The sky was clear. The blue expanse was void of any and all clouds, allowing the long stretch of sand meeting the ocean to bask unfettered in the heat of the two suns. Tremendous waves, the height of city walls, disrupted this peaceful scenery and crashed onto the cliffs behind the beach. Fierce winds turned into tumultuous gales, lashing and carving into the ground. The contradicting chaos chased away all the beasts and animals from their abodes, great flocks of birds rushing away from the waters. The call of thunder struck violently despite the sky remaining clear and blue.

The cause of the disturbance came from the group of Exalts, their Eins forming into spells that violently clashed against each other. On one side stood several people wearing the blue draconic armor of the Brilliant Drake Empire, and the on the other were several garbed in the red griffon armor of the Scarlet Griffon Empire. Further up were the people from the Blue Ocean Pavilion and the Undying Flame Sect in their uniforms, unrelenting in their attacks.

"Damn!" Terry shouted, snapping his head to the side to see a giant molten fist about to reach him. Before it could touch him, a dense barrier of water vortexed between him and the molten fist, protecting him in time for him to move away. It exploded into a cloud of steam and disappeared into the ocean below.

"Nicely done, Susan!" Terry dodged several other spells and raised his hands, expelling a rush of wind that twisted and hit several others with a great impact. He rushed out into the opening he created, winds ferrying his legs along, and stabbed his spear multiple times. The air continuously swirled and grew around his swings.

Susan gripped her mage staff anima and glanced everywhere around the battlefield. Everyone fought fervently up, below, and to her sides, relying on her water-type healing and barriers for support. But the outlook wasn't good. She spun her mage staff multiple times, sending a flood of water to heal their wounds. Her face paled at the sight of one of her companions suffering a severed arm, and she bit her lip, bleeding droplets down her chin. She could only do so much as a Middle Knight Exalt with her grade five core.

'I wish Kelvin were here….' Susan glanced at the ring on her hand and sighed, sending out every bit of her Ein to protect and heal. Her husband was currently stationed elsewhere for the war, and she hadn't seen him for a year. While her mind turned elsewhere, something crashed into her small petite body, knocking her back to her senses.

"Uren!" Susan cried out at Uren's battered body. She quickly healed him, but his injuries ran deep. Uren's eagle anima perched on his shoulder, barely maintaining its shape in the physical world.

"Susan. You have to run." Uren choked through his blood. He stared at the Undying Flame Sect enemy before him. "We're outnumbered and barely holding on. I can't let you die, for Kelvin's sake."

"What about Esther?" Susan gripped his other shoulder and swelled her waters into him to cleanse out the internal injuries. She frowned and gritted her teeth at the devastating wounds on Uren's body. "I can't let you die either. We'll make it out together!"

"Sorry, but we can't allow any of you to leave." The enemy wasted no time, rushed in with his sword raised high, and slashed downward with thunder quaking from its stroke.

Uren raised his mace and coated it in dense earth, stacking layer upon layer. His eagle anima enlarged its stone wings to aid in the defense. Acting without pause, Susan covered the enemy in a water prison to slow his movements and created a barrier of whirlpools for good measure.

The enemy smiled, his sword not halted by their combined efforts, and mercilessly brought it down onto their defenses. Red lightning expanded and swelled into a crashing storm, large volumes crackling from the blade. Their defenses were shattered apart, and Susan fell back with Uren.

Susan grunted in pain, several burns on her body, but she cried out in sorrow at Uren's pitiful state. Most of his body was burned, his shoulder had a deep bleeding cut nearly severing his arm, and his eagle anima broke apart into nothingness, sending back the rebound to Uren, who vomited a mouthful of blood. Tears flowed from her eyes, and she tried her best to heal Uren, only able to soothe the pain.

More shouts and wails of pain surrounded her. Her allies were on their last footing, standing with grievous injuries. Some couldn't stay afloat and dropped into the ocean. The enemies had casualties on their side as well, but the conclusion was a done deal. Outnumbered and outclassed by more Meld users, their struggle was a futile one from the start. Despair started to grip her heart with icy fingers, and she flashed through her memories, remembering the times she shared with her husband and friends.

'No! No! No!' Susan gripped her staff and used what Ein she managed to recover from Ein Awaken to heal even the slightest of wounds on her allies. She gazed out with determination, unwilling to fall here. In her memories, Susan remembered one figure of black hair and black eyes who fought against unsurmountable odds, saved her and her friends, took the Divine Essence, and became a hero to all. She recalled his comforting words and advice when she was afraid and alone, words that she lived by to this day.

"We can still survive. All of us. Every moment counts!" Susan shouted for everyone to hear, her body shaking with fatigue. Her eyes struggled to keep awake against the encroaching darkness of her faltering consciousness. Still, she hung on and looked for the chance.

"Hoh. You got grit and courage. I admit that. But there is no way out for you. Everything was determined the moment we set out to attack." The lightning swordsman brandished his blade. "As proper respect, I'll ensure you're not mistreated when we take you prisoner. A healer is a great asset in this war. If you do well for us, you can live a good life after the war."

"I won't betray my home. I won't betray everyone who fought and died before me!" Susan glared and lifted her staff, her arm barely holding it up.

"With that attitude, I imagine many would take a liking to you. But this is not something you can decide." Lightning streamed out and covered the swordsman's body. Susan twitched her brow, quelling the fear within.

"You're a stubborn idiot, Susan." Uren weakly raised his mace, even though his Ein was spent. "Still, I'll accompany you to the end."

Susan chuckled and stared at the swordsman, her mind racking for an answer to their predicament. The swordsman's Meld charged the edges of his blade with lightning, bursting like an explosion with each swing. Straightforward and not unique, but extremely powerful and filled with deadly Ein.

He held his sword and took a stance, lightning rippling across his eyes. "I changed my mind. I'll take both of you prisoner. You'll willingly heal our soldiers if your friend is under our care. Your home will be gone soon."

Under the threat of the raging thunder, Susan hunched but remained standing. The swordsman was prepared to act, and her back shivered. However, a strange yet familiar voice interrupted everyone.

"I heard the news about the extent of the war but didn't expect to run into a battle on my way back." A terrifying Ein halted everyone, filling the air with dread.

"Who?" The swordsman gazed up, followed by everyone. A figure stood above them with a strange deer with great antlers on its head, on its back like wings, and on its hooves.

Susan saw the man and widened her eyes, her mouth slightly parting from exhaustion and shock. The man above her was tall, garbed in a long white linen shirt, long black pants, and a black formal vest, and had a bed of black hair and deep obsidian eyes. He wasn't extremely handsome, an average face, but he had an undeniable charm, a strange feeling that this man held a uniqueness to him.

'It can't be….' She couldn't believe her eyes. He was taller and looked a bit older, but everything else was familiar to her. Impossible, she thought while a slight smile lifted from her lips. The man, who was said to be the hero of Ashen Grove, the one who plucked the Divine Essence under everyone's eyes, the one who saved her a long time ago and helped her become useful, should be dead.

He never came out of Ashen Grove. She recalled seeing his friends' distraught and broken expressions when they landed on the airship to go back home. Everyone thought him to be gone forever.

So why was he here now? Susan stammered for a little and said through her weary lips, "Oscar?"

The man heard her and turned to see her. "Isn't that Susan? It's been a long while. Twenty-one years I believe, or twenty-two."

"It's you? How is that possible?" Susan had forgotten where she was, focusing on the impossibility before her.

"We'll talk later. Right now…there are some things that need to be cleaned up." Oscar burst into a strange blue aura surrounding his arms and legs. His strange deer beast beside him transformed into a being of blue metal with bright red flames on its antlers on hooves. He tilted his head and said in the most chilling voice, "Who's going to lose the war?"