Six months after the purchase. In a prison.
The hunt hadn't been completed, even after so long. Most adventurers and hunters seeking glory failed to account for the fact that the remaining divinities were the most formidable among the original seven.
There stood Achilles before a dusty cell. Inside it was a girl with eyes as dark as the night sky.
Her name was Hailey.
All she could see in the person before her was respite. Salvation.
"Worry not, Hailey," Achilles spoke, his voice carrying an invigorating luster, "I will free you from Cylrea's grasp. Only at one expense..."
Hailey leaned forward, listening.
"...you have to join me in my quest to eradicate the divinities." Achilles had a wide smirk on his face.
The wind howled through the broken towers of Cylrea's outer walls. Storm clouds twisted above, and ash rained like dark snow. In the shadow of the fortress gates, the four companions stood—Achilles, Jules, Artorius, and Cassia. Before them, a giant of a man emerged from the ruin.
The great general, Cylrea himself.
Clad in a suit of blackened steel that seemed to drink the light around it, Cylrea moved with terrifying grace for someone of his size. His crimson plume flared in the storm wind, and from his back hung a tattered black cape. Eyes like burning coal glared through his horned helm.
He didn't speak.
He simply raised a massive sword, and the earth trembled.
Achilles was the first to move, sword flashing as he charged, aiming low. Artorius followed, casting a blazing arc of red flame that coiled toward Cylrea's chest. But the general moved with impossible speed. He swept his blade wide, knocking both back with a force that cracked stone.
Cassia darted forward, her movements swift and unpredictable. Her claws caught the edge of Cylrea's armor, but it barely slowed him. He swung again, and she barely avoided the cleaving blow, the wind behind it enough to knock her into the side of a pillar.
"Regroup!" Jules shouted, healing glyphs already glowing along his arms. He cast a shield that absorbed the next crushing strike—but it flickered, strained.
Achilles rolled to his feet, blood trickling from his brow. "He's testing us."
"No," Artorius growled. "He's enjoying this."
They attacked together—Achilles from the front, Cassia from the side, Artorius raining elemental fury from behind. For a moment, it seemed to work. Cylrea was forced back, staggering under a blast of fire.
But then, he changed.
With a roar that split the skies, his armor cracked with glowing red lines. Dark energy surged outward, knocking all four fighters off their feet. The ground fractured beneath them, and a massive shadow rose up around Cylrea—shaped like wings, pulsing with ancient might.
Artorius was the first back on his feet, teeth bared. "We're out of time!"
Cassia lunged again, her eyes glowing faintly, her claws tearing into the weakened gap in Cylrea's armor. Achilles followed through, blade plunging deep into the other shoulder. Cylrea howled and retaliated with a crushing blow that sent both of them flying.
Artorius unleashed a flurry of magic—ice, fire, lightning—but Cylrea pushed through it with sheer force, staggering toward Jules.
Jules waited. Calm. Focused.
While the others drew the general's fury, Jules circled wide and watched for an opening. It came—barely a second, when Cylrea turned to strike at Cassia.
Jules dropped his staff, clenched his fist, and ran forward. The others saw him move but didn't speak. His left hand glowed with sacred energy, a final reservoir of power focused into the punch.
He drove a left hook clean into the back of the general's helmet with a crunch that echoed through the ruined fortress.
Cylrea froze.
Then fell.
The storm above began to break.
Ash gave way to quiet snow.
The four stood over the fallen titan, gasping, bruised, but alive. Cassia wiped blood from her cheek. Achilles leaned on his blade.
"He's down," Jules muttered, still shaking out his hand.
Achilles gave a breathless chuckle. "Remind me never to piss you off."
Far beneath the fortress, something ancient stirred.
And in the wake of Cylrea's fall, the last seal shivered.
The world would never be the same again.
****
Under the night sky, Cassia and Hailey sat on the crest of a moonlit hill. The sky above them was dull, not even a single star in sight. The battle was over, but the weight in their hearts lingered.
"Doesn't the sky tonight seem so... empty?" Hailey asked, her voice low, almost a whisper.
Cassia looked up, her brow furrowed. "It does... but what about it?"
Hailey's eyes didn't leave the sky. "It's just... saddening. And what's more, it's reminiscent of life itself. I mean, what even is the meaning of life?"
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the wind brushing over the hill.
Cassia eventually said, softly, "I have no idea... what do you think?"
"There is no meaning to life," Hailey murmured. "It's empty. Sometimes, I like to use the sky to simulate life. But I've never seen something that wasn't so dull."
Cassia tilted her head. "And why is that?"
Hailey sighed. "It's just my premonition. But maybe... maybe there's something I'm missing. I've looked everywhere. I even had aspirations..."
Cassia cut in gently. "Why don't you try looking at everything from a different perspective?"
"Even if I look at the world differently," Hailey shot back, "the only thing that'll change is my perspective, not the world. So then, what is the purpose of life if we exist without consent?"
Cassia was quiet for a long time, then simply said, "...I don't know."
Hailey nodded slowly. "Neither do I. We might never know. It's all futile."
The stars remained hidden.
And the night remained still.