A woman, clad in a set of armour, had intervened in the nick of time, beating back the maddened tide of feral beasts. Power radiated off her very being, warping the air around her to the point that it seemed almost solid. The second tide of shadows ground to halt, forced back by an overwhelming pressure. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the halberd she was wielding in her right hand…even that of the maddened demons.

“Exemplar Rilata.” Ars-Maia murmured, and Gemini could hear a hint of awe inside these two words. “At the time of her husband’s true death, she was already a Sage. No one knew what happened to her in the period between the time of Lirada’s death and her first appearance then, but when she appeared, she had become an Exemplar.”

The woman — only her back was visible from Gemini’s point of view — swung the halberd from left to right in a sweeping motion. The world seemed to slow in that instant, as a single, thin line of blazing light sliced across the entire horde of shadows. White light faded away as Exemplar Rilata completed that single, sweeping blow, and demons began to topple en masse. Whatever ruined buildings and debris further away crumbled away, their foundations completely sliced apart.

Gemini’s heart skipped a beat as he sensed the power inside that single blow. He couldn’t be sure, given that what he was watching was a memory, but that single blow had transcended what any single Constellation was able to do. For all the earth-shaking, ocean-turning feats he and his ex-colleagues were able to do, none of them was capable of exerting a strike capable of slicing through buildings of an entire city that thoroughly. None of the Paragons in Ark City were likely to be able to do that, either.

“That…is an Exemplar?” Gemini muttered. “That…”

Ars-Maia glanced at Gemini. “She was and continues to be the strongest defender of our tribe.”

“She’s…still alive?”

Ars-Maia smiled quietly.

The scene around Gemini faded away, revealing the fortress city once again. The demon got up and walked over to the battlements. “Exemplar Rilata…as you know, the process of becoming an Exemplar involves the exchange of freedoms for power. She gave up everything she had. She gave up death, emotions, pleasure…almost everything to protect what remained of Ars Tribe.”

“After she reappeared, Exemplar Rilata became the sword and the shield of our tribe. She protected the remnants as they made their way out of their old home in the Grand Land, and in accordance to her vows, settled down at the natural chokepoint at the Earth-Splitting Mountain Range,” Ars-Maia said quietly.

“Her vows?”

The demon grunted. “One of her vows were to protect demons like us from the primal ones. We had no idea why she made it, or what made her make it, but it probably had something to do with her inordinate strength.”

These…vows have an impact on a Paragon’s strength, it seems. Gemini narrowed his eyes slightly. As someone who had been elevated to the world’s summit by the Human God, he had little idea of what made the Paragons of this world able to trade blows with him, but today, he had come a teeny bit closer to the truth.

“Does that mean that she’s been living a stunted lifestyle from then on?” Gemini asked.

“Stunted...tis a good word to use.” Ars-Maia turned to look at the heart of the city and pointed at the tallest tower. “Do you see that? That is where our greatest protector resides. When there is no Exemplar-rank enemy around, she spends her days there in a solitary, unmoving vigil.”

“Pardon me for being blunt, but that’s…a horrible way of life.”

“Yeah.” The demon sent another gaze at the tower, seemingly troubled. “Few of us know about her personality. She hasn’t uttered a word for a very long time, either. To many in the fortress, Exemplar Rilata is nothing but a guardian statue of a bygone age. And yet, things aren’t that simple.”

Gemini didn’t speak, his silence a request for the demon to continue. From afar, he could hear chatter as people went about their daily business. The sounds of metal slamming on metal as smiths made weapons, the sounds of fire crackling as cooks practiced how to prepare real meals…the city was full of life. Like him, Ars-Maia was also listening to the city’s noise, but unlike the peace welling up in Gemini’s heart, the demon’s face was full of worry.

“The act of hissatsu is one’s first step towards true madness. The weak-willed can lose themselves in the mere presence of such a killer. More importantly,” said Ars-Maia, “the moment you start, it’s hard to go back. But against enemies who are both deadly and nearly-immortal, there is no other way to neutralise that threat permanently. Exemplar Rilata, throughout her long, long life, had permanently ended the lives of over a hundred other Exemplars.”

Gemini worked through the demon’s words slowly. “No matter how extraordinary she is, Exemplar Rilata is still mortal. This means…she has been suppressing her own madness for a long time.”

“Yes.” Ars-Maia clenched his fist. “She had been torturing herself, using pain to keep her mind clear. But recently, she had requested an audience with the younger Exemplars and Sages of Ars City. Her message was simple — it was a request to kill her.”

Gemini stopped moving. These words, carried by the wind, seemed to register in his brain for a single, frozen moment. The sunlight, for a moment, had seemingly darkened.

“That’s…” He shook his head. “She spent her entire life fighting and fighting, never acting for anything else. And now…”

“Believe me when I say that we’re equally distraught.” Ars-Maia’s face was bleak. “After every fight, she isolates herself in her private chamber, never seeing the faces that she saved, never hearing the cheers of the survivors…to eke out such a life is beyond pitiable.”

“Why then, does she fight?” Gemini asked. “She could have left after saving the last of the tribe, but…”

“It’s obvious,” Ars-Maia replied quietly. “Out of love of her husband, who died for the tribe’s sake. To uphold his promise to protect the tribe. To prevent others from losing their loved ones forever.”

Gemini was silent. The Constellation had the feeling that the legendary Exemplar had been longing for death for untold periods of time. On Earth, people who had lost their entire world…didn’t really find much worth in living on. The Constellation knew that he was in no way qualified to comment on how someone should live their life, but if it was him…

“What else did she request?” Gemini asked.

“She asked for our new allies to send their strongest, in case she resists at the very end.” Ars-Maia looked at the ground. “A formal request will be made soon, but I wanted to tell you the entire backstory beforehand…so that your tribe is prepared.”

Gemini looked at the sun as he registered the demon’s words, but he could derive no warmth from it.