The southern border of the Akwa Empire was unrecognizable. The war preparations had reshaped the nds to such a degree that it would take years for it to go back it its original state.

  The previously untouched wilderness, the hills and the clearings were filled with countless temporary outposts, camps and soldier settlements. The forests had been burnt or destroyed in some way to make way for the balistas, the magic cannons, the trebuchets, the siege towers, the battering rams along with the ogres and the giants.

  The fallen trees had been used to create makeshift camps that housed the ten Legions of the First Army, each one separated by the distance of a third of a day on horse back.

  Each Legion of ten thousand had positioned itself so that no part of the border would be free from the assault during the first day of the offensive. The goal was to crush the opposing side as soon as possible. Possibly in the second day if all went well.

  Everything was prepared. The usual tactics would rgely suffice against such a peaceful country. Each Legion would follow the same pn to unch the offensive.

  First would come the heavy machinery. The twenty automatic battering rams of each Legion would be activated on any ft terrain, to ram into big targets such as defending golems, enemy machines and cause distraction among the opposing side's soldiers.Then the three dozen trebuchets would continuously hurl rocks and explosive debris deep inside the enemy lines to cause as much damage to foot soldiers, magi and archers.The cavalry on nd and in the air would be dealt with war beasts, who could easily navigate the ruined terrain of the battlefield. Flocks of tamed harpies would intercept aerial padins on their griffins and wind serpents. Direwolves would stall horsemen and hunt down the wounded.Finally, the Legions' soldiers and the contracted mercenaries would advance and catch up with the soldiers that had retreated. This tactics had worked for more hundreds of years. It was nearly perfect.

  But there was one thing Commander Brutus of the Fourth Legion had witnessed. Something that made his drive falter.

  "Commander Brutus ! What shall we do about the situation ?" an advisor asked in a shaky tone, voicing out the thoughts of then thousand men under the commander.

  "We wait. I don't want anyone moving a centimeter thinking they can py hero... Dammit. Why a Wyvern of all things ?" the man muttered under his breath in the end.

  A few hundred meters away, on the other side of the border was the biggest Wyvern Brutus had seen. It had nded about an hour ago and started setting the ground on fire as soon as it arrived.

  The fire were not normal an experienced adventurer had warned. The man had introduced himself as an S-rank adventurer... which meant he was an individual able to fight against legendary creatures such as basilisks, krakens and even Wyverns who had lost their mind... His words were very precious advice.

  The commander remembered the mercenary's words."If you can't extinguish the fires it's setting up, give up crossing this area and bypass it. You must not touch the fmes. Never." he had stated in a somber tone. "There is no doubt that this is not normal fire magic. Depending on their intensity... they may even destroy bodies entirely... and that would prevent resurrection spells from taking effect."

  Truth to the man's words, the fires the Wyvern was spitting were strange. Even after an hour, their intensity hadn't diminished. They hadn't spread to burn the surrounding foliage, they were just standing in pce like a rampart.

  And more concerning... was that the Wyvern was not stopping. It was setting lines of fire as tall as two men everywhere on its side of the border. At this rate, the Fourth Legion would have to abandon this front entirely, if the fires proved to be deadly as the sellsword cimed them to be.

  "Is it... finally stopping ?" a strategist voiced out as the Wyvern started licking her jaws.

  "It seems like it." the commander replied, looking at the Wyvern pensively. "Did anyone find the magi and the Wyverns I asked for ?"

  "They should be coming in a few. Don't worry Commander !" the strategist excimed in a relieved manner. "We'll have their expertise, alongside the advice of the many sellswords we've hired."

  Commander Brutus looked at the small numerous of adventurers, waiting near the base camp. Armed men and women of different races, in armor sometimes adorned with parts of sin monster. All of them had answered the call the Empire had unched. Money, fame and more importantly minor noble titles for adventurers who would shine in the battlefield.

  Among them, three individuals stood out. Taller than most, without any armor or weapons other than their cws and ocean blue-scales there and there on their bodies. This trio of mercenaries was exclusively made up of Water Wyverns.

  The species was known for its control over moisture and the Jet Breath, an extremely powerful breath attack that sent condensed streams of water to cut through most things including metals.

  Commander Brutus had called them in to see if they could deal with the enemy Wyvern. They were discussing among themselves in a heavy tone and when they noticed the man holding the reins was coming forward, they politely saluted him.

  "Commander of this army. I assume that we don't have time for silly greetings. Let's get into business, shall we ?" the older Wyvern asked, while looking at the flying foe.

  "Indeed. What can you tell me about our uninvited guest ? Any way to deal with it ? Can you put the fires out ? They will impede us."

  "I... Don't see why not. This might take some time but you should be able to cross the border without any danger. You surely won't be synchronized with the rest of your armies... but it's better than risking your men's lives. Right ?"

  "There is no rush. We still have a few days before the offensive starts. You may be able to analyze the fires to counter them. With some kind of magic or Wyvern specialty."

  "Commander, urgent missive from the commanders of the Seventh, Sixth and Fifth Legions. Something is very wrong. They'll have to dey their advance on day one."

  "Ah ! Raya, you're here ! You were quicker than what I expected. So, how did it go ?" Sun Mane asked, getting closer to his niece's nding site, who was starting to dust herself with a few fps of her arm-wings.

  She coughed a few times before turning around and swallowing her spit.

  "Fine. My fire is ready. But as expected. I'm nowhere near the Progenitor's level. The few fmes I've set up were enough to dry everything out."

  The lion-man rose an eyebrow, very amused by the Wyvern coughing up clouds of heavy dark smoke and cinders. After a few more coughs he finally spoke up."Few fmes ? From what the scouts we've sent reported... you did more than spit a few fmes. You set up a fifth of the border on fire, and the Empire's soldiers are losing their shit."

  "Is... that so ? I didn't think that... I would do that... Hm ? What are you looking at ?"

  "Your wings." the former hero party member replied, adjusting his monocle. "I read some of your father's books. He wrote that Wyverns were either born with thin, almost paper-like membrane, or some rubbery and robust one, that felt like leather. Yours wings are..."

  "I see what you mean. And I don't have an answer either. Mine have a sturdy, but they don't weight anything when I fly. I was supposed to be a... what was the term then again..."

  "A lifter ?"

  "That's right ! I was supposed to be a lifter. Low flight speed but able to transport stuff because I had a rger wingspan with denser bone structure..."

  "Raya. I think we're straying from the subject."

  "... Oops- What were you doing previously ? I hear it was reted to some demon inside of the academy's dungeon... That's not good, right ?"

  "No, it's something unheard of. Not only this part the dungeon was unexplored, but the demon seemed to be as lost as the students and the teacher who confronted it. It said something about being transported here, along with other monsters.

  "Transported ? Shouldn't the holy relics of the Cathedral prevent that kind of teleportation spells ?"

  "That's the worrying part..." the headmaster confessed. "The demon held no traces of outside magic. All the teacher could sense was its own mana. And even if it was trapped here for a long time... such a confined space would still hold traces of magic that was used to transport all these creatures."

  "I want to... see this dungeon for myself." the Wyvern stated simply, grinding her fangs against each other.

  "... Raya. It's good that you're trying to uphold your ancestor's duties, but take some rest. You aren't only The Drake Sin of Wrath. You're Raya, too. Go eat, or sleep. Or try to familiarize yourself with students. At least the ones who haven't fled..."

  "..."

  "Millia has told me about you talking to the heirs of the Thassa Union. Were they interesting ?"

  "They were. I have a feeling that we would have been great friends if I didn't hold the Sinful Wrath in my heart."

  "Well nothing really prevents you from having friendly acquaintances. Like Ragnar, Skal, Millia and me. Pope Kari and the padins like you too."

  "I know that." Raya answered. "It just feels... fake. All these emotions I get back here... they vanish the instant I get too far away from the Cathedral. It's like someone is activating a lever in my mind. What I experience with you stays, but the emotions disappear. It's like having to repaint a whole canva after washing away the paint to leave only the outlines."

  "It must be... incredibly difficult for you."

  "It... is. I'm not even two decades-old but I have to shoulder responsibilities few can rete to. And even though I am honored to be The Sin of Wrath, I sometimes wonder what my life would have been without the attack of the tribe. Maybe I would have grown and learnt in your academy and made friends ? Or maybe I would have been hunted down because I'm myself ? A Fire Wyvern."

  "... There was a more somber reason of your tribe's life in seclusion." Sun Mane began. "While the other elemental Wyverns are seen seen in a good light, they sometimes lose control and start rampaging. At this point they're not considered as persons anymore, but as monsters. And that applies to Fire Wyverns too. You are considered a monster from the start in many regions. Kill-or-repel-on-sight."

  The young Wyvern kept silent but the beastfolk knew better. Anger was not always loud and explosive. Silent Fury was sometimes the most dangerous one.

  "I just hope I can burn as much of my Wrath when the attack starts. And that The Divine finds the roots of all our problems. I would hate to have to - nevermind. Forget that." she waved off.

  -

  "-not trying to defend Liz'a but she only had one week to adjust to this new life. All of use got to experience our new lives for much longer. But man, hearing that she's going off the rails is crazy..."

  The Hero Candidate... no. The Hero of Humanity scoffed at RaviK's remark..

  The twins had visited him during his slumber and were waiting for him to wake up. They wanted answers, but they also wanted to see how Ramiel was doing. Now that he was awake, the three teens were strolling around in the half empty streets, discussing about what had happened in the past few days.

  "And you say you went where the final boss lived ? And it was all in ruins... ?" Margos continued. He scratched his chin and sighed. "You know what guys ? What you've seen is unironically the start of a tragic backstory. It feels cliché but hear me out. It makes sense. If Raya grew up there and saw her family getting massacred-"

  "-That could turn her into the final boss ? But that doesn't match with how Raya acted with us. Remember ? She was so nice with everyone, she made jokes with the padins, she offered us food and she was overall very helpful. That doesn't match with what the game portrayed. At all."

  "Wait, she what ?" Ramiel cut-off, dumbfounded at the twins' revetion. "She did what ?"

  "Well..." both voiced out at the same time. "We told you already, that she interrogated us about our origins and that's how she knows we are otherworlders..."

  "Yeah. You've said that..." the Hero confirmed.

  "Well, the interrogation took more time than expected and we were way too te to go back to the dorms. Curfew and janitor was going to chew us. Plus we hadn't eaten at the time." RaviK expined.

  Margos hummed in agreement and followed suit."So she wanted to make up for the time we lost. And she treated us to some fancy tavern. There were fucking padins there. But she was like ughing and making jokes. And it was all so natural for her. She really felt like... normal I mean. Not the fucking endgame boss that destroys you with a nudge. She was like a young adult and just that, like us..."

  "... There's some theory I want to share with you guys. Sky ? Are you there ?"

  | I'm here, always. But are you truly sure you want to share this ? This might be a false lead that serves nothing. |

  Ramiel looked up to stare at Ravik's and Margos' weirded out faces. The two were still rather unused to the fact that his sword could speak.

  "I'm sure Sky. And besides, it doesn't hurt anyone for now. It's better than staying holed up in our beliefs..."

  | You mean like that crazy girl ? Right... | the Holy Sword responded dryly and Ramiel shook his head at his weapon's behavior.

  "So, what's this about ? It must be something big for your... uh, sword to speak."

  | Indeed, and it's not something we can so openly here. Especially in this nation. But I suggest we find some safer pce... |

  -

  "So, why did you want u to get us somewhere calmer ?" RaviK questionned, looking at the dark alley everyone had been brought in.

  | Because... even though your names have been cleared, there are still sensitive topics one cannot openly talk about here. One of these topics being otherworldly individuals.|

  "Yeah. The people here don't seem very fond of us. Apparently, there were others like us, but they weren't good people. Raya made me undergo some kind of trial to see if I was worthy or not."

  | The only problem is that... one of the Wyverns of Raya's tribe was a reincarnated person. And the boyfriend Liz'a had in her previous life. And there is a chance that this Wyvern... may be Raya. We followed the logic of reincarnation your work of fictions use and the time intervals coincide. The time of death of the individual and the birth of Raya are roughly the same. We ruled out every newborn Wyvern in the past seventeen years but two. And either that boyfriend guy died along with the other Wyverns, or he is still aliveas the st Fire Wyvern. As- |

  "As Raya..."

  "But then, we'd have an ever bigger problem." one of the teen muttered.

  "Which is ?"

  "That Raya wouldn't have acted like this when she interrogated us. She'd have tried to contact us long ago. If she's truly like us, she would have tried to avoid becoming-"

  RaviK stopped his brother as subtly as he could.

  | Becoming what ? Don't py these games, boys. We're way past little secrets like this. | Sky remarked, annoyed by the twins' action. It sensed its wielder's hesitation and narrowed its metaphorical eyes.

  | C'mon, spill it. What would she have avoided to become ? |

  "A... A st boss. An existence we couldn't defeat in our virtual fantasies. Raya was just impossible to defeat..."

  |... So even Marka was a world of fiction to you guys. I see... | it muttered mysteriously.

  "H-holy Sword ?"

  | Don't worry, RaviK. I'm not mad. I was thinking about what you said... No wonder you weren't able to defeat her. The Drake Sin of Wrath is no mere Sin in the Flesh. Her existence is guaranteed by the Almighty Divine and only Themselves or another Sin could ever hope to stop her. The Wrathful Fire she holds can only be extinguished once all sins disappear from this world, her Fme will come to an end only at this moment. And until then, death is a foreign concept to her. |

  "But-" Ramiel began.

  "How come we were able to defeat the other Sins ? By that logic, all of them would be immortal..."

  | Because the rebirth of a Sinless Marka can only be achieved by Fire that consumes everything. Body, mind and soul. But also world and existence. Why her ? Well... Fire is the only existence that grows to kill its cradle and itself. Not even Pride is destructive enough to achieve this. |

  "That would mean that this world is... doomed, right ?" Marogs asked in a fearful tone, to which the holy bde responded.

  | Unless you help the Fallen Patience to cull sins from the hearts in this realm. This would be a long and dangerous task. You would have to csh with descendants of other otherworlders, who have their blood and their cataclysmic abilities. You would have to grow strong enough to spread your influence. Pope Kari could sponsor you. Even Wrath herself. And you would have to witness horrors and maybe free the other Sins themselves. Many would stop considering you a Hero if you do that...|

  "Wait, but that means that all this time, we were preventing Raya from doing her... job ? But then her description makes no sense. Remember guys, 'A being of fme, anger and hate. She aims to take revenge on the world and drown it in chaos...'"

  "Right. From what you told us... Revenge and Hate are far from what she incarnates. Anger, maybe, but surely not... whatever our fiction portrayed her to be."

  "In any case, I have a duty too. I can't stay arms crossed waiting for the world to be destroyed. If I help Raya to get rid of sins..."

  "Count on us too."

  The Sword let out a tiny, relived ugh.| I see, I see. How wonderful. How...Wait. | it cut-off abruptly. | When I said that Wrathful Fire consumes everything... I also said that mind and soul were consumed. And what if... Raya behaved like that towards you two because she consumed her memories ? Because... I don't see the Almighty Divine tolerating the mind of a being he despises in the body of one of his seven children. That cannot be..."

  "Ehhh ? Some kind of... factory reset ? Wouldn't that be considered brainwashing ?"

  The sword and Ramiel both went silent. This wasn't exactly something they had considered. And this would rgely mess up their pns to stop Liz'a's folly. If Raya was the one they searched for but couldn't remember her previous life, all of the pns the Sword and Ramiel had prepared would be utterly useless. There would be no heartfelt reunion, no reason for Raya to stop her rampage, no reason for Liz'a to stop being so bitter and vengeful.And if there was some divine intervention involved, chances were high that something would prevent Raya from regaining these memories.

  "And... what if Liz'a hears about this ? That her boyfriend is the one she wants to kill ? And that he can't even remember her ? Or himself ?"

  "What do we... do ?"

  "This is-" the Hero sighed

  | - bad. Dammit ! | Sky finished.

  Ramiel began walking around in circles, arms crossed and furrowed eyebrows. The situation was a nightmare but at least there was one sliver of hope...

  "At least... If we can help Raya to purge sins from this world... That wouldn't be so bad. That's a start to getting a real goal in this world, right guys ?"

  The heirs of the Thassa Union nodded in sync."Of course. Now that we know this world isn't what it seemed to be... there's no reason for us to stick to the comfort of our knowledge. We have to dig deeper."

  "But what about the Demons ? Do you have any ideas Sky ?"

  | None at the moment, heir of Thassa. but we need to find something fast. When you were alseep, Ramiel... I've conversed with the Pope several times and I heard things. Reports are coming in. The Demons are near the nation of Elfort. And you are not strong enough to deal with them. |

  "And the States are preparing for war against the Empire. So they can't send subjugation forces..."

  .........

  "An interesting conversation you are having..." a rocky voice sounded from a building's blind spot. In the darkness of the alley, two figures emerged from the darkness, startling the group

  The first individual was short, with a bulky build and with green skin covered in animal pelts. The other, with pointed ears, slender build and a magician's staff.

  Both were looking at the group with a skeptical stare. Master Ragnar crossed his arms after snapping his fingers, erecting a barrier of shadows around everyone. Archmage Millia reinforced the barrier with shards of ice, water and electric current.

  | Hero party of old. What are you doing ? | the Holy Sword inquired, taken aback by the two veterans' behavior. It hadn't sensed them at all. But then, that would mean they had no ill intentions...

  The goblin trap master scoffed and stepped forward."What about you, Holy Sword ? Plotting in the darkness ?I sure do hope you're not trying to mess with our niece. Raya isn't very fond of schemers."

  "Indeed. While your decision to help her is a noble one, trying to mess with Raya's head is not very good way to get on her side. If you see what I mean..." the elf zily let out.

  | Ergh... We have no such intention. I assure you. We're only trying to prevent a catastrophe from happening. |

  "Then you should start speaking with the person who's involved in this, no ? It's only logical to do so."

  "That's..." Ramiel began. "A little difficult right now, isn't it ? She's preparing for war too, so we can't really bother her too much."

  The goblin nodded and looked at the elf. They lifted off the barrier of darkness and turned around one st time."You should still avoid making up theories about people in public. Be patient, wait for a few days and then you'll get to ask your questions. For now, Raya doesn't need another burden on her mind. The war is already enough."

  The duo vanished, swallowed by the shadows of the alley, leaving the teens and the Holy Sword pensive and distracted.