"Why, Ruther?"

Argus crumbled to his knees as he hunched forwards while warm blood was forcefully ejected from his mouth. A giant wound was carved across his chest. He choked on the blood that gurgled his throat and regarded the shady figure behind his back with a bloodied sword in their hand.

"The sixth castle will remain unconquered if you die," The shady figure stated. "They promised me to give a castle if I got rid of you."

Argus grinned weakly as he wiped the remnants of blood from the side of his mouth. His chest heaved heavily from the excessive blood loss. He braced his mass with one hand planted firmly to the ground while he still clawed at the wound with the other. "Oh, so a castle…" Argus fought against the pain; however, he ran short of breath,"... was more valuable than…" He huffed and gritted his teeth, "... your people," the arm that supported his mass felt limp as the last of his strength faded, "... your soil," Argus' gaze narrowed intensely, "...our friendship," he all but growled the last words.

As soon as Argus mentioned it, Ruther's eyes expanded with rage. "I f*cking hate you!" He shouted. He booted Argus on the back where the wound was carved by his blade.

"Ah!" Argus was weakly forced to his knees again. He screamed when Ruther trampled on his back. "Aah!"

"I hated you. I hated your conquests. Everybody loved you and respected you as their hero. You became the Emperor of Alabusia and even got the girl I liked. You..." He exerted a greater force with his foot on Argus' back. "You got everything I wanted to have."

Argus never imagined that his best friend, who supported him in every aspect, was envious of him. He refused to believe that the person he considered as his family and treated preciously as if they were his own brother, would conspire and backstab him.

"Ruther... w-what are y-you saying?" Argus winced. His chest was pressed firmly against the ground. "You... Ah! Y-you envied m-me? I co-considered you…" He clenched his fist,"...more than m-my brother..."

"Don't call me brother, you selfish sh*t!" Ruther roared and kicked again. Argus screamed from the blow to his side, his cry of pain echoed in the silence.

Ruther despised the fact that he and Argus shared many differences but were still acknowledged as both the strongest warriors in Alabusia. Their skills and abilities were almost evenly matched; however, he still lacked the quality to compete with Argus' caliber and fell behind. He despised the fact that Argus won over the girl 'he' desired. She fell in love with him because of his bravery, skill, and personality, eventually marrying him.

He despised the fact that the people in Alabusia almost worshipped Argus as if he were a God, while he was but an insignificant spectator on the sidelines. He had contributed to the empire equally, and devoted as much strength and support as his friend had; however, he did not receive even a fraction of the recognition he deserved.

He always felt overwhelmed by Argus's shadow and each day spent in the darkness of his friend's success, influenced him to betray his empire and its people.

"Do you know what? I will get what I deserved now. I will get the position I dreamt of, the power I ached for and..." He paused and continued with an evil smile. "...the woman I desired."

Ruther's arrogant remark enraged Argus. An enormous golden aura enveloped Argus's' body, and the pressure forced Ruther several feet back. "Don't. you. dare. touch. my. family." Argus growled.

Ruther gulped when he saw the golden aura had encased him within its grasp. Even if he lived his entire life with the person in front of him, he had never felt something so dangerous such as this. It was terrifying at its peak.

Argus could wipe out an army if enraged, and no one knew better than Ruther that he could. Even half dying in his last moments, Argus could still deal significant damage.

"What can you do even if I do it? You are on your last breath and your wife doesn't know this. She is still waiting for you to return while giving birth to your child. You will die without seeing your wife and child."

It was a moment of regret for Argus, but he knew better than anyone that his child would surely protect and take care of their mother; however, he didn't know...

"Ah, I forgot to tell you," Ruther said as he tapped his head lightly. "I had placed a curse on your baby..."

Argus's eyes expanded in shock from Ruther's sudden statement.

"... He won't be alive after birth."

"You b*stard..." Argus gritted his teeth in rage with tear-filled eyes. His own friend whom he considered a brother, a companion, an ally in arms, had destroyed him. He took not only his life but deprived his child of its life as well.

There was one thing that appeared strange. Curses were taboo in Alabusia and were long since abolished from Alabusian arts, a type of technique for using spiritual energy. However, curses were rather significant in Nigrosian arts, another backhanded technique for using spiritual energy.

"Did you sell your soul to the devil?!" Argus demanded before he ejected more blood that gurgled in his throat.

"I sold my soul to the true and one God. One who blesses everyone equally." A dark aura enveloped Ruther's entire body when he spoke. "It's not the false God you all bow to and worship."

"I swear..."

Argus uttered something but Ruther was unable to hear it clearly. "What?"

"I swear if I somehow survive…" Argus panted in uneven breaths,"... I will make you pay in the most horrible way possible…"

"Huh?" Ruther laughed. "You still think that you would survive?" He approached Argus slowly again and booted him in the back. Argus crumbled to the ground, having lost the last remnants of his strength.

It was over now, Argus observed the darkness in front of him. His eyes slowly closed.

The one who conquered five castles of Nigrosia, one whom the enemies feared and the people equally loved, the strongest and kindest warrior of Alabusia for whom there had been no equal to challenge his might... had closed his eyes for all of eternity.

"Hah, finally. Finally, I see you draw your last pathetic breath! You cannot even imagine my thrill and joy!"

The delight Ruther expected to fill his heart was, almost non existent, rather there was an ache. Whenever he looked at Argus's lifeless face and his partly closed eyes, his heart was stung with subtle guilt and pain.

"Arrgh..." He discarded the unwanted feeling and walked away with a scowl.

Meanwhile, on a mountain cliff far away, where mist hung thick in the air, an old sage was seated cross-legged and observed the events of betrayal with his third eye.

"It's not over yet. You still have tasks pending. You can't go yet." He vanished with the last spoken word.

***

"Huh? What is happening?" Argus could not understand what was happening. As soon as he opened his eyes, he discovered an unknown lady who gently pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly blew light breaths into his mouth. She placed two fingers on his chest and performed very soft compressions so not as to hurt him with too much force.

"Am I already in heaven?"

The lady pulled back her face and noticed that the baby regained a steady rhythm of breathing. Her lips formed a relieved smile before she cried. "He is breathing! He is finally breathing!"

Argus thought it was rather strange. Didn't he die just now? What was he doing in a dark chamber which looked so familiar?

"Empress Layla, your son is breathing!" The woman cried out in relief, but Argus was shocked.

"Layla? What is happening?" The chamber already seemed familiar and now, he heard a familiar name, his wife's name. He doubted the impossible. There was no way.

The woman in a maid attire, who carried him in her arms, took him to a woman who was laid on the bed nearby.

His doubts turned into reality when he saw the woman's face. "But... how?" Utter disbelief filled him when he was placed in his wife's arms. "What the hell is happening?" The blonde hair and the ocean blue eyes were the features that were so memorable that he could not forget them.

The chamber he was in, was his own, and it didn't take him moments to realize that he was inside a baby's body.

While he attempted to gather his scattered thoughts and stared blankly at his wife, who was in fact his mother presently, the maid spoke.

"He looks exactly like his father. I bet he would become as great as him."

Layla smiled at her words and looked at her son's face. "It would thrill Argus when he would see his son's face. I am waiting for his return."

"Could it be... I am... I am inside my son’s body?" Argus couldn't believe it. His soul transmigrated into his son's body.

He remembered Ruther told him about the curse he placed on his son. It explained why the maid's lips were merely a few inches away from his. She was trying to make him breathe, which meant...

His son was already dead.

Layla thought her son was alive and was waiting for her husband to return from war.

How could he tell her they lost their son? How could he tell her that her husband would never return? How could he tell her to run as the enemies were about to appear at their doorstep?

"He is crying!" The maid said when she saw the baby wailing.

And suddenly...

"Aah!"

"Kill all of them!"

"The queen is inside with her son!"

"They must not escape. Kill everyone except the baby."

Layla, the maid, and Argus heard some noises outside the door. Argus knew the enemies had arrived, and it irked him to no end that he was powerless, nor would he be able to protect and save his loved ones.

"Run, Layla..."

The door opened with a thud and a few men entered, dressed in black clothes from head to toe, and a black mask covered half of their faces, revealing only their eyes.

Argus acknowledged their identity, and he never imagined that the emperor of Nigrosia would send them.

"No... Not them..."