Chapter 28

Before the announcement

Xain shook off his initial surprise, quickly recovering from the unexpected reunion. "What are you doing here, Ja— I mean, Even?" he asked, correcting himself mid-sentence.

Even raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "What do you think?" He gestured vaguely around the room filled with competitors. "I'm participating in the tournament."

"But why?" Xain questioned, frowning. He figured Even couldn't be in desperate need of coin—mercenary work should have earned him enough to get by. *Then again,* he thought, *there are plenty of mercenaries here.*

Even crossed his arms, his expression hardening. "Why do you care, brat?" His gaze sharpened as he looked Xain over.

Xain put his hands up. "Just curious. I don't know why you're getting hostile."

For a moment, Even just stared at him, his glare unrelenting. Then, with a heavy sigh, he relented. "I'm here to declare war."

Xain blinked at his words, leaning back with a shake of his head. "...Excuse me, what?" was all that he managed to ask.

Even didn't hesitate. "My family will be here. They're here every year to watch the fights," he explained. "So when the holder of the coliseum announces my full name, they'll hear it. Since they forbade me from using my real name—tried to erase me from history—hearing it will be a declaration of war."

Xain could only stare at him, baffled. *Well, that's definitely something,* Ercale remarked in his head, his voice tinged with unexpected amusement. *I never expected Generic Mercenary Number 58 to actually be interesting.*

Xain ignored the comment, still processing what Even had just said. "...Okay. Then what?" he asked, his confusion evident. "Are you going to fight them or something?" He still didn't know much—correction, anything—about Even's family situation, so he wasn't sure what to make of it.

Even's answer came bluntly. "I'm planning on killing them all."

Xain's breath caught. His eyes went wide. "Wa—wait, wait, what!?" he exclaimed.

Even didn't flinch. "What? Surprised?"

"Listen, I don't know what happened between you and your family, but you can't seriously be thinking about killing your entire family! Even if one or more of them wronged you, that's just— you can't just do that!" Xain said, disbelief written all over his face.

Even tilted his head slightly. "And why not? Because they're my family? Because we share blood?" His voice was unreadable.

Xain shook his head firmly. "Not just because of that! You'd be killing people! I know that's not new for you but still!" His words came fast, urgent. "I can tell you want justice for something they did, but this isn't it. Killing them won't bring justice—it won't undo what they did. And they can't all be at fault! Not every single one of them can be guilty! There had to be some innocents, right?" He leaned forward slightly, hoping something—anything—he said would get through to Even. "Even if I don't know anything about your family, there's just no way every last one of them is bad, right?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, without warning, Even burst into laughter.

Xain's expression twisted into a mix of confusion and concern. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, his mind racing. *Did he find my argument funny? Is he that far gone!?*

Even wiped away a stray tear, his chuckles slowly subsiding. "Oh, brat… you don't realize how glad I am to hear that."

That only made Xain more confused. "What do you mean?"

Even let out a sigh, rolling his shoulders as if shedding some unseen weight. "I've been thinking the same as you," he admitted. "Do all of them deserve to die? Are the ones born after I was cast out as guilty as my parents and siblings? Can I really kill all of my family members, even though they're such pieces of trash? Probably. But then what?" He leaned back slightly, staring at nothing in particular. "I'd be the last of my line. All alone. No one left who shares my blood."

Xain exhaled, his tension easing slightly. "So… does that mean you're not going to try and kill them now?" he asked carefully.

Even shrugged. "Not all of them. That'd be stupid." He scoffed, shaking his head. "But you know, Dirk and Lia never told me otherwise. They were all for me wiping them out. You're the only one—out of the people who kinda know me—who's told me not to. And I think… maybe that's what I needed to hear to not commit full-blown genocide."

Xain frowned. "I really don't like how casually you throw around the word genocide… but you're still planning to kill some of them?"

Even nodded without hesitation. "I like your sentiment, brat, but those people—the ones who cast me out, the ones who only cared about my little brother when they found out he had talent—they won't be brought to justice. They can't be. They're too powerful—socially, politically, magically. The only solution is for me to kill them myself."

Xain shook his head. "It's not. It really, really isn't. But…" He sighed, crossing his arms. "I can see I'm not changing your mind. Not right now."

"Yeah, you really can't."

Xain closed his eyes for a moment, then exhaled deeply. When he opened them again, he gave Even a determined smile. "Good thing I've got a week to do it."

Even scoffed, smirking slightly. "Good luck with that, brat. Good luck." His tone almost made it sound like he was accepting a challenge.

Before Xain could say anything else, another voice cut in.

"So… now that you two have had that heavy conversation, you wanna introduce us?"

Both Xain and Even turned to see Roland standing nearby, arms crossed, watching them with mild amusement. Mae stood beside him, hands on her hips.

"What he said," Mae added, jabbing a thumb toward Roland. She smirked at Even. "Why don't you introduce us to your little friend?"

Even blinked at her, looking confused. "We've met." Then, his expression shifted as he took in her presence. "Wait—are you participating in the tournament as well?"

Before they could continue, a voice rang out across the room.

"Alright, everyone, get ready! You'll be heading out into the arena in a minute or two! Come with me!"

All heads turned toward one of the coliseum staff members standing near the entrance.

"Guess we'll have to talk later," Roland said, giving Xain a reassuring pat on the back. "Good luck out there."

Xain nodded, inhaling deeply before exhaling through his nose. Without another word, he, Mae, Even, and the rest of the competitors turned to follow the staff member, ready—or as ready as they could be—for the Tournament of Greatness.