After the coronation, wild cheers echoed in the distance. Three unknown figures appeared near Selah's house, carrying glowing objects that emitted an unusual red glow. As they draw near Clause's workshop, the glow grew more prominent. The man at the center let out a sinister grin, revealing a device in his palm that looked like a cube with peculiar structure.
He approached the artifact on his desk, he attached the device to a dodecahedron shaped object from the pile of scraps. The reaction was violent, emitting an unstable burst of energy that shattered through the workshop's ceiling.
Neros, wore a distressed expression, sensing that something is approaching. As the three culprits made their escape, one of Yvalra's knights intercepted them and asked who are they.
Just as one of the culprits removed his mask, the knight was distracted by the light burst from the workshop, and a gunshot resounded.
Meanwhile, in the plaza, citizens were unaware of the predicament they would soon face, throwing themselves deep into the celebration. Yvalra and Clause enjoyed drinking, catching up, while Hyuwin searched for Selah. As he looked around, he accidentally stumbled upon H'reig, Mirelan and Hax together.
She discussed the results of her investigation with Clause, revealing the oddities surrounding the festival. She noted that someone had rigged the event, going so far as to beat and threaten the contestants into submission before the fights even began. She openly admitted her own incompetence, blaming herself for leading to this outcome.
Yvalra: I should apologize to Selah for failing and causing her pain.
Clause drained the last of the booze from his mug and let out a heavy sigh. He looked away, pride swelling in his chest as he praised Selah for her resilience over the past ten years, ever since they were exiled from Nivalith and losing her Embershroud nobility. Yvalra narrowed her eyes, feeling the weight of their shared pain.
Clause: Selah is strong, she's full of courage and free-spirited just like her mother. She may fail at times, many hardships, but every time she gets back up, she becomes stronger.
Yvalra was filled with compassion for the two and as they were about to share another toast, they were interrupted by one of the festival's attendees.
Attendee: The… the skies!
They hurried outside the tavern and witnessed something out of the ordinary. Their faces filled with horror as a rift appeared above Sabin, revealing deep darkness within. The knights, led by Yvalra, were alarmed, and began evacuating the citizens to the neighboring borders for shelter. Hyuwin looked up, scrambling to find Selah. Meanwhile, the elders of Sabin knelt and worshipped the rift, as if their god were sending them a clear message.
Elders: Ah, Aldis, creator of miracles, you have come for us at last. Please, take us with you!
Clause's eyes widened, and without a word, he ran toward his workshop. Yvalra called out to him, sensing the danger ahead and worried for his safety but he never looked back.
The rift in the sky pulsed with dark energy, rippling ominously above the plaza. The onlookers below were puzzled, murmuring amongst themselves as they try to understand the strange phenomenon. Without warning, a massive hand with long, sharp fingertips emerged from the chasm, looming in the sky before disappearing just as quickly, leaving them anxious and uncertain. Then, a shockwave erupted, blowing the crowd back.
In the aftermath, an imposing humanoid figure stood where the fountain once was, towering at three meters tall. Its unnaturally long arms, covered in an exoskeleton of black and red shades, hung menacingly by its sides. Bony, jagged protrusions stretched from its back, and four sets of horns crowned its head. Its sharp, jagged teeth gleamed under the darkened sky, and its muscular physique radiated raw power. The creature's sudden appearance filled the plaza with fear as it surveyed its surroundings.
The knights from Nivalith attempted to assert their authority, surrounding the towering monster with weapons drawn. As they pointed their blades toward it, the creature moved with tremendous speed, snatches the tip of a spear clean off. It casually placed the broken metal in its mouth, chewing as if it were nothing. Then, in a deep and unsettling voice, it uttered words in an unknown language to the crowd before its eerie, alien speech sends chills through the air.
Monster: 𝒾Ã ђ [¤ 𝕙'Ť 𝓲卂 ℍ ¤𝐚]×?
The monster remained standing in place, Yvalra walked closer, attempting to engage with it. As it looked down with its burning red eyes, the perceptive creature tilted its head, analyzing the figure before it. It sensed the guards were filled with energy, but recognized that this one is significantly special. Elders rushed toward the creature, mistakenly believing it to be a messenger of their god. They pushed the knights aside and knelt before it, pleading for forgiveness for their transgressions. But the creature paid them little attention, perceiving them as weak and unworthy, quickly losing interest.
Yvalra ordered her knights to remove the elders who were interfering with their work, ensuring they were taken away safely. However, one particular elder slipped through the crowd and clung to the monster's knees, falling to his knees and uttering his prayers. The knights forced him to let go. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and the elder collapsed from the bullet's impact.
Three masked individuals then appeared, revealing themselves as Barpirio, holding out his gunblade, his assistant, and another figure with a marred face.
Barpirio: Oh, majestic being of great power, thank you for answering my summons. Now, I, Barpirio, your master, command you to bring forth destruction to this place at once!
Yvalra: What?! This too was your doing?!
Intrigued by his weapon, the monster levitated closer to inspect it. Barpirio, perceiving this as a sign of subservience, grinned and laughed maniacally.
The monster then grabbed the gunblade, examining it intently as if it were something familiar to it. Yvalra didn't waste any time realizing that the culprit was right in front of her. She issued an immediate capture order. Knights flocked around Barpirio and his gang. Desperate without his weapon, Barpirio persistently pestered the monster, urging it to do something.
Barpirio: Serve me, serve me, serve me you filthy servant, come on do something!
Irritated, the monster struck Barpirio with a swift swing of its left arm, smashing him against the walls surrounding the plaza and quickly rendering him unconscious.
Upset at what the monster had done to his master, the figure with the marred face struggled against his arrest. He raised his right hand against the monster and launched a concentrated fireball attack, hitting the it with an explosion. As the guards subdued him, the smoke dissipated, monster's eyes, piercing through the haze glowing fiercely.
It let out a deafening growl, showcasing its hostility, then smashed the gun in its right hand, grabbing and consuming anyone within its range with its huge, hands and a gaping maw, including the man with the marred face as they cry in horror.
The knights, fearing for their lives, fled the battlefield as their attacks proved ineffective. Yvalra tried to convince her men to stand their ground, but fear overwhelmed them. Taking advantage of the commotion, Barpirio's assistant blended into the crowd and disappeared.
Shifting its gaze to its prized subject, the monster grinned at Yvalra before quickly disappearing from her sight and materializing behind her. Yvalra quickly drew her swords and launched a powerful swing behind her back, but the monster effortlessly evaded it. Undeterred, Yvalra unleashed a barrage of deft slashes toward the creature, its movements becoming a blur. Catching her breath, the monster noticed the gap between her pace and lean towards her, as if mocking her, with piercing glances and a sinister grin.
Then monster's expression changes when Yvalra's transformed. Her aura radiated a golden afterglow, her energy spiked at a tremendous level, her body now shrouded with pure golden light, her eyes welled with raw power. Her swords not recognized as threat before became a lethal weapon, startled, the monster quickly creates a distance between them.
To its surprise, Yvalra paid its mockery in kind as she lunged at the monster with tremendous speed. Her swords pierced through its thick, durable exoskeleton, wounding it on its chest. The monster then flees on top of a nearby structure, placing its hand over the wound as green blood gushed out. It let out another wail before speaking a few words and then escaping.
Monster: 山ᶰᏕＴ 𝕀𝕀ꭿ𝐧Ⓖħǟ Ẹ𝔥ʰєᖇ Ⓟᑭ Ĥ𐤀𝐡ά𝓲𝐒ｅＮภ𝕀Ƥ𝓹 ħ Ꮆ 𝑒𝔯ⓣє.
Yvalra then sheathed her swords. The remaining onlookers, thinking the monster's reign of terror was over, emerged from their hiding places. However, as things stood, Yvalra looked up at the rift above the country, worried it still posed a threat of unleashing more powerful monsters.
Meanwhile, Clause, out of breath, reached his workshop, where he caught sight of a person seemingly working inside, touched by the radiance of the rift just above them, creating a shadowy silhouette. Instead of interrogating him, he curiously asked,
Clause: How does it go? Will it ever be repaired?
Unknown man: I don't know. Perhaps there are a few adjustments that need to be made.
Clause: Who does this kind, it must be a sick person have the guts to do this.
The unknown man explained that the rift was still in its early stages and that there was still hope. His hands moved masterfully over the buttons of a device resembling a laptop beside the glowing object, working quickly to counter its activation.
Unknown man: This type of protocol draws out Dimensional Flux, in other words it distorts the space and connect to another world we've just seen by now. I can fix it, but I need more time.
Clause: Should I use it?
Clause looked at the piece of machine sitting in the corner. Hyuwin and his party scoured the area to find Selah, but she was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, they heard a commotion in the plaza. As they hurried over, they saw Yvalra tying up Barpirio while he is unconscious.
She filled Hyuwin in on the details of the earlier battle. With no subordinate left to her aid, she sought their help to form a search party to hunt the monster down, and Hyuwin and his team agreed unanimously.
Selah, clutching her chest, looked around, realizing she had lost sight of Neros amid all the commotion. She recalls a brief moment when she's about to call out to him, she suddenly felt a blow from behind, knocking her unconscious. When she came to, she found herself tied down with her mouth covered, allowing only muffled sounds to escape. She realized she was inside what looks to be a carriage, where a group of men were discussing how they could sell her due to her rare hair coloration, which belonged to a lineage of high nobility.
She realized that the bandit who had been apprehended earlier belonged to this group, notorious for their nefarious acts of abduction and trafficking, capable of fetching a high price for their captives.
One bandit raised the curtain from behind, peaking at her condition. He licked his lips and leaned closer, catching her feminine fragrance. Just then, another bandit pulled him by the neck and scolded him. Selah initially thought he was there to save her, but to her horror, they began to compete over who could make her cry first reaching their filthy hands towards her.
The three other bandits basked around the roaring fire, rejoicing over their huge haul when one bandit, dressed in moss-colored garb and wearing a pair of earrings, stood up to relieve himself behind a tree. As he did, he noticed something unusual, a shadowy figure in the distance. At first, he thought it was just a rock, but then he saw it show signs of life. Curious, he approached to investigate, but to his surprise, it began to move. Red glowing eyes appeared, and a towering figure stood up, followed by a gurgling sound of pain.
Two bandits, poised to violate Selah, heard the screams of their comrade, and abruptly stopped what they were doing. One after another, the bandit screams faded into silence. From a small window behind the curtain, Selah caught sight of one of the bandits being chased by what looked like a huge creature. Then came a long, eerie silence, followed by the unsettling sounds of crunching bones. Realizing that this creature was consuming the bandits, she quickly hid between the cargo.
With a powerful swing of its hands, the creature ripped half of the carriage apart. Terrified, Selah closed her eyes, as she caught a glimpse, it loomed ominously over her. The creature gestured as if it were sniffing something in the air. She noticed one of the fragrant bottles had been broken, releasing a liquid that masked her scent. Losing interest, the monster flew away.
Selah used the broken glass to free herself from the bindings and quickly made her way back to the plaza to reunite with her friends and tell what she had witnessed.
Yvalra's search party ventured outside the plaza and discovered several people lying on the ground in pain. H'reig suspected that the monster might be responsible for their condition. However, as Yvalra examined them more closely, she noticed that they bore no wounds or signs of struggle, which she found suspicious.
Yvalra: Let's get moving. Don't worry, they're still alive. A night's rest should improve their condition.
As they continue on their pursuit, they were alerted to see a silhouette, shrouded by the forest trees running towards them. Realizing it was Selah, Yvalra signaled everyone to stand down. Selah hugged her, tears of relief in her eyes. Hyuwin also felt assured, resting his hands on his hips and letting out a sigh of relief.
Selah expressed her joy seeing them and told them everything that had happened. Hyuwin's mood turned upset, he hit his fist into his palm.
Hyuwin: Unforgivable, let me at them!
Mirelan: Didn't you hear? They're all probably dead by now, Hyumbass!
H'reig: Hyumbass! Ga ha ha ha ha!
Yvalra gently touched Selah's right cheek and wiped away her tears. She assured her that she is safe now. Then, as they gathered around to comfort Selah, an object fell from the sky, landing with a resounding thud, startling them.
Everyone draw their weapons, Yvalra knew Selah went through a lot and is in no condition to fight let alone win the upcoming battle, asked her to find Clause and escape far away. Selah knew that she will only cause burden looked at Hyuwin and the rest who nodded back at her.
As she left the group, the search party braced for battle. Yvalra noticed that the wound she had inflicted was gone, troubled, she clenched her sword tighter. Selah, concerned for their safety, decided to take a little detour into one of the halls where her confiscated might have been stored. Upon entering an un-guarded dark hall, she seized the opportunity to search for her belongings. Sure enough, her pendant was placed on a pedestal, alongside several other confiscated items, including a sword sitting next to it.
Worried, she hurried back to her friends, fully equipped. However, upon her return, she was met with a horrifying sight. The image of their triumph shattered. Her comrades lay motionless on the ground, while the monstrous creature was busy gnawing on what remained of H'reig, his body helplessly being devoured. In the distance, Yvalra, severely injured and missing her left arm, sat slumped against a wall, coughing up blood.
Selah went to check on Yvalra's condition, her fierce gaze locked onto the monster, tears of rage brimming in her eyes. But Yvalra, mustering her remaining strength, clung to her sleeve and warned her.
Yvalra: I… it's no use, the monster ch… changed, run, leave ush!
Selah ripped off portion of her cloth to wrap around Yvalra's wound and stop the bleeding.
Selah: I won't leave a precious friend behind to perish, mother would do the same!
After finishing a lavish meal, the monster now appearing even more monstrous with additional protrusions shifted its attention toward Selah.
Sparks and the clashing sounds of metal echoed from afar as Selah, glowing with ethereal energy, engaged the monster. She skillfully parried its vicious attacks, retaliating with precision. As the monster began to revel in the battle, an even heavier barrage of attacks, each strike carries an overwhelming force tipping the scales against Selah.
Selah struggled to keep up with the monster's onslaught. A single swipe of its claw grazed her cheek and leaving wounds all around her body. After a few more exchange, felt her power suddenly plummet. Leaping back to catch her breath, she inspected her pendant and discovered it had a crack on its surface. The monster sneered, attempting to reason with her, its guttural words laced with malice, but its words didn't reach her, proving its intelligence.
Monster: Ўㄖυ 𝕒爪ⓣέ 𝕀ˢ ๓𝕖 𝕚 𝓐ιş øⓉ?
Hyuwin, with his consciousness fading, looked at Selah, concerned for her life, feeling frustrated that he couldn't do anything to help. Selah, poised to fight even without the power of the pendant. However, she was immediately defeated by a single strike from the monster's massive hand, broke her weapon that sent her flying into the sky. She fell from a great height, and the impact caused her few broken bones and intense pain.
The monster let out a sinister laugh, its shadow tracing the outline of a creature of great power. As it stomped down on Selah, locking her in place, it suddenly felt insignificant sting on its back. Hyuwin had launched a small speck of his energy, but the monster merely sneered in response, as if mocking him for being powerless. It then prepared to deliver the finishing blow to Selah when, suddenly...
A vibrant blue barrier erupted, blocking the monster's attack just in time. Confused, the monster analyzed the source of the energy signature, realizing it originated not far from their location, deep within the Mistral Forest. With a sinister grin, it flew toward its next target, carrying Selah within its grasp intending to keep her as both a hostage and a future meal.
It hovered momentarily above the Mistral Forest, thick mist swirling below, before descending to where the energy signature was strongest. Its massive frame pierced through the mist, leaving a gaping hole in the dense fog as it landed. Arifea commanded her spirits to flee into the mist as she engaged with the monster. Selah's consciousness waned, but she managed to perceive that she was inside Arifea's domain. She squirms with her remaining strength in vain, as Arifea looked at her with concern.
Arifea morphed the ground where the monster stood, causing the ground beneath to lose its solidity, pulling it into a swirling vortex. The monster tried to levitate, but the deity's swift reaction caught it off guard as it looked up, seeing a massive object forming above. A massive pillar of ice materialized from nothing, slamming down onto the monster with crushing force. In that instant, Arifea brushed her hand, commanding the winds to snatch Selah from the monster's weakening grasp and lift her to safety.
With a muffled roar, the monster plummeted from the depths of the deity's trap. Arifea moved to tend to Selah's wounds with her soothing ethereal energies when suddenly the ground shook, and the monster emerged from below with utmost ferocity.
Arifea erected a safety bubble with blue roots that anchored it in place, encasing Selah within to shield her from the ongoing battle. Inside the protective barrier, she continued to nourish Selah with energy, restoring her to health. Then, she commanded the mist to coalesce and compress into something as hard as steel, forming several artillery pieces throughout the dome. The monster's eyes widened as it looked around, realizing it was surrounded by death, a testament to the deity's godly powers.
Monster: ⱧØ₩ ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ĐØł₦₲ ₮Ⱨł₴?
Arifea: Ӌօմɾ ҽղժ ìʂ ղìցհ Ɛçɾìąղ ƒìӀէհ!
A barrage of mist struck leaving a smoky trail in its wake. The monster attempted to dodge with its deft reflexes, trying to close the gap between itself and the deity. However, it lost its footing as the ground conjured ice-shard that ensnared its left leg. The piercing mist weapons, having adjusted their trajectory, followed their target and struck the monster, riddling its body with wounds. Drops of green blood gushed from its injuries.
Selah woke up to witness Arifea defeating the monster almost effortlessly. Levitated closer to inspect, she noticed that the monster's eyes had lost their usual glow and were now blank, its mouth dripping with blood. To ensure her victory, Arifea encased the monster in thick permafrost.
But as she turned her back on the monster, its exoskeleton began to throb. Selah tried to warn Arifea, but only a tiny voice escaped her lips. Arifea, catching the movement of Selah's lips. She quickly turned to check on the monster, but it was too late. Caught off guard, the monster's head broke through the permafrost, its neck extending to bite the deity's throat, tearing off a good chunk before retreating and swallowing it whole.
Arifea fell to her knees, covering her wound as the monster gazed her, its face darkened, eyes glowing with an ominous light while crackles of energy surged around it. Arifea's hand glowed faintly as she attempted to heal her wounds, just as she had always done. But to her horror, it no longer worked as before. Dark purple veins appeared at the site of the injury, slowly creeping through her skin, as if corrupting darkness was spreading inside her, overtaking her body inch by inch.
Then the most incredible thing happened, as the monster digested its latest meal, it convulsed violently. The thick exoskeleton began to crack from the holes left by the recent onslaught, with dark ooze seeping from every crevice of its body. Losing its coloration, the exoskeleton throbbed ominously until something burst from within. Its new form swirled with dark energies, jagged lines tracing its body, resembling the remnants of its exoskeleton. Its eyes burning with rage, and it stood in human proportions, exuding a sense of foreboding power.
Arifea forced herself to launch an attack, but with a single sweep from the newly evolved monster, her entire arm was severed in an instant. The creature drew closer, kicking her violently she collided with the big tree, her body dissipating upon impact. Small blue orbs escapes from her form, marking the deity's impending death.
Selah cried out at the top of her lungs, pounding against the interior of the bubble as she struggled to reach out to Arifea, the moment growing increasingly despairing. The monster flung the deity's severed arm aside, a line of crimson tracing across its face, and its gaping mouth opened to reveal an abyss filled with sharp teeth and writhing tendrils.
Just then, an unexpected visitor appeared. A silhouette of what appeared to be a flying machine burst through the veil of mist, momentarily distracting the monster.