In an instant, the bright light filled up the interior of Lera's Void domain shield layer before she had to direct much more of her Wave to maintain the integrity of the shields themselves. That didn’t work long as the wave continued to push against the shields, melting it soon after before clashing against the layer of Void Domain towards the outside.

“I got this I got this I got this!” Icy grunted, sealing her body in her armor of ice before she was slammed into the exterior of the shields by the expanding explosion before she fell straight through the Void domain and onto the ground, her control of the Wave temporarily cut out before everything was restored just as quickly.

As her body bounced against the ground like a pinball, Icy quickly reoriented herself in space before snapping her fingers, drawing on that Talonian cold and the Wave in the environment to create massive walls of ice that contained the explosions fully. However, that ended up trapping Wu and Lera inside.

“ARE YOU OKAY?!” Icy asked, her fingers grasping onto the communication Cast that Lera handed her earlier back at the main hall.

“Compared to the thing that blew up the island, this is nothing.” Wu said, holding back the waves of explosions with one hand while slowly making a hole inside Icy's walls with a concentrated beam of Wave to himself and Lera out.

“Wait…that was you?” Icy cocked her head back in surprise.

“Well…it was more like Mus Ongaku was firing on the island from down below, and we were trying to keep everything together. But then a stray shot eventually found its way into the core, and everything went poof…” Wu said, hugging Lera’s shoulders with one arm before looking at the brightness beyond the ice walls just like the rest of Fang city, “I…I am more worried about Alina.”

“Like she said. Talonian girls are tough.” Icy said as the blast waves from the explosions rose straight up into the air, creating a column of light that pierced the clouds above. Then, countless light blue lines of Wave rained down onto Fang city.

“It’s a miracle!” One of the citizens raised both arms overhead, “The Wave…it’s coming back to us!”

Excited exclamations spread throughout the city as more and more individuals rushed out from the crowded hiding places and reached their hands up. The cycling of Wave out of their body was akin to someone extracting the souls of those people, though Wu wondered what it felt like to have something taken to be returned to you in this sort of fashion.

As more of the Wave rained from the heavens above, the remnant blasts of the explosions also quickly dwindled away as the white light as bright as the sun became replaced by dark red smoke within the ice wall.

“It’s…over.” Alina murmured, sensing the fading presence of Caligo both in the Wave and in her mind. She repeated her words, but the communication Cast had been burned to a crisp. Her armor down below was barely clinging to her body, and it felt crispy and boiling hot to the touch.

Eventually, the walls of ice broke apart as Wu, Lera, and Icy rushed in. Ita and the rest of the Leodora held back the curious citizens as Wu skid along puddles of freshly melted water and stopped just shy of Alina who's sitting in the middle of a crater, her face severely scarred, and yet she seemed to be in the best of spirits.

“It’s over?” He asked, reaching a hand forward. Alina took it, and she smiled and nodded.

“It’s…all over now.” She said, resting her body against Wu before Ita hopped next to her.

Lera raised her hand and started applying a healing Cast to Alina’s hand, but she waved it off, instead relishing the pain as a way to remember all of her fallen comrades.

“The people want you out there.” Ita said, “They need someone to tell them what’s next…they need a leader.”

“And they already have one.” Alina said, massaging Ita’s long white hair before she took over the duty of holding onto the tired Valkyrie general, “Whatever it is you decide to do, you have my full support.”

“Don’t worry about us.” Wu added, “We were never supposed to be here, officially~”

“Just go for it, Ita. Let them know what future you seek for this country.” Lera continued, leaning her head against Wu as he pulled the hoods over their head and blended into the approaching crowd.

Ita nodded as Lera and Wu took a step back. She then glanced towards Icy who gave her a thumbs up before she gestured and raised her and Alina up along a floating ice platform while the rest of the ice walls slowly melted away. Through a Cast array already implanted into the ice column, Lera activated a projection Cast that brought Ita’s voice to the city that just gone through so much.

“My…fellow citizens of Fang, and my brothers and sisters of Talonia! I am Ita Leodora, a daughter of the Leodora family.” Ita said, raising a fist up and drawing the attention of everybody around. The projection Cast sounded louder than she expected, and she swallowed hard before quickly scanning the thousands of eyes all focused on her, “With the combined efforts of the House of Leodora and the wrongfully convicted Valkyrie general Alina Vuk, the plot to destroy Fang city by Caligo had been thwarted at last!”

The crowd roared in applause, and Alina forced a smile before she waved her hands at the excited group of people.

“However, despite all of our losses, we must not forget what pain and suffering that Caligo was able to manipulate. We must simultaneously acknowledge the protections the Valkyries had offered us, and the countless sacrifices that went into keeping us safe. We must remember what happened, and we must find a better way. And with the end of Caligo, a new spring had arrived in Talonia.

“Just like the rest of the world, from now on, all children of age within Talonia will be entering through free education on Wave usage and control, and the selections and grading of Wave users will be based on competition, talent, and hard work. The future that we are working together is a future of freedom, of fairness, and of endless possibilities.

“The sacrifices of yesterday, the ghost towns of the past, and the nameless ones that passed away in the darkness, will no longer haunt this kingdom. We will become a beacon of hope and advancement even despite the harsh winters, and we will succeed no matter what, because Talonian people is just that tough!

“Today, we rebuild and remember. And tonight, we celebrate the arrival of new spring to our kingdom!”

With her hands raised high up to the side, Ita further lifted Alina into the air as the crowd chanted Alina and Ita’s names repeatedly, the thundering roar echoing throughout the city walls.

Then, the main houses of Talonia, lead proudly by Leodora finally arrived during the clean-up efforts as those that had already undergone Partial Demonic Transformations were round up and quarantined from the rest of the people until a solution could be found for them.

However, without a master to control those transformations, they were all simply moving around like usual without knowing the extra level of power they contain. This might become a problem for both that did end up being transformed and those that were spared from Caligo's Casts, but Ita knew that’s something that she will eventually have to contend with.

The main group of people paid a visit to the palace where the cabinets of Talonia was found to have been cleaned up by a group of Valkyries before they were stationed around the city walls. With an utter and complete power vacuum within the kingdom, the main houses quickly established their rankings and filled up the empty spaces without hesitation.

Though Ita, now appointed a temporary head of the transitional government, also needed to concern herself with the threats of PORA, which were part of the reasons behind Caligo’s attempted full transformation of Fang city.

“So…this is what you should expect with the PORA activities.” Wu said, concluding his sharing of information from what he and Lera learned back at Varous, “You should have all you need when it comes to dealing with the defensive Casts, but the PORA agent might still sneak through the cracks in your security regardless.”

“Regardless, it doesn’t change our mission. Not really.” Ita said, “we need strength within Talonia, and we will get it from our people.”

“Plus, if the PORA ever thought about messing with Talonia, they will have to go through us.” Alina added, poking her finger into Icy’s shoulders, “She had been improving still, almost beat me this morning!”

“Shut up, I have already beaten you twice!” Icy rolled her eyes, “Don’t get cocky just because you got the best of me recently…”

“Hey, the present’s all that matters.” Alina shrugged as Wu smiled lightly.

“Well, seems like this kingdom will be in good hands. Now…just one more thing.” Wu said finally, glancing towards Lera who swiftly opened up a communication Cast before Joseph’s massive projection appeared over it, and his flowing red hair looked like it was about to pour onto the palace floor.

“Alina? Are you okay?” Joseph asked when Alina’s face turned red before she suddenly turned her head around and covered up her face.

“Joseph! Not…not now!” Alina waved her arms in a panic before she pulled up her shirt to cover her face, “I can’t talk right now! Lera, stop it!”

“Well…I shall have you know that the mission is successfully accomplished.” Wu said as Joseph let out an audible sigh of relief.

“Yeah…good job.” Joseph nodded, “An easy mission, I suppose?”

“All sunshine and rainbows. You know how we do things.” Wu chuckled before standing up alongside Lera, “Now…as much as I enjoyed all of your company, I am looking forward to going somewhere warmer…”

“Not before you join the party tonight!” Ita said, tackling Wu to the ground, “You aren’t running away from me this easily!”

The party ended up with the younger generation completely passed out and sleeping in a messy pile while Alina headed out and took a walk along the rooftops of the grand palace. Sensing the crunch of the snow under her feet, she then lied down and looked up into the stars before opening her palm.

Within it was the communication Cast that Lera had used earlier. She took it off her while she was sleeping, and Alina was already feeling guilty for doing so. However, she…she felt compelled to do so, and she didn’t know why.

Placing a silvery mask that covered the top half of her face over her eyes, Alina then injected a small pulse of the Wave into the Cast as the faint blue glows spread through the Cast lines and lit up the entire piece of paper.

A projection flickered to light, and Joseph’s outlines appeared over it.