Elliott straightened and pondered.

"..."

Layla watched him with worry as a bead of sweat fell from his cheek.

"I am not a Remnant, that I am sure of."

"And you are correct."

Confirming his thought, Henrietta nodded.

"Or, it should be more apt to say that you are no more."

"..."

The frown on his face indicated that everything was beginning to get more organized in his head.

"Miasma..."

"Most likely."

He sat down and crossed his arms.

"I had no idea."

The air grew heavier as anger took over Elliott.

"This secret, we Remnants, have kept it hidden for as long as we've been created. Normally, you would've been instinctively accustomed to the concept under your control, but you have none of that."

Henrietta explained her thoughts on the matter.

"If I recall correctly, you said that you were unconscious after falling under Miasma's control, right?"

Elliott nodded.

"During that time, he most likely stole your source. Now, I understand why Noah was unable to win against him."

"The concepts still forged you, as you were the one to receive them, but ultimately, Miasma was the one to steal your Remnant source."

Placing a hand on her brows, she looked at the ceiling.

"No wonder each Hero struggled against him."

As her gaze fell on Elliott, her eyes gleamed with a brilliant light.

"Hmm..."

A few words formed in her mind that were not hers.

"Bravery, Integrity, Virtue, and... Justice. No wonder those concepts barely exist anymore."

Her eyes returned to normal.

"Corrupting... no, sealing. If they were corrupted, similar to purity becoming tainted, no Hero would ever be born. Nature's doing."

Elliott opened his eyes wide and looked at his hands.

"Those concepts... sound very familiar to me."

"As if..."

Layla placed her hands on his left hand.

"As if your entire existence were centered around them."

He nodded. His life in its entirety now was to repent of the errors he had committed under Miasma's control.

With a grin, Henrietta let go of her sword, which returned inside her.

"The qualities of a knight. Are you not one?"

A sigh escaped his mouth as the anger he was feeling subsided.

"So that's why I have my mother's sword. I was supposed to be like you, a Remnant."

Glancing at Vanitas, which had stopped shaking in its scabbard, he smiled briefly.

"You are, sadly, an exception, as your source was stolen and used to weaken you and the Heroes. This was an oversight on Nature's end."

Layla removed her hands from his and sat straight, satisfied that Elliott was back to normal.

"This doesn't change anything for me. There is only one person I wish to train. Until his return, I'll stay put and give advice to whoever needs it."

Henrietta nodded.

"I leave that to you. Orion gave his trust to you, so we will cooperate and follow suit. You are still, technically, our comrade."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

His heart throbbed for a second, playing a single word on repeat in his head.

"Comrade..."

Elliott, who was resolute to live the rest of his life alone, suddenly found a place for himself in the Remnants' ranks.

"I swear on this sword to never betray your trust."

He tapped Vanitas lightly with a resolute look in his eyes. The words Elliott spoke were not lightly delivered.

Seeing the honesty with a single glance, Henrietta smiled in return before looking at Layla.

"So, what is your answer?"

"I will help."

With the same resolve as Elliott, Layla agreed to help assist the members of Agathion.

Satisfied, Henrietta turned toward the front door and walked leisurely.

"I have gathered all the Remnants that are children of Valkyries. Meet us at the portal hub around noon; that's when I'll introduce everyone."

As she approached the door, Elliott suddenly stood up.

"Wait. I have a question."

"..."

She stopped and turned halfway around.

"Was Kagalkan going easy on me?"

Henrietta pondered for a second on the meaning of his question before realizing what he meant.

"Either he was too weak to pull the artifact from his core, or the corruption made it impossible to. While Vanitas cannot return inside your core due to your human nature, Kagalkan was still a Remnant."

"Maybe he judged you worthy of killing him. Nobody will know for sure."

His eyes looked at the floor as the giant's words came to mind.

"I think... that I don't need an answer to that."

Kagalkan fought to his heart's content without going all out. But Elliott knew that he wasn't at his peak.

If so, he would have struggled far more, similarly to his first encounter with him thousands of years ago.

"It appears you have your answer. In that case."

Henrietta bowed slightly and walked out of the house, leaving the couple together.

"Who would have guessed that being a descendant of a Valkyrie was so complex?"

He walked away from his chair and silently returned to his room.

"..."

Layla smiled warmly at this sight before pondering the meaning of the power dwelling inside her.

~

Noon came for the women living in Horizon.

With hardened hearts, they stepped out of the house one by one.

The only people left inside the house were the unconscious Amelia and the eternally sleeping Tetra.

As they exited the house, they noticed Sirius, looking unhealthily sad. With his master gone and Stella nowhere to be seen, his interest in doing what he liked was gone.

With a grim look, they looked away and walked toward the portal hub as a group, in complete silence.

Karteira, who was at the forefront of the group, walked with a grave look on her face.

She, like everyone else, had an inkling as to why they were called to gather at the portal hub.

Meeting the Remnants of Triazils and being trained by them. This was the gist of what they had discussed, which made it difficult to walk in a lightened mood.

Ultimately, Henrietta said that they were too weak to even be useful against the invading corrupts.

As they approached the building, they noticed Henrietta alone, waiting for them with her arms crossed.

The expression she wore said everything they needed to know: She was ready.

They all stopped in front of her, silent.

"No one's missing. Perfect."

"We wouldn't turn back after coming this far."

Olivia spoke next to Karteira.

"This is something we have to do."

May, who stood behind Olivia, continued.

"For Orion and for us, we'll work harder."

Senia pressed her hands against her chest with a determined look in her eyes after having made up her mind.

Karteira, Deveralna, Dramia, and Drania all nodded, confirming that they were all on the same page about this.

"I like that mentality."

Another voice that wasn't Henrietta caught their attention. It was a voice they knew very well, especially Dramia, Drania, and Karteira.

"!"

The three opened their eyes wide at the sight of a woman covered in leaves and flowers. Her green hair, and especially her face, made them think they were hallucinating.

"T-Tiohr?"

Drania let go of her sister and flew at high speed toward Titania, who stopped walking. The fairy stopped inches from her with teary eyes.

"Is that you?! You can walk?"

Touching her arm, she felt the warmth of life emanating from her skin.

"I can, thanks to Henrietta. Now, I can do that too."

Her arms enveloped Drania as she pressed her head against her chest.

"A-Ah..."

Snuggling against the woman she considered her mother, Drania embraced her back, hearing the beating heart inside Titania's chest.

"This... is a miracle."

With her mouth opened in utter shock, Karteira couldn't help but exclaim out loud.

"I'm with you on that."

Dramia was also unable to think straight. In fact, she was starting to walk toward Titania without noticing it.

After just a few steps, she was in front of her. Titania stretched her free arm, asking Dramia to join her sister.

With a faint smile, the twin followed her sister's example and sunk her face in the Remnant's bosom.

"What happened? You're still Tiohr-nam, right?"

Cautiously, Karteira asked with a neutral expression.

"I am, but I am also someone else."

"What... does that mean?"

Afraid that the person in front of her wasn't the same mother she knew, Karteira clenched her hands into fists, prepared for the worst.

"I was forced to recall the memories I had lost. The name I had as the Remnant of Life was a false name, similar to Henrietta calling herself 'Enri-Ann' or Tetra being 'Tia-Norun'."

"It was a precaution against Miasma we took before splitting up, although, with time, the others returned to their original names since they were not singled out by him."

Patting the heads of the twins, she explained to Karteira at the same time.

"If you want to call me Tiohr-nam, I will not stop you. But you should know my name."

She let go of them and took a step back.

"Titania."

"That is my name."

Crossing her arms, she looked at Karteira without speaking another word. Taking that as a signal to continue, Henrietta coughed to catch their attention.

"Alright, it's time for you to meet the people who will make you stronger. Far stronger, far more than Orion during his peak."

They all shuddered at this unexpected development.

Stronger than Orion, who single-handedly fought Miasma? This felt like a lie.

Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes met with someone inside the building. Shadows began to move before someone came out of the portal hub.

Multiple people— some they recognized, some they had no idea who they were— lined up in front of them.

Though, a few familiar faces joined them instead, those being the three Lords, Florian Delur, Kamala Genathis, and Eric Layman.

But there was someone else— no one, not even Henrietta, was expecting him.

A black-haired beastman, also regarded as Orion's brother, Nylon, stood by their side.