A few hours earlier...

"I think you should reconsider," said Gazef, breaking the hour-long silence that had descended upon the two since the journey had started.

"This again? You know, you've been acting odd since we started the journey, I've never known you to be a coward," Ailre replied, gesturing for his horse to ride faster.

The insult seared Gazef's heart, but he kept his anger contained, he knew that if he wanted to reason with his younger brother he ought to make it seem like it was the more righteous thing to do.

"Think about it, if you expose the queen now, the kingdom will be left devasted. Not to mention that her being exposed might cause her to attack the people, and then who is going to stop her?" Gazef asked, catching up to Ailre's pace.

"She's powerful, but if all the kingdom's heroes come together she can be taken down," Ailre responded, refusing to look at Gazef as they spoke.

"And what of Mordesh?"

"We'll defeat the queen before Mordesh is unleashed," he replied.

"And have you forgotten about the 12 knights?"

"We'll find a way to neutralize them."

"How can we be sure of who to trust? What if the prince is in on it?"

"We have to have faith," Ailre responded.

"Faith!? Truly you can't be serious. What if our faith fails us, like it has in the past?"

"We'll find a way, like we always do," Ailre shot back.

"Ailre! Open your eyes to reality! This is dumb and you know it, now stop this foolishness, and let's find a place to hide you," Gazef shouted, growing tired of his brother's stupidity.

"And what if I don't? Who will stop me? You?" Ailre asked, his anger on par with that of Gazef.

"Even if I have to chain you in a box and hide you in some village," Gazef replied, drawing his blade. 

Ailre was caught off guard, he hadn't expected his brother to pull a weapon on him over a mere squabble, but he reacted in kind with the speed of a honed warrior, pulling out the greatsword tied to his back.

Steel met steel and sparks flew, the force from their blows was enough to make the very air between them explode in heat. They both rode the shockwave, using it to jump of their horses and create some sort of distance between each other. 

Gazef bounced off the ground as soon as he landed, rushing towards Ailre with the scabbard of his sword in hand. Ailre stood in place like a great statue, using the blunt side of his massive greatsword to block Gazef's attack.

"What are you doing?" Ailre asked, his entire body coated in a blue aura.

"If you won't listen to reason then I'll have to use force," Gazef replied, coating his own body in a layer of yellow luminescence. There was a moment of silence, a calm before the storm, where the two of them stood there, staring at each other.

"How long?" Ailre asked, swinging his greatsword over to his shoulder.

Silence.

"How long have you been a snake, lying in the grass? How long have you been working under her?" Ailre asked, staring at the symbol engraved on Gazef's scabbard. It was the Yggdrasil, in its most obscured form, it was a demon blade, a blade of Mordesh.

"Answer me, traitor!" Ailre shouted, swinging his greatsword on top of Gazef with the force of an erupting volcano, once again causing the air to explode from the raw speed and strength imbued within the attack.

Gazef turned into a strip of black, easily evading the attack before reforming right beside Ailre.

"Since Logren, since Filerin , since I realized the limits to normal power," Gazef whispered, gripping his blade tightly.

"Don't give me that. You sully the names of our sisters!" Ailre shouted once again, swinging his greatsword once more, this time even faster than before. Once again Gazef turned into a black strip, this time reforming a few meters away from Ailre. 

It was just before midday, but the sun hid behind dark clouds. The air was cool, and the wind blew beautiful waves across the grassy meadows. The two stood in an open area, the road to the capital did not cut through the forest.

"What now? You'd kill your brother for a mere trinket?" Ailre asked, so much disgust audible in his voice that it seemed as if he would spit on Gazef at any moment.

"She offers me [Aegenfall]," Gazef replied calmly.

"That is enough to sell your own kingdom?"

"She offers prosperity to her people, only our enemies need fear Mordesh's wrath," Gazef replied once again.

"And you believe a demon's word? The word of one of the monsters that slew our sister?"

"If I don't accept it, someone else will. It is the flow of things." 

"What happened to wanting to fight Mordesh? Of wanting to find a worthy adversary?" Ailre asked, pulling his greatsword out of the ground. "Have you grown mellow? Has the burning fire within you cooled with age?"

"A fight is barely worth it if you have no chance at winning. With [Aegenfall] there is a chance. Trust me, brother, if it comes to it, I'll take on Mordesh myself, but as it is, I'm still too weak. We're still too weak."

"Kuk... I won't allow it. You'll have to kill me, I won't hide, I'm going to expose her."

"Don't do th-"

"Shut up and come get me, you disgrace the Daexalim name. From this moment on I disown you, I shed all ties with the traitor who stands in front of me."

The air around Ailre began to crackle and streams of electric sparks jumped from his body to the ground. The dark clouds overhead began to circle, and flashes of light began to fall to the ground like snowflakes in winter.

"Ailre Daexalim, the stormborne general. It is an honor a fight against you brother," Gazef whispered, allowing himself to be engulfed by a cloud of black smoke.

"But I doubt your little sparks will be enough to protect you," he continued, his body morphing into something sinister.

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[System Information]

[Demon blades]

Blades forged with demon blood using ancient forbidden techniques. Originally designed as a way to seal off powerful demons, they were soon discovered to be a source of great strength. In exchange for power, the user gives a bit of their own mortality, each time phasing closer and closer to a true demonic form. In the end, the user is left without a trace of their previous mortal self, and is hunted down by those they had sacrificed to protect. 

Upon death, the wielder's soul is trapped within the blade, forever adding on to its power, adding on to the torment of the blade's next victim.

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