“There are too many of them!” Usta shouted as the army hastily prepared themselves, “We need to group up and fight right here!”

With the chef’s knife magically finding its way to his hand, Rote froze in place as he watched the countless heads in front stay in formation as their Casts started becoming activated one after another as if a light show was going on.

Usta went into the demonic dimension leading an army one hundred thousand strong, and he returned alone. He had never abandoned anybody since his rise, and that meant only one thing.

What…what is going on…? Rote touched his face slightly as his fingers started to tingle and his head started to spin. Why is this happening…why is any of this happening…?

This horrible horrible world had taken everything away from him, and he still couldn’t do a thing. He’s still the same useless man that he had always been.

He wasn’t strong enough to fight off the demons alongside the love of his life, and he wasn't strong enough to accompany his son into the final battle. He was simply a useless chef, cooking away in a tent, thinking that everybody else can take care of the things out there, so long as he does whatever he was told to do.

What’s the fucking point anymore…Rote lightly held onto the cooking knife before he lowered his hand and let it go.

At the very front, chasing Usta straight out of the set of portals was a tall dark figure with an unmissable aura. Smoke enveloped that figure when its speed eventually broke through that of the smoke cloud, and it showed its horrific outlines accompanied by an earth-shaking roar. Then, it made contact with the frontline soldiers and absolutely ravaged it.

As the bodies of the soldiers that Rote had just served delicious stews for flew into the air like pieces of rubble as Usta flew overhead while standing on his black sword, forming a counterattack with another group of airborne soldiers and utilizing the precious moments bought by the lives of his comrades to strike back.

However, with a horrifying screech from yet another attacker, they were taken down one by one by another slimmer-looking demonic general as demons latched onto the soldiers one after another.

“Retreat! Retreat! We need to get out of here!” The group of political leaders that were waiting for the news of victory clearly wasn’t expecting a battle happening right in front of them, and they panicked in a hurry before breaking formation and making a run for it.

That then kick-started an ocean of chaos as the soldiers fled in all directions, stampeding over one another as the demonic forces pressed on. Countless individuals ran into Rote’s body, but he didn’t budge.

As the Wave of darkness approached from all around him and the towering figure of the demon general strolled right by Rote, he gave him a look of intrigue before ignoring and leaving the puny human for his underlings.

“USTA!!!” A girl screamed right as Usta swirled around in a rapid curve to try to save her. However, a demon emerged from invisibility and pierced a dagger through her back, lifting her up briefly before tossing her forward.

Usta’s eyes shot open, and a burst of Anti-Wave exploded from his body, incinerating the demon instantly before he hurried to catch the body of the girl. However, a dark wound had already rapidly expanded from the wound on her body as her last breathe fleeted from her mouth while within Usta's embrace.

At least he got to see her die. Rote thought, then one of the smaller demons tackled him to the ground as it roared into Rote’s face with the stench in his mouth and the slimy formations all over its fangs.

Perhaps this will be a fitting end after all…Rote thought. Finally...his nightmare of life is going to be over.

“I love you, Rote Zorn. Please live. Keep living...don't you ever give up.”

Her voice returned as the demon drooled on top of Rote’s chest. However, another medium-sized demon bit from behind, tearing the head of the little one straight off before it clawed into Rote’s chest.

“True power comes not from abilities, but rather the mind.” She continued.

"SHUT UP!" Rote bursted out as the demons looked at him with confusion. Then, a flash of red exploded out from his eye onto the rest of his body.

The demon was caught off guard initially, and it sensed the awakening within Rote’s body before it hopped backward with alarm.

“Everyone will find their strength as powered by their emotions eventually…” She pressed on, ignoring the tears flooding down his face.

“IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED FROM ME?!”

Among the sea of rampaging beasts, a column of red light emerged from the middle with Rote floating within as a burning Mark of the Manifest formed around his right eye. His hair and been lit up like red glowing metal, and his entire body was burning hot as the moisture of the ground under his feet started being boiled up and evaporated. His entire face burned with pain, yet he relished the sensation.

For the first time, he felt like he could do something.

“COME ON!” Rote screamed, slamming his fist into his own chest as the demons saw the fight in front and charged straight at him. He cocked his fist back, slamming into the body of the small demon as the impact straight up dislocated his wrist, with the demon's momentum barely dented.

The jolt of pain angered Rote further, and that seemingly expanded the supply of Wave into his power. He bit down on his lips, using the other hand to punch the demon in the face and this time aligning his hands slightly better.

His speed and power were vastly enhanced in that single moment, and the awkward punch with his offhand smashed straight through the demon’s skull as its thick elastic skin crumbled inward like an eggshell.

“ARGHHHHH! COME AT ME!” Rote stomped the ground, drawing the attention of all of the beasts around him, and he battled on, “I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!”

As his fists swung through the air, he tore through the enhanced bodies of the smaller demons while forcing back the stronger ones. However, eventually, more and more piled onto him, and he found himself struggling to breathe when suddenly, a gust of wind blew right past him, and he felt a hand grab onto the shirt by his chest.

“Mr Zorn! We need to get out of here!” Usta’s cracked voice came from above, and Zorn looked to see his dirty face with tracks of tears and blood flowing down the side.

“I STILL CAN FIGHT! I WANT TO FIGHT!” Rote shouted, trying to break free with his wild movements.

“Not now, Mr Zorn! We need to regroup with the remaining forces…” Usta said as his fingers slowly started to burn from Rote's heat, “I am sorry, Mr Zorn.”

Then, he turned his blade and tapped the side against Rote’s head, knocking him out with a shot of his Anti-Wave.

When Rote next awoke, he found himself sitting in a Cave with Usta who was curled up in a ball and trying to stay warm. As someone who had the burden of the entire world on his back, he seemed exceedingly vulnerable.

“They are all gone, Mr Zorn…” He said when Rote rolled around and winced at the pain in his body, “Every single one of the remaining forces…this battle is lost…This war…I don’t think can be overturned…We should have never pursued into that hell hole...”

“And you are just going to give up?” Rote pressed himself off the ground.

“What can we even do here…” Usta hid his head in between his knees, “The demonic forces wiped out our strongest troops, the political leaders had been eying a surrender and negotiation for years, and…we have no more army in this world.”

With great difficulty, Rote stood onto his feet.

“Mr Zorn, you must not force-”

Wack.

With his hand, he smacked Asta across the face. As drops of his tears flew through the air with his head tilted to the side, Usta was stunned to see Rote with a glowing red mark around his eye.

“Don’t you dare give up now.” Rote said through his teeth as shadow enveloped his face, “Don’t you dare quit after your humongous failure. Don't you dare after my son, and everybody else believed you. You...you are far more important, and far bigger than you realize...”

“But nobody’s going to follow me anymore…” Usta held onto his face, “I…I don’t know what to do.”

“We will figure it out.” Rote clenched his fist, “Do you know how it feels to finally be able to fight, after all of these years? Do you know how badly I want to slaughter every last one of the demons with my own power? Do you know how much it burned to hear that you are giving up!

“You are not just fighting for yourself, Usta. You are fighting for all of those that had fought and died before, all of those that are still fighting, all of those that want to but cannot fight, and all of those that cannot, but will eventually fight! If you stop here, then none of this would have mattered. None of them will have mattered. Not my son! Not my wife!”

“I…I am sorry…” usta lowered his hand, but Rote placed his hand around his face, tilting it up to face him.

“No. Don’t be sorry. Don’t feel sorry.” Rote squatted down in front of him, “Think. Fight. We will win this. Think. Who else had an army in this world? Who else holds power? Who else can fight?”

Soon, the story played out as we all knew, and Usta went around to all of the old adversaries that he had battled before, convincing them to join the final battle, not to invade or counter-attack, but to sever the connections behind the portal of Through Space and Time for good.

For a War that started off with a bombastic entrance, the ending of it was painfully dull and prolonged. The Portal was heavily resistant to any conventional attack, and Usta had to use every ounce of his Anti-Wave to shut down the Cast as holes in space-time were torn open by his efforts briefly.

Extradimensional Wave entered this world, and soon, the portals around this world closed up one after another. The alien Cast that brought this world two Saviors and a calamity had been completely dispelled and shattered, moved to a secure location in the Eastern continent, and watched over by the forefathers of the Kingdom of Varous.

That left all of the invading demonic forces trapped here on Olympus prime, and after years of battle, they finally dwindled down and were banished to the Voidlands on the Eastern continent, where extensive Casts were set up to monitor their actions and prevent their escape

As the victory parade of the Third War ended with the Third’s execution by the first emperor of the newly formed Yarka Kingdom, Rote watched on in the crowds before stepping away from the light.

“Hey. You…” A voice from an old man with crumbly fingers drew Rote's attention, “You are the Rage Manifester, aren’t you? The Third's right-hand man in the shadows?”

“What the hell do you want?” Rote tilted his head and stared down the man who slowly unveiled a book with a blood-red rose over its cover.

“I want a future different from this.” He said, “I want a world free from the influence of these so-called Saviors, and I want revenge on the demonic dimensions.”

“If you want revenge, go hunting in the Voidlands.” Rote said, about to turn around, "We closed everything up. Any attempt to cross over will be deemed as treacherous."

“The people won't be satisfied...those of us that remembered what they did to us won't be…we will destroy the demonic dimensions completely, the same way they tried to destroy ours.”

“A bad timing, don’t you think?” Rote asked, “The last man, coincidentally the first one that tried to do that, had just lost his head.”

“He failed not in his ideas, but in his execution. Pun intended.” The old man giggled before handing the book forward, “Take control of the entire world. Fully understand Through Space and Time, fully weaponize the Wave, and wipe out demon-kind from existence. That's the grand plan I laid out, and that's the future I foresee...You interested?”

Rote looked at him, and he turned his wrist to reveal the claws of a demon. Rote’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward, “Why are you doing this?”

“Cause I hate the higher-ups from forcing us into this war as much as you do.” He lowered his head and said, “And I know more than anything, humans are driven by hate just like we do. So here, I offer you not only the tools to conquer and control this world but countless others. So long as you follow the outline within this book, you will accomplish your goals of revenge.”

“Why…me?” Rote took the heavy book as the red cover morphed to reveal the title.

“Well… as the rage incarnate, you will be the one to live on.” The old man leaned forward, “Welcome to PORA, and the start of the revolution. If anyone asked of me...just refer to me as the Nameless Forefather.”

Then, he threw away his cloak before channeling his Wave and attempted to attack Rote. He immediately responded, the glowing red fist piercing straight through the body of the demon as he twitched and grabbed onto Rote’s body.

The crowd around gasped, and they quickly gathered around as Rote dropped the demon’s body slowly onto the ground.

“Use this…use me…and fight on into the next thousand years…” He said, grabbing onto Rote’s arms as the soldiers rushed towards Rote, only to slow down upon seeing him defeat the demon with his bare hands, “Please live on…make our dreams a reality...”