It was late in the night when Leona settled back on her bed, albeit she was merely staring at the wooden roof instead of actually sleeping due to the conversation she had earlier with Minerva. It made her think of the possibilities if she were to return to Arcadia as she were, would the people accept her?

“Of course not…” She muttered quietly to herself. “At least not when I turned my back and ran after what happened.”

Upon extending her right open hand towards the roof she slowly clenched it into a tight fist before closing her eyes and resting the right arm on top of her stomach.

‘I wonder what I can do to make all of this work. If Krieg was here with me then maybe, maybe he would know what to do…’ Her sheltered heart was beginning to give in, but deep down she knew there was only one way to move forward. And the answer was within her own determination. ‘But then, I wouldn’t be a leader worth following, would I?’

She slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in four seconds before exhaling silently with her mouth for another four seconds. She repeated the same process over and over until her body began to feel relaxed enough to sleep, a technique she picked up from Phoebe in order to calm her nerves during their travels through the snowy Londrian landscape.

Sleep overcame her senses as the comfortable temperature beneath the blanket helped her mind drift away knowing she was safe from the elements inside the inn room. But just as soon as her mind drifted away, her mind was once again pulled from the river of consciousness by a strangely familiar female voice.

“Hearken to my voice. Champion of darkness. Let time and space cease its existence, through forged bonds of destiny we once again meet.”

Before long, Leona opened her eyes only to see the raging ocean beneath enormous storm clouds looming over a castle near the coast of a mountainous scenery. If she never saw it herself it would just pass up as a dream, but she recognized the landscape as well as the iconic blue sheen to the imposing fortification towering the rest of the city.

“Wait… that place is Londria.”

Upon realizing what just happened, she turned around instinctively grasping the left side of her hip for the longsword, but there was no weapon there, instead looking down she noticed her body was clad in a dark mist that seemed to coalesce in the center of her chest. Standing in front of her was a long silver haired woman wearing a long white dress sitting on a gray rock with an ornate greatsword resting on top of her lap. The handle was finely enveloped with a white leather-like textile being held by a golden pommel, the rectangular guard perpendicular to the rest of the weapon with a platinum sheen covered about a palm on both sides of the sword. It was impossible to discern what kind of metal the blade was made of since the entirety of its length was covered by an irradiating white golden glow.

“At ease Leona.” The woman smiled warmly, her golden eyes looked at the tactician with kindness. “My name is Eleonora. I’m known as the goddess of light by your people. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Yes I am well aware.” Leona was still on the defense, if her previous experiences with gods taught her anything is that she couldn’t fully trust any of them. “Aren’t you supposed to be the goddess of life and death?”

Her smile began to fade as if the warmth from her face was extinguished by that phrase alone. The fingers of her left hand traced along the edge of the blade on her lap.

“So you’ve met him.” She sighed before taking a deep breath and looking Leona in the eyes as she continued. “I was originally known to have control over life and death itself, that was back when the world was whole, humans and demons lived in harmony. However, with countless wars waged in these lands where the faith towards my vessels is strong, I began to change, little by little, with every prayer, every hope. I’ve come to wield the light as my blade to save those from the darkest depths of despair.”

“Your vessels? Do you mean like Queen Eleonora?”

She slowly nodded.

“Through countless others before her, I was able to make amends to my late brothers. To right the wrongs of my past self and relinquish the sorrow of those affected by it.”

The goddess spoke of the last great war that happened over thousands of years ago. Demon human dragon war, which brought an end to the empire of dragons to the west of the world. Demons together with humans, defeated the dragons that ruled the land, after the years Eleonora’s fame slowly shifted over the course of humanity’s growing fear and woes of demons as the goddess of light.

“Then… are you saying that you killed the other gods?”

“Humanity killed them. We gods can only survive from the faith and devotion of others, if nobody is there to believe in us, how can we exist?” She rested her right hand on the guard of the holy sword. “When I realized, all the faith in both of my brothers died when the wars ended and so I was left alone.”

Leona just realized what all of that meant, if wars made the goddess the way she was, there was only one reason as to why the angelic beasts were created.

“Is that the reason why you created the death angels? So they wreck havoc in order to create more reason for the people to believe in you?”

She shook her head. Her half open eyes were filled with sorrow as she passed her left palm alongside the flat surface of the blade.

“My father created those abominations in order to prolong this suffering. The neverending madness rooted in the hearts of men, through it, he grows stronger.”

Once the goddess mentioned it, Leona’s face suddenly turned pale.

“Wait… then, the reason why he created them-”

“To both weaken me and strengthen himself. By making humanity lose hope towards the light, he manages to accomplish his goals to become the only god.”

Leona glanced down towards her hands, both of them were swirling with dark red miasma which at some point before was a normal sight in the void but now it sickened her. The very power that she holds now was born from hatred so deep she could barely begin to understand.

However that conversation made everything clear, if she was to do something about the plague that promises to deliver the end of the world, she had to cut the evil by its roots. She turned towards the goddess with a fierce look in her eyes.

“Is there a way to defeat him?”

Eleonora simply shook her head.

“As he is now, even if my brothers were alive, we wouldn’t be able to leave so much as a scratch on him.” Her eyes shifted towards the handle of the blade resting on her lap. “But there is one thing that I can provide to you. However, I ask you to forgive me in advance.”

“Wait what do you mean-?”

Eleonora lifted the sword flat in front of her own face and closed her eyes, in a silent prayer she began to chant and just a few words the tactician could barely make out from beneath the goddess mutters were.

“...oh holy blade of Eden… grant thy power unto this worthy champion.”

From the middle of Leona’s chest a warm light began to dissipate the miasma that engulfed her, her prismatic pendant began to shine warmly.

“Wait… what is happening- my body?!” Upon looking towards her arms, she noticed her veins began to glow golden and a gentle warm sensation spread throughout her body, but the pleasant sensation suddenly turned to an intense pain as if boiling water was coursing through her arteries as the core of her body began to feel like it was about to burst open from heat. “AAAAAGH! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY BODY?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!”

The goddess let go of her weapon and kneeled in front of the tactician in order to hold her hands together between hers. Even while kneeling she was a bit taller than Leona.

“Endure it with all your might! I believe in your potential Leona, for the better future of this world, you must achieve your dreams!”

Upon hearing those words, the tactician clenched her teeth and began to remember all the memories she had created back in the mansion, her maids, her mother, her father, Krieg, everyone who gave their lives for her to come this far.

“I-” She grasped the goddess’ hands back. “I will survive-!”