About a week later.
Shirei stood atop a ridge, his black hair whipping wildly in the mid-November wind. Below him stretched a valley teeming with enemies—an oncoming horde of monsters, ready to spill the blood of any Blendbreed who dared cross their path.
His violet eyes gleamed with a sinister light as he tightened his grip on the Blade of Discord, the infernal weapon pulsing in his hands like a dark heart.
With a single, silent breath, Shirei leapt from the ledge and vanished mid-air into the darkness.
He reappeared among the enemies like a bolt of lightning, and the ground trembled with the impact. The Blade of Discord moved like an extension of his body, slicing through the air with metallic whistles. The first foes—brutish orcs—fell to the ground, broken like stalks of wheat beneath a scythe.
One of them, towering and broad-shouldered, stepped forward wielding a massive club. Shirei locked eyes with him for an instant, then cloaked himself in the shadows of Spectral Travel, vanishing into darkness. He reappeared behind the monster and, in one smooth motion, slit its throat, severing the head. The body fell with a dull thud, blood arcing in a crimson spray.
The son of Cragar did not linger. As the creature's body began to fade, he shifted again. The monsters surged toward him, turning the battlefield into a whirl of chaos, but Shirei moved among them with deadly grace.
Every movement was calculated; every strike, swift and lethal.
There were many enemies, yet the Blendbreed seemed unfazed. Before two goblins could ambush him from behind, he raised his free hand and summoned the Tenebrae. Nine spectral harpies appeared around him—creatures of shadow and terror, their empty eyes glowing like embers. They shrieked horrifically as they dove at the foes, tearing through flesh and armor with their claws.
A group of enemy witches focused on the son of Cragar, beginning a wicked chant that coalesced into glowing orbs of energy. Shirei caught sight of them from the corner of his eye, remembering the pages hastily flipped through in Marina's books left for Dahlia—clearly never read by the girl.
Strolleche, he realized.
The witches screamed and hurled the mana spheres at him. Shirei bent to dash forward, but another goblin struck at him with a rusted cleaver. The Blendbreed closed his eyes and activated his new technique. He had worked hard to master it during the mission and had finally settled on the name Ethereal Pulse.
A whitish light surged through him, rendering his form incorporeal for a moment. The cleaver passed clean through, and Shirei plunged his blade into the goblin's gut. Becoming solid again, he leapt toward the witches.
Seeing the overwhelming number of monsters still around him, he couldn't help but wonder where Ada and Havel were.
That second of distraction seemed costly. A sudden jolt of pain shot through him—one of his Tenebrae had just been defeated.
Shirei took a breath and looked up, only to see a glowing orb hurtling toward him. Instinctively—and to his own surprise—he activated Ethereal Pulse. His figure turned incorporeal, and for a moment, he relaxed. At least until the attack struck him.
Shirei felt his skin ignite, and he was hurled backward. He landed atop a cluster of goblins but quickly vanished into the Interworld to catch his breath.
Ethereal Pulse doesn't make me invulnerable to magical attacks… he thought, touching his chest.
He hadn't taken serious damage, but part of his hoodie had been shredded to tatters. He had to be more careful. He reappeared behind the witches like an assassin. The Blade of Discord arced in a deadly sweep, cutting them down one by one before they could react.
A second jolt of pain.
Only seven left now, he had lost yet another Tenebrae.
Shirei knew his magical reserves were quickly dwindling, but he couldn't afford to slow down. He kept moving—a whirlwind of death and destruction—while his harpies guarded his blind spots, rising after every strike with even greater fury, distracting the monsters.
The Blendbreed was an unstoppable, lethal force.
The enemies began to retreat, overwhelmed by his speed, but the Blendbreed would show no mercy. With every strike, every single blow, he drove deeper into the heart of their ranks, determined to break their advance for good.
The battle had only just begun, but already the field was drenched in enemy blood, and Shirei stood at its center—an untamable bringer of discord and death.
He kept advancing, unstoppable. His blade sliced through air and flesh with equal ease. Without realizing it, he sank into that all-too-familiar sensation.
Nothing else existed.
Suddenly, he was alone again—just like when he had first awakened in the Underworld.
He felt nothing. No one was there.
He lingered in thought, questioning what purpose kept him alive.
Now he had more than one: kill every enemy, complete the mission, recover his memories.
Every step was an assault, every breath an explosion of power. The enemies dropped like flies, despite their seemingly endless numbers. The Blendbreed remained undaunted. His face was a calm mask, his violet eyes scanning the space without a trace of worry.
His lips curled unconsciously into a faint smirk.
Suddenly, a group of armored monsters emerged from the fray, charging toward him with lowered spears. Shirei didn't bother to identify what kind of creatures they were—probably orcs. He ordered the remaining Tenebrae to lunge at them, but the well-trained beasts struck with precision, dispersing the harpies in clouds of dark smoke.
Only five…
Shirei felt the drain on his energy deepen, but he didn't hesitate. He focused and reactivated Spectral Travel, reappearing directly above one of the orc riders. He crashed down like a meteor, driving his blade into the gap between helmet and armor. The creature collapsed, and for a moment, its companions faltered.
That was all he needed.
With a rapid and precise sequence of movements, he brought down two more riders before the others could react. The Tenebrae, merely wounded, regenerated and lunged at the surrounding goblins, throwing the enemy lines into even greater chaos.
A shrill sound pierced the air as a cloaked enemy commander—some kind of mage—began chanting a spell against him. A mist spread upward, and from it, magical particles rained down upon the orcs, coating them in a crimson shimmer. Shirei suspected it was some form of enhancement. He began to run, activated Ethereal Pulse, and became intangible for a moment, phasing through the enemy bodies like a ghost.
He returned to his normal state just a few steps from the mage, who only had time to widen his eyes. Shirei, in the midst of his deadly calm, met his gaze—and understood.
A Blendbreed?
Marina's face flashed in his mind, making him recall her words. They weren't war machines. They didn't kill one another.
Before the Blade of Discord could pierce the boy's chest, Shirei shifted his strike, driving the blade through his shoulder instead. He lost focus for a moment, looking down at the young man on the ground—until an orc charge forced him to move.
"Hey! Hey! Help me! No! Stop!"
Shirei spun his weapon to keep the monsters at bay, but they continued their advance, trampling the wounded Blendbreed.
"Please! Please, no!"
The son of Cragar heard him scream in agony—then his life blinked out like a flash of light. He had been killed by the monsters.
Shirei pushed the thoughts aside and refused to let himself dwell on the scene. He had to keep fighting if he wanted to earn that chance.
The remaining enemies were retreating, but he refused to slow down. He felt the strain, but the adrenaline of battle and his calm determination pushed him beyond his limits. His blade tore through his foes, strike after strike, casting an aura of fear around him.
A new group of orcs advanced with raised shields, forming a tortoise formation to try and overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Shirei smiled coldly.
With stunning speed, he wrapped himself once again in darkness and reappeared behind the formation. His blade cut through their ranks like a deadly wind, and the Tenebrae slipped between shields—tearing, clawing, and planting terror in the hearts of the monstrous creatures.
Shirei fought on like an incarnate demon—something others would struggle to call merely a Blendbreed.
He was unstoppable.
The screams of the enemies, the clash of weapons, and the thunder of footfalls filled the air—a war symphony orchestrated by the son of the god of the dead, from which none could escape.
At least, that was what he believed. But reality… was a little different.
── ⋆⋅❂⋅⋆ ──
Ada immobilized a Chronomorph, wrapping it in shadows like a newborn tangled in blankets. Confident the target was pinned, Havel lunged forward and cleaved it with his twin axes. A few seconds passed while the creature remained still—then a series of glitches and jarring sounds made it spasm uncontrollably. Finally, the Chronomorph's body stiffened and began to crumble, until it was nothing but dust scattered by the wind.
The two Blendbreeds exchanged a wordless nod and moved to finish off the remaining monsters that had slipped past Shirei's lethal calm.
A few hours later, Ada drove one of her blades into another Chronomorph's head, reducing it to dust. The two had grown more confident fighting that particular kind of monster—confident enough that Rutia's daughter had split from the others without worrying about isolation. With the area now cleared, she turned to look for Havel. She found Sidal's son watching, his gaze distant, fixed on the massacre carried out by their newest member, who was now busy eliminating the last surviving enemies.
"Holy Emion…" the leader of the Equinox Flowers murmured.
When the dust settled and the echoes of battle began to fade, Shirei stood tall in triumph. The battlefield was strewn with enemy corpses, and the Tenebrae floated around him like sentinels. The battle had been grueling, but the Blendbreed had prevailed. The Blade of Discord, soaked in blood, dripped onto the ground at his feet.
The son of Cragar looked up toward the setting sun, his violet eyes glimmering with fatigue.
"He looks like Darryl when he lost control," Havel muttered absently, "only he's still fully lucid."
The two Equinox Flowers stared at the Blendbreed from a distance, still unsure why they had even been summoned there. Just a week earlier, Ada had called Lyceum a madman for sending only three people on this mission—but now she understood. Shirei could have fought the entire horde alone… and won.
"Unlike him, though, Darryl ran out of mana and nearly got overwhelmed when he was weak," Ada recalled, thinking of that distant moment. "He's been going for hours."
"You think he's stronger than Darryl?"
"Darryl is more experienced, but he does have limits," Rutia's daughter assessed.
"So does he," Havel countered. "His body would still tire if he keeps this up."
"No."
"No?" the boy echoed.
"I don't think he realizes it, but he's empowering himself using the channeling technique Darryl taught us."
The two watched him for a few seconds in silence.
Havel grimaced. "Even so, that technique boosts performance by draining your magic reserves. He'd still end up exhausted."
"But that's not happening because he travels through the Interworld, where he absorbs all the aether he needs. His body then converts it into mana, refilling his reserves."
"Infinite energy…" Sidal's son whispered, staring at his own hands.
They spoke the same words at the exact same moment. It wasn't said with contempt, but rather a thought that slipped from their minds before they could catch it.
"What a damn monster."
After the clash had ended, Shirei didn't head toward his companions but instead ventured back into the battlefield, forcing Havel and Ada to follow him. The ground still bore the scars of the brutal fight, littered with debris and soaked in the acrid scent of blood. The Blendbreeds advanced in silence, each step echoing with the heavy weight of their thoughts.
The violet-eyed boy stopped before a mangled and disfigured body, crushed by relentless stomps. His gaze lowered slowly, observing the lifeless figure with sorrow and respect. The scars and wounds were so deep it was almost impossible to recognize the face.
Havel and Ada followed until, standing before the corpse, they realized who it had been.
"A… Blendbreed?" asked the daughter of Rutia hesitantly.
The sight of the shattered body made the two members of the Lilies Park flinch. They exchanged a look heavy with meaning, as if seeking comfort in one another.
Ada stepped closer to the son of Cragar. "Shirei, what does all this mean? What is a Blendbreed doing here?"
Shirei crouched beside the body, resting a hand on the bloodstained earth. His eyes remained fixed, lost in thought. Finally, he spoke—his voice barely a whisper, blending into the wind.
'I was about to kill him, until I realized and managed to divert the strike," he said, never lifting his eyes from the body. "The moment I wounded him, the orcs didn't hesitate to trample him, even though he seemed to be on their side."
Ada felt a knot tighten in her throat, but she stayed silent, honoring the moment of mourning. Havel, still visibly shaken, ran a hand through his hair, matted with blood. As silence returned to the battlefield, the group began to prepare to leave that place of sorrow. Shirei cast one last glance at the lifeless Blendbreed, silently promising to return, then followed his companions toward their refuge.
The abandoned house, serving as the base of operations for the Lilies Park, stood alone, cloaked in the shadows of towering trees that surrounded it. Once, it had likely been an elegant manor, but now it bore the marks of time and neglect. The walls, once pristine white, were now covered in ivy and moss, while the windows—cracked and broken in places—offered glimpses of the dim interior. The front door, made of heavy wood, hung slightly ajar and creaked softly whenever the wind stirred through the trees.
Inside, the air was damp and cold, carrying with it the scent of dust and aged wood. A wide corridor opened before the guests, its parquet floor worn and groaning underfoot. Faded paintings and yellowed photographs adorned the walls, telling tales of a long-forgotten past. A grand salon dominated the center of the house, with a marble fireplace whose ashes testified to a fire that had been extinguished only days ago. Armchairs, also draped in sheets, surrounded the hearth, and behind them stood a long red couch.
The kitchen, though outdated, remained functional. Rusted pots and pans hung above a large wooden table. The water from an old manual pump in the sink was cold but drinkable, and an aged oven had been repurposed to heat food and drinks. A creaking staircase led to the upper floor, where the bedrooms offered a temporary refuge to the group. The beds, with their hard mattresses and dusty blankets, were still a comfort after the rigors of battle.
Despite its state of decay, the abandoned house was a safe haven for the group. Its sturdy walls and isolation offered precious protection, allowing the Blendbreeds to rest and keep watch over the valley where enemies emerged.
Evening fell, and the trio allowed themselves a moment of rest before preparing for their watch shifts. Shirei and Ada were seated in two armchairs in front of the fireplace, the latter busy trying to light a fire.
"If Darryl were here, we'd be done already…" the girl grumbled through clenched teeth. "Havel, could you give me a hand?"
The son of Sidal lay sprawled on a threadbare couch just behind them. He turned over, giving them his back, and said, "I don't feel like it."
Ada made a face but didn't push further. She turned instead to the son of Cragar. "Do you know how to start a fire easily?"
Shirei remained silent and shook his head.
"Thought so…"
Eventually, after what felt like endless minutes spent with matches found in the kitchen, the Blendbreed managed to get the fire going. She made sure the flame was stable, then said to her companions, "Go to sleep, I'll take the first watch."
"You can sleep too, if you want."
Ada turned to look at the son of Cragar, confused. "What do you mean?"
Shirei extended his right hand, the ring gifted to him by the god of the dead glowing on his index finger, and released a wave of darkness. The figures of his spectral harpies manifested in the living room around them. Some of them cawed, making Havel leap off the couch in fright.
Ada took a breath to steady herself and responded, "Actually, I'm not sleepy yet, that's why I'm taking the first watch."
"I see."
The two sat in silence, watching the flames dance in the fireplace, while the leader of the Lilies Park rose to chastise them.
"I'm going to sleep," he said, already heading toward the stairs. "Don't waste precious time—do the same. I pray Tefine grants you relief."
Shirei understood it to be a kind of goodnight in the Blendbreed way and thanked him. The son of Sidal seemed very different from how he had appeared at Lilies Park. He feared it was an attitude caused by his presence, but kept those doubts to himself.
Ada continued watching the son of Sidal until his figure disappeared behind the walls. "He's been like this since you defeated him, but he has nothing against you," she tried to reassure him.
"He didn't want to lose. I understand."
The daughter of Rutia shook her head. "It's not that," she said, lifting her eyes to take a pause and search for the right words. "Shirei, it's hard for us to deal with you. We're a close-knit group, and you fight alone every day. We lose track of where you are until all the enemies are defeated. We're not on your level."
The Blendbreed interrupted her. "You're very strong."
"Thank you, but we know that's not true. We're stronger than the average Blendbreeds at Lilies Park and roughly equal to the best at the Academy, but you're different, I see that now," she said, turning her gaze to the fire. "Knowing that people like you exist reassures the weak, but for others, it can be frustrating."
"So that's Havel's problem?"
"Yes," Ada nodded. "He's always been the strongest, the hero who charged into the heart of battle. At the Park, they praise him for it—and that means a lot to him. But after the fight with you, others' envy outweighed the enthusiasm of the younger ones."
The daughter of Rutia turned back toward the Blendbreed with the violet eyes, her own gaze softening.
"He's always had a lot of pressure on him, and this time he lost," she gave a faint smile, "so he just needs some time to process it."
The son of Cragar gave a slight nod of understanding and turned to look out the window. Suddenly, silence returned to the room, broken only by the gentle crackle of the fire.
Ada stepped closer. "Is something else bothering you? Do you have questions?"
"I do, actually."