I opened my eyes to find myself all alone in a dark spacious room. 

Looking around, I felt that this place looked oddly familiar to me. The soft beige tatami mats patterned with black lines, the orange lanterns hanging on the wooden pillars, the white shoji screens that surrounded the area like walls and the faded echoes of nothing but the clacking of wooden swords.

Wait a minute. Everything here looks exactly like Master’s dojo!

That’s because it is, fufufu.

I turned back to see Gray standing behind me, with her tail moving softly from left to right, alternately changing from black and white as it moved to one side. 

This is a replica to be exact, within your own soul.

“Ah……that means I’m unconscious?! Why did I-”

You overworked yourself with all the magic spells that you casted.

“Wait, such a thing actually happens to people? But I’ve never seen it happen to magic users.”

That’s because they only use up the Magia within themselves to generate their magic, so it doesn’t affect their body physically. On the other hand, you don’t even have a single ounce of Magia, so it uses up the energy in your stamina instead. You’re just borrowing my powers after all.

I squinted my eyes on her.

“If that’s the case, then why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Gray scratched her ears. Then she walked towards me on all fours and rose up to pat my head.

It’s harder to convince people to reach their full potential when you tell them their possible limits. I wanted to see how far you could go with the spells, and I must say you’ve exceeded my expectations.

“What were you expecting from me anyway?” I gently put her hand away.

I expected that you could only cast a spell at least 7 times in one day. But you went beyond that and casted 8. She pulled out her fingers. Well, that’s only one point higher, but it’s still pretty impressive.

“So you’re telling me that I can only cast 8 times per day?” I placed my hand on my chin.

It’ll improve as you grow. Not to mention, it also depends on how powerful the skill is. Although for now, all of your spells are worth 1 cast. 

Good thing I didn’t use those skills too often, I might have passed out before I reached Hector. 

Hector….

My eyes widened from the realization.

Looks like you finally remembered. Let’s get to the heart of the matter. Your actions towards Hector.

“Gray,” I looked away from her. “Why did you try to stop me from using Black? Isn’t that what you wanted to happen? I thought you were very supportive of the idea.”

I am. Gray sat down and crossed her legs. In fact, I wasn’t against the idea of injuring Hector to inject fear into his heart, fufufu.

“Then things don’t add up,” I glanced towards her face. “If you weren’t against my actions, then why did you convince me otherwise?”

Gray lifted her tail and used it to caress my chin.

Do you remember what I told you at our very first meeting?

“What about it?”

If you accept my power, then I will be your sword and you will be my master. I only act on behalf of your best interests. Whatever I tell you, is simply a reflection of your soul. The catgirl curled her fingers to make a heart shape. 

I’m pretty sure it’s not in your best interests to engage in such acts. Whatever you tried to do back there, that wasn’t exactly you.

“What do you mean?”

It’s the shadow that lies deep in your heart. Your dark side. Everyone has one, it’s just that yours decided to come out of its shell. Naturally, Black is attracted to that sort of energy.

“Me? A dark side?” I chuckled nervously. “Why would I have something like that? My dream is to become a Hero, so how could that possibly be?”

Don’t deny it. If you turn a blind eye to it, it will take over and control your actions. It’s happened twice now. I can’t allow such a thing to happen again, because it takes away your free will.

“U-Um…you said twice?” 

Yes. That time with Hector and the other time where you killed someone for the first time. You lost control of yourself twice and let the monster take over.

M-Monster….there’s a monster inside of me…

“H-How do I get rid of it?! Please, take it away from me!” I bowed down to the floor.

Stop the nonsense and get up, Lars.

“Please! I don’t want to be a monster!”

Get. Up.

I could feel my eyes start to moisten, begging to burst out, but I tried to keep myself together. I punched my fist to the floor and got up. Taking a few deep breaths, I looked up into the ceiling to prevent anything from leaking down.

Stay with me, Lars.

The catgirl hugged me and rubbed my back. It was a strange sensation. Somehow, her body felt warm to the touch, yet cold at the same time. She leaned her face towards my ear and whispered.

You can’t get rid of the monster. It is a part of who you are. Don’t reject it. Instead, you must learn to live with it. To understand it and figure out how to control it. Then, you will become more powerful than you can ever imagine.

“But what if I lose control again? What if the dark side of me takes over again?”

For everything in this world, there is always an opposite. One cannot exist without the other. If there is light, then there is darkness. Life is about balancing the two forces, not letting any of them overpower the other. Don’t deny your shadow, you must accept it. As long as your ideals are still in your heart, you can control the darkness within and use it to your advantage. Instead of letting it take over you, you must take over it instead.

Remember, it’s all about balance. 

“I don’t understand how I can manage all of it….”

The catgirl looked away and twitched her ears.

You’ll understand soon enough. For now, you must go back to the real world. Scarlet’s waiting for you.

“I just hope I do.”

In the blink of an eye, I was back at Hector’s fortress. But for some reason, it felt like my body was moving forward without using a single muscle. As my vision cleared, I realized that I was on top of something….red. 

“H-Huh?”

“Argh! You’re finally awake, Lars!” Scarlet said. 

It turns out, she was running away while carrying me on her back. Cracks spread throughout the stony walls around us and the pillars started to collapse on themselves. Rocks fell down from the ceiling and crashed into the floor, making a series of rumbles that could easily make anyone lose their balance. 

“You’re one heavy guy, you know?! Good thing you’ve got a strong lady like me on your side!” Scarlet winked.

“Sorry….” I muttered.

“Don’t sweat it. We’re partners after all!”

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Apparently, Hector went too overboard with that laser of his, which ended up affecting the entire structure of the fortress.”

“No wonder. To be able to fire such a highly concentrated ray of destruction, that thing probably had an extremely powerful Red Magium as its source and high-quality Magion to direct such energy into a straight line.”

“Spare me the nerdy stuff. I’m using all my brain power to get us out of here!” Scarlet said as she dodged a couple of falling rocks.

Eventually, we had made it to the main lobby, with the exit just a few steps in front of us. 

“Come on!”

Scarlet lunged through the doors, just barely able to make it in time. The rocks fell down just a few inches behind us, blocking any way in or out of the fortress.

“Phew! Hahahaha!” Scarlet wiped her brow. “That was close!”

I hopped off from her back and dropped down to the floor. 

“Sorry for dragging you down….”

“I told ya! It’s fine. Nothing was dragging me down. After all…” She pointed at herself with her thumb. “I’m Scarlet Hood! The Cutest Genius-”

“Ok, ok I get it, no need to tell me again,” I waved my hand. “By the way, do you know where Hect-

“Charge!”

An army of men in ragged clothes rushed into the gates of the fortress with guns, yelling out a battlecry. It was the slaves I had freed before I went inside earlier. They stopped in front of us with confused looks on their faces, probably wondering why the place crumbled to the ground. 

“W-Woah…that’s a lot of slaves you saved there, Lars,” Scarlet said.

“Where’s Hector?!” their leader, a middle-aged man raised his voice, looking around for the man in question.

The former slaves looked around and surveyed the area, but it was no use. Hector seemed to be long gone. Their leader walked towards me and gave me a hand.

“Thanks for saving us, cat-masked boy,” he smiled and offered a hand.

I grabbed it with a firm grip, then he pulled me in close and hugged me tightly.

“It’s been so long since I’ve tasted freedom...” Tears fell from his eyes. “It feels so amazing! I’m truly grateful!”

“I-It’s no problem,” I said. “I was just trying to do the right thing.”

Something about his words made my heart feel warm. It’s been a long time since someone has appreciated me for my actions. Ever since I failed to protect Alessia, almost everything that came my way were lines of ridicule and contemptment. Their words were like knives that cut through my heart countless times, constantly reminding me of my flaws and how pathetic and terrible of a person I have become. But in the midst of all the toxicity, the man’s words were like a breath of fresh air.

“What a load of bull!”

A man yelled from the crowd. He walked closer and gave me a furious glare.

“Did you forget who he was?!” He pointed at me and looked at everyone. “He’s a slave hunter working for Hector! The very reason why we were even sent here was because of people like him! In fact, he’s the one who captured me and made my life miserable!”

Reality set itself in front of me, hitting me over like a speeding train. The leader slowly let go of me and stepped away.

“But he was also the person who saved us,” He tried to argue for me.

“So what?!” the man said. “If it weren’t for him, our fallen brothers would have never overworked themselves to death! That boy is definitely at fault! He deserves to be punished!”

“I didn’t have a choice….” I muttered and looked away.

Lars, I think you need to get out of here immediately.

“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice?!” He grabbed my shirt. “Aren’t you a fellow slave like the rest of us? So why did you choose to join their side?! I bet it was because you were afraid of torture and death! A truly good person wouldn’t throw people under the bus for the sake of his safety! You’re just a selfish brat who decided to play hero when he felt like it!”

I guess I am. At the end of the day, it was me who chose this path, so I should be responsible for my own actions.

“Hey.” 

Scarlet hit the man’s face with a powerful slap. 

“Ouch!”

“If it weren’t for him, the Midas Hogs would have never been defeated and you would still have those stupid collars on. So why don’t you just shut up and be grateful instead?” she said with a smile.

“Shut up, you stupid girl! Aren’t you also working for that guy?!” the man rubbed his face.

“W-Why don’t we all just calm down and settle things out?” the leader said.

“No way!” another man yelled. “Since he used to be a part of the Midas Hogs, we should give him some payback! If he really wanted to save us, why didn’t he just do it earlier?!”

“He betrayed both the slaves and the Midas Hogs!” someone supported him. “How will we know he isn’t going to betray us again?! Does he even have a side?”

“I’m sorry….I really wanted to help you guys, but I just couldn’t do it alone. It was too much,” I looked down.

“Quit it with the excuses!” the man screamed at my face, with droplets of saliva coming out from his mouth.

“Get off him already!” Scarlet kicked him away. “You have no idea how hard the guy worked to make the Defuser! How could you discredit such a thing?!” Scarlet yelled at them.

These idiots. They don’t understand anything. Pay no heed to their foolish words.

“You just assaulted me,” the man said. “Twice!”

“Those two are dangerous. We can’t just let these two go away unscathed.”

“This isn’t right…..” the leader said.

“You may not hold a grudge against them, but we do,” someone tapped his shoulder. “If we can’t vent our hatred towards Hector, then we might as well just settle with this guy!

Many of the slaves pointed their guns towards us and we placed our hands up in the air in response.

“What do we do, Lars?” Scarlet whispered. “It’s not like I can just kill them with my guns, right?”

I looked up and grasped my first.

“Leave Scarlet out of this. I’m the one who’s at fault, I just captured her and dragged her into this mess. If there’s anyone who deserves punishment, it should only be me,” I pointed towards myself.

Lars, are you serious about this? I thought you wanted to avenge Alessia and chase after your dreams.

There’s too much guilt in my heart to continue on living. It’s probably better this way.

“Fine. We’ll spare the girl. But prepare to die.” the man said. “Ready….aim….”

“There’s no way I’m letting this happen!” Scarlet lifted her revolvers. 

“Wait!” the leader stopped everyone. “I have a better idea.”

“Huh? What could be possibly better than this?” the man said.

“We should just exile him from Sector 24,” the leader said. 

“Why?”

“Like it or not, that boy is still responsible for granting us our freedom. The most honorable thing we could do is let him go in exchange and repay him for his actions. At least by exiling him, we punish him for betraying us, but let him live as a form of courtesy.”

“B-But-”

“No buts. To kill him would make us no better than the Midas Hogs, just killing people off once they have no more use for any of them. If you don’t accept the freedom that he gave you, then go ahead. Kill him if you want, but put a collar back on. If not, then just leave him alone.”

The slaves let their guns down and moved aside. The man who tried to instigate my execution clicked his tongue and looked away embarrassed.

I walked towards the leader and nodded my head.

“Thank you,” I said.

“No problem, it is I who should be grateful.”

“I think you should be the one to keep this,” I handed over the Defuser to him. “If it malfunctions or breaks, all my notes on the device are in my room.”

“Thank you,” the man held the Defuser. 

Nodding my head, I turned over to the other direction and started to leave.

“Wait! What is your name?!” the leader called out.

I stopped myself and thought for a moment. Then, I lifted my hand to wave goodbye.

“Just call me the Iron Cat.”

I guess my story isn’t over after all. The guilt is something I must continue to carry with me. That is my responsibility.