After Petra left, the oppressive aura that had silently filled the field lifted, and the light returned.
Arthur collapsed on his butt, groaning as pain shot through his skull, his hand still pressed over the bleeding socket where his eye had been.
He glanced helplessly at Kilemin.
The air hung heavy with the aftermath of Petra's single attack, dust swirling faintly around them.
Not long after, the distant sound of boots echoed.
A squad of city guards arrived at full speed.
* * *
Once everything finally settled, Kilemin and Arthur returned to their residence, both heavily injured and exhausted.
Fighting Dorothy without killing her had already been almost impossible, and Petra's involvement had turned everything into a complete disaster.
It should go without saying that Arthurs plan had failed.
The mansion, once peaceful, became chaotic. Doctors rushed back and forth, attendants carried supplies, and healers shouted orders. The scent of blood and medicine lingered heavily in the air, not only from their injuries, but from countless others across the city.
On top of recovering, they had to remain alert in case more attacks came.
Kilemin sat in a chair, his left stub wrapped tightly in bandages. Arthur sat by the window, one hand over the cloth binding his missing eye.
The silence between them stretched, broken only by the rustling of bandages and faint voices outside.
"She is the solution to the calamities you were talking about?" Kilemin finally asked.
Arthur nodded. "Yes. I am sure of it. She can end them."
Kilemin stared at the floor for a long time, a painfully long time, before speaking. "No. She can't. Whatever that 'thing' is, we should leave it alone."
Arthur stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly across the marble floor. "No! You don't understand. You didn't see what I saw. We need her, we absolutely need her!"
Kilemin looked up, calm and sharp. "No, I do understand. Even with the Sky God's Divine Blessing, you can't see everything. Do you remember what she asked you? 'What can you see'. She was not mocking you, she was testing you."
Arthur's fist tightened. "There was nothing… I couldn't see the attack at all."
Kilemin nodded. "Exactly. Your ability doesn't work on beings like her. Everything you think you know about her may be wrong. Your blessing may be filling in the blanks of what you can't see." He tapped his wrapped arm. "This will grow back. Your eye will not. We underestimated her. Now we've made a very dangerous enemy. Not only that, but Elena…"
"Its fine."
Both men turned to the voice in surprise.
Elena stood in the doorway, hair messy, clothes torn and stained.
She had returned at last.
Thankfully.
She walked in and sat down beside the table, her eyes drifting over their wounds. "You lost," she said quietly. "How badly…?"
Her lip twitched.
Arthur looked away.
Kilemin answered for him. "She crippled us in one attack. His patron had to personally take part of the damage or Arthur would be dead."
Elena nodded slowly, concealing the brief smirk threatening to appear.
Arthur clenched his fists. "Don't look at me like that. That is not a person. You can't tell, but she is…"
Kilemin shot him a warning look. "Enough."
Elena sighed. "I won't interfere with her choice. If she's chosen her path, then let her walk it."
Kilemin pushed himself to his feet. "Since Petra and Dorothy can't be relied on, its up to us three. We need to focus and stop doing things like this."
As he left, he paused at the door and glanced at Arthur one last time.
Quiet disappointment lingered in his eyes, then he walked away without another word.
* * *
After walking a short distance, Kilemin cursed under his breath.
"God damn it Haillith, what are you doing? I can feel your divine blessing on her, but it was broken off."
The world seemed to constrict around him, like gravity had increased.
His face twisted in irritation.
He gripped his missing arm. "She bit into my divine body. That 'thing' is terrifying. Arthur was right about one thing. Whatever Petra is, its definitely a monster wearing human skin. Since he knows that, I can't imagine what he saw that made him think he could use her."
He exhaled, then stepped forward and vanished in a burst of golden light.
* * *
Elena watched Kilemin disappear.
Arthur sat red-faced, trembling in a mixture of pain, humiliation, and frustration.
She almost spoke, but stopped herself. Instead, she turned and left in silence.
She understood that they wanted to use her to reach Petra, but she couldn't hold it against them, no, she wouldn't hold it against them.
There was no point.
As she walked through the dim streets, her mind drifted back to the strange conversation she had immediately after Petra teleported her away.
-
Turning back time slightly.
Elena had been thrust through space, and the world twisted around her. She could barely breathe as the distortions ripped at the air.
Then something went wrong.
The spatial vector twisted.
Someone hijacked the teleportation.
Her stomach lurched as her path was forcibly pulled to the side. She hit something solid, and her butt plopped into a chair.
A faint clink of porcelain rang out.
As her vision cleared, she found herself inside a small teahouse. The city outside the window was calm and peaceful, untouched by the chaos unfolding.
Sitting across from her was a young woman with short purple hair.
Elena's eyes widened and her mind spun. "Levy… why are you… w-wait, have we met…?"
Silence.
Levy smiled faintly. "I remember you. We've been friends for a long time, right?" She slid a napkin across the table. "Here, wipe your eyes."
Elena blinked. "You remember…?"
Levy nodded. "Of course. How could I forget, hahaha!"
Elena's gaze relaxed.
There were too many questions and not enough strength to ask them.
After a quiet moment, Levy spoke. "Its Petra."
Elena looked up. "What about her?"
"She's the one I told you about before," Levy said.
Elena felt her chest jump. "The one you were searching for… was Petra. Was she in the previous loops?"
Levy shook her head. "Nope~ Only this one."
Elena stiffened. "Why?"
Levy smiled. "That's a secret."
"Will she be in the next loop."
"No."
Elena's heart dropped. "Then if I mess up…"
Levy tapped her finger on the table. "Think positively. You're her family, so consider yourself mine as well. I will take care of her, so you just take care of yourself."
Elena swallowed. "Then… who is she?"
Levy laughed softly. "I won't tell you. Defeat the Dragon of Destruction first. Then, perhaps, I'll tell you everything, maybe~"
Elena slumped down and buried her head in her arms. "Is that even possible."
Levy grinned. "Maybe its not as hard as you think."
-
Present Time.
As Elena walked under the fading lights, she mulled over the conversation.
Something about meeting Levy so early in time pulled at her heart.
Something she had missed in past loops.
Piece by piece, the edges of the mystery began to align.
She lowered her head, her golden hair catching the sun. Her breath trembled with determination.
She only needed to keep moving forward.
She looked towards the horizon as the last rays of daylight cut across the sky.
For the first time in a long while, she felt like she was finally beginning to understand what lay behind the curtain, at least, she had started to…
It was only a tiny piece of it, but that was enough.
* * *
The Grand Gathering ended in chaos.
Even though the event had fallen apart, the death toll was far lower than expected. Still, the aftermath left deep scars across the city.
-
First came the demons.
Once the anti-magic barrier had activated, every disguised demon was exposed instantly. Their illusions melted away, revealing monstrously melted faces beneath human skin.
The Church of Light moved without hesitation. Armed with Sanctified Scriptures and Purifying Light, the priests and paladins hunted the demons through the streets. Holy fire devoured them, and by nightfall not a single demon remained.
Only the commanders escaped.
Meanwhile, Petik's mission failed. He attempted to break into the Sky Tower to rescue Nodaba, but he never made it past the lower barrier. Soon after, an Angel descended. Nobody outside the Tower learned of this.
-
Next came Rotell.
After multiple assassination attempts from the mercenaries, she finally snapped. With her father's approval, she made a big announcement.
The Mercenary Alliance was officially banned across the entire Hellion Empire.
This was personally approved by the emperor himself.
The retaliation was immediate. Hundreds of mercenaries were executed on the first day alone.
Hexfill had no idea how deeply Rotell was treasured in her father's heart, and Rolilly used this ignorance perfectly. With some pressure and a mountain of gold, she pushed events further and further until the Mercenary Alliance overstepped. The resulting backlash erased Hexfill's influence in the south and crippled the second princess's plans to use them.
-
Next came the Sky Tower.
Although nothing was announced publicly, the Tower severed all ties with the Heaven's Chosen. The bridge between them and the heroes collapsed completely.
Elena had expected open war, but instead, the Tower simply went silent.
Silent… and lurking.
Perhaps it was the power Elena displayed against Menarose and Gon, or perhaps it was something else.
Arthur and Kilemin had been attacked as well, but unlike hers, there's was much different.
Kilemin's battle was the most extreme. He slaughtered more than a hundred Tower Teachers alone. The Tower Pillar who went after them limped home covered in blood.
Sparing his life was already showing enough restraint.
-
Last came the Church of Light.
During the demon extermination, the upper echelon of the church suddenly received a message or something like a revelation. They abandoned the demons and began searching the city instead. Then, without warning, they halted.
Then they left.
The reason was never revealed, but it all traced back to a single report.
A young priest had seen a green-haired child near the arena.
That single report about Petra quietly redirected the entire Church of Light.
It was a silent spark that changed everything.
* * *
Petra and the maids gathered quietly on the second floor of the Tower Spider.
After the battle, they had returned to the city briefly.
Outside, the sounds of the city were distant, muffled by the thick tower walls. Inside, nearly thirty girls had assembled.
Dorothy sat on a nearby chair, pale and silent. Around her, the rest of the maids spread out across the room.
Petra sat cross-legged on a window frame, sighing deeply. "So… looks like we're gonna become big-time criminals, huh…?"
Rose, standing closest to her, crossed her arms with a loud snort.
"It's not like you even care."
Petra puffed out her cheeks. "True."
The others reacted in their own ways.
The dog beastman tilted her head. "Wait, does that mean we can't go shopping anymore…?"
The raccoon girl slapped her tail against the floor. "Idiot. We never paid for anything anyways!"
The fox beastman, barely taller than the raccoon's shoulder, let out a dramatic sigh. "We're doomed…"
The deer girl, towering over the rest, patted the fox's head. "Hush, small one."
Meanwhile, the three green, er, purple elves huddled near a potted plant, whispering anxiously about needing sunlight soon or else the plant would 'get depressed.'
The two dwarven sisters were already hammering something in the corner, muttering about 'temporary defenses' and 'that stupid cat.'
Petra chuckled, looking around the crowded room.
"See? Everyone's already adapted."
Lilly and Luna sat shoulder to shoulder, frustrated. Bell looked defeated, chin resting on her knees, while Wind paced in a tight circle, her ears twitching in anger.
Rose glanced around and frowned. "Why are you all acting so depressed? Since when has something like this ever mattered to us?"
Petra nodded. "Rose is right. I don't really care."
"Me neither."
"Same."
"Yeah."
Even the bunnies, the most refined and elegant… promptly, exchanged quiet, knowing nods. One of them adjusted her ears and said, "Statistically speaking, being wanted in five regions isn't the worst possible outcome."
Petra raised her hand and watched a small ant crawl across her fingertip.
It twitched its antennae at her.
"It's fine," Petra said softly. "If we're all branded criminals, so what? People forget fast."
The door creaked open.
Levy stepped inside with a mug of steaming hot chocolate.
"You girls worry too much," Levy said with her usual playful grin. "This was bound to happen sooner or later anyways."
Petra looked up, her eyes flashing faintly. She clenched her tiny fist and stood up in the window.
"Alright then! So be it! From now on… we're one big family on the run!"
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then laughter rolled through the room, humans, beastmen, dwarves, elves, even the ones pretending to be busy couldn't help but chuckle.
The owl beastman stretched and yawned. "Can we at least run after sundown…?"
"Pfft." Petra smiled faintly.
And just like that, the Tower Spider creaked to life and began its next journey toward the western region.
They were fugitives now, yes, but at least they weren't alone.
* * *
Later that day, the exact thing Petra had been worrying about happened.
Since the reward ceremony had been interrupted halfway through, the Sky Tower held a replacement ceremony to officially close the Grand Gathering.
It was smaller, much more serious, and filled with tension. They finished handing out rewards, then dropped several announcements that shook the world.
The first was the reveal of a newly opened secret realm, a small, independent world filled with poisonous labyrinths, toxic beasts, and corrupted plants. The Sky Tower called it a 'training ground,' built to prepare elites for the Second Calamity. With only a few months before it would begin, anyone with any ambitions immediately chased the chance to enter.
The city exploded into activity again.
People scrambling to grow stronger, gather resources, and recruit allies all jumped out.
People forget fast.
Then came two more announcements.
The first was the release of all predicted information on the Second Calamity.
The second…
Before the crowd even settled, a new decree spread across the city, then across the world.
Petra's name appeared on massive projection screens, followed by her portrait and a long, long list of crimes. Some were true. many weren't, but It didn't matter.
The Sky Tower's authority made it real.
Petra was officially declared the 'World Criminal'.
Her face, along with the faces of her maids and known companions, was plastered across every major city under the Sky Tower's influence. And because this was the central region, that quickly spread out.
'Assault, sabotage, murder, cooperation with demons, destruction of sacred property…'
The charges felt endless.
What was worse, her connection to Elena, one of the Heaven's Chosen, turned the situation into a political disaster.
Within hours, the announcement had spread across the continent.
Hunters, sects, mercenary teams, bounty hunters, assassin guilds, all received the same command…
'Capture Petra and her companions. Dead or alive.'
Even Petra's maids found themselves wanted separately, portraits and bounty notices nailed across half the continent.
* * *
By the eighth day, Imai was half-empty.
Most participants who weren't staying to train in the poison realm packed up and left. Endless caravans and flying beasts carried tens of thousands of people toward the west.
By nightfall, the once overcrowded city was eerily quiet.
The Grand Gathering had ended.
And the world had already begun shifting towards its preparations for the next calamity.
People didn't yet understand how severe each calamity truly was, but soon, they would realise that it wasn't just a large arena like before.
* * *
The long legs of the Tower Spider strode slowly across the mountain path, each step sending faint tremors through the road.
After finishing their business in Imai, Petra and the girls slipped away without fanfare.
No farewells.
No evidence left behind.
They simply disappeared into the mist-covered path leading west.
Now that they were wanted criminals, there was no reason to stay. Nothing had truly changed.
Petra sat in the rooftop pavilion, scanning the horizon. She was curled up against the white wolf, wrapped in a blanket and pillow, her arms tightly hugging the big frog.
If anyone remembered how this started, they'd recall Petra hadn't even come for the Grand Gathering. She came for revenge — for what Owen had done to her.
After everything that happened, her anger hadn't faded — it had only sharpened.
The question now was:
How did Petra get her revenge?
Knowing her, it was impossible for it to be anything small. She could've turned the Sky Tower into an itching fest, poisoned the mountain until it withered, or flooded the city with the smell of rotting fish.
All of those sounded like things she'd absolutely do.
But in the end, Petra ignored them all.
She stuck to her original plan.
The same one she had when she first arrived.
A faint, mischievous smile tugged at her lips. She tried (and failed) to hide it.
Maybe she'd gone a little too far this time.
Maybe…
Maybe?
Probably.
A deep rumbling vibrated the floor beneath her feet. Outside, the horizon burned gold and crimson. The Sky Tower still stood far behind her, its colossal silhouette piercing the clouds. For thousands of years, it had reigned as a symbol of pride, ambition, and arrogance for the human race.
Unfortunately for it…
Even the tallest tower can fall with the smallest push.
And this 'smallest push' came from very tiny hands.
The ground shook harder.
A thunderous roar spread across the land as the Sky Tower trembled. Massive fissures ripped through its base, splitting the mountain into three. Dust and debris burst upward as the foundation cracked apart.
Hoooong---------!
A deep groan followed, then a sound that echoed across the continent.
Slabs of stone tumbled down the mountain, exploding like shrapnel.
Thousands of magic circles flashed across the tower's surface as mages desperately tried to hold it together.
But, it was too late.
What none of them realized was that the roots of the Sky Tower had been eaten away long ago. Slowly, quietly, completely, all starting from a week ago, when a certain little vengeful imp was allowed to swagger into the city.
As for how?
That was by using hundreds of 'large nails' Petra had created using Tower Spider venom.
The venom spread like groundwater, burrowing into the foundation with a patient, absolute, and unstoppable hunger. An unyielding greed that was completely undetectable.
Now the Sky Tower was collapsing under its own weight.
The tower itself was stable.
Its foundation wasn't.
The fall started slow, almost graceful, as if the tower refused to yield. Then gravity took control.
The entire structure twisted downward, spiraling in a catastrophic collapse that sent a storm of shimmering arcane dust across the land.
Dust erupted outward, swallowing forests and rivers.
A harsh wind tore through Petra's hair, carrying that faint taste of disgusting mint. Space cracked, leaving behind sealed ruins where the tower once stood.
In the end, the city below survived, but just barely.
The mages sacrificed everything to contain the ruins, but the Sky Tower, the proud heart of the human continent, was gone.
Petra closed her eyes.
Her anger finally eased, and the little green witch quietly exhaled.
They were even now.
Mm, yep… done.
"You know," she murmured to herself, "there used to be a rumor that witches were calamities all on their own, monsters that brought bad luck wherever they went…"
She snickered softly.
"Maybe the Sky Tower should've thought twice before angering not one, but five of them."
When she opened her eyes again, the tower was gone. Only a broken silhouette scarred the horizon. The Tower Spider strode onward, its massive form disappearing into the mist.
"Nya hahahaha!"
Far behind, the mountains echoed with a fading, childish laugh.
[End of the Third Volume]