"Lars, can I speak with for a minute?”

The hero is part of the commission to deal with the aftermath of the battle, but he has no input and doesn’t care about the human invaders but, Linnea wanting to speak to him alone intrigues him since it’s probably about their mutual acquaintance.

He tells the others, “If you’ll excuse me.” and leaves the room without waiting for their answers; as far as he is concerned, it’s the Elders’ job to deal with the fallouts. Happy he’s gotten out early, he follows the girl to her shop,

They both enter the shop and Linnea introduce her to two persons, “These nice people want to speak with us both, it seems to be important.”

Persons? The description is as wrong as it can possibly be; everything about them feels fake, crude copies of the external shape lacking any of the intricacies. His instincts scream they’re dangerous, but they don’t appear to be hostile at the moment. There isn’t much he can do, so he tells them, “I’m listening.”

A zone of silence and a barrier instantly cover the shop, but without them doing anything resembling magic… There is something familiar about it though and the word escapes his mouth against his will, “Elementals!” Powerful ones at that! It explains a lot, unlike lesser spirits alongside other species and sometimes mate with them, and lesser elemental who barely have a will of their own; they’re god-like entities with full control over an aspect of the world.

“Well spotted, mortal.” booms the female in a thunderous voice, “I am Fragor Inimica, and this is my brother, Fulmen.”

Mildly annoyed, the brother chides her, “No need to scream sister, you’re hurting our hosts’ ears.”

It’s no exaggeration, Lennea’s body is bent forward, and she’s covering her ears while the hero even with his enhanced body has difficulty standing straight.

She speaks again, loudly again, but at least it on the level where it’s merely annoying, “No, I’m not! They’re too weak!”

“Let me do the speaking, sister, or I fear we won’t get anywhere. We are the lightning and thunder elementals, and we serve under her highness Inimica. As you can guess, I am lightning, and my sister is thunder.”

“I’m not loud, her highness never complained.” whispers a miffed Fragor; a whisper for her, but anyone else would consider it a shout.

“Champion, the signs of the end are everywhere. You have deciphered them, haven’t you?”

The Unliving, the dying forest, the disappearance of all demons. He knew it wasn’t the usual war against the devil, but he rejected the idea because wanted to be wrong, “Is it really the end of time?”

“It is, for us and for you; there’s nothing anyone can do about it, the elemental lords will soon awaken completely and battle for supremacy over the world.”

“Why do you gain by informing us?”

“Our master thinks she can stop it, but she’s wrong, it’s a pointless struggle; in the best-case scenario, she’ll delay it by a few decades. We’d rather she lives the last cycle unfettered by her role; she’s already given too much for this world.”

Linnea asks meekly, “Is there no way you are wrong? The world isn’t ending, is it?”

“We elemental derives our powers from the lords, we are ultimately part of them, so no, there is no way we’re mistaken.”

“What’s Sylva’s plan?”

“We do not know what it entails exactly, but as always it will end with her sacrifice.”

‘No wonder I felt she overcame an even greater despair than mine… What does he mean by as always?’

The young shopkeeper asks first, “Who exactly is Miss Inimica?”

“You know her as the Devil, the leader of demons; the enemy of the world.”

It explains the name Inimica, but she’s anything but evil; he’s seen enough vileness to know what it’s really like and Vindicta would be the first to agree with him because, in her mind, mortals are far worse than demons.

‘Miss Sylva is weird and pushy, but she is not evil!” chides the overoptimistic Linnea, “How can you, her own family, call her the devil!”

“You are mistaken, we never said she’s evil; there is no such thing and if there were, then it would be life itself.”

“W… What?” they lost him there, how can life be evil?

“Life is strife, life is competition, and those who fail get consumed by the winner. Demi-Elves, whenever you eat a fruit or a seed, you casually destroy lives.”

“That can’t be right, not all fruits can grow, space is limited.”

“Exactly, life prospers on the failure and death of others, but even the failures leave their mark upon the world in the form of grudges, which becomes miasma then curse upon this world.”

It’s appalling, demi-elves have rituals to cleanse the miasma and grudge, but he didn’t expect it was spread so widely.

“Whatever you think, it’s much worse, intelligent life-forms gather miasma hundreds of times faster than any others. Ger highness leads the demons so she can gather all the sins unto herself and with her death, expel them from the world.”

“What about the heroes? What is our role in all of that?”

“You are the executioners. The demons gather the miasma, and the champions feed upon them so they can become strong enough to kill her highness.”

He didn’t kill many demons, but he felt something at the time. There’s something else he always suspected, “And then the heroes die?”

“The cursed power they absorb from the demons isn’t meant for a mortal; the weaker the species, the faster it kills them.”

“It’s not fair!” shouts Linnea, “To die hated by all, for the sake of all.”

There are still a few things he cannot make sense of, like, “She’s strong, right? I don’t feel I could win against her even if I powered ten times over. Were the others like her?”

“What others? There’s been only one devil since the beginning of time.”

What a horrifying revelation, as one who felt robbed of his future when he became the hero, he can barely begin to imagine how it feels.

“How many times did she die?”

“Not as often as you’d imagine, it became worse with the advent of more advanced life form, but her fate is worse than you’d think; it robs her of most of her will so she can’t fight against it.”

Then there is the last thing that bothered him ever since he became the hero, “The records say the hero always know where the devil is, but it never happened for me, and I don’t feel anything from her.”

“The cycle is no more, there is no devil, yet she still tries to perpetuate the cycle she hates so much so she can protect us, protect you.”

What is the point of anything? He had expected his life to be cut from thousands to hundreds, and now they tell him he only has a few decades left… What was the point of fighting back against the human invaders? It all seems meaningless in the face of their imminent demise.

“We’ll do it; even if it’s only for a short time, she has to live as she pleases!”

Linnea has a hand on her torc, it’s strange to think it was gifted by the actual devil so she can protect herself, but in the light of what she learned about the end of the world, it takes a whole new level of importance.

That’s what the sibling wanted to hear; now they only need the champion to complete their plan.

“Will she really listen to us, though? I understand Mister Lars, but why me? I am a nobody, a random merchant she sometimes speaks with.”

“You underestimate your importance. In your opinion, how many genuine peaceful chats with mortal did her Highness hold over the course of her whole life?”

She thinks millions, then remembers the roles Sylva played and the fetters imposed by her fate, “thousands?”

“Since she became free, you are one of the few who acted with her without fear, prejudice or interest. She may be just another acquaintance to you, but from her point of view you are the closest thing to a friend she’s ever had.”

The words make the girl blushes, but Lars feels slightly ashamed; he affirmed he was devoted to her, replaced her with Linnea, and fell hard for Vindicta a few months later.

“What about you? You’re her family, right?” Asks the young elf.

“We are her servants… Although we’re probably more cared for than we’d like to admit.”

“She takes everything upon herself and never let us get into danger.”

“Our time is limited; she must move on without us.”

Seeing how protective she’s gotten with a mere acquaintance; it makes sense that she’d be worse than a mother tiger for her two oldest friends.

“I have an idea,” says Lars, but internally he adds, ‘I just hope they’re not wrong about the champion/Devil thing.’

<><><>

The two dragon-like elementals land next to a mansion and Linnea jump down their back with a gleeful yelp. The flight and the creatures were both traumatizing for Vindicta, so she cannot understand why the young demi-Elf girl acts so joyously.

Lars told her the person they’re about to meet will decide the fate of the great forest and its people. It seemed a bit far-fetched at first but in view of the two powerful elementals and the too-perfect-to-true residence and garden; it doesn’t seem exaggerated anymore.

Their host is a woman, and no mere mortal by the look of it, but she lacks the aura of madness and danger the Faes who often come in town often exude. The black-haired woman watches them in turn, first Linnea with a faint smile, then Lars and me. Her smile suddenly turns into a scowl, and…

‘I take it back, she’s worse than the other Faes, her anger isn’t directed at me and yet I feel like I’m going to die.” The only one who seems unaffected is once again Linnea.’

The woman question Lars angrily, “Why are you with her?”

I breathe with difficulty; her sight was only directed at me for a second but I felt like I was about to be devoured whole. Even during my time with the giant, I didn’t feel as frightened when they selected their next meal.

“I don’t mind,” says Linnea nonchalantly, “they belong with each other.”

The pressure drops as though it was a dream.

“Is that so?” her sight is now directed at the two elementals who drop their heads like shameful dogs, “Why did you bring that here?”

“We wish you’d listen to them, and to us.”

Her eyes flare as she answers, “I won’t change my decision, this is something only I can do.”

Linnea speaks first, “You should live in Mannhtorg; staying here by yourself is no good.”

The monster from earlier is nowhere to see, it's been replaced by a timid and bashful girl, “There is something I need to do. It’s for your sake, their sake.” she waves at the two elementals, “and for the world, as we know it.”

The two creatures answer, “No matter what, we cannot be saved, your highness, let go of us.”

‘I don’t get it. Why am I here?’ They appear to know each other, but I don’t; I don’t have the slightest clue as to what is going on.

Lars grabs my hand in a tight embrace and asks me, “Do you feel anything special when you look at that woman?”

“What do you mean?” he says nothing and wait for my answer, it seems meaningful so I express it the best I can, “I do not. Sure, she was terrifying when she got angry, and I feared for our lives. She appears to be ridiculously powerful, and that’s about all I can say about her.”

He looks at me in the eyes with a smile, and asks, “Nothing else?”

‘That smile is cheating!’ I stammer, “I don’t… No, nothing! What is it all about?”

“Her name is Sylva Inimica; she’s the devil and you are the Beastman’s hero.”

I’m a hero like him? Wasn’t Sylva, is the name of the girl he was gunning for before me and Linnea? Wait a minute, “The devil? Her? But she’s acting all meek and bothered!”

The devil, bringer of chaos, lord of demons, the enemy of the world; none of those titles fit her current image.

“Do you see, your highness? The champions cannot feel your presence; the cycle is broken, you are not the Devil anymore, just Sylva Inimica.”

“You are free, Mistress. I beg of you, use the remaining time for yourself!”

‘I don’t get it, could someone please enlighten me!’ I pinch Lars, “You better explain yourself and fast!”

While the other four speaks together, he tells me about the cycle, the champions, the devil, its role, and the end of the world.

If it was me, I would have lashed at the world and destroyed everything… In fact, until I met Lars, my goal in life was to kill as many Giants and Beastmen as possible and freeing my kin was more to steal from them than to rescue my people. Apart from a few close friends, the weak rabbit-kin didn’t matter to me; I owed them nothing and they were useless to my revenge.

<><><>

A wave of feeling assails Sylva is unlike anything she felt before, much stronger than what she gets from the over-optimistic Linnea. Respect, sympathy, sadness from a complete stranger, someone she planned to murder. Yes, she wanted to kill that woman, the other champions and herself, but she can’t anymore.

“Understand, Sylva, we don’t want to see you die again, not when you’re finally free.”

It the first time, they called her by her first name without a title or honorific.

“Our end is inevitable. Please, let us do something for you in our last moment!”

How can she say no? Foolishly, she’s never once considered how hard it was for them to watch helplessly as she died over and over again, “Fragor, Fulgor, my friends; let us die together this time.”

“Thank you, Sylva.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, you’re wrong Miss. It’s not about dying together, but about living together!”