The silence was deafening beneath the winds as Team Rose marched toward the Xenegha army—with Naftha looming behind them.

  Ying swallowed hard, staring at the most immortal armies in Manalta. Black armor. Advanced weapons.

  “Myke...” she whispered, but he didn’t respond.

  “Myke~!!”

  “He’s not listening, redhead,” Hennah whispered.

  They were halfway across the field when the first Xenegha squad lunged toward them.

  “Wevel telna sar... VANYA!!” Tela shouted, casting a wave spell that pushed the advancing soldiers back and held them.

  “Sam!”

  “ON IT!!” Sam dashed forward, unsheathed his curved blade, and swung hard—heads rolled. He moved like wind scattering sand.

  “Valirion!!” Myke called.

  Hennah sprinted wildly, flames blazing in both hands.

  “TALALALALA... MBAKHA!!” she shrieked, launching twin fire blasts.

  Some enemies melted—but many kept marching.

  “WHY WON’T THEY STOP, GODDAMMIT!!” Hennah shouted.

  “Ron?”

  “Jug?”

  Both lunged forward, smashing through the frontlines like twin battering rams.

  The villagers of Sela cheered—unaware that another full army was closing in.

  “MYKE!!” Ying screamed.

  “WHAT!?”

  “THE VILLAGERS!!” she pointed, eyes wide. Another squad was nearing the town from behind.

  Melania intercepted them—flurrying through the ranks with pinpoint strikes. Her fiery dance took out dozens. Not a scratch on her.

  Above, Hennah rode Jug’s shoulders, scanning.

  “Soldier over there!—And another—”

  “SHUT UP AND GET DOWN HERE!!”

  “Nahhh, work it, Tank!”

  Jug slammed the ground; Hennah cast lava onto his arms, amplifying the impact.

  “THANK ME LATER, JUGGY BOY!!”

  “Ying—go!” Myke called, lunging forward.

  She followed, spear flashing, cutting down enemies.

  Ming watched from afar—hesitating. Her powers were too dangerous to unleash near allies.

  “MING!! HELP THEM!!” Melania screamed as more armies poured in.

  “I... I can’t...” Ming trembled.

  

  “Do it,” echoed Elyssa’s voice in her mind.

  “NO!”

  

  “You have to help them,” Lisa’s voice followed.

  “N...No... I don’t want to kill them...” she cracked.

  

  “Risk it. Take the critical risk. Save them from your darkest matter,” Lisa and Elyssa said in unison.

  Ming screamed.

  Her wings flared wide. Her voice deepened—more divine. A vision seized her:

  

  Myke, falling.

  Hennah, crushed beneath Naftha.

  Jug, shattered.

  Melania’s head on a spear.

  Ying, dragged by Ertah as Sela burned and Manalta fell.

  She snapped back, eyes glowing. She flew into the fray—sword and rifle in hand—blasting half the army into the air.

  Ying stared in awe as Ming cut through enemy lines. Her wings sent shockwaves. Flames roared. Bullets flew.

  “HENNAH!!” Ming shouted.

  Hennah understood. She pulled out a scroll.

  “I hereby—”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “NOT THAT ONE!!”

  “Oh—right!” She tossed it—accidentally exploding a soldier.

  She pulled another, this one in Angelic Lingo.

  “Hm, I just learned this, but—”

  “HURRY UP!!”

  “OKAY OKAY, CHILL!!”

  She recited:

  

  “Menya, savenya, talela, talolela,

  BANYALAH SHGA SGHU VHA...

  TELHA SELNYALAH VALA GHASH SHA!!”

  “GHALHASHA!!” Ming echoed—and clones erupted around her, wiping out enemy ranks.

  Above, Ertah, Wendigo, and the Headless Knightess watched Team Rose push back the wave.

  “As you see, Ertah—my army is no match,” the Headless Knightess said.

  “Impressive start,” Ertah replied. He gestured—resurrecting the fallen.

  “I wouldn’t recommend that,” Wendigo warned.

  Ertah simply chuckled.

  “MYKE!! THEY’RE BACK!!” Jug shouted as he got pinned.

  “Fuck me... we’re outnumbered...”

  Ying tapped Myke’s shoulder—then lunged.

  “NYALHA!!”

  Her spear ignited, cloning her body and slashing forward.

  Myke joined—glitching into multiple selves and diving in.

  “GUYS!! V’S DOWN!!” Tela shouted.

  Everyone froze.

  Melania had fallen—leaned against rubble, her torso impaled.

  Ming went still.

  “Myke... look,” Ying pointed.

  Ming’s body trembled. Flames sparked. Her eyes turned pure crimson, crackling with grief.

  

  “Inalla... Delara... Selvira... Valeria...” she whispered.

  Then she slammed into the earth, casting a field-wide inferno.

  Everything burned. No Xenegha survived.

  Hennah formed a water shield with Ronald, Sam, Jug, Myke, and Ying—shielding them from the blaze.

  Ming flew to Melania’s side.

  “Melania...”

  “Lisa...” Melania smiled weakly.

  “No... no no... It’s Ming. Mingwara. Not Lisa. Not Elyssa. It’s me,” her voice broke.

  “I know...” Melania whispered.

  She pulled a crystal dagger from her robes—stabbed it into her wound, and began to extract her life force.

  “No! NO NO!! MELANIA!”

  “It’s okay... I’ve made peace.”

  She pressed the dagger to Ming’s hands.

  “Please... carry my daughters.”

  “Melania...” Ming whispered. She pulled out the dagger—now drained of light.

  “No...” Melania breathed. “I’m Vehra... Vehra F... Jifuwara...”

  She closed her eyes.

  Ming stood silent. “Vehra...”

  She took off her scarf and lowered it over Melania’s eyes. Her lips still smiled.

  

  “NAFTHA!!” Hennah screamed from afar.

  The titan approached.

  Ming kissed her sister’s forehead.

  “Goodnight, Vehra...”

  She stood, eyes burning—turning toward Naftha.

  Soon, she ran toward it. Her blades blazed, and her fury roared through her wings. As she flew, she charged directly at Naftha, consumed by pure rage, swinging her blades with wild precision.

  "TAKERU!!!" she screamed.

  Ertah laughed as he watched her berserk fury.

  "That’s the Elyssa I want to see," he said.

  "Ertah?" the Wendigo asked.

  "Yeah... I permit you," he smirked.

  The Wendigo unmounted his horse, gripping his scythe. With a powerful leap, he landed in front of Team Rose.

  Ying, tightening her grip on her spear, watched him approach.

  "Myke..."

  "You are marked for extermination. The Concord of Manaltarya has decided: a purge."

  "NOT ON MY WATCH, MOOSE HEAD!!" Hennah shouted as she slammed her newly found mace—stolen from a fallen Xenegha—straight into his helmet.

  "Bewitched one."

  "I AM A WITCH, RETARD!!"

  Hennah swung the heavy weapon at the Wendigo, casting a spell to slow his movements and dodging each of his dreadful strikes. As he attacked, she parried and hexed him mid-fight.

  "These techniques... you must be... Hennah C. Holfen..." the Wendigo muttered.

  "Yeah... even without my pink hair, you still recognize me, huh..."

  "Everyone does, Milady of Zugzwang."

  "Aww, how cute!" she grinned, then pulled out her pistol and shot him multiple times.

  "Oh... now I get why she carries a gun," Jug said.

  "Interesting," Ying and Myke said in unison.

  The duel between Hennah and the Wendigo continued, steel and sorcery clashing. Meanwhile, above them, Ming darted around Naftha’s massive shoulder, carving into his flesh with her blade. Naftha swatted furiously at his shoulder, trying to dislodge her, but she slipped through every blow. Then she flipped mid-air, inverted her body, and stabbed her blade into his back, sliding downward in a blur. Naftha roared as blood spilled.

  Little did he know—his blood ignited on contact with air. Flames burst across his back.

  Ming launched herself again, mid-air, this time flinging a chained blade at his throat. The chain tightened as Naftha arched in agony. Using her Divine weight, she yanked him downward—and the chain cut clean through. Naftha’s head toppled like a collapsing statue.

  "MING!!" Sam shouted from afar as he saw her falling beneath the massive head.

  Ying moved instantly, faster than Myke could catch her.

  "Ying!!"

  "I'll be back!" she called.

  As Ming plummeted, she let herself fall, eyes on the sky. Naftha’s severed head eclipsed the light above her.

  "This... isn’t what I wanted..." she whispered.

  The head landed—so did she.

  "Tch..." Ertah clicked his tongue in disappointment.

  "Should we retreat?" asked the knightess.

  "Heh... if it’s meant to repeat," he said, vanishing from the battlefield.

  Meanwhile, Hennah and the Wendigo continued clashing, but as Ertah disappeared, the Wendigo faded into shadows. Hennah raised her mace, mid-swing.

  "DAMN IT... I ALMOST HAD HIM!!"

  "Hennah, Ming’s down."

  "What?" She turned and saw Naftha’s headless corpse.

  "Oh... she killed it! NICEEE!"

  "We need to find her," Tela said.

  "No..." Hennah’s voice suddenly changed.

  "Huh? Why?"

  "She... is leaving..."

  Everyone fell silent.

  "Guys... I can’t find her," Ying said, her voice trembling.

  "Because she left us, red hair," Hennah replied.

  Ying froze, her whole body shaking.

  "H-How?!"

  "I... sensed it," Hennah whispered.

  "So... no more Ming?" Jug asked. No one responded.

  As they returned to Sela, Cinder’s Petal carried Vehra’s body—silent, noble, dead. It was her last funeral. One of the Telkha Concord had fallen.

  "V never complained," someone muttered.

  "Not even about herself."

  But when they looked around—they noticed someone missing.

  "Wait... where’s Hennah?" Jug asked.

  They turned.

  She was still standing there, alone.

  "Should we go get her?"

  "Go on, Jug," Myke said.

  As Jug approached, Hennah suddenly sprinted toward the cliff.

  "YO, HENNAH! WHERE YOU GOING?!" Jug yelled.

  "HENNAH C. HOLFEN!!" Myke shouted.

  "DON’T DO SOMETHING STUPID!!!"

  As Valirion gave chase, she screamed, voice cracking:

  "DON’T YOU FUCKING FOLLOW ME, YOU MORONS!!! I NEED MING!!! I’M GOING TO FIND MING!!! I DON’T FUCKING CARE IF SHE’S DIVINE OR NOT!!! SHE’S LIKE MY MOTHER!!! DON’T FOLLOW ME!!!"

  They stopped.

  They could only watch as she disappeared.

  "Ming, don’t you fucking ghost me, you stoic bitch!! I’M COMING FOR YOU!!!" Hennah sobbed as her voice broke into the wind.

  And as she left—only Myke, Jug, Ying, Tela, Ronald, Kana, and Sam remained.