They were reveling in their apparent victory, convinced they had fatally wounded Zelaive. But their celebration abruptly ceased, replaced by a silence as profound as if they had seen a ghost. Deanque, oblivious, noticed the sudden hush. "What's wrong with you all? Why so quiet?" he asked, puzzled.
He turned to see what had caused their reaction, and his blood ran cold. Zelaive stood there, unharmed. The figure he had stabbed moments ago was dissolving into nothingness. Deanque stumbled back in shock. "You scared me, kid!"
Zelaive's gaze was intense, radiating a terrifying aura of zeal. "Old man," he began, his voice low and menacing, "why were you so happy when you stabbed me?"
Deanque was gripped by fear, unsure of what to do. He bitterly regretted interfering with Zelaive's rest. We can't win against this guy, even if we work together, he thought desperately.
"Old man? What's wrong? Say something!"
Deanque was paralyzed by terror, unable to speak. Mitsi's voice cut through the tension. "Zelaive, you handle this. I'll take care of the rest outside."
"Okay, but don't have too much fun," Zelaive replied, his eyes never leaving Deanque.
Deanque groveled, pleading for his life. "Wait, can't we talk about this?" He was still trembling and sweating profusely. But Mitsi, like a bolt of lightning, ignored his pleas, rushing past him along with her people. In moments, the cave fell silent, but the sounds of her people, the aswang outside the cave, being sliced apart by Mitsi's sword echoed within.
The chilling sounds sent shivers down the spines of the remaining aswang in the cave. They were terrified, sweat beading on their foreheads. Deanque was baffled. How could these two humans have such stamina? All the food they had prepared for their return to town, for the fight against the orcs, was laced with parasites that consumed zeal. A normal person would be drained in two hours, yet Zelaive and Mitsi had been eating this food for three days, fighting 43 orc settlements, and showed no signs of fatigue.
The leader, his voice cracking with despair, finally spoke. "I surrender. I accept my end." He wept, regretting his misjudgment, believing Zelaive and Mitsi were weakened.
In a fit of anguish, he tore at the hairpiece attached to his head. His people gasped. The hairpiece was an accessory imbued with a ritual that granted him strength.
Zelaive's voice dripped with disdain. "Oh, giving up already, old man?" He cast a terrifying glance at the remaining aswang and began to walk toward them. Reaching Deanque, he placed his hand on him, and Deanque exploded into pieces.
The approaching Zelaive sent tremors of fear through the aswang. One, overcome with terror, cried out, "I don't want to die!" He transformed into his true form and dashed away from Zelaive. Seeing this, the other aswang descended into chaos, scrambling to escape. Zelaive watched them, unconcerned.
Then, Zelaive spoke, and the world seemed to slow around him. "In the heavens and on earth, great trees always stand, in a tranquil forest teeming with life, where you can breathe in the fresh air. Zone multiple life."
The rocky cave transformed into a vast, dense jungle. The aswang, desperate to flee, found themselves trapped within its confines.
Their escape thwarted, the aswang realized their end was near. One of them spoke, his voice heavy with resignation. "It's impossible to survive in this place. Our only choice is to fight our way out."
Two others beside him nodded in agreement. "You're right. There's no escape. The only way out is to defeat that monster." The aswang who had proposed the plan shouted, "We have no way to escape, so let's work together! Maybe we stand a chance against him!" The aswang pondered. Could we defeat him if we worked together? He must be weakened by the parasites we've been feeding them.
As he smiled, believing they had a chance, a monkey suddenly appeared before him. He felt the terrifying zeal radiating from its entire body. As he stared at it, he realized, We never stood a chance against this monster. The monkey, Zelaive in disguise, obliterated his head with a single blow.
Zelaive spoke, his voice devoid of emotion. "Nineteen left."
He began to hunt the remaining aswang within his zone, the vast jungle. "Eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen… Ah, my form is really gone. I'd say my strength is only about 6% now, but that's enough to pulverize these aswang." Zelaive continued his hunt. Standing over another corpse, he muttered, "Two left. I'm getting bored. I thought they'd be a challenge, but they're more like rabbits being hunted by a wolf."
Suddenly, one appeared behind him. Before he could reach Zelaive, a branch snaked out and ensnared his leg, suspending him upside down from a tree. Zelaive turned and approached him. "You came to me," he said, grabbing the aswang's head, which then exploded, taking the rest of the body with it.
After defeating the remaining aswangs, the surroundings returned to the normal cave. Upon returning, he saw Mitsi sleeping. "Why is she sleeping? It hasn't even been four hours yet," Zelaive thought, then left her to sleep and took over the watch.
As daylight broke, they went to a nearby town. Upon arriving, they spent three days there to rest and buy what they needed for their journey. After resting and buying their necessities, they parted ways and bid each other farewell. Zelaive headed North, and Mitsi went South to further explore the mysteries of this world. Zelaive, heading North, took the path to return to the 1st layer to find out what happened to his clones. Six of his clones in the 1st layer had mysteriously died. Zelaive's journey back to the 1st layer begins here. "I'm going back to my home. I'll see my family and Jazel in person again," he thought happily, imagining meeting 1st time Jazel in person.
The scene shifts back to the 1st layer, where Vallante is seen sitting in Fleur's house, drinking tea, waiting for Jazel's return, while talking to Jazel's stepmother, Fleur.