CHAPTER 11
Warriors’ Last Supper: FINAL WAR EVE
The curtain of night fell, turning the skies above Orario a deep blue. The thick gray clouds gave way to a shimmering starlight, illuminating the city and compounding the beauty of the softly glowing magic-stone lamps.
The streets were filled with raucous cries unlike anything heard before. Valletta stood atop the city walls, looking down upon Orario.
“This place was like a fuckin’ wake a few hours ago. Now it’s burstin’ with life. How’d they do it?”
Several hours had now passed since the failed invasion of district seven. The Evils’ forces had withdrawn, causing the front line to shift back to the enemy encampments on the walls themselves. The adventurers, for their part, seemed content to shore up their defenses instead of harrying the retreat, and so an impromptu ceasefire came into effect.
“Olivas, you dumbass,” Valletta muttered. “Just couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you? We were this close to breaking their hope, and now they’re startin’ to get ideas.”
Still, for all her cursing, Valletta didn’t seem too bothered by this temporary setback.
Just then, she heard the sounds of two pairs of light, bouncy footsteps behind her.
“Everyone’s having so much fun in Orario tonight, aren’t they, Vena?”
“Oh, yes, Dina! It makes we just want to…wish them all a good time!”
It was the twin leaders of Alecto Familia, the Dis Sisters, their fingers intertwined as they danced. Their innocent smiles belied the oozing malice that slipped through the cracks in their seemingly compassionate words.
““Hey, Valletta?”” the two said in deviously innocent tones. ““Are we allowed to give them our scarlet bouquet?””
Valletta always found the twins a pain to work with. “Haven’t you been listening to me?” she said. “They’re crazy, those adventurers. The more we pointlessly torment them, the stronger they’ll grow. Besides, if you give away our location, then Finn’s spear’ll come out of the sky and nail ya.”
““That’s scary!””
The two girls did a complete about-face, trembling in fear at Valletta’s suggestion. They may have been broken, but they weren’t stupid. The top adventurers of Freya Familia had been locked in combat for a few days now, and while the twins had been eager to interfere—especially to get at Hegni and Hedin—they had been scared off each time by a contingent of powerful Einherjar, eyes sparkling, and instructed not to obstruct the “holy ritual.”
So instead, the two imps contented themselves with enjoying the ongoing humiliation from a distance. It wouldn’t do for them to suffer an injury as a result of a casual skirmish and be unable to hold their knife and fork (meaning their sword and staff, respectively) when the coveted dessert arrived.
Valletta thought similarly, though the object of her obsession was, of course, Finn. Still, you couldn’t catch her admitting an affinity with these broken sisters. She would sooner deny they breathed the same air or walked the same earth. Instead, she made a derisive snort at their words.
“You never can predict which way this city will go,” came a voice as an older yet well-built animal man ascended the steps from the market district. “For all our trickery, there is no substitute for a purebred first-class adventurer. I bring shame upon the name of my mistress, Apate.”
“Basram,” said Valletta. “How goes the spirit warrior biz?”
Basram answered while waving the ringed staff in his hand.
“Two more days, and everything will be ready. Ingenious though they are, the spirit warriors are not without caveats, one of which is that such a large force requires regular tuning.”
The spirit warriors that had been so effective against Freya Familia were Apate Familia’s secret weapon. However, they needed adjusting after every battle by a team of highly skilled mages and hexers. Otherwise, the adventurer’s physical body and the spirit it was infused with would begin to reject each other, leading to mental disturbances, physical breakdown of the flesh, and eventually, complete loss of control. At that point, even Basram’s ringed staff would no longer be able to exert influence over them.
Basram’s words, that there was no substitute for a purebred first-class adventurer, rang true. No amount of trickery could reproduce their power without running into issues.
“As long as they’re ready to go, I don’t care,” sneered Valletta. “All we need to do to stamp out this new hope is to have ourselves another night like before… Not to mention our god’s special plan.”
It was Basram’s spirit warriors that formed the backbone of the Evils’ elite forces. Without them, Valletta and the other Evils were unable to initiate any large-scale maneuvers. That was why any engagements had been mostly limited to skirmishes until now.
Just as Finn had predicted, they were waiting for the opportunity to act.
It was at this point, as Valletta rested one foot on the battlements, gazing down at the city below, that Vito appeared, his bloodred hair quivering in the wind.
“We sure did underestimate this Astrea Familia,” he said. “And here I thought Loki and Freya were the only serious threats this city had to offer.”
All the top Evils executives had now gathered, save for Olivas, who was still recovering.
“To think these girls could reignite the city’s hope with their justice! Oh, they must surely be chosen by fate!”
The man threw up his arms as if cheering on the heroes of a children’s fairy tale. Valletta shot him a wicked glare and spat at her feet.
“Wipe off that smarmy-ass grin, Faceless. We wouldn’t be in this mess if you and your dumbass god hadn’t slinked off somewhere by yourselves. I’m expectin’ a full apology from the both of you. Where is he anyway?”
His gaze as prickly as a needle, Vito didn’t stop smiling as he answered.
“I’m afraid,” he said, “my god has already departed.”
Opening one eye a hair’s breadth, he twisted his lips into a gentle smile.
“To usher in this land’s demise, as the harbinger of absolute evil.”
A two-story tavern in the center of town was one of many buildings to open its doors to citizens unhoused in the aftermath of the Great Conflict. Today, the light shone in through the windows, and a merry atmosphere filled the air.
“Munch munch, glug, glug. Ahhh, what a meal! That’ll bring a guy back to life, that will!”
A human man who was enjoying the generous helpings of food and drink happened to be the very same ne’er-do-well who had stood up for Lyu and protected her from Olivas’s fireball.
“I can believe it, seeing you,” said Lyu, wearing her mask. “I don’t know how you’re still alive. I did what I could to save you, but it’s still a miracle…”
Whatever blood the man had lost was quickly being replenished by the man’s astonishing eating speed. Alize, sitting right next to Lyu, spoke up.
“You should have seen Leon!” she said, looking like a proud parent for some reason. “‘Ardee let him go so he could protect me!’ she was saying. ‘I can’t let him die!’ But yeah, apart from maybe Asfi, you were the most badly injured by far. It was touch and go for a while.”
The man stopped eating and wiped his mouth on his arm before proudly presenting the armor he was wearing. It was still black with scorch marks.
“Heh-heh-heh. That’s why I always wear this armor here! Upper-class adventurers get the niftiest things, I tell ya!”
Lyu narrowed her eyes in immediate response to that remark.
“There’s no way a pickpocket like you could afford an upper-class adventurer’s equipment. You wouldn’t happen to have stolen it, would you?”
The man froze, his thievery exposed.
“Uhh… I… I’ll give it back! I swear! I’ll get it fixed and apologize to the familia, just don’t toss me in the clink!”
Lyu paused. Beneath her mask, she cracked a smile.
“…Very well,” she said at last. “I’ll trust you, then. If you are willing to make amends, then I shall look the other way.”
“Wait, did I just hear that right?” asked Alize. “Didn’t you always use to say that no bad deed ought to go unpunished?”
Now that she mentioned it, Lyu had changed. But it was surely a change for the better. Because thanks to her friend, she now knew how important it was not to get caught up on one kind of justice, but instead to listen, to understand, and to keep interrogating her own beliefs.
“It’s just…Ardee taught me that sometimes you have to be willing to forgive,” she said. “…Wait, what’s that? Why do you have such a grin on your face?”
“I’m just so happy, Leon! You’re finally growing up! Look at you, all mature and stuff! Makes me wanna give you a hug! C’mere!”
With that, Alize leaped at Lyu from the side and wrapped her arms around her. Their soft cheeks touched, and Lyu’s turned a bright shade of pink.
“A-Alize?! G-get off me! You can’t do that when all these people are watching! …Eep! Stop nuzzling my ear!”
The man chuckled at the sight of these two followers of justice, laughing and frolicking as young girls should—even if one of them was remarkably more eager than the other.
“Well, er…” he said all of a sudden, rubbing the underside of his nose. “I don’t mean to make a big deal of it or nothin’ but…I guess I could try not stealin’ stuff no more.”
His nervousness and embarrassment slowly gave way to determination. As if a weight had been taken off his mind, the man smiled.
“I’ll try my hand at bein’ an honest man,” he said. “It’s the least I could do for that kid watchin’ over me.”
“I’m sure Ardee would be overjoyed to hear that,” said Alize, beaming, and even Lyu offered a smile.
“Thank you,” she said. “For protecting me…and for remembering her.”
The three of them shared a smile, and Lyu sank into contemplation. It was Ardee who had allowed this to happen, and although she wasn’t here anymore, Lyu felt proud to have called her a friend.
Justice would always go on. Ardee had passed hers to Lyu and this man, and now it was theirs to carry.
At last, the man, perhaps embarrassed, said, “Gotta go take a piss,” and excused himself. Lyu couldn’t help but smile watching him go, envisioning the justice that walked alongside him.
“Sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is a lovely conversation,” said Kaguya, approaching the table with a bottle of rice wine in her hand, “but…are you sure we can afford this luxurious feast?”
The girl’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She looked around at the other patrons of the bar. There were regular townspeople and adventurers both, all enjoying copious servings of food and booze. It was like a banquet, and those who had been exhausting themselves day after day found their energy steadily returning.
Some of the residents were thanking the adventurers profusely, while others were tearfully apologizing. Among them, Kaguya spotted the young man who had thrown stones, and Leah’s mother. The two of them were on their knees, begging forgiveness from the other Astrea Familia girls, some of whom were trying their very best to look angry rather than amused.
Kaguya smiled, but it wasn’t enough to dispel her well-grounded fear.
“I know everybody’s feeling positive again after last night,” she said, “but isn’t this a bit much? We are still fighting a war, you know. Where are all these supplies coming from?”
“You know what? I don’t know, either!!” chirped Alize, puffing out her modest chest.
“You’re the captain, you’re supposed to know these things,” sighed Lyu. “I heard it was Hermes Familia that gathered it all.”
She shifted her gaze over to a nearby table, where Falgar was sinking his fangs into a piece of roast meat. He noticed her watching him and smiled back.
“Ah, don’t worry about that,” he said. “The things we gathered from the shopping district at Asfi’s request are still in storage. This is something else.”
Then the young war tiger looked out the window, at the trading-houses outside, and shrugged.
“This is something our god scrounged up from who-knows-where.”
“Man, I sure am tired! Day after day of hauling crates into the city through Ouranos’s secret tunnels!”
Blissfully unaware of his follower’s conversation, Hermes was at that very moment on the second floor of a trading-house, speaking of his troubles to someone else.
“Transporting food and supplies from Demeter’s secret storehouse… I’ve handled a lot of unpleasant jobs in my time, but this might have been the most tedious of them all!”
“Thank you, Hermes. But are you sure the Evils occupying the walls did not see you?”
His conversation partner was none other than Astrea.
“No worries there,” Hermes replied, placing his hand theatrically on his chest. “The only ones who went in and out of that secret route through the Beor Mountain Range were me, Laurier, and a few of the other lower-class adventurers. We were extra careful not to attract any attention. In fact, it’s because there were so few of us that it took so long for us to finish bringing it all in.”
The Hermes Familia information network was not restricted to the walls of the Labyrinth City but extended beyond as well. The Guild gave this neutral party special permission to leave and enter the city as they wished, and they nearly always had agents operating in foreign lands. These tunnels were the reason Hermes Familia could operate with the same speed and secrecy, even when the city was under siege.
“For the same reason,” Hermes went on, “I’m afraid it wasn’t possible to bring in any reinforcements that way. Sorry about that.”
“Not at all. That’s more than enough,” replied Astrea, shaking her head. “Thanks to you, we have food, medicine, and supplies for all of our children.”
The supply situation in Orario was dire enough that it had Finn and the others at high command scratching their heads for some time now. Solving this problem had the potential to flip allied morale in an instant.
“Soon everyone will have the energy to fight again. Thank you so much, Hermes.”
“Hey, as long as you’re happy, Astrea. Speaking of which…”
Hermes straightened his back and adopted a serious tone.
“Could I trouble you for a reward, perhaps?”
“A reward?”
Astrea tilted her head. A beat passed.
“Mommy Astreaaa!! I worked so hard for you!”
Hermes seemed to regress to childhood, and he leaped into Astrea’s arms with all his might. But the goddess’s eyes simply widened in surprise for a moment before she effortlessly stepped aside.
The goddess of justice was no less agile or dexterous than Hermes. The sword and the scales were both her weapons, and meting out judgment was another thing she presided over, so she was by no means ignorant the ways of combat.
However, this was not enough to dissuade Hermes.
“Please, please, please, Astrea! Let me lie in your lap! Pat my head and call me a good boy!”
The overenthusiastic god was insistent on taking a trip to ga-ga land, and Astrea was running out of ideas for how to deal with him when…
“Hmph!”
“Guh!!”
A crushing blow caught Hermes by surprise.
“Stay away from Lady Astrea, or I’ll slap you silly!”
“You just did!”
It was Asfi, her cheeks red with indignation. Hermes rolled along the floor until he collided with the wall, and when he looked up, he saw the blue-haired girl striding toward him.
“Where have you been all this time anyway?! You had me worried sick, disappearing without a word! Take this! And this!”
“I’m sorry, Asfi! I’m sorry! No—wait—stop—not the face! Not my beautiful face! You’re beating it all out of shape!”
The heavy blows steadily chipped away at Hermes’s vitality, and it was only after Astrea stepped in, saying, “Asfi, I think that’s enough…” that they finally stopped.
Even then, Asfi continued to pant heavily like a raging bull.
Hermes rose unsteadily to his feet. He swept his hat off the floor, brushed the dust off it, and adopted a more serious attitude.
“Look, it’s just…I needed you guys to stay in the city and fight. I didn’t think it was a good idea to burden you with knowledge you didn’t need. For what it’s worth, I feel awful, you know, for not being there when you needed me.”
The god gave a guilty smile and patted his follower on the head, but Asfi was unconvinced by this display.
“Don’t do that,” replied Asfi, rosy-cheeked for a different reason this time, “and don’t pretend you thought about me at all.”
“I did! Look, after this is all over, let’s all go pay Lydis and the other fallen children a visit.”
At these words, Asfi clammed up. She looked down, hiding her misty eyes, before replying, “…Fine.”
“Get a room, you two. Geez, is it steamy in here, or is it just you?”
At that moment, who should walk in with blatant disregard for the mood but Lyra.
“W-w-w-we weren’t…!” stammered Asfi, her voice breaking. “I mean, I—I—I wasn’t…!”
But Lyra had no interest in teasing the girl any further and simply stated what she had come for.
“I went to Finn and asked him about that Hera Familia woman. I need you to make me a magic item, Perseus.”
A cunning smile appeared on her lips. The two conquerors stood unmatched by any in Orario, but Lyra was nothing if not a strategic thinker. Through fair means or foul, she would even the odds as best she could.
A look of surprise crossed Asfi’s face, before quickly giving way to despondency.
“I’m already handling a large order of earrings from Braver…” she said.
“Yeah, that’s not going to be enough,” Lyra chirruped back. “But I told my plan to Finn, and he agreed. So hop to it, item maker.”
“I can’t just churn them out, you know! And I bet you’ve got something extravagant in mind, too! I am still injured, you know!”
“Oh, just pull a few all-nighters and you’ll be fine. I hear you got some armor that’ll make a good starting point. Me and some of the mages’ll help you out, so don’t worry about it!”
Lyra grinned and began ushering Asfi away, ignoring her cries of “Hey!” and “Stop pushing!” Eventually, her screams disappeared down the hallway. A short moment passed before either of the gods spoke.
“…Hermes. I met with Erebus.”
This came from Astrea.
“I heard,” replied Hermes, “how you went off by yourself behind enemy lines. I almost fainted when they told me.”
As soon as the two gods began speaking, the tension in the air spiked. His expression, like hers, was solemn and divine.
“So?” he said. “How was he?”
“He hasn’t changed a bit. He’s just like he was back in the heavens. All he wants is to destroy Orario, nothing else.”
Upon hearing that, Hermes closed his eyes. He looked like a wise old sage who had seen it all before and was weary of it.
“The god of the underworld, huh? I won’t deny he’s similar in mind to Loki and myself, but I never thought he’d join up with the Evils and work against us.”
Or perhaps, his was the look of a concerned friend.
“Is this really what you want, Erebus? Can we no longer share a drink together…like old times?”
“Hey, sorry I’m late.”
Far beneath the Labyrinth City, in the midst of the blackest gloom, two evil gods spoke face-to-face.
“Enough games, Erebus. You nearly died out there.”
The one who voiced his concerns was a dark-skinned male god with short, crimson hair, built as sturdily as the strongest adventurer.
“You have invited ruin upon the familias of myself and of Thanatos. How do you intend to right this wrong?”
“I’m sorry about that, I really am,” came Erebus’s flippant reply. “Honestly, I feel terrible. So how go things on your end?”
The evil god clicked his tongue, wanting to grill Erebus further on the issue but knowing it to be a pointless endeavor. Instead, he answered the other god’s question.
“It’s gone well,” he replied. “Sickeningly well. It’s on its way as we speak.”
Here the flame-haired god walked past Erebus, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“My part in this is done,” he said. “Figure the rest out yourself.”
“Oh, I will,” replied Erebus. “Thank you, Rudra.”
He watched as he whose name meant “the most frightening one” departed with his terrified followers in tow. Scorch marks marred Erebus’s clothes where the god had touched him.
Then, Erebus turned and resumed walking forward, into the depths of the ink-black gloom. His footsteps echoed as he went.
“It’s time for the final movement,” he said. “The beginning of the end, Orario.”
The dawn following Olivas’s defeat signaled the fifth of the Seven Days of Death was starting. Once again, ashen clouds gathered overhead, as if marking an end to the temporary cease-fire.
However, unlike before, the city was silent. For once, the day saw no intermittent skirmishes with the cultists. For the guards who kept a vigilant eye on the city walls, watching for enemy movement, it was almost disappointingly calm.
However, this calm did nothing to abate the tension the city’s inhabitants felt. An eerie hush lay over the entire city. Gareth stood in Central Park, glaring up at the city walls that loomed in the distance. Many adventurers were stationed here, as were the citizens who had lost their homes.
“You’ve been quiet, Evils,” he said, cracking his neck. “Ever since last night, we haven’t heard a peep out of you.”
“Have they…given up?” came the small voice belonging to Aiz. She tilted her head in inquiry.
“Of course not,” said Riveria. “They’re just watching us. They still have full control of the city walls.”
The high elf looked around at the walls before closing her eyes and focusing solely on the sound coming into her long, pointed ears.
“If anything,” she said, “most of the noise is coming from outside the city.”
“Yes, they’re getting ready,” said Gareth. “There’s a storm on the way; that’s for sure.”
As the seasoned first-class adventurers conferred, the inexperienced Aiz seemed unable to follow. Riveria opened her eyes and spoke.
“Aiz,” she said. “Get ready.”
“Ready?”
“Yes. The final battle approaches.”
She looked up to the sky, as if addressing her words to everyone in the city.
“Whatever you can do, whatever there is left to do, make sure it’s done.”
Over at the Astrea Familia home, Stardust Garden, a single woman approached the door of the mansion and knocked.
“Excuse me,” she called out, “is Leon here?”
Noin led her into the main parlor, where Lyu’s face lit up with surprise upon seeing her.
“Shakti?”
Lyu immediately felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she recalled their last conversation.
“If we are to weather this crisis, we need to use everything at our disposal…even her. That is my justice.”
“I don’t believe you… You’re lying! That can’t be true! It’s unacceptable!”
Lyu had refused to give her a fair chance, and instead screamed and denounced Shakti like a child having a temper tantrum.
This is awkward… I don’t feel that way anymore, but I still said all those mean things to her…
But as she was meekly avoiding her gaze, wondering why Shakti had come here, the woman herself walked up to her.
“Here, Leon, take this,” she said.
“What? Is this…a holy tree branch?!”
Lyu looked up at her, amazed, and Shakti nodded.
“From Lyumilua Forest, where you were born. They were among those black-market goods we confiscated. Then the war started, and there was never a good chance to return them to you…so I’m doing it now.”
Lyu was aware of Ganesha Familia’s investigation just prior to the Great Conflict. It was Ardee herself who had told her about it.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be able to return them to your village,” said Shakti, “so will you take them instead?”
Lyu faltered at Shakti’s offer. “Me? B-but I abandoned that place. I don’t have the right to—”
“Ardee wanted you to have them.”
“!!”
It was like she’d known what the girl was going to say, and Shakti had come prepared to pass on her little sister’s will. Lyu’s eyes went wide. In her head, a memory played of a sunset street. Of a kindhearted friend who only wanted to see her smile.
“It’s not meant to be a memento or anything like that,” said Shakti. “It’s just…what she would have wanted.”
Lyu was silent. Not because she was wondering whether or not to accept, but because she was trying to keep the emotion from creeping into her voice.
“…Thank you,” she said at last, and she reached out and took the offering. The branch glowed, as if in recognition of the link between the girl and her home soil.
“That was all I came for,” said Shakti. “Good-bye for now.”
With that, the woman turned to leave. But Lyu stood up and followed. In the hallway, she shouted after her.
“Shakti! I’m sorry about what I said! I was only thinking about myself, I’m sorry! Nobody’s suffered more than you have…nobody!”
Shakti stood and listened to Lyu’s apology, and when she was done, she looked over her shoulder and smiled.
“It’s okay, Leon. You were standing up for her that day. It made me happy.”
Shakti stared out into the distance through the hallway windows. Her swaying bangs hid her eyes.
“Now,” she said, “I can finally go see her.”
And this time, she left. Lyu followed her now-absent gaze and looked out of the window. In the west, the sun was setting, lighting up the ashen clouds and casting an orange glow across the city.
“Ardee. I won’t forget what you taught me. I’ll treasure everything you left me.”
Her fingers tightened around the branch of the holy tree. She thought of the girl’s sword, which Lyu had retrieved and now lay in her possession. It was the justice that girl had left behind to which Lyu dedicated her determined oath.
“I’ll use it all…to fight.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come here sooner.”
Only a few minutes after leaving Stardust Garden, Shakti stood amid a sea of graves. Simple graves, marked only by broken swords or wooden sticks. This was the makeshift cemetery where all those who had lost their lives in the Evils’ attacks were buried.
“…I didn’t want to come here,” she said. “You aren’t even sleeping there beneath the soil.”
This was the case with many of the graves. A great many only housed whatever body parts remained or simple mementos of the deceased. A part of their soul. The victims’ true bodies were either blown to oblivion or lost beneath the rubble.
“…Shakti.”
A pair of heavy footsteps stopped behind her. Shakti answered the presence without turning around.
“I wished to grieve alone, Ganesha,” she said. “I thought I told you that.”
Ganesha spoke in an oddly subdued voice.
“Will you not cry?”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Then I will!!”
“…What?”
“OOOOOOOHHH!! ARDEEEEEEEEEEE!!”
The god’s silence lasted all of two lines. Shakti spun around to see him bawling his eyes out.
“MY PRECIOUS FOLLOWER!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!”
Tears and mucus streamed down his elephant mask. Manly tears and manly mucus, of course. Shakti just stood there and stared, mouth half-agape, before finally shaking herself back to her senses.
“S-stop it, Ganesha! Get a hold of yourself! If anyone sees you, it’ll bring shame to our familia!”
“No! Never!”
Shakti attempted to reach out to him, but the god deftly stepped out of her reach.
“Ardee!” he cried. “I loved your kindness, your sweetness, and the way you’d giggle like a rascal whenever you knew you’d done something wrong! I loved the way you treated everyone with kindness and sincerity and how you brightened up our lives! I miss you so MUUUUUUUUUCH!!”
There was no end to his words, his feelings. Everything he had kept bottled up, he now spilled with pride.
“ARDEEEEEEEEEEEE!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”
The god wept on Shakti’s behalf. He howled into the sky. These were his honest tears, hot enough with emotion they could melt the iciest glacier. Shakti watched him in shock for a moment, before smiling.
“You really are a noisy god,” she said.
Then, after a moment, she looked up to the sky.
“Ganesha, the rain’s coming.”
“AAAAAAAAA—Oh? Rain?”
At her words, Ganesha lifted his gaze as well. Thin red clouds floated in the evening sky.
“I don’t see any rain. There’s a few clouds, but—”
Then, Ganesha stopped speaking.
“No, you’re right,” he said. “Looks like a shower’s on its way.”
Courteously, he turned his back to Shakti.
“Wouldn’t be surprised if we got a little wet, standing out here like this.”
Behind him, nobody saw the rain that rolled down Shakti’s cheeks.
Time flowed on. A mournful silence settled over the city as the citizens carried out funeral after funeral. There simply weren’t enough healers to stop the critically injured from becoming the dead.
The ashen-haired witch would likely welcome this silence, but to her dismay, it could not last forever. Twilight became moonlight, and night fell once again, ushering in the sixth of the Seven Days of Death.
“………”
The hall-clock standing against the wall steadily carved away time. In the war room at Guild Headquarters, Finn and Loki sat in their chairs, eyes closed, surrendering themselves to the passage of time.
At last, Finn opened his bright blue eyes and spoke.
“They’re here.”
As if summoned by his very words, a pair of footsteps raced up the hallway, and the door burst open.
“O-our scouts! They’re back with their report!” cried the flustered Guild woman, shattering the tense silence of the room. “They’ve located the target, as instructed! It’s even worse than we imagined!”
The color drained from her face as she shakily relayed their terrible findings.
“It’s on its way here, destroying everything in its path!”
This report, which Finn and Loki had been waiting so patiently for, confirmed their worst fears.
“That bastard Erebus,” spat Loki. “This is what he was after the whole time.”
“Yes,” said Finn. “It looks like our time is up.”
He stood up from his seat and began instructing the Guild employee.
“Dispatch messengers to every familia. I want all forces in Central Park by midnight tonight.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The woman disappeared down the corridor without another word. Then the prum hero made to leave the room as well.
“Where are you off to all by your lonesome, Finn?” asked Loki.
Finn’s answer was simple.
“I’m going to gather the strongest warriors we have.”
The sun was beginning to set. Off in the east, beyond the sea of clouds, the veil of night approached. Yet these fierce cries that filled the streets had known no pause.
“Rooooaaaaaaaaaghhh!!”
The boaz’s greatsword met the catman’s spear. Though the two stood bloodied and beaten, these beasts still raged.
With the Evils’ attacks had ceased, this corner of southwest Orario was the only active battlefield in the city. Here, Folkvangr was remade amid the ruins. Here, first-class adventurers engaged in ritual combat to claim each other’s lives and create the most powerful Einherjar ever seen.
“That damn cat…”
The white elf had just lost his weapon and now kneeled on the ground, clutching his arm. He grimaced through the blood spilling from his lips.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit…!!”
“““Dammiiiit!!”””
Even the Gulliver Brothers and their legendary cooperation could not compete with the boaz man’s extraordinary strength. The four of them were lying on the ground, staring skyward, unable to hide their frustration and anger.
Sitting against the rubble, the battered dark elf extended one quivering arm and dragged his beloved sword toward him.
“I lost…again…” he said, “to Ottar…and Allen, too… But this time…my regret burns like a flame, powerful enough to destroy all who stand in my way!”
Hegni took his sword in his arms, embracing a hope that even the pain of defeat could not diminish.
There were no tears to be shed—only blood. Hegni understood that. As did Hedin. As did the Gullivers and the two still fighting.
The other members of the familia stood around them, allowing no one to intrude upon this sacred space. Among them were the bare minimum number of healers necessary to allow the battle to go on. All of them watched with bated breath as Ottar and Allen fought to the last.
They didn’t have to wait much longer before the decisive moment came. Allen charged in like a chariot, while Ottar stood fast and held his greatsword out to block. The devastating collision of blows caused a thunderous crack as the earth split beneath their feet. Shock and noise reigned, and when it finally gave way to a deafening silence, it was the catman who had bent the knee.
“Ghaah…”
Seeing defeated stance, Ottar lowered his weapon.
“Allen…” he said. “Thank you.”
His voice was clear, his eyes unclouded, his anger and frustration gone. Allen, meanwhile, clenched his fists tight.
“I wasn’t…doin’ this…for you, asshole!”
“………”
“I wanted to win… I wanted to be strong!!” he said, teeth about to crack. His frustration was mirrored by the rest of his peers. Eventually, he slammed his bruised fist into the ground.
“Fuck!!”
Consumed with self-directed rage, Allen admitted his painful defeat.
Somewhere far out of sight, a pair of beautiful ears heard all, and a pair of silver eyes saw all.
Allen gave a few labored breaths and then staggered to his feet.
“Looks like you’re goin’ on ahead, Ottar. If you lose now, then don’t bother showin’ your face again, you hear?!”
“…Of course,” replied Ottar, sharpening his gaze. “Leave him to me.”
A solemn oath thus forged, Ottar turned his back on Allen and the others. His muscles gleamed like steel, forged anew by the fires of camaraderie. He stepped out of the field of rubble to see a small figure who had been watching the battle by himself.
“…Finn,” he said.
“I’m sorry it’s not Freya meeting you like this,” the figure replied, “but I’m afraid we’re short on time.”
Ottar already knew what was coming. He had known from the moment he set eyes on the blond-haired hero.
“Is it time?” he asked.
Dusk moved on and became night. The blackened veil swept over the sky, chasing the last vestiges of sunlight over the western horizon.
“Yes,” replied Finn. “Time for the final showdown.”
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