The room felt like a grave. It was not due to the bodies lying on the old stone, the smell of blood and burnt flesh in the air, or the darkness that seemed to emanate from every corner. The quiet made it feel like a tomb.

No one said anything, and no one even moved a muscle. They all just stood there, frozen in shock, trying to understand that the peaceful blacksmith who had made them farming tools and kitchen supplies had just killed a man with his bare hands.

Greg stayed on his knees where Bork and Felix had pulled him off Elias's body. His hands were still raised a little, as if he couldn't believe they were his own.

Slowly and steadily, blood dripped from his knuckles. Each drop hit the stone floor with a sound that seemed impossibly loud in the suffocating silence.

Bork's grip on Greg's shoulder hadn't gotten any looser, as if he was afraid that if he let go, Greg would disappear or change into something they didn't know. Felix stood on the other side, his face pale and his eyes wide. He looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.

Seraphine had lowered her ice barrier, but she was still between Greg and Elias's body. Her analytical mind was trying and failing to put what she'd just seen into a category.

Mira floated around, unsure of what to do. Her usual joyful energy was gone, and in its place was something that looked almost like fear.

Marina sat where the explosion had thrown her, still holding the space where Ryn's body had been before the others moved it. She couldn't take her eyes off of Greg, and she saw him in a way she'd never seen him before.

Not the kind of blacksmith who made her laugh with crude jokes. Not like the stubborn craftsman who wouldn't change his mind about his principles. But he was a man who had broken every rule he had established for himself in order to keep her safe.

The system notification was still there, with golden letters that seemed to make fun of everything Greg had built his second life around.

[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: First Kill]

Greg looked at those words and felt something inside him break. "I fucked up," he said again, his voice barely above a whisper. "I really fucked up this time."

"Boss," Bork began, but Greg shook his head violently.

"No. Don't."

"Don't try to fix this." Greg's voice was getting higher and shaking with emotion. "I killed him."

"I killed him with my fists. I turned into the person I promised myself I wouldn't be again."

"Everything I built and believed in is gone. I'm the same as I was before. The Saint of Warhammer. A fucking monster who uses violence to solve problems."

"You're not," Marina said in a quiet but firm voice that cut through his spiral.

Everyone looked at her. She was standing now, but she was swaying a little because she was exhausted. Her clothes were ripped and bloody, her face was bruised and pale, but her eyes were clear and only on Greg.

She stepped closer to him and said again, "You're not like before."

"You aren't a monster."

"I killed him," Greg said, and tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the blood. "I could feel his skull break under my fists."

"I heard him stop breathing. And I kept going. I kept hitting him even after that. That's not how people act. That person doesn't believe in peace. That's a fucking monster who needs punishment!"

"No," Marina said, and she moved even closer. "A monster would have liked it."

"A monster would be happy right now because of what they did."

"Are you smiling, Greg?"

His face was twisted in pain as he looked at her. "Of course not..."

"I don't feel well... I'm experiencing intense nausea."

"I feel like I've fucking ruined everything... I tried to make..."

"Exactly," Marina said. "That's what makes them different."

"That's why you aren't a monster. Monsters don't feel awful about what they've done."

"Monsters don't feel awful about being violent. You are falling apart because you don't like who you had to become. That makes you a person, and that means you're better than him."

Greg shook his head because he couldn't believe what she said. "You don't get it. In my last life, I spent forty years making weapons that killed thousands of people."

"I promised myself I would never do that again."

"I fucking promised myself...! I would find another way! And I failed the first real test."

"In the end, I will always turn into what I was trying to get away from!"

"You didn't fail," Seraphine said softly.

When Greg looked at her, she was looking at Elias's body. "You made tools that helped people live."

"You made the Guardian, which keeps a whole village safe."

"You made tools that helped us get through this nightmare, and that's what you leave behind. Not this." She pointed at the body. "This was one moment."

"One awful but necessary moment because that doesn't erase everything else."

"She's right, boss." Bork said. "We should judge you for all the choices you've made in your life, not just one."

"And you've made excellent choices. You have helped people and saved lives. You saved Marina today, and that has to mean something."

Greg wanted to argue with them and tell them they were mistaken, but he couldn't find the words. Instead, he just sat there, while being hurt and bleeding, unable to come to terms with who he had been and what he had done.

Marina was so close that she could have touched him if she had reached out. "Greg," she said in a soft voice. "Can I ask everyone else to go?"

"For just a few minutes? I need to speak with you. By myself..."

Greg looked up at her, and his sadness and confusion mixed. "Why?"

"Because I need to say some things, and I don't want anyone to hear them. Please..."

Greg looked at his friends and saw the worry and concern on their faces. Then he slowly nodded. "Please give us some time."

"And please... please bury the bodies. Every single one of them. They deserve better than to be left here."

Bork squeezed his shoulder again. "Don't worry, Boss. You can take as long as you need."

They slowly walked out, with Seraphine and Mira going first, followed by Felix, who looked back a few times as if he was afraid Greg would disappear. Bork was the last to leave, and he stopped at the door to the room.

"Boss," he said. "You're still our friend, no matter what happens next or what you decide about yourself."

"That stays the same, and ya' should keep that in mind." After that, he was gone, and Greg and Marina were the only ones left in the ruins of level ten.

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