Silence fell on the room as the Equinox Flowers pondered the option. The idea wasn't a bad one, but the demigods had no idea where they could get the keys. They would have to find the nurse seen by Shirei, follow him without being noticed and then manage to distract him long enough so as not to raise a general alarm.

Shirei turned to the dark creature, "If I can find it, can you steal it for us?"

“Interesting question…” the tenebrae smiled, “I think so.”

Suddenly, a heartbreaking scream echoed through the halls, making all four of them jump. It was a sound full of pain and terror, which seemed to come from the very depths of the building.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced the silence, followed by the sound of breaking glass. The three exchanged a quick glance before rushing towards the door.

Shirei looked at Ada, but Havel reassured him, “Don't glance at her like she's a little girl, you idiot. She is the second in command of the Equinox Flowers!”

Shirei nodded and the three went outside. They turned the corner, just in time to find themselves faced with a nightmarish scene.

Monstrous creatures, never studied before, swarmed the hospital corridors. They were deformed beings, with leathery skin an unhealthy purple, luminescent yellow eyes, and razor-sharp claws. They looked like a distorted and grotesque version of primitive cavemen.

“By all the gods…” Ada whispered, her gray eyes wide.

Havel cursed under his breath, his muscles tensing ready for action. It was in that moment that he realized. The information obtained outside the time rift returned to his mind with crystal clarity. “It's them. The creatures Samara spoke of.”

Shirei remained silent, but his violet eyes shone with a bright light as he analyzed the situation. The creatures were savagely attacking the doors, intending to torment anyone in their path: terrified patients, panicked nurses, doctors trying to calm them.

“Didn't monsters only attack demigods?”

“We don't have time to think about this. W-we have to do something,” Ada said, her hands instinctively reaching for the twin swords, but their shaking made her doubt whether she could hold them.

Havel nodded, a ferocious grin on his face. "Let's go smash their heads!"

There was no time for further speculation. One of the creatures noticed the three demigods and lunged towards them with a bestial roar. The Equinox Flowers got into a fighting position, but Ada struggled to keep her wits about her.

The leader reacted first, charging at the creature with a battle cry. He unsheathed the two axes he had just recovered from the wardrobe and used them to hit the monster with superhuman strength, making him stagger backwards.

Shirei, meanwhile, closed his eyes for a brief moment, concentrating. When he reopened them, he summoned his faithful tenebrae.

Dark creatures emerged from the Interworld, ghostly harpies ready to obey their master.

Reno materialized at the boy's side, waiting for directions.

“You…” he considered letting himself follow the attack, before locking eyes with Ada.

The girl was not well. Shirei didn't know why, but he was sure of it. He shouldn't have ignored it, it was what made him human.

He wasn't alone, he fought in a group.

“You stay here, watch over Ada, and make sure you sing for me and Havel.”

“Got it, boss.”

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The tenebrae dispersed. Their black wings sliced through the air, fending off the monstrous creatures with razor-sharp claws, but Shirei knew they wouldn't last long.

The hospital corridors had become a chaotic battlefield, ringing with screams, roars and the sinister sound of tearing flesh.

Havel fought like a berserker, his axes crushing bones and attacking with intent to tear at the monsters' leathery skin.

Ada barely defended herself, now only a shadow of the lethal dancer Shirei knew. She wavered at the slightest movement of the monsters, retreating further and further.

Reno gritted his missing teeth, “Your friend has some serious problems.”

Shirei ignored the comment. Maintaining control over the tenebrae in such a confined space was testing his concentration. The harpies were too weak to face the barbarian creatures of the rift.

As if to confirm his words, one of the monsters managed to grab a ghostly harpy. With a roar of triumph, the beast tore the tenebrae's wings apart, and it dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.

Shirei staggered, clutching a hand to his chest. The pain of losing his tenebrae hit him directly as he felt the aether being stripped from his core.

“Shirei!” Havel made his way towards his companion, crushing a barbarian's skull along the way. “Hold on!”

The situation was now more than tragic. The creatures occupied the corridor, blocking access to the stairs. The dark creatures of Shirei, while fighting, fell prey to the monsters one after another, overwhelmed by the immense strength of their enemies.

Ada found herself with a monster above her. Reno acted as a human shield, cushioning the blow, but a sharp claw grazed her face, leaving a trail of blood on her cheek.

Rutia's daughter watched the tenebrae disintegrate before her eyes and fell to the ground.

“N-no… not again!” she shouted, his voice barely audible.

Havel took a deep breath and swung his right arm back. He bent over and closed his eyes for a moment, forgetting everything around him.

A crimson light shot from his left hand, traveling up the limb to his shoulder and opposite arm.

Father…

The son of Sidal flew like a meteor and slammed his fist into the chest of the barbarian who towered over Ada. The hand pierced the being, causing it to freeze and collapse.

Shirei was still on his knees. His chest throbbed with pain as his tenebrae had surrounded him and continued to protect him, falling one after another. The dark creatures were reduced to a handful of flickering shadows.

The situation seemed desperate. The three demigods, despite all their powers and combat skills, were about to be overwhelmed. The monstrous creatures surrounded them, their yellow eyes glowing with insatiable hunger.

Havel dragged Ada away to the other side of the corridor, in an attempt to save her from the monsters. Reno regained his composure in time to begin treating the berserker's bleeding wounds.

"What are you doing?" Ada asked, scared.

Havel didn't answer. His eyes shone as he looked at her, he wouldn't let her die.

“Shirei!” the leader shouted to attract attention.

Cragar's son disappeared into the Interworld just in time to avoid the joint assault of two monsters. He reappeared alongside the Equinox Flowers with renewed energy, the Blade of Discord glittering in his hand.

“Have you filled up?” Havel asked.

The creatures struggled to cross the corridor due to the corpses strewn everywhere. Shirei nodded.

“Take Ada out of the fault and return with reinforcements, I will resist!”

The demigoddess stood up to the leader of the Equinox Flowers.

“No!”

“Yes, instead! You can't die here!”

The monsters were approaching, but Shirei remained firm and determined, “I will fight them.”

“No!” Havel slapped him on the back of the head, “You can't face them all alone!”

“Not even you.”

Ada held Sidal's son close, “You cannot stay here. No! Let's all go away!”

Havel pushed her away, “Someone has to stay to slow them down, otherwise they'll all come out! Shirei! Go!”

The purple-eyed boy hesitated.

"Go!"

"I can-"

“No!”

“I can. I know I can do it.”

A creature appeared behind them, taking them completely by surprise. The demigods no longer had an escape route.

Havel pushed his two companions away and fell down the opposite side of the corridor, just in time to avoid a central blow that shattered the floor. The son of Sidal instantly charged a crimson fist which he threw with his left arm. The monstrous barbarian took the blow and flew up to one of the corridor windows, smashing it with his weight and falling towards the external courtyard.

Havel shouted at the top of his lungs, "Go!"

It was then that they heard the ringing of a bell in the distance. The sound echoed through the devastated corridors of the hospital.

An ethereal sound, which seemed to come almost from another world.

The three demigods exchanged a look full of concern.

It was midnight.

The world around them seemed to dissolve, like an image reflected in a shattering mirror. The three demigods clung to each other, trying to hold on as everything around them crumbled.

And then, in the blink of an eye, they were elsewhere.

Shirei opened his eyes.

He found himself lying on a bed, the same bed on which his companion had rested. They were in the room where they had taken refuge upon their arrival. Every sign of the battle just fought apparently disappeared.

Ada and Havel were there, also unharmed and equally shocked. Shirei approached the window, watching the hospital courtyard come alive with the start of a new day.

Everything seemed so normal, so ordinary.

“It's morning.”