As Adam grew weaker, enduring the draining of his life force, the Lich King completed the resurrection of Serbas's family. The Hands of Death emitted a final, intense black aura that engulfed Adam's body. "Arggh!!" Adam shouted as his mind plunged into a dark abyss.
Lyra felt the darkness creeping into his mind. As the darkness consumed Adam, Lyra desperately tried to detect Adam's consciousness, but then a voice spoke: "You're not welcome here!"
Instantly, Lyra was violently removed from Adam's mind and snapped back into her body.
"Adam! He is in danger!" Lyra cried out, awakened from her unconscious state. The spear wound on her chest was gone, but she realized she had been forcibly ejected from Adam's mind. Azrael and Vlad heard Lyra's voice but were unable to connect to Adam via neuro-link.
"Vlad, you need to save Adam now!" Lyra pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'll go over," Vlad said. Johan suddenly appeared from invisibility, seriously wounded.
"Let me help, I'll go with you." Vlad helped Johan toward the healers, instructing them to take care of him.
"Don't worry, I'll bring him back safely," Vlad promised.
Vlad teleported with his red liquid to the cave, where he saw Serbas's family with the Lich King. He then saw Adam lying down, unconscious.
"Lord Vlad, you're here. What happened to us? I can't recall how we got here," Dahlia, Serbas's wife, spoke. Lamia and Amon, Serbas's children, bowed before Lord Vlad.
"I'll explain later, all of you please follow me. Serbas is waiting for you," Vlad said urgently. Vlad quickly checked Adam's vitals; he looked stable but was unconscious.
"Adam's life force was taken, making him weak. However, my Master has returned to his body and is inside Adam," the Lich King said.
"Your Master?! There is something inside of Adam?! Tell me who is your Master?" Vlad commanded.
"Adam is my Master. His life force was dropping low. However, inside the Hands of Death, it seems that my Master's mana and energy returned back into Adam. It might be the reason why the Hands of Death is so powerful, which borrows from my Master's power. Adam is once my past powerful Master. A Demon King," the Lich King explained.
Vlad didn't want to press further and teleported all of them back to the civilization, in front of Lyra.
"Adam is unconscious and stable. Please heal his body since his life force was used," Vlad requested.
Lyra felt something wasn't right since she couldn't enter Adam's mind, no matter how hard she tried. Seeing his body and vitals were fine, she had no choice but to feel assured that Adam's body was safe.
The Reunion
Vlad teleported Serbas's family to the battlefield, where all of them saw the scene of Azrael sitting on top of Serbas's dismembered, burning body.
"How dare you do this to my dad!" Amon shouted and instantly rushed to attack Azrael. Azrael looked at Amon's hands, and his fist instantly stopped.
"Listen before you try to fight. Your dad caused all of this destruction just to save you and your family," Azrael said.
As the family looked around at the destruction, they were unable to comprehend how Serbas, the kind father and husband, could do all this. "No, he wouldn't do all this. You don't know who our father is. How dare you lie about his name!" Lamia shouted.
"Stop! It's true. I did all this," Serbas spoke, guilt and disappointment evident in his voice. "There are no words to excuse me of what I did."
"Don't act tough. Be truthful about your intentions," Azrael replied.
"Listen," Azrael continued, his voice softer.
"Your husband and father would destroy the world to revive every single one of you. That's how much he loves all of you. You may not realize this, but all of you died more than a hundred years ago. He has been trying to find a way to revive his family for 100 years alone. Don't hate him; he did what was needed to get his family back. Please talk him out of destroying the world since he already have everyone back now."
Serbas's family's hearts ached, hearing how much he had suffered—the once kind man they knew turning evil just to get them back, suffering alone for 100 years. Their tears started flowing as they moved closer to Serbas.
Azrael removed his black flames and released Serbas as his body merge back. While kneeling, the whole family hugged Serbas. Serbas finally felt the warm hug of someone he lost. Through the days, months and years of solitude, not knowing if he could ever touch them or say the words in his heart, he realized that 100 years was not all in vain. Serbas finally got to hold onto them again.
"I love you all, not once have I ever forgotten about everyone. Every day, my heart ached, not hearing your voice, your smile, your laughter. Everything ended too early. I'm so lost without you. Truly, I've missed you so much," Serbas spoke sincerely from his heart, tears flowing.