In the wake of billowing ashes, both scorching and all encompassing, Garmr heaved. There was just one thing remaining which she needed to do. Freeing herself from Nemeadas's hold, she stood up and walked.

It was a struggle, to stand, to see, to move. But she did so anyway. The fight was not over until it was over, even if all things already seemed imminent.

Slowly and staggeringly, she made her way forward. With one hand she shielded her eyes and with the other she dragged her sword. She pressed forward until she saw the dark silhouette of the stilled manticore, and she did not stop until she was before its collared neck.

There, she wielded her great sword high above her head. She looked into its dimmed eyes, once filled with intelligence and ferocity, and paused only to fill her lungs with strength.

"Till the end, you fought well." Garmr gave her respect to her fallen foe. They were not so different, the two of them. Its eyes closed. And then like a guillotine, the precious blade descended.

…

—The great manticore, a prideful king.

From the day of its birth, it knew from its instincts to be a king. It would be smart and would mature to become the strongest. By the rules of nature what else would this make itself but a king? Yet, even as it broke free from its shell, it was already caught in the clutches of man, to be shackled, collared, and humiliated.

This was the arrogance of man. There was nothing more treasonous towards a king of nature than to be made a slave to fight and kill in a pen for the sake of their entertainment. It was starved before every match. It was driven to a corner by foes put into the same situation as it. And above all, it could never forget the burning, searing, and cleansing pain that shot through its nervous system from the fighting medicine that was injected before every fight.

Even after a decade of captivity, it never let the embers of its hatred die. When it bided its time and grew to maturity, it finally got the chance it so desired to run free.

It happened on a day after one of its usual fights in the pen, when its captors had grown careless from the decades of its ensnarement. It crushed them within its jaws and devoured them whole before they could reshackle it. Coinciding with this, it had gained the ability to cover itself in a veil that hid it from the eyes of the world.

With this power, it managed to break free from the tracking of man who chased after its tail. After that, it was finally able to live its life as the proud king it always knew itself to be— even though it could not remove the iron collar around its neck.

But with this… it was enough.

The precious blade of the Hound of Hel fell, and it granted it true respite.

Even if it was only for just a moment, its neck had finally been free from the last shackles of man which clutched it for a lifetime.

…

…

The night cleared.

The outbreak had been taken care of and the rift had been properly secured; its final evaluation was Yellow-4, a rift event with the lowest risk rating. But though the danger had passed, there would be a lot of work left to do and cleanup would be costly and difficult. The battle with the manticore had thoroughly destroyed four buildings, carved out the road, destroyed a monument, and most importantly misplaced thousands of gravestones.

A brief call from Director Oryza had informed Nemeadas that the backlash from the public would be great and unreasonable. Once again, the guild would be criticized for not being able to handle the rift in a more concise and neat manner.

"I apologize." Nemeadas had told Oryza regretfully.

"Don't concern yourself over it. You all have done enough handling the outbreak. Just get some rest and I will handle the public issues."

With the call done, Nemeadas was left to greet the SGs as they came to take the SC's place for a longer term station around the rift. The exchange was short and simple. They had already received word from headquarters about the state of the rift and the leader of the SGT merely raised his hand and exchanged a nod with Nemeadas as they came through with their vehicles.

After them came the guild's non-combatants, of which the cleanup crew got to work surveying the damages and the medics immediately rushed up to them to diagnose the state of their injuries.

"Hey, what happened to you? You look like you got dragged through a blender! Come on, sit down, let me dress your wounds."

A woman, around just shy of Garmr's height, hastily walked up to Nemeadas and practically ordered him to sit down.

"I am fine, Eir. There are others who are more in need of medical attention right now."

With colorless white hair, a deathly pale complexion, and dull bloody eyes, Eir the field medic would have none of what Nemeadas was saying to her.

"Okay, no. First of all, there are other medics here besides me. Second, I am the one here to treat you, so what you need to do is to sit your ass down so I can dress your wound. Tch, did a hound bite into you? You're lucky. I thought it got your carotid arteries, but you're still going to need to get some stitches."

Nemeadas closed his eyes in defeat. Eir wasted no time in taking care of his wounds. Though the man could fight a manticore, he could not fight back against the medics.

…

When it rained, it poured.

Luckily for Krakjen, the same was the case when the medics arrived on the scene. When one came, a whole team came along with them and he was taken care of right away. Jackie was with him the entire time and she narrated all the injuries that she had been aware of as well as what thing she had already done for him in terms of first aid.

"I will live. What does not break me, will strengthen me." Krakjen reassured Jackie. Though, it was far from a credible statement given his current state being unable to even lift a muscle now that his adrenaline had worn off.

"Promise?" Jackie asked.

"We'll take good care of him, don't worry." Theoceps, a medic friend of Jackie's, also took a hand in reassuring her. Though Krakjen's conditions were severe, he was not in any critical conditions, which, when considering the circumstances, could have been far worse.

The field diagnosis of Krakjen's injuries determined that he would live, though he may suffer lasting damages to his spinal column. However, a more comprehensive diagnosis would be required at a proper medical facility and he was taken away in an ambulatory vehicle for just that.

As for Jackie, Theoceps disinfected the cuts and scratches that she had accumulated throughout the night from her rough falling and tumbling. She had accumulated quite a lot of bruising and was found to have two cracked ribs and a chipped tooth as well. It was nothing medicine could do about but fortunately for her, time was a healer to most wounds and she would be fine after several weeks of rest. That was the case even for her tooth, which would grow back out after a few months.

…

…

"What in the hell happened here?"

"This is going to be a pain to clean up."

"What, did a volcano erupt here or something?"

On a hill perched far away from the others, Garmr heard the cleanup crew exclaim as she sat alone. She overlooked both the manticore as it laid a decapitated body and all the newcomers as they entered the scene. Yet, none of that interested her as she continued to look down with somber silence. She watched the body of her precious blade and longingly plucked at the stars reflected by her fingertips.

The things which she saw and heard back then lingered hauntingly still in her mind. From a sense of long forgotten nostalgia, to melancholy and sadness, and even vulnerability, Garmr was filled with all sorts of difficult to deal with emotions.

"A world and a lifetime apart, yet still passing under the same sea of stars…"

Garmr was a problematic patient for the medics, not of her own volitions, but one regardless. She spooked the medics the moment they approached her. She was covered in enough wounds to kill five people and leaked so much blood as to sit in a pool of her own making. Yet as much as they would have loved to treat her right away, they could only leave as the residual bloodflames which continued to burn over her wounds kept them from trying.

It would take a specialist to handle her case.

"—I would appreciate it if you could stop spooking my medics everytime you fight."

And a specialist had just arrived.

"Just look at you… I watched a recording of the entire fight from the satellite footage. I saw you get hit by the manticore's tail spines, but it looks like you're doing fine. Your bloodflames must have burnt up all of the stinging needles when you struck it at the beginning." Eir's brows scrunched up as she saw the bloodied Garmr. She sighed deeply, laid down her massive medical bag, and got to work right away.

"I'm sorry, Eir."

"You lost yourself again, didn't you? How many times have I told you to reign yourself in when you fight? People die when they're killed, don't you know!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Apologies mean nothing. I'd rather you don't do it again!"

"Sorry…"

"Forget it. Nevermind." Eir clicked her tongue. It was no use trying to berate Garmr anymore than this. "It's good enough that you lived. I heard all about how bad the battle with the manticore was. Tch, that damn director, he could have sent another team to help you guys. It's a good thing I postponed my vacation."

Eir then did something truly astounding. With a flick of her finger, the pool of blood surrounding Garmr gathered together before it dripped up into the air and formed a dark red orb. These were her blood artes, the very kind which ingrained deeply seeded feelings of fear, enmity, and tyranny onto countless generations of people a world over. However, as an individual, Eir chose to use her artes for something positive instead.

"The blood is still fresh enough that the majority of the cells haven't finished conflagrating yet. I can suppress the process, reinvigorate the cells, and then insert it back into your bloodstream after I finish cleansing it."

In the meanwhile, Eir started to dig through her bag and laid out enough things that it seemed like she was preparing for surgery. Then, she picked out an individual packet of a pill and popped it out for Garmr to eat.

"Take it. It's for blood promotion. Keep taking it once a day for two weeks."

Garmr received it obediently, but swallowed it with difficulty due to how dry her mouth was. It was slightly sweet to the tongue however. Afterwards, Eir took another full look at Garmr before she sighed for a second time.

"Fier. I need your assistance. Come out, please." She called for her familiar. And at her behest, the shadow beneath her feet rippled like water before it amalgamated and rose into a silhouetted image of herself.

This was Fier, Eir's familiar guardian and her reflection. Fier nodded once before it rapidly blew up and expanded into a tent that covered both its master and Garmr. Little tendrils also extended from the walls to pick up the medical tools and supplies that Eir had laid out earlier.

"Okay. Now take it off. Everything." Eir's eyes gleamed. "Let's go. There's much to do, so hurry it up. And tie up your hair while you're at it. Don't want strands of it getting into an open wound now, do we?"

…

"Be more careful in the future. And remember to eat lots of iron rich foods while you're recovering."

By the time Eir left, Garmr was left looking like a bandaged mummy.

"You must be really tired from all that fighting."

Sometime during it all, Jackie had shown up to talk with Garmr, but when she saw Eir working, she opted to wait patiently until the medic was done. Now, she finally spoke.

"Maybe a little. I do feel lightheaded."

"I know what will fix you right up! Here— oh no, yikes!" Jackie held out a bag of things, but quickly retracted her arm as a hole tore from the bottom and a few things fell out. They were snacks and Jackie hurriedly picked them back up before patting them clean. "What you need is some snacks. It'll fix you right up. My medic friend gave me some. Which ones would you like?"

Garmr tilted her face questioningly. Soon, Jackie offered out a red box of these chocolate covered biscuit sticks and also another box that had the image of a panda on it.

"I also have some energy bars if that's what you'd like instead, but trust me, this is the good stuff!"

"I want this one." Garmr thought about it for a moment before she made an effort to reach towards the snack with the panda image on it. Jackie was just a little too far away for her hands to reach it though.

"Word of warning. I think it might be a bit crushed though…"

"I don't mind." When she received the snack, she tore the top of the box off and then opened the small pouch within using her fingers. Jackie was right. Its contents were slightly crushed. She then straightened the pouch and poured out one of the chocolate cream filled biscuit shells into her mouth, crumbs and all. She liked it and quickly ate it before pouring another one out.

Then she noticed how intently Jackie was watching her eat and fidgeted as she continued to finish the rest.

"Did you want some too?" She offered, holding the pouch out to Jackie.

"Ah well, I mean, if it's just one… Wait, no! That's not it!"

"What do you mean?"

"I have something to ask you. And since you ate the snack, you have to answer me honestly, okay? It's the rules! You have to honor it!"

Garmr looked puzzled, but she played along regardless.

"Okay."

"How can I be stronger? How can I be as strong as you?"

"…Pardon?"

"Yeah! You know, like you!" Jackie exclaimed. "You're so strong, Garmr, so I want to know how you do it!"

"Even if you tell me that… I don't know how to answer you at all…" For a moment, Garmr was taken aback by the kind of question Jackie had asked her. Though she tried to come up with an answer, she just did not know what to say in response. After all, she had never trained or anything. She simply fought, and she fought until she got better at fighting. That was it.

"You know, like how you can swing that big sword without breaking a sweat. There must be some kind of secret to it, right?" Jackie said as she pretended to swing a large sword with her arms. It looked quite ridiculous.

"I've always just been able to lift Gramr. So I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you here."

"It was worth a try. Oh well…" Jackie sighed, but she did not seem too overly dejected. It seemed she already had a feeling of the kind of answer Garmr would give her even before asking. Then, the sound of her stomach growl interrupted the silence. This gave her an idea, and she immediately bounced on it.

"You know what? I bet it's because I need to grow more muscle. And I can't grow more muscle without eating more. So I should eat more. I'm going to go back to the ADVs and see what else I can find that'll be more nutritious than an energy bar! I'll be back soon!"

"No, that's…" Garmr tried to say. But it was already too late. Jackie had already taken off as spontaneously as she had arrived. She gave up and leaned back onto her hands. She wanted to eat some more of the snacks.

…

"How are you feeling now, love?"

Before long, Nemeadas had come to check up on her. He took a comfortable seat in her presence.

"I'm tired…" Garmr replied softly before she leaned against his arm. And then she closed her eyes as though falling asleep. "But if I doze off, I begin to hear them again."

"I am right here beside you, love."

"Mmm… and if I close my eyes, I can see him, clear as day…" Speaking slowly, her voice cracked. She clutched her sword tightly. There was a clear tremble in her voice and in that moment, she seemed so vulnerable as opposed to when she fought the manticore earlier. But she could not help it. It was that imposing presence of the Alabaster Lord that haunted her even now— tall, radiant, and unstoppable. She felt nothing more than a powerless child before him. He was the one whose presence alone bleached the night skies.

"Everything will be alright." Nemeadas wrapped his arm around her. "I will always be there with you. This, I swear."

"I know…" Garmr nodded solemnly. "I know…"

…

And in the end, Jackie found a full box of MREs, and she was just about to leave to go back to Garmr to share, however—

"Hold on, why don't you eat over here instead?" Iteza called out. All in all, he had been the only one of the team to come out unscathed and unattended by the medics. In his free time, he had noticed their team's lovebirds from a distance and put together what Jackie was about to do just in time.

"Huh? But I was about to share these with Garmr."

"Let's give those two some private time."

For once, the Oni finally seemed to have some tact… But then he took a quick picture of Yajinn, their support caster who had been lying unconscious on the ground the entire time with their body sprawled out like roadkill. A humorous depiction to be sure, fit for someone who had passed out due to exhaustion, and there was no way he would let this one fly unnoticed under the radar.

—All of VGT Tyr had, once again, survived to see another day.

…

…