Rachel: Oh, Legend! Meg... What are we going to do?
Meg: I... I don't know...
Sven: I'm sorry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I wish there was more I could do...
They were all in very uncomfortable silence for a moment. Sven then came up with a way he could at least try to find a solution to their predicament.
Sven: I'll go see if I can find anything of use in the Library!
He ran out of the room.
Rachel had a tear roll down her cheek and fall on Legend's face.
Meg: Rachel...
Rachel: I wish there was something I could do. Anything! How did this happen? And why did it happen to Legend?
Meg: According to what Sven told us it would seem that the same thing has happened to many others in the city. I have a bad feeling about this...
Rachel: Legend... I don't know if you can hear me but... on the off chance that you can... you've got to fight this! Whatever it is... Fight, Legend! Come back to us!
Meg was moved by Rachel's genuine wish to help Legend. He actually did have an idea of who could be behind this unusual chain of events, but he kept it to himself. He wasn't really sure about anything.
While all this was happening, Legend opened his eyes and found that he wasn't in the Ancient Library or in Lybia. It looked like he was in a place he knew well... A place extremely familiar, but he couldn't manage to place where it was or how he knew it. There was a certain heaviness to him... his head felt strange and notoriously confused.
When he looked ahead, he could see a corridor and a metal platform extending in front of the corridor. Several meters in front of him there was a young man throwing food at a group of birds that gathered on that metal platform. This scene brought back memories since it was something he would do often back in his homeworld.
Legend: {I used to do that a long time ago... Feed the pigeons that came to visit... I remember naming all of them, and we all had an awesome time together... it was... really... nice... Wait... Hold on... How do I remember this? I never fed any pigeons... these aren't my memories... what is this? And why does it still feel so... familiar?}
Legend saw the young man throwing food at the pigeons gathered there. When the food that was thrown hit the ground, though, it made an odd mushy sound... he knew for sure there was something off at that moment. Once he got closer to the scene, there was an awful stench. So much so that he later wished he hadn't gotten closer at all. He saw up close what it was that the young man was throwing at the birds.
This young man was throwing brain matter. He was peeling off the chunks of brain matter and then shredding them in his fingers before throwing them in front of the pigeons, all taken from the open skull of what looked like Legend's head. The terror Legend felt once he saw the image paralyzed him completely. Looking closer at the birds he realized that they were actually mimics. All of them started transforming into smaller, disfigured versions of Legend. They all started to walk toward him, really awkwardly, very much the same way how zombies would walk.
The young man that was holding Legend's severed head and feeding the mimic birds with shredded brain matter turned around and looked at Legend. When Legend saw his face, he remembered. The moment he had arrived at the Arkana his memories were jumbled up somehow. But now he could remember everything. The face he saw was a disfigured version of Jonas. It spoke:
Jonas: You thought you could just forget all about me, didn't you? - he said in a sinister-sounding voice.
Legend's heart rate was extremely elevated. He was sweating and could hardly breathe. It appeared as though he was having a panic attack.
Legend: B-b-but I AM you... Aren't I?
Jonas: You stole my soul. Now... I WILL STEAL YOURS! - He put his hands on Legend and there was an energy transference in the process. Light was flowing from Legend's body to the disfigured Jonas'.
As this transpired, Legend was shown alone floating in a dark green space, screaming his lungs out. He was seemingly experiencing an overwhelming amount of pain. Over him was a shadow that was growing slowly and steadily, feeding on him.
Back at the Ancient Library, Richard and Nimrod returned with one of the beast men captured. He was tied up with rope, and Nimrod was carrying him. He threw him down in the corner of the room intentionally trying to hurt him.
Nimrod: I'm back, baby! And I helped everyone, just as you asked!
Richard: Did you, now? - Richard asked while looking at Nimrod in disgust.
~ About 30 minutes earlier~
A monster was attacking a group of people on the street. Richard cut through four monsters to get to them quickly, cover them from monster attacks and dispatch the threat. While this was going on, Nimrod saw that one of the citizens had dropped a bag of silver and he tried to casually pick it up (no one realized this but Richard, who was quietly outraged when he saw what he did).
Richard: Citizen! Your bag of silver was being kept safe by my comrade. It is now safe to retrieve it.
Man: Thank you so much! You guys are the best! - He took the bag of silver right out of Nimrod's hands and went away quickly.
Nimrod wasn't very happy about how that turned out. He had the frown to prove it.
~Now~
Nimrod: Hey, that guy was just asking to be robbed! Who drops a bag of silver in the middle of a crisis like this?
Richard: I realize the kind of man you truly are now... You lack honor. I will be watching you closely, Nimrod. If you mess up again, I will personally lock you up in the deepest, darkest dungeon and throw away the key!
Nimrod looked at Richard with scorn and defiance. Richard didn't like him one bit.
Meg: Who's this?
Meg was asking about the person Nimrod had brought to the room that was tied up with ropes.
Nimrod: Some freak we caught rambling on and on about some Grand Master... We thought we'd squeeze whatever he knows out of him... so far he's only been spouting nonsense.
Frog-beast: I'm not a threat to you! Please don't hurt me! *ribbit*
Richard: If you tell us everything we need to know, there will be no need for violence.
Nimrod: Please don't speak... I love violence! - Nimrod said with a devilish grin on his face and knocking his fists together.
Frog-beast: I worship the Grand Master. We are a group of faithful believers that await his second coming. He is the one true god! *ribbit*
Meg: What do you mean by second coming?
Nimrod: Ha! Told ya he was a freak!
Meg: Let him speak!
Frog-beast: *ribbit* The second coming of the one known as the Spirit Fiend or the Grand Master! He needs to absorb the life force of living beings to regain a physical form in this dimension. We chose this city because of its population. Many souls for the Grand Master to feed on! *ribbit*
Nimrod: Ugh! And my mom said I was disgusting... You disgust me!
Rachel: How do we stop him? How do we save the people that can't wake up?
Frog-beast: Stop him? There is no stopping him! They will perish, so the Grand Master may live! Hahahahahahahaha... *ribbit* Hahahahahahahaha--
Nimrod knocked him out cold with one well-placed punch.
Nimrod: You can thank me later.
Rachel: After our encounter with that evil wizard, I don't believe this to be a coincidence...
Richard: She is right... Other dimensions... Consuming of life force... Evil entities poised to destroy the Arkana... What hope have we of prevailing?
Meg: I know it all looks grim... But let's not abandon hope. Otherwise, we're truly doomed.
As Meg spoke these words, the hooded man in robes with white hair walked into the room. Meg recognized him from before... (The moment when they had just met Richard, and he and Legend fought to test strengths).
Meg: This is the man that's been shadowing us since Miranda!
Richard: Is that so? Who are you? State your business! - Richard had unsheathed his sword while he spoke these words sternly. He pointed his sword at him but was still adopting a defensive position. He had no idea what this man could do or what he was capable of.
The mysterious man greeted everyone by saying in a mild-mannered voice:
Mysterious man: Greetings, little ones. Do not fret... For I come with glad tidings that will surely cheer you all up. I assure you, it would be wise for you to listen with utmost attention… There is a way for you to save your friend lying here. Listen to what I have to say, and you may save not only him but everyone else in the city as well.