Ashley's point of view.
Since I arrived in this world, it's been a roller coaster of emotions, and honestly, I don't even understand why I joined the war. My reasons are stupid, I know. I'm scared, I'm scared of dying in this place. But even so, I saw myself reflected in the eyes of the young people at the base. They reminded me of that girl in the concentration camps, discriminated against like an animal because of the color of her hair... I saw myself reflected in their eyes; I couldn't refuse.
Although I joined my country's army and attempted to join the Angels of Death, I failed the exam. I had barely begun my military career when it was too late: the war was over. The Great War was over, Sean Dorvin had struck the final blow, and we had won the war.
When news of General Sean Dorvin's betrayal spread, very few people believed it. After all, he was the war hero, the god of war, the one who had brought the enemy to its knees, the one who had ended thirty-one years of misery and war.
However, I had faith that my hero would succeed and reveal the truth about what had happened, which would turn out to be a complete lie from the government, but... He died. When I heard the news, it was a crushing blow. The reason for this was that he had trained very hard, had studied tirelessly to be a useful person. It wasn't that I wanted to serve him; I wanted to be by his side even without having met him in person. And to be by the side of someone they call the god of war, I understood that I had to push myself, I had to break my hands climbing the mountain of levels that lay before me.
However, the person I'd worked so hard for died. Sean Dorvin died, and with him went my goal. However, I didn't really have time to grieve. When I arrived in this new world, I was too depressed, but seeing myself reflected in those children, I couldn't help but turn my back on them. I had decided to follow in Sean's footsteps. We could win, I had to win, but I didn't know how, and I ended up stuck.
A few months later, he arrived, but my first impression of him wasn't that of the man I'd once known. His face was gaunt, and there was no trace of the man who had once been called the god of war. However, I had never met him face to face, so I approached him and asked for help anyway, because perhaps it was simply my own fantasy playing tricks on my judgment.
When I heard the shot I felt like my world was falling apart again, the first thing I thought was that the hero I idolized so much had taken his own life, fortunately he was there, holding my rifle that had accompanied me through so many battles up to this point, however, in contrast to the man I had known, standing in that tent, there was a monster. He reminded me of Mason, he emanated a terrifying aura, he emanated a thirst for blood that rivaled Mason's, but he only needed to smile bitterly to transmit the same level of hunger.
Just the first night, he'd already devised a plan, and to my surprise, unlike me, he actually had magic. He'd decided to train to assassinate the fire god, though I'm honestly not sure what the gap is that needed to be bridged. Still, I trusted Sean, I trusted my hero.
But when I returned to the tent, he looked gaunt again, and that bloodlust was completely gone. The torment was evident in his eyes, and I think it was the first time I finally understood: he's just a man. That made me feel happy. For the first time, I felt like I was on his level, and he acted accordingly, giving me missions on how to train spies and reconnaissance groups.
That's why I worked so hard training, I had to get stronger if I wanted to stay by his side, it took me a while to understand why now more than ever I felt the need to be by his side, I had fallen in love with him, I had fallen in love with the way he faces life.
Then the first accident happened, I saw him fight alongside Azumi and I understood that I would never be able to be his partner, in front of the village burning, in front of the horror he witnessed, he was not scared, his thirst for blood was palpable in the air.
When it was all over and he took off his mask with me for the first time, I was happy, we didn't have to fight the exact same battle, I could support him, we could be together.
Just after losing to the fire god, the terror he felt, the frustration of being nothing more than an obstacle. He was so afraid he just wanted to stay on the ground, save his energy. Yet he had gotten back up, even with those burns all over his body, his thirst for blood, his unbreakable will. But he fell... And he was saved by a stranger.
When Jane appeared, it made me fall even more in love with him. Even though it was obvious he needed Jane to defeat the fire god, he didn't beg her. Jane couldn't help him; he had problems that were obvious to anyone who even spoke to her.
I think that from that point on, I pushed my body even further to its limits, running alongside such monsters, or enduring the fear of dying during battles, then we won, we started to win little by little.
I became his right-hand man and his confidant, then he fell again after the victory, after he relaxed, they weren't the results he wanted, many more had died than should have died, he said.
But from then on, he became a more determined, happy, and loving man; it was as if he'd found the answer he'd been searching for. At the same time, he accepted me by his side. Maybe that's why I tried so hard for Jane, because Sean needed it. But even after Kain told me the reason I'm here, I couldn't be upset, because thanks to that manipulation, I'd found love.
Looking back, I myself had become a person of respect, someone worthy of being with him. I will fight by his side to forge the future with him.