The group walked out of the portal, not far from the northern point of Eogis.

"..."

Orion looked around, noticing large changes in the scenery.

'The rock arch is destroyed.'

Behind him, the arch supporting his portal was now a pile of rubble. Even the portal itself was no more.

"Miasma found out about my power here... I was negligent."

"It's a good thing you've recovered your mother."

Elliott walked past Orion, explaining his reasoning.

"He found your power because he came to this place. Now, I don't need to explain why he came here, do I?"

Clenching his fists, Orion glared at the cave in the distance.

"Are you telling me he knew about Orianne's location?"

"Most likely. After being sealed, he might have noticed what the four pieces that flew off the light pillar were."

Even more anger filled his being.

His hatred for Miasma grew only stronger.

"If I hadn't recovered her before the corrupted dome emerged... I would have had to fight my mother?"

Amelia and Karteira frowned behind him. They weren't feeling pleased about this news.

"Really, the book of fate is truly mocking you. Am I wrong, Henrietta?"

"..."

The woman stayed quiet, avoiding Orion's gaze.

'She's not the one to blame.'

Shaking his head, Orion relaxed his mind.

"She's out of his sight, so there's no reason to blame anyone here. The one to blame is Miasma."

Elliott looked at Orion with a surprised expression, before turning his gaze to Henrietta.

"I apologize. It wasn't brilliant of me to provoke you unnecessarily. I hope you can forgive me."

He bowed slightly toward her.

"Ah... No, you don't have to. It's true that I am the Remnant of Fate and Destiny, and that I have barely any control over those aspects."

If so, she would've found the correct timeline where Miasma wouldn't have caused so much chaos a long time ago.

"I'm going."

A dark matter covered Orion, as he appeared in the demon form.

His dark wings flapped, before Orion leaped in the air, sending sand flying everywhere. High in the air, he lunged toward the southern part of Eogis, creating a loud blast as he broke the sound barrier.

Hearing the explosive sound diminishing, Karteira and Amelia looked at each other.

"How long do you think he will find Miasma's lair?"

"Less than five minutes?"

"I'm thinking the same."

And as expected, before five minutes, a portal opened near them.

"As expected. Let's go."

Crossing the portal, they were met with a deplorable sight.

In the distance, a destroyed city laid, entirely wasted. Broken houses, burnt places, dilapidated walls...

But it wasn't the main point. What caused everyone to stop in their thoughts, was the disturbing monster that smirked at the group in the far distance.

Orion was holding himself as much as possible to not close the distance and punch him in the face.

"We've made it in time."

Henrietta said, seeing the unchanged aura of Miasma.

Letting go of his raging emotions, Orion observed his surrounding.

'This area...'

Dark clouds behind a purplish sky, the Talviera Mountain barely visible behind him, and a city that he didn't recognize.

He recalled that nightmare he had a few weeks ago.

'This is different.'

First, there wasn't any crescent-shaped hole into the mountains. He was also far away from the mountains this time.

But the city was the major factor in his confusion.

'Have we... changed destiny somehow?'

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A slight thread of hope wrapped around his heart. He could potentially survive this encounter with enough carefulness.

Still, he wasn't about to cling onto it. Without ending Miasma, even if he survived, it would be useless.

The portal closed behind them, before Elliott walked next to him.

"This is it. Is your mind clear?"

"I'm ready. We need to kill him before he assimilates Tetra's power to control time and space."

Orion glanced over his shoulder. Amelia and Karteira walked on his other side, while Henrietta appeared behind her daughter.

The three nodded, signaling their readiness.

"Then..."

Bending his left knee and leaning on his leg, Orion prepared to leap away.

"Kill him!"

As a dark crossbow formed in his right hand, he vanished from his spot without a sound.

Elliott's body flashed white, before he disappeared, running after Orion.

Amelia looked at Karteira, before placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Take this, you will need it."

Sharing part of her magic with her, the jewel at the base of Karteira's tail lit up red.

Once done, Amelia switched to Ceres, her earth dagger, which was the only element not being mastered yet, alongside the void element.

"I'll play support for now."

"Alright."

They nodded at each other.

"Be careful."

Speaking the same thought to the other, they smiled. Karteira released the light magic, which covered her entire body, before turning her plates into a knight armor.

Then, she joined Orion and Elliott, who were closing on Miasma.

"Mom, let's go."

"Support, right?"

"For now."

With that said, the mother and daughter combo ran toward the group, ready to assist them.

~

"What!?"

Deveralna exclaimed in horror.

"Like I said, Orion, Amelia, and Karteira have gone to finish Miasma. Alongside Elliott and Henrietta too."

"They had no time left to gather everyone."

The lamia opened her mouth wide open.

"B-But why?"

"Miasma killed Tetra and took her Remnant's power."

"..."

Pure shock appeared on her face.

"Are you..."

"A hundred percent. Orion told me when he came to pick up Amelia."

The five maids behind her nodded.

"I... don't know what to say."

Recalling Orion's voice during her breakdown, she thought everything was going well on his side.

She wasn't expecting to hear such a bad news now of all time.

"What now?"

"Nothing. I'm going to speak with May next."

Olivia stood up from her chair, and walked toward the door. The maids bowed in respect to the lamia Queen, before following their master.

"But what about Orion!"

Deveralna abruptly stood on her tail, exclaiming loudly.

"..."

Olivia glanced over her shoulder.

"The best we can do is prepare for the worst."

She opened the door, and left.

Repeating those words in her head, Deveralna slumped in her chair, crestfallen.

"You know, too, that it's impossible..."

...

Taking the portal back to Horizon, Olivia entered the one leading to the battlefield next.

While she had left most of her maid behind when coming to see Deveralna, this time, she brought the entire maid squad.

Their order, save as many lives as possible.

The instant they entered, except for Marie, the maids split up and ran across the camp, helping the soldiers and medical units that were saving the wounded fighters.

"Now, to find May."

"That won't be necessary."

Hearing the familiar voice of a friend, Olivia looked to her right.

"..."

There, she noticed Florian sitting on a bench while holding his side. Next to him, patching him up, was Kamala.

"What happened to you?"

Worried, she approached the two.

"We've fought an unexpected enemy. It was stronger than anything we've faced so far. We suffered slight injuries."

"Slight injuries, you say?!"

Kamala, who awakened from her unconscious state fairly recently, pinched his arm.

Watching Florian scratch the back of his head while smiling dryly, Olivia observed them carefully.

'Their wounds are worrisome... Yet, they seem to be fine.'

The cauterized side of Florian looked incredibly painful. This was a wound only Orion or Karteira could remove entirely.

Kamala, on her part, had many scorched marks and shallow cuts. She suffered very little damage during their fight, which was a perfectly calculated risk taken by Florian. He did what he could to keep her away from dangerous attacks.

"I believe you're looking for May? She's with Eric further back."

With a warm smile, Kamala pointed at an opening in a tent, where the person she was looking for was.

"I came here to tell her something important, but I'm also incredibly relieved none of you are hurt."

Seeing the genuine relief on her face, the two smiled at each other.

"But..."

Suddenly, the mood changed. Olivia sighed, before telling them.

"Something terrible happened in Horizon. Orion has left to fight Miasma in Eogis at this very moment."

They both lost their smile.

"Something terrible... did someone die?"

Florian asked carefully, to which Olivia answered with a nod.

"W-Who is it?"

"Tetra."

Olivia marched toward the tent without giving them a second glance.

Even though they had barely any interactions with the woman, they still felt heartbroken.

"So... someone did die."

With a pained expression, Kamala focused on patching Florian again.

...

"May."

Olivia entered the tent. Her eyes settled on the woman, who pressed a large towel dripping with cold water on Eric's right arm.

"Olivia? What are you doing here? What about Noctelagia?"

"I've protected it. There's nothing to worry about."

"That's good to hear."

With a sigh, she smiled.

"Thanks, May. I'll be fine now. I'll go join the others for now."

Eric stood up, and thanked her.

"No problem. If you need me again, I'll be here."

"Sure."

He walked toward the tent's entrance, bent his head to Olivia with a smile, and continued outside.

'He is very considerate. I'll thank him later.'

With a faint smile on her face, Olivia entered further inside. She stopped in front of May, and stared into her eyes.

"W-What? Your gaze is scaring me..."

"Sit down."

...

A few minutes later, May was sitting on a chair, her head between her hands.

"That can't be possible... After everything we've done to avoid such a thing."

"We had no idea Miasma was aiming for Tetra's Remnant power. It came out of nowhere."

"How's... Stella?"

The two made a bitter expression.

"I heard she's fine, physically at least. Seeing someone she liked perish in front of her might has left aftereffects in her mind."

"That's what I'm scared of."

What she wished for were to rush back into Horizon, and hug the little girl.

"Before you ask me, and freak out needlessly, Orion has left to fight Miasma, with Amelia, Karteira, Elliott, and Henrietta."

"I thought so. Knowing Orion, he won't be able to let this matter go with ease."

Shocked by her reaction, Olivia lifted her eyebrows.

"You're taking it better than Deveralna."

"Don't tell her, but she's still very immature as a person. She will need further battles to strengthen her mind. The only matter that sculpted her mind was the treatment of her fellow lamias."

She hated herself for saying it, but the reality was there.

"I'm not saying her struggles are inferior to ours, but you and I have seen more than one person die already."

May's gaze fell on the entrance of the tent.

"Even today, hundreds of our people died in battle. I will have to live with this fact on my mind for the rest of my life. Good people, who fought to protect their home."

Sympathizing with her, Olivia nodded.

"She simply needs to grow up more. It's something that will come with time."

"Even if Orion dies?"

"..."

May bit her lower lips.

"Even... if he dies."

Silence fell upon the tent, letting the sounds of constant footsteps and voices take over from outside.

The two stood up after a while, before leaving the battlefield entirely. They returned to Horizon, and made their way to the giant rift in the southern part of Horizon.

There, they were met with Dramia, Drania, Senia, Deveralna...

And Stella, holding the hand of Layla.

Everyone was reunited, imploring the world to protect Orion, who was in a fierce battle against Miasma.