Chapter 1: William
"What are you doing here wasting your life, you bastard?!"
"All of you, go and stop those monsters from breaking through the defense line."
A pitch-black vortex churned high in the crimson sky, radiating an aura filled with decay and death.
War shouts echoed across the battlefield as beneath the swirling vortex, tens of thousands of people fought, tearing each other apart.
People fell one after another, dyeing the land in the crimson color of blood. Most of the fallen were trampled underfoot by those still fighting, their bodies crushed into a paste of flesh, becoming nourishment for the ground.
In one part of the battlefield, where hundreds of fallen soldiers lay on their last breath, war cries echoed as people rushed forward to reinforce the broken defensive line, some even running over the injured soldiers, completely killing them unknowingly.
"Hey, William, what would you do if you somehow gained the ability to go back in time?" A battered young man, who had a gruesome wound on his stomach, as if someone had ripped out his internal organs asked in a low voice.
The young man lay on the ground as the sound of people running reached his ears. The luster in his eyes slowly faded, as if he would lose his life at any moment.
"Seriously Leon? That’s what you ask on our deathbed?" A faint voice reached Leon’s ears as William, whose condition was even worse than Leon’s spoke weakly.
William lay beside Leon, both of his legs missing with blood continuing to flow from his wounds, forming a puddle around him.
His chest was ripped open by a sharp claw wound, his slowly beating heart faintly visible through it.
The light in his green eyes was dim and his eyelids trembled, as if it was becoming difficult for him to keep them open.
If anyone were to look at his condition, they would definitely wonder how he was still alive.
"I am just asking..." Leon spoke weakly and with difficulty, dragged his broken body closer to William.
William heard the faint sound of Leon dragging himself and wanted to tell him to stop moving or he would die even faster.
But it was already difficult for him to keep even his eyes open, much less warn him.
Turning his head with great effort, he looked toward the center of the swirling black vortex in the distance and finally answered in a faint voice.
"If I... if I somehow gained the ability to go back in time, I would kick the rotten ass of every single noble I come across. If it weren’t for them... if it weren’t for their fear of losing absolute control over people, we wouldn’t be lying here like dead dogs."
William stared at the center of the black vortex, from where powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions as if a fierce battle was ongoing there and a bitter expression appeared on his face.
"We belong there. We should have been fighting alongside that stupid guy. But just because of those few rotten people, we were never able to bring out our true potential."
Leon stopped dragging himself when he was just a few centimeters away from William.
His breathing became very shallow, as small pebbles and dirt entered his open wounds while he dragged himself.
"Oh dear Mother Earth, your skin is so rough. You need to use some expensive skincare products instead of people’s blood to moisturize it," He muttered under his breath before finally speaking to William again.
"I thought if you were to gain the ability to go back in time, you would think about accepting her."
William’s eyes regained some of their luster when he heard Leon’s words, but they soon dimmed again and he responded with a faint chuckle.
"If I were to accept her, she would simply lock me up in a dark room, afraid that something might happen to me if I were to roam freely outside."
Leon thought about what William said and nodded in understanding.
He propped his broken body up, a look of pain crossing his face as the wounds on his body worsened further.
"Hey, William, can you do me a favor?" He asked as blood gushed from his torn stomach.
William, whose vision had already become blurry due to weakness smiled bitterly.
"Brother, are you mistaken about something? My condition is even worse than yours. Do you think I can help you with anything in my broken state?"
Leon ignored William’s words, and with a flash of white light, a small pearl the size of a marble appeared in his hand.
With his weak, shaky hand, he slipped the pearl into William’s chest through his open wound.
’This thing never showed any reaction in my hand and only reacted slightly whenever I was with William,’ He thought before raising his head slightly to look at the gloomy crimson-black sky.
"My father... tell him... tell him that I did not disgrace the family name. I fought bravely on the battlefield until my last breath."
William, who had already lost his sense of touch due to apporchin death didn’t notice the pearl Leon had slipped into his chest and shook his head, trying to fight against the dizziness assaulting him as he knew that once he closed his eyes, he would never be able to open them again.
"Your father is currently enjoying his old age in the capital while both of us are dying here like roadside dogs. Do you want him to have a heart attack and come to hell with me, where I tell him everything?" William asked in a joking tone, but Leon didn’t reply.
"Leon?" William called out to his friend, but there was still no response.
Sensing that something was wrong, he turned his head with difficulty and, through his blurry vision, saw his friend lying beside him.
Although his eyes were still open, staring at the sky, there was no sign of breathing.
Even though William had long prepared for this moment, his mind still blanked out when he saw his last remaining friend succumb to death.
A sense of emptiness gradually rose in his heart, and he wondered why he was even trying to maintain his consciousness.
Memories from his childhood—his parents and brother gradually flashed through his mind.
He saw himself and his close friends laughing, often joking about how they would change the world in the near future and make a name for themselves.
But everything shattered simply because of some rotten people.
"Damn it..." A stream of tears flowed from his eyes as anger and a deep sense of unwillingness burned in his heart.
’We could have done better. Me, Leon, Emily, Ceder, and even that simpleton... we all could have done better. But because of those bastards...’
William covered his face with his dirt- and blood-stained hands, and the muffled sound of his crying echoed amid the chaotic battlefield.
But gradually, the faint sound of crying faded, and William’s hands slowly dropped to the ground, his hazy consciousness sinking into a bottomless abyss.
At the same time, the question Leon had asked him earlier surfaced in his mind once more.
’If I were to gain the ability to go back in time, I would make sure every single one of us lives the life that we deserve—even if I have to turn the world upside down for it.’
William’s breathing slowly became faint, and soon, it completely disappeared.
Even the darkness that shrouded his vision began to fade, replaced by nothingness, where he could neither see, hear, nor feel anything.
Just as William was losing his sense of self, the pearl that Leon had slipped into his chest trembled, and a hazy silver-white light erupted from it, enveloping his entire body.
At the same time, some notifications flashed before his fading consciousness.
[Condition has been fulfilled]
[Initiating trial for the God of Time—Aevion’s Inheritance]
