Ceylon cried. She cried for the loss of her friend, but her tears did not last as she quickly realized that Arc should still be alive. All of the heroes she had seen had the capacity to resurrect ⁠— the capacity to revive.

Why would Arc be any different?!

She immediately turned, the Dragon of Water and Malz were still out in the lake, but as far as Ceylon could tell they were no longer in danger. And so, she rushed to seek out Arc. She went down the long halls of the second floor, and made a line towards the stairs of the first floor. She didn’t know where Arc would be reviving, but finding her companion all started with leaving the castle⁠—

And people gasped.

Ceylon’s heart skipped a beat as she finally reached the bottom floor, and with a cracking sound she saw. Arc⁠, her companion, breaking out of the ice in the middle of the hall and she was. The sight made Ceylon happy, but before she could rush towards her friend the Hero of Flames appeared⁠— two walls of flames prevented anyone from going forward and then Arc spoke.

“[And It All Begins Now].”

The flames snuffed and what followed was… a vicious beating. One where Ceylon got to hear Arc express a myriad of emotions she had never seen before. And it was liberating to hear. Ceylon was surprised and rather than being mortified at the one-sided beating she felt a sense of vindication. It was the same man that had once tried to kill her.

And now, that same man was getting a dose of his own medicine. Whether it was getting punched in the face, in the ribs or in the chin⁠— it was all equally satisfying. Ceylon continued watching, ignoring the progressively horrified reactions of the nobles, until finally the fight came to an end.

Finally, with a parting monologue the Hero of Flames died. Arc stood there, which Ceylon found confusing⁠— wouldn’t there be yet another fight to come⁠—? And at that moment it happened.

A tall person showed up behind Arc, a red armored man with horns on his head. His stature easily towering over Arc. Ceylon paused; feeling danger like never before, she immediately recognized him.

Then he began a monologue, one about judging Arc’s actions, one where Arc had no wrong except for killing strong heroes, and one that made Arc increasingly warry. Ceylon had a bad feeling, until finally the man made his ending statement and⁠— Arc disappeared through a crack in the air itself.

Ceylon’s heart dropped.

That wasn’t… that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Ceylon immediately tensed and looked around only to see the Hero of Arlas standing there, staring vacantly at the spot from where Arc had come from. Before finally, saying something to himself about Arc’s mission. And his words, his parting words made Ceylon realize that Arc was in danger.

She⁠ wanted to kill that man⁠— but… She couldn’t. She was a mere D Tier individual, and that man was… that man was⁠—

“How interesting.” He turned in her direction, meeting her gaze.

Ceylon shivered, but the man continued speaking without care.

“You can move while everyone else has been paused.” He began to walk in her direction and Ceylon⁠— ran.

She ran for her life but a moment later she crashed against the man, the Hero of Arlas had appeared before her. She fell on her butt, staring upwards in horror as the man craned his head to look down.

“So you’re Arc’s companion even in the System classification.” He looked up, pondering with his hand at the bottom of his helmet. “Interesting, I wonder what will happen to your class if Arc were to die.”

“She won’t die!” Ceylon protested.

The man paused and looked down. “Well, regardless of whether she dies or not, she will help to save Arlas. The Forgotten Places are a threat to the world after all, if she can survive down there then she’ll be a great asset. And well if she doesn’t survive…” The Hero of Arlas tilted his head. “She’ll join the corruption.”

“Join the… corruption?” she asked, nervously.

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“That is right, she’ll become a husk of what she once was. Just like that other hero. And in exchange, she shall receive great power.”

Ceylon wanted to ask how that was even an exchange, but the Hero of Arlas shook his head and walked past her.

“Well that is all child, my mission is to protect Arlas; as for whether you’ll hate me for it. Well, it is just part of my burden.”

And with those words, the man disappeared as the air flickered ever so slightly. Ceylon frowned, and a moment later the nobles began gasping.

“The Hero is dead!”

“The Heroine of Frost is gone!”

“Did I see another man before she disappeared or did I imagine things?!”

The hall broke into mutters as Ceylon let out a long breath, and a moment later two familiar people arrived in a blink. They were none other than Malz and the Dragon of Water.

“Where is Arc?” Malz was the first to ask.

Ceylon’s heart ached as the realization finally settled in. “Arc is… in the Forgotten Places…” A sigh left her. “The Hero of Arlas sent her there.”

Malz gasped and the Dragon of Water’s eyes widened.

“So Arc might not be any longer with us…” He touched the collar. “So I’ll remain with this thing around my neck?”

Malz turned to him, frowning. “It’s either that or I’ll beat the shit out of you, in fact either you allow Ceylon to give the collar mana so she becomes your new owner or I’ll kill you.”

The Dragon of Water blinked. “I could do that if the initial deal is fulfilled, I had requested Arc to give me an item of Draliz’s treasury. So it is only natural for her successor to finish it⁠—”

Malz raised her hand, making a spear of shadows as the Dragon of Water backed off, he evidently didn’t have the mana to fight.

“I’ll give you the item.” Ceylon sighed. “So, come here.”

The Dragon of Water slowly knelt before her, Ceylon didn’t know what she was even doing. A slave collar could only have one type of mana within at a given time, the only way Arc’s mana wouldn’t be there is if she died⁠. Ceylon grabbed an ice crystal from her pocket.

Then again I just had to wait until she returned.

And it cracked.

If she did⁠— And Ceylon paused. Arc had to return. She just had to.

She immediately touched the slave collar injecting her own mana into it as the ownership was changed. Ceylon took a deep breath.

All she herself had to do was keep everything in order until then.

She just had to.

“So, what happens now?” Malz asked, now evidently more relaxed.

Ceylon looked at the destroyed hall, at the fearful nobles, and at her lost family as she made her decision.

“I’ll rule Draliz; that is what will happen.”

Of course, it wasn’t as if she could do it alone, but with the guidance and help of the two dragons it was very much possible.

She was going to make sure Arc had a good Kingdom to return to.

* * * * *

Numerous heroes heard of the new selection of Draliz, and a lot of them looked forward to seeing who had been victorious in overtaking the country. However, some didn’t care about that.

A hero deep in the mountains laughed to himself, the selection of the new king being a great step in furthering his goals.

“Now all I have to do is wait for that item to arrive at my doorstep.”

It was a hero whose name hadn’t been heard of in centuries, but soon he’d be making his return. And it was all just a matter of time.

Elsewhere, a heroine sat in a jagged ice cave. It was none other than the Heroine of Water, she stared at the ice stakes she had received a long time back. She was close to figuring out how to turn them into water until⁠—

They shattered; the entire cave shattered at once.

“The Heroine of Frost has died…?” She frowned. “No, that is not possible…” And then there was silence.

After minutes if not hours of rumination, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, that was until she received a magical letter. And upon reading it, she made a decision.

“Looks like I’ll have to visit Draliz.”

* * * * *

Deep in a forest, two dragons talked. One brown and one red one. They were none other than the Dragon of Flames and the Dragon of Earth.

“Do you think it’s a good idea? He normally doesn’t get involved with anything,” the Dragon of Earth said hesitantly.

“I’m sure he’ll be enthused to help, after all, someone as feral as the Dragon of Nature would be a great subject of research for him,” Regis’karr said simply.

“But do you think there is no other option? To ask the Dragon of Taboos?”

“I do not know, but to save my kin I’ll do what I must.” The Dragon of Flames breathed.

And then, a silence settled between them as none of them had any other good alternatives to stopping the impending war.

* * * * *

And in the world down below, things changed. The corruption finally took hold of a hero, corrupting them into nothing but the embodiment of hatred themselves, and elsewhere another hero fought to avoid a similar fate.

That hero was…

The Heroine of Frost.

End of Book Two