Amidst the wild light beams shooting all over the place, Rania and Luna, together with a few other survivors, travelled back to the stronghold, treading carefully on the way. They were just a few steps away from the stronghold when they witnessed it ...

Elin's body glowing its last and vanishing in thin air …

​​

Rania's surroundings blurred and all she could see was Granny Elin fading away. Her body froze and quivered. Rivers of tears came gushing from her eyes without her realizing it. Her slightly opened mouth went dry and her lungs forgot to breathe ...

As if glasses breaking, her heart shattered into thousands - no, millions of pieces.

Her heart wanted to scream out loud …

Her knees wanted to give out …

But she had to keep going ...

"Uggh"

Hearing the woman she helped carry on her shoulders in pain, her mind went back to reality and her frozen body began to walk again, back to the stronghold. Luna, though devastated as she was, followed her until they were inside the safe place.

Upon laying down the woman she carried, the designated healers came towards them to help. Seeing she was being attended to, Rania quickly ran towards Elijah.

Finally, her knees gave out and she kneeled before the poor child who wailed and yelled and cried with such agony. Rania trembled as she embraced Elijah and wept with him.

The dead bodies in front of the entrance to the stronghold …

Elin's body glowing and vanishing …

Blood stains on Elijah's clothes …

It didn't take long for Rania to realize what happened. Her heart sank even further.

"I … I'm sorry …," with a tremulous voice, Rania whispered to Elijah. "I - I … I should have gone alone and left Luna here to stay with you all. It's all my fault … I should have been more careful. This is war, and all kinds of things could happen. I s-should have planned it out better ... I ... I'm really sorry!"

Luna drew closer to Rania and Elijah and hugged them both.

"Waaaaaa … hu-hu-hu-hu," Luna wailed with them.

Their tears won't stop.

In her mind, Rania blamed herself. "Why? Why didn't I think of that possibility? How can I be so careless? And that carelessness caused people's lives! Sniff … sniff … I-it's all my fault … Why am I so useless? Hu-hu-hu-hu …

It's just like that time … during the invasion. I watched people close to me die and do nothing about it … even Zeid … Sniff … Sniff … There wasn't anything I could do!

And now, I was given all the power and strength I need but nothing changed! I still … I still can't protect anyone!"

After a few minutes of blaming herself, Rania did her best to calm down. She wiped her tears and breathed deeply.

"No - this is not the time for weakness. Everyone else is weak and crying, I need to be strong! Stop thinking of the 'what-ifs' and 'should-haves'! Things happen for a reason and you can't be the solution to everything so stop blaming yourself!" Rania cheered herself as she smacked her cheeks lightly. "Be strong and take heart! Don't give up! Don't dwell on the regrets, and keep on moving forward!" Like a mantra, she chanted it over and over to strengthen herself.

On the other hand, Elliot and Ducis, together with the apprehended Mad King, came back to the village. Elliot was devastated at the sight of the village he returned to.

The houses and shops they rebuilt, all engulfed in flames.

The water fountain they fixed, dried up and broken-down again.

The fields and plants they grew, all dead and destroyed.

Wherever he looked, only red flames awaited his eyes.

Elliot felt a stabbing pain in his heart upon seeing what happened to Pius Village.

After all the hard work they've done, everything went back to the way it was before they arrived.

Elliot's eyes passed the stronghold they set up. It was the only remaining untouched place in the whole village. Before his heart sank even further, he was reminded of all the villagers. He quickly asked Ducis to teleport them inside the stronghold to check on everyone.

"Please be safe," were the only words that kept encircling in Elliot's mind.

By the next second, they were now inside the stronghold. When they appeared, the other villagers who were cowering in fear stopped trembling. Little by little they gathered around Elliot and Ducis. Some informed them of the situation, and the others cried and pleaded with them. They were all speaking at once so it was hard for Elliot to understand them. Instead, he scanned the whole area to check if there's anyone injured or if they have any casualties.

Deep in his heart, he hoped, and begged that no one was harmed or died. In his mind, he thought, "A few injuries would be fine - just, please, let there be no deaths -"

Then, his eyes wandered on the dead bodies just outside the entrance of the stronghold.

He felt stabbing pains in his heart again. He swallowed hard and tightened his fist into a ball. He could handle the damage in the city, but deaths of people he tried to protect was a whole lot of ordeal for him. An ordeal he wasn't prepared to take.

Afterwards, his eyes laid on Rania whose eyes were reddened and swollen. She patted Elijah's and Luna's heads and shoulders, trying to calm them down. Elijah's clothes were bathed in blood. 'He must have been injured' was what he initially thought so his feet began to move towards them to help.

Elliot tried to harden and strengthen his heart and he somehow managed to do it. He knew he needed to be strong for these people. And him showing weakness was not an option. He did great in keeping his emotions … but not until he felt it.

Granny Elin's spiritual presence … were nowhere to be found.

"R-rania," Elliot called out to her. He was now beside Rania, staring blankly at her.

Rania looked up to him and tears started forming in her eyes once more.

"E-Elliot …," Rania furrowed and bit her trembling lips.

"Where … where's Granny Elin?" Elliot looked at Rania straight to the eyes.

Elijah wailed again after hearing his grandmother's name.

"She's - no longer with us," with all her strength, Rania answered him.

Elliot snapped. His eyes dimmed and his complexion grew pale. His lips started to bled from biting to hard, and so did his hands.

CRAAACCK!!!

The skies of the realm began to break. So did the crystal that the Guardian of this realm used to monitor Elliot and his friends. She lurked in the shadows and watched over them from the moment they stepped foot to her realm.

"I made sure to restrict their powers," the Guardian talked to herself. "And yet here he is, breaking my restriction along with my whole realm. What overwhelming powers … capable of defying a guardian such as myself. Splendid, truly splendid. But - if you continue doing that, you will fail this trial".

Elliot walked away from Rania, and turned towards the entrance. His cold eyes glared at the King of Chaos who was still running rampant. Feeling his powers come back, he lifted his left hand and aimed at him. Not even a second has passed, the King of Chaos got surrounded by thousands of ice swords.

The King of Chaos didn't bat an eye and simply conjured a barrier to protect him.

Elliot let go of the ice swords and it all went shooting towards the King of Chaos. Just as he predicted, it penetrated the barrier and pierced the King of Chaos' body.

Too bad this king was a lot stronger than the Mad King. When the ice swords penetrated the barrier, he immediately teleported to a safe distance. He was too slow though, five of Elliot's ice swords managed to pierce through his body.

"Ugh, you're strong … I'd give you that," the King of Chaos smirked even though he struggled to speak. Blood came gushing out of his mouth. He tried to dispel the ice swords in his body but they were too concentrated for him. "W-what's this - how?"

While he was busy with his thoughts, Elliot teleported near him. He gazed down on him and commanded the earth to swallow him up.

The King of Chaos tried to evade again only to be met by Elliot's wind blades. The blades cut deep through his skin and threw him hard unto the walls of the stronghold. His body slid down after the impact and fell hard on the ground.

Without any expression on his face, Elliot toyed with the King of Chaos' body, shooting random magic at him, injuring him over and over. When he felt that he would die, he would heal some of his injuries and then get back to hurting him again.

Rage, anger, fury - these words were not enough to describe the utter hatred and wrath that Elliot felt in his heart to the point that he snapped and lost his judgement.

Seeing as darkness prevailed in Elliot's heart, the Guardian of the realm stood up from her seat and prepared to show herself to them.

"Pity. It seems that you failed this trial, Anointed -".

"Elliot!!!" Rania shouted with all her might towards Elliot whose body floated in the air. Noticing she wasn't heard, she turned to Ducis, "Ducis! Please, teleport me to him right now!"

Ducis shook his head, "But Rania … he's dangerous right now. I've seen him like this before and he might unconsciously hurt you -"

"No! He won't harm me!" fire burned in Rania's eyes. "I believe in him!"

Ducis trembled. He sighed and with closed eyes, he did as Rania bid him.

Elliot was about to release his finishing blow to the King of Chaos when suddenly …

Like an angel falling from the sky, Rania called out to him.

"Elliot! Please stop this!"