The sky was dark, thick with clouds that churned like a brewing storm. The air was heavy, charged with an unseen force that made the very earth tremble. In the distance, the sound of metal clashing together echoed through the mountains, a violent symphony of war playing out across the battlefield.

Flames licked at the edges of the vast forest, turning the once-proud trees into skeletal remains. Smoke curled into the sky, choking the air with the scent of blood and ash. The war raged on, soldiers clashing, spells igniting the land, and battle cries mixing with the screams of the fallen.

Yet amidst the chaos, two warriors stood apart from it all.

One wielded a katana, its edge gleaming with an ethereal glow. His stance was poised, precise—his blue eyes cutting through the smoke, filled with a steely determination. Opposing him, a titan of a man gripped a bardiche, its crimson-streaked blade resting against his shoulder. His red eyes burned with fury, the weight of his convictions pressing down like an unshakable force.

For a fleeting moment, silence settled between them, the world itself seeming to hold its breath.

The warrior with the katana stepped forward, his voice carrying both sorrow and conviction. “We could’ve built the future together…”

The man with the bardiche exhaled sharply, his grip tightening. “In the past, I would’ve agreed with you… but now? I don’t think so.” His voice was rough, edged with finality—a severed bond that could never be mended.

No more words.

Only action.

They lunged.

In a flash, their weapons collided in a burst of light and shadow, the force of their clash sending a shockwave rippling through the battlefield. The impact split the ground beneath them, embers swirling in the air like dying stars. Sparks erupted as steel met steel, their strikes relentless—each one carrying the weight of history, of brotherhood, of betrayal.

They moved with inhuman speed, blades singing through the air in a deadly dance. The katana slashed forward in a streak of lightning, the bardiche countering with a crushing force that cracked the stone beneath them. Their battle raged like a storm, an unrelenting clash of thunder and fire, neither willing to yield.

They fought not as mere men, but as forces of nature, warriors whose duel would decide the fate of the world itself.

But this… this is the end of the story.

To understand how the world came to this—how two souls who once walked the same path now sought to end each other—we must go back.

To the beginning.