Chapter 433: The End of the War

Magnus felt his world freeze as he watched Octavius lead the charge to break through his final defence. The idea to flee had come to mind, but he realised it would have made no difference. He was the last line of defence. Nothing was there to hold back his enemy when they chased him. Pulling his sword, his eyes chilled as he stared Octavius down.

Magnus stepped forward and swung toward Octavius from above. The general lifted his shield to block and pushed Magnus’s attack away, jabbing forward, straight at Magnus’s stomach. His sword pierced through Magnus’s wooden shield, lodging itself in.

Magnus and Octavius both reacted similarly. Letting go of his sword and stepping back, he avoided Magnus’s strike aimed at his arms. Reaching behind his back, he pulled a smaller sword out and ran in to close the distance. From around, the soldiers watched doubt in their corners of their eyes as they engaged in their own battles. Everyone knew that whoever won the battle would be the definite winner of the war.

It was a battle of grace and skill, as Magnus gracefully led Octavius around, trying to find an opening in the Generals’ defences. Deflecting blows and trying to create space, the two looked as if they were engaged in a ballroom dance, with both trying to take control over it.

Octavius stepped forward, and each time Magnus took one back, his shield blocked Magnus’ strikes. The swings of his short sword looked wild, but each one was expertly aimed to force Magnus to focus on defending rather than moving. Both men were tired in the short exchange, but Magnus still held the advantage. After fighting his way through to him, Octavius was panting. Although his attacks never lost their weight, his reactions were slowing as his body refused to listen to his mind.

In a slip, Octavius raised his shield to block another of Magnus’s attacks. The attack fell quicker than he expected. The strike landed firmly onto his shoulder, and whilst it failed to pierce through, the weight of the attack dislocated Octavius’ shoulder. Magnus didn’t hesitate in Octavius’ momentary freeze, and swung his shield straight into the side of Octavius’ head.

’Thud.’ Octavius crashed into the floor in a daze. The only thing keeping him lucid was the pain in his shoulder.’Move. MOVE!’Screaming to himself in his mind, he dove forward without any regard for his surroundings. Magnus’ sword cut across his plate armour, dragging across his back, creating a long scar.

Octavius flipped himself over and grabbed the clump of dirt in his hand. Magnus moved quickly and loomed over Octavius. Stabbing his sword down. Octavius rolled to the side, his left arm completely useless to block. The sword pierced into the ground, and Octavius peeked at Magnus. Kicking at his sword, he made him stumble slightly, giving just enough time to push himself to his feet.

Chucking the dirt he collected in his right hand into Magnus’s face, he blinded the man for a moment. Not letting an opportunity go to waste, he charged forward and held his sword forward. Stabbing through Magnus’ stomach, he panted heavily and twisted the blade as best as he could. Magnus cried in pain and looked down at Octvaius hatefully.

Holding the sword pierced through his stomach, he headbutted Octavius with all his might and hate, dropped his heavy sword and reached behind his back. Pulling out his own short sword, he lifted it. Octavius knew Magnus was desperate to kill him in those final moments, and let go of his sword and stepped back. Magnus stabbed forward quickly, his sword piercing through the chest piece on Octavius’ armour.

Octavius felt the cold steel pierce through his underlayers and through his garments, cutting into his flesh. Gritting his teeth, he fell backwards, the weight of the attack plus his previous move making him fall. Magnus held his sword up, his eyes had gone bloodshot and were empty, but with the grace and dignity he had controlled for decades as Arch Duke, he refused to allow himself to fall so easily.

Octavius wasn’t thinking, acting on instinct. Kicking up and forward, he hit the hilt of his sword, trapped in Magnus’ stomach, his foot slipping off quickly and hitting empty space. Yet the effect was noticeable. Magnus’s attack that was sure to kill him missed, cleaving into the dirt nearby, as Magnus let go of his sword and stumbled backwards, crying out in agony.

His final attack held the remaining willpower he was using to power through pain and death, and once it failed, the wall crumbled. His mind slowly went blank, and only pain was left as he stumbled, falling to his knee. Breathing deeply, he lifted his head up, trying to move forward for his goal, but his body refused to listen, only registering the pain.

Around them, the soldiers watched as their leaders fell. One was alive but injured, the other dead but proudly holding his head high. Magnus forces realised the war was over, their morale shattered. Some ran away from the conflict, not believing the surrender terms Octavius had offered, whilst the vast majority stepped back and dropped their swords, showing they no longer wished to fight.

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Cassius heard the deafening cheer in the distance and looked atop the hill. Seeing Octavius’ forces cheering, he knew that something had happened. His heart sank, and although he knew what that cheer meant, he couldn’t accept it.

"Magnus." Cassius forgot he was tired, forgot his role as leader and broke free from his men, running with everything he had around the hill. Circling it, he saw Octavius’ forces encircling his own as they tried to run away or gave up resisting. Pushing through, he didn’t care what he looked like; if he was treated as a resisting enemy, he forced his way through the blockade, through the pool of defeated allies and victorious enemies.

Arriving where he had last seen Magnus, Octavius’ troops surrounded it as his own men gave up fighting. Cassius rushed forward, pushing through, only to be thrown back by Octavius’s men. "MAGNUS!" Cassius cried out in hope of hearing his cousin’s reply, but when silence, his worst fear was realised.

Dryly chuckling to himself, Cassius didn’t realsie the tears that fell from his eyes as his body finally gave out, unable to move any longer. He wanted to continue to see his body, but his entire body refused to do as he wanted. His arms and legs were paralysed from exhaustion. When a soldier picked him up and wrapped a rope around his limbs, he couldn’t fight back, forced to watch as he was made a prisoner of war.

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Darkness fell over the hills. The dead were slowly cleared as large graves were built. Men from both sides were stripped of their weapons and armour before being carefully placed inside the large grave, given respect no matter who they swore allegiance to.

Julius walked through the camp that had been temporarily set up. On one side, POWs were tied up with one another, being fed by Templars or sleeping where they sat. Most of Julius’s forces remained out of sight. Those who didn’t have other duties celebrated the victory with food and alcohol, happy to have seen the end, whilst Octavius was seated at the seat of honour.

He had tried to escape the celebrations, knowing he had work to do, but his men refused to let him leave. He could only delegate and bask in their celebrations. Seeing Julius arrive, Octavius stood up, with great difficulty and lowered his head. "I GREET HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR!"

Seeing his chance to escape, Octavius cried out, making the soldiers with him stop and copy. Getting up, they lowered their heads in respect and repeated Octavius’ words. Lifting his hand and waving them off, Julius smiled and said nothing, going over to Octavius.

"Magnus?" Coldly, he asked, and Octavius smiled broadly.

"Dead, Your Majesty."

"And my Bastard Brother."

"Captured alongside Cassius." Octavius smiled and rose. "I can take you, Your Majesty."

"Rest already. You’ve done enough." Octavius nodded and looked to the man to his left.

"Take His Majesty to see Commander Cassius." The soldier nodded and quickly led the way. Further away, not with the other POWs, Cassius sat tied to a wooden beam, Ash near him. Cassius had clearly been crying, whereas Ash said with an expressionless face as he looked at Julius.

"You may leave," Julius told the soldier, making him stunned. Before he could speak, Julius turned to him and lifted the mask on his face, showing his deep scar. "Now." The soldier froze but nodded and ran off. Going over to his prisoners, Julius sighed and threw the mask before them.

"Cassius." Only glancing at him, his attention quickly turned to Ash. "And you would be the bastard brother who caused all this. Forgive me, but what is your name again?"

"Ash." His voice was whispering as he closed his eyes.

"Your real name." Julius coldly asked, making Ash scoff.

"Livius Tatius." Spitting on the ground in disgust, he shook his head, "A hateful name." It was a pleasant surprise for Julius to see that. He expected his half-brother to be arrogant and greedy, but in the few seconds they had met, he could tell that wasn’t the case.

Looking back at Cassius, Julius cruelly smiled, "Cassius. Look at me." Julius playfully spoke. Cassius didn’t move, continuing to stare at the ground. Annoyed with his attitude, Julius walked before him and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Was it worth it?"

Cassius remained silent, only staring at him. It annoyed Julius seeing him so utterly broken, but he took a deep breath and smiled, "The Maximus family is over. I am going to destroy your family. You will die, Cassius, but do not worry, Magnus’ children will live. Be thankful."

Cassius said nothing and let his head fall when Julius let go of it. Turning to face Ash once again, Julius stared in confusion. "Why did you try to take what doesn’t belong to you?" It had been on his mind since the war had erupted. A bastard no one knew of or remembered, who was happy to become a puppet for Magnus. The condition made no sense.

Ash stared at Julius and sighed, "I wish to destroy our father. When he vanished, I didn’t care anymore. I simply followed orders."

"Father." Julius smiled, breaking into a fit of laughter at the answer. It was pure, almost childish laughter in the face of an answer he would have never expected. "You let a war be created to get back at that fat prick." He couldn’t hold it and laughed again.

The answer was so unexpected, but one he should have expected. Theodosius’ main enemy had never been the nobles or foreign invaders, but his own children. He had caused it himself, having killed so many of his own bastards. He still had his full children for a while until he ordered Julius’ death, after that he was alone.

The fact that his actions had caused the civil war was almost poetic to Julius. "Maybe if it wasn’t my throne, I might have cheered you on." Julius sighed at the thought of his father losing everything to Magnus and a bastard he had abandoned.

"What do you plan to do with me?" Ash asked with an emotionless voice. Julius stared at him again, wondering. He had initially planned to kill Ash, but after meeting him, he couldn’t help but not want to. He more than anyone understood the motive of revenge against their father.

Clapping his hands together, he smiled, "Why don’t you join me?" Julius happily smiled and looked down at him. It would have been a beautiful smile if half his face hadn’t been covered with a large scar.

Ash looked up at Julius, unable to understand why such an offer was being given to him. Julius saw it and sighed. "Two reasons. First, it seems you don’t even want my throne. It’s honestly refreshing to have a sibling who doesn’t want it. Bardas was enough. Secondly, imagine how I would look to the people of Severia. My father, a man who killed his bastard children, was a share. However, I will be the Emperor who, even when they raised his sword, pardoned his siblings, out of familial loyalty. A magnificent ending for a man who was baptised in fire. Don’t you agree?"

Ash took a deep breath. "Do I have a choice?"

"I will execute you as a traitor if you disagree," Julius answered instantly. Ash sighed and nodded. Julius smiled at the agreement and walked over to the mask he had taken off previously. Putting it back on, he chuckled. "For now, you must stay as a prisoner. I will free you eventually."