The Emperor's Regression

Blood dripped from Ethan's sword and hit the stone floor. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound was the only thing he could hear over his own heartbeat. He had just killed the beast that no one else could kill. He should have felt happy. Instead, cold fear crawled up his back.

"It's over," he said, breathing hard. "We finally did it." He looked at the glowing artifact on the altar in front of him. Ten years of pain led to this one moment. Ten years of hunger, blood, and loss. He reached out his hand to grab it.

"Don't touch that," a voice said behind him.

Ethan froze. He knew that voice. He had heard it every single day for the last five years. "Kael?" Ethan turned around slowly. "What are you doing?"

Kael stood in the shadows with his sword pointed straight at Ethan's chest. Mira stood on his left side. Sera stood on his right. None of them smiled. None of them looked happy that the fight was won. "Put the artifact down," Kael said. "Now."

"Kael, it's me," Ethan said. "We just beat the boss together. We can save everyone with this. What is wrong with you?"

"You are wrong with me!" Kael shouted. "You got too strong, Ethan. Too strong for one man to be. The whole world is scared of you now. Even I am scared of you." "That's crazy," Ethan said. "I built the guild for us. For all of you. I fought every single monster so you could stay alive."

"We know," Mira said. Her hands started to glow with purple light. "That is why we have to stop you tonight."

"Mira, please," Ethan said. "You trained under me. I taught you everything you know. Don't do this."

"I am sorry, Ethan," Mira said. "But too much power in one hand is dangerous. Even your hand."

Ethan looked at Sera. Her eyes were full of tears. His heart cracked just looking at her face. "Sera," he said softly. "Tell me this is a joke. Tell me you are not really doing this."

"I loved you," Sera whispered. "I still love you. But love is not enough anymore. You spare too many enemies. You trust too many people. It is going to get us all killed one day."

"So you kill me first?" Ethan asked. His voice shook with anger now. "Is that the plan? Kill me before I can protect anyone else?"

"Give us the artifact," Kael said again. "This is your only warning." "No," Ethan said. "I earned this. We all bled for this. I will not hand it to you."

"Then we take it," Kael said. Kael jumped forward first. His sword crashed into Ethan's blade with a loud clang. Ethan's arms shook. He was already tired from the boss fight. He had nothing left to give."Fight fair!" Ethan yelled. "One at a time!"

"We don't have time to be fair," Mira said. She threw a purple spell at his side. Pain shot through his body like fire. He fell back but caught himself before he hit the ground. "Sera, help me talk sense into them!" Ethan begged. Sera did not answer. Instead, she ran at him with her blade raised high.

"I'm sorry," she said again, tears falling down her face. "I really am." Her sword sliced across his leg. He dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth against the pain. "Stop!" Ethan shouted. "Just stop and talk to me! We are family!"

"Family does not almost destroy the world," Kael said coldly. The dungeon began to shake. Rocks fell from the ceiling like heavy rain. Dust filled the air. Ethan coughed and tried to stand back up.

"You are making a mistake," Ethan said, blood in his mouth now. "A huge mistake." "The only mistake," Mira said, "was letting you get this powerful in the first place." She raised her hands one more time. A bright light shot from her palms straight into his chest. Ethan flew backward and slammed into the stone wall. His whole body screamed with pain. "Please," Ethan whispered. "Please stop."

No one answered him. Sera walked toward him slowly, her sword shaking in her hand. "This is the only way," she said. "The only way the world stays safe." "Sera, don't," Ethan said weakly. "Don't do this to me."

She closed her eyes and pushed her blade deep into his stomach. Ethan's whole body went stiff. Pain exploded through him like a bomb. He looked down and saw blood soaking through his armor. "Why," he choked out. "Why would you..."

He fell to the ground. Hard. His vision started to blur at the edges. Kael walked over and kicked Ethan's sword far away from his hand. "Rest now," Kael said. "We will take care of everything from here." Mira picked up the glowing artifact and held it high above her head. "Finally," she whispered. "It is finally ours."

Sera turned away. She would not look at him. Not even once. Ethan lay on the cold floor, blood pooling under his body. He looked up at the three faces he had trusted more than anyone else in the world. The pain in his chest was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. "I trusted you," he whispered. "All of you."

No one replied. The dungeon kept shaking around them. Dust and rock fell like the whole world was ending all over again.Ethan's eyes grew heavy. His breathing slowed. He thought about every mistake he ever made. Every enemy he spared that should have died. Every warning sign he ignored because he wanted to believe his friends were good people.

"I will never forgive you," he whispered. It was the last thing he had the strength to say. His eyes closed. His chest stopped moving. The blood stopped flowing. Ethan was gone.

But then, the artifact in Mira's hands began to shake. "What is happening?" Mira screamed, dropping it to the ground. "Kael, what did you do?!" The artifact suddenly flashed bright white in Mira's hands. Kael staggered back. Mira dropped the artifact and screamed as the light swallowed the whole chamber.

A strange system message appeared in the air right in front of Ethan's fading sight, burning gold against the black creeping into the edges of his vision.

[Regression Conditions Met.]

[Rewinding Time...]