The time difference between the two worlds was around eight hours. Because of this, even though it was getting dark in Aeterra, it was still a bright day in Nataran, when Ken and the others arrived. He hoped Enju would be with Charlotte at home, so that they wouldn’t have to be searching for him. Afterall, finding someone who can blink from a place to place could potentially be endless. Luckily, he was there, sitting on an old couch with Charlotte sleeping beside him.

“How cute,” Emilia whispered.

Aleric gestured Enju to make him come outside. The old wizard carefully stood up without waking Charlotte up and followed. They all sat down at the oak table.

“Long time no see, my friends!” said Enju, “Have there been any interesting developments since we last spoke?”

“I will get straight to the point,” Aleric said, “You remember the monster I told you about? We were fighting a similar deity today, at another village. On both of the occasions, the people of the given towns where the monster have been defeated, came back to life.”

“I see I see. It seems like there is some connection between those monsters and the place they are guarding, but I guess that’s obvious.”

“Right. But there’s something I felt when I encountered one of those beings. It’s hard to explain, but it reminds me of… well, I have heard it being called the Void.”

Enju’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Are- Are you sure? To speak of something that even its name being uttered is believed to bring bad luck… and you are saying you felt it?”

Ken opened Emilia’s backpack and took out the camera.

“Maybe it would be helpful if you could see it for yourself,” he said.

He searched through the clips Emilia made. Like fifteen short clips, which he thought he could check out later, just for fun. He found the clip with the basilisk and decided to show that one first.

“What an interesting device you have there,” said Enju.

The video clearly showed the basilisk, but to him it wasn’t that unusual, except the dead grey skin.

“Alright then, what about this one,” Ken said and started the last video Emilia recorded.

When Enju saw the pattern on the dying creature’s body, he had that look on his face as if he knew what was going on.

“I have seen this before, yes. Give me a moment.”

Enju disappeared and after a few seconds, he appeared back with a spellbook in his hands. He quickly listed through it. He was excited when he found the right page, but his expression went grim shortly after.

“It’s… not what I thought it is.”

“But that’s not the only problem, right?” asked Iris.

Enju looked at everyone around the table, nervously scratched his head and began speaking with a trembling voice.

“This pattern… is a seal. It’s usually used on objects, when they are required to be infused with magical energy, for various reasons. In short, it’s a catalyst for Pura to easen its entry without fading away.”

He looked at Aleric and pointed at his slightly demonic hand.

“What do you think would happen, if you imbued yourself with an overwhelming amount of Pura?”

“It’s widely known that one would die, if such an occurrence was somehow made possible,” Aleric answered.

“Indeed. And then there is the second option, which has never been observed before,” said Enju, and pointed at the camera with the last video on repeat.

Ken angrily stood up and smashed his hands on the table while staying silent, facing down.

“The monsters we killed…” Aleric said, “Were innocent humans?”

Charlotte walked out of the house half-asleep, rubbing her eyes.

“Monsters? What are you guys talking about?”

“It’s nothing,” Emilia said and took her back inside.

“Humans? Ken thought, “They were… humans?! How inhumane! To change someone into such beasts and have them cage the souls of their own people… How will we liberate all of the cities? We can’t just go and kill those who were unlucky to be chosen…”

“Are you alright?” asked Iris.

“Of course not,” Ken said, grabbed the camera and went somewhere off, to a distant corner. He sat on the ground and watched the clips where they fought the monsters.

“And I was so satisfied with myself, for killing them…”

He saw how the basilisk was on fire and struggled to put it out, before eventually dying. It also made him recall how the last creature he fought was trying to run away, helplessly. As the video ended, the next one started. Mei and Rin were making the special ink, intensely focused on getting it right. Then the part where they bathed in the crimson clovers, everyone was enjoying their time together and having fun. When the ink was finished, Ken and Emilia went to scout for monsters, but the camera was still left there, recording. Nothing seemed to be happening and there was nobody on the screen, until Mei walked in. She took a chair, the UV lamp and tried to hang it on the ceiling. She couldn’t reach, so she left and came back with a ladder. After a bit of struggle, she managed to do it and turned the lamp on.

When the light touched her skin, it revealed some runes in a faint white color. It was a pattern. Ken shivered upon the frightening sight, as it was exactly the same pattern Enju talked about earlier.

“Don’t tell me…”

The twins weren’t monsters, neither had any signs of being one, yet... The amount of Pura they were about the use in the ritual would certainly initiate the transformation. Ken instantly stood up.

“We have to go! Right now!” he shouted at his friends and ran, heading where the rift was. He kept bumping into people as he rushed through the alleys.

“I have to stop them… before it’s too late!”

When he reached the rift, he ran through it right away. It was night and the moons were aligned. He quickly jumped on a horse and raced through the forest. This time, it was filled with completely different kind of animals, some of them even attempting to attack him. The trees were moving, as if alive. They were trying to catch Ken and drastically slowing him down, while he was avoiding and jumping through the obstacles. It was taking him way too long to pass through.

“Faster... Just... a little more!”

He was almost outside the forest, as he could see the last line of trees. When he finally got out, he saw Enchoria… surrounded by massive magical lights circling around it, indicating that the ritual has begun.

“I am late…”

As fast as he could, he went through the plains until he reached the inner districts of Enchoria. The people there were confused and talking to each other.

The ground was shaking, accompanied with loud steps, as if something big was coming near. From behind a corner of a tall block of buildings, multiple civilians ran out, screaming for help. And after them, a huge beast-like hand with sharp claws and white fur grasped the last building’s corner, almost crushing it. The thirty meters tall giant made two more steps and came into view. It was a werewolf. A massive and frightening werewolf with white fur and teeth as sharp as its claws. And with amber eyes. It stared directly at Ken, who was in despair.

“It can’t be… You recognize me, right? Do you? Rin?!”

The beast watched him for a while before raising its head and letting out a demonic howl. Then, it began destroying the buildings around and continued in its path. Lino ran to Ken and tried to pull him while barking.

“Where do you want me to go? Where?”

Ken followed the companion away from the werewolf. They climbed through the rubble, tight passages and a lot of debris. After a minute or so, he found Mei. She was stuck under a rubble, crying.

“Mei!”

Ken quickly ran to her and began throwing the debris away.

“Please…” she said in a weakened voice.

“Just hold on, I will get you out of he-”

“Kill me.”

Ken froze in place for a moment. She was desperately looking at him with eyes full of tears.

“What… what did you just say? No way. We will find a way to reverse this!”

“This wasn’t supposed happen… But now, there’s nothing we can do...”

Even though Ken did not want to believe what she was implying, seeing her body parts already slowly transforming was proving otherwise. He did all he could in his power to free her as soon as possible, while holding back his tears. Mei caught his arm and stopped him. Her hand had already grown claws.

“Please, Ken! I don’t want to turn into that thing as well… spare me!”

As she said that, she coughed out blood. With screams in between, her body and face began to alter.

“I am so happy. Enchoria is free… Protect it for me... for us,” Mei said, with a smile on her face.

Ken was taking small steps back while she continuously grew in size, pushing the rubble away. The claws became longer, sharper. Her teeth enlarged, as the white fur was covering her face. A terrifying sight. A little girl morphing into a huge, bloodthirsty beast.

The transformation was complete, and she looked just like Rin. With her blue eyes, she stared into the starry sky, as if the last remains of her soul were dripping away. From a distance, Rin howled. Mei howled as well and looked at her sister. They got each other’s attention and slowly walked towards one another, with people running out of their way.

“You recognize each other, right?” said Ken while crying.

The twins ran towards each other, just like on any other day, when they were about to hug in excitement. Ken smiled.

“Of course you do… We can fix this.”

Blood splattered around, as Mei shred her sister’s chest with the sharp claws. Rin roared in rage and bore her teeth into Mei’s shoulder, pulling a piece of it away.

“What? No!”

Rin grabbed the werewolf and threw her into a building, before lunging and crushing her head deeper into the concrete. She kept punching her until Mei retaliated and tore Rin’s arm off with the gory teeth.

“What are you doing… Stop!” Ken shouted and fell to his knees.

They both were drowned in scars, rips, wounds and kept clawing, biting and tearing as their blood tainted their white fur. The sisters were shredding each other apart.

Over time, more civilians stood by and watched the furious bloodbath.

“Yes! Kill each other, you filthy monsters!” one of them shouted. The others seemed to be happy and relieved. “Look what you have done to our home!”

“Your home…” Ken said, ”It was their home too, and they gave it to you!”

The man did not hear him over the crowd’s cheering. Ken stood up and headed to that man, when Aleric came and stopped him from doing so. He was shocked as well and the others arrived too. All they could do was watch. Rin was lying on the ground when the pattern on her body began to glow blue, as Mei continued to devour her. She was gravely wounded as well, shedding blood. One hand missing, insides being visible and half of her face torn off.

Mei turned towards the crowd where her friends stood and slowly, with a lot of struggle, attempted to get closer. She didn’t even make one full step and fell down, facing the dirt and gasping for air. With her blue eyes like topaz, she stared at Ken.

“I am sorry I didn’t do this sooner…” he said and unsheathed his sword. “I shouldn’t have let you go through this.”

He climbed the werewolf’s back and with the crowd’s eyes on him, he raised his sword to stab her in the back of the neck. “You won’t suffer any longer...”

“Finish it! Put an end to that thing!” the crowd cheered.

Ken hesitated. He was not able to do it and looked at the crowd. The people didn’t know anything, they did not understand. They were free, and that’s what mattered. Mothers and fathers with their children, happy families… A new beginning for everyone.

“I will… I will protect them. That I promise!” Ken shouted in anguish and thrusted the blade through.