Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Z World

#57: Back Lion

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Nightmares of what I did haunt me in my dreams. The cruel actions and plans I executed that ended up backfiring against me.

Drowned in despair, I accepted the Void, hoping that he would drag me out of it. I let in an entity that shared the same ideal of the past me. The me who wanted to remake the world.

I truly believed that monster's words.

But the Void didn't change anything. Rather, it destroyed everything.

Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? It's a phenomenon where a flap of a butterfly's wings causes a hurricane on the other side of the world.

Essentially, one small action can have severe consequences.

Because of what I did, the entire course of history was rewritten. Because of me, thousands of people suffered. People who I know. People who I don't know. Somehow, my single action touched each and every person in this world, whether I'd like to admit it or not.

I can still remember clearly each and every terrible thing I did to them. All of the plans the Void ordered me to do. All the people who I had to kill and hurt to enact them. I became a mass murderer. My hands are stained in their blood.

In my nightmares, I see the faces of the people I've killed. My mind and heart ache with regret. There's not a single night where I don't list the names of the people who died because of me. It's ingrained deep in my head. Burnt into my memory.

Izo, who I had Zeon kill. Sanda and Aya, who I had Ayato kill. Hiyori, who died by the hands of Kyle. Kyle, who died through Ryu's revenge. Kaiko and Shouri, who I killed with my own two hands.

Following that list is the people who I nearly killed.

Akari, who I had someone try to run her over. Maxios, who I had steel beams fall on him. Yza, who I sacrificed for the portal.

In the end, it was Yza's selflessness that prevented the entire world from collapsing. If he wasn't there, then everyone would be dead. It would be my fault.

Yza is a man who stopped the Void... Yza is a man who's more brave than I am... Yza is a man who saved me. He's not just my hero - but everyone else's too.

Following that list are the people who I pulled into the Void's core group.

Rukia, who I promised that she would reunite with Yza again. Zeon, who I promised I would revive his sister. Max, who I promised I would mend his friendship with Wyvon. Tai and Kane, who I promised I would make them rich.

Countless other names swirl in my head. Like my former friends and classmates, like Ayaza and Shika. Rino and Wyvon. Ryu and Lucine. Shisue and Hiyoku. Those in the Student Council who accepted me. Yumi and Ai. Kirikou and Hinami. Serena and Asakawa.

The remains of my family that I ran away from. My older brother, Cyrus, who I still feel resentment towards. At the same time, I can't resent him, because I'm no better than him. I too ran away from our problems by accepting the Void, and I ended up paying the price for it.

There's also my younger brother, Hikaru, who is still hospitalised with the same critical medical condition that killed my father. But if he ever recovers, he'll have no one to turn too. At this point, there's no difference whether he's alive or not.

But most of all, the one name that was burnt into my head the most is the son I left behind. The life that I gave birth to with my very own hands.

Ayato. The clone of Ayaza, who I genetically made. Even though we aren't related by blood, I still feel like I owe it to him that I should be there as his father figure. Even though he was created for the sole purpose of being the Void's vessel, I still feel responsible as this life, this person, was my creation.