Glenn winced, struggling to open his eyes. He rubbed the tiredness away, removing the crust sealing his eyelids. His entire body ached, and even the smallest movement felt like a painful chore. His chest and stomach suffered the most, burning with constant pain.

'What the...' He finally pried his eyes open, finding an unfamiliar ceiling above his head. He was lying on a simple straw bed in a small log cabin. A scent of sulfur and blood tingled his nose.

'Shit, where am I? I...the fight with Laurance, what happened?'

Nelg suddenly appeared out of thin air, his skin pale and black circles under his eyes. "I thought you were about to die..." He looked resentful.

Glenn forced out a smile as he sat himself up, hissing through his teeth during the entire movement. "Hmf...I'm not that easily killed, Nelg, and you know that, haha. What happened?"

"I'm not laughing, Glenn." Nelg gritted his teeth as he sat on a small stool. "Laurance was a Newborn Ruler—you should have run away the moment you realized he was your opponent!"

"Listen..." Glenn sighed deeply. "With the numbers on our side, as well as the entire team and the demons...I thought it was possible." He looked up and down at himself, wincing at the sight of his Imoogi suit struggling to fix itself up where Laurance stabbed his sword. "And...Considering I'm still alive, I suppose it was?"

Nelg scoffed. "No, it wasn't. The only reason you and everyone else aren't dead and buried is because that fucker in your hand took over!"

Glenn felt his blood turn into ice. "...What?"

"I didn't misspoke," hissed Nelg hatefully. "Your heart stopped. You died. Until your body turned purple and Diamanes took the reins."

Nelg stabbed his finger in Glenn's shoulder. "Diamanes killed Laurance and then tried to 'take' Pebble, Raijin, and Liara's bird's powers. And you know what I mean by 'take', don't you?"

Glenn chuckled nervously as he stole a glance at his left hand. "No, no, you're joking. Why, why would he do that? Hey, Diamanes, that's not true, right?"

Only then did he realize that his left arm had returned to its original color, the purple having retreated to his hand.

"Diamanes?" Glenn coughed out a lump of dry blood, but the entity remained silent.

Nelg laughed dejectedly. "I suppose it took too much out of him. Good riddance. This...greedy, egoistic piece of garbage!" Nelg cursed before disappearing into a cloud of blue particles, returning to Glenn's soul. The latter was left in shock and disbelief.

'Why...Why would Diamanes do that? No...if I truly died, like Nelg is saying, then maybe his take-over was the only solution for me to survive. But then...what about his actions after he killed Laurance?'

Glenn dismissed the upper part of his Imoogi suit with a thought, returning it to his soul and keeping the pants on. He gently pressed on the side of his wounds, grimacing at the pain. There was a deep gash in his torso, his flesh knitting itself together with difficulty. His stomach was decorated with a similar mark, a bloody line that crossed his abdomens. Both wounds were oozing with green and yellow push and smelled absolutely horrible—not that it mattered much considering the blood he was still covered in.

"Fuck...Munda—Cough!" Glenn leaned on his side as something clenched on his heart. He breathed in and out carefully, his back drenched in sweat.

"What is this fucking..." He closed his eyes and sank into a Meditative state. His Mana Heart appeared before him. The Milky Way wasn't as bright as it usually was. Most of its stars were gone while the gaseous clouds floated without any luster. Glenn's eyes widened as he realized the source of his incapability at using Mana. The deep darkness that surrounded his Mana was now sparse with fissures. Small parts of his Mana Heart seemed to leak out through these fissures, disappearing into the void.

"This is...I have no idea what this is. How do I fix this?"

Unfortunately, Glenn's mutters didn't bring him anywhere close to a solution. The fissures seemed to be slowly closing by themselves, but it was taking too much time. 'I feel like any part of my Mana Heart that leaks through that are parts I won't ever see again. Shit, maybe Nelg is right and I should have run away...'

Glenn grunted in annoyance as he left his Meditation. He rubbed his forehead tiredly, pondering.

"Soul damage." A voice suddenly said from beside him. Glenn almost jumped out of his bed, his senses flaring up as he called on Nelg. The weapon refused to answer, though.

In the corner of the room, sitting on the same stool Nelg previously occupied, was the Hell Knight. He was covered in dark steel armor, his face still hidden behind that skull helmet doubling as a mask. The Hell Knight was looking at him with his arms crossed, his thoughts undecipherable.

"Who are you?" Glenn reached for his dimensional pouch, searching for a spare sword. If Nelg refused to help him, he just had to find a weapon to replace him.

"Not an enemy," replied the Hell Knight with a weary tone as he pointed at the bed. "I wouldn't be lending my place to rest to a bloody mess like you if I wanted to kill you."

Glenn froze, before slowly taking his hand out of his dimensional pouch.

"...That's fair. I have to ask, my team was with me—"

The Hell Knight waved his hand dismissively, interrupting me. "They're resting outside. That battle was something you wouldn't come back from easily."

"Tell me about it..." scoffed Glenn. He winced as the laugh pulled on his ripped muscles.

"It's a miracle you didn't leave your guts on the floor. The wounds Laurance inflicted on you should have been deadly." The Hell Knight leaned back against a wall, the feet of his stool rising slightly in the air.

"I've heard that they were. My heart stopped, or something like that, right?" Glenn tried to grin, but the thought of Diamanes taking control of his body made it impossible. The Hell Knight tilted his head to the side.

"That Soul Weapon..." He shook his head. "You know about that entity in your left hand, then? I think he's called Diamanes, correct?"

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Glenn grimaced. 'I don't like it. A total stranger knows about Diamanes. And I'm not in much capacity to shut him up. Fuck me sideways...'

"You could get rid of it, but I wouldn't recommend that." The Hell Knight leaned on his fist. Glenn blinked, confusedly.

Someone recommending keeping Diamanes instead of kicking him away?

That was a first.

"What makes you say that?" Glenn inquired carefully.

The Hell Knight pointed at Glenn's wounds. "That...entity, Diamanes. When he took over your body, he, hmm, stole the abilities of that monster, Laurance."

Glenn's eyes widened and he looked down at his chest once more. "A regeneration factor...So that's what it was."

"It's not working properly because of the wounds on your soul, but it should be powerful enough to grow back even a limb." The Hell Knight nodded. "It's not wrong to say that the only reason you survived infections and critical injuries was that thing taking over and stealing Laurance's powers."

"Diamanes..." Glenn clenched his left hand, unsure of how to feel. The entity saved his life once again, but the way he did it was... 'Damn it, I don't want to think about it, but I don't have a choice, do I?'

"I didn't reply to your question earlier," muttered the Hell Knight. "I had a name long ago, but it was erased from my memories. You can call me the Guardian."

Glenn pressed his lips together as he shook the Guardian's extended hand. "Huh. Sounds better than 'Hell Knight' for sure. I'm Glenn."

The Guardian's shoulders rose as something remotely similar to a chuckle escaped from his helmet. "Hmf! Hell Knight? How fitting..."

"Why did you help us?" Glenn asked as he pressed his back against the wall. His wounds were itching awfully as if insects were ripping off small bites of his flesh. Regrowing missing meat, knitting muscles, and fixing bones didn't feel pleasant whatsoever.

"Why...?" The Guardian looked down at his armored hands. "Because it was right to do so."

Glenn's heart missed a beat. The weight behind the Guardian's words was immense. It was as if the lonesome knight in dark armor was bearing the world on his shoulders, and some more. 'The right thing to do...'

"Thank you." Glenn didn't look at the Guardian as he spoke. The knight froze for a moment, similar in all points to a statue. A long silence passed before he eventually stood up from the stool.

"I'd recommend meeting up with your friends in the hot spring. You need to scrub yourself clean."

Glenn smiled softly. "I can't agree more, but...don't we have a more pressing issue, such as my soul leaking out?"

The Guardian waved his hand dismissively. "We'll speak about it after that. Right now, your mind and body need to rest. That will already help in patching up the holes in your soul."

"I insist on following his advice," suddenly exclaimed Nelg from within Glenn's soul. "I already watched you die once, I'd rather not be forced to watch a second time because you pushed yourself."

Glenn hesitantly pressed his feet on the warm floor. It was carved straight out of rough stone and felt like volcanic rock. He tried to stand up, but his knees gave up under him. He was about to crash roughly on the floor when an arm caught him midway. Nelg grunted as he helped Glenn to walk out of the hut, ignoring the Guardian's silent gaze.

"If walking is pushing myself, I might as well just die..." groaned Glenn.

"Complain for another second, and I'll gut you myself." Nelg gritted his teeth as he pushed the hut's door open with his foot. Glenn stumbled forward, leaning heavily on his doppelganger. The corner of his lips curved upward as he found his entire team relaxing in a steamy, natural hot spring, bathing in peace.

Well, 'relaxing' wasn't exactly the correct word. The atmosphere was heavy and somber, burdened with silence. Sahro was petting his fox Raijin gently, his eyes lost in the distance. Milena was hugging Pebble tightly, while Liara recomforted her small bird. Lucian was leaning back against the edge of the spring, his eyes shut close and his regal attitude nowhere to be seen.

"Man, you all look like you saw someone die," joked Glenn with a cough. Immediately, his teammates snapped in his direction, different emotions painting their faces.

"Are you—"

"You died—"

"Fucking—"

"Big Bro—!"

They all began talking to each other. Glenn winced as a headache appeared in an instant.

"Not everyone at the same time," commanded Nelg. "My double died, he's not exactly in his best condition."

"I can see that," scoffed Sahro as he leaned back in the hot spring, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

Glenn stood by the hot spring, sighing deeply. "And even now I could probably take you, Sahro. Imagine that..."

"Hah, as if..." The Black Heir trailed off as he stared at the wounds on Glenn's chest. Nelg carefully helped lower him into the hot spring. Glenn groaned as he sat in the water, the pain of his wounds soothed slightly.

"Glenn, are you alright?" Milena asked worriedly. She pushed her hair back and gulped heavily at Glenn's wounds. "Y- You look like both your heart and intestines are going to leak out."

Glenn chuckled through the pain. "I don't think they'll be falling off anytime soon, but thank you for worrying nonetheless."

Liara slipped beside him and grabbed his arm as if to make sure he was real. "I felt your heart stop, but then Diamanes took over..." She whispered in his ear, aware of Lucian's presence. "A- Are you yourself?"

"I think so." Glenn pulled his left, purple hand out of the water. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the odd-colored limb. "I...haven't heard from him since then. The Guardian said he was the only reason I survived."

Lucian cleared his throat. "Sorry, but, may I inquire as to who 'he' is? It is the first time I've seen such a dangerous possession. And while we're there, why can I see two Glenn?"

Sahro clicked his tongue. "We've known you for, what, twenty-four hours?"

Glenn's eyes widened. "It's only been a day since Sevirox took flight? Shit, it felt like weeks!"

Milena curled up, muttering. "It truly did..."

Nelg sat on the edge of the hot spring, dipping his armored feet in the water. "Diamanes is an entity that has been helping Glenn survive for a bit more than a year now. Ancient, from another world, and with the ability to 'take' the powers of his enemies."

He smiled wryly and stabbed his thumb in his chest. "As for me, I'm the special kind of Soul weapon, birthed from Glenn's soul. A shapeshifting doppelganger of some sort."

Lucian whistled, impressed. "Stealing the abilities of others? That sounds a little good to be true."

"I do need to touch said ability to 'take' it," corrected Glenn. "I'll let you try to take a spell shooting for your head. It's not exactly simple in a fight where survival depends on your every movement. And, it's not like I need these powers, my Astral Sorcery is already more than strong enough."

Liara nodded silently as she petted her white, round bird. The feathery animal was stealing suspicious glances at Glenn's left hand. Pebble and Raijin were doing pretty much the same, with the difference that Pebble wasn't with his master, instead hiding within Milena's arms.

"What are we going to do now?" Milena inquired. "We can't stay in the Beyond forever, and we do need to make our report to Count Mortelli."

Glenn froze. Count Mortelli.

"Shit, Milena, Mortelli is working with the Occult Wanderers. Do you think...?"

Lucian stood up brusquely, his eyes widening and his manhood exposed. "Who's working with the Occult Wanderers? Are you sure of what you're saying, Bro?"

Milena turned away and awkwardly cleared her throat. Liara stared shamelessly, her cheeks tinted with a bit of red. Usually, Glenn would have probably made a joke, but the pain and exhaustion made it feel pointless.

"Lucian, I know that your stature might make it complicated to accept this, but even if Mortelli is a noble, we have actual proof that he worked with the—"

Glenn's efforts to convince Munirp's Prince were interrupted by the latter as he pumped his fist victoriously. "Haha, I knew it! A king's instinct is never wrong! Please, tell me more about it!"

"Sure, I—yawn..." Glenn yawned as he tried to rub the exhaustion off his eyes, to no avail.

"I was there, so I might as well give you my version," grumbled Sahro.

Milena cleared her throat a little louder. "I was also present. I'm more than happy to tell you about our first encounter with the Occult Wanderers, but could you please sit back in the spring, please?"

Lucian looked down and grimaced. "Ah. My apologies."

Glenn laid back with a grin, his eyes closing down slowly as the heat of the hot spring pulled him in a warm, reposing embrace. He listened with his eyes shut as Sahro and Milena recounted their expedition into the Eastern Town to save Redan the Ice Wolf, his mentor, and encountered the Occult Wanderers in consequence. How they worked with the Mayor of the time, and how the latter was family with the Count.

'Getting the help of Munirp's Prince to take revenge on a Count of Munirp...' The grin on Glenn's lips widened slightly as he fell asleep.

The road to making pay the culprit behind Redan's downfall was clearer than ever.