Medith and her party pushed for the Crimson Sun branch as if no one could bar their way; the air thickened around them, a thin chill seeping like mist from stone.

A sheet of dark cloud slid across the sky and smothered the glare. Only a few dying bands of light spilled like embers onto the earth.

Hrrff... Medith reached the familiar grounds. The place lay empty; the dirt wore scars of a fight, and blood, not yet washed, dried like rust on the ground.

What once stood there was gone, erased as if a hand had wiped it from the world, leaving not a trace.

“Where’s the guild? Where are the dorms? Melia? Sais! Where did they go?!” Medith vaulted from the saddle, her face a storm, fury and confusion clashing like thunderheads.

Lita stared ahead, hollow-eyed. The hall she knew had vanished; in its place sprawled a raw wound of barren soil, cracked earth lifeless to the horizon.

Only one speck of green stabbed the dead center.

A hyacinth. Green roots cradled a ring of columned flowers, bright as fresh jade. It felt Lita and the others, and it swayed, thrilled, singing in a voice only the heart could hear.

Lita drifted forward, then her knees folded. She knelt, cupped the bloom like a newborn flame, and let out a howl that could split sky from sea.

Lina reeled back, shock and lostness washing her pale. She stumbled till she hit Medith.

“This isn’t real... it’s not...” Tears fell on their own. That swaying hyacinth—no Elvenfolk mistook it. It was the first shape of all, and the Flower of Ending.

Medith patted Lina’s shoulder, face hardening, and walked to the hyacinth.

Her face, too beautiful to bear, still wore that steady, reassuring calm. At five-seven, she stood straight as a spear, strong and tall.

Only her trembling hands betrayed her.

“Ah—aaah—” Rita screamed herself empty, howling as if ripping her own soul into rags.

Medith’s eyes blew wide; her lips shook. She stared at the hopping, swaying hyacinth; her right hand clenched the greatsword till it rattled like teeth in winter.

Even a kilometer out, residents felt Medith’s razor-cold aura. They grabbed coin, bundled wives and children, and fell back for miles.

Within three kilometers of Medith, no one dared step.

They watched from afar and listened to grief that tore at the soul; more than a few wept where they stood.

A frail boy’s mouth curled in helplessness, memory flooding his eyes. He sank to the ground, looked at the Lita Sisters, and couldn’t keep his tears in.

Medith drew in a breath and tipped her face to the sky. It had gone sullen-dark; even those last scraps of light were gone.

Tears welled without permission and soaked her eyes.

She swallowed and found a boulder wedged in her throat.

Two steps, then she crouched, gaze clinging to the hyacinth with the ache of leaving home.

“Sis Mei... Mei... she...” Rita sobbed, voice torn raw.

Medith looked at the hyacinth. Her lips quaked; tears fell silently, a breath from breaking into wails.

She surged up, ripped her blade free, and slashed at the sky.

No technique. No flash.

Yet the heavens split cleanly in two, as if cut with a quiet hand.

Pain knifed through her skull. As she stared at the hyacinth, her mind flooded with scenes.

[My name’s Melia. Don’t drink here alone. It’s dangerous.]

[Her Majesty the Queen wants you. I’ll take you in.]

[Hahaha! Sais the Thornflower got her first kiss stolen...]

[Shame I’ve got duties. I’d help you, you reckless thing.]

[Is Medith okay... How did a victory feast end with her falling out with the Queen...]

[Medith! Leave it to me. I’ll finish the task and hold off the Mountain Bandits.]

[Didn’t think I’d ever step into the noble quarter... Medith, I’m basking in your light.]

[That goofy little Sprite started her own warband. Making up with Her Majesty—so good...]

[Has Medith gone mad? Says she’s a human from another world, and she’s hunting the Divine Stone. Still, she’s still her. Nothing else matters.]

[The Queen and Medith... not a normal bond. I hope they wed. Sais won’t agree, haha.]

[Ah... she left. I want to see the wide world too. Next time, take me, okay?]

[Medith’s trapped in the city?! Your Majesty, allow me to ride out!]

[Poor little thing, hair gone white so young. What makes her give so much for humans? Because she used to be one? No... it’s because she’s Medith.]

[When did we start to drift? Maybe I loved myself too much...]

[Today Medith told me to treat her like before. I cried. We’re... still friends, right?]

[I can finally travel with Medith. I’m not dead weight. So good...]

[The city’s back on track. Next time we return, it’ll be peaceful and bright. Then we’ll pile on a bed and talk about this adventure!]

[The world’s so big... So this is what lies past the trees. It’s... beautiful.]

[Honestly, will this hurt the Southern Army... I can’t shake this dread.]

[Today Medith pinned Sais in front of us. Big sis is big sis. Awe!]

[This canyon’s so high. How do humans cross a place like this...]

[Sanctuary of Freedom, here we come.]

[I thought four hundred years dulled my looks. Turns out humans still love me... I’m starting to like them back.]

[Medith caused trouble. I wish I’d been the one to take that man’s finger...]

[I finally know the source of my dread... let it be Herbert who pays.]

[Medith, you can’t leave us.]

[I have to go. Trust me.]

[She left, cold as ever... I really don’t want to use this eyeball... Honestly, I’m still scared of dying. Haha.]

[Medith, the happiest thing this life gave me was meeting you. Meeting all of you. Thank you.]

“A-woo—stop... stop crowding my head!” Medith hunched, palms clamped to her skull, tears gushing like a spring. Every shard of Melia with her rose and rang in her mind.

Even Melia’s heart opened to her, inside out, every room laid bare.

“It was me... I killed her! If I hadn’t left... if I’d stayed, Sister Mei wouldn’t— It’s my fault! Peggy saw through it, begged me to stay. Why did I still go? Why—?!” Medith finally broke, hands fisting in her hair till the roots screamed.

“Medith... don’t. Please...” Lita watched the collapse, watched her undefeated god shatter like glass.

Lina stepped in, hands on Medith’s trembling shoulders, crying like rain on stone.

“Ahh! Ahhh—” Medith howled, the sound punching through cloud and echoing over the city.

Those who heard wept. Those who saw, broke.

Plenty who’d scorned her, despised her, hated her—when she bared her softest, weakest self, found no thrill in it at all.

[Medith, come play.]

[Medith, does this flower crown look good?]

[Medith, can I have that makeup?]

[Medith, hiding here to watch the moon again?]

[Medith, the cut on your hand...]

“Ah—! Aah... get out of my head—ah—” Medith slammed her forehead into the ground. The blow cracked the earth and sank a shallow pit.

She kept ramming, as if she meant to die here.

“Medith! Don’t— Medith...” Lina’s mind went white; she only clung to her, weeping, trying to hold her back.

[Medith!]

[Medith!]

[Medith—]

[Medith—]

[Medith.]

[Medith, we’ll always be friends, right?]

“Ah—!” Medith threw her head back and let out a long, feral cry. Her green hair rose without wind, thrashing like grass in a gale.

The living green bled, in a breath, into the red of a drowned sea. The emerald in her eyes flooded crimson. Her tears turned to beads of blood.

Crack— Thunder rolled out of the clouds. In a blink, wind rose and clouds boiled. The stars wheeled; day flipped into night.

The sun, hidden behind the overcast, dropped toward the coast at a speed the naked eye could follow. People watched, eyes ready to split.

Then a blood moon climbed. Night fell. The starry vault went empty. Only an endless, depthless dark remained.

“Ah—ah!” Medith fell to her knees, fists clenched, and roared till the sky shook.

A colossal mushroom cloud billowed up like a blossoming doom, painting the heavens a boundless, burning red.