Tears glistened in Zemeth's eyes. "Yeah, I know," he said, finally accepting the fact that the blazing barrier is determined to finish its task, and no amount of rain can extinguish it.

A few minutes later, the rain finally stopped.

Ramza realized how lucky they were that they were finally able to escape the deadly castle. Too bad, Ivy and Esmeralda were trapped inside and probably dead by now. He released a deep sigh, truly disheartened and devastated by the tragic end of the two ladies that already become his friends. If only they're outside, safe with them, this will be a happy occasion to celebrate.

The fall of the castle can bring back peace to all the villages situated in nearby areas. This will also signal their return to their regular life. No more monsters and dark shadows to hunt and kill.

Zemeth's face was contorted in pain, his eyes filled with grief staring at the blazing inferno in front of them.

~~~

Meanwhile, below the hill.

Jegun and the rest of the gang rose in the air approaching Ramza and Zemeth.

Jegun floated beside Zemeth and patted the distraught guy's shoulder in condolence. "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, lad. In due time all wounds will heal," he said in a comforting voice.

Zemeth nods his head in reply to grandpa's words of comfort and wisdom. He looked at Aspen. "Bro, Esmeralda told me something before she entered the castle..."

"Tell me! What is it-?" Aspen asked eagerly.

"She told me to inform you that you can find her in the floating piece of land," Zemeth said.

Aspen's brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh? How to find the floating piece of land now that the castle already crumbled to the ground?" he asked in confusion looking at Jegun, his eyes showing helplessness. If only Esmeralda had talked to him first before she finally entered the castle, he won't be suffering confusion right now. Does his stubborn friend want him to find her? But where?

A frown appeared on Jegun's forehead. "I dunno, that also confuses me. Do you think the floating land will survive? Why would Esmeralda tell us something about this when we both know that once she ended her life, the blazing barrier will self destruct, it will burn all its inhabitants into ashes. And we have seen the damage with our own eyes right now..."

"What if the floating piece of land manage to survive from the burning flames?" Zemeth speculated, feeling hopeful.

"That would be impossible! But then...why would Esmeralda say something like that? And even if she died in the floating piece of land? Where to find it? Now that the entrance of the castle was gone?" Ramza asked, feeling baffled.

Aspen's eyes glimmered. "She's trying to tell us something...maybe she found a way to save herself and Ivy. Unfortunately, we have no idea what happened before Esmeralda killed herself. She even forgot to tell us about her plans. She never told me that she will enter the castle tonight for real!" he said, feeling upset and disappointed.

"Maybe, after seeing that the vampires were successively releasing dark shadows and monsters, she got alarmed by it and just wanted to end everything," Jegun took a wild guess.

"I'm wondering what happened to Esmeralda during the last hour of her life? Did she meet Ivy before she committed suicide? How I wish we know what happened!" Ramza stressed out.

"Ah, guys, worry no more! Remember that you told me about Granny Esmeralda's magical crystal ball? Maybe it will work this time. How about we get the crystal ball from the mountain and find out what happened to granny?" Agran suggested.

Everyone looked at Agran as if he was a Godsend, their dispirited faces brighten up a bit.

"Good idea!" Zemeth told Agran. He looked at the old man beside him. "Grandpa, can you please do it for us?" he requested.

Jegun smiled a bit. "Sure, I will go there now," he replied.

"Hmm...guys, I need to tell you something before I go," the king of the elves interjected.

Everyone looked at the king of elves.

"What is it, my friend?" Jegun asked. He forgot his tiny friend aboard the floating magic carpet.

The king of elves took a deep breath before narrating his story.

"A few days ago, I found four of your friends in the ground heavily poisoned, on the verge of death. So, my men and I brought them to our territory in the cave using the magic carpet and applied much-needed medication to them. We managed to save them on time by giving them heavy doses of the magical healing potion. As of now, their condition is already stable," the king of elves revealed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to tell you right away because I can't leave our territory. I was afraid that the enemy saw us and follow us even if I used the concealing method so that our tracks can not be traced. My men and I have to guard our territory day and night. I only come out now after their health was already stable, just to inform you guys that your friends are alive," he told them the good news.

Everyone's faces rejoice after hearing the good news that their comrades didn't die at all.

"This is good news! I'm mind blown!" Ramza grinned happily.

The amazing news brought a smile even to the distraught Zemeth. "I'm truly happy that our comrades are safe and recovering under your care, friend," he said, extremely delighted by the good news. He has forgotten the pain in his heart for a few seconds. "Thank you so much, for saving our friends," he told the king of elves.

The king of elves smiled broadly. "Don't mention it. We are friends, and friends help each other all the time. I'm going back to the cave. I'll return tomorrow so that if anyone of you wants to visit your friends I'll bring you with me to our territory. I'll bring the good news of the castle's downfall to your friends in the cave. I'm leaving now, bye guys!" he bid goodbye to his friends.

"See you tomorrow, my friend!" Jegun said, waving goodbye at the elves that were on board the magic carpet.

The men were getting further away from the place.

Ramza looked at his companion. "Wow, such amazing news! It would have been much better if we can also find Esmeralda and Ivy alive somewhere," he said.

Everyone looked at each other with a mixture of sadness and happiness in their eyes.

Zemeth was struggling with his feelings, he can't completely rejoice at this moment because the painful ache he felt right now due to losing Ivy is squeezing his bleeding heart.

Jegun looked at Zemeth. "I'm going back now to the mountain to find the magic crystal ball," he told his companions.

"Okay, I hope we will find out exactly what happened to Esmeralda before she committed suicide, at least some of our questions will have answers," Zemeth said.

"Bye guys, I'll try my best to get an answer from the crystal ball. See you later!" Jegun said, he activated the teleportation in his mind and disappeared from the place.

Zemeth and the gang shifted their attention to the burning castle.

Aspen was wracking his brain like crazy, thinking why Esmeralda told Zemeth to inform him of finding her in the floating piece of land? It's making him crazy just deciphering her perplexing message. Right now while watching the blazing inferno in front of him, he believes that it would be impossible to find any living thing surviving inside the castle. And the floating piece of land isn't that special to withstand the curse of the blazing barrier unless it was designed to survive a calamity of this magnitude.

Did Esmeralda know something that she didn't tell him?

Did she expect him to jump into the blazing inferno right now to find her in limbo? This is madness!

Was Esmeralda expect him to do something, but what is it? Dammit, he's getting confused as hell!

Ramza noticed the twisted expression on Aspen's face. "What's wrong, bro?"

Aspen sighed heavily and scratched his head. "I'm agonizing over Esmeralda's message to find her in the floating piece of land. That is our home when we're still residing inside the castle. As you can say, the castle was already burning right now, which means, end of everything! How am I supposed to find that land right now? When all I can see is a blazing inferno in front of me? This is madness! I know that I need to do something...I just don't know what it is and how to do it and where to begin?" he blurted a long rant of frustration.

Ramza sighed. "Calm down...why don't you go to the mountain and help Grandpa Jegun? Maybe you can find the answers to all your questions there. Don't worry, once the flames start to fade...we will inform you guys. Then we will start searching for their remains... hopefully, we can still find them..." he suggested.

"Nice idea!" Aspen agreed. He will go back to the mountain, maybe he can find something in Esmeralda's room to help him dissect her cryptic message. He needs a guide that will show him the way. "Okay, I'm going back to the mountain now, see you later, guys!" he said and activated the teleportation in his mind. He vanished from the area in seconds.