A raging fire submerged the solitary settlement within the valleys as the swirling flames soared onto greater heights, appearing to devour down the dark clouds of the night sky. The crackle of the burning wood and the sizzle of the living flesh emitted a breath choking smell that traveled far and wide, making the vivid and graphic imagery resemble a scene from hell itself. Over a hundred poor and innocent lives had their bodies cremated within the burning village, forever dying the lands in a colour of tragedy.

In a distance, just out of reach of the intense heat, and among the bushy weeds of the fields, lay the broken body of the woman who despite trying her best, and even having surpassed her limits in the end, could not prevent the disaster that destiny had prepared for them.

She lay sprawled atop the succulent grass, strange but familiar cracks visible along the entirety of her physique. Her state was akin to a half-broken vase, ready to fall apart at any moment. Even so, a resistant gleam brightly flashed in her pupils as she held on to a flickering wisp of life force through sheer willpower.

For some reason, Bojorn had not delivered the finishing blow after witnessing the huntress' broken physique and he had silently departed, leaving behind the woman within fate's hands. Since then, Shreya had remained immovable for an uncertain interval, the passage of time being completely distorted in her head. Regardless, she had combated the desperate urge to simply let go of the struggle from her end, closing her eyes in peace for deep rest.

After what felt like an eternity waiting in darkness, the vivid sound of ruffling grass echoed within her ear that drowned the woman's anxious mind with a wave of relief.

krii! krii!

Shreya's body creaked like a wooden doll as she tilted her head sideways, her pupils dizzily glancing at the figure that stood just beside. Even though she had expected an image along such lines and had resolved herself to an extent, a hand of extreme guilt and remorse still crushed down on the huntress' heart as she gazed at the dreadful silhouettes of her blood.

"Legas...Lora...", Shreya spoke with difficulty as her body convulsed, seemingly with a desire to move, striving to hop up and give those siblings a deep hug.

Under the shimmer of approaching dawn, Legas silently stood beside his mother, the deathly cold body of the little girl cradled up in his arms. Blood coaxed through every part of his visible appearance that was certainly not his own, highlighting the ominous jet black markings over the tanned skin which made him resemble an infernal creature from an abyssal plane.

Legas rested his sister's head atop the huntress' sprawled hand like an arm pillow before kneeling right beside the fissured mother-daughter pair. Shreya who glanced upon the peaceful smile on the little girl's pallid face almost broke out in tears.

"I'm sorry...Lora...All of this is my fault...I'm sorry... Please...forgive me..."

"...."

A strange silence followed the huntress' bitter words of apology as she gazed on at Legas' dimmed eyes. The boy's face was unreadable. A multitude of emotions could be made out, a different person pointing out a different set, all combining to present a familiar blankness. He simply eyed the ground with a downcast visage much to Shreya's glowing eyes of concern.

The warm morning winds swished through the place, rustling the weeds and bushes around before they further fanned the gigantic flames within the village at a distance with a fierce outburst of the burning crackle! These were the only sounds one could hear within the area for quite a few breaths of time, before...

"So selfish..." Legas finally voiced his muddled thoughts with an unnaturally weak whisper. "You both are so...No, All three of you are so selfish."

"Hehehe..." bleak laughter escaped Shreya's mouth. "Maybe we are. Your father...was the most selfish one among us and...it probably...rubbed off on me after...staying so close to him," her words came out with difficulty as if she had to exhaust her entire breath to voice a single phrase.

"But...", Shreya continued, her face gradually turning into one of deep sorrow.

"...?"

"I finally found the reason why...he had decided...to take part...in an expedition then."

"..."

"He never wanted...to return to his adventuring life. When he...held you in his arms...for the first time, he had decided...to live life...free of uncertainties."

"..."

"Everything's...cleared up now...haha...and it's my fault. All of it...is my fault..."

Shreya reminisced her distant past, her life choices and consequences that always seem to prove her decisions to be wrong. A multitude of doubts and questions had cleared up through this supernatural experience, bringing in a mixture of emotions within her mind. But what remained constant and discernable, was a wave of immense regret that oozed out of the huntress' teary eyes. Regret that stemmed not just from the situation at hand, but all the way from the past.

"Why...." a wisp of anger appeared on the boy's face. "Why are you blaming yourselves? None, none of it is your fault. It's not our fault. Those bandits!" Legas clenched his fists hard enough that the fingernails bore into his palm with a trickle of blood.

"In that sense..." Shreya formed a bitter smile. "The real culprit or culprits lie elsewhere."

"...what do you...?", Legas asked with a quizzical face.

"Those bandits hadn't attacked of their own accord...They were made to do so..." Shreya voiced out her deduced conclusion much to the boy's widened eyes of surprise. "Listen, Legas...we were just caught up...in a political conspiracy...and the bandit's...real target was...Lena."

"e-eh?"

"She and Uncle Granos probably...have very special...identities. Before the raid...they had already escaped...with those adventurers you....had talked about"

For a moment, just for a single moment, a sense of relief had flashed past Legas' heart on hearing about the girl's safety. But right then, latching onto the latter part of his mother's words, that fleeting emotion blacked out.

"...what?", a menacing monster like growl escaped the boy's throat. His teeth clattered in fury, his body convulsed in wrath, the greenish tinge returning to his pupils for an instant. "Those adventurers...escaped?"

"Son, you must understand... Shreya furrowed her brows in seriousness. "Not everyone...is always kind to strangers...unlike your father. They are all...fighting for their own...survival...their own...selfishness. That's just how...this world functions."

"..." Legas' involuntary shudder calmed down at Shreya's expression, his foggy eyes being gradually cleared out.

"You can hate someone...who has malice towards you...You can resent someone...who has hurt you...But you cannot blame someone...for ignoring you. It is...their choice, whether they...want to help...or not. Instead, it is...you who should...be patient, be resilient...and endure everything...your life throws upon."

"Mom...*sob*..."

"This world is full...of shitheads," Shreya spat out with a grit of teeth. "It is...very easy to lose yourself...drowning in...the dark undercurrents. After all...not everyone can be like...Alathia's chosen. But what we can do...is keep trying...keep resisting. It may be painful...sorrowful...regretful...but you must never...fully let go of your...purity."

"Legas...never turn into a true...demon. That is my...final advice.

"This...bow..." the huntress gazed to the other side, where the silvery compact weapon lay submerged within the foliage.

"If you...ever venture...south, to my...homeland, you must...return it to your...grandfather, along...with a word of apology...That is my...final request."

Shreya's chest heaved with a fierce exhale of air, her resilient struggle within could be seen gradually relaxing. It was her duty as a mother that had provided the strength to hold on since then, and now, that duty had been completed. The words she wanted to convey, had already reached the person in question.

"Why...Why...Why!...Why do you think I want to live past this!" the boy screamed all of a sudden.

"When none of you will be by my side! *sniff* *sniff*", tears formed in his eyes once again. "I used the same power that killed you! broke you! Very soon, even I will be like that! *sob* And that's fine! That's much better! *sob* *sob*..." Legas spouted out words in a single breath before breaking down into an infant like cry as he let out all of his suppressed emotions.

"hehehe," Shreya laughed with a resplendent smile. "Sorry, son...but my intuition tells me...you have to endure for much...much longer.

"Having...same blood only gives you...an opportunity to form bonds. You will meet many people...in the future...interesting...quirky...annoying. They will...be with you through...your tough times."

"I don't want to! I want to live with you guys!"

"Hehehe...my son is so charming... I wonder how many...maiden hearts will cry for him..." Shreya teased with a glistening smirk. "It's a pity I won't get...to see my daughter-in-law."

"Mom!"

"You better...have decades worth...of adventures when...you come to this side.....or else...Lora will be sad."

"Mom!!", the desperate boy kowtowed onto the ground as he put on the huntress' trembling hand over his head,

"Rogers, you idiot...you better prepare yourselves! You won't run away this time!" Shreya let out a feeble roar that was followed by a final bout of laughter with the last of her energy as she gazed at the rising sun on the horizon before her pupils ceased any forms of motion. She let go of the final strand of life force she had been desperately holding onto and her trembling physique settled down, her eyelids closing down for eternal sleep.

"MOOM!!"

The crimson flames still surged, around and within the remnants of the settlement, but their intensity had greatly dimmed under the morning sunrays. The crackle of the burning wood still had drowned the area with a disgusting pungent smell of burned flesh that permeated the air for dozens of meters.

crack! crack!

It was not long before Legas' sobbing body went deathly still as his consciousness blanked out under the immense trauma that had engulfed his mind. The powerful markings had all receded away, replacing them were the similar but vicious cracks that ran all over the boy's skin.

The long and arduous night of tragedy had finally concluded, but it was only so since there was nothing else left to destroy.