The Battle of Sword Valley continued into the dead of night. Such was to be expected with an enemy not burdened by the necessity of sleep.

At this stage in the game, the Bionis forces' odds of seizing victory seemed hopeless. There was talk about retreating, though in all the chaos and confusion, it was unclear whether an order had been issued by a commanding officer or if it was merely a rumor instigated by a coward looking to escape. The militia had been reduced to a mere fraction of what it once was; only the most competent—or luckiest—soldiers remained on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the Mechons' numbers almost appeared to be increasing, as though new combat units were being manufactured and released somewhere just out of sight.

It took considerable effort to fell even a single Mechon, for the armor covering their forms was composed of a material that could not be penetrated by any weapon. The gears and networks of wires that lay underneath were far more delicate, but those parts could only be reached if a Mechon was toppled and made prone. Considering the size and strength of some units, such an undertaking often required collaboration—and as the Homs' numbers continued to dwindle, help was becoming harder and harder to come by.

However, the militia still had a secret weapon at their disposal: the Monado.

It had come into the possession of a dashing man by the name of Dunban. Dunban had secured a commendable rank in the Defense Force, and his combative prowess was well-respected by his peers. By all odds, he appeared to be the perfect fit for the Monado. In fact, Dunban was one of the only people who have proven himself capable of handling it.

The Monado couldn't be used by just anyone. Though it was an inanimate weapon, it had an unwitting preference for warriors demonstrating a certain amount of heroism and skill. Those it deemed unworthy found themselves unable to control the blade, and in some cases, coming in contact with it resulted in bodily harm. Wielding the Monado was even beginning to take a toll on Dunban's health, hinting that he might not have been suited for it after all.

It also gave Mumkhar a pinch of hope that maybe he was the one intended to wield it. He had no reason to believe this wasn't the case; even though he and Dunban were close allies, Mumkhar hadn't gotten a chance to so much as lay a finger on the coveted blade. Dunban was so committed to making sure the Monado didn't fall into the wrong hands that he wasn't even willing to trust his own friends around it. Mumkhar was so insulted by this that he'd begun to resent him more than just a little. Still, he continued to pal around with Dunban in hopes that their connection would one day lend him an opportunity to get his mitts on the Monado.

When Dunban arrived on the battlefield, Monado in hand, something changed in the air around him. He was like a catalyst; a volatile spark with the power to turn the tide in his favor and reel in the victory the people of Bionis so desperately needed. His presence alone commanded respect, but with everyone's attention glued on the enemy, he could only hope to revel in it after proving his worth.

Calm and collected, Dunban assessed the war zone sprawling in front of him. He held up the Monado and its casing slid apart, revealing a saber of brilliant blue light. This was the Monado's true power.

The Monado was not at all like a typical weapon forged from iron or steel: it had the unique power to circumvent the Mechons' otherwise impregnable defenses. The nature of the blade was a mystery, in part because Dunban was reluctant to surrender the Monado for research. It appeared to have a basis in ether; however, its attributes had never been recreated in gems refined from even the purest crystal samples. Curiously, while the Monado was devastating toward Mechon, it had no effect on the flesh of Homs.

Dunban charged. He swung the Monado as he ran, effortlessly cutting down every Mechon in his path. The blade sliced through their armor as though it were thin air. Finding himself surrounded by a group of tall, bipedal units, Dunban took them out one by one before any of them had a chance to strike.

With the Monado still wedged in a slain unit's carapace, Dunban took another quick survey of his surroundings. "They're advancing down our weak right flank," he reported. He gave the Monado a twist, wrenching it deep into the Mechon's fragile inner workings. "For a bunch of soulless machines, they seem to know a thing or two… but we'll see."

Another horde of Mechon was advancing toward him. Confident as always, Dunban retrieved the Monado and hoisted it in front of him. In the distance, Mumkhar looked on from behind a heap of shrapnel as he dispatched the units with finesse. Mumkhar should no longer have been surprised by how easy it was for Dunban to lay waste to Mechon using the Monado, and yet he was still taken by awe every time. Watching Dunban fight also fueled his jealousy. Dunban hadn't the slightest idea how badly Mumkhar wanted the Monado for himself.

Someone chuckled beside Mumkhar, pulling him from his thoughts. "That Dunban… he's a real lunatic, ain't he? He's gonna get himself killed if he keeps showing off like that."

"Dickson," Mumkhar grumbled in annoyance, "Dunban has the Monado. He can do whatever the hell he wants without ever having to worry about any consequences. When you've got something like the Monado, there areno consequences."

Dickson patted Mumkhar on the shoulder, causing him to glower. He hated when Dickson patronized him like that. Dickson said, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Can't you see he's starting to slow down?"

Mumkhar squinted. "Uh. No?"

Dickson didn't care. "He oughta give it a break," he continued. "Otherwise, pretty soon he's gonna find that he can't keep up anymore."

Mumkhar studied Dunban's movements more closely, watching for any sign that he was struggling. He seemed as deft and agile as he always did. Before Mumkhar had a chance to scoff at Dickson, Dunban stumbled. He managed to deliver a finishing blow to the last of the Mechon, but then one of his legs buckled underneath him. He limped over to a flipped, smoking truck and crouched in front of it while he waited to catch his breath.

Mumkhar looked to Dickson, dumbfounded, only for him to return a knowing smile and nod. "Now d'ya see what I mean?" Dickson said, giving Mumkhar a light punch in the arm.

He was too taken aback to notice. "But… how? How is that possible? I saw everything! He scrapped all those Mechon so fast, they didn't even have time to attack!"

"It's the Monado."

Mumkhar knit his brows. "What?"

"You can't just go swinging it around all day like a violent idiot. That's when it starts to bite back," Dickson said. "You'd think the Monado could tell when it's being abused. Might be why it's starting to reject Dunban."

"The hell are you going on about, old man? Abused? That doesn't make any sense!" Mumkhar retorted. Bitterly, he added, "Dunban's a hero."

Though Mumkhar wouldn't admit it, Dunban was everything he aspired to be. He was a bit like a role model to him, except instead of inspiring him to do better, he just made Mumkhar want to be him. He didn't just envy Dunban for wielding the Monado—he envied nearly every aspect of his life. Dunban seemed to overshadow him in every conceivable way: he was capable, he was handsome, and he was admired by most everyone. The image Mumkhar had of him in his mind didn't quite match up with reality, however. He had unconsciously elevated Dunban into an invincible icon, like a quixotic hero of legend. Mumkhar was just as blind to Dunban's inadequacies as Dunban was himself.

Dickson shrugged. "Even a hero's gotta reach his limit eventually."

"What do y—"

A soldier bolted past them, crying, "Retreat! Retreat!"

Dickson said, "That's our cue to head back to Colony 6. Let's see if we can't get Dunban to join us."

"About time! This has all just been a bloody waste," Mumkhar muttered, still mulling over what Dickson had meant. How could the Monado be hurting Dunban? Mumkhar was more willing to believe he had simply overexerted himself.

He and Dickson got to their feet and made a run for the truck. "Dunban!" Dickson called as he threw himself down beside him. "We've been given the order to retreat. We're pulling back the line to Colony 6." He flinched when an explosion rang out from behind the vehicle. "That's where we'll set up the last line of defense!"

"Yeah. That's a good idea," Dunban said. "Any more time spent hanging around here and we're done for."

Rattled by the explosion, Mumkhar shielded his face and glanced around in fear. He exclaimed, "Count me in! We've gotta get outta here." He was impressed by how easy it had been to persuade Dunban to concede. It wasn't like him to run away, even when the odds were stacked against him.

Dunban seemed to find inspiration in Mumkhar's cowardice. He whipped around. "Or," he said, nearly cutting Mumkhar off, "we can stay and fight?"

"What?" Deep down, Mumkhar knew it had been too good to be true. Another explosion sounded. Mumkhar wished it would make Dunban realize how much of a fool he was being.

Dunban brandished the Monado. "We may die if we take a stand here, but staying gives us a chance to change our destinies." He boasted, "We have the Monado."

No, you idiot, Mumkhar thought. Only you have the Monado. The rest of us lot are useless!

"With this," Dunban said, climbing onto the truck, "the future is ours for the taking!"

Dickson flew up and grabbed his arm, yanking him down. "Stupid beast! Your body can't take any more of the Monado. I can tell by just looking at you!"

"Getting shortsighted in your old age, Dickson? I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm still in control."

"I should've known I couldn't talk sense into a beast." To Mumkhar's dismay, Dickson closed his eyes and backed off. He cocked his gun-blade, smiling. "Let's do this. I'm going with you!" Playfully, he added, "You'll need someone to drag your corpse back home."

Dunban mirrored his expression. "As long as you think you've still got the strength in you, old man."

Mumkhar sneered. How pathetic! Dunban's loathsome charisma had managed to sway even stubborn old Dickson. Mumkhar refused to let himself fall victim to it as well. While he wouldn't have been too upset if Dunban—or even Dickson, for that matter—kept fighting and wound up dead, Mumkhar wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to save his own hide. "Oi, you two! We've been ordered to pull back!" he reminded them. "I'm leaving!"

Dunban got in his face again. "Well, I say you're coming with us!

Mumkhar's sneer evolved into a scowl.

"What would we do without those?" Dunban motioned at Mumkhar's weapons: gauntlets fitted with long metal claws. Since Mumkhar's preferred fighting style was not the most conventional choice among members of the Defense Force, he'd had the gauntlets specially commissioned. They forced him to attack from an intimately close distance; despite his cowardly nature, there was something about being on the brink of danger that got a thrill out of Mumkhar. Maybe it was because he relished being able to see the fear on his enemies' faces right before he took them down. Mechon didn't actually have faces, though.

Probably just as much as you'll be able to do once I get my ass outta here, thought Mumkhar. His claws were good for spearing the chinks in Mechons' armor and scrambling their inner parts, but with the risk attached to his weapons and how hard it was to find an opening, Mumkhar was always hesitant to chip in.

Nearby, a soldier wailed, "The enemy's second wave is approaching!"

Mumkhar's heart sank. It seemed as though fate was on Dunban's side as well. Perhaps he truly had used the Monado to change the future, or perhaps today just wasn't Mumkhar's day.

"It's now or never, Dunban," Dickson said. "Let's show them what we've got. We'll give them a warm Homs welcome!"

Dunban dipped his head. "Acknowledged!" The two of them charged, leaving Mumkhar by himself beside the truck.

"What're they trying to prove?" he muttered to himself. "I'm not throwing my life away! No point dying in some godforsaken field. Nothing for it." Mumkhar could heed the orders to retreat on his own, but it would be dangerous to try to abscond without someone covering his back. "I'll have to use Dunban as a decoy," he decided. "That should give me time to escape." With that, Mumkhar got up and raced to catch up with his burdensome allies.

He found Dunban and Dickson sizing up an unsuspecting pair of bipedal units. Mumkhar's arrival, which was heralded with gasping and pounding footsteps, tipped the Mechon off to their presence.

"Damn it!" Dickson spat. He fumbled with his gun-blade, unprepared.

Dunban was more forgiving. "Mumkhar! I thought for sure that you turned tail and ran."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with." Mumkhar shrank back as the Mechon began to approach. "H-hey! Enchant us already!"

"Of course." The Monado's blade turned purple, basking Mumkhar's and Dickson's weapons in a similar light.

Mumkhar licked one of his glowing claws in anticipation. "Now we're talking!"

Using an art known as Monado Enchant, Dunban could temporarily bestow others' weapons with the Monado's Mechon-rending capabilities. This was the closest Mumkhar had come to wielding the Monado, and it made him crave the full power of the blade even more.

"Think we've got this one in the bag," Dickson said, aiming his gun. A purple bullet whizzed out of the barrel and pierced one of the Mechon head-on.

Mumkhar pounced at the opportunity to finish it off. "Hell-Hound!" He lashed out with a flurry of swipes, stripping away the Mechon's armor and mangling its mechanical innards.

Dunban took on the other unit by himself. "Monado… Buster!" The Monado's blade extended until it had more than doubled in size. Dunban hoisted it over his head and brought it down on the Mechon, cleaving it in half.

Mumkhar wiped his gauntlets on his pants in an effort to clean the oil from his claws. "I guess that wasn't so b—"

"Damn! Reinforcements!" Dickson yelled. A trio of smaller units appeared and formed a ring around them.

"One for each of us," said Dunban. He looked at Dickson, who had already begun to take aim, and then at the begrudging Mumkhar. He flicked the Monado at one of the units. "That one's all yours, Mumkhar. Think you can take it?"

"You know damn well I can handle myself," Mumkhar snapped. He noticed that the light was fading from his claws. The unit he'd been assigned lurched toward him, its blade-like appendages poised to strike. "Uh, Dunban? Dunban!"

Dunban responded by leaping forward and slicing off the Mechon's arms. "Show some humility, Mumkhar! We're in this together. Teamwork is the key to our success!"

Quit hogging all the glory, then! While the others made short work of the remaining Mechon, Mumkhar hung back and looked for a chance to escape. Just when he thought he'd found an opening, even more Mechon appeared—lots of them. "You've got to be kidding!"

Dickson examined the approaching horde. "It's their main force. Looks like the Mechon are hell-bent on taking us out."

"They'll have to be if they want to beat us. Now, let's even the odds a bit!" Dunban said.

Dickson shot Mumkhar a quick glance over his shoulder. "You heard him."

Casting another Monado Enchant, Dunban exclaimed, "Dickson, Mumkhar. Let's do this!"

Mumkhar watched as his claws lit up purple again. He didn't have much of a choice. With Dunban and Dickson at his sides, Mumkhar dashed into the fray. He began to stall once the others were preoccupied; he avoided initiating combat, only bothering to attack when he had no other choice.

Mumkhar's attention was snared by the sound of an agonized groan. He traced the noise to a huge mound of dismantled Mechon shells. Standing on top of it was Dunban, his hunched form rising and falling with strained breathing. He was struggling to hold the Monado, and his body convulsed every time he tried to lift it up. Mumkhar couldn't believe his eyes.

Suddenly, a Mechon emerged from the debris. It loomed over the oblivious Dunban, snapping its metal claws.

Dickson came rushing over. "Dunban!" He threw himself on top of him, shielding him from the Mechon's blow. Dickson cried out in pain as its claws drilled into his back. Though wounded and prone, he managed to thrust his blade into the Mechon's core. Dickson let out an anguished roar as he got up and tackled the incapacitated unit, sending both of them over the edge of the pile.

Even as explosions and gunfire continued to ring out in the distance, a sort of silence seemed to descend upon the battlefield. Mumkhar gazed vacantly at the mound until, at last, he heard Dickson's voice: "I ain't going down that easily!" Dickson crawled over the rubble, making his way toward Dunban. "Dunban! You all right?"

He was sitting on the uppermost carapace, the Monado between his knees. "What does it look like?" He forced a smile. "I'm… still good to go."

Dunban was bluffing—even Mumkhar knew that. After reflecting on everything he'd just witnessed, he came to accept that Dickson had been right all along: Dunban was losing his grip on the Monado, and sometimes his actions really did have consequences. Dunban was brash to the point of stupidity. Mumkhar thought it was funny how he'd been told off about not having humility when Dunban's overconfidence had nearly gotten Dickson killed. What kind of hero was he? Mumkhar realized Dunban wasn't even a hero at all: in Mumkhar's story, he'd always been the villain. The Monado's rejection of Dunban was long overdue.

Mumkhar was beginning to see that Dunban—perfect, glorious Dunban—wasn't quite as infallible as he'd been led to believe.

After letting a long, raspy laugh slither out of his throat, Mumkhar echoed, "Guess even a hero's gotta reach his limit eventually." He cast Dunban a contemptuous look; then, Mumkhar ran.

Dunban and Dickson limped out from the debris, helping each other walk. When Mumkhar sprinted past them, Dunban cried, "Mumkhar! What are you doing? That way is—"

Mumkhar stopped and spun on his heel. "Sorry, brothers! Hate to drop this on you, but it's the Monado they're after… so have fun keeping 'em occupied for me!" He grinned. "I'm getting the hell outta here!"

Dickson narrowed his eyes and growled, "Mumkhar, you dirty…"

"Don't worry—I'll organize your funerals!" Mumkhar gave them a quick, duplicitous wave. Before he took off again, Mumkhar bid his allies—or rather, his former allies—one last goodbye: "Well… see ya, boys!"

"Wait!" shouted Dunban, but it was too late: Mumkhar had vanished from sight.

Still grinning, Mumkhar swung his arms as he barreled down the narrow tract of Sword Valley. He should have known to keep a low profile, but after finally freeing himself from his baggage, he was emboldened to the point of recklessness. Whether he was aware of it or not, Mumkhar was at the whim of the same kind of overconfidence he despised in Dunban—something that was made even more obvious by his sudden change of plans.

"Those idiots," he said, panting. "I'll just come and get the Monado when everything's quietened down a bit."

Now that Dunban no longer had what it took to wield the Monado, Mumkhar had the perfect opportunity to step up and take his place. Unlike Dunban, Mumkhar was a true hero—a hero who actually knew how to withdraw when things weren't going to plan. He'd be sure to put the Monado to good use, or at least he'd make better use of it than Dunban ever did. Already, Mumkhar could picture the disowned Monado being magnetically drawn to him and what he prided as his astronomical amount of honor.

Scaling a mound of earth, Mumkhar declared, "That thing's gonna be m—" He yowled as he lost his footing and rolled onto the ground. Grunting and moaning, Mumkhar slowly pulled himself up. A red dot flickered onto his forehead, and by the time he realized what it was, Mumkhar was caught in a cat's cradle of lasers.

"Oh no! Please!" he begged in horror. The last thing Mumkhar saw before he was blown away was a towering fortress wall: something that would have prevented his escape even if he hadn't been gunned down by Mechon snipers. That wall should have been the last thing Mumkhar ever saw—but today just really, really wasn't Mumkhar's day, so fate wasn't going to let him off that easy.