Milena, Sahro, Lucian, and Tuleam all had various reactions when they arrived above the Retni's Plains' battlefield. A steel giant tall enough to topple towers was kneeling before the piles of corpses. A meat cleaver suitably sized was planted beside him.

All of the blood from the battlefield was flowing toward him, countless rivers joining into one large stream. The blood, mixed with bones, flesh, and shattered steel, was rising into the air, forming one massive column.

"By the gods..." Milena clenched her dagger tightly, her eyes widening in horror.

Sahro's face hardened as he silently unsheathed his sword, crimson electricity running up and down his mechanical arm. His fox Raijin hissed defiantly.

"Count Eari...?" Lucian muttered in disbelief as his crown's light weakened slightly. "What did those savages promise for even you to betray the realm?"

"Oh-ho, what do we have here?" Tuleam scratched his chin curiously, unfazed. "I'll bet my left hand on some sort of Corruption." He turned to Lucian and grimaced. "I am not a fighter, though. I'll just skim out of the way, don't worry about it—"

"Tuleam Manalok," suddenly declared Lucian without taking his eyes off the steel giant, "Revel in joy and pride, for you have been drafted to fight for your Kingdom."

"Ah, damn it, I knew I should have stayed at the mansion..." Tuleam sighed heavily as Mana swirled around him.

Sahro pushed him to the side as he stepped forward, his muscles tensing up. "If you don't want to fight, just get out of the way, scholar. I'll take care of this by myself!"

Tuleam raised an eyebrow. "That was an option?"

A fluctuating mass of magenta light appeared in Lucian's hand, brimming with destructive power. "No, it's not. Get ready to f—"

The steel giant grabbed his meat cleaver and swung it back at them, ripping through the ground and the corpses in his way. Gore and mud flew as the group split to avoid the attack. Sahro disappeared in a blink, already closing in the distance with the giant like a red thunderbolt. The steel giant's eyes followed him, but he did not try to stop the Black Heir's attack.

Tuleam grumbled a few spells up, magic circles forming in his back. Milena was cursing the situation to death as she imitated the seaweed-haired researcher, casting her illusion sorcery in an attempt to control the giant.

"Final Twilight will be too slow... Hmf, Dusk Wave!" Lucian clamored as he released his spell upon the steel monster. Shadows swallowed the battlefield, encroaching on its massive, steel legs and pulling him down. The giant first blocked Sahro's attack with his palm while throwing his cleaver at Tuleam. The latter cursed, forced to abandon the magic circles he had painstakingly created.

"Damn it, ruffian Black Heir, protect me and I might get the opportunity to be useful!" He screamed at Sahro, who was retreating after failing to do any sort of damage to the giant. The Black Heir scowled and rushed forward again while keeping Tuleam in his line of sight.

Lucian didn't let go of the giant, his shadows grabbing and pulling him down relentlessly. The giant broke through the shadows defiantly while grabbing a handful of corpses lying around. He threw them at Tuleam once again, strangely focused on the researcher. Tuleam was about to dodge and give up on his magic circles again, but Sahro suddenly appeared and fended off the projectiles with one large swing of his sword. The sound of thunder echoed through the battlefield as a bright red flash consumed the corpses.

Milena pressed her hands together softly, muttering under her breath. A wave of Mana pulsed out of her, directed at the steel giant. The latter suddenly snapped in her direction, raising a fist to try and crush her, but stopped midway.

It didn't have eyes, but if Lucian had to interpret it, it looked like the monster had suddenly fallen asleep.

"Now!" Milena screamed as sweat beaded down her forehead.

Sahro took his fox form as he drew his blade back, the components of his prosthesis turning searing red. "Akai..."

Lucian's crown turned a little darker. He outstretched his hand, whispering. "Final Twilight." A sword as large as the giant himself appeared above the latter's head. Tuleam exhaled slowly and pointed his finger at the monster.

"Burn." The magic circles behind him lit up with bright, blue flames that came crashing down on the steel giant. The metal melted, weakening from the powerful heat. Milena gasped, her illusion breaking. The giant roared painfully, but he didn't even get to make a move when a red lightning bolt shot past him.

"...Raijin." Sahro exhaled as the fox's tail and ears disappeared. The giant fell forward, his waist separated from its chest. Lucian pointed his finger down, and the Final Twilight obeyed his command, falling like the executioner's blade. The collision created a massive explosion, reducing a good chunk of the battlefield to ashes.

Silence took over the battlefield as the dust settled. There was nothing left of the giant, not even a trace.

"This certainly is an excellent spell," remarked Tuleam. "Comparable to the Final Twilight of your father when he was your age. Alaric birthed a remarkable descendant."

Milena's eyes widened in awe. "You know the King himself?"

Tuleam scoffed. "There's only one Restoration Operator. Of course, I know him. I fixed most of the shit he found back when he was more...adventurous."

Sahro sheathed his sword and joined up with them. "Another monster dead. It's unfortunate that I couldn't use the opportunity to break through to the next level."

Lucian laughed nervously. "Well, don't worry too much. I'm sure you'll get another try for that." He pointed behind them.

The massive column of blood and gore was still standing, growing taller and larger. It split in two, forming a large, tall gate made entirely of blood. Sahro felt a shiver crawl down his back and instinctively drew his sword back out.

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Someone came through the gate, their features hidden beneath a cheap hooded robe. They were followed by a couple of others like them, until dozens—no, hundreds walked through the gate. Slaves wearing only sacs on their heads followed suit, pulling on thick, heavy chains. A metal sarcophagus oozing out with blood.

Other slaves were carrying a large wooden structure on their backs. It wasn't until the slaves hoisted it upright that Lucian's group realized what it was.

A cross within a circle wrapped in thorny vines.

The Thorn's Church.

"Shit, we were too late. These damned fanatics...!" Milena cursed.

Sahro squinted, his mouth opening up slightly in shock. There was someone crucified on the cross.

His left hand was tainted with a very familiar purple.

"...Glenn?" Lucian stole the words out of his mouth.

More and more Thorn's Church cultists came out of the gate until they brought a gigantic bell. The cultists rang it up, the gong echoing through the battlefield ominously. Something so wide it struggled to fit through the gate replied to the call. It was absolutely massive. It was green like a plant, and countless thorny vines were hanging off it.

"Not even the King's orders will force me to fight that thing..." Tuleam muttered.

Lucian chuckled tensely. 'What am I even supposed to say now?'

***

Liara clenched Nelg's wrist tightly as they dove deeper into the Pit. Nelg was screaming his lungs out, trying to escape from the Black Heiress' iron grip, to no avail. Liara drew a short breath right before his feet slammed back onto the ground. Nelg wheezed, throwing her accusatory glares.

They had landed on some sort of green cushion oozing with blood. Thorns dripping in poison rose without a sound to meet them. Liara took a step back as pure light appeared in her hand. She thrust forward, piercing through the vines and darkness with a destructive ray of light.

Nelg closed his mouth, swallowing back the insults he was about to throw at her.

"G- Good job! Now, would you mind sharing in some way why you brought me down here?"

Liara pointed at her chest, where her heart was beating, and then pointed back into the darkness. This place was plunged into the same darkness the Pit was, making her light magic necessary. Nelg frowned in confusion.

"There's another Liara there? Are you sure?"

Liara looked at him wordlessly before walking away into the darkness, her boots making moist sounds with each step she took. Nelg grumbled and hurriedly joined up with her. They ran through the darkness, the Black Heiress leading the way deeper into the green, fleshy hallway.

Vines lashed at them incessantly, but those hitting Nelg didn't do much to harm him while Liara simply burned the rest without effort. They could still hear the battle between the prisoners and the vine monsters above them, but the sound was dulled.

They eventually arrived in an area with light, dark red light that Nelg saw for the second time with his own eyes, and the third time counting Glenn's memories. The beating of a heart made them stop for a moment.

Hanging in the center of the room, connected to countless vines, was one large, veiny, disgusting Heard of Darkness.

"Ahhh, that's what you meant by pointing at your chest," realized Nelg belatedly. He pinched the tip of his nose, uncertain. "Shouldn't there be some sort of defenses to protect this—oh, no, never mind, I don't want to jinx..."

A creature made entirely out of vines similar to a spider rose from the ground, black beady eyes gleaming in the dark red light of the Heart of Darkness. Liara glared at Nelg silently.

"S- Sorry, I just can't help it—Wow!" He threw himself in front of Liara, receiving the brutal vine from the spider in his place. He flew to the back of the room, bouncing off the wall. Liara concentrated sharply as the spider snarled and shot for her, countless vines following it. Liara's bird Whitey chattered in her ear before turning into a small ball of light. Pure wings unfurled in Liara's back as she charged against the spider, weapons of light in her hands.

The spider rolled to the side with surprising agility while spitting out venom at its opponent. Liara's sword burned the poison away while her spear chased the creature, aiming for its chest. The blade of light burned a fiery hole through the vines, but the spider didn't seem to care whatsoever as she bit down on Liara's arm.

The Black Heir yelped painfully as she tried and failed to pull her hand back. She gritted her teeth and cleaved through the spider's head, beheading her. The head transformed into shriveled vines falling off her chewed-through arm. She ran her Aura through the damaged flesh, knitting it up at a visible rate.

The spider stepped back, its head growing back in a matter of seconds. The creature shrieked violently and rushed at her once more, its vines wriggling like tentacles. Liara didn't let it scare her and instead countered with a bar of pure white light. The spell carved through the vines like a hot knife through butter, but it grew back all the same;

Nelg pushed himself up, squinting to try and comprehend the fight before him. Liara was reducing the spider to ashes easily, but new vines replaced the burnt ones every time. The Black Heiress doubled with her efforts, but it was like filling a barrel riddled with holes—it was a never-ending endeavor.

Liara snapped and created a large ring of light covering the entire room, burning every vine. The spider shrieked painfully, before curling up and letting itself die. Liara heaved as she kept the ring of white light on, making sure no other seemingly immortal creatures would appear.

"I- Is it—?" Liara sent a spell in Nelg's face before he could finish his sentence, stopping him before he said something he would regret later on. She sighed and looked at the Heart of Darkness, her spear of light tightly clenched. She stopped before it and raised her weapon when something caught her hand.

"Liara!" Nelg shouted but Liara flew through the air, a vine piercing through her stomach and another strangling her. Her ring of light shone brighter than ever, yet the vines simply refused to catch on fire this time.

The Black Heiress roared as she ripped the vines with her bare hands, the colors draining out of her face at a visible rate. A red creeper* humanoid stood unflinching as his arm reformed. He kicked Liara away before she could counter and whipped a vine at her. She instinctively used her sword of light to try and parry the blow, but she was knocked away once more, failing to cut through it.

Nelg's eyes darted between the two, panicked.

'Shit, shit, what can I do? The battle is too fast for me, I can't even move in time to block the blow for her. Can I try changing into a weapon and let her use me? But...' The very idea disgusted him. Only Glenn could use him because he was Glenn and Glenn was him. To let someone else use him was wrong.

He shook his head and turned into a weapon, rushing for Liara's hands. It didn't matter. His personal feelings didn't matter. He wasn't about to let Liara die because he couldn't bear letting her wield him. Liara's eyes shone as her fingers wrapped on the rough handle. She swung the sword expertly, cleanly cleaving through the vine humanoid from one part to the other. Her Mana and Aura ran through Nelg, strengthening him with a power comparable to Glenn's.

The humanoid creeper fell to the ground helplessly, but the Heart of Darkness wasn't done. A dozen of the creatures rose from the ground, lashing their limbs at the ground like whips. Liara took a deep breath and stepped back. Nelg instinctively changed his form to fit Liara's purpose, to fit what she had in mind.

In that one moment, the connection the Nelg shared with Liara was the same as he had with Glenn.

A spear of rustling white metal appeared in Liara's hand, shining like a divine weapon blessed by light. The Black Heiress exhaled, relaxing her entire body. She forgot about her injuries, about the poison running through her veins, or even the taboos she had respected all her life. The wings in her back shone with the same light her spear did, and a crown of white steel appeared above her head.

"Baldur's Skýfa!" Her spear exploded with power. She pierced forward with the most powerful blow of her life.

A bright flash of white swallowed the room. Nelg dropped out of Liara's hands and hurriedly turned back into a human, gasping and clenching his chest. Whatever the feeling he was experiencing was, it was nothing like he expected.

Liara dropped to her knees, her strength drained.

Before her, a massive hole was letting the sun shine its light into the damp room.

And for some reason, she could hear the sound of battle raging coming from it.

But no matter.

They had won.

She coughed as her consciousness faded away, the poison taking over her body.

"I think I can afford a nap..."