Prologue - The Beginning of the End

Thousands of years ago, the mortal race known as 'humans' had been violently fighting, causing complete and utter anarchy, such as destroying others' properties, fighting over what little resources existed at that point in the world, and much more.

That all was to change for the better, however, as the awakening happened. Each and every human began unlocking new and different abilities, which were the ability to use elements, that would eventually be named 'magic'.

After the awakening, over hundreds of years, the wars eventually stopped, with each and every nation prospering individually, as the living environments changing at a faster pace. After so many years of despicable acts, the humans decided to unite once again, helping each other rebuild the civilization that was once lost due to greed.

With the awakening of magic, the humans were put under an illusion; they thought that peace was upon them, however, they could never be farther from the truth. As time continued to pass, the human nature resurfaced.

Greed. Anger. Satisfaction. All of those human feelings returned to everyone, and almost instantly, the world entered a modern war era, however, there were two main goals instead of one: resources and mages.

Destruction spread amongst the blood-stained battlefield, in which the sounds of spells being casted and weapons clashing against each other were drowned by the screaming of the victims of war.

Once humanity had been brought to the brink of extinction again, due to their own entitlement, the dark sky, which had not allowed sunlight to pass through for decades, illuminated.

The humans thought that it was a miracle, it was a sign from the universe, something that told them to live on.. or continue. They were mostly wrong, however, for a man descended from the blinding light.

From the one thousand humans that were able to survive up to that point, only four, who had actual education, were able to identify that man.

"It's the messenger!"

"The messenger will save us!"

"He is our hope!"

"Here he is.. its the messenger.. Hermes!"

The four humans continued to spread hope that Hermes, the messenger of the gods, would save them from their torture, but they simply awaited for him to announce the reason of his descent.

"Mortals, heed thy call of thy gods!"

The messenger began talking, gaining the attention of everyone who had been left, as before he continued, Hermes looked around.

"Thy gods have been filled with dissatisfaction due to thee. Mortals.. ye used thy power that ye unlocked to wreak havoc upon thy world ye were gifted. Beware, for thy gods that ye praise and speak oh so highly of, shall descend from Olympus and punish ye."

Knowing what was implied, the humans falter, as Hermes nonchalantly ascends, with his divine light making each and every one of the dark clouds covering the sky dissipate. The humans, who had not seen a speck of sunlight in hundreds of years, were brought to tears by this, and now, their mind was made up.

With the divine warning delivered by Hades, and having become tired of the constant warfare, the humans changed once again, for the better. It took thousands of years, but now, humanity was brought back from the brink of extinction, and civilization has been rebuilt.

During this time, the humans awakened new magic attributes, and some even evolved them, something fascinating, as science was just about starting to evolve. Nevertheless, the humans had somehow turned what was a living hell into a place comparable to even Heaven.

Everything seemed fine for a few centuries. The nations of the world, so as to avoid repeating history again, had allied with each other, with a prime example being Greece and Japan, which made Great Greece.

Slowly but surely, though, greed started to return. It was not as intense as what it once was, but evil started to become visible in the streets of cities, whether that would be in broad daylight or in the dark night.

Even though the world had entered an era of peace, however, that would single-handedly change by one event; the birth of the Dark Wizard, Gawain.

The young boy was born into a family of peasants. A caring mother, which did everything in her power to make sure that Gawain was happy, and an abusive father, who only cared about his own personal satisfaction.

Furthermore, Gawain was different from everyone. While a human would awaken their magic attribute at the age of four years old, Gawain never did. His father, who thought that Gawain would only be of use if he had some magic attribute, was angered.

His father, who had started beating Gawain from an even younger age, was even harder now, imbuing his hits with his fire magic. That being said, Gawain would naturally grow to hate his father, for he also beat his mother, the only person that Gawain would ever care about.

This would continue to go on for twelve more years, as Gawain turned sixteen years old. Gawain's father would go about his day, as now made a whip made of fire, beginning to hit the teen, who, as normal, took the hits, but something changed.

Raising one hand, Gawain grabbed his father's whip. Gawain's father was unable to take the whip back, so he resorted to using his fists to teach a lesson to Gawain, however, Gawain had memorised his father's movements.

With three swift moves, Gawain dodged three of his father's punches. His father, though, would not falter. He pummelled Gawain to the ground, but Gawain caught his father's right hand, as his own eyes and hair glowed bright purple.

"What the..? Gawain.. you bastard!"

Gawain's father attempted to hit the young Gawain with a left jab, but he failed, as his stamina and magic energy were leaving his body.

"What.. is.. thi..?"

Being unable to even finish one simple sentence, Gawain's father falls to the ground, devoid of life. Gawain got up, unable to believe his eyes. At that very moment, the sixteen years of the trauma that he had to endure returned to him, as Gawain began punching his father's body.

Punch after punch, Gawain took out everything. He continued to use his new-found magic, as his eyes and hair now began turning orange, and his fists became imbued with fire, but Gawain cared not, for he continued to torture his late father's corpse until finally, it was nothing more than a lump of dust.

Even though he was still dissatisfied, Gawain got up and spat at the remaining dust of his father's corpse, as he headed back home. He returned to his bedridden mother, who had three open wounds from the beating that Gawain's father gave her earlier that morning, and Gawain then cauterised them.

Gawain's mother asked the young Gawain where his father was, but Gawain could not bring himself to tell her the truth, for she would start hating Gawain, as if he would walk down his father's path.

"Father? Oh.. he died in a complication with some drunken thugs at the nearby bar."

His mother broke down in tears, hearing this news. They were not tears of sadness, however; they were tears of joy. Gawain's mother leaned in to hug her son, who hugged her back, tearing up where she wasn't looking.

Gawain, however, did not know that the abuse that his father had inflicted upon his mother was deeper than it seemed like. His mother had far more wounds below the surface of her body, which slowly made her body deteriorate.

Being oblivious to that fact, Gawain went on to live a happy life with his mother, or so he thought. Two years later, Gawain became a woodcutter, since it was a good paying job for their small village, and because he could help more people, but the jobsite was located in the mountains.

Due to that, Gawain was too late. He heard blood curdling screams come from the village, alongside some smoke, so everyone rushed back. Gawain was the only one to go back to his own house, but the sight was horrid.

Gawain kneeled in the ground, looking at his mother's corpse, which had been abused physically . A pool of blood enveloped her corpse, as Gawain noticed that they slit her throat after torturing her.

He, however, could not care about that, as he did not even show any emotion. Gawain listened to bandits laughing outside, so subconsciously, he stood up and went outside, standing in front of them, causing the bandits to laugh.

"Look at this fellow, guys! He thinks that he can stand up to us alone! Go away before you get hurt, come on."

The leader of the bandits stepped up, so as to intimidate Gawain, but the moment he placed his hand on the young adult's shoulder, it got cut off cleanly. The moment that it registered to the leader that his hand got cut off, he jumped back, screaming in pain.

The other bandits rushed in to attack Gawain, but he simply killed each and every one of them, while looking at the leader. After everyone else is dead, Gawain walks up to the leader, who is crying from the intense pain.

"P-Please don't k-kill me! I'll give you whatever you want! Riches, women, mansions.. I'll give you everything!"

"It's you, wasn't it? You tortured and killed my mother?"

"Y-Your mother? Oh.. you're t-the son of that whore whom I had fun wi.."

Gawain crushes the leader's head before he could utter anything else, being infuriated. Now, his emotions return, and he looks at everything around him. Houses were destroyed by these bastards and people were killed.

Without any sign of remorse, Gawain raises up his right hand, using the fire magic that he had somehow absorbed from his father, setting the whole village on fire. What Gawain neglected, however, was the fact that there were people in those houses that were still alive.

The flames burned down all the houses, with burning wood falling down, crushing the corpses and everyone who would be inside. Gawain locked eyes with a child which was tugging his mother's hand, though she died.

The child cried while looking at Gawain, who could feel the sadness, as a piece of the house's roof fell down and crushed the child's skull. Afterwards, Gawain looked down and waited for everyone to die and the fire to stop.

A few hours later, everything was turned to ashes, even the nearby forests, as the fire spread. Subsequently, even the animals died, as they had no means of escape. Gawain then raised his right hand again, but his eyes and hair remained purple, as he absorbed all life and magic energy that he could.

Instantly, Gawain felt a surge of power within him. After feeling that, he started laughing wickedly, as if he became a twisted devil. Gawain continued to laugh until he couldn't anymore, but then he went on a journey.

Now, Gawain is not the same. Evil has filled his heart, as deep down, he knows that the world can't change. After burying his mother, he went to the cities where the bandits come from, ravaging their homes, their families, and subsequently, absorbing their magic energy.

A decade passes, and Gawain has earned the title of 'The Dark Wizard'. During his journey, Gawain has also learnt how to revive the death, so now, he has an unstoppable army of undead at his beck and call.

Everything went well for Gawain, until finally, he came across a certain city. Soldiers rushed out to attack Gawain and kill his army of undead, but they failed horribly. Gawain was about to turn the city to ashes, until a man came out of the main gates.

His presence was so intense that even Gawain turned to look at him. Gawain's soldiers rushed at the man, who, with one tap of his staff, burned all of the soldiers, to the point where they couldn't even stand back up.

The man continued to walk towards Gawain, who was filled with excitement, thinking that he has found a worthy rival, at last. The man whom was called a 'one-man army' reached Gawain, who simply stood tall.

"We finally meet, Dark Wizard."

"Indeed we do. Before you die, would you like to give me your name?"

"You're acting cocky, but I'll allow it. I am.. Theos!"

The two men clashed right as Theos revealed his name. At first, it appeared like Gawain would win, as he somehow had the upper hand, but this assumption was quickly swept away by the fact that Theos was simply becoming stronger.

Gawain became even more cocky, as he overpowered Theos, pummelling the man to the ground. Theos took this beating, but no damage was dealt to him whatsoever, though Gawain was oblivious to that.

After a few more punches, Theos simply opened his eyes, burning Gawain's arms. Gawain jumped back, in an attempt to protect himself and regenerate his lost limbs, but he was only able to regenerate one.

"What the..? Why.. can't I regenerate both of them?"

The Dark Wizard was confused, but he did not lose sight of the battle at hand. He charged at Theos and grabbed his arm, in an attempt to absorb his magic energy, but he failed, for some reason.

Theos smiled and kicked Gawain in the stomach, sending him backwards. Gawain could not even react to Theos' movements, as the man appeared in front of Gawain and punched him, with his fist going through the wizard's stomach.

Gawain kneels, spitting blood, as Theos uses his unknown magic attribute, placing it in Gawain's wounds, making sure that they never get filled in. After that, Theos goes back to the city, under the assumption that The Dark Wizard has died.

He was, however, gravely mistaken. Gawain felt his magic energy fleeing his body, as he managed to crawl to a mountain, so as to lay his back. The wizard closed his eyes, accepting the fact that he'll die, but somehow, his wounds are regenerated.

The wizard is confused. How did the wounds regenerate? As he stands up, trying to find an answer, a voice calls out to him.

"Gawain, The Dark Wizard. I've been looking over you for decades with great interest."

Hearing that, Gawain asks who this man is, and a flash of black light appears in front of Gawain. After it dissipates, a tall man stands there, his long hair almost reaching his knees.

"I am the God of Death, Hades."

Gawain's eyes widen, as he immediately kneels in front of the God, who tells him not to be so formal.

"For as long as I've watched over you, Gawain, you've shown great power, and even greater potential, however, you are unable to tap into it. For that reason, I want you to work with me."

"Work with you? What business does a lowly mortal like me have with an Olympian God like you..?"

"You belittle yourself too much. I shall answer your question later, but first, agree to work with me, Gawain."

The Dark Wizard accepts Hades' offer, as they shake hands. As they do, Hades' body materialises further, while Gawain gets an influx of power.

"Come, now, Gawain. Under my wing, we shall take over the world, and then, Olympus."

Hades opens a portal, prompting Gawain to go in. Instantly, the two men are teleported into another part of the world, where a building lies.

"This shall be our base of operations, Gawain. Come, now, for we must start working immediately."

In agreement, Gawain and Hades entered their new base, as they sat down and planned the conquest against the world. A few years pass, and Gawain gets an even stronger army of undead, while Hades can simply laugh, knowing that with Gawain, he can finally achieve his dream of subjugating Olympus and defeating his brothers.

Gawain and Hades prepare to make their move. Theos had not known anything up to this point, as he was on a remote island, but he immediately rushed to fight the now-empowered Dark Wizard.

"We meet again, Theos!"

The Dark Wizard can only laugh, seeing the arrival of the man that almost killed him, but he knew that the outcome would be drastically different now. Theos charges at Gawain, but Gawain dodges most of Theos' attacks.

He counters by punching Theos' face, then elbowing him in the back, knocking him down. Gawain then continued to pummel Theos, who tried to avoid Gawain's attacks, though he couldn't dodge them all.

The wizard then kicked Theos in the face, following up with a right jab, making Theos kneel, as he did not even have the stamina to stand up. Gawain laughed, seeing Theos in such a sorry state.

Before dying, Theos told his staff something, though Gawain was unable to listen, however, Theos then said that Gawain can now kill him.

"As you wish. Our fights have been fun, Theos."

Gawain shoots a blast at Theos, killing him and destroying his body. After that, Gawain stood tall, seeing Theos' men run away, but he allowed them to live for another day. The wizard then declared this battle to be his victory, as they returned back to their base of operations.

Hades congratulates Gawain for taking the first step to world domination, but he warns him, for Theos had gathered a few people that were on par with his power and they started working under the government, and in certain, they're a group known as "The Shining Generals".

"Why should I care? If they are on par with Theos, they are weaklings compared to me."

"Be that as it may, but you mustn't get cocky, for they have the potential to overtake you."

"Are you sure? Hades, you are speaki–"

Their conversation is cut off, as someone breaks through the door to Gawain's throne room. Gawain requests to know who the perpetrator is, but the man does not reply. Instead, he shoots out a blast of magic energy towards Gawain.

Gawain absorbs it, much to the surprise of the man, but Gawain continues to demand that the perpetrator reveals his identity.

"I guess it can't be helped."

The man removes his hood, shocking Hades, who had dematerialised.

"I am the Titan God, Prometheus. And you will die now, Dark Wizard."

Prometheus shoots a stronger blast of magic at Gawain, but before the man could even absorb it, it changed its trajectory and it hit Gawain from behind. Gawain was amazed, but he ran towards Prometheus.

The God took a battle stance, preparing to battle Gawain. The two men clashed, just as Gawain had done so years ago with Theos, but this time, they're truly equal. The shockwaves created by the clash make the whole planet tremble, as Theos' comrades, from across the planet, can feel this power well, though they're unable to find out where it's coming from.

Gawain uses his left hand to punch Prometheus in the face, but the God is not fazed, as he kicks Gawain's stomach, knocking him backwards. Gawain breaks his recoil, as he charges back, now stronger than before.

Having absorbed some part of Prometheus' power during their fight, Gawain has attained some strength, but it is still not enough. Prometheus throws a right jab at him, as he knocks him to the ground, placing his foot on Gawain's head.

"You have dominated the world for far too long, Dark Wizard. Die."

Prometheus charges up a blast, but before he can even charge it completely, Gawain knocks him up, as his hair and eyes turn black and crimson red respectively. Prometheus wonders what that power could be, but Gawain simply chuckles.

"Die? Me? You're greatly mistaken, Titan God. The one who's going to die.. Is you."

Gawain is enveloped in a dark aura, much to the shock of Prometheus, but he begins to recognize it. Gawain, though, expands this aura, creating tentacles out of shadow magic. Prometheus, however, is sure of it.

"That power.. Hades! You traitor! How dare you help such a mortal!?"

The God of Death materialises, as his cover has been blown.

"It is simple, Prometheus. The goals of I and Gawain, here, align. Now, get out of our way."

Prometheus flinches in front of the great strength that Gawain currently possesses, but he comes back to his senses, rushing at the newly-empowered monster. Prometheus rushes at Gawain, who shoots tentacles at the God.

The tentacles hit Prometheus, destroying his hands, but he simply regenerates them. Prometheus then hits Gawain with a one-two combo, landing all of his hits perfectly, but Gawain remains unfazed.

Gawain punches Prometheus in the face planting him to the ground and destroying it. However, Gawain continues to plant Prometheus deeper to the ground, almost reaching the core of the planet.

Just inches before hitting the core, Prometheus catches Gawain's punch and they flip, switching places. Prometheus kicks Gawain, instead making him hit the core. Gawain starts burning, much to the satisfaction of Prometheus, but something weird happens.

Gawain smiles, as he takes in the energy of the core. Prometheus stops it, but it was of no use at that point, for Gawain has absorbed more than half of the energy of the planet. Now, The Dark Wizard has truly become the strongest mortal.

Prometheus attempts to punch Gawain, but his body starts burning uncontrollably. Gawain laughs, saying that Prometheus has failed to fulfill his mission, as the God's body burns even further.

"Damn you… I have no choice, it seems.. I place my hopes in you.. Akio Phoenix."

The God's body is burned to a crisp, leaving only a hollow shell behind. Gawain places his hand on it, using his absorption magic, so as to absorb Prometheus' magic energy, since even though his body got burned, his magic still remained.

Gawain absorbed it, as a flash of light enveloped him and Prometheus' body. Hades looked on in awe, as the light dissipated. At that spot, Prometheus' body did not exist anymore, but Gawain has successfully absorbed the God's energy.

His hair are white, with purple spots, while his eyes are purple, and the top part of his clothing is gone, as a white pattern appears on his back, with four lines, coming from top and bottom of his body, leading up to a circle in the middle, signifying that Gawain's soul, and subsequently, magic core, have evolved.

Hades congratulates Gawain on ascending to the realm of the Olympian Gods, and Gawain smiles wickedly, but suddenly, he starts vomiting blood, as he kneels. Hades rushes over, so as to check up on him, but Gawain is unconscious.

It appears as though his mortal body is not yet able to handle such power. Hades, though, also checks the planet's core, as Gawain absorbing half of its energy is bad. Apparently, they have less than two hundred years until the planet's destroyed, now.

This does not currently matter to Hades, however. He takes Gawain back to their base, allowing him to recover and conquer this mighty power. After a few weeks, Gawain does wake up, and slowly but surely, he masters this godly power in the span of four months.

Finally, Gawain has returned back to his prime, as he is ready to lead his army of undead again. Hades informs him that not many things have happened during Gawain's inactivity, but they should be wary, for they can get attacked at any moment.

Gawain, however, tells him that they need not worry, for the nations of the world are now unwilling to attack, since their strongest soldier is gone. Now, though, Gawain mentions Theos, Hades remembers something.

"Gawain, I forgot to tell you. You must be wondering what Theos' magic attribute was, as it was the first ever magic attribute that you were unable to absorb. His magic was Phoenix magic, an attribute that directly rivals your absorption magic."

This comes as a great surprise to Gawain, who thought that his absorption magic was unmatched. Now, however, that wouldn't matter, as he has become the strongest mortal to ever exist.

After this event, on multiple occasions, Gawain has fought The Shining Generals, though he never used his full power, dominating them. At some point, the first generation was unable to continue, and they left everything to the next generation.

A few centuries later, and with little to no success from the side of the Generals when it comes to beating The Dark Wizard, Theos Phoenix* II, the far descendant of Theos I, gets word that one of his men, alongside five others from the five other divisions, will go on a mission to find out information about the wizard and why he has been silent for the past four decades.

Initially, Theos refused to accept this mission, alongside some of the other Generals of his generation, saying that it would be suicide to allow them to go. The government, however, ignored what they said, instead demanding that the mission start as soon as possible.

Theos, knowing that now, after losing his first student, he'll lose his second one also, decides to spar with him one last time.

"Leonidas!"

His voice echoed through the hallway of the Generals' headquarters, as a man with light blue hair turned back.

"What do you need, sensei?"

"Before you go, you need to come with me."

Without questioning his order, Leonidas follows Theos, as they enter the headquarters' training chamber. When Leonidas closes the door, Theos turns around, saying that Leonidas is going on a suicide mission.

"It's just like back then.. with him."

"Indeed, sensei. My eternal rival.. Achilles. The man who died prematurely, simply because of those greedy pigs.. and now, I'll be heading to find my death in the very same way. How befitting of two rivals."

Leonidas starts tearing up, remembering when he sparred with Achilles late at night, with Theos scolding them when he found out.

"Ah, those times. The time when I trained both you and Achilles.. I still can't believe that it's been twenty years since then. Time really passes quickly, huh, Leonidas?"

Theos' question prompts Leonidas to agree, but Theos reveals the true reason why they're here.

"Spar with me, Leonidas. One final time."

"You got it, sensei!"

With tears in his eyes, Leonidas excitedly accepts, as they take their battle stances. Knowing that this will be their final battle, the two men enjoy it to the fullest, using the maximum power of their respective magic attributes.

Leonidas turns into lightning, prompting Theos to say that Leonidas has finally achieved Full Mastery, but it won't be enough. Theos imbues his fist with Phoenix magic, punching the lightning bolt behind him.

Materializing again, Leonidas gets knocked down, but he instantly gets back up, smiling. The two men clash, with the shockwave created making the whole training chamber shake, with cracks appearing in the walls.

Theos retracts his fist, but he knees Leonidas in the stomach, then punching him in the face, sending him back rapidly. Leonidas is unable to stop the recoil, so he crashes into the wall. That, however, doesn't stop him from charging back at Theos, laughing.

Sharing the same emotion, Theos charges at Leonidas also, as they are locked in a close-quarters battle. The two men exchange blows, but they dodge most of them, with Leonidas receiving most of the damage.

They end this close-quarters battle with another clash, with Theos overpowering Leonidas, planting his face to the ground. Leonidas, being unable to fight anymore, concedes, saying that it was the perfect send-off.

Theos agrees, as he helps his student get up, healing any wounds he may have had. They both head out of the training room. They exit the headquarters, and Theos begins to give Leonidas a farewell speech.

"Thank you for everything, Leonidas. You and Achilles… The time I spent with you two was the greatest era of my life. Training with you, seeing you grow up into fine adults, even tutoring your own students, and starting your own families.. I'm glad that I lived enough to see you two become such fine men, even though Achilles left us early. You know, he's proud of you, his rival, so give it your all, even in your last breath."

"I will, sensei. Thank you for everything."

The two men shake their hands firmly, as a sign of respect, and as the perfect goodbye between warriors. Leonidas heads on, but before he can reach his comrades, he is stopped by a young boy.

"Sensei!"

The young boy stopped in front of Leonidas, panting, and calling out for him. That boy is none other than Theos' son, Akio Phoenix.

"I heard that you were leaving for an important mission, so I wanted to say goodbye, as you won't return for a while."

Unknowingly, the young Akio touched Leonidas' heart deeply, but Leonidas keeps his calm, replying nonchalantly:

"Indeed, Akio. You know, it's been nine years. Sensei asked me to train you when you turned four years old, and now, you've almost reached my own level of power. Thank you, Akio, and I will return. Be sure of it!"

Akio smiled, and the teacher fist bumped, with Akio waving at Leonidas. When the latter left Akio's point of view, however, he started crying, knowing well that he will not return, and he will not see Akio grow into a fine warrior like his father.

Soon after, Leonidas reached his comrades, and together, all six headed out to the other side of the world, where The Dark Wizard hid. It took three months, but now, they have finally found his base of operations.

"Guys, follow my lead. We'll silently go through..--"

Leonidas can't finish his sentence, however, as he punches an undead soldier of The Dark Wizard, who was about to kill one of his comrades. After that, though, more came, being both alive and undead.

"State your purpose, humans. Why are you here?"

"It's none of your business. Die!"

Leonidas screamed at the soldier, and then he charged at her, attempting to kill her with one shot. That failed, however, and they engaged in combat. Leonidas turns into lightning to appear behind the soldier, but when he materialises, his right hand is broken.

Having underestimated his opponent, Leonidas withdraws his broken arm, thinking that the only other person who was fast enough to counter him like this was Theos. Nonetheless, Leonidas focuses on the task at hand; defeat his opponent.

Aggressively, Leonidas tries to kill the soldier in front of him, but he's swiftly taken out, and the same happens to his comrades, as they are carried to The Dark Wizard's throne room. Leonidas and the others wake up to the intense presence of Gawain, who appears to be unamused.

"Greetings, vermin. Based on your clothing, I presume that you're part of The Shining Generals, so I ask you; why are you here?"

"We.. were sent here by the government.."

"The government? Not the Generals? Ah, it shouldn't be a surprise, knowing that the Generals have witnessed my power directly. Anyways, I take it that you have come to meet your death like those other three weaklings?"

Leonidas is enraged, knowing that Gawain is referring to Achilles and his two other comrades.

"You bastard.. you don't have the right to refer to them like that..!"

Gawain, knowing that Leonidas is angry, cuts his head off, not wanting to deal with an angry weakling at this point.

"You five. You have two choices: become my soldiers or die."

The others refuse, and Gawain kills them, but he resurrects them as his soldiers, giving them new life. Gawain made sure, though, to erase their memories.

"Welcome to my army. You will be my new, special soldiers: The Shadow Commanders!"

The six newly-revived soldiers kneel in front of Gawain, announcing that they are very delighted to now fight under him. Gawain laughs, and orders them to leave. As they do so, Gawain smiles.

"Come to me now, Akio Phoenix!"

Two years pass, and Akio, who is now fifteen, sits in his classroom, barely awake. When he closes his eyes, he sees the scene of two men fighting, with one looking like his father, but the other is a man with long, purple hair.

Akio is confused, but he looks on, though suddenly, that was cut off. When he wakes up, he asks the teacher of his current lesson, Kishiko Kiyomizu, to leave. Kishiko, seeing akio's expression, allows him to go, as he runs back home.

When he does, he falls unconscious, as he sees another vision, one with the same purple-haired man from before, charging up a blast.

"Our fights have been fun, Theos."

Akio immediately realises who the man standing in front of him is, as he dies. Akio then wakes up, and he's shocked, but he waits a while. A few hours later, he heads to the Generals' headquarters to report to his father and the Lightning General, who's the head of the biotechnological division, Hanami Inazuma.

Twenty minutes later, he reaches the headquarters, and he checks in with the secretary, as he goes to find the two Generals personally. When he does so, it's time to reveal everything.