The defeat of the Jaya Acolytes signaled the salvation of Soteria. With the source of the Varvara stopped, the military and police force gained the upper hand over the monsters and vanquished them in a matter of hours. Not a single creature of destruction was left standing. The capital city of Soteria stood firm in its time of panic and mayhem.

The warm rays of the sun-bleached through the clouds and shined down on the nation. The people came out from their shelters and celebrated another day. Their cries of joy and excitement reached the very top of The Peak, where Kyros and Runa escorted their recently captured prisoner over to Military Headquarters. Despite their victory, Kyros couldn't celebrate. It was far too soon.

There was so much to be done.

"Alright, stop," Runa suddenly demanded. Kyros and Gigas stopped in their tracks and stared at the Huntress. "we're just gonna go along with this?"

"Go along with what?" Kyros wondered. If anything, he assumed the Huntress would be ecstatic about the fact that her mission was over.

"Bringing this guy in," Runa pointed at Gigas, who had remained silent the entire trip up the mountain. Runa couldn't piece it together, no matter how much she tried. She couldn't understand why someone as powerful and feared as Gigas would willingly travel around with a criminal, only to surrender themselves in the end. "You don't find it odd why he's suddenly giving up?"

Of course, Kyros had his doubts about Gigas' motives. He found it strange as well. But, it wasn't his job to think about the details. After all, he was under suspension from the military. At that moment, he was merely a citizen.

It wasn't his job or problem to deal with Gigas. He'd leave that up to the ones that'd hold the man in custody. Thankfully, those people arrived right on time. General Zofia and several armed guards stepped out from the military base and approached Kyros and Runa.

"Kyros," Zofia called out to him.

"Yes, ma'am!" Kyros' instincts took over. He quickly stood at attention and saluted his superior officer.

"I see your report about capturing Gigas was correct," The General noted as her cold, silver eyes affixed to the Mercenary. Gigas didn't shy away from the woman's glance. Instead, he lifted his head and stared right back at her. "Unfortunate to hear that you allowed one of them to escape."

"I'm very sorry about that! I'll head back down and search the bottom of the mountain for her!" The moment Kyros turned his back to fulfill his proclamation, the pain he accumulated throughout his hours of fighting hit him all at once. He gritted his teeth and dropped down to one knee.

"Do not worry about it. You have done more than enough," Zofia snapped her fingers. The armed guards collected Gigas and took him inside of the military base. "besides, I had others on the job as well."

As if on cue, a Griffon landed in the courtyard several feet away from the group. Out from the air vehicle came the Hunter duo, Elma and Chayse, carrying their prisoner in two, Maur.

"You're alive!" Chayse dropped Maur to the ground and rushed over to Runa, ignoring his injuries from his battle. He circled the Huntress, checking her out for any serious wounds. Upon finding none, he stopped in front of her and set his hands on her shoulders, staring at her with teary eyes. "Thank Goddess! I knew you'd be just fine!"

"Chayse! Help me carry this guy, damn it!" Elma ordered. Carrying a defeated opponent while wounded and exhausted wasn't an easy task, even for her.

"Oh, shit! Coming!" Chayse hurried back over to his partner and helped her carry Maur over to the group.

"Forgive us, General Zofia," Elma sincerely apologized, "we only managed to capture one of them."

"But, hey, one is better than none," added Chayse. His smile dropped the moment his eyes wandered over to Gigas. "What's this guy doing here?! Where's his partner?!"

"Disappeared," Kyros answered once he regained his strength to stand. "We can debrief elsewhere. For now, let's get these two locked up."

No one offered any objections. Zofia and her guards took Gigas and Maur into the custody while Kyros and the others took refuge in the infirmary. Numerous medical personnel looked over the group, providing them the necessary treatment that they needed.

During his treatment, Chayse wasted no time in flirting with the nurses, much to the chagrin of Runa and Elma. The man just never learned his lesson, no matter how many slaps or crude remarks of rejection he received in retaliation for his actions. Regardless, the group couldn't help but share a laugh.

They finally had the time to settle down and enjoy themselves for the meantime. Their battles were over. They could rest and prepare themselves for the future.

The group turned their attention to the front of the room, where Sarra forced her way past a couple of doctors. She bawled her eyes out and jumped into Runa's arms, burying her face into the woman's leather covered chest.

"S-Sarra?! How'd you get here?! I told you not to leave the apartment until I came to get you!" Runa scolded. However, her words fell on deaf ears. The little girl continued to cry. Runa sighed and comforted her partner, caressing the girl's head until she settled down.

"I'm jealous," Chayse muttered. "I'd like to get carressed like that. Or at least bury my face in a woman's chest," his eyes dejectedly scanned his Elma's chest. Of course, there was hardly anything there, much to his disappointment.

Elma caught him glancing at her chest again and whacked him over the head with her bow, knocking him out of bed and onto the floor.

"Runa! Mr. Kyros! You're both fine, right?!" Sarra asked once she cleared her face of tears.

"Yup, just great," Runa nonchalantly answered.

"I'm fine, too," Kyros replied with a nod of his head. "I'd be much worse if I didn't have Runa down there with me."

"If it wasn't obvious enough," Runa agreed with Kyros' statement without hesitation, not bothering to show an ounce of humility. "You would've gotten yourself killed out there if not for me. What were you thinking? You should've let that Beastia get to Melanie."

"He would've killed her," Kyros stated.

"That's not my problem. That'd be one less Exousia to worry about in the world. Besides, Chayse and Elma captured an Acolyte."

"We didn't know that at the time."

"Whatever. That was reckless of you," Runa frowned the more she thought back to that incident. "You could've gotten us both killed."

"You didn't have to stay there, Runa. When we took down the Acolytes, you could've left. Your mission was only to eliminate the source of the Varvara, right?" Kyros pointed out. Strangely enough, he smiled. The thought that Runa stayed with him throughout the entire ordeal brought him more joy than she could ever know.

By no means were they friends, but they were indeed comrades.

"Yeah, well..." Runa averted her gaze from Kyros and looked up above her as if trying to find a perfect excuse to explain her actions. The past her would've abandoned Kyros with Dire and Gigas in a heartbeat if it meant that her life would've been spared. But, for some reason, she felt compelled to stay. "Sarra would've been upset if you died."

"It's true," Sarra agreed and flashed a bright smile toward Kyros. Her smile quickly faded when she noticed the bandages wrapped around the man's arms. "What happened to your arms?"

"Nothing major." Kyros gave a dismissive answer.

"Nothing major? Your arms fell limp when Dire kicked you!" Runa pointed out. "Not to mention he shattered your gauntlets. You'll be lucky if you can use them any time soon."

Kyros frowned and looked down to his arms. Thanks to the efforts of the nurses, his fractured bones healed quite nicely. The excruciating pain that he felt at the time all disappeared thanks to their soothing touch. The medical personnel of the country was required to learn how to accelerate the healing process of others through the means of Praus.

They still believed in standard practices of medicine and science. But most of the time using Praus was faster.

"Sorry that we weren't there to help," Elma and Chayse left their medical beds and wandered over to the group.

"Don't worry about it. You two did more than enough." Runa commented, taking immediate notice of their attire. Out of everyone, the Hunter duo was far more wounded. Bandages covered them from head to toe.

"Every wound was worth it," Chayse announced as he moved over to Runa's medical bed, "especially now that we're going to be here, recuperating together."

Just as he was about to get too close for comfort, Elma hurried to his side and pulled him away with a forceful tug of his ear. His desperate cries for release were ignored as his partner chastised him on his unsightly behavior.

The onlookers shared another good laugh. But, those times ended when Kyros opened his mouth to speak.

"Did anyone manage to get any useful information out of this whole ordeal? Anything that can help us figure out why all this happened. I mean, I know that Jaya Acolytes are extremists and all, but something doesn't feel right about all this. Like, where did they find those orbs that contained the Varvara?"

"Elma and I already looked into that. At first, we believed the Lambros Corporation was involved. But, we were given a tour of the building, and we didn't find anything resembling those orbs." Chayse answered.

"Wouldn't surprise me if they hid them elsewhere besides their headquarters. The Lambros Corporation have their hands in almost every country on Salome." Elma added.

"I can't grasp a motive for them to work with the Acolytes. Why would they give such a dangerous product to extremists? What could they profit from that?" Kyros asked.

"Beats me. I don’t know how shady businessmen operate." Chayse replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "But if they are behind this, then we’ll have to put a bit more effort into our investigation."

"Are you saying that you weren’t putting in any effort before?" Elma sharply turned her head and glared at her partner.

"Another issue to mention is that Melanie said something about the destruction of Salome," Runa announced. All eyes moved to her as she continued, "An illusion has cast over our eyes and that she wishes to remove it by destroying other countries that have been built to contain her Mother."

"Sounds like nonsense to me," Chayse said.

"Nonsense or not, it doesn’t change the fact that they acted on those words without hesitation," mentioned Elma. "Maur said something along those same lines. That they were preparing the grand stage for their Mother."

"That might just happen since their leader got away," Runa stated, sending a harsh glare in Kyros' direction. "With her at large, I'm sure she'll come back with another plan. Goddess knows when that'll be."

It was a somber topic to bring up, but it had to be done. The others had to recognize the danger. It was wishful thinking to believe that everything would end with those three Acolytes. As far as Runa was concerned, it was only the beginning. Since those three failed with their objective, it would not be a stretch to believe that others would come to finish what they started.

The brutal cycle would repeat itself until the source was eliminated.

"But, it's more of a problem for everyone else," The Huntress harshly stated. "If this is going to become a typical case for the other countries, then it only strengthens my resolve to avoid them at all costs. I've done my job. I'm through with this country and the Acolytes."

"Runa? We’re not going to help them if they get in trouble again?" Sarra looked at her partner with pleading eyes. However, they did not affect the hardened Huntress.

"No. It’s not in our job description. We’ve done what we needed to do. Anything that happens to this kingdom after this has nothing to do with us from now on."

"Runa!"

"Don’t blame your partner," Elma said. "She’s right. She’s gone above and beyond for her job. You can leave this to us."

"Yeah, with the great Hunter, Chayse Raleigh on the job, we’ll solve these mysteries in no time!" Chayse boasted.

Everyone continued to discuss other matters about the incidents, detailing our experiences with the respective Acolytes that they faced. Their discussion was soon interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant General Damia. She was ordered by the council to bring them before the women—despite their condition. Everyone reluctantly followed the woman from the medical room to the council chamber.

Surprisingly, there were other unexpected guests in the council room. General Zofia and Roditis Lambros, along with his secretary and bodyguards, all stood near the council podium.

"Oh, it appears that our guests of honor have arrived," Roditis announced. All eyes soon moved to the group. Strangely enough, Kyros didn't feel that many gazes of disdain like he had before. Perhaps his assistance with the protection of the kingdom had something to do with it. But then again, he had done that so many times before. He didn't get his hopes up.

"Welcome brave warriors," Agathe announced. Her tone was far more respectful than it was a few days ago. "We have been informed about your glorious deeds and that without your help, this country would have indeed fallen."

"I would not go that far, councilwoman." The sharp words of General Zofia earned her a quizzical glance from Agathe, but it was ignored for the most part. "But, I will admit that you all performed marvelously. If not for your efforts, more lives would have been lost today."

"And for that, we humbly thank you." Roditis nodded his head. His followers imitated the action along with him.

"Did you make us come all the way here just for that? If so, I’d like to get back to my bed and rest." Runa said. That woman never possessed any tact in most situations. If not for the fact that she helped save the country, her outburst would have had the guards on her immediately.

"We assure you that we have not called you here to waste your time," Bethesda said.

"In honor of your valiant efforts, Mr. Roditis has requested that a celebratory ceremony is organized for you all," Callidora announced.

"A ceremony?" asked Sarra.

"Shouldn’t we focus on more important matters than a ceremony?" Elma followed up. "We can’t have a ceremony today. Plans for reconstruction need to be formed, news about the whole ordeal need to be delivered to the people of the world, there’s just so much to do."

"Do not worry; the ceremony does not have to be today of all days. The priority should be the reconstruction of the city. The ceremony can wait for another day." Roditis assured us.

"Do not be too quick to dismiss it, Elma," Zofia said. "This ceremony has its purposes. One, to celebrate the defeat of the Acolytes and prosperity of the kingdom. Two, it will strengthen relationships between the country and the Wild Lands. After all, you must have noticed that the citizens are not particularly fond of most of you."

"That is an understatement," Kyros answered.

"Imagine their surprise when they learn that this very country was saved by two teams of Hunters and Mr. Kyros Aleister." Roditis brought his hand up to his chin then displayed a confident smile. That man was sure that things would work out positively. However, Kyros didn't need his powers to foresee the outcome.

"Although it’s humiliating to admit, two criminals helped us out as well." Elma detailed the information to the group.

"Yes, we were made aware of the situation. Thankfully, we have one of them in custody. We will handle him." Bethesda said.

"Back to the matter at hand, we will hold the celebration when all of you are healed. So, how about in two or three weeks?" suggested Roditis. No one had any complaints. The date had been set. The rest of the meeting continued without incident, and they were all allowed to return to the comfort of their medical beds.