THE LAST SERIES: THE CURSE OF PEACEARC 6 — THE GUILD ARCCHAPTER 2 — THE HOLLOW VICTORY
The reputation of the Utopians had changed quickly.
What had begun as five new guild members fulfilling the Academy’s required period of service had become something far more significant.
Within only a few months, the Utopians had completed quest after quest.
Monsters had fallen.
Bandits had been defeated.
Difficult missions had been completed.
Their results were becoming impossible for the guild to ignore.
By the time only one month remained of Nihil’s required hunter service, Turg made a decision.
The Utopians would no longer be sent on ordinary assignments.
They would be sent somewhere else.
The western war zones.
TURG HEADQUARTERS
The Utopians stood before a senior guild officer.
A map of the western territories covered the table.
GUILD OFFICER:
“Your group has completed nearly every high-priority quest we’ve given you.”
Mimi smiled proudly.
MIMI:
“I told you we were good.”
Seraphina sighed.
SERAPHINA:
“You don’t need to announce it.”
The officer continued.
GUILD OFFICER:
“Normally, graduates are assigned to monster hunting and regional protection until their service period ends.”
He pointed toward the western territories.
GUILD OFFICER:
“But the western regions have entered a serious military crisis.”
Nihil looked at the map.
NIHIL:
“Demons?”
GUILD OFFICER:
“Among others.”
He pointed toward several borders.
GUILD OFFICER:
“Demon forces, monsters, and dark elves have become increasingly organized.”
Alpha 1 studied the map.
ALPHA 1:
“Then this is no longer simply a monster problem.”
GUILD OFFICER:
“Correct.”
He looked toward Nihil.
GUILD OFFICER:
“You’re being transferred to the western war zones.”
Nihil nodded.
NIHIL:
“Understood.”
Mimi looked at him.
MIMI:
“We’re really going?”
NIHIL:
“Yes.”
Omega smiled.
OMEGA:
“That should be interesting.”
Seraphina looked less enthusiastic.
SERAPHINA:
“Something tells me it won’t be.”
Nihil simply turned toward the door.
NIHIL:
“Then we leave tomorrow.”
THE WESTERN WAR ZONE
The Utopians departed the following morning.
They traveled for several days.
The further west they went, the more the landscape changed.
Military camps appeared along the roads.
Defensive walls surrounded settlements.
Guild hunters moved between cities.
Soldiers guarded bridges and mountain passes.
The Utopians eventually reached the western front.
And there, the scale of the conflict became clear.
Battles were taking place across multiple regions.
Demons attacked.
Humans defended.
Monsters appeared alongside military forces.
Dark elves moved through forests and mountain passes.
Yet something else was happening.
The enemy forces were disappearing.
Quickly.
Nihil’s team hadn’t caused all of it.
The demon forces were changing their movements for another reason.
Orders had been issued from above.
The demons were preparing for something much larger.
Still, wherever the Utopians fought, they won.
A monster appeared—
The Utopians defeated it.
A group of soldiers was surrounded—
The Utopians rescued them.
A border settlement was attacked—
The Utopians drove the attackers away.
Their name spread throughout the western territories.
The Utopians.
The strongest guild team in Augustus.
THE DEMON GENERAL
Far from the western front, a massive military command center had been established.
At its center stood a demon general.
Ignis.
He studied a map of Augustus.
One million soldiers stood under his command.
Mages.
Assassins.
Monsters.
Dark elves.
Demons.
The general pointed at the map.
IGNIS:
“One hundred thousand.”
His officers looked toward him.
IGNIS:
“Separate them among the surrounding regions.”
He pointed toward the capital.
IGNIS:
“The remaining nine hundred thousand advance toward Augustus itself.”
An officer hesitated.
OFFICER:
“And the royal family?”
Ignis’s expression hardened.
IGNIS:
“They are the objective.”
He placed his hand over the capital.
IGNIS:
“When the great houses are forced into direct conflict, the old balance will finally break.”
His officers bowed.
IGNIS:
“Begin.”
THE SILENCE BEFORE THE STORM
Back in the western territories, something strange happened.
The demon attacks stopped.
The monsters stopped appearing.
The borders became silent.
Nihil looked toward the sky.
NIHIL:
“It’s over here.”
Seraphina looked at him.
SERAPHINA:
“What?”
NIHIL:
“The western attacks.”
He lowered his gaze.
NIHIL:
“We’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”
Mimi looked surprised.
MIMI:
“Already?”
NIHIL:
“There’s nothing more happening here.”
Alpha 1 stared toward him.
Then she quietly asked:
ALPHA 1:
“So this is the reason.”
Nihil looked at her.
NIHIL:
“Yes.”
Omega understood as well.
OMEGA:
“That’s the reason you needed for the peace alliance.”
Nihil nodded.
NIHIL: You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Yes.”
Seraphina and Mimi exchanged confused looks.
Neither understood what Alpha 1 and Omega seemed to understand.
MIMI:
“What are you two talking about?”
Nihil simply smiled.
NIHIL:
“Nothing.”
AUGUSTUS UNDER ATTACK
That night, the sky above Augustus changed.
Hundreds of thousands of enemy forces descended upon the royal capital.
The attack came without warning.
Defenses activated.
Alarm bells rang.
Heroes rushed to the battlefield.
Soldiers filled the streets.
The royal family entered the conflict themselves.
Prince Kaelen.
Princess Eleanor.
The warriors of House Augusta.
The greatest heroes of the empire.
Everyone fought.
The Augusta family had never lost a battle.
And once again, they refused to surrender.
But the demons had prepared for exactly this.
They didn’t seek a simple victory.
They sought to remove the people capable of changing the war.
Thousands of monsters were sacrificed to overwhelm individual heroes.
Assassins moved through gaps in the defensive lines.
Mages attacked from multiple directions.
The battle became chaotic.
Princess Eleanor fought through one group of attackers.
For a moment, she found herself surrounded.
A powerful demon general appeared before her.
Eleanor raised her weapon.
ELEANOR:
“You’re not getting through me.”
The general attacked.
Eleanor barely avoided the strike.
She retaliated.
The battle continued.
Then the demon general found an opening.
Eleanor stumbled backward.
The distance between them disappeared.
One more movement—
And she would have been defeated.
Then something changed.
KAELEN
Sakura blossoms appeared throughout the battlefield.
Soft petals drifted through the air.
The city that had been filled with fear suddenly looked strangely beautiful.
The flowers represented something the Augusta family had always cherished.
Happiness.
Prosperity.
And the hope that peace could exist.
Kaelen stood at the center of the capital.
His eyes began to bleed.
Marks appeared across his body.
His Shinkai awakened.
KAELEN:
“Stay away from my sister.”
A golden mist spread outward.
It expanded across the entire capital.
A barrier surrounded the city.
Every invading force trapped inside it began losing its Life Energy.
The attacking monsters weakened.
Enemy soldiers collapsed.
The demon forces struggled to move.
Kaelen remained at the center.
But the barrier came at a terrible cost.
His body began aging.
His hair turned white.
His strength disappeared.
The young prince who had always been known for his kindness slowly became an old man.
Still, he refused to stop.
KAELEN:
“As long as I remain…”
He struggled to stand.
KAELEN:
“…no one gets through.”
The golden barrier remained.
Eventually, Kaelen could no longer sustain himself.
He fell.
And the barrier disappeared with him.
The invasion had been stopped.
The capital survived.
The enemy forces had been defeated.
Once again—
House Augusta had not lost a battle.
But there was no celebration.
No cheering.
No music.
No victory feast.
There were too many dead.
Too many families had lost someone.
And the empire had lost one of its kindest princes.
Kaelen Augusta.
The victory felt hollow.
THE UTOPIANS
Far away in the western front, Nihil looked toward the sky again.
NIHIL:
“That’s the end.”
Alpha 1 understood.
ALPHA 1:
“Then we can return.”
NIHIL:
“Yes.”
The Utopians began preparing to leave.
THE RETURN TO AUGUSTUS
The following morning, the Utopians arrived back in the capital.
Mimi stepped out first.
Then she froze.
Seraphina stopped beside her.
Alpha 1 and Omega remained silent.
The city was devastated.
Buildings had been destroyed.
Military forces filled the streets.
The once-busy capital had become strangely quiet.
Mimi’s expression changed.
MIMI:
“…What happened?”
Seraphina couldn’t answer.
Nihil walked forward.
The group continued toward his mansion.
His private domain had remained protected.
Gideon Noctis had secured it before the fighting reached the estate.
As they entered, Nihil immediately saw his family.
Princess Eleanor was injured and unable to speak properly.
Aurelius was away from the city.
And inside one of the rooms—
Liliyanna and Ilyra were crying.
Between them lay Kaelen.
Nihil stopped.
For perhaps the first time in a long while, his expression changed completely.
He walked toward his family.
NIHIL:
“What happened, Mother?”
Liliyanna couldn’t answer.
Nihil looked toward Kaelen.
NIHIL:
“What happened to Kaelen?”
Silence.
Mimi stood behind him.
Her ears lowered.
MIMI:
“…How is this possible?”
Seraphina couldn’t move.
She simply stared.
Omega looked toward Nihil.
OMEGA:
“Wars.”
A pause.
OMEGA:
“Deaths.”
OMEGA:
“Life.”
OMEGA:
“Happiness.”
Her voice became quieter.
OMEGA:
She looked directly at Nihil.
OMEGA:
“No one can achieve perfection while remaining bound to those things.”
Alpha 1 stepped forward.
ALPHA 1:
“Father…”
Nihil looked toward her.
ALPHA 1:
“Don’t you want a world worthy of being called a perfect paradise?”
Nihil stared at Kaelen.
A tear slowly escaped from one eye.
Only one.
NIHIL:
“Yes.”
His voice was quiet.
NIHIL:
“You’re right.”
He wiped the tear away.
NIHIL:
“From this moment onward…”
He looked toward the destroyed capital.
NIHIL:
“…I will work only toward perfection.”
A pause.
NIHIL:
“I will end this accursed era.”
His eyes became cold again.
NIHIL:
“And I will bring peace to this world.”
No one answered.
But everyone heard the promise.
THE NEW ROLES
After Kaelen’s funeral, Aurelius returned to Augustus.
A great assembly of nobles was called.
Every major house attended.
Aurelius stood before them.
AURELIUS:
“The empire has changed.”
He looked across the hall.
AURELIUS:
“Kaelen is gone.”
The nobles lowered their heads.
AURELIUS:
“And we cannot pretend that the world around us has remained the same.”
He looked toward Nihil.
AURELIUS:
“From this day forward, Nihil Mora will serve as Duke of Foreign Affairs.”
The hall became silent.
AURELIUS:
“His responsibility will be diplomacy, foreign relations, and the pursuit of peace between Augustus and the other nations.”
Nihil bowed.
NIHIL:
“I accept.”
Then Aurelius looked toward Eleanor.
AURELIUS:
“Princess Eleanor will take responsibility for the internal hierarchy of the kingdom.”
Eleanor bowed despite her injuries.
ELEANOR:
“Understood.”
The meeting continued.
New responsibilities.
New alliances.
New strategies.
But Nihil already knew what he wanted.
He turned toward the Utopians.
Mimi.
Seraphina.
Alpha 1.
Omega.
NIHIL:
“We have work to do.”
Seraphina nodded.
SERAPHINA:
“Peace?”
Nihil looked toward the windows.
Beyond them was the wounded capital.
NIHIL:
“Peace.”
Alpha 1 smiled faintly.
Omega stood beside her.
Mimi tightened her hands.
And the Utopians began their next mission.
Not hunting monsters.
Not gathering treasure.
Not becoming stronger.
But attempting something that generations of kings, heroes, and immortal beings had failed to accomplish.
Creating peace.
And Nihil Mora had finally found the reason he had been waiting for.
BACK IN LIBRARY
LAZY ONE:
“Wait…”
Curious One looked up from the page.
CURIOUS ONE:
“What is it?”
Lazy One pointed toward the previous passage.
LAZY ONE:
“Something feels off.”
Curious One frowned.
CURIOUS ONE:
“What is off?”
Lazy One turned back through the pages.
LAZY ONE:
“Nihil was talking about its end with Alpha.”
He pointed at the passage.
LAZY ONE:
“A day before the invasion.”
Curious One stared at the page.
CURIOUS ONE:
“So…”
Lazy One leaned closer.
LAZY ONE:
“Does that mean he knew?”
He paused.
LAZY ONE:
“Or…”
His expression became more serious.
LAZY ONE:
“Was he behind all of this?”
Curious One remained silent for several seconds.
Then he slowly closed the book halfway.
CURIOUS ONE:
“We’ll never know.”
Lazy One looked at him.
CURIOUS ONE:
“Not until we read the next chapter.”
He reopened the ancient record.
CURIOUS ONE:
“After all…”
He looked at the enormous collection surrounding them.
CURIOUS ONE:
“These are the dark histories of this world.”
Lazy One became quiet.
He looked back at the passage describing Kaelen.
LAZY ONE:
“But I really liked Kaelen.”
Curious One looked at him.
LAZY ONE:
“He was so caring…”
A pause.
LAZY ONE:
“And polite.”
Curious One gave a faint, sad smile.
CURIOUS ONE:
“Yes.”
He touched the page.
CURIOUS ONE:
“But that won’t change what happened.”
Lazy One stared at him.
Curious One’s expression became serious.
CURIOUS ONE:
“Sometimes…”
He paused.
CURIOUS ONE:
“…kindness is exactly what gets someone killed.”
The library became silent again.
Lazy One looked down at the page.
He didn’t make another joke.
He simply turned the page.
And the history of Nihil Mora continued.