The group exits the great hall to find themselves in a part of the wasteland, on top of the mountain. But in the dark, something shudders, its movement warps the world itself. Soon, the icy top morphs into an abandoned hamlet. With dark water reaching their knees, the darkness running between their legs.

“Something has noticed us” Father Walker warned “Is it the cosmos or something else lurking within?”

The answer soon presents itself, the doors to the many wooden house and huts burst opened. From within come the creatures of the depth. Humanoid fishlike beings with green translucent skin, underneath the pattern of spiral can be seen. Their grubby hands clutching nets and harpoons.

They glow in the dark, these creatures don’t belong to the cosmos.

“Scy’lla” The old hunter grunted, drawing his sword.

These are just grunting easy enough to dispatch, are they only here to serve as time wasters. Or are these creature of the deep just a herald for something else?

From the night, thunder shakes the world. The first to react is the Stranger, who drags Father Walker out of the way. Something collides with the priest shoulder, black blood spilt out from the small wound.

The Smiling Hunter can recognise this injury, that sound. An instrument similar to one that the Stranger uses. But this one is quite different, there was only one shot and from a long distance. A different design.

Father Walker tries to stand up, but the wound is spreading rapidly. It is a steel bullet, deadly for an acolyte like him.

Smelling blood, the mer-people approach the group. The old hunter notices even in the darkness, he can barely spot a spiral ripple. It follows the monsters before disappearing.

“Be careful, they are just a distraction!” He warned the others.

But none of them could predict what happen next.

[You shall all be cleansed by the flame]

From the dark, a whisper could be heard, silent but impossible to miss. It is followed up by an explosion of flame red as blood, lighting up this monochrome world. A being, a person crashes through a wooden wall opposite of the fish people.

Wearing a leather duster reminiscent of the hunter, his eyes are covered by black bandages, his head bare. Most remarkable is the man’s right arm, missing below the elbow, it is replaced by a mechanical contraption, spewing pure red fire. His other arm brandishes another weapon with two short barrels.

[I can smell your scent, let Darius Black sends you to hell where you belong!]

The man wades through the water, one of his leg a metal blade made of steel.

“The shot came from someone else” The Stranger said. A sniper is a rare breed even among the illusive Desert Ranger. Such a shooter couldn’t be let free “I will go after him”

She leaves behind her trusty revolver “If it gets dicey, just hand him this” And with that, the Stranger disappears into the darkness.

The other threes ready to stand their ground, focusing on the blind Ranger, the main threat. Then, in the water something catches the eyes of the old hunter, the spiral ripple. It’s too late to do something about that.

The Smiling Hunter is dragged down into the depth to pay for her sin.

Their purpose as bait finished, the creatures are left to their fate. And that is simply… slaughter. From behind emerge two shadows, in an instant they cleave the horde into shreds. Covered in light leather armours.

The twin Eifreet and Francois, the Blind most distinguished trainers. Always seen together, they went missing in action years ago. The old hunter can recognise them instantly, from the time when he was just a young boy, joining the Order. The cosmos has preserved those two well but their minds are also gone like the Royal Guard of old.

“And to think I once thought you two were old”

The young boy is now doubled the trainers in years. He broke their record and now he still holds it. One year older, he snatches that from the Smiling Hunter, every year she would bet for his death, but the record is still out of her reach.

Will that be sealed in stone?

Siobhan doesn’t think so, she opens her eyes to find herself in the twisted temple. Submerged in water in front of her is an empty basin, connected to the outside worlds.

“So what grant me this honour” The Smiling Hunter said to the figure at the end.

A lonely throne with a lonely king. A creature covered in scale, wearing armour made out of chitin with spiral pattern. Putting on an eyeless helmet with a crown of reef, the acolyte of Scy’lla picks up a giant curved blade. Towering over two adults, the king, the last of his kind stands to exact revenge for a deceased brood-to-be.

___

Alone Bruno is, unaware of the battles at the end of the world. He shall waits here for the news, if it will ever come that is.

The man is unaware of a shadow, stalking him, ready to strike.