Some time ago, just as Eleana was leaving, Kerin looked back at her and sighed. His armor was battered and cracked from the battle, yet it still caught the light of the burning castle, gleaming faintly beneath the smoke. He lowered his gaze to his right hand and stared at his open palm, as if searching for an answer he could not put into words.
The fires suddenly surged and roared as Kerin took a step back. His face twisted with fury.
"Caria, you damn traitor! Come out and fight me!"
"Stop hiding… Damn it!"
After cursing into the empty air, he looked up. Flames tore through the remaining halls of the castle, spreading with ruthless speed. The sky above was beginning to clear.
Kerin climbed the last unbroken stairs. As he neared the burning corridors, a strange warmth brushed against his skin.
It was the devastation Caria had wrought—the same devastation that had killed so many.
So why did it feel warm?
He lifted his eyes to the sky, taking in the scale of the battle. A forest of spears shimmered among the flames.
"Looks so grand…" he muttered. "Is she really up there somewhere in the clouds?"
"Haaa…"
"Just how much prana does she even have…?"
His expression darkened with every second as he surveyed the ruined castle.
There were no survivors.
Only ashes and blackened bodies remained where people had once lived and fought. His cape stirred in the hot wind. Silent tears slipped down his face.
Kerin touched his cheek with his fingers and stared at the moisture in confusion.
"I'm… sad?"
He looked toward the fire advancing deeper into the castle. His face stayed strangely blank even as the tears continued to fall.
Reaching beneath his armor, he drew out a small red stone. He held it between his fingers and glanced upward, where the King still fought the enormous presence above the kingdom.
Another arc of emerald light leapt skyward, meeting the uncountable spears with a boom that shook the ground beneath him.
"Why the hell is this guy trying to bring back someone who doesn't even exist…?"
Frustration twisted his features. More tears gathered.
He looked at the red stone again.
"If only I had more of these. Sadly, there's only one in the entire kingdom."
For a brief moment, a faint memory surfaced—the image of someone placing this very stone into his hand. The memory was unclear, like a dream half-forgotten. He sighed.
Kerin closed his fist around the stone and stepped into the flames.
The fire parted around him at once, leaving a clear path through the burning hall. The red stone was truly miraculous.
He pressed deeper into the castle. The farther he went, the darker his expression became. Every room stood empty. Every corridor had been gutted. Nothing remained untouched.
"Nothing survived."
He looked around again, trying to make sense of the destruction.
"Then where was the King before he walked out into the air?"
"Just like that… in a single day, we went from Eleana replacing the commander, to a secret assault on Veer, to a strange puppet abomination."
"Caria, you really were a snake all along…"
"Hmmm."
Sweat beaded on his face. He gritted his teeth.
"Is John also a traitor?"
He moved through another ruined corridor, his thoughts racing.
"Where are the princesses? Where are the royal guards?"
"Oops."
His foot caught on something buried beneath the ashes. He stumbled, caught himself, and kept moving toward the far side of the hall.
He searched the main hall frantically, shoving aside broken furniture and debris until he reached the King's throne. He examined the area carefully.
"Nothing here either."
His gaze shifted to the chamber on the left.
"Maybe I'll check the left chamber quickly."
Just as he turned, a strange noise rose from beneath the throne.
Kerin froze.
He looked back slowly.
The floor under the throne cracked open. Stone separated like great gates, revealing a dark passage below.
"What the—?"
Before he could react, the ground vanished beneath his feet.
"Whoa!"
He slipped and plunged into the darkness. His scream echoed through the hidden chamber as he clawed for a handhold.
"Tf… Veeeerrrrrr!"
Panic flooded his voice.
"Save me, dammmmmn it!"
...
Sythris was still charging toward the battlefield when she saw it—the twelve-armed Demon God towering above the kingdom. Her face went pale.
She shivered.
"Just how many earth-shattering events are happening tonight?"
Her thoughts raced.
If Eleana is there, I need to take Eleana and the others and escape as quickly as possible.
Yet another thought gnawed at her.
What if I'm already too late?
She glanced at the unconscious Veer on her back. Her breathing had grown heavier. Exhaustion settled into every muscle. With every step, her legs felt heavier, and Veer's weight seemed to increase.
Would it have been better if I had gone outside with him?
She pushed the thought away and forced herself onward.
"I don't know anymore."
Her body was reaching its limit, yet she kept running.
"It would have been better if all of this was just a dream."
Her voice softened as memories of the academy surfaced.
"Just like the academy days…"
She almost wished she could return to those peaceful days—before the battles, before the bloodshed, before everything had become so complicated.
By the time she reached the foothills of the castle, dawn had broken completely. The first rays of sunlight spilled across the horizon, illuminating the devastation the night had hidden.
Sythris slowed to a stop. Her eyes widened.
The plaza was almost unrecognizable. Buildings lay in ruins. The earth was stained with blood. Countless bodies were scattered across the battlefield. It was worse than the last time she had fought John, barely a prahar ago.
She looked to the sky, then across the field, realizing the Demon God's manifestation and the battle that followed had only added to the destruction.
"So this is their aftermath…"
She began searching for familiar faces.
Then she saw John. Her exhausted eyes widened as she looked at him. Marvis held him upright as he struggled. One of John's hands had been cut off, and his whole face was almost unrecognizable.
"This…"
Sythris gritted her teeth as she looked around, only to find a strange butler standing nearby. She immediately recognized him.
"That guy…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Sebastian."
She had seen him earlier.
He was here before too… Was it him who made John fight Veer and me? I didn't confront him while he was fighting that familiar woman. Where is she?
Before she could think any further, she noticed someone from the corner of her eye. It was a familiar figure. She was not far from Sebastian.
Her attention shifted to Eleana as she started walking toward her.
Something was wrong.
Eleana's pupils were fully dilated. Her teeth were clenched. Her fingers had dug so deeply into her own arms that blood ran down her skin, yet she seemed completely unaware of the pain.
Sythris frowned.
"Why is she doing that?"
She moved closer.
Sythris called out, her voice waning, "Eleana?"
No response.
"Eleanaaa?"
Still nothing. There was no response from Eleana.
Sythris continued forward—then her eyes fell on the person sitting near Eleana. The area was destroyed, forming a small pit. The person was there with his head lowered. Golden armor shone on his body, stained by blood, yet it couldn't hide the spirit of that fallen man.
Her steps slowed.
She stared.
"…Rio?"
The name barely left her lips.
Rio lay motionless on the ground.
At first, she could not accept it. She waited for him to move, to breathe, to open his eyes—anything that would prove she was mistaken.
Nothing happened.
The truth settled over her.
"He…"
Her voice trembled.
"He's dead?"
Sythris stared in disbelief. She had been running toward the castle, believing she could still escape with everyone.
But Rio was already gone.
Tears gathered. She had never liked him, yet the blow still landed hard.
"No…"
She shook her head and took another step. Her breathing grew unsteady as she looked at the body of someone she had expected to find standing among the others.
Suddenly, Sythris coughed. She heard the snap of fingers. Pain shot through her head, and she tumbled to her knees beside Eleana. It felt as though her head were tearing apart as she struggled.
Veer rolled from her back into the dirt. Dust covered him.
Sythris desperately struggled, her eyes moving as though trying to find Veer. She saw him in the dirt. His hands twitched.
The morning sun continued to rise behind her, spreading light across the ruined kingdom.
But for Sythris, the morning brought no relief.
It only revealed what the darkness had let her ignore.
...
A shadow rushed from somewhere beyond. It looked at the sky, then passed through the mages toward the place where Sythris and the others waited.
One of the mages uttered, "Knight Symon?"
The morning sun's rays were softened further by glowing golden leaves that drifted slowly downward. Surviving mages and common people watched in absolute shock and silence.
In the sky, the King gave a tremendous shout.
"Never have the likes of you even given this land a second look…"
"Are you really here to stop me, or just to fish for benefits…?"
"Insolence…"
A commanding yet gentle voice answered like the crack of thunder.
"You, Rylagh, that snake of Mythria… All of you will be judged today."
"She thinks she can escape with him?"
"Haha…"
The King rose again, soaring beyond the huge dome of the veil. In an instant, the emerald sword filled the skies. It was everywhere—as though someone had splashed green paint across the heavens and scattered glittering light through it.
The sun's first rays mixed with the emerald glow, giving the sky a dreamlike quality.
From the clouds, a vast rose formed and extended downward.
"Face my miniature rose, you dimwit…"
For a moment, everything seemed to stop. A majestic boom tore through the space between the King and the clouds.
The King's inconceivable attack shattered. Emerald fragments filled the sky. The ethereal, infinitely long sword was hurled away.
The rose descended with the King toward the barrier. It crashed into it, tearing a huge gap. Survivors across the kingdom continued to pray. Some wept, welcoming what they believed was divine punishment. Others looked as though life itself had left them.
The blue mages surrounding the care houses gritted their teeth, their legs trembling. Still, they held the barriers and prayed the impact would not fall directly upon them.
This scene repeated across the kingdom. But did the Saintess or the Aetherials truly care about ordinary folk?
The King, the enormous rose pressing against his body, came crashing down exactly where the giant cross had appeared earlier—where Eleana, Veer, and the rest had been.
...
Moments earlier, Sythris's eyes were half-closed. Through a blur, she saw mages working desperately to heal the wounded, yet none dared approach the true battlefield.
From the corner of her vision, a white shadow ran toward them. He seemed vaguely familiar.
She heard the sky boom.
"Where is Veer…?"
Exhaustion and pain overwhelmed her. She could barely register what was happening.
"I…"
Sythris looked upward just as the twelve-armed Demon God manifestation vanished with a boom. Golden petals drifted through the air. She was shocked.
"Why am I feeling…?"
She saw Veer from the corner of her eye as he rolled into the dirt. She tried to move, reaching toward him.
"Wait… I…"
Almost at the same instant, another giant boom shook the world.
The King had unleashed tremendous emerald attacks that covered the sky—then something even more shocking occurred.
A huge flower-spear struck him directly.
His sword was torn from his grasp. The infinitely long blade flew into the air as a cold voice declared:
"This is how you die…"
The King's huge, blackened figure came crashing down.
Sythris tried to move toward Veer, but something slammed into the castle courtyard. A violent shockwave swept across the area.
Sythris was thrown backward and tumbled across the earth with Veer.
Veer growled and coughed, his body twitching.
Her half-closed eyes turned toward the burning castle. She was still in a dreamlike state. A loud whistle rang in her ears. As she coughed blood, she felt light-headed from the ringing in her ears as she moved toward Veer.
A gigantic blade had carved itself into the structure high on the hill, its enormous hilt disappearing beyond the ruined walls. On the foothills below, a massive crater had opened in the earth.
Sythris's gaze swept the battlefield again.
No one remained in sight—only ashes and dirt.
She had finally reached Veer, but she could no longer move.