Jason jumped awake, spluttering as silver crawled down his throat.

“Jason, that's a healing potion dammit!”

He blinked, and turned around to see Brand scowling at him. He wiped away the liquid dribbling down his chin, and swallowed what was left in his mouth. “What happened?”

Brand smirked. “I saved your asses is what happened.”

He looked around again and his eyes fell on a familiar shattered skeleton. “You…?”

“That’s right. It’s over.”

Jason twisted to him, and then flopped back on the ground. “Oh thank fuck.”

He heard grumbling. “Wha…”

“Ah, Ilis, you’re awake and you didn’t waste my potion too.”

Jason turned his head to see Ilis struggling to sit up. She glanced around, much like him, and then slumped. “Fuck, I wanted to be the one to get him.”

Brand snorted. “Maybe next time.”

He sighed, and slowly got to his feet, groaning as he did so. “Oof, that is not going to be good for my back…”

Brand gave him a pat, which also nearly sent him stumbling. He glared at the amused man, before returning his attention back to the forest. The remainder of their force were milling around, or just sitting. A lot of them had serious wounds, and there were significantly less than before.

“I thought we were doing well?”

Brand grimaced. “I had to stop holding back the barnacles in order to get Silver. I…hoped more would survive.”

He exhaled, feeling a heavy weight on his chest. “Well, we better get going anyway. We need to catch up with the rest of the evacuation force.”

Brand nodded, and opened his mouth, “Pay your respects! We’re moving out in fifteen minutes!”

Jason started limping over to the trees again, Brand and Ilis following as he passed underneath the branches. While he walked he saw tragedy everywhere. The Cani knight who’d teased him was kneeling over the two pale bodies; her fists clenched tightly. His gaze moved on to a craftsman – a blacksmith according to [Identify], sitting wide eyed against a trunk, blood dripping from his fingers. Jason forced his attention to the crunch of snow instead. Don’t think about it. He felt a gentle hand place itself on his shoulder. He turned and saw Brand looking at him with sympathy.

“I’m fine.” He said simply, before continuing.

They walked further in, and more people joined them after finishing their goodbyes, creating a long procession. Eventually, they made it to the clearing where Falisty was, and they all came to a stop. Falan had the high-level corpse’s head resting on his lap. The crystal roots were pulsing into it, the light around from the trees brightening, until they suddenly flashed and went back to normal. Everything was silent, until…

“Falan why hasn’t it worked? I feel-” Falisty spoke, her branches swaying. “-I feel, wait…new Ability?” Two voices suddenly whispered. Their gazes swung back to the corpse, who had just spoken. Veins of green pulsed through it, the same colour as the crystal, and slowly, her eyes opened, revealing emerald irises. She blinked, and looked at herself. Both Falisty’s stared at each other.

Falan started trembling. “Don’t tell me it just-”

“No…” Both of them said at the same time. “...I’m both me?” Her expression became confused, and she reached up to clutch her head. “My mind hurts…”

An expression of understanding dawned on Falan’s face, and he raced over to the original. “Falisty, do you remember the state you were in? How you were asleep? You need to go back to that.”

She frowned. “...Hoooow?” she said, as if she was tasting the word.

Falan floundered, until, “Close your eyes, and focus on your breathing…focus on all of it…all of your breathing, do you understand?”

She slowly did what he said, and just remained like that, silently. Slowly, the forest around them shifted, glowing brighter, thrumming with her breath. Her expression gradually slackened, until her face was devoid of all emotion. The other Falisty opened her eyes, blinking away the tears. “Falan?” she whispered uncertainly.

He rushed over, and gripped her hand. “I’m here, I’m here…” he continued speaking until eventually, she came out of whatever state she was in.

“I’m better, thanks. But, I don’t think I’ll be good for long…I feel so strange…”

Falan chuckled. “It's a bizarre experience, is it not? Come, the others must be waiting, we must go.” He gently grasped her hand, and helped her up, and promptly tensed when he saw everyone, before swallowing, and stepping forward to glare at them. “She’s going to be fixing this land, do you understand? While she’s here, the Holy Will might just spare everyone. I think she deserves this. Understand?”

It was obvious what her new body was, how valuable it would be. Yet, there were only grim nods.

With that out of the way, they made their way back to the evacuation force, and stopped by Grenion on the way. Yena had come rushing out, desperate for answers. When they told her that they won, she had started openly crying before throwing her arms in the air and shouting in relief. The few people left in the city joined her call. They didn’t stay for long, moving on only after she paid everyone what she promised. Brand led the way, his power speeding everyone up, and they soon caught up to the evacuating people, who also cheered when they saw them. Some of that cheer was ruined when people realised how many had been lost. They didn’t have time to stop moving, not knowing when the Holy Will would break out of the fog. He guessed that they wouldn’t look kindly on a bunch of people trying to flee them though.

Evening eventually rolled around, and they all set up camp. Brand was still busy leading everyone and giving orders, while Falisty was trying her best to get used to her new body; Falan was obviously helping with that. However, Brand had a nasty shock when the new couple asked him to give them space. Obviously, they didn't forgive him for the way he’d chosen the people over them. Ilis had left them immediately, sweeping up Juliet into a hug, before taking her away.

Jason sighed, and turned to look at the barrier of fog in the distance. He frowned a little and squinted. The spell looked a bit more sparse than yesterday. He exhaled slowly. Nothing we can do apart from what we’re already doing. Even so, he still felt his worries press on him and, in a bizarre moment, he suddenly felt the urge to go for a walk. He snorted, remembering what happened the last time he’d done so. He shrugged, and started going for a stroll. To his surprise, he could hear a river nearby, and he made his way to it. His mind wandered from his concerns to the scenery; the glowing snow in dusk light, the swaying trees, the trickling water. He stepped up to a small bay, his feet crunching against the pebbles. He breathed deeply- a burst of water interrupted him, and he blinked at the two shapes flying out, before one of them splatted against the ground. He heard a shuddering gasp, and the young woman who’d fallen crawled to her knees. She was wearing a grey crop top, tight jeans and black jacket with a fluffy hood. Her makeup was smeared, making her wide blue eyes almost comical. She stared at him, her gaze travelling up his armour, until it got to his ghostly visor, which he’d equipped with the potential danger, and her face became confused. As one they both turned to look at the floating animal, that looked inordinately happy. The Mink was swimming excitedly in circles, before it stopped when it noticed their gazes. It puffed up its chest, and looked at Jason expectantly. The woman slowly looked back to him, her lip trembling. He clenched his fist and then opened his mouth,

“MINK!”

—---

The Saviour’s Wrath, flared his power once more. The fog retreated slightly, before rushing back in. He scowled, and gathered himself to try again. He had been doing this for days now, surely, and he had no idea how close he was to escaping. He had to keep doing it though, the other Saviour’s Ascended, did not have the right abilities for this, so as a Wrath, it was all up to him. More time passed, he had no idea how long, but eventually, his power flared and the spell retreated. He panted, bending over, and glanced at his companions; they looked unruffled by the experience, unlike him. The Voice looked over and smirked. “Much appreciated Wrath.”

He grunted, and waved him off. “Come on, let’s go and destroy this town then.”

Compassion wagged a finger at him. “Now, now Wrath. That’s not always the solution. However, if what we’ve heard about the parasites are true…well, it's Judgement's decision anyway.”

He huffed, and they all flared their wings, before heading over to the nearest town, Grenion. As they neared, they slowed down and stared at the massive grove of crystal and stone trees. They shared looks and descended towards the approaching people. The moment they landed, the woman in the smart suit bowed deeply.

“Greetings to the Holy Will, I am Yena-”

“Take her.” Judgement said, to which Compassion nodded, and appeared in front of the Council woman, placing a finger on her head. The woman tensed as the light brightened, and then fell to her knees.

“I am beneath you…” Yena whispered.

“You are. But now you know your place.” Compassion said kindly.

Yena raised her gaze, revealing golden fervent eyes. The escort behind her had frozen in awe. “Tell me what to do.” She pleaded, her fingers clenching tight.

Voice spoke up for the first time. “Explain the events that have occurred.”

Yena happily jumped into detail about everything that happened, explaining how she thought they would take all of her hard work away from her, how the Grasping Hand had offered to make a deal in order to stall them, and how they had tried to twist it so they would have no choice but to join them.

“...But then an Adventuring team came up with a solution for the barnacles! One of the mages took a Class that is taking land back, without destroying it.” She pointed to the strange woods. “They’re apparently in the middle of it. A lot of us had to defend them when the Hand realised what was happening. We won, but I think some of the Hand escaped.”

Judgement nodded, and turned to Compassion. “Convert the rest of the populace, I will investigate whether or not this is part of the Saviour’s Will. Wrath, Pity, with me.” They flew into the air, heading into the woods, while leaving Voice and Compassion behind.

As they flew, Wrath eyed the forest. He had never had an eye for beauty, but even he could appreciate the sparkling leaves, and perfectly carved bark. They eventually spotted a clearing, and gently came down to the ground. His eyes immediately fell upon the small tree in the middle. A woman whose body acted as the trunk of the tree, while her hands and hair spread out into stone branches.

‘Ding’ [Lystal Dryad, Heart of the Stone Grove Lv 150]

He looked to Judgement, who was staring with an intensity that showed he was weighing a decision. Eventually he nodded. “This is part of the Will. As long as she’s here, these lands will never be taken in the same way again. We should help her grow.”

“What does this mean for the people?” Pity asked, her voice quiet.

Judgement, exhaled noisily. “We will have to convert them all. Miss Yena said it herself, they made a deal with the Grasping Hand. We must be certain.”

Wrath groaned. “So there’s no point in me being here then?”

Judgement, looked over disapprovingly. “Don’t you remember? Miss Yena said the Grasping Hand is still around. You’ll get your fight.”

Wrath blinked and then grinned, readying to take off, but Judgement raised his hand again. “Wait until we’ve gone to check on the town. We might have missed something.”

He sighed, and relaxed, floating upwards alongside them. They made their way back to the Grenion, and saw that Voice was already hard at work, preaching on the nature of the Saviour. Wrath swept his gaze over the sea of gold eyes. He grunted. Faster than last time, might even be a record. He spotted Yena, standing eagerly underneath them, with a big smile on her face. While Voice was talking, he made his way down to her, and grunted to draw her attention. She jumped, and bowed again. “Holy Wrath, how can I help?”

He ignored the honorifics. “Have you told us everything? I want to go after the Hand.”

Her smile stretched wider. “Yes, apart from that a large portion of this town evacuated before you arrived. They headed south, towards Rhevit. They left about three weeks ago? The team who dealt with the barnacles is with them, and nearly everyone who defended us.”

He blinked. They ran away? Sounds suspicious… He glanced up at Judgement, knowing that he’d heard what he said. The man considered for a moment, before shaking his head. Wrath sighed. Oh well, at least the Grasping Hand’s remnants will keep me occupied. He moved back up without a word, and gave a final nod to his fellow Ascended, before blasting off, the wind howling around his ears.

—---

‘Ding’ Name: Jason Darting

First Class: [Phantom Swordsman Lv 120 – 145]

Second Class: [Bone Manipulator Lv 98 – 128]

Unspent stat points: None

Vitality: 336 + 100

Endurance: 228 + 50

Strength: 77

Dexterity: 200

Wisdom: 228 + 50

Intelligence: 113 + 52

General Skills: [Identify Lv 1] ; [Bretae Standard Language Lv 5] ; [Death Magic Resistance Lv 1] ; [Space Magic Resistance Lv 5] ; [Bone Resistance Lv 1] ; [Pain Resistance Lv 6] ; [Fear Resistance Lv 13]

Class Skills: [Spacial Strike 2nd Tier Lv 20] ; [Phantom State 2nd Tier Lv 20] ; [Ghostly Swordsmanship 2nd Tier Lv 9] ; [Bone Manipulation 2nd Tier Lv 20] ; [Dense Bones 2nd Tier Lv 20] ; [Mana Marrow Lv 18]

‘Ding’ [Dense Bones 2nd Tier Lv 11 – Lv 20]

‘Ding’ [Bone Manipulation 2nd Tier Lv 11 – Lv 20]

‘Ding’ [Ghostly Swordsmanship 2nd Tier Lv 2 – Lv 9]

‘Ding’ [Mana Marrow Lv 11 – Lv 18]

END OF ARC 1