"Aria, come with us. Mirce Lorde is waiting for you," Hades said.
Behind him stood Spring alongside an entire army of Querons.
"I won't let you take Aria!" Cedrick declared, stepping in front of her.
Hades burst into laughter. "Haha! Do you really think you can stop all of us?"
Cedrick clenched his fists. "I don't care how many of you there are. Even if it costs me my life, I won't let Aria fall into your hands."
Spring smirked. "How touching. But you'll probably just end up getting yourself killed."
"Spring, why are you doing this?" Aria pleaded. "Don't you realize that Mirce Lorde is controlling you? This isn't who you really are. You're under his power."
"Enough!" Hades shouted. "Mirce Lorde was the one who took us in after the people of Aznar slaughtered our relatives. Then the king stripped our family of our title!"
"That's not true," Cedrick replied firmly.
"And what would a mudblood vampire like you know?" Spring sneered.
"Cedrick is telling the truth, Spring," Aria said as she turned toward Hades. "We never took away your family's noble title. The Seasons family is still recognized as nobility. You were the ones who chose to leave."
She looked directly into Hades' eyes.
"Hades... have you forgotten who you really are? Isn't your real surname is Sanders? You are the Seasons family's knight. You pretended to be Spring's older brother and used the Seasons family's surname to protect him from those who wanted him dead."
Then she turned to Spring. "And you... Aren't you the one and only son of Lord Randolf?"
Both Hades and Spring froze.
"W-What nonsense are you talking about?!" Spring shouted.
"Spring... Hades... please come back to us," Aria begged softly. "We'll restore your memories."
"Shut up!" with a wave of his hand, Hades raised several massive slabs of earth into the air before launching them toward Aria.
Cedrick reacted instantly.
His body dissolved into countless bats that scattered across the battlefield.
The swarm rushed toward the Querons.
"Tsk... Morphing," Hades muttered.
Spring summoned a powerful tornado that swept through the sky, catching many of the bats in its violent winds.
"N-No!" Aria cried.
Those bats weren't ordinary creatures—they were pieces of Cedrick's own body. Every injury inflicted upon them was inflicted upon him as well.
The bats shrieked as the fierce winds tore through their wings.
One by one, they fell from the sky before gathering together once more, slowly reforming into Cedrick's human body.
With smoke rising from his wounds, Cedrick crashed onto the ground, his body covered in deep cuts.
"Cedrick!"
Aria rushed to his side and knelt beside him. "Your wounds... They're terrible. It'll take a long time for them to heal."
Cedrick closed his eyes as he struggled to breathe, clutching his injured arm while smoke continued to rise from his battered body.
Hades raised one hand again.
A gigantic slab of earth floated high above them.
"If you refuse to come with us... then I'll force you!" Hades said.
Aria wrapped her arms around Cedrick and shut her eyes tightly as the enormous boulder descended toward them.
But then—
.
.
.....
"Wake up."
Stephen slowly opened his eyes at the sound of Xylon's voice.
"W-Where are we? What happened?" he asked in confusion.
"We're on a bus heading to Serolf Academy," Xylon answered.
"Why are we going there?" Stephen asked again.
"Mirce Lorde erased our memories and cast us into the human world. The only way back to Aznar is through Serolf Academy," Xenon explained.
Stephen's eyes widened. "I remember now... the light during the banquet."
"Mirce Lorde now rules Aznar," Yvess said grimly. "He has even renamed our kingdom El Quero."
"It seems he intends to follow in Leviathan's footsteps," Heberlin added.
Stephen looked around at everyone. "So... what's our plan now?"
"We'll find Akuma," Xylon answered without hesitation. "Once we're reunited, we'll combine our powers again—just like we did against Jinx and Leviathan."
Their bus was almost at the tunnel.
"We're almost there... Akuma... Viel..." Xylon whispered silently to himself.
.
.
.....
"Let's rest here for a while," Xerxes suggested.
Everyone sat beneath the shade of several trees.
"We've reached the Third District," Mist said. "The royal palace isn't much farther."
"I hope Father returns soon," Akuma said quietly. "Only then can we finally defeat Mirce Lorde."
"I hope Arden has already found him," Sagittarius replied. "We can't win this battle alone. We need the nobles."
"Mirce Lorde is unbelievably cruel," Ira murmured. "Someone has to stop him."
"You're right, Ira," Viel said reassuringly. "Don't worry. We'll defeat Mirce Lorde."
Ira nodded.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A massive explosion echoed throughout the forest.
"What was that?" Akuma asked.
"It sounds like a battle," Mist replied.
"Let's go!" Akuma shouted.
Without another word, everyone rushed toward the source of the explosion.
.
.
Aria stared in shock as someone blocked Hades' attack.
"And who the hell are you supposed to be?!" Hades yelled.
The man slowly turned toward Aria.
Her eyes widened.
"T-Titus..." she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Titus was alive.
But... how?
He had sacrificed his own life to save her. She had watched him disappear with her own eyes.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to come back," Titus said gently.
"How are you alive?" Cedrick asked in disbelief.
"I'll explain later," Titus replied. "First, I'll finish this."
He turned toward Hades and Spring.
"You idiot!" Spring shouted. "Don't play the hero. We'll kill you!"
Without warning, rain began pouring from the sky.
Everyone looked up in confusion.
"It's raining?" Spring muttered.
As the Prince of the Demons, Titus possessed the power to control water and create monstrous beings from it by mixing his own blood into the water.
He cut his fingertip with a small blade, allowing droplets of blood to fall into the rain.
Immediately, two gigantic water monsters emerged.
They charged into the ranks of the Querons.
One after another, the soldiers were swallowed whole.
"W-What's happening? Why is there blood inside the water?!" Hades shouted.
Inside the monsters' stomachs, the Querons struggled desperately.
The blood mixed into the water formed countless razor-sharp blades that sliced through their bodies while they slowly drowned.
Titus drew the sword inherited from his father.
Spring and Hades instinctively stepped backward.
"Titus... don't kill them," Aria pleaded. "They're good people."
"I'll handle this, Aria," Titus replied calmly before charging straight at them.
.
.
.....
At last, Xylon's group emerged from the tunnel.
"We're here," he said.
They stepped off the bus and made their way through the dense forest.
Before long, they arrived at the towering gates of Serolf Academy.
Without anyone touching it, the massive gate slowly creaked open.
No guards stood watch.
No students wandered the grounds.
No teachers remained.
An eerie silence had consumed the academy.
"The academy has been abandoned ever since Mirce Lorde seized the throne," Blake said.
"Which is exactly why we have to stop him," Xylon answered. "Only then can peace return."
They continued deeper into the academy.
Their destination was the mansion they had built within its grounds.
It was time to prepare for the final battle.