Six months after the purchase. In a prison.
The hunt hadn't been completed, even after so long. Most adventurers and hunters seeking glory failed to account for the fact that the remaining divinities were the most formidable among the original seven.
There stood Achilles before a dusty cell. Inside it was a girl with eyes as dark as the night sky.
Her name was Hailey.
All she could see in the person before her was respite. Salvation.
"Worry not, Hailey," Achilles said, his voice carrying an invigorating lustre. "I will free you from Cylrea's grasp. Only at one expense..."
Hailey leaned forward, listening.
"...you have to join me in my quest to eradicate the divinities." Achilles' lips curled into a confident smirk.
***
The wind howled through the broken towers of Cylrea's outer walls. Storm clouds twisted above, and ash rained like dark snow. In the shadow of the fortress gates, the four companions stood—Achilles, Jules, Artorius, and Cassia.
Cassia stood behind the others, fingers trembling against the fabric of her sleeves. Her eyes were wide, darting from shadow to shadow. She was trying—truly trying—to be brave. But the air was heavy with something ancient, predatory. Her chest tightened.
Then he appeared.
The great general, Cylrea himself.
Clad in blackened steel that swallowed the light, the giant moved with silent, terrifying purpose. His horned helm turned toward them, eyes glowing like captured embers.
He lifted his massive sword. The earth shook.
Achilles didn't hesitate. "Move!" he yelled, dashing forward.
Artorius unleashed a blazing arc of fire. Jules began weaving protective glyphs.
Cassia couldn't move.
Not from shock—fear.
Her breath hitched. Her vision blurred. The sound of Cylrea's blade colliding with Achilles' echoed like thunder, and she flinched violently, stumbling backward.
She tried to steady herself. You can help them. You have to help them. But her knees gave way.
The fight exploded before her—Achilles knocked across the stones, Artorius barely dodging a crushing counterstrike, Jules straining under the force of the general's relentless swings.
Cassia watched it all with wide, horrified eyes.
The dark energy radiating from Cylrea felt like an open maw ready to swallow her. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
A memory surfaced—blood, screaming, shadows towering over her from long ago.
She broke.
She turned and ran.
Not far—she didn't get far. She crouched behind a shattered wall, hands over her ears, shivering violently as the ground quaked with the force of Cylrea's swings.
She hated herself for leaving.
But she couldn't force her legs to move.
The battle raged on without her.
Achilles slid across the dirt, blood streaking down his arm. "Jules—we need you!" he shouted.
Artorius stood his ground, magic swirling wildly around him. "He's overpowering everything we throw!"
Cylrea roared, armor splitting with burning red cracks as dark power surged outward. The shockwave blasted Achilles and Artorius back.
Jules held firm—barely. He couldn't spare the others a look. "Buy me time!" he shouted.
And they tried.
Achilles charged again, blade scraping sparks against Cylrea's. Artorius unleashed lightning and flame in desperate succession.
But the general pushed through it all. Step by step. Unstoppable.
Behind the ruined wall, Cassia curled tighter, tears streaking her cheeks. Each tremor of the battlefield shook through her bones.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" she whispered.
The opening came.
As Cylrea raised his sword to finish Achilles, Jules lunged—not with magic, but with his fist.
His left hook collided with the back of the general's helm.
A deafening crack split the air.
Cylrea froze.
And fell.
Silence washed over the ruins.
Achilles panted. "Remind me… never to piss you off."
Jules exhaled shakily, rubbing his knuckles. "That… hurt more than I expected."
Artorius didn't laugh. His eyes were searching.
"Where's Cassia?" he muttered.
They found her minutes later—still hiding behind the wall, still trembling. When Achilles approached, she recoiled as though struck.
"Cassia," he said softly, kneeling. "It's over. You're safe."
She couldn't stop shaking.
The others exchanged glances.
This battle had left more than scars on the land.
It had broken something inside her.
***
Later that night, under the dull, starless sky, Cassia sat beside Hailey on a quiet moonlit hill. Cassia's knees were drawn to her chest, her eyes unfocused.
Hailey stared upward. "Doesn't the sky tonight seem so… empty?" she asked softly.
Cassia didn't answer at first. "It does… but why does it bother you?" she finally said.
Hailey's voice was distant. "It's just… saddening. And what's more, it reminds me of life itself. I mean, what even is the meaning of life?"
Cassia lowered her gaze. The question didn't comfort her—not tonight.
Silence lingered.
"...I don't know," Cassia admitted quietly. "What do you think?"
Hailey sighed. "There is no meaning to life. It's empty. Sometimes I look at the sky to make sense of everything. But it always feels dull. Lifeless."
Cassia asked softly, "Why do you think that is?"
"It's just a feeling I get," Hailey murmured. "Like I'm missing something. I used to have aspirations…"
Cassia cut in gently, "Maybe you just need to look at things from a different perspective."
Hailey immediately shook her head. "Even if I do, the only thing that changes is my perspective—not the world. So what's the point of living if we exist without consent?"
Cassia's voice fell to a whisper. "...I don't know."
"Neither do I," Hailey replied. "We might never know. It's all futile."
The silence that followed wasn't empty.
It was heavy.