Esme's tiny boots clattered against the stone staircase that descended to the final floor of the maze.
Grotesque and deformed bats darted across the cavern, digging and clawing at anything they could.
Stein and Raymond protected the white-haired girl's back in a combined effort, leaving behind a trail of carcasses that fell onto the cold stone with hushed thumps.
High above them, a crystalline substance akin to glass replaced the roof, clearing the sky for all to see.
Instead of the starry brilliance of the heavens above, dark seawater clung to the clear prism, a thin ray of light shining downward into a room ahead.
"We have arrived~."
Her calm demeanor and serene tongue contrasted with the blood scene behind her, the corpses of flying beasts littering the cavern floor.
Stepping forward with a heavy clunk, Raymond spoke in an irritated voice, one that brimmed with annoyance.
"Are we finished cleaning up something you could've achieved easily? I am not your tool nor your pawn."
Stein echoed his sentiment, the black-goo of the monsters dripping from his forehead into his mouth.
The group had reached the bottom of the labyrinth, the smell of ancient rock and dust clinging to their noses as they walked.
Each step felt like a plunge through sludge, the ground resisting their advance in one final effort to prevent their arrival.
To these three powerhouses, however, such defense was meaningless; their approach to the tomb's heart was unaffected.
At last, they entered the final room, which housed the true target of their journey—the altar that preserved the Crescent Moon End's seal.
"Hand me the bag~."
Esme's words were somber as she reached her hand out to Raymond, who sighed heavily.
Digging into the liquid darkness that cloaked his figure, he pulled out a heavy bag, a strange liquid dripping from the bottom.
As he passed it to the child, she nearly collapsed under the weight, the spine-chilling sound of squishing coming from inside the sack.
At the other end of the room, trailing behind the other two, Stein furrowed his brow in curiosity, opening his mouth to ask a question.
"What's in the bag?"
In his hands, the playing cards that had been drenched in blood were being cleaned with a bottle of water he had brought, each one carefully wiped to perfection.
Throwing him a glance from the corner of his eye, Raymond spoke quietly, an odd hint of emotion in his voice.
"You'll see."
Taking a step forward, Esme approached the central altar, bag in hand, with a low frown sprawled across her face.
The shrine itself was worn and rundown; however, with the brilliance of the moonlight shining down upon it, an unusual glow appeared.
Azure and pink light clung lightly to the black pillars that stuck up around the room, tendrils of mana shaped as chains pulled towards the center of the room.
In the center, similar to the ritualistic platform on Deity's Descent, the floor was a mess of constellations and runes.
A pair of these starry lights glowed brighter than the rest, the runic symbols surrounding them pulsating with energy.
The time had come, after nearly half a millennium, the second seal of Nidhogg was vulnerable, and while this once-in-a-lifetime event was underway, they were ready to act.
Esme pulled gently on the string that held the sack closed, the sound of horrific squelching echoing through the cavern.
Then, in a quick motion, the white-haired girl turned the bag upside down, dumping the contents onto the floor.
Raymond turned his gaze away in disgust, Stein only able to watch with a look of shock and awe as he realized the utter insanity of the situation.
One hundred human hearts pulsed gently, blood squirting in every direction as the separated organs pleaded for life.
The smell of fermented skin and burnt muscle wafted through the underground cavern, death seeping into every speck of dust on the floor.
Each thump of the heart was a grotesque, squishy sound that sent a chill down Raymond's spine as he recalled Adam's eyes after that mission.
Bare, lifeless, defeated.
Under orders, he had executed an entire village, with the cost being his own humanity that he had once so desperately clung to.
Stein didn't know whether to laugh or sigh at the sight; the method of faking his emotions failed him in that moment.
Yet no matter the reactions of the others, Esme continued, her foot moving in slow motion as she raised it above one of the organs.
PLOP!
Like a balloon, the tiny ball of muscle that once governed another's life burst into a splotch of crimson, seeping into the starry altar.
Raising her foot again, she stomped, over and over, until all the hearts turned into meaty paste and blood oozed from every corner of the chamber.
One hundred human lives had been snuffed out for this ritual, and now their last memento had been crushed under the foot of a child.
To Esme, however, their sacrifice was not in vain, for today, under the rare intersection of the moon and the stars, he would rouse from his slumber.
There were no words spoken by Raymond or Stein as they watched the girl begin her chants, the forces of nature itself pressing down on reality.
"The one who basks in the forever foggy mist of fate."
Her words resounded through the chamber, a beautiful turquoise fire erupting in a ring around the altar.
"He who gnaws on the barrier between worlds."
The ground shook slightly as the chains began to tremble, a dreadful whistle echoing throughout the cavern.
"Devourer of Worlds and King of Moonlight, Nidhogg."
High above the girl's head, the multi-colored seal began to pulsate, rising towards the ever-brightening moonlight that tore through the murky ocean depths to reach them.
"I unleash the seal placed on you by the Architects and rouse you from your lunar slumber."
Ending her chant, there was a silence that ripped away even the tiniest of breaths, the most micro of clicks, and even the serene hum of life.
Around the world, as night fell on the western hemisphere, those who gazed up at the celestial surface of the moon noticed an unimaginable sight that defied reason.
Darkness tugged at the light, ripping away the perfect ball of white that had graced the night sky for centuries.
For the first time in recorded history, a crescent moon appeared in the heavens above, the first sign of the awakening of a beast long forgotten by humanity.
In the deepest reaches of space between dimensions, the World Between trembled under the familiar presence that stirred in its most vibrant of branches.
The monster of eternal hunger had roused under the call of Esme Blair, and he would not be so easily subdued again.
…
In the Sea of Mystery, on a remote desert island without any humans, terrors, or even animals, a man stared up at the sky solemnly.
His appearance was hidden in the darkness of night, his glasses shining dimly in the shadows that shrouded his face.
"And so, the end begins at last. How sublime."
The man's demeanor shifted slightly as he turned his gaze towards the coast, his vessel that glowed with its flaming orange sails fluttering wildly as it reacted to the celestial presence.
"Those Architects were truly heroic in their efforts; however, in an age of the divine, they were smothered by heavenly wrath."
…
In the underground cave, Stein breathed out heavily, his hand scratching at the back of his head as he gazed at the others.
"This was horribly underwhelming…"
Reaching down to place his cards back into their case, he realized that he wasn't standing anymore, nor breathing.
His entire body was lodged into a wall far on the opposite end of the room, blood dripping from his mouth in viscous clumps.
Every rib had been shattered with ease, his left lung in tatters, with his entire body in total shutdown.
Glancing up with the remainder of his strength, he looked ahead to where he had previously stood, noticing a figure practically glowing with power.
The man's forearm was covered in Steins' thick blood, his eyes locked onto Raymond, who held his spear in both hands.
The cavern seemed to shrink around him, stone bending beneath a pressure that wasn't physical.
Vaelmyr Droskyn had reached the chamber, his shovel gleaming in the now dim moonlight.
Without a word, he vanished from the silver-haired man's sight, reappearing behind Raymond, who only had a second to react before his entire body was thrown skyward.
Slamming his shovel into the ground, the Sea King launched himself up, kicking the navy-haired man hard in the side.
Blood sputtered from Raymond's mouth as he collapsed into a pile of broken bone and ripped flesh.
Against the strongest man in the world, even the most powerful soldier was nothing, a mere insect faced with the might of the god's chosen.
With her eyes wide from shock, Esme aimed her staff with pinpoint accuracy, casting the same spell she had used to vaporize the giants before.
「■■■■■」
This time, however, as the ray of obliteration rushed forward in a burst of mana, the man only raised his tool in front of his face.
In an explosion of light far exceeding the brightness of the sun, the two powers clashed in a brilliant display of strength.
Not wasting a moment, the King reached into his holster, pulling a pistol from the strap and firing it instantly.
Bullets made of bone soared through the air faster than sound, striking Esme in the chest, arm, and ear.
Her body drooped, eyes fading as she realized she had been fatally wounded by a single attack from that man.
Stein could barely hold on any longer as he watched the man clad in the shadows of darkness step forward.
The whispers of the dead seemed to echo throughout the chamber, the rising ancient force noticing the Sea King's presence.
However, this monster's awareness of the world was not perfect, and it would take time for it to pinpoint the disturbance.
The King of Souls, a man renowned for his cruelty in combat, stood above the girl who choked quietly on her own blood.
He did not help, nor did he hurt the girl further; he just stood solemnly, watching as she suffocated.
Each tiny gasp for air was drowned out by the crimson liquid filling her mouth, Stein's own blood boiling in anger at how easily they had been defeated.
With Esme on death's door, only seconds away from the Great Beyond, the sound of metal whirring through the air rang out.
Raymond's spear lodged itself in Vaelmyr's arm, the weapon immediately bursting into a black-flame that spread over the King's body.
Using the remainder of his strength, the navy-haired commander launched himself at the Sea King, slamming his foot into his skull while grabbing his spear.
Pulling with all his might, Raymond attempted to take his weapon back from the injured and burning man; however, to his horror, the weapon would not budge.
Vaelmyr Droskyn tensed his muscles hard, embedding the pointed object into his arm with all his might, keeping the enemy close enough for another strike.
With his entire body basked in flames, he retracted his powerful hand backwards, charging up a strike to hit the navy-haired man in the skull.
If contact was made, his head would fly off his body, and he would die instantly.
Fear coursed through Raymond's mind as he tried to escape; however, the King's grip was far too strong to allow that, trapping Raymond where he stood.
There was nothing he could do; death was assured, and he knew it to be his end regardless of whether Stein or Esme could help.
Closing his eyes in silent resignation, he saw his entire life flash before his eyes, from his birth to his induction into the Order.
From the training of Adam to the notice of his death.
And now, his own death appeared before him, by the hand of the one chosen by that heavenly spectator who ate at life.
He braced for an impact—a strike that would never come, the sound of footsteps interrupting his execution.
A silent breath could be heard from the Sea King's mouth as he threw Raymond across the room, shattering his limbs.
Three out of three invaders had been dealt with, all on the verge of death and soon to meet him in the afterlife.
However, a mysterious figure appeared at the entrance to this underground structure, one whose horns glistened in the moonlight.
His presence was unlike anything the Sea King had experienced before, but at the same time, similar to something that he vaguely remembered from the war.
"Vaelmyr Droskyn."
The incomer's voice echoed throughout the cave, shaking the foundations until they cracked.
"It seems we meet again."
Tipping his top hat to the Sea King, the mastermind behind the freedom of Nidhogg and orchestrator of the war six years ago, appeared at last.
The black flames that had once covered the King of Souls' body vanished in an instant, a look of disgust lingering in his eyes as he spoke.
"Sovereign Azaroth. You have made a deal with something beyond the confines of this world, and it now locks you beneath its persona."
As the King addressed the man hidden inside the devil's mind and the original host of the body, Azaroth Pane, their souls were separated for a moment.
It was then that the true battle began, the eyes of Nidhogg washing upon the sight at that very moment, gracing the human world for the first time in centuries.
In a battle where Orion Cosmoti failed, Vaelmyr Droskyn would attempt to avenge his former ally at any cost while defending the world he swore to protect.