How It Ended

"Well? Are you done scheming yet?"

They were against the idea, especially Roselia. But there was nothing else that could have been done at that point. They had to decide quickly.

Eventually, they were forced to accept Linah's decision. Though it pained Roselia, she had to accept it. That was the only answer she could give to her sister.

"I'm gonna need some time to convert my life force to mana and cast my magic." Trails of mana essence manifested around Linah, an indication of using Mana Burst. "Please, everyone!"

"Leave it to us," Kamao answered the girl.

"Let us hope this works." The young bowman followed suit.

"It will." The muscular youth stood between the red-haired young man and the bowman. "We'll give you all the time you need, Linah!"

With that, the three young fellows went forth. On the other hand...

"Ate..."

"I know." Roselia concentrated her mind and body on gathering mana using Mana Burst. "I'll make sure it cannot move even a single finger."

'Hm? What's going on?' The Anino asked inside its thoughts after seeing the group splitting up. 'The others aren't coming forward. And what is that blue light surrounding and entering their bodies? Well, it doesn't matter.'

At that moment, the Anino made its very first and grave mistake. Thinking they have no chance of winning, the Anino allowed itself to get drunk with self-confidence and took pride in its unstoppable prowess.

"Now, come! You stupid gnats!"

Kamao and the two others charged at once, and another bout started. And just like it did at the very beginning, the Anino began toying with them. Only this time, it was working in their favor.

Their bout lasted for almost two minutes. Until the Anino had declared.

"The fun is starting to get stale. I guess it's time to end your futile struggles."

Kamao glanced at Linah and Roselia who are still in the middle of using their Mana Burst.

"You're the one... Who's going to--"

The bowman and the muscular youth shifted their gaze at Kamao almost immediately after he suddenly fell to his knees.

"Kamao!"

"What's wrong?"

Kamao's vision was blurring and involuntarily shaking. He felt like his strength was being sapped away.

"W-Why now of all times...!"

The two looked at Kamao's severed arm and saw the cloth covering the wound completely painted in red.

"He already lost a lot of blood!"

"Not good. If it doesn't get treated right away..."

"Just as I thought, you guys are becoming stale." The Anino appeared right before them with its enlarged claws. "It's time to end this."

The bowman threw his body to get him and Kamao out of the way. The muscular youth used his Tibay to protect the two.

Clang!

Rip!

However, even with his barrier active, the Anino's sharp claws ripped through it and wounded him.

"Kurhk!"

"You're weak."

The Anino shoved the youth out of the way. Despite having been weakened and exhausted, the muscular young man refused to lie on the ground.

"Not yet." He glanced at Linah and Roselia, and then he shifted his attention to the Anino who was about to unleash his dark fire at Kamao and the bowman. "I need to buy more time!"

He stood up and forced his body to run straight forward. Right at that moment, the entity unleashed his black flames, and the muscular youth came and used himself to block the attack.

"Ah!"

"What?"

Kaboom!!

Both the bowman and the Anino were surprised after what happened. And they were even more surprised to see the aftermath of the explosion and the youth remained standing with his Tibay that can only be reformed using Mana Burst.

"You..."

If the Anino has an unstoppable prowess, the youth standing before the entity has indomitable perseverance.

"I won't let you harm anyone again!"

That's how he, Adhan, got the name "Indomitable."

"Then I'll have to finish you off first."

A one-on-one clash started between Adhan and the Anino. Unfortunately, Adhan couldn't last long on his own. Proving the strength it possessed was far superior to any of the adventurers, the Anino's heavy attacks are starting to tear and break Adhan from the inside.

Bling! Cling! Clang! Bang!

"What's wrong? You can no longer move, can you?"

Bam! Clang! Clang! Bang!

Just when Adhan's Tibay was about to disappear, and the Anino's claw about to rend him...

Whistleeeee~!!

Triiiriiii~!!

The sound of whistles echoed, and before the Anino realized it, spiraling winds blew its gigantic claw off. Albeit it immediately regenerated. But that's not the end of it.

"I'm here!"

With Kamao no longer able to fight, and Adhan almost at his limit, he knew he was the only one Roselia and Linah could rely on. Therefore, he dared get the Anino's attention. And after doing so, the longbow and arrow made from air transformed into flames as he started firing countless fire arrows. Fire arrows that split into three rays of fire each started hurtling at the Anino.

Fwoosh!! Fwoom!! Fwoosh!!

"I'm not done yet!" He uttered in a quiet voice. Right then, the fire bow and arrow transformed into water. High pressured beams of water were shot at the entity. But, the bowman's attacks are not yet done.

Fssssshhh!!

His water bow turned into a thunder bow as he began shooting powerful lightning bolts at the entity.

Crackle!! Crackle!!

After that, his bow transformed one more time into a wind bow and started firing numerous spiraling wind arrows at the Anino.

Whistlee~!! Triiirii~!!

The Anino deflected some of them, but the sheer number of arrows fired allowed for some to go past its defense and hit the entity. Not only that, each elemental arrow that chased after the entity is becoming stronger and faster as they grow in size.

"This is getting annoying..." The Anino uttered as he dodged a fire arrow before getting struck by a lightning bolt.

The young man continued to fire and switch elements in quick successions. He was doing it so fast that the mana essence around him are immediately turning into an element he was using right before it even entered his body.

This was the only way he could keep a distance between himself and the Anino. His ability to masterfully switch from one element to another, the speed, and the power his arrows possessed is why he, Hunyo, was later dubbed the "Artillery". However...

"I've had enough of this!" After endlessly deflecting and avoiding the arrows in the sky, the Anino started descending straight down at Hunyo. "Die!"

At first glance, it looked as though the arrows seemed to have struck the entity. But in reality, they were going past the holes the Anino purposely created to avoid them.

"Tch! That annoying ability again..."

Hunyo was suddenly in a pinch. And with no one else to help him, all he could do was shoot another arrow.

Grab!

The Anino caught the fire arrow and it immediately turned dark. Hunyo tried to take a step back but it was already too late.

Quelch!

The entity used the arrow that turned dark to pierce Hunyo's right lung.

"Gah!"

Kamao saw it happen before eventually, his consciousness drifted away. Adhan was about to shout Hunyo's name when the sight of a certain someone put him to a halt.

Hunyo stood there with a burning hole in his right lung, facing the Anino.

"Sleep for eternity." Said the Anino as it pointed the palm of its beastly hand at the face of Hunyo, charging up its dark flames.

"I... I will..." Hunyo coughed out blood. "...But not today."

"...? Huh?"

Hunyo's final words to the Anino made the entity confused. But right in that instant, he caught the sight of Linah far behind Hunyo.

"What?"

Only Linah was standing in the same spot the entity last saw her. Roselia, who was supposed to be right next to her sister, is now gone.

"Where...?"

Before it could go and look for Roselia, a blue rose spawned in between Hunyo and the Anino, drawing its attention.

"Blooming Rose..."

The Anino heard Roselia's voice coming from the right. Roselia revealed itself to the Anino, knowing that the entity no longer has the time to react.

"...Full Bloom!"

Hitting the ground with her white staff, the blue rose in front of the Anino did not multiply but grew tremendously in size.

"Y-You–"

Having no time to react, the Anino succumbed to Roselia's ability and entered a dream-like reality.

"Ah!"

The entity found itself in the middle of a strange yet familiar scene. It was, without a doubt, his old living room.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you not going to join us?"

"We're going to play sungka."

"Hey, Arnold! Are you all right?"

When the guy before him uttered that name, the Anino finally realized his form have also changed. He reverted to his human self.

The person who called him by his name was his elder brother. The others that are already playing sungka were his other siblings.

"You guys, did you even clean your rooms before you started playing?"

"Oh, sungka! Can I join?"

The two other people who came into the scene were his Ina and Ama.

"Ina?"

"Arnold? What's wrong?"

His Ina and Ama approached him.

"He seemed to be in a daze. I've never seen him do that before." Said the elder brother to their Ina.

"Is something wrong, Arnold?"

"I-It's nothing."

Though he said that, Arnold could tell something was amiss. He just doesn't know what it was. But...

"I see. You're probably just hungry. Your Ama and I bought breakfast, so let's go eat."

Arnold's Ina reached her hand for him.

The boy doesn't know what's going on. However, seeing his family all together as if nothing happened, made him feel like his dream had come true.

"Y-Yes..."

Arnold slowly reached out to her Ina's hand. But the moment they touched, a blue rose petal suddenly landed on the back of his hand.

"Hm? What's that?" Arnold's Ina curiously asked?

At that moment, another blue rose petal came from nowhere. More and more blue rose petals filled the room. And then, they started glowing with light.

Gleam! Gleam!

Everything started glowing with light, including Arnold's Ina and everyone else.

"I-Ina! Everyone!"

"Arnold!"

"Arnold!"

Before he knew it, everyone and everything got swallowed by light.

"Ah!"

Not long after that, Arnold's body started peeling off, revealing his true form. When Arnold saw his shadow claws, he finally returned to his senses. But...

"W-What is...?"

Arnold, or rather the Anino found itself trapped inside a box made of light. And right before the entity, behind the wall that hurts the Anino whenever it tried to touch it, there was Linah holding the seal while holes are starting to appear around her body. And from there, light is leaving her body as it merged with the seal.

Still in the middle of confusion, the Anino found Roselia lying on the ground unconscious. That's when it remembered the blue rose and everything else that happened after that. Everything...

"Everything was just an illusion?!"

In a fit of rage and hatred for showing an old desire, he thought had come true, only to find out it wasn't the reality, the Anino tried to force its way out of the box with a vengeful desire to kill Roselia.

Bang! Kshhhh!!

"Gaaaarghh!!"

However, it ended up just hurting itself in the process. It tried to claw its way out, but all it did was create ear-piercing sounds over and over.

"It's useless." Linah's voice drew the attention of the Anino. "You will never get out of this seal. You will never harm or kill anyone ever again."

"You bast*rd!!" Disregarding the burning pain inflicted on itself, the Anino desperately tried to get itself out of the box. "Get me out of here!! I will kill you all!!"

"Killing you would have been for the best. I'm sure Ina and Ama think so, too. But sadly, we don't have the power to do it. Not Adhan, Hunyo, Kamao, Roselia, or me."

The Anino released a storm of violent energy. It even tried to shoot a powerful blast of dark fire, but the box appeared undamaged.

"We don't have the power to finish you off for good. But with this, everything should return to how it used to be." Saying this, more holes are starting to manifest around her body. "Peace shall return to the kingdom just like Ina, Ama and everyone else wanted."

Linah started losing the feeling in her face. While she could still move her head and see with her eyes, she gave Kamao, Adhan, and Hunyo who are knocked out, one last look.

"Kamao, Adhan, Hunyo, thank you for coming and helping me and Roselia. We wouldn't have gotten this far without you three."

"Damn it all!!" The Anino roared in pure agony and rage as it looked at Roselia one more time with its glowing red eyes that were filled with hatred. "If not for your damn magic, things wouldn't have turned out like this!!"

Bling!!

"Huh?!"

The box that's sealing the Anino has started shrinking. Along with it, the entity's body has also started growing smaller.

"Damn it! Damn it all! I'll kill you! I'll turn your rose to ashes! I'll tear you apart! Once I get out of this thing, I'll torment you! You damn Himala! You–"

The box shrank into a size of a cube and fell into Linah's hands. The light leaving her body continued to get sucked into the cube.

She turned in the direction of Roselia and moved forward slowly, trying not to suddenly trip and fall. However...

"Ah...!"

Paghk!

Right in front of her unconscious older sister, Linah lost the strength in her legs and was forced to fall to her knees.

"I see. So this is as far as I can go." With a melancholic expression on her face barely visible due to the light leaving off her body, Linah gave Roselia her final words. "Ate Roselia, thank you for everything you've done for me. Thank you for being my sister. And I'm sorry for having to leave you, too."

***

"... Linah!" Roselia tried to stand up, though her exhausted body pushed her back to the ground. But as she fell forward, a tiny cube made of light got her attention.

She reached for the cube with all her might and got it with her left hand.

"This is...!"

She looked around her vicinity. She desperately looked for Linah, but all she could see was the sun that was about to rise, Kamao, Adhan, and Hunyo, all unconscious. There was no sign of Linah whatsoever.

Roselia looked into the cube one more time and finally, she remembered hearing the faint voice of Linah speaking to her. It was so faint and mumbled that all she could understand was Linah thanking and apologizing to her. That, and Linah's last final words.

"I hope you don't blame yourself for everything. Everything happened not because you saw everyone's fate. It happened because it was my decision, and I do not regret it. Thank you, Ate Roselia. Farewell."

Remembering this, it finally hit Roselia. The thing that was in her hands, the cube that was sealing the Anino inside was her sister.

Ptip Ptip-Ptip...

Salty liquid dropped into her hands and the cube.

Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip!

"How... How could I not blame myself...?" Failing to hold it in, tears trickled from her eyes down to her hands. "...Why do I have to see things if I can't even do a thing about it...?"

Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip!

"I hate you..." Roselia directed it to her sister, Linah for leaving her.

Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip!

"I hate you..." Roselia directed it to the Anino, the reason why Linah had to leave her just like their parents.

Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip Ptip-Ptip!

"I hate you..." Roselia directed it to herself and her powerlessness to save everyone from their fate. "Ngaaaaaahhhhh!!"

With Roselia's pained tears signaling the end of the Anino's terror, the ever so bright morning sun signaled a new beginning. After shedding so much blood, sweat and tears, after so many sacrifices, the long-lost peace finally returned to the kingdom of Reilaea.