Warm

[You have slain an Ascended devil, Erlking's agent.]

[You have received...]

Nero completely disregarded the message of the Nightmare spell, as he let go of his spear and ran towards Rodenaus. The fire seemed to have stopped burning him, but the damage was already done.

Half his face was burnt charcoal black, his armour melted and fusing with his skin, blood poured endlessly from his wounds, but somehow, by some miracle, he was still breathing.

He suddenly began to cough, letting that crimson blood spill out from his mouth. Nero didn't know what to do, they didn't bring any medical supplies with them, not like he knew how to use them anyway.

"Boy..."

"Rodenaus!"

Nero was about to help him up, but Rodenaus whacked his arm away.

"I am.. not long for this world... I deserve this. Me and the other knights, we were afraid of the war. We are all deserters, so this is, my just punishment."

There was only one thing that had kept Rodenaus sane in these caverns, and that was his faith to the Sun God. His belief that one day he would return to the surface, and be in his embrace once more.

But that was a distant dream for him. He was a deserter, a disloyal paladin who ran away when the call for war came.

He didn't deserve the light of the sun.

"Those flames didn't belong to me, they were a blessing from the sun god. Using them has burnt through my life, and so even if I escape here, I will die."

He didn't deserve the sun's warmth, it's mercy and love. He deserved to die alone in the dark, away from any semblance of happiness. This was Judgement.

He weakly raised his crispy right arm, and pointed at the caves mouth.

"Leave..."

The caves shook as the deities continued to clash beneath their feet. The runes on [Bond] still shined brightly, so Epsilon must've survived their clash and was able to makes his escape. Eventually, he would come up here too.

He could leave, he could finally leave this ungodly place.

Nero gradually began to walk up and away towards the sunlight. Words couldn't express how glad he was, that this Nightmare would soon be over.

Yet something felt wrong. He felt that he had missed something.

His head turned back to the Griffin, whose body lay burnt to a crisp with a spear stuck in its skull. It was certainly dead, even the Nightmare spell announced it, but there was something wrong with it.

Something he wouldn't figure out till later though.

His neck snapped forwards as he began to advance towards the exit. In the first step there was hope. This horrible trial would soon be over.

In the next step there was relief, he would be able to see his family once again.

But in the third step, there was guilt, at all the night children which he watched helplessly die.

And in the fourth... there would've been regret. But Nero never took that step. Instead, he turned around, and sped back towards Rodenaus who was experiencing his last moments.

The knight too had the same hopelessness in his eyes as the other knights before him. He did believe he had been abandoned by his god, after all.

"Your a deserter? Doesn't that mean you were scared for your life? Doesn't that mean that you didn't want to die?"

Rodenaus looked up at the boy, yet even that had become painful. Whatever would kill him faster, he would gladly take anyway.

However he remained silent, so Nero continued.

"You believe you've been abandoned? That your life suddenly has no meaning because your hand is no longer being held? Cut that bullshit!"

Nero grabbed Rodenaus by the collar, causing him an excruciating amount of pain. Yet, the Knight did not scream or even flinch. Rather, his eyes seemed to spark.

"You've already valued your life over your gods, so why the hell won't you do it again?"

Rodenaus then muttered,

"Boy.. it's not that simple.. how can you understand the importan—"

"I don't need to understand! You think your evil because you ran for your life!? You think your evil, because you tried to come back!? So you think punishing yourself will somehow undo all of that!? It's stupid!"

Rodenaus then forced himself to rise with anger. Although he was dying, he wouldn't let this boy mock his religion with such ease, even if he was his son. What the hell did he know about anything anyway? He was just a Night Child, a human who had never seen the sun. He couldn't possibly understand.

As he rose though, he quickly fell. His body was in no condition to move. But before he could hit the ground, Nero caught him.

"Don't be an idiot! How can you move forward if you can't even feel compassion for yourself!?

If you want to be punished, let God give it to you, but right now, show them your selfishness! Die the way that is true to you!"

Rodenaus wanted to disagree. He wanted to remove himself from Nero right there and then, but his heart wouldn't let him. He desperately didn't want to admit it, but he wanted to see it. Just one last time.

Nero, small yet resolute, carried him with effort, his own clothes tattered from the journey.

But now, it was was finally over.

Their eyes shined with relief as golden sunlight spilled over them, painting their faces with its warmth.

Rodenaus winced at the brightness, his vision overwhelmed after so long in the depths. Tears welled in his eyes, not from pain, but from the sheer sensation of warmth, freedom, and hope.

The air was clean, his skin felt warm, his heart felt soothed.

In this mountain chain where the sun never shined, it returned once more, just for them.

Rodenaus then cried, with Joy and solace,

"Thank you... thank you... for everything."

[Wake up, Nero! Your nightmare is over!]