Opening his eyes, catching his breath, spitting blood on the bed sheets, Ignis fell to the floor in agony before the eyes of Elena, Vanesa and Carlota. The foundations of the palace rumbled as if a tremor shook the earth, shaking the souls of all those who were in it.
"Is that what she chose?" – With his eyes full of sadness, Eolus looked for the face of Ignis , who nodded silently while his body began to turn to dust little by little.
"Mr. Ignis , don't die!" – Hugging the body of the young hurie , Vanessa clung to her clothes crying while the man brought his hand to her head to caress her hair.
– "Little lady, it was fun spending these few days by your side. But my time has come to leave this world, without regrets.
-"It is not fair, you will leave Enoch alone!" – Listening to those words from Vanesa's lips; With a slight smile on his lips, Ignis thought for a moment about the words that bully spirit had once said to him.
"Everything must return to its cycle, like the sun that dies on the horizon with the end of the day. But, just as the moon leaves the night sky to make way for the king star again, death must give way to a new life. It's never a definitive goodbye, just a see you soon" – Quoting that thought from the arcane spirit, Ignis left that world turning to dust in the girl's arms.
The body that was in the bed enveloped by that spiritual energy of Eolus , was soon covered by a thick mist as if a dense fog had prostrated itself there.
Elena, who did not take her eyes off that spectacle, took a few steps still stunned by the noise of a few seconds ago. The mist dissipated completely, leaving that body visible again, which little by little was recovering the color of its skin as if its cells were coming back to life.
The long red hair gradually turned brown, while the skin on her face fell off like a thin layer of mud, exposing a different face from Queen Berenice's.
Listening strongly to the beating of a heart that began its march again, the woman opened her eyes, getting up pulling air as if the vital force returned to her. Turning her face slowly in the direction of the blurred silhouettes she could see with those emerald green eyes.
Julia? Julia!" – Throwing herself towards her trying to hug her, Elena recognized the woman who was in front of her, as if a miracle had occurred.
Disoriented and confused, Julia pushed Elena away while looking around completely terrified, unable to place herself or know how she should react. Having spent five years floating in the void, clinging unnaturally to this world, Julia's consciousness seemed almost blank.
"Mommy?" – From the side of the bed, still next to the remains of Ignis , Vanessa contemplated that woman who looked very much like the lady that she contemplated every night in the old portrait of the Voltaire dukedom.
At the sound of his voice, a sharp pang hit Julia's head making her put her hands to her temples, bending over from the sudden pain that racked her brain. The memories that lay in the mind of the late Berenice were gradually displaced by the memories of Julia, who saw her whole life pass until that moment when Edmundo's dagger pierced her heart.
" Mom ? Are you?" – Taking both Carlota and Elena by surprise, Julia suddenly pounced on Vanesa, making them fear the worst. Surprised on the spot, seeing how that woman hugged the daughter she left behind five years ago, shedding tears from the depths of her being.
A few minutes of emotional reunion passed, until Eolus uttered a word again.
"Daughter of men. You who were brought back to life by the sacrifice of two Hufira nobles , must stop the source of all evil that threatens to destroy the continent. Let me show you what we're up against" – Leaving the chair where it was perched, the spirit threw itself squarely against Julia's forehead, merging completely with her body. Suddenly revealing everything that Berenice had seen moments before losing her consciousness,
As a vision of the future, the spirit showed him the outcome that life would have on the world, if they were not able to stop Karina's dark plans.
The land was devastated, without a single herb growing on it. Animals lay rotting like corpses in the fields, while the sons of men struggled to survive, killing each other for food.
Sitting on a throne of black stone on top of a mountain, an unclean spirit was exalted in the form of a winged being. Who held in his claws an orb where he locked the souls of every living being who dared to challenge him.
"What is this?" – With a pale face and a lost look, Julia rebuked Eolus , who limited herself to telling her that this was the end of that world if the spirit of the void was not stopped.
"My lady" – Prostrating herself as a knight who swears allegiance to his master would, Carlota plunged the point of her sword into the ground and surrendered completely to Julia's orders. Being seconded by Princess Elena, who gave the order to the servants who still remained in the palace, to prepare horses and armor, in order to go directly to the wolf's cave.
"Foolish child, so in the end you won't keep your word" – Holding a soldier from the royal palace of Tigris by the neck, Enoch felt Ignis 's life energy vanish from the world.
Sofia's troops had completely assaulted the walls of the great capital, with little resistance from the small regiments that had remained behind guarding it. The citizens who for years had endured the mistreatment and abuse of the nobility, took to the streets to subdue the officers and allow the entry of the rebel troops, who rode through the streets until they reached the royal palace.
Abandoned by the nobles who once swore allegiance to him lip service, Eleazar watched as the last subordinates who remained with him inside the throne room fell one by one under the edge of Sofia's sword, who was accompanied by the imposing presence of Enoch.
Unable to cope with the situation, Eleazar went berserk, lunging at the princess in an exchange of sword strikes.
The screeching of metal edges echoed in the immense throne room, where the flames of the torches snatched by the cold wind that entered with the arrival of the night, projected the serpentine shadows of those bloodthirsty brothers.
Watching them from a distance without getting in their way, Enoch remained silent with her arms crossed leaning on one of the pillars that supported the roof. Thinking about the dark nature that led human beings to kill each other, regardless of blood ties, just for something as ephemeral as what they called: power.
-"I will never allow a dirty blood to usurp what is mine by right!"
-"Do you call right the simple fact of being born with a golden spoon? What makes you different compared to a simple community member? Just luck, the sheer luck of being born into royalty.
Outside of that, you have no merit of your own that you can attribute to your name" – Printing more force to her blows, Sofia bent Eleazar to the point of making him lose his sword. Falling to the ground completely subdued by the superiority of the woman I despise so many times.
The two brothers looked at each other with heavy breathing and almost without force in their bodies, leaving Sofia standing almost on the verge of collapsing. Feeling the fatigue building in the muscles of his arms, the metal of the sword felt as heavy as it had at the moment he met Ignis .
"What are you waiting for? Claim your victory and kill me! Become a fratricide like I am. It doesn't matter that I'm not on the throne, someone with his hands stained with the blood of his family will occupy it" – Laughing shamelessly, Eleazar felt the edge of Sofia's sword sinking into his chest, piercing his heart. Going dead almost instantly, staring blankly at the empty throne, extending his arm which fell limp to the ground.
"I will never be like you. Who took your life, are those brothers you killed to keep the throne. The blood you spilled cried out for revenge and I was only its instrument." – Collapsing to her knees on her brother's body, Sofia raised her face to the ceiling to gaze at the night sky through the glass dome of the throne room. .
The moon that until a few moments ago shone in the sky with its whitish glow, was dyed a sinister blood red that predicted misfortune.
"It seems that it is already late for all of us" - Enoch, who until recently remained silent, said those words when he saw that red moon in the night sky, while helping Sofia to get up from the ground.
"Princess Elena, the horses have already been prepared for your departure" - Adjusting the last parts of her armor, the princess dismissed the servant giving the order that the officers clear the way in front of her.
Walking once again through those corridors that so many times saw her dress in glamor, Elena contemplated the paintings that hung on the wall where the effigies of her deceased parents could be seen. Carrying with regret in thought, that his entire family had been completely lost.
"Mom you look beautiful!" – Dressed in that characteristic blue uniform of the royal guard, Julia had cut her hair with the edge of her sword, leaving it very similar to how she wore it years ago.
Looking at her wistfully, as if trying to catch up with her in time, Elena checked her impulse by putting her hand to her chest. Barely smiling when Julia turned in her direction.
-"Ophelia, Charlotte. Please take care of my daughter until I come back for her."
-"Come back safe and sound my lady" – Bowing their heads in reverence, the maidens of the dukedom of Voltaire paid tribute to their mistress who was about to leave.
The girl who for years longed to be with her mother, cried inconsolably when she saw him leave, once again leaving her behind. Being comforted by the maidens, who told her that they would soon be together again.
"Julia, no, Duchess Valera, could you lend me your strength to save this kingdom?" – Placing her sword on Julia's shoulder, Elena asked for her former knight's vote of loyalty. Who knelt before her, raising his sword with both hands, offering it with loyalty to his mistress.
"It will be as I ordered, my lady" - With a smiling face, Julia accepted the honor restored by the princess regent. Taking her hand to give her a kiss on the back.
-"On foot" – Running to the stables, clanging the metal of their armor, the maidens mounted their steeds and began the race bound for Duke Solera's mansion.
Glimpsing the red moon on the horizon, the two women realized that Karina's plans were already underway. Noticing how sinister-looking creatures began to emerge from the shadows projected by objects on the street.
The people who ran frightened by those beasts, pushed each other causing some to fall to the ground to be crushed to death by the crowd. While others were trapped by those beings, being dragged into the shadows from which their screams of agony and terror could be heard.
"Don't look back princess. Keep your eyes straight ahead, don't lose your objective" – With a cold and almost distant tone, Julia reminded Elena that her objective was in Duke Solera's mansion. If both of them wished to put an end to this nightmare, some lives would have to be lost in order to save the world.
Despite herself, the princess understood her knight's words and clenched her teeth as she gripped the horse's reins tightly, marking the leather against the skin of her hands.
By the time the horses reached the gates of the mansion, the lights inside were off as if no one was inside the building. Trying to open the door, Julia realized that an object similar to a lump was resisting her, pushing it hard while lighting a torch to illuminate the passage.
What at first he thought was a bundle like a sack, turned out to be the body of one of the mansion's maids. Who had a wound on his chest as if someone had ripped his heart out.
Seeing that, Princess Elena felt her stomach churn as she gazed at the huge pool of blood spreading across the carpet. That as they continued into the bowels of the gloomy mansion, the parade of bodies scattered around every corner, gave the impression that the employees tried to flee from someone.
"No my lord, have mercy!" – The shouts of a man coming from the second floor alerted the combatants, who with sword in hand made their way through the darkness until they reached Duke Solera's office.
Kicking open the door, Julia saw the infamous nobleman standing over the corpse of the mansion's former head butler. With his heart still beating between his thin fingers, the duke devoured it, biting it as if it were a wild animal.
Dropping the torch due to the impression of that scene, the fire lit the carpet, completely illuminating Solera's silhouette with its flames.
His eyes no longer had any shine, and the veins marked in a dark tone could be glimpsed on his skin, as if the blood had coagulated for several hours. Just like the soldiers who marched on the battlefield in Tigris, Duke Solera had been reduced to a mere puppet without will.
Without any legitimate desire in his rotten being, that proud man was reduced in his death to a simple beast that was guided by primitive instincts attacking every living being to rip out its heart.
Chattering his teeth like an animal, the Duke launched himself directly at Princess Elena, only to be intercepted by Julia; who, with a movement of the sword, cut off the head of the corpse by rolling it into the flames.
"Welcome, Your Highness and Duchess! It is an honor for this simple commoner to be able to receive them in this elegant tomb" – As if the floorboard began to bend, the foundations of the mansion began to come to life trying to cross the two women, who made their way through the flames and the he sharpened planks of wood to the edge of a sword.
-"Princess, the fire is beginning to surround us! We should jump out the window into the backyard of the mansion."
-"Are you crazy Julia? We are on a second floor, there is no guarantee that we will not break our necks doing something so reckless" – At that moment the windows of the mansion broke due to the heat, causing the gusts of wind to fan the fire until it completely surrounded them .
Feeling that it would be the end if they were hit by the tongues of flame, Julia hugged the princess and pushed herself back against the window behind her to throw herself into the void.
As she fell from the window, Julia saw how the fire came out like a blast engulfing everything, just a second after making that decision. Slamming her body hard against the floor, the young duchess felt her rib bones crack from the hard surface she fell on.
"Julia Julia!" – Trying to revive her, the princess shook the battered body of her companion, while a sinister laugh could be heard at the end of the garden, right in the middle of a small square surrounded by rose bushes.
"What a moving scene! The noble princess cries for her loyal subject who has just sacrificed herself to save her skin. How sad, how sad" – Standing on a magic circle holding a dagger, Karina placed her left hand on a large ruby rock in which the body of little princess Adela was enclosed.
-"!Monster! What have you done to the girl?"
-"Monster? I'm just a messenger for my lady. This child has given her body and soul to bring my lady Eris into this world. Greater honor could not have such a pathetic living being, than being the container of a goddess" – Through the fine purity of the ruby glass, the girl's face could be seen with total clarity bathed in the rays of moonlight.
That expression of pain was the reflection of someone who, in his last seconds of life, had known disappointment.
"Wretched human hyena!" – Running with her sword drawn, Elena pounced on Karina. Being violently repelled by the blow of a sword that was swung through the shadows.
"!No, you do not. Can not be!" – The princess's eyes filled with tears as she contemplated the face of the reanimated corpse in front of her. The brother for whom I always silently prayed to return to what he once was, was standing right there, like another puppet in Karina's macabre games.
– "Oh my poor princess, you cry for the brother you always carried in your heart despite being trash. Although I must admit that I was largely to blame for your pure brother becoming what you saw for all these years "
-"What do you mean damn witch?"
-"The governess that the late Duke Solera had given to the royal family at the death of your dear mother, was none other than me. Every day since he was eight years old, I fed the young prince's heart with black magic to bend his will and gave him a tea made with the blood of a hufira to drink to enhance the effects.
The cute little boy you once knew I was molding into the perfect tyrant, if it wasn't for the damn slut behind you trying to keep up, I wouldn't have had to kill him to complete my plan" – Leaning on his sword while spitting a little blood, Julia wiped her mouth with her glove while directing her furious gaze at Karina.
"The day Margarita died, when we were at the market in the square. I saw a different Rafael, one with a broken heart, like a real human being.
He comforted me when I heard that Solera's bastard had killed him. The only difference between that man and the one I knew is that this week he had stopped drinking the tea you gave him.
You took a good man and turned him into a tyrant, you… You damn!" – The force that had been granted by Eolus manifested itself in Julia in the form of a violent explosion of air, causing objects that were not anchored to the ground to fly violently.
"It's not possible! You are not a hufira , since you are able to manipulate elemental spirits. Rafael, stop her right now. I need to finish the ritual" – Nodding his head, the deceased king launched himself against Julia, leaving Elena behind, who tried to stop him without success.
Just as his sword was about to touch Julia's body, a supernatural force stopped the monarch in his momentum, bending him as if someone commanded him not to hurt her.
Thanks to the fact that Berenice had sacrificed her body to bring back the young duchess, the hufira blood that beat in her heart made the potion that the king had taken continue to have an effect even after death.
-"Elena, I will go for Karina! You take care of stopping your brother"
-"Do it like this then" - Changing places in the fight, Julia went squarely against Karina, who used her arcane spells to attack the brave warrior. Who, assisted by the power of Eolus , kept dodging each attack in search of a gap to deliver an accurate blow.
"My lady, the monsters advance no matter how hard we fight. What shall we do?" – Under the same moon, from the night sky of Tigris, the battle of the army of immortals raged a few meters away with the city walls.
Thanks to Enoch giving them some of his power to empower them, the soldiers could fight alongside the undead. But without a gap to cut the strings that manipulated them, as soon as they fell they rose again.
"Sofia, I will soon run out of spiritual energy. Unless a miracle occurs, your people will be massacred by that infernal army" – With his arms outstretched towards the battlefield, Enoch had a tired face as if he was short of breath. By abandoning its primitive form to take on its authentic form, the energy expenditure became more demanding as the minutes passed.
Sensing that it was a matter of time before everything was destroyed, the princess cried out to the goddess for a sign on that fateful night, where the souls of countless citizens of Tigris hung by a thread.
"You're pathetic! All you can do is run away from my attacks? I think I overestimated you" – Laughing like a maniac, Karina kept Julia at bay while Eolus 's strength was diminishing.
Due to the fatigue in her lungs from the effort of breathing with her broken ribs, Julia felt her vision blur, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground, receiving one of Karina's attacks, projecting her against a sundial obelisk. .
"Hahaha. This is all a mere human like you can do, just futile efforts against the inevitable." – At that moment Karina felt that the heart she had taken from Berenice's mother was beginning to fail, like a joke of fate that was spitting in her face.
"No no no. It's not time yet, I need to finish… I need the ritual…" – Like a bolt that breaks the night without warning, Julia's sword pierced Karina's chest driven by the last forces of Eolus . Hitting her squarely against the ruby cocoon where Adela's body was impaling her.
"You're a fool, thanks for helping me complete the ritual" - Exhaling her last breath, Karina's blood spilled over the magic circle causing it to light up in a violet tone, from which black rays began to flow violently cutting everything in its time. Forcing Elena to throw herself to the ground, at the moment that one of the rays reached to split Rafael's body in half.
The earth began to tremble and the moon, which until a few moments ago had a bright red hue, began to turn black. Leaving the world in complete darkness.
"Finally, after so many eons plunged into the solitude of the void. I am free at last" – Emerging from the crystal cocoon, a macabre silhouette in the shape of a woman with bat wings soared through the sky. With a deep red glow in his eyes, his macabre laugh resonated loudly in every corner of the planet.
"Girl, girl, do you hear me?" – Immersed in a light that enveloped everything around her, Julia had left the physical plane and was in what the spirits called the primordial flow: Gaia.
-"Who are you?"
– "I usually have many names. Some call me god, others call me life or mother, but I have never had a proper name. It has always been given to me by the creatures I love" – That warm voice that came from the light completely overwhelmed the essence of Julia, who felt like her spiritual body was rocking in an ocean of peace.
"Has the world come to an end? And my daughter?"
-"Calm down creature, this space is outside the timeline. Here concepts such as minutes or seconds, years or centuries do not exist. This is the here and now, nothing and everything. The world you come from, time has not elapsed since you are here"
"Then return me to my world! I must stop her"
- "And how will you do such a prodigal?"
-"I, I… I don't know" – Putting her head in her hands, Julia felt that a sea of doubts was eating away at her brain, struggling to find a solution to the crossroads she was at.
- "Girl, child. I'm sorry to act so abruptly with you. You have been through many things since you were born, unpleasant experiences, but there are also good things that allowed you to survive in the face of so many injustices" – The sound of a melody coming from a musical box reached Julia's ears, who immediately recognized that tune that It brought back memories of his childhood.
-"Mother?" – The musical box that her mother had given her on her birthday before she died, appeared in Julia's hands, dissolving like a metal that began to cover her body.
-"What is this?"
– "Just for a few seconds I will give you my power, the power of the eternal, my girl. With it you can destroy the darkness of Eris and return her to the void forever.
But you should not hesitate at any time, because you will only have this one chance. Since my presence in your world is limited" – Bringing her hands to her chest, Julia closed her eyes as she concentrated on the melody of the lullaby that her mother sang to her at night, thinking of the face of her little daughter that I was waiting for her on the other side.
-"I'm ready" - With her eyes injected with determination, the duchess extended her right arm projecting a sword and her left a half-length shield. Letting sprout from his back a pair of wings like those of an eagle that prepares to take flight.
"Then I wish you luck, my little creature" - The light that surrounded Julia was breaking like a crystal, letting her eyes see again the darkness in which the world was plunged due to Eris.
"What the hell is this?" – When she saw him standing on the ground with that brightness that stood out from the darkness, like a beacon that pierces the darkness with its light, Eris began to attack Julia with blasts of dark energy trying to kill him.
As instructed by Gaia, the young duchess wasted no time against the spirit of the void, repelling its attacks by brandishing her sword and covering herself with her shield.
"I won't let you ruin my plans, damn mother!" – Raising her arms to the sky gathering energy of darkness, Eris growled like a beast feeling that every centimeter of her flesh lacerated with the effort of accumulating such an amount of energy.
"Take this damn!" – Throwing that immense orb of dark energy against Julia, Eris laughed nonstop thinking that it was the end of the duchess. Just seeing how that mass of power returned to her, fully impacting her, preventing her from escaping as she rose above the clouds.
"It can't end like this! I am the true goddess of this world, I am the supreme being of the void" - From the mass of dark energy emerged the luminous blade of a sword that completely dispelled the darkness. Eris's eyes saw the smiling face of Julia, who had a peaceful expression in her eyes as if she had surrendered to her end.
"You are finished, goddess of the void" - An explosion of light flooded the entire sky around the globe, making the night sky for an instant become as clear as day.
Falling to the ground from a considerable height, Julia's body gradually lost the spiritual armor that had been given to her by Gaia to face the spirit of the void. Impacting against the ground leaving her dying, with just a little strength to maintain consciousness.
"Julia! Julia!" – With the death of Eris, the undead returned to being lifeless corpses that collapsed to the ground, including King Raphael. Leaving Princess Elena free to run to meet Julia.
"No, no, please no!" – Seeing Julia's body shattered by the impact of the fall, the princess held the hand of the duchess who felt how the force left her body. Beginning to feel the warmth of the princess's touch being displaced by the cold comfort of death.
"Elena, I can't see anything anymore. Everything is so dark, tell me, tell me that you can see the moon shine in the sky"
"!Yes, I can! I can see her, she's beautiful. As beautiful as you" – The tears that flowed from Elena's eyes, fell on Julia's delicate face, who felt how those salty drops mixed with the blood that flowed from her lips.
"Elena, build a kingdom. One where no girl is robbed of her smile, or her dreams, don't let someone else suffer like us. Promise me!" – Squeezing the princess's hand with her last strength, Julia felt that her hearing was beginning to fail her.
"I promise you, I will bring a kingdom where women can be happy" - Drawing a smile on her lips, Julia's heart stopped beating once again .