When Yugo opened his eyes, the world around him had changed completely.
Just a moment ago he’d been in Emelka’s town square, fighting against the monster who attacked his village.
Now, he stood on a hill he crossed as was running back home after his victory against the Great Whisperer.
But something was terribly wrong.
The grass had turned dry, and the trees, once green and lush, had become grey and withered.
There was no birdsong or sweet scent of flowers.
Only silence reigned above this barren landscape.
As he looked around, he felt a rush of relief.
Amalia, Ruel, Percedal, and Eva were there, free from Nox’s grasp.
He remembered being paralyzed by a spell and feeling as his soul was being torn from his body.
Then, everything filled with a blue flash right as his father rushed in to save him.
As he thought of his father, his throat tightened.
He wasn’t there.
“Dad!” Yugo shouted.
“Where are you?
Answer me!”
He received no answer beyond a heavy silence.
Percedal and Eva were still unconscious from the battle, with Amalia doing everything she could to heal their wounds.
Ruel, on his part, was just staring at the horizon with a grim expression on his face.
Immediately, Yugo rushed to the old Enutrof and grabbed his shoulder, desperate for anything resembling an answer.
“What… just happened?
Where are we?”
“Thank the Gods we’re far from there…” Ruel answered, his voice cracking as he pointed into the distance.
When Yugo saw what he was pointing at, he felt a deep pain inside.
Far away, in the very place Emelka once stood, there was a barren ruin.
Nox’s colossal machine loomed motionless over the wreckage like a sleeping monster that had just devoured its prey.
There was not a trace of life.
The village had become a desolate and silent graveyard.
For the first time in his life, Yugo saw tears rolling down old Ruel’s cheeks.
“Alibert…” the Enutrof murmured between sobs.
“If only I’d gotten there in time…”
The image of his devastated home paralyzed Yugo completely.
It couldn’t be true.
He couldn’t accept it.
A deep rage filled his heart as he clenched his fists and shouted in a voice full of determination.
“This isn’t over!
We have to go back and save my father.
We’re heroes, right!
We can’t give up, not now, not ever.
Let’s go!”
Unfortunately, no one in the group had the will left to fight.
Amalia and Ruel just looked at him with sadness and resignation.
But Yugo didn’t care.
He’d save his father no matter what.
Without thinking, he turned around and got ready to run towards the village.
Before he could leave, a firm hand grabbed his shoulder.
Ruel.
The old man looked at the boy straight in the eyes.
When he spoke, his voice was heavy with grief and sadness.
“Yugo…
we can’t go back.
The village…” He paused, knowing what he was about to say would break the boy’s heart.
“It’s gone.”
“If we don’t go back, my father will die!” Yugo struggled as he tried to break free.
“Why can’t you understand that?”
Ruel’s grip was strong as iron, stopping the boy from taking a single step.
The old Enutrof remembered the day Alibert found that boy.
He remembered the joy in his best friend’s eyes.
Yugo wasn’t just his son.
He was the reason he kept living.
And now…
now he’d become his legacy upon the world.
“Your father sacrificed himself for you, Yugo.
Please, just listen to me.
We can’t go back… This hurts me as much as it hurts you, but it’s what Alibert would’ve wanted.”
When he heard those words, Yugo’s eyes filled with tears and his voice exploded with all the pain burning inside him.
“You’re a coward!
A useless, old coward!
How can you call yourself his friend and just abandon him like that?
”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, kid!” Ruel screamed as he shook the boy.
“I just lost my best friend and I won’t let you follow him to the grave!
Alibert would want you to live, not die like a fool!”
“My father’s not dead!
He’s not!
If you’re too scared to do it, I’ll go save him myself!”
Yugo turned towards his friends, begging for their support in this desperate mission.
“Who’s with me?”
No one answered.
Amalia had been silent this whole time, unable to think of a right answer.
She wanted to help Yugo, but feared any word she said would just make things worse.
Still, a desperate thought crossed her mind.
What if Alibert really is alive?
With her heart pounding pounding, she pressed her hands to the earth and threads of life energy extended through the dry soil, reaching all the way to Emelka’s ruins.
She searched every corner she could, silently praying to the Sadida God that a miracle could happen.
She found nothing.
Not a single trace of life.
Tears filled her eyes as looked straight at Yugo and whispered a terrible truth
“Ruel is right…” Her voice trembled in fear.
“I tried to sense the village’s energy, but…
there’s nothing left.”
She paused, as if still hoping for a sudden miracle.
It didn’t come.
“They’re all dead.”
Those words made Yugo freeze.
He stopped struggling and, in an instant, all his strength vanished from his body.
The anger and determination that had driven him faded in the wind, leaving behind nothing but sadness.
Ruel gave him a tender hug, hoping to comfort him as best he could.
The boy didn’t resist, but rather just clung to him and buried his face in his chest as tears flowed down his face like rivers.
“Easy there, little one…
easy,” the old man whispered.
“I’m right here.
I’ll be by your side until the day I die.”
Ruel let him cry, giving him the time he needed to let it all out.
As he held him close, his gaze drifted to the devastated village.
What he saw made cold sweat slide down his back.
Nox’s colossal machine was rising again.
As long as they stayed here, the enemy could easily find them and Alibert’s death would truly be in vain.
He turned to Amalia, his eyes full of cold determination.
“We have to go.
That madman will soon figure out what happened and start looking for us.
Can you wake them up faster?”
“If I spend more energy, I can do it in a instant.
Trust me.”
Without wasting a second, Amalia took out her small wooden doll and placed it on the ground.
She then traced a circle over the dirt with her hand, and after chanting a prayer to the god Sadida, she extended one hand toward Eva and the other toward Percedal, closing her eyes as she recited a final invocation.
Just like in the forest, a green glow emanated from the doll which became a wave of life energy that enveloped the two unconscious heroes.
The results of the ritual came much faster than expected
“Sir Percedal lives again!” the knight shouted as he sprung to his feet.
All his wounds had vanished and he was now full of energy.
“By the Twelve, I feel ready for battle once more!”
He looked around, confused, and asked enthusiastically.
“What happened, guys?
Did we win?”
Amalia sighed with exhaustion.
While she’d exhausted most of her energy reserves, at least the ritual was successful.
Ruel, for his part, felt a headache just by hearing the Iop’s voice.
I really wouldn’t mind if he was still unconscious, he grumbled under his breath.
“Of course, oh brave knight” he said in a voice full of sarcasm.
“We kicked the bad guy’s ass and now he’s nothing but scrap metal.”
The knight’s eyes shined with joy.
“Oh really?
That’s so cool!”
“No, you idiot!
Do we look like winners to you?” He shouted.
“Yugo got us out of there at the last second and now we need to get the hell out of here before that maniac finds us.”
“But…
couldn’t we go just back and finish him off?
I feel so much stronger now, ready to take down that villain and avenge my previous defeat.”
Those words made Ruel facepalm and let out a desperate cry to Amalia.
“Don’t you have some spell to put him back to sleep?
He was so much more bearable when he was unconscious.”
Before the Sadida could answer, a familiar voice came to his rescue.
Eva had just woken up and, without missing a beat, she entered the conversation with a sly smile on her face.
“I know a foolproof method,” she said.
“It’s called ‘a shovel to the head,’ and we happen to have a master of that art right here.”
Amalia, forgetting her exhaustion for an instant, threw herself at Eva and gave her a big hug.
The Cra, normally one to dislike physical contact, didn’t pull away and hugged her back.
She could not ruin ruin her best friend’s moment of happiness.
“EVAAAA!
I’m so happy you’re okay!”
“Thanks, Amalia,” she replied with a smile.
“I owe you a big one this time.”
Ruel sighed, his face returning to a smile.
“Well, not everything went wrong.
At least someone woke up with their brain cells intact.
Can you walk?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Eva got to her feet carefully and, while wobbled at first, with Amalia’s help she managed to stay upright.
As she analyzed the barren landscape around her, her mind was full of questions.
“Can somebody explain what the hell happened while I was out?”
“It’s a long and tragic story,” Ruel answered.
“I’ll tell you everything on the round.
Right now the priority is getting out of here and NOT getting into any stupid fights.
Are we clear?”
“But I wanted to fight that evil wizard!” Percedal whined.
“I think I could win this time.”
Ruel’s response came with a very threatening swing of his shovel.
“ARE.
WE.
CLEAR?”
“Fine, fine…” The Iop shrugged in resignation.
“But someday I’ll meet him once more and fulfill my revenge.”
His expression changed immediately as he noticed Eva, transforming his disappointment into joy.
“Hey, look at that!
At least we’ll be traveling together for a while, right?”
Eva rubbed her forehead and groaned, sharing Ruel’s same feeling of annoyance.
“This is going to be a long trip…”
As they began to walk away, Ruel looked once more toward the destroyed village.
With sorrow, he gathered three stones and built a small makeshift grave.
“This is what you would’ve wanted, Alibert.” He placed a hand on the grave and closed his eyes.
“See you on the other side, my friend.
I’m sure you’re in a much better place right now.”
His voice became full of conviction, fully realizing the responsibility that had fallen on his shoulders.
“I swear by the Twelve Gods that I’ll look after your son as if he were my own.
I’ll protect him with my life if I have to.
I won’t let your death be in vain.”
After that silent farewell, he rejoined the group and the five set off.
There was no time to grieve.
A long and dangerous road awaited them.