The group celebrates Victor’s victory. Victor looks up at Jayce.

Jayce: Yo, sup. That was pretty ballsy what you did there.

Jayce's eyes turns over onto the steam gauntlet: That thing is pretty sick…Where’d you get that toy from?

“Sorry about what I did to ya earlier.” – Jayce’s friendly demeanor towards Victor leaves him staring at him in visible confusion, as if he was meeting a completely different person.

Sharon comes rushing with Windie caressed in her arm to congratulate Victor. She asks if Victor was fine to which he responds he is. Sharon worryingly tends to his shattered arm. She glares at Jayce and gets up between him and Victor.

Sharon: You! Get out of here!

Jayce (irritated): Huh? Who da hell is this b*tch?

Darren stammers: H-hey now, he did help us out…

Sharon: I don’t care! I still won’t forgive him for what he did to Victor!

Sharon then turns to Tatsuo.

Sharon: Tatsuo! Now’s our chance! This is what we’ve been waiting for right!?

Tatsuo: Well now.

Tatsuo: I’m sure that Victor here has decided to forgive him ri–

“NO I DON’T!” - Victor exclaims, cutting Tatsuo off from his sentence.

Victor: This dude had his gang beat me up…For no reason at all! I don’t know if you’ve experienced it before, but it hurts a lot! I could’ve died! I’m scared of what he might do to me right now…!

At a close distance, San watches over the group collaborating with each other with a content expression. He goes to check up on Heymlir but finds that he’s missing and has fled the scene. He wonders where Heymlir has gone off and worries about him.

***

*Somewhere in an empty alley.

Heymlir is sitting on the ground, his back against a wall huffing heavily.

Heymlir: It was a good thing I was able to defend myself with what little left of power I had at the time ...I could’ve been killed….

Heymlir pauses.

Heymlir: Well...No matter...I don’t need this city anyways...I can always restart. Yes...With this power I can finally be like them.

“Like the one who asked us to create the amp. core…The elites…” - Heymlir’s mind flashbacks to a shady white haired individual with a hood covering his face, shrouded in a black cloak.

“Yes...I am finally...a blessed person…”

“That won’t be happening” - A feminine voice interjects Heymlir’s thoughts.

Heymlir looks up to see Queenie standing above him atop a house, her cloak fluttering in the wind. In the pathetic state that he was in, Heymlir didn’t sense her presence.

Heymlir: W-who are you…?!

Queenie: I am the person sent to retrieve the product.

Heymlir (stammers): Wha–..? You…?!

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His mind tracks back to Tatsuo and his friends - ‘Then who were those guys then…?!’

Heymlir quickly realizes that she’s the actual sender that came to pick up the amplifier core, as well as her true identity. He begins to sweat profusely.

Heymlir (thinking): Damn him…! So he sent her…?! The stories are true then…!

“I didn’t want to do this.” - Heymlir’s body ran fright with shivers from Queenie’s words.

“But I have to extract the core from you.”

There were no more tricks for Heymlir. He was too exhausted to muster up any strength to do anything to retaliate. He couldn’t afford to even stand up properly anymore as his legs gave in when making an attempt. His body tips over, fumbling to the ground. He clutches to his side, letting out a pained groan. His body shot with excruciating pain when he tried to tap into his powers, halting him from using it.

Realizing that this was his end, in an act of fury and desperation, Heymlir curses out to Queenie and her epithet.

“D-Damn you…!!”

The wind blows Queenie’s hood off, revealing her face with her hair blowing gracefully in the wind. Her glistening eyes resembling the luster of crystals, which coldly looks down at Heymlir.

“ICE WIIIITCH!!!”

[https://i.imgur.com/EqUFIec.png]

Queenie’s eyelids shrink down. It was all over in an instant. Blood splatters all over the floor, and his cry went silent.

Moments after the event, Queenie thinks to herself alone atop the rooftop, pondering to herself as she gazes at the scenic view of the city before her - ‘A blessing…Huh.’ She whispered to herself in a poignant voice.

***

Back to where the group is, Tatsuo has decided to invite everybody to their mansion to celebrate, a decision Sharon and Victor did not agree with. San passes on the offer though and mentions that Heymlir has gone missing.

Jayce: What the heck…That guys still ain’t done…?

San: Yeah…But you chaps can go on ahead without me. I’ll deal with this. He shouldn’t be able to do much in his condition and probably couldn’t have gone far. Plus there’s the issue about informing and dealing with the public affairs of the situation. An old man like me should be able to clean up the mess of another old man.

San and the group separate. Jayce departs to grab Punk Riot and bring them over to the mansion. Darren has little Archer wrapped up in his clothes and holsters him over his shoulder.

Darren: Alright, come on you little sack!

Archer: I’m going to put you out of commission when I’m done aging.

Darren: ...What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Tatsuo and Sharon lift Victor up to carry him back home. Sharon places Windie on top of Victor to rest on his head.

Victor: It's okay Sharon, Tatsuo himself can carry me.

Sharon: No. Let me have this moment.

The two look at Sharon confusingly.

Sharon: Despite everything that has happened...

Sharon gives off a smile: I'm really happy right now.

“What an odd thing to say considering Victor pretty much broke his body again, and the dreadful background behind us.” – Tatsuo says with the last part of his sentence referring to blood-soaked bodies littered around the town square.

Victor silently ponders to himself for a moment from hearing Sharon’s words.

Victor: Hey, Sharon. When you shot that arrow, did you shoot it thinking it’ll distract him?

Sharon: Hm? Not necessarily, no. That was actually my last arrow. I just shot it thinking that was the best chance.

Victor (flabbergasted): What?! But why?! What made you think that?!

Sharon: Because I saw you running towards Heymlir. At that time, I just thought and hoped that he’ll either let Tatsuo go, eat my arrow, or have him deal with whatever you were thinking of doing.

Victor: But…You didn’t know about my steam gauntlet, right? Unless you elves have some insane eyesight…

Sharon: Nope! How could I? I still don’t even fully understand what you did or what happened.

“I just trusted you.”

Victor’s heart fluttered hearing those words. Since being with his guildmates, Victor had always thought of himself as inferior to them, how he couldn’t measure up to them. Her flippant, yet honest response bolstered Victor’s self worth and accomplishment. His humility prevents him from completely indulging himself in her words, but he couldn’t contain his bubbly feelings.

He looks down at the ground briefly flustered. He too, perhaps understands what Sharon meant. His mouth opens wide with his teeth baring. Even with his body turning useless, this was also; a happy moment for him.

Before completely vacating the area, San turns his back to see the three guildmates proudly embracing each other on top of their shoulders. His eyes turns glazed, and a bittersweet smile forms atop his chin.

San: Now would you look at them…How nostalgic… – He says in a crisp wistful voice.

With that, the three of them return back to the mansion in arms together.

[https://i.imgur.com/0GM0mW1.png]