In an isolated area, a woman in regal dress and a faintly glowing crown looked at the figure she had laid on the ground. He was completely bandaged and seemed to be surrounded by a small opaline barrier. His face was aged, and his hair had become white. He no longer represented the lord but an average old man suffering from severe injuries.
Two identical girls were near him, crying with their heads lowered.
"I have treated Rylagh."
"Now it's his choice whether he wishes to return to this damned world." She sighed as she looked at him. Her gaze was complex yet gentle.
"Mother..." Myrieth said aggrievedly. She was sitting near her father.
He was breathing very faintly.
"Father..."
The Queen of Mythria sighed as she asked in a very grave voice, "Sylwen, has Ancestor responded to your contact?"
"No, Your Majesty..."
The Queen looked back at where they had come from. Her pupils reflected an enormous sword fighting a bloom of descending spears.
Within a moment, she saw the sword get whipped away into the far distance, eventually landing in the castle. There was a boom as it spread in all directions. The giant spherical barrier now had a huge gap.
Her pupils constricted as one of the guardians asked, "Queen, why is the sword so big? It feels like it's extending to the heavens."
The Queen said in a grave voice, "It's the Emerald Sword of the Emerald Path. Its power is still fluctuating. The King has prepared a lot, but he is still unable to circulate it fully."
"So the true form of the sword has not appeared."
The guardian Aowyn asked, "But from our knowledge, it seems to be a bow, not a sword."
The Queen nodded. "Its true form indeed is a bow..."
"But it can be a bow only if it's in the hands of rune inheritors..."
"Or..."
"Priessa herself..."
Her voice became grave as she said with a bit of anxiety, "But he seemed to have plotted against all the rune inheritors, killing probably most of them."
There was a hiss among the guardians as they considered the cruelty of the King. Meanwhile, Lythria fidgeted as she asked, "Mother, can't... can't we save them?"
The woman's eyes reflected the battle as she uttered, "No... it's already a mess."
"The barrier and the space rigidity have weakened, but now that has caused a lot of attention here."
"I can't risk myself..." she said as she looked at Rylagh.
"If only Ancestor were here..."
Her gaze went towards Vryger, the Mythria knight who had not listened to Rylagh, as she said with a piercing gaze, "Listen, Rylagh's mental condition might not have been good for years, but you guys know what he had gone through..."
Vryger said apologetically, his head down, "I am sorry... Queen."
"Don't be. If he hadn't revealed his Demon God transformation, I would not have been able to get you guys out. Do you really think there are only two forces fighting there?"
"Do you even understand the scale of this event?"
As she spoke, all of them were stunned. The Queen's pupils reflected the morning sun being swallowed by darkness as the eclipse descended.
Sylwen muttered, "This..."
The Queen muttered in a daze, "A horizontal event..."
"A preliminary requisite...."
The Queen shook her head as she looked at her daughter and said, "Even if I went there, Lythria, there is probably only a one percent chance that I would get my hands on that boy and his friends..."
"And how do you know that they are going to let him go?"
Lythria shivered as her fists tightened and she looked at her father.
A face appeared in her mind.
"Veer, I am sorry..."
"If I ever meet you again... I will never leave..." she vowed silently.
The Queen suddenly squinted as she looked back at Aowyn and asked as though she discovered something amiss, "Where is she?"
Aowyn asked in surprise, her brows furrowed, "We all are here, Queen..."
The Queen took a step back and put her hand over her mouth as she uttered, "Where is she? Velithra? Where is she?"
Everyone trembled as they remembered they had another member: Velithra, the only remaining line of the late second-in-line to Mythria's royal lineage.
The Queen took steps towards Aowyn as she asked, "You were responsible for her... weren't you?"
"Where is she?"
Aowyn kept her head down and was trembling a bit as Myrieth fidgeted. The Queen noticed it and said, "Oh, my daughters? What excellent daughters..."
"Tell me what happened. Quickly."
She appeared somewhat restless as everyone focused on Myrieth. Myrieth said hesitantly, "I mentioned in a fit of anger that it was that red knight from Drudar who killed the vice leader."
"You what?"
"Why would you?"
"I told you not to when you overheard it."
"Mom... but I hate that bastard. How could he...? I could not bear her lack of emotions..."
"After her father died, she became completely emotionless."
"You..." The Queen said exasperatedly. "That Jonathan is no simple guy. Didn't I tell you that?"
Myrieth said, her eyes full of hatred, "I told her and warned her repeatedly. But she was firm. She disappeared right when we were going to teleport."
Lythria asked subtly, "Mom, can we save her? I am sure she will try to kill John."
The Queen looked at her in anger and said, "If you want, then I will send you."
This was the same place where Eleana, Veer, Lythria, Caria, and John had rested after coming from Mythria. It's only that the man and his friends were not here. They couldn't be even seen from here.
Lythria's hands grabbed a handful of soil as she muttered very faintly, "Veer..."
.....
Veer looked up as he felt a deep pain in his bones.
He had seen it all. How John had devastated Eleana. It was very much the same as how he had done it to him. Something had stirred within him as he had punched John like a ragdoll. He looked at his hands. They were slightly trembling. Why were they trembling?
They were full of blood. He could even see the bones, but he didn't feel any pain. He felt a strange sense of relief or accomplishment. He was not sure, but looking at that figure being mentally broken by John, he couldn't control himself.
But something else was stirring in his mind. He seemed to have woken up from a long dream where he had been happy and contented.
So why did punching feel so accomplished? Was he no different from a savage seeking revenge?
He barely made it into a kneeling position after getting up from John's kick. As he got up, he saw a figure in tears who seemed to have found a bit of light back in her eyes.
Eleana's armor was a bit damaged, but not at the level of Sythris's. Her white hair looked like ash mixed with dirt. Her beautiful face stirred something within him as she said, "Veer..."
"Thank the god... thank the goddess Priessa, you are safe."
Veer felt that Eleana's movements were a bit more unnatural than her usual self, almost childlike.
Eleana placed her small hands over his as she continued healing him. Her healing art was not very effective. It was barely healing any of Veer's injuries.
"Oh Veer, you are so hurt. This healing is not working. I.. I am so useless. Oh, I remember."
She looked at him as she produced three small bottles of potion. She used one on Veer, and he didn't struggle. In just a moment, he felt better. His injuries healed a bit.
Veer asked as he came out of his reverie, "Are you... feeling okay?"
Eleana didn't respond at first, as she was focused on healing him. Then she said a bit later, "Oh, huh, yes, I am fine."
"Veer, but are you fine? You haven't forgotten me, correct?"
Veer felt a sense of déjà vu. It was like feeling a painting being painted. Same as how he first woke up without any memories. Eleana felt the same to him. His face became grave the more he looked at Eleana.
His first thoughts, strangely, this time were not anger for John but to escape this place with Eleana and Sythris.
"I.. I am okay.. Eleana.. I remember you..." as Eleana responded with a half smile, "Oh, thanks .....Veer..."
"Tsk..."
A grunt came from John.
"Idiots."
Veer looked at John from where he was. He coughed as he asked, "Why?"
"Why did you do this, John?"
"What did I do to deserve all this?"
John looked at Veer, his face unrecognizable, as he said, his emotions impossible to read, "Does every action need to have a cause?"
"You....? So all this was without a cause?" Veer asked, his voice tinged with anger.
"Cause? You telling me cause?
"This is the result, not the cause..."
Veer felt a surge of confusion as he roared, "But we—you, me... Eleana, Sythris—we are all friends... How could you?"
"Friends?"
"Hahah... haha... Veer."
"This is the best joke I have heard in a while."
"Do you even remember who you are? Do you know what your relationship with Eleana, Eryssa, Kerin, and Sythris is?"
Veer's pupils constricted as his body moved backward automatically. He looked at Eleana, but his face became even more grave as Eleana seemed to ignore John's words and only focused on healing him.
He He... knows that I am amnesiac.
John knows about me not recognizing anyone.
"Are you wondering from when...?" John coughed and said in an atypically sadistic style, "Right from when you asked about Quickstyle with Kerin during the birthday."
Veer's pupils shook as John continued, "I thought we needed to do more, but..."
"John..." Sebastian's voice came from behind him, cutting him off. "Can you move?"
"No, I cannot..." John replied.
Sebastian said, a bit forcefully, "Then stop dawdling... Heal yourself and let me complete the task."
A bottle was thrown his way. John caught it and started to drink. Sebastian glanced back at him but said nothing.
Slowly, Sebastian unfolded something from his sleeve.
Sythris watched the scene, as did Veer and Eleana.
It looked like a parchment, as though a royal letter. Slowly, Sebastian produced and planted four flags into the ground from his pocket. He then took out seven candles, placed them around the area, and lit them. Strangely, none of the flames went out.
Then he reached out to Void, and just like Eryssa, he took out a piece of wood-root, planted it into the ground, and poured a few bottles of scent on it. A rich, flavourful, dizzy-inducing aroma started to flow around.
As the fragrance spread, spirits began to manifest around the area, dancing in circles.
Sebastian seemed to be preparing to add something else, but just then, he pressed down on his hat.
As Sebastian was preparing meanwhile, Veer looked at Eleana's face as he slowly got up. He understood he needed to get out. More than the crisis in his mind, Eleana seemed deeply disturbed. He took her hand and said, "Let's go..."
John simply breathed deeply as though he had lost consciousness.
Far above, the battle raged at a different scale. The lost barrier seemed to be rising again. Multiple forces seemed to gently support the broken barrier as it repaired slowly.
Veer took Eleana and moved towards Sythris. As he saw her state, he realized Sythris was barely able to move.
Sythris looked at Veer as she said with a slight depraved smile, "Veer, you guys go ahead... I will follow."
Veer asked Eleana, "Can you heal her?"
Eleana looked somewhere else as she suddenly said, "Ah, yes..."
She immediately procured another bottle and poured it over Sythris's legs. Sythris gritted her teeth as she persevered through the pain.
Veer asked, "Where is Kerin? Let's move quickly."
Eleana suddenly replied, "Kerin... It's all because of me... he ...went to the castle."
Veer looked at Eleana's face and then at Sythris as he asked, "Can you move...?"
Sythris nodded, "At least walkable... now."
Sythris asked as she began moving again, "To where?"
Veer said, "To that guest room."
Sythris sighed, as though her gaze said, Going to the guest room had no benefits...
Eleana said meanwhile, "Isn't my medicine amazing? It's one of the top five healing medicines in Drudar. It costs 200 gold coins. Remember, Sythris, you owe me this."
Sythris's eyes teared up as she understood that Eleana's mind had really collapsed a bit. She bit her tongue as she tried her best to walk away.
With a remorseful look, Veer took Eleana with him as they walked away.
Just then, Sebastian added another layer of palm oil as he suddenly said, looking around, "Ahh, where is the ingredient...?"
He then looked ahead to see Eleana, Veer, and Sythris walking away.
He pressed his hat and disappeared.
When he reappeared, Veer was stunned as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Please don't run."
"An ingredient shouldn't run."
His other hand shifted as it caught a white spear. It was so beautiful that Veer was momentarily stunned. It was pretty similar to the spears he saw in the sky.
Sebastian pressed his hat and looked in another direction as he said, "Let the process complete..."
"Please don't interfere."
Sythris's eyes were terrified.
She thought that monster might not be after them. She thought they would at least be safe from that monster's eyes.
But it was worse.
Much worse.
Veer was an ingredient for that monster.