"Arlesk, did you know what just happened?" Upon seeing the enemies escape, Ulysses felt it was safe to ask Arlesk a question. "That was the third apostle... Capable of Erasure and Nothingness... He erased my nuclear attack like it was nothing... And since he's here, it seems like we finally have an answer to the missing history of the world." "Missing history? Wait... Does that mean he-?!" "Yes, Ulysses... He erased bits of history, and the memories of everyone involved or attempting to recover it." Ulysses felt shocked, as he finally got the answer for his country, or the world's mystery. Pantheon walked up and notice the tense atmosphere in Arlesk. "We should call it a day... After that expedition, I feel like I... No... Claude, Ulysses." He called out to the other two heroes, to which they turned their gaze to see his distraught expression. "Arlesk... You saw it right? Santuria's gilded sword is in there, and there was a letter..." Arlesk nodded, and remembered the contents of the letter to which he divulged to everyone outside. "The enemies had intended to make use of the [Hero Cards] to manipulate the heroes completely, and Quisterion's hero... Ulysses... I wonder what the contents of the deal you had with the council...?" Ulysses's expression instantly sank. He felt the fear that he would be branded as a traitor, thus starting to explain frantically. "Uhh... I was trying to fix the country, and the council appeared telling us that they know how to summon otherworlders! I had an agenda of my own! I wanted to save my country! So I used my position as a hero to make a deal to save my country by bringing you guys!" "And what did they get at the end of their deal...?" Arlesk felt betrayed that Ulysses was someone who had made a deal with the council, as he was pretty much one of the closer friends of Arlesk after they had been summoned. "I intended to pay it... With my life after Alexia gives birth... To surrender my card and my weapon..." Ulysses knelt down as he started tearing up from the intense dilemma...
Some memories from Ulysses came back to him.
"Ulysses..." Olivia's older sister, Alexia, who he was engaged to called out to him from behind. He felt guilty, as he had taken a deal with the devil. She was a direct witness to what Ulysses had done. "Who were they...? Why were they in the castle...?" She asked him for the identities of the people who just disappeared in front of them in the hallway. He turned to face Alexia and hugged her. "No matter what happens... I will save this country from destruction... Even if I have to pay for it with my life..." "Huh...? Ulysses...?" Alexia was shocked as she heard him talk about paying with his own life. "W-What do you mean? Your life?!" She started shouting, demanding for an answer. "Those men were the ones controlling where the heroic spirits go, I made a deal with them to summon otherworlders... Ones who can save us from the trouble we're facing... Olivia might end up getting engaged with Elliot... Oswald will be killed and he would assume the throne... Then he would be attacked by the imperial alliance from the east, I would fall if I allowed all of that to happen... So I had them bring in an outside factor... So that the future would change..." "B-But... Your life..." "Don't worry... I will stay with you for until my time limit has come..." Alexia couldn't accept the possibility of Ulysses dying, and thus simply just started crying, unable to support herself.
"Arlesk... Ulysses was in a position of whether his country would be destroyed or not... If I were in his position, I would do the same..." Claude offered his opinion to Arlesk, sacrificing himself for the country. Arlesk had no intentions to persecute Ulysses for withholding vital information, he thought more about his sacrifice, whether the aim of the council was only the hero card and his weapon, but not his own life. "So that's where your historical relics went as well... To power up their facilities." "Yes..." Ulysses bowed down, in all fours told them the truth, as he couldn't keep hiding everything. "Ulysses!" Oswald rushed in to realize the tense atmosphere, he quickly knelt down next to Ulysses the same way to become more lenient to Ulysses. "Please Arlesk! I was the one that gave him the order for everything! He just wanted to save our country, his family! We didn't mean to hide things from you!" Arlesk took a deep breath as he felt relieved that they weren't intending to betray them, but he felt hurtful that they hid the truth. "Just don't do this ever again..." Arlesk walked up to Jaquinn who had called Serkyrio and brought the phone into loudspeaker mode. "Ulysses Held and Oswald Faleo Quisterion..." They heard Serkyrio's voice from the call, to which they instantly realized that he heard the entire conversation. "In consideration of Arlesk's judgement on you, I won't make any judgements, but as punishment..." When Serkyrio said the word [Punishment] the hero and the prince resolved themselves for the consequences. "Tell us everything, in the next meeting. No information will be withheld this time." ""Understood..."" Serkyrio cut off the call, giving them time to regroup as they had finished up the work.
"So what happens now?" The situation was awkward, Arlesk told his Order that the mission was a success and are given free time. The ones around are Arlesk, Ulysses, Pantheon, Claude, Oswald, and Jaquinn. Harold didn't join them as he helped the Guardians to return to their posts. "I'm... Going to surrender my [Hero Card] and my weapon..." Claude spoke up as he realized that keeping the card with him is going to end with him becoming controlled or worse, killed. "Do you think you can just give up your hero title?" "The reason why we become heroes is due to the spirit in the cards. The [Hero Cards] allow us to make use of abilities that we normally had, we were just regular people in the first place, the spirits just possess us in the form of a card. They would then gather our memories, and that information will be returned to the council. That's what I remember." Claude continued speaking and answered Arlesk's question. "If we throw away our titles as heroes, we can become stronger through our own efforts. Isn't that how most residents of Preeliance grew? You Archons, the Emperor, and the ones in the Government have your own special traits, but the other ones like the members of the Four Orders... They grew exponentially even if they were just regular humans." "Yeah... I think I'll do the same... I'll explain the situation to King Xenovitre... I'm sure he'll understand. Ulysses... Oswald... Tell His Majesty of Quisterion about the decision... I'm sure we'll be able to find our way to service our countries even without our power." Ulysses and Oswald stood up as they had been kneeling for a while. "Yeah... I think this way, they can be saved... Ulysses... Can you contact the council? Set a date so we can get this transaction complete." "U-Understood..."
The group went their separate ways, their heroes returned to their respective countries and Arlesk went to finish up the rest of the things in Bovoyna before returning to the castle of Preeliance.