Through the thick, boiling steam masking the crimson lake, Rika collapsed onto her knees. She grasped her chest, huffing desperately for air, her amber Aether entirely depleted.
"Theon..." Rika panted, her eyes widening as the deafening roar of the magical storm suddenly ceased. "Did you hear that?"
Theon, who was sprinting in a wide arc around the steam cloud, dug his boots into the submerged stone and skidded to a halt. On the opposite side of the clearing, Lucas also froze, lowering his azure blade slightly.
The suffocating, crushing pressure of the hybrid Aura had completely vanished.
As the thick white smoke slowly cleared, Lucas and Theon tensed, fully expecting an ambush. Instead, they saw the Crimson Knight.
The towering, blood-red giant fell heavily onto both of his knees. He held his massive longsword loosely in one hand, the tip resting in the water. The swirling vortex of gold and red Aura completely dispersed, leaving the lake eerily still.
Slowly, the Crimson Knight tilted his heavy helmet upward, staring into the perpetual afternoon sky.
"Lady Silvi," the Knight spoke. His voice wasn't the demonic, booming roar from before. It was calm, exhausted, and profoundly human.
Lucas blinked, lowering his sword completely. "Hey... did that thing just talk?"
VRRRRMMMM.
A high-pitched ringing pierced the air. Everything around Lucas instantly blurred into a smear of spinning colors.
When Lucas finally forced his eyes open, the nightmare was over. He was stunned.
The thick, horrific blood-red lake was gone. He was standing in a perfectly flat, crystal-clear expanse of shallow water. But it wasn't just the courtyard anymore. There were no dark gray castle walls. There were no hedge mazes.
The shallow lake stretched out infinitely in every single direction, blending seamlessly into a pure, blindingly white sky. There was no horizon, no borders, no sun—just an endless, peaceful mirror of water and white light.
"What the..." Lucas muttered, splashing forward a few steps.
A few feet away from him, the Knight was still on his knees, his head bowed, holding his broadsword loosely. But the armor was changing. The thick, corrupted crimson blood was actively washing away, dissolving into the clear water and fading into nothingness, revealing the brilliant, pristine golden holy armor beneath.
"Hey," Lucas called out cautiously. "Who are you?"
Splash.
Suddenly, a figure dropped out of the white sky, landing lightly on her back in the shallow water.
Lucas jumped back. "Wha—Roya?!"
Roya groaned, rubbing her head as she sat up. "Lucas? Is that you? Where are we?"
"What's up, brat," Lucas sighed. "Did you do something?"
As Roya opened her mouth to speak, a soft, ethereal glow caught her attention.
Silvi materialized in the clear water, standing right in front of the kneeling golden Knight. She didn't look like a fading ghost anymore; she looked real, beautiful, and completely at peace.
She gently reached out, grasping Kael's armored gauntlet.
As she touched him, Sir Kael let go of his sword entirely. The heavy weapon splashed into the water. He reached up and slowly removed his golden helmet, letting it drop to the floor.
Roya watched in absolute awe. Sir Kael's face was exactly as it had been in the memories—handsome, with long brown hair, though his eyes were heavy with centuries of exhaustion.
"Sir Kael," Silvi whispered, her voice like a gentle breeze. "It's over. You don't need to fight anymore."
Kael looked up at her, tears instantly pooling in his eyes. His lip trembled.
"Lady Silvi..." Kael's voice broke. "Please... forgive me."
Silvi didn't say a word. She dropped to her knees in the water and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tighter than she ever had in life. Kael buried his face in her shoulder, wrapping his golden arms around her, finally finding rest.
VRRRRMMMM.
The peaceful white realm began to hum, the edges of the world slowly fading into light.
"Lady Silvi!" Roya called out, scrambling to her feet as the water around them began to dissolve.
Silvi looked over Kael's shoulder, locking her glowing Star Eyes directly onto Roya.
"Roya, listen to me!" Silvi called out urgently, her voice cutting through the fading realm. "That silver ring you are wearing! It was once mine! It is not a normal ring!"
Roya froze, her hand instinctively flying to the hidden pouch where she kept her parents' ring. "What?! Wait, what's so special about this ring?!"
But before Silvi could answer, the white light consumed everything. The world went completely blank.
A warm, gentle breeze rustled through the green leaves overhead.
Roya groaned, her eyelids fluttering open. The world was spinning, her head pounding with a dull, dizzying ache.
The first thing she saw was Lucas's face hovering directly above hers. He had a nasty cut on his cheek and a fresh bruise on his jaw, but his sharp, handsome features were entirely relaxed. He was looking down at her, waiting for her to wake up.
From somewhere off to the side, she faintly heard Sam's exhausted voice. "Hey, Roya is awake, finally."
Roya blinked, her mind slowly booting back up. She felt a soft warmth beneath her head. She looked down.
She was laying directly on Lucas's lap.
Her face instantly flushed, turning a deep shade of red.
"WAAAH!" Roya shrieked.
She jumped straight up.
CRACK.
The top of her hard skull slammed directly into the bottom of Lucas's chin.
"PFFT—!" Lucas spat a comical wad of blood out of his mouth, his eyes rolling back for a split second as his teeth clacked together. He toppled over backward into the grass.
"Ahaa! Sorry!" Roya scrambled backward, holding the top of her head.
Lucas writhed on the dirt, clutching his chin in sheer agony. "OUCH! You absolute brat!"
"I am sixteen!" Roya yelled back, her face still flushed.
She quickly looked down at herself. The massive cuts and scrapes she had accumulated in the throne room were entirely cleaned and wrapped in pristine white bandages.
Roya's violet eyes narrowed into piercing daggers. She glared at Lucas, who was still groaning on the ground.
Lucas saw her glare and frantically held his hands up. "It wasn't me! I swear!"
"It was me who patched you up!"
A cheerful voice chimed in. Roya jumped as two arms wrapped around her from behind in a tight hug. A cascade of fiery amber hair fell over Roya's shoulders.
Roya turned her head and recognized the slightly older girl from the lake. "Aren't you... that girl who used Aether similar to a fire element?"
Rika laughed, letting go and sitting beside her on the grass. "You can call it that, I guess. My name is Rika."
"Roya! Thank the Goddess!" Sam suddenly crawled over through the grass, tears streaming down his bruised face. "You are okay! I thought you died!"
Roya's stern expression softened into a genuine smile. "Sam! Thank God you're okay, too. I saw you dive into the hole right as I lost consciousness."
Rika reached out and gently twirled a strand of Roya's deep purple hair around her finger. "You have such beautiful hair," Rika noted, her amber eyes sparkling.
Roya's smile faltered slightly. She looked away. "Yeah... so beautiful that I get called a witch for it back home."
Rika burst into a loud, boisterous laugh. "Hahaha! Let the people say whatever they want! Your hair looks beautiful, period."
Roya looked at Rika, her eyes widening slightly at the adventurer's absolute confidence.
"By the way," Rika said, pointing her thumb backward over her shoulder. "I heard from pretty-boy over there that you know some healing techniques. My buddies need some help."
Roya looked past Rika toward the base of a large oak tree.
"AHAAA! OUCH! OUCH! IT HURTS LIKE HELL!" Jon was writhing in the grass, clutching his twisted, heavily bruised arm. "I DON'T THINK I CAN TAKE THIS PAIN ANYMORE! KILL ME RIGHT NOW, THEON!"
Theon, sitting slouched against the tree trunk with a massive black eye and torn armor, glared at the fat knight. "Shut up, fatso. Man up."
Roya couldn't help but let out a small, amused sigh.
She closed her eyes. Her dark, vibrant purple Aether flared to life, coating her entire body. Within seconds, her own lingering bruises and the throbbing knot on her head vanished entirely.
Sam and Rika watched in absolute awe.
Roya stood up and walked over to the others. She unleashed her microscopic Aether threads. For the next hour, she painstakingly healed everyone. She mended Jon's shattered bones, patched up Theon's torn muscles, and treated Rika, Lucas, and Sam until every single person in the camp was fully recovered.
By the time night fell, the group had set up a proper camp right on the banks of the now-normal, serene shallow lake.
The moon hung high in the sky, casting a peaceful silver reflection across the water. Sam, Rika, Theon, and Jon were sitting around a crackling campfire, loudly arguing and laughing.
Roya sat a few yards away, hugging her knees as she stared out at the empty, quiet lake.
Lucas walked over and dropped heavily onto the grass beside her.
"Haaah..." Lucas let out a massive, tired sigh.
"I hope Lady Silvi and Sir Kael finally found their way," Roya said softly.
"Who?" Lucas asked.
"You know. The knight you just fought. His name was Kael, and—"
"Yeah, yeah, I get the gist of the story," Lucas cut her off smoothly.
He paused, looking out at the lake, his sharp blue eyes narrowing. He slowly squeezed his right hand into a tight fist.
"The only thing I need to know," Lucas said, looking toward the moon, "is that he was Strong. Very strong."
Roya looked at him.
"So," Roya asked. "How will we find the way to Vael from here?"
"That adventurer group is also heading toward Vael," Lucas replied, closing his eyes. "Let's just follow them until we reach there."
Roya nodded. She got up and headed toward the fire to talk with the adventurers, leaving Lucas to rest.
The next morning, they packed up their gear.
"What? You are going back, Sam?" Roya asked in surprise.
Sam stood by the edge of the camp. "Yeah. Although I will leave the Albert Knights, I still have some things to do in my home village."
He paused, looking at her. "Will you be living in Vael from now on, Roya?"
"For now, that is the plan," Roya nodded.
As the adventurer group and Lucas prepared to leave, Sam walked away, waving over his shoulder. "See you later, Roya."
Roya waved her goodbyes and followed behind Lucas.
Near afternoon, they finally reached the end of the Great Kira Forest. Roya broke into a run, charging up a small hill toward the open field.
She reached the peak and gasped, the wind blowing her purple hair back.
Before her was a massive, sprawling green landmass. Endless fields stretched out to the horizon. In the distance, she could see thriving villages, with smoke gently rising from far
-away chimneys.
Before them was THE KINGDOM OF VAEL.
(End of the Crimson Lake and Kira Forest Arc)