“Joanne!” Someone yelled. As Kyrie's heart pounded in his chest, he strained his eyes to locate the source of the voice that echoed through the air. It was Lowe, perched atop the red brick lighthouse at the northwestern shore of Lake Tuoni. Lowe seemed to celebrate something as he sang victory while holding the Luminescence high above his head.
"You only have one remaining clone," Lowe's voice boomed, carrying across the frozen lake. "I've killed them all!"
Kyrie's gaze shifted toward the hole in the ice, where Steve had sunk. To his surprise, a fiery-haired woman stood next to it, Alice hovering above. The name "Joanne" slipped from Hatta's lips, his voice laced with disbelief. Kyrie frowned.
In a sudden outburst, Alice's cry of despair pierced the air, reaching Kyrie's ears as if he stood right beside her. As if summoned by the anguish, hundreds of tree roots burst forth from the ground, their twisted forms lashing out toward Kyrie and his companions.
Aloqua and Naga swiftly intercepted the attacking roots, Aloqua’s mastery over Thaumaturgy allowing her to cripple the relentless assault. Aran scooped up the unconscious teenage girl and carried her close. Meanwhile, Kyrie and Hatta swung their weapons, desperately slashing at the encroaching roots.
A shiver ran down Kyrie's spine as the snowy ground beneath them cracked. It split apart, and a colossal tree adorned with leaves of orange and yellow emerged. Stretching towards the sky, its towering height exceeded a thousand feet, while its countless roots served as grotesque legs, moving it forward.
"Imus Iter!" someone shouted, and Kyrie could sense the spell casting originating from the redhead woman beneath Alice.
A strange force seized Kyrie and his allies, constricting their movements. It felt as if an invisible current coursed through his body, shocking him with each breath. Suddenly, figures plummeted from above, crashing onto the group with a resounding thud.
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Damon, battered and bruised, coughed on top of the chaotic pile of people, his body covered in dust and debris. Kyrie guessed that Damon must have been trapped in the Jäävarasto, crushed by the collapsing building. Arashi, too, bore the scars of his recent ordeal, a deep gash marring his bloodied shoulder as much as dust and debris covered his whole self. Steve, soaked from his icy plunge, gasped for air, his body trembling violently. The grunting Lowe, who didn’t have any apparent injury, managed to rise to his feet. And then Kyrie noticed an unfamiliar face, seemingly unharmed, save for the complaint of back pain after the fall.
"Xia?" Alouqua's voice trembled with concern as she looked at the newcomer.
"Snip?" Naga interjected.
Confusion clouded the newcomer's eyes. "What's going on here?" Snip asked, as he anxiously shifted his gaze around him.
"Someone cast a spell to bring you all here," Alouqua explained, hurrying to assist Arashi and Damon, offering them a red apple each. Turning to Kyrie, she handed him a canned drink, instructing him to give it to Steve. As Kyrie approached Steve, he noticed the change taking place almost immediately. Steve's body temperature began to rise, the violent shivering subsiding.
Amidst the confusion, Naga's voice rang out, filled with concern. "Where are Ravi and Bietka?" But the children were nowhere to be found.
Leo and Anna's absence weighed heavily on Hatta's mind, as he interrupted, his voice laden with worry. "Leo? Anna?"
A maniacal laughter coming from the redhead woman, Joanne, shattered the tension in the air. Her delirious elation echoed through the frozen landscape as she closed the distance, standing mere feet away from the group in the blink of an eye. With a sinister grin, she flaunted four rings on her left hand.
Aloqua's fury knew no bounds, her usual calm facade crumbling as she growled like a rabid beast. "What did you do to my children?"
“You fucking bitch, I’ll kill you!” Kyrie propelled himself forward to block Alouqua's path as her rage surged, while Naga embraced her at her torso, preventing her from charging at Joanne. Alouqua's scowl mirrored the intensity of her emotions.
Meanwhile, the colossal tree that had stood at the lakeside began to move once more. The ground trembled beneath their feet as it submerged half its height into the icy waters of the lake, progressing slowly towards Alice.
As the tension escalated and their fate teetered on the edge, Kyrie couldn't help but feel his empty stomach burning.