THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

TWO MONTHS PRIOR, KEVIN DRAGONROAD POV:

"You…" Tatiana lands before me with such confidence my body reacts before I can think. 

I pounce on her and grabs her head then slam it on the ground. 

"Urgh…" She doesn't scream while a crystal leaves her body. But more importantly, why didn't she dodged or evaded it? 

"What are you playing at?" Is she trying to make me drop my guard? 

"Ugh…I came to speak. Fuck, you hit harder than ever now." She grabs my hand with both of hers. 

Speak? You came to speak? With who? I apply more strength and her head buries itself even deeper in the ground. But still, she doesn't scream.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" 

"And who do you hope to talk with? Because I don't see anybody here? Even more so someone who would be willing to talk with you." 

"Sigh…You haven't changed at all, have you?" 

She kicks me from behind and tries to get away but I don't budge. Her kick is nothing compared to everything I went through. 

"Did you really hope to get away? After everything you have done, don't you think it is about time you face my wrath?"

"Your wrath? Fuahahaha!!! Come on, you are still talking like you are hot shit after all this time?" 

I punch her again and again but Tatiana keeps laughing like she doesn't feel any pain. You want to play like this, huh…I grab her arm and use physical Angas to the fullest to break it. 

"Come on!! You can do better than that!!"

"Are you provoking me?" She really wants to get it good if that's the case. "Then, I will oblige." 

I smash her limbs one after the others: her thighs, her legs, her forearms…No matter what I do, she just keeps laughing like she doesn't care at all. Her sinister laugh resounds so deep in my ears my brain feels like it is attacked by that laugh. 

Tatiana lost another crystal in the meantime so now, she has only one left. 

"You have really gone crazy. You know I only need one hit to finish you off, right?" 

"Yeah, and so?" 

This…I wanted to kill you for so long. I wanted to see you struggle while I destroy you, to see you scream while I reduce you to ashes. But this…

"You are taking all my fun away, you fucking bitch." 

I release her head and instead of fleeing, Tatiana simply sits and faces me. It could be pitiful to see her dragging her body on the floor while trying to sit but right now, she only makes me feel disgust and disappointment. When our eyes meet, I notice something. Her eyes are dead. She looks like she has given up already. Something, something inside her is broken. This is me. This is me from before. 

"Somebody took my fun away as well so yeah, I guess I am." 

"Did you really hope that I would talk with you? A scheming and cunning bitch who tried to kill me and made my life a living hell?" 

"Sigh…You really know how to live with a grudge, huh. I told you that day and my stance will never change. Work is work. And I make sure that I do it right especially when it will benefit me." 

"Then I am sure it was beneficial for you to die, right?" Veronica revived you as a stronger being after all. 

"That's why I am here. I have grown tired of this." 

"Of what?" Tatiana starts looking at her body as it gradually recovers back. A small amount of Regas is emitted as a mist from her wounds in the meantime. 

"Of this. This body. This life."

"Was it not what you wanted?" 

"No, I never wanted this. Even when I woke up in my mother's lab, I had to suppress my anger for her as much as possible."

"You really hope that I would believe this shit you are saying? You have killed my comrades. You have tricked the hammer hands. You have killed so many. And now, you want me to believe that you hate your mother." I should finish her off. 

I place Maria's raizen on her neck but Tatiana doesn't look away or react in any way. Is she trying to show me her sincerity? 

"You do know that sincerity doesn't exist for people like you, right, Tatiana?" 

"Said who?"

"Anyway, Let's suppose that you are telling the truth. Let's suppose you hate your mother. Why are you here?" 

"I want to put an end to this stupid thing she has started. She and that over depressive queen of theirs." 

"Oh? And how do you plan to do it?" 

"Sheathe your weapon first and promise you will listen to the end." 

"Nah. Talk first then I will see if I kill you now or later." 

"Would you stop being so stupid? I already know that you will act rashly." 

"Okay, I promise that I will kill you only after you have stopped speaking." 

"So stupid. There is something you have to know first-hand." When Tatiana closes her mouth, another piece of the sky shatters with a loud noise. At the same time, I hear her uttering her name. 

"Genesis? Seriously?"

"Why would I lie at this point?" 

"You could have a million reasons to do it." 

"Anyway. Because she was a hero, there are loads of things that I should explain but you are too dumb to understand so I will skip to the most important." 

"You know my blade is right at your neck, right?" 

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, as I was saying, Genesis is a bit cunning but still, she is pretty manipulable if you use the right strings." 

"Just like you did for us, right? You tricked my parents and me and now, the end result is here." 

"Can you shut up already? The world doesn't revolve around you, dammit. This needy kid. Just because you just killed your mother doesn't mean you have won the competition of the saddest fucker here." 

"Yeah, I was right. Killing you is better." I raise my raizen to sever her neck and she opens her mouth to continue speaking. It's no use. I have made up my mind.

"You will need to kill a hero."

"W-what?" Out of nowhere, Tatiana says something so surprising, my body paralyzes. "Have you gone mad?!!" I strike down with every ounce of strength I have but she moved away. So, you can move already? 

I chase her around while attacking and she manages to dodge some of my attacks. Some others hit her but right after she loses her arm, she uses her Longinus gear before continuing. 

"Genesis knows that the potential of three is exponentially greater than one or two. She fought and killed two of her sisters before." 

"I don't care. You think... You want me to kill a hero? Who would be stupid enough to do that?" 

"There are reports that were sent by our spies stating that you and Farner are in love. She knows that as well." 

"And so what?" 

I strike her stomach and the armor breaks off at the same time as another piece of the sky. Tatiana flies away and lands on her back brutally. Before she can stand back up, I am already on top of her and I start punching her face. Now that you are resisting, I can finally do whatever I want with you. 

But the fucking bitch cuts my fun off once again and doesn't resist in the slightest. When I finish breaking every single bit of the Longinus gear around her head, she is crying. You, you of all people are crying?!! 

"Aha…ahahaha!! You are crying?!! And what should other people do?!! What should I do?!! You have ruined my life!! You have turned it into hell!! Every time I started being happy, you had to intervene and bring it all down again!! And now, you are crying!!!" 

"If you want to bring Genesis and my mother out of Ioll, then you need to kill Farner." I arm Lightning fist as soon as she closes her mouth. 

"It's time for goodbyes, Tatiana. I hope you will be less of a bitch in your next life." If you ever get one, that is.

"Do you want it to repeat again?" Right as I am about to punch her, she says that and without knowing why, my hand stops. 

"Want what to repeat again?" 

"All this. You will kill me. She will raise me back. We will fight. You will eventually win, until the day you will lose, that is. It has been the same for so long now. Ever since Genesis has become the queen of the Longinus, she has been killing her sisters and acquired enough power to stay in place while the others do the dirty work. And you have seen the result." 

"Yeah, but you just said it, right? Three heroes have way more potential than two." 

"It doesn't change a thing. She won't move a finger now unless something really unexpected happens. And I know that she was really surprised and pissed that a hero fell in love with a simple human." 

"I am not a simple human." 

"Whatever. I don't know why she reacted that way but I know that it can be used. That's why I told you to kill her. Prove to Genesis that you were actually on her side and she will surely come out of her hole. Giving you an opportunity to strike. Since she is carrying the very core of the Longinus in this world. Killing her will if not destroying them all, weaken them to the point that even children will be able to defeat them." 

"You really want me to believe you?" Tatiana's tears haven't stopped. I still can't believe that Tatiana Flolerl. The prideful, hateful bitch, is crying in front of me. "Now that I think about it, it was the same last time as well, I was still on top of you." 

"You were always one perverted kid anyway." 

"I was not!!" 

"I know why you were always grabbing my thighs, fucker." 

"W-w-what?!!" Wait, did I really…No, there is no way. "You are lying." 

"You wish. Anyway, if you think you can do it, I left a dagger in the tree over there. Use it to stab your girl so that her soul gets stored in it." 

"What? Why?" 

"Do you think Genesis will simply believe you killed her like that? She will need proof. Maybe she will even absorb her soul." 

"And you really think I will do it?" 

"Saving the world or letting her die slowly. Your choice. If you do nothing, those heroes will just continue to fight a losing battle where they will exhaust themselves until they get killed and others come to replace them." 

"Can I not kill any other?" 

"It certainly won't have the same meaning to her. I told you, she is cunning. You have to make it obvious enough for her to believe it."

"Tatiana, we both know that I can't trust you with just that. So, how? How do I know that you aren't lying?" 

"What do you want me to say? That my life is all yours should you wish it? You took it away a long time ago so now, you just talking to a dead corpse. I am nothing more than a walking dead puppet that was given a string of hope and liberty so that it doesn't break." 

"Then why did you have to-"

"Oh, come on, not this again. I told you, work is work. Weren't you the same? Borgas told me that you were doing a fine work when you replaced me in Floras, eliminating people as if they were cattle." 

"That bastard is alive?"

"Ah, I forgot that you were away for almost a year." Tatiana pushes me with her hips and I fall down on the ground, then she stands back and puts back her finger that was bent backward. 

"I am certainly a fool to let you go." She cleans up the tears on her cheeks but they still drip a little bit before finally stopping. 

"Aren't we all? You are just unluckier than most." The last piece of sky breaks and only now do I notice the sunlight is clearing up the dark, heavy atmosphere that the forest had. 

"Tatiana, if-"

"Yeah, yeah. You will find me even at the end of the world and kill me. I know the song already." 

"I am serious, bitch." 

"Like I care." 

She turns around and goes away, disappearing into the forest. Am I really going to let her leave? 

"You are in a really hard predicament, it seems." 

"You can say that again, Cissa." 

"HE IS OVER THERE!!" 

Wait, what?