The shadow swordsman stirred from his slumber. He could feel it beckoning him. A calling. It was familiar but at the same time unfamiliar to him. His body was still trying to recover from the grievous battle before. HIS body was still aching and rebelled against its owner command to move. He couldn’t tell how much time has passed, telling time was a difficult task to do in the dimensional sea.

The memory of his last battle came rushing back to him. The single horn demon. The final confrontation. Pushing his friend away. Severing the portals. The swordsman hadn't been aware of falling asleep, but that was just a sign of how taxing the whole ordeal was. While his body was still aching, most of his injuries had closed, the only sign of the amount of time that has passed.

There. The armored swordsman felt the beckoning, and so with great effort, forced himself awake. His hands instinctually reached forward. HIs hand seems to have reached its goal as the pressure instantly released itself. With that one right hand, it waves desperately as if unsure of what to do with its freedom and looking for stability. At last, he felt something firm to grab onto. He decided to push his weaken self forward. First his right arm, then his left arm. Then his body came sliding forward, feeling the sweet release from the pressure that had surround it.

The swordsman felt a moment of weightlessness before crashing down on the ground. The very movement of freeing himself was exhausting and his body refused to move until it was allowed some rest. After a bit respite, the swordsman was able to gain back just enough energy to move his body. His muscles protesting each movement as he crawled up before trying to stand on his two feet. His vision blurry, his body staggered as before he forcibly up righted himself. The swordsman tried to focus his eyes to see what laid before him.

The first thing he noticed was the sun beaming down from blue skies on the grassy hill upon where he stood. Buildings could be seen not too far away, but the materials and design were unfamiliar. He could hear laughter and chatter in the distance. The lush grass beneath his feet grounded the man since he had been floating in the dimensional sea for so long. Everything was alien to him as compared to the battlefield he last stood on.

Am I... finally back? Where is this? How much time has passed? Thousands of questions passed through his mind as he viewed his surroundings. He tried piecing answers that would make sense to his mind, but nothing was able to come through. What shocked him the most was the long line that seem to snake through the sky. It was barely visible as if trying to hide its size. He couldn’t fathom what kind of thing or creature that loomed in the sky, only adding more questions to his confused mind. However, one question stood out the most in his mind. It screamed in his brain as it stood foremost amongst all the other questions. WHERE IS THE BASTION OF HEROES?