Faya: Are you okay? What happened? Did the doctor do something?

Virno: No, just-

Faya: You can trust me. Please-

Virno: JUST GO! I gotta deal with this by myself, alright? We'll talk another day. Just... Not today.

Reliving the final words he spoke to Faya, Virno dreamt of his last interactions with those that were closest to him...

Rel: Enough...! Let Ballo handle it before we all die... Please...

Virno: Sorry... But I can't back down. I fucked up, so I'm going to help Ballo in any way I can... But you should get out of here. Take these girls and go. Save yourselves.

Rel. He wondered what happened to him after the battle against Lacerbus. And, of course...

Anya: I don't know what I'd do without you...

Virno: ... It's fine, don't worry. And I did tell you that we didn't need him at all, didn't I...? We'll manage on our own.

Anya, his mother. If only he had known what his final moments with them would have been like, he would no doubt have chosen different words... Well.

Virno: Too late.

He stands at the cradle's river, waving his mother's building goodbye as she drifts off into her next life.

Virno: Sorry, mother... I couldn't be there in the end.

He turns his back on Rel, battle wounded and about to die.

Virno: Sorry, Rel... Turns out I did more harm than good to you, when all is said and done.

He witnesses Faya plunging into a river of poison, tears streaming down her face.

Virno: Sorry, Faya... I couldn't protect you. If only I was stronger... Barr wouldn't have poisoned you.

Jargen and Punjo drink themselves to death, yet instead of alcohol, they were chugging down gallons of blood, from all the people they killed. Their eyes were bloodshot and they squealed like pigs, as they ceaselessly drank from bottomless tankards.

Virno: Jargen and Punjo... Sorry. Sorry for having pushed you back into your violent ways, after you had cast them aside for peaceful lives.

Sadducee and Ballo laugh as they walk down a tunnel, their arms over each other's backs as they trade tales of adventures in their times in Eclipse. At the end of the tunnel was a blinding white light.

Virno: Sorry Sadducee. Sorry Ballo. You both died so I could live. If only I'd taken your advice more seriously...

Finally, he opens a creaking wooden door leading into an office... Only to find his father hanging from the ceiling.

Virno: Sorry, father. I wish I... Wish I...

Tears began welling up in his eyes. Try as he might to blame himself, he was having a hard time coming up with something to shoulder. Something that could link him to his father's death... But even he was having a hard time fabricating something.

Virno: Why...? WHAT'S THE GODDAMN POINT?!

It was the middle of the night. He wakes up, sweating.

Virno: What does any of that matter, now...?!

Getting up from the bed, Virno stumbles his way around the house, ripping any sheets and cloth he could find around the house, gathering everything on top of his bed.

Virno: I keep looking to the past, crying over all my fuck ups... But in the end, nothing ever changes.

He finds some charcoal in one of the old drawer, after blindly grasping inside it for a while. He throws it next to the pile of torn fabrics.

Virno: And nothing ever will, now. There's only one way I can protect them...

With all of the supplies gathered, Virno sits by the bed, propping the sword up against it, blade pointing upward. With a decisive motion, he raises his hand then brings it down mercilessly into the tip of the blade. The weapon carves into his flesh, stabbing into half of his palm. After drawing blood, Virno grabs the nearby mask of the Lion.

Virno: If they are to live peaceful lives...

Smearing his blood around the mask, its grey shade slowly becomes tinted with an uneven coat of red.

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Virno: If they are to live normal lives...

He takes a long piece of torn fabric, and wraps it tightly around the mask's eye slots, creating a blindfold for it.

Virno: Then I cannot stay.

Leveraging the charcoal, he begins tinging some of the remaining fabrics with a mixture of his own blood and the darker tone of the charcoal's residue. After he was done, the fabrics were now coloured a dark brown and reddish hue. Virno started wrapping the sword using them.

Virno: Then... I must go.

With the sword now enveloped in the dirty sheets, Virno takes the remaining scraps and ties them around his body in several places, resembling an impoverished resident of the slums. He takes a large sheet and places it over his head, creating a type of hood that also doubled as a scarf. With only his face left uncovered, he puts on the Lion's mask, now dirty and modified to conceal its original appearance. Given his stature and with how dark it was outside, it wouldn't be surprising if he were mistaken for some kind of anthropomorphic man-wolf hybrid, walking down the street.

Virno: But I will return.

Leaving his home in the slums behind, Virno looks at over his shoulder briefly, before taking a deep breath and striding forwards.

Punjo: Oy... Oy!!!

Tyssa: She's moving!

Dmitri: Of c-course she is, I told you...!

Rel: Shut it...

Rel smacked Dmitri to keep him quiet. The four of them were gathered inside Faya's room, having administered the antidote to her not long ago. It seemed to have a positive effect, as the now lethargic Faya was slowly regaining her ability to move.

Rel: Well, Punjo...

Punjo smiled earnestly, tapping Rel in the back.

Punjo: Aye. Now... Now we can go.

Tyssa: Already...?

Punjo: 'Course. Kept them waiting long enough as it is... Lassie seems like she'll be fine. C'mon, let's get ourselves some treasure!

Cabdan's journal in hand, Tyssa and Punjo made their way out of the room.

Dmitri: W-wait! What about me?! Don't leave me here!

Dmitri tries standing up from the old chair he was sitting on, but Rel quickly pushes him back down.

Rel: Sit down. You're not going anywhere 'til she's made a full recovery.

Dmitri: B-but-

Rel: If you want the antidote, that's our deal. Remember?

Punjo laughs heartily.

Punjo: Ye'll be in good care, Dmitri... But I wouldn't push Rel, if I were you. Lad's got one hell of a heel.

Rel smiles, tapping his steel-heel boot on the ground as he looks at Faya.

Rel: I'm just a pushover, really. Our steel-heel expert here's the real deal...

Tyssa: Give her our regards when she wakes up, Rel. Okay?

Rel nods, smiling back at her.

Rel: 'Course. You two take care, now-

Voice from down the hall: HEY, YOU CAN'T BE HERE!

Smash. A gust of wind followed by a loud crash.

Other voice: What the hell is that thing?!

Heavy footsteps started to approach from down the hall. Rel, Punjo and Tyssa became alerted, and braced for a likely aggressive encounter.

Punjo: Darn... Better nat be one of yers, Dmitri!

Dmitri gulped in fear, as Rel's knuckles cracked behind him.

Dmitri: I s-swear I didn't call anyone! P-please!

Placing his hand on the door handle, Punjo prepared to open the door.

Punjo: I'm goin' ta see what the ruckus is all about. Be back soon...

Yet, before he could open it... The door flies off its hinges, into the corridor.

Punjo: What t-the...

A towering silhouette with a bloody Lion mask loomed over Punjo. In its sole hand, it carried something wrapped in dirty fabric. Before Punjo could gather his thoughts, the silhouette extends the wrapped item in his direction, as if asking him to take it.

Punjo: Who the heck are ye?!

The silhouette extends its arm twice in succession, further hinting that he should take it.

Virno (muffled voice): When Virno von Virtus returns... Be sure to give this back to him.

Punjo's eyes widen, as do Rel's upon hearing those words. He rushes toward the door.

Rel: V-virno? You know him?!

The silhouette stares at Rel for a good while, not knowing what to answer.

Rel: Is he... Alright...?

Rel pushes Punjo out of the way slightly, fearlessly approaching the mysterious silhouette.

Virno (muffled voice): ... Says he wants a rematch someday. A draw's no way to end a proper fight.

Rel smiles as he hears his words, grabbing whatever was in wraps with both hands. It was incredibly heavy, yet the silhouette seemed to have no trouble effortlessly carrying it with just one hand.

Rel: Then tell him to hurry up and come back. We're waiting for him!

Handing the sword over to Rel, Virno turns his back and walks back down the corridor.

Virno (muffled voice): Better work on your sword game, then. Getting beat by some newbie in your own arena... How the mighty fall.

Rel furrowed his brow, as the entity's words sounded somewhat familiar to him. He looked pensively at the floor, until he suddenly dropped the sword as his eyes widened.

Punjo: Oy, are ya good lad?!

Rel: No way...!

He rushed out the door, looking down the corridor... But there was nobody there any more.

Rel: Virno...?!

Punjo: Damn, that's heavy...!

Even Punjo seemed to struggle to pick up the sword. He joined Rel in the corridor, as Tyssa kept her eye on Dmitri and Faya.

Punjo: So... I take it ya believe that guy? Virno's still alive...?

Rel nods.

Rel: Yeah. And he's coming back someday.

Rel looks at what Punjo was carrying.

Rel: So, you got the sword after all... But... Why give it to us...?

Punjo: What's the matter, lad?

Rel's gaze meets with Punjo's.

Rel: You know, Punjo... I'm thinking of learning how to wield a sword. When you come back with rivers of coin... We should find someone who can teach us. Not just me, but the people of the slums, too. About time we learned to stand up for ourselves!

Punjo excitedly nods in agreement.

Punjo: Aye, lad! Sounds like a great plan ta me. Now, if Ye'll excuse us... We got all that coin ta find.

He hands the wrapped sword back to Rel, before calling Tyssa to join him. Rel and Tyssa trade places, passing by each other as she makes her way out of the room.

Tyssa: Take care, Rel...!

She smiles earnestly as she stops near him, instinctively waiting for something from him in return.

Rel: You too. See that everyone comes back in one piece, yeah?

Leaning the sword against a nearby wall to free up his hands, Rel opens his arms wide and gives her a goodbye hug.

Tyssa: I'll do my best!

They part ways, and Tyssa re-joins Punjo at the orphanage's garden. Some men were laughing at an injured comrade, as another berated them.

Angry man: You didn't see what we did! It was this huge monster with the face of a Lion, in a flash it wooshed 'im into the wall!

The other men kept laughing, as though they didn't believe him.

Injured man: Bah...!

Punjo and Tyssa joined them. Together, they set out to find some of Cabdan's fortune to return to the slums, in order to finally give the people a means of escaping the extreme poverty they found themselves in.