes, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.

Leon's true face.

"Ah." Leo twitched, raising his hand to the golden ring locked around his neck. "How could I do all of this while still being your slave, I believe you would like to ask," he said, raising his empty eyes at the old man and gracing him with an equally empty smile.

Leo flipped the locks of the case open, pushing its upper part away and exposing the insides.

There wasn't much to be seen inside. Just a big, red button hidden underneath a plexiglass case with a numpad to its side.

The old man's eyes twitched.

"Thank God," Leon muttered and squinted his eyes a little. "And here I thought you didn't even know how it looks."

Leon's fingers danced over the numpad, inputting the password. The electricity hidden within the case gave out a small beep before it clicked and the button's safety came off.

"The answer to how I did it all is simple," Leon picked up the topic he raised earlier. "With all the limitations and orders you imposed on me, I only needed to create a situation where they conflict with each other."

Leon's explanation was simple. Yet, the problem at hand was just as straightforward.

"I shall never hesitate when taking down your enemies, isn't that right?" Leon asked, resting his butt against the edge of the desk as he looked the old man directly in the eyes. "And now, with all of your enemies dead, guess who is the last one?"

Leon allowed some time to pass. He froze in his place and just watched how the world's dictator started to realize it was his end.

"Hero of ruin." Leon broke the silence. "That's how you called me when you put this lock on my neck," he added, raising his hand to caress the golden edges of the enslavement tool. "Isn't it fitting that I will be the one to bring ruin to you?"

Leon didn't bother letting the old man get terrified. He simply dropped his hand on the button and pressed it.

'And with that, I'm finally free,' he when his fingers could push the button no more.

The simple radio within the suitcase sends out its signal. A huge box hidden in the basement of the building received it, putting the steps of its programmed procedure in motion.

A small explosive came off, pushing the nuclear pellet into the nuclear floor. Compressed by the explosion, the payout compressed, breaching right past the numbers of its critical mass.

Leon didn't even have the time to close his eyes. A wave of pure energy washed over the entire building, reducing any and all into cosmic dust.

'I brought you to your ruin. Now not even ash will remain of your vile self,' Leon thought.

And then he realized the paradox.

'Wait, how can I still think?'

There was no one around the young man to answer.

Leon couldn't feel anything. He couldn't hear, see, smell, touch, or feel anything. With his body evaporated, sensory deprivation only made sense.

'So is this what hell is like?' Leon thought after taking a moment to calm his thoughts down. 'Forced to wait in nothingness until I lose my sanity and sense of self?'

There was no one to answer this question either.

Leon's consciousness floated in nothingness... for only God knows how long. With nothing to observe, the young man was deprived of any means possible to count the passing of time.

And then, after what could be very well a minute but also a century, Leon felt a surge of cold air hitting his face.

'What face?' he thought, unable to comprehend the passing of events. 'Am I being reborn or something?' he thought. 'Should I lose myself first?' he continued to question the reality.

'If that's the case, then what's with this gust of wind?' Leon grasped at the only sensation that he appeared to ever feel in this weird state he was in.

Desperate for answers as he was, Leon's mind quickly reached weird areas that he then refused to further explore.

And then, everything returned.

The light came from a series of torches mounted on high pillars holding up a wooden roof. The noise stemmed from the plated armor of knights moving nervously in their place. The smell of burned incense. The taste of blood in Leon's mouth.

And the cold sensation of touch steeming from the large stones making up the floor.

'What the hell is going on?' Leon panicked. His eyes opened up wide as he consumed every little detail of his surroundings, desperate to figure out his situation.

He then took a long breath, something that he never expected to do again.

'Huh?' Leon then nearly twitched.

The air that he breathed in somehow irritated his lungs a little. Yet, he was too stunned by his situation to do something as stupid as moving around.

And so, Leon slowly let his breath out.

"Tch!"

Someone clicked his tongue with great dissatisfaction.

Plop.

A bit of phlegm landed by the side of Leon's knees.

"Another failure."