[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/m1Q6adA.png[/img][/centre]
[h2][centre]Gatekeeper, Troilus, Shinto Town[/centre][/h2]

Troilus trudged forwards, sniffling. It was impossible to derive any happiness from the tragic events of the day. For a child who’d lived his life sheltered by those who loved him, he had never seen such devastation, death and destruction on such a terrifying scale. 

For him, warfare had been something that happened outside the city, out of view. Even when besieged by the enemy, they’d been out of view, hidden from him by Troy’s walls. He’d seen the results, now and then - brothers, cousins, uncles, dragged back into safety, wounded and dying. But even that had been uncommon, in Troilus’ world. 

Something passed him. He felt the wind whip past him as something sped through the nearby city streets with dizzying rapidity. 

Troilus froze.

That level of speed could only belong to a single person. [i]That man[/i]. The fastest among Heroic Spirits, a man with unmatchable swiftness. One who was ‘the fastest’. One who couldn’t be outrun, under any circumstances. 

No, that was impossible. It couldn’t be [i]that man[/i]. If it was him, Troilus would already be dead. In Troilus’ world, [i]that man[/i] meant nothing less than death itself. He remembered-

Hiding in the temple of Apollo, praying for a help that never arrived. A shadow, falling over him as he sobbed in pain and terror, and-

Troilus turned around. He saw that man’s world, descending on the fire. No matter how great the fire was, it didn’t matter. 

A hero who could do nothing but destroy. A hero who had never truly saved anyone, who had only fought and slain others. A typhoon of slaughter, a comet prophesying absolute devastation. Of course, his method of ‘saving people’ would mean their annihilation. A man who had perverted a shield with the purpose of defending into a weapon causing utter ruin.

Yes, [i]that man[/i] was truly death incarnate.

Running wouldn’t do any good, but Troilus ran anyway.

[b][center]Returning to the Clockwork Fortress of Troy[/center][/b]