The sky whirled around the light that Theo emitted. The wind shrilled over the horizon and the dark sky rumbles. The ray of light is slowly submerging back to him. All those efforts turn flipped aside as Theo transcends once more. His unbecoming couth is becoming more apparent and maybe this time, they will be on the edge.

“Don’t get cocky. I’ve been playing around but you’ve proven that you will become an inconvenient figure in the near future.” Theo said. “Oh, don’t worry. I will not kill you. Actually, there are two potential people here that I might use for my goal.”

Theo flung and kicked Tin and Ken. Linda used her ice sword to attack him, but Theo quickly evaded it and bellowed, he thrust his fist to her guts. She felt her stomach turns upside down and the pain that coursed through her body seeped all her strength.

Before Theo can get near Gary and Ina, Meil stands in front of him. Meil strengthened and poured the very last bit of his mana to hardened his body. The downside of his doing is that it dropped his speed and as of now, Theo easily avoided his attack and land a kick to his face. Meil didn’t budge, his body was hard as titanium maybe even closer to a diamond. Ina leaped; she chanted her lightning Inquiara Magic to Theo. On the madman's side, he is too was adamant enough to withstand the attack.

Theo pursued the advantage and conjured a light, throwing it right into her face. Gary bombarded Theo with his fire magic and did not hesitate to let his attack also catch Meil. The smoke withdrew its last breath when a wind came, it disrupted his senses momentarily, when it came back, Theo was already in front of him.

“Too slow,” Theo said and break Gary’s arm before putting him down.

“Don’t you think you can get past me!” Meil shouted.

“Oh, I think I will,” Theo replied with a smirk.

His sword materializes and leaped over Meil. His hard skin deflected against Theo’s attack but Meil’s attack wouldn’t hit him. The moment he poured his all mana to toughen his body, his speed dropped. This is the moment that Theo expected to happen. Meil’s Inquiara Magic couldn’t hold it any longer, thus this became an opening for Theo. Theo imbued his sword with a magenta aura and slash Meil.

“I don’t need the rest of the pests. As I said, I only need the two potentials.” Theo said. He glanced at Alastor and Sherry. He didn’t bother to take down Port, as he is nowhere to be found right now.

“I wonder, will the bomb completely dissolve their body or somehow they’ll survive it?” Theo asked himself. “Oh, well. It’s not like it matters now.”

“Bomb? What do you mean bomb?!” Alastor asked.

“Wait, did I skip the part where I’m going to blow up half of this city? Oops. I must have slipped it into my mind.” Theo playfully said.

“Just answer the damn question!” Sherry demanded.

“Yes. I’m going to give you a clue. It’s here, but not here.” Theo replied. “Uh, one of your friends destroyed it. The divine image of an astral being.”

“You mean Ashura-Tenrei?” Meil asked. Seemingly his wounds are not enough to put him unconscious.

“Yes.” He replied.

“You’re insane. Your enterprise will go down. What’s the point of all of this?” Lance asked.

“Tomorrow, on the front-page news, Theo will reportedly dead along with my acolytes,” Theo replied. “The destruction of this city will be my cover and so on, I will become a free man once again. My name will be buried and again free of worries of the future.”

Theo swung his sword and created a portal. He smirked and walked towards Alastor and Sherry. They already know what’s his attention and they’re not willing to be his followers. Before Theo can get a grip on them Alastor kicked Sherry aside and conjured a barrier and with all his might he pushes back Theo inside the portal and they together drift inside of it. Sherry grunted as she stands up, it is too late to save Alastor now that he’s inside of Theo’s pocket dimension.

“Where the hell did Theo take him?!” Sherry asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure they’re still on the pocket dimension. That bastard Theo, not only he’s a para-shifter but he’s also a reality shifter.” Meil said.

“How can we take him back?!” Linda asked.

“We can’t, it's someone else pocket dimension. We can’t just pull him out without any link to that place. The only way he can come out is when the owner of it decides for himself.” Meil explained. “For now, we must worry about the Theo’s talking about. By the way, where is Lid?”

“Hey, I’m right here.” Lid appeared out to the debris that clustered.

“You’re hiding there the whole time?” Meil asked. “Do you have any idea what hell we’ve faced through?”

“The contract says I only have to help you push through here. ‘Not fight some crazy guy.” He replied. “Besides, he’s gone now.”

“Yeah, but there is still a bomb here,” Linda replied.

Ina finally woke up and saw Gary writhing in pain. She went to help him. All of them woke up and gathered together.

“Did we just lose, aren’t we?” Lance asked.

“Yes, but right, we need to worry about the bomb. Theo said he’s planning to detonate and destroy half of the city. So, it must be a big one to destroy half of Kayon city’s structure.” Meil replied.

“What? Do you know where it is?” Ina asked.

“Ashura-Tenrei.” Meil said.

“That’s the thing we fought before.” Lid said.

“Right. Are there any people who are capable of taking it way or disarm it?”

No one said a thing, except for Sherry. Her face is determined.

“I do,” Sherry said.

“You can defuse it?”

“No, but I can take it away from here as far as possible,” Sherry said.

“No!” Ken shouted. “You’re going to die. You know that, right? I can’t let you do it. There must be another way.”

“There is no other way, Ken. I appreciate what you had done to me – to all of you who take care of me when I don’t have my memory, but right now, I must do it. This is my life; I decide what to do with it and decide to save this city and the people living in it.” Sherry said.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Meil asked. “There is no coming back after this.”

Sherry nodded. They rushed to the Ashura-Tenrei and soon found the hexagonal pod that is bleeping over and showed foreign languages. These indescribable words confused them.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ken asked.

“Consider that we only have a few minutes to bring this thing away from here,” Lance said.

They began to detach one by the tubes that were attached to the bomb. Sherry glanced once more at the city, reminiscing the times when things aren’t supposed to be worst. Without a shadow of a doubt, she will be remained firm in her decision.

Alastor and Theo came out from the portal and crashed down to the foreign place. Alastor was able to observe the scenery. On the sky, a comet striking across the horizon was painted in orange and magenta sky. There were oddly violet flowers that sprung on the ground and around them are hills were vines along the flowers spread.

Alastor immediately sides roll as his instinct kicked up and felt a presence coming from him. He evaded Theo’s attack and in the second attempt, Alastor shielded against the attack, but he was barely able to hold off it as Theo's strength is far stronger than his. He has pushed aside as he couldn’t handle the opponent's prowess.

“You fool,” Theo said. “You would go to that length just to spare your comrade? How noble, but also foolish.”

“You think so? Heh.” Alastor asked.

“No matter. My plan will not fail.” Theo sad.

“You sound like overcompensating. Don’t you think you’re getting over your head too much? We’ve screwed you before and we’re gonna do it again.” He replied.

Theo gawked at him. “Please, do enlighten me.”

Alastor held his sword and charged towards him. Theo was spotlessly able to deflect every Alastor’s attack.

Alastor musters every strength and pours mana on it, coating his sword with light. As their sword met, it flashes across the field.

“I admire your bravery, but gallantry is not enough to bring down something beyond you,” Theo said. “Power is the only thing that makes everything possible. The power makes you right and without it, you cannot achieve anything… witness.”

Once again, Alastor was thrown back as Theo began to emit energy. Red and white light shoots out to the sky from him. The clouds deformed and they swirled around as well as the purplish-red sky. The reality distorted as Theo slashed, waving off the light that covers him. Alastor kneeled down as his presence barely stood up against the man in armor.

Theo is now coated by his menacing silver armor. The horns of his helm twisted as it erected just as his pauldron gleamed for a moment. There were no eyeholes on his helm only strange markings that are the same as before that trailed down to his chausses. On his plate, the mark of Arbiter was embedded in red along with gold markings on its spaces.

“This is the power of an Arbiter.”

His voice too changed. It is deeper and frightening. Theo raised his broadsword and slashed it vertically. Alastor did not know what is coming, but he knew its bad news. So, he conjured five walls and to this extent of strength, he is in shock as to how his walls were easily destroyed in a single swift. He immediately coated his sword with mana and used every strength he has to defend himself against the shockwave.

The violet flowers were destroyed along the process as he was dragged by Theo’s attack. When the attack finally halted, Alastor takes a deep long breath. Suddenly, his body trembles as he held his sword aloft. His strength seemed to leave his body after that attack.

“That’s right… tremble. Without fear, you wouldn’t survive the upcoming torment.” Theo said.

Theo raised his palm and bombarded Alastor with fire magic. Alastor flipped and side roll, he’s trying his best not to get caught by the attack. He uses walls to defend himself as he sprinted. His sword deflected some of the attacks and finally, he’s close enough to Theo.

His arms bent and slash it to Theo. Just as before, Theo effortlessly parried it, but he keeps attacking him over and over again, and again his attacks were deflected. His mind is determined just as the aim of the tip of his sword.

Whenever he was able to spot an opening, Theo’s armor only deflected it, there was even no scratch on it and whenever he’s done it, he felt that Theo is reluctantly allowing him to feel the hardness of his protective armor.

“Are you done?” Theo asked.

Alastor was instinctively drawn back as Theo’s sword began to emanate a red aura.

Run. That’s the first word that pops on his mind and so on, Alastor dashed away from him as he can feel an immense heat emitting from the sword. Every time he gets away, the sword became hotter, which is odd, because he wasn’t supposed to sense it that way as he is running away from the source. When he looked back, Theo was not there, but his vision betrayed him because as he looked forward Theo is standing in front of him.

Theo’s sword pointed forward to Alastor. The energy from it was released and a bright light usurps the surrounding. Its range is wide and surely Alastor wouldn’t be able to escape it. In this dire situation, Alastor desperately used all of his mana to build ten transcended walls. The wave of red light easily eats away Alastor’s walls one by one. He pushed himself to the edge to strengthen the remaining three walls that stood up against the heat of the energy against him. His nose bleeds from the strain that he’s enduring. His arms numbed and his mind is slipping and as for his walls, it started to decayed. The wave breaks the third and easily devoured the second one. Alastor gave up. There is no stopping it now.

Just as the last wall began to break, everything slowed down and his mind began to take him back to a scene he had forgotten a long time ago.

He’s in a garden, but he’s not sure whether where it is or when it happened. In that memory, he held an archer. Arrows were stuck everywhere. It seems that in his vision his trying to hit the apple from a tree.

A hand patted his head. He looked up at the man, his face was blurry and distorted. This memory is strange for him, he had no recollection that he had encountered this conversation.

“I know this is tough for you but you have to do your best if you want something you want. The important to remember is it’s not about worrying about what would and what it should be, it’s about doing your best in the present so there will be no what-ifs in the future. Do what you can do now and don’t expect from the future, but brace yourself for what is yet to come.” The man said.

Everything seemed so strange, yet so familiar. The man held him and hugged him. It was heartwarming and so endearing. His small body automatically struggles to set free but his grip was so strong.

“I hope you would remember what I’ve told to you this day Al or any other things that I’ve taught to you because soon, you will be alone and there’s no one you can rely on to. So, you must grow strong.”

His voice began to drift as his mind pulled him back to the present. Something inside of him snapped out. His spirit shivers as if he’s about to explode. Just as the last wall was torn apart, Alastor screamed, but not in despair but for control. His body emitted light, his mana surged through his body and traveled to the tipping point of his sword.

The wave of energy split apart as Alastor's power coursing through it. Although his attack was not destroyed, Theo couldn’t help but be astonished to witness the sudden charge of the prowess of Alastor. Theo’s attack vaporized the nearby hills. The heaven split apart from two directions that were caused by his attack.

Alastor's spirit finally calmed down. His breath was running low as he could not feel the strength on his feet. Theo comes closer to him.

“What is that power? That did not come from the Blight.” Theo said.

Alastor coughed blood. The red liquid covered down to his face. “I don’t know. It just happened.”

“I am enthralled,” Theo said. “I will take you with me and know your origins.”

“Fuck you.” Alastor profane. “I’d rather be dead.”

“Do not speak so lowly about your life. You may have some value aside from being a mercenary.”

When Theo was about to carry Alastor, a faint light emitted from Alastor's pocket and blasted him away. Alastor didn’t expect that the totem that Linda gave him would be any of use. Only he saw it now the value of the little figurine.

Sherry and Linda felt an odd feeling as something is calling them. They feel the heavy emotion being transferred to them.

“What’s the matter?” Ken said as he disconnected the tube.

“I don’t know,” Sherry said.

They jumped down from the humungous body and glanced around as if they were finding something. Linda also didn’t know what has gotten onto her, but she knew something is wrong. She felt that someone close to her is hurt.

“Al,” Linda said.

“It’s him, right?” Sherry asked. “He’s reaching out to us.”

Just as then, Sherry’s pulse grew bright and shoot light in front of her. The blast created a crack in reality. Behind that, they saw Alastor clinging to the totem Linda gave to him.

“It’s Al!” Linda shouted.

The others began to come over and called him out.

Alastor heard them as he stared back. He immediately stood up but failed to muster strength as he fell to the ground. He can feel every fiber of his being was breaking. His bones were aching and his arm offers no support for him to balance.

Theo immediately backs up and saw the aberration. Somehow, they managed to make a bridge to his pocket dimension.

“This is impossible.”

Theo leaped over but an invincible force pushed him back.

Alastor crawled to the portal. Linda and Sherry saw the edge of the crack that its slowly closing the door to their world and so Linda’s hand entered the portal and reached out to him. Alastor grabbed it and Sherry and the others pulled him out to him. It was too late for Theo to claim back Alastor as the door finally closed.

“You looked beaten,” Ken said.

“Thank you for stating the obvious, Ken.” Tin said.

Alastor finally loses his consciousness. He’s confident that he’s in safe hands now.

“He’s out cold. I can’t blame him.” Lance said.

Meil was too in relief that Alastor made it out from the hellhole, but this is not the time to be at ease.

“Hey!” Meil shouted. “It seems you’re all forgetting that we have a bomb here!”

Meil glanced at the bomb and saw that the pattern had changed. The lettering grew brighter in red. The timer changes and then became consistent again.

“Shit! We have one minute to get out of here!” He shouted.

“Uh, Meil. We have another problem here.” Lid said. “There’s another bomb.”

“Shit.”

Sherry quickly drew out and grabbed the two bombs. She sprung above. Her distorted liquid left hand held the two bombs as she used her right hand to produce energy for her to fly.

“Where are you going?!” Lance shouted.

“I’m going to take these bombs up to the sky!” Sherry replied.

When she gained enough distance, she intently propelled, flipping in the air, and threw it up. She used her energy to make boost and blast it away up to the sky.

She immediately took over and free fall. A few moments, she heard a spark, and then the explosion came disrupting everyone’s senses. The cold dark sky suddenly turned into a hellish night. It was like the sun exploded bright into the night sky as its remnants spread over the city.

Meil glances up above and feels the pressure coming down to them. The expansion of the explosion is not over they have yet felt its compression of space. He halted and glanced at them.

“It’s too late for us to escape,” Meil said.

Lance knew what he meant. Lance made a dome of lightning. Ina strengthened the barrier with her lightning magic too. Linda used her ice magic next to it. Cid conjured two transcended walls and Tin used water magic to create a wall. Meil gritted his teeth as he struggled to concentrate his mana, all of them, he’s the one who had a small portion of mana left. Meil then finds his focal point and created a dome of earth, covering them from the incoming strike.

They felt the windfall in silence and what came next is the pressure and the heat they all could feel inside. The barriers break down one by one. When the water wall evaporated, the earth wall cracks, and light pierce through, then there came another one until all crumbles and a bright light overtook their presence.