Everything blurred and then snapped back into focus. Velt lay on his back, the cold stone of the cave floor pressing against his spine. His limbs felt heavy, as though weighted by unseen anchors. He pushed himself up on trembling arms, every shift sending a fresh sting through his skull. Blinking against the dim torchlight flickering along the walls, he rubbed his hand over his throbbing temple.
He hauled himself to his feet, knees wobbling. "Ow… wait," he muttered, voice rough. "What the hell actually just happened?"
Yuli was still perched on a jagged boulder, arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes glinted in the firelight, a trace of irritation—and something like sorrow—woven into his expression.
Velt staggered forward, hand still pressed to his head. "Your eyes were glowing," Yuli said evenly. "You were mumbling demonic shit. So I threw a rock at your head."
The rock—a smooth grey pebble—rested in Yuli's palm, as if it had been waiting for confession. Velt raised an eyebrow, wincing at the memory of impact. "Well, that explains the headache," he conceded. He glanced around the cave's rough-hewn walls, confusion sharpening his gaze. "But… I was actually in your past. Why'd you take me out at the best part?!"
Yuli's brow furrowed in disbelief. "There's a best part of my past? Were you watching it like some movie critic?"
Velt spread his hands helplessly. "I mean, it seemed fictional as hell, but it's all real."
Leaning forward, Yuli's voice dropped. "Did you find out the truth?"
"Kind of," Velt admitted, tossing the word over his shoulder. "Although you yanked me out at the most inconvenient moment."
"If that's the case," Yuli pressed, "did you at least… learn anything?"
Velt nodded. "More than you know. Memory cards work like half-baked flashbacks in a cartoon—they don't show your story through your eyes. It's a neatly edited recap, like a TV episode. I saw your perspective, sure, but I also witnessed things you weren't there for…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Like Fell kissing your girlfriend minutes after you left for the military."
Yuli's mouth fell open. "What!?"
"And Post thinking you're… emotionally a rock."
"What!?" Yuli's fist clenched around the handle of his war-hammer.
Velt glanced up, unreadable. "Yeah."
Yuli's voice cracked. "Where exactly did you leave off before I broke you out of it?"
"Right after a bomb exploded next to you."
"Oh," Yuli breathed. He ran a hand through his hair. "I could give you the short version of what happened after that."
Velt crossed his arms. "Go on. I was engaged, though. And from your backstory, I kinda trust you more… so spill."
Yuli inhaled deeply. "I woke up under a pile of bodies about an hour later. I stayed hidden until everyone on my side was dead, then I ambushed the enemy. I wiped out their entire army, but I was about to die myself. With… the power of my love for Post, I forced myself to walk back to my village—only to find it slaughtered. Fell engineered the massacre, then used her alliance with some mega-kingdom to frame me and lock me away. The end."
Velt's shoulders slumped. "That sounds… lame to hear. I want to see it for myself."
Yuli scoffed, stepping off the boulder and picking up his hammer. "Ease up on glorifying my trauma, would ya?"
"Sorry," Velt said, eyes lowered.
Yuli's voice softened. "At least you get where I'm coming from."
"Whatever happened to Ark?" Velt asked after a beat.
"That thing vanished the moment it killed Goldwin," Yuli replied. "It wasn't there afterward… might still be alive."
"Neat."
"Neat?" Yuli barked a humorless laugh.
Velt grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, man. That… was like a movie. You had to be there."
"I was there!" Yuli snapped.
"Right," Velt said, lifting his hands. "I forgot this really happened to you."
Yuli shook his head. "I'm surprised you got all that from five seconds of standing there."
Velt blinked. "It was only five seconds?"
Yuli rolled his eyes. "Yes. And it took me five seconds to get annoyed by your demonic mumbling."
Velt considered that, nodding. "Interesting."
Yuli stared at him. "Is there any way I could view it myself?"
Velt's expression fell. "Sadly, players—any player linked to a backstory—can't access those memories."
"That's bogus!" Yuli slammed his hammer against his palm.
"I don't make the rules," Velt shrugged.
"Do you have a memory card I could see?" Yuli asked, hope flickering.
Velt shook his head. "Believe it or not, I have no background."
"You don't?" Yuli echoed.
"I thought I told you that before."
"Maybe I forgot. Well… damn." Yuli hefted his hammer over his shoulder. "We should probably get moving."
Velt frowned. "I thought you wanted revenge… or the truth."
Yuli shrugged. "You told me what I needed to hear. Post cheated on me, and once again, I'm fighting for nobody."
"Try fighting for yourself for a change."
Yuli chuckled bitterly. "What kind of soldier fights for himself?"
"Plenty, I'm sure. But you said something about getting out of here?"
"Yeah," Yuli said, sweeping his gaze toward the cave mouth. "They're still hunting us."
"So what's the plan?" Velt asked. "Just camp here till sunrise?"
Yuli tilted his head. "Got a better idea?"
Velt smiled. "Actually, yes… especially since I want to get back at your ex."
Yuli's brow shot up. "Why do you care so much? It's not even your battle."
Velt's eyes softened. "But I care about you. It's not fair you lost everything because of someone else's selfishness."
Yuli's shoulders slumped. "This is… personal."
"As your leader, I have to keep you happy—even if it gets personal," Velt said firmly. "I can't have a comrade held back by the past."
Yuli sighed, then nodded. "Fine. I'll trust you… for now."
Velt grinned. "Don't put all your faith in one place—if it vanishes, it vanishes forever."
"Tch," Yuli muttered, shouldering his hammer. "Got it, boss. So, what's the plan?"
Outside, in the shadowed forest above the cave, the mindless, mind-controlled soldiers fanned out in search of Yuli and Velt. The earth trembled beneath their boots, and they froze, scanning the treeline. Moments later, they located the cave entrance and swarmed inside, torches raised high.
But there, at the center of the cavern, Velt stood with his hands raised, calm amid the onslaught. "I turn myself in," he announced, voice echoing across the stone walls.
A hush falls over the dim cave as the three burly captors exchange glances, then wordlessly step forward. Their heavy boots echo on the stone floor as they clamp cold iron chains around Velt's wrists and ankles. One hulking brute hoists him onto his broad shoulder, the links clinking with each measured stride, and carries him down the corridor without a word of protest from his captive.
Velt struggles, panting. What is this half-hearted capture? If I were slicked in butter, I'd slide right out of these chains. His lips curl in a derisive smirk, though the effort only tightens the bindings.
When they reach the guild hall, the doors swing open to reveal Fell seated imperiously on her carved wooden throne, Post standing stiffly to one side. The men set Velt down before them, the chain rattling as it hits the stone floor.
Fell leans forward, eyes narrowed. "So," she says, voice laced with thinly veiled scorn, "you back-stabbed us."
Velt lifts his chin defiantly. "Bros before hoes, bitch."
Fell's lips twist into a half-snarl. "You have a filthy mouth. Not every sentence needs a curse, you edgy scoundrel."
"It's just how I talk," Velt replies, shrugging one shoulder in mock innocence.
"How were you raised? In poverty?"
"I have no clue where I was raised!"
Fell's laugh is cold. "What a pitiable creature you are. Well, say goodbye to your free will."
"And what do you intend to do with me?" Velt asks, tilting his head.
Fell's grin widens. "I'm going to turn you into my little puppet, like the rest of these men."
"Over my dead body!" Velt hisses.
"My super-class hive mind thinks otherwise," Fell replies, voice soft and menacing. "I have countless methods to bend you to my will. So long as your resolve is weak, control will be effortless."
Velt pauses, eyes narrowing. "That's…kind of an unfair ability."
"Life is unfair." Fell waves a hand dismissively. "Post, take him to the basement. Make sure he suffers."
Post nods, seizing Velt under the arms. She steers him toward the stairwell with grim efficiency, the echo of their footsteps fading into the depths below.
Velt slumps against the cold, damp stone of the basement wall, chains looping across his chest like cruel decorations. He glares up at Post. "So—how do you plan to torture me?"
Post shrugs, her axe resting against her shoulder. "As far as I'm concerned, leaving you here alone is punishment enough. Why did you betray us? I told you not to listen to Yuli, and yet—"
"You're a lying cow," Velt interrupts.
Post's eyes flash. "What did you call me?"
"You heard me, you traitorous swine." Velt's voice takes on a sharp edge. "I delved into Yuli's past—and yours. Why did I betray you? Because you betrayed him."
Post steps closer, nostrils flaring. "Velt, you don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, I know exactly what I saw with my own two eyes." Velt's tone rises. "You know what you did to him! He was pure and good, and you stabbed him in the back!"
"I was a kid too!" Post's voice cracks. "But I don't regret it. Fell makes me feel alive—something Yuli never did."
Velt's jaw clenches. "And you're the reason Yuli is alive today! At least you told him about your affair instead of letting him find out on his own."
"He was gone, and it happened suddenly—"
"Doesn't excuse wiping out an entire village and framing him for it." Velt's words are a whip. "I won't pretend you ever loved him."
"I did love him—"
"NO, YOU DIDN'T! If you loved him, you wouldn't have ruined his life—his future, his home, his reason to live!"
"Well, he's still here, isn't he?" Post shouts. "I refuse to be chastised by someone who wasn't even there."
"It doesn't matter if I wasn't there," Velt snaps. "What you did was morally reprehensible. What's wrong with you? What did he ever do to deserve that?"
"He made me feel weak," Post whispers, eyes distant. "He made me feel like my life was over. I didn't want to be a housewife—I craved action, and I found it with Fell."
Velt steeples his fingers, eyes glittering. "You're still her sidekick."
Post's shoulders slump. "I'm not perfect. But if I'm happy, I'll sacrifice anything."
Velt's expression softens, curiosity flickering in his gaze. What happened to her? She used to be so principled. Before he can voice the thought, a thunderous crash resonates from above. Post's grip tightens on her axe; Velt cracks a wry smile, as if he expected it all along.
"What was that?!" Post hisses.
Velt chuckles. "The simplest plan is often the best. You captured me without even asking where the other guy went. Even the world's most generic supervillain would think of that."
"Shut. Up." Post levels her axe at him.
"Dumbasses." Velt snorts.
Above them, Yuli crashes through the ceiling, splinters of wood scattering in every direction. He lands in the center of the room, warhammer in hand, eyes blazing with righteous fury. The men close in around him, but Fell remains seated on her throne, her gaze icy.
"Once again, breaking in without knocking?" Fell chides. "Are you going to run away again?"
Yuli slips on his headphones, tightening his grip. "I don't plan on leaving until I bash your head in."
At once, the men charge—and Yuli swings with the force of a falling star. Bodies fly, armor dents, and the room shakes with the impact of his hammer.
In the basement, Post hears the chaos above and whirls around—just in time to see Velt shatter his body by biting down on his tongue, his form splintering into shards before snapping back together free.
"Tch," Post mutters. "So, you're ready to fight me?"
Velt assumes a guarded stance, eyes on the stairwell. "I don't think Yuli would appreciate you sticking around. But yeah—I'm ready."
Post laughs, a sharp, bitter sound. "You think you can beat me? You're out of your league, Level One rat."
"As long as I can outmaneuver you, I don't give a damn about the level gap." Velt closes his eyes, centering himself. His silhouette stills—poised, focused, ready.