On the cliffs overlooking Nariens Field, Dein watched the two nations tear each other apart. A wide, mad smile split his face as the dark pillar roared into the sky.

  "Finally, the Leviathan has awakened!" Dein exclaimed, his voice thick with triumph. "After decades of planning and manipulating those stupid humans, the fruit has finally ripened!"

  "Y-Yeah... good for you, Dein," Mary replied softly. she tried to hide the genuine sympathy she felt for Carol, but her voice trembled.

  "Now come on, Mary. Let us wait no longer. We shall celebrate her rebirth together," Dein turned away, preparing for the next phase of his plan. "And show the world that the Apostles have returned." He pulled back his hood, revealing his scarred, weathered face to the scarlet wind.

  Back on the field, the Neurn soldiers were gone, their very lives consumed as fuel for Carol’s ascent. Aria, Rein, Saria, and Noire froze, their battle forgotten as they stared at the black pillar atop the tower. Even Revir, standing over a wounded and kneeling Hindrey, stopped his killing blow to watch in dread.

  "I guess my boss finally fulfilled his dream," Hindrey rasped, a bloody smile fixed on Revir. "Though it backfired on him in the end."

  "What do you mean by that, Sir Hindrey?" Revir asked, his expression hardening.

  "Heh... rather than asking me, you should prepare yourself for your worst nightmare." Hindrey stood up unsteadily. He pointed his own spear at his chest. "For this world is already finished."

  "Wai-" Before Revir lunged forward to stop him, it was too late. Hindrey thrust the spear into his own heart, an act of suicide as he was satisfied that the Margias, whom he hated more than anything, would finally pay the price for their pursuit of power.

  Revir watched in horror as his former lecturer’s body slumped to the ground, bathing the earth in blood as the spear dissolved back into a sealed book.

  The dark pillar slowly began to fade. The atmosphere grew unnaturally quiet. The air was thick, choked with Dark Ender particles that drifted like black snow. Suddenly, a massive, enhanced blade of Dark Ender sliced the tower clean in half.

  From the crumbling ruins emerged an unrecognizable figure. A girl with long, matted dark hair that veiled her face, leaving only a single, monstrous red eye visible. Her back was hunched, her posture predatory and broken. In her left hand, she gripped a shattered, transparent sword that radiated a suffocating amount of Dark Ender.

  The entire battlefield froze. No one could process what they were seeing... until Saria spoke.

  "Ca...rol?" Saria’s voice was a whisper of terror as she backed away.

  "What do you mean, Saria? There’s no way that... that thing is Carol!" Noire shouted, her voice cracking in denial.

  "Corrude," Rein mumbled, his fists tightening until his knuckles turned white. "She literally corrude herself."

  "But how?!" Aria snapped, her frustration masking her rising panic. "She was never exposed to the Dark Ender! She shouldn't even be able to channel it, let alone be consumed by it!"

  "Then explain why her hair started turning white back in the library!" Rein shouted back, his emotions finally overflowing. "You were there! You saw it!"

  Aria went silent, her mouth hanging open. She had no words left to defend the girl they once knew.

  Carol, now in a state of corrude, raised her left hand. A jagged spike of Dark Ender erupted from the earth, instantly skewering a Qtiryn soldier from behind. Blood slicked down the black stone as the soldier gasped, his mind unable to process the sudden, agonizing pain. Before he could scream, his body was overtaken by the corruption; he exploded in a spray of gore, painting the dirt red.

  The soldiers around him widened their eyes in horror, stumbling backward in a desperate attempt to retreat. But it was useless. They, too, were pierced by rising spikes and detonated into nothingness.

  Witnessing the slaughter, the remaining troops fled in a panic, their terrified screams echoing across the field. One after another, they were hunted down. More innocent blood soaked the ground as the mountains of the dead grew higher.

  "W-we have to do something!" Saria cried out, paralyzed by the chaos. In her moment of panic, a spike manifested beneath her feet. Thankfully, Revir’s stone wall intercepted it just in time as he sprinted toward the group.

  "What... the hell... is going on?" Revir gasped, trying to replenish his energy despite his heavy panting. As he turned his head toward the tower, he recoiled in shock. "Is that... really Carol?"

  Aria, Rein, Saria, and Noire averted their eyes, their silence were a guilty answer to his question. Revir looked at the ground, his fists trembling. "Is this what you meant by a 'worst nightmare,' Sir Hindrey?" he whispered.

  Carol swung her hand downward, manifesting a second blade of Dark Ender as she charged the group with predatory speed. Before they could react, Mira flickered into existence through a pool of shadows. She intercepted Carol with her knives, their blades clashing with a deafening, metallic ring across the reddish battlefield.

  "Mira..?" Rein gasped. "Why are you—"

  "Forgive me for interrupting, Sir Rein," Mira gritted out, glancing over her shoulder. "But I strongly advise you to retreat to the backline! Don't worry, I have already secured Lily and her maid!"

  "But Carol... she's..." Rein looked toward the girl who was now unrecognizable.

  "Do not be stubborn!" Mira shouted, turning back to face Carol’s raw, overwhelming power. "Your friend is long gone! Nothing you do will snap her back now!"

  Hearing this, Rein slowly closed his eyes, then snapped them open with cold resolve. "Let’s go, everyone. There is nothing more we can do here."

  Revir, Saria, Noire, and Aria were devastated by his words, but they accepted the truth and retreated toward the backline.

  "Hmph. A wise choice, Sir Rein," Mira muttered. She used all her strength to break the clash and shove Carol back. In response, Carol gripped both swords and unleashed a flurry of strikes. Mira could do nothing but defend, her knives sparking against the dark steel. With one final, dual-sword swing, Carol blasted Mira away. Mira hit the ground, her legs trembling from exhaustion.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  As Carol caught a glimpse of the retreating group, she leaped into the sky, levitating as she cast a massive, corrupted magic circle above her. A giant blade of Dark Ender manifested within the ring. Carol pointed her sword at her friends, and the giant blade hurtled toward them.

  Aria stopped in her tracks. She turned, refusing to run further, and leaped toward the oncoming blade. She gripped her greatsword with both hands, channeling every ounce of her Ender until the blade became a towering pillar of flame. The two forces collided, creating a shockwave that tore through the clouds.

  "Don't underestimate me..." Aria growled, pushing forward until the giant dark blade began to crack. "...you bastard!!"

  With a roar, she shattered the blade. However, the fragments instantly transformed into a rain of dark needles. For the first time, Aria felt a fear she couldn't name. One needle pierced her stomach, followed by another, and another, until she crashed harshly into the dirt.

  The group skidded to a halt. Saria stood flabbergasted, her legs giving out as she knelt in the mud, tears streaming down her face. "A...ria..?"

  Rein's heart boiling hot in anger as a result. He rushed forward blindly, morphing his wand into an Azure Lance. He slammed his foot down, created a terrain of Azure Ice as it roared to the sky. He lunged from the ice, thrusting the tip of his lance at Carol. She crossed her dark blades to defend, and their weapons locked.

  Their gazes met. Rein bared his teeth in frustration, but his expression quickly shifted to horror. Carol was crying, a tears of pure blood.

  "I'm sorry... I'm sorry for everything... this heart... it hurts... it hurts too much..." Carol sobbed, her human persona briefly surfacing through the madness. "Please give my mother back... please give me peace... please... don't leave me... I'm begging you..."

  "Carol?" Rein whispered.

  In her mind's eye, Carol’s perspective shifted. She saw the blood painting the field, the corpses of the soldiers, and most importantly, Aria, lying broken and pierced by her own dark needles.

  "Ah... AH..!" Blood-tears fell to the ground. The sound of her heart shattering echoed in her scream, a cry of pure, unadulterated agony and despair. The Dark Ender around her reacted to her grief, erupting in a violent surge that blasted Rein away. He was caught mid-air by Revir’s chains and pulled safely back to the ground.

  "You okay there?" Revir asked, offering a hand to help Rein stand.

  However, before Rein could accept the gesture, dozens of dark needles manifested in the sky, roaring as they surrounded the field like a cage. They left no path for the group to retreat. Rein looked over his shoulder, shocked to see Carol clutching her head with both hands as if she were desperately fighting for control.

  "I’m sorry... Noire... Saria... Revir... Aria... Rein... I’m sorry..." She wept tears of blood one last time. "...for being the one you all despise... for being a monster."

  She was once again swallowed by a pillar of reddish darkness. In response, the needles immediately rained down upon them in unison, leaving the group no time to act. Noire nervously morphed his wand into a shield, hoping it would be enough to protect the four of them, while Revir readied his wand to manifest a barrier of rock. Saria closed her eyes, praying for safety, and Rein did the same, frustrated by his helplessness to save his friend.

  "Saint Style:" A girl’s voice spoke, calm yet cold.

  Curious, Rein slowly opened his eyes. He saw a girl of unusual appearance, with mechanical wings upon her back and a massive, levitating gear hovering above her head. She gripped the hilt of her katana tightly.

  "Sacred..." She swung her blade once, and dozens of slashes appeared at the speed of light across the field. "...Horizon."

  As soon as she finished her chant, every needle was sliced in half.

  "Wha—" Rein’s mouth hung open in shock, unable to finish his sentence. Saria, Revir, and Noire were equally stunned by what had just occurred.

  "I take it thou art those who style themselves my little sister’s comrades?" the girl asked. She looked over her shoulder, revealing a face marked by a prideful smile. It was Erika. "Alas, what base company is this? My expectations are dashed to the earth! I truly deemed that one of your number might, at the very least, exhaust her strength in her defense."

  "Why you..!" Revir lunged toward Erika, blinded by fury at her insulting words. However, Noire caught him, restraining him with both arms.

  "What the? Let me go, Noire!" Revir exclaimed, struggling against the hold.

  "We don't have time to be childish, Revir. As much as I hate it, she is right. We are too powerless to help Carol right now," Noire explained. His words managed to calm Revir, and Noire finally released him.

  Watching the two men struggle to accept the bitter truth, Erika snorted in amusement. "Wisely spoken."

  Suddenly, a volley of dark, wind-blades erupted from the pillar in the sky, hurtling toward Erika. Sensing the immense Dark Ender approaching, she shifted her focus back to the battlefield. She easily deflected the blades, sending them crashing into the cliffs instead.

  As the dark pillar slowly faded, the figure of Carol appeared once more, slowly descend to the ground. This time, her form was altered—the Leviathan had emerged through her body. Her hair had turned a beautiful, pure white, and her eyebrows were as pale as snow. Her eyes were now complete, hollow pits of crimson. Above her head, a broken, dark halo levitated, radiating an overwhelming pressure of reddish Dark Ender.

  "Hmm, interesting," Erika mused, gripping her katana tightly as she walked casually toward Carol.

  "What are you doing..?" Rein asked, bewildered by Erika’s calm demeanor.

  "I shall grant thee a brief respite to gather thy fallen comrade and depart. Fret not; I seek not the life of my little sister, at least," Erika said, suddenly lunging forward. In response, Carol drew her frazzled wand, morphing it into a dark, fractured blade of reddish steel. "Yet, I shall school her myself! For she hath spent her whole store of fury, and it hath availed her naught!" Erika leaped at Carol, their weapons clashing with a violent, metallic ring.

  Their gazes locked. Carol’s emotionless crimson eyes a stark contrast to Erika’s golden eyes, which shimmered with excitement.

  "I can't believe that stupid Erika mindlessly charged into the fray," a man sighed, shaking his head as he approached the group from behind. "But, I suppose I’ll give her an exception this time." The man stopped, standing firmly beside them. When Rein turned his head to the left, he gasped. It was Grey.

  "Sir Grey?!" Rein stammered. He couldn't believe his eyes. One of his lecturers from Verlyn was walking through a chaotic, blood-soaked battlefield as if it were a simple stroll in the park.

  "Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re trying to say, Rein. You have a lot of questions, specifically, why your old lecturer is standing in this hideous place." Grey cracked his neck, releasing the tension in his shoulders. "Like that homunculus girl said, you kids should retrieve your friends and retreat as fast as you can. Everyone that still standing, including those two Holders, is already at the backline recovering from the casualties Carol caused."

  "Homunculus? What do you—"

  Before Rein could finish, Grey cut him off sharply. "Do you want to move your butt or not?" he growled, visibly annoyed by his student’s hesitation.

  "Fine!" Rein exclaimed. He rushed toward Aria, morphing his wand back into a lance to shatter the dark needles pinning her to the earth. He carefully hoisted the unconscious Aria onto his back, then stopped in front of Grey for a final question.

  "Do you... do you have a way to stop Carol?" Rein asked, his voice desperate and heavy with sadness. "If you’re here, I bet you have a solution for all this chaos."

  Hearing the question, Grey closed his eyes, deep in thought. When he opened them, his gaze was solemn. "It’s only temporary, Rein. You cannot stop the force that has been with her since birth. It is her nature, after all."

  Rein paused, absorbing the weight of those words. "...I see. As long as your way is capable of stopping her for now, that is more than enough."

  Grey snorted at the answer, looking away as Rein and the group retreated safely toward the backline.

  "You really have a good friends, Carol," Grey mumbled to himself. He pulled out a pouch of tobacco, lit it with a spark from his wand, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "I thought I’d abandoned this habit after becoming a teacher. Might as well do it now. After all... I have to look cool for my students. And for my nieces."