The battle above Atlantis grew fiercer than anything Tartarus had witnessed in ages. The crimson heavens had become a collapsing storm of fire, anti-matter, gravitational distortion and hurricane wind, fragments of the ancient city floating through the sky like dying stars while Tartarusios went on with its slow ascent, its colossal engines roaring louder with every passing second. And into that hell, Leonora entered the fight.
As she fell from the deck, Gaisen surged up beneath her like a phantom born of the storm itself and caught her in midair with impossible precision, its gigantic claws curling around her for an instant before setting her on its back. The moment her feet touched its scales, the winds changed. On the deck above, Youri stood frozen with his eyes locked on her. Leonora rose slowly to her feet on Gaisen's back, her silver hair whipping violently beneath the crimson sky and her dark clothing fluttering around her like torn shadows as she stared straight at Almesis.
Then she raised her hand, and a gigantic golden circle burst into being behind her, burning like a small sun against the darkness of Tartarus, ancient Sacrosian markings turning endlessly within it as golden flames spiraled out from its edges. From its center a weapon emerged — a blade made entirely of golden light — and descended slowly into her grasp, lighting her face with a pale glow that made her look less human and more like something ancient. Something divine.
Gaisen roared beneath her. The two of them lunged forward together, and the skies exploded. Almesis answered at once with monstrous fury, its gigantic skeletal wings unfolding violently as infinite pressure burst from its body, whole sections of Atlantis collapsing under the force alone while gravitational distortions tore the atmosphere apart. But Leonora didn't stop. Gaisen drove straight into the chaos with currents of wind spiraling around it, and Leonora stood balanced on its back without fear, her golden blade cutting through the storm like a beacon. Then she struck. Her sword met Almesis's claws in a catastrophic explosion of golden energy that sent shockwaves across the battlefield; towers shattered, the clouds split open, and even Tartarusios trembled.
Youri could only watch. All that time — all that endless time — he had searched for a way back to his wife, through wars, through death, through Tartarus itself. And all along, she had been beside him. And yet now that he could finally see her, she felt distant, and wrong, as though the woman in front of him were only the remains of someone he had once loved — a shell wearing Leonora's face. Her movements were colder, her eyes emptier, and even her voice carried a deep exhaustion. And worst of all, she had told him the truth. Not love. Pity. That was what she felt for him.
He watched in silence as Leonora and Gaisen fought Almesis together. Then Almesis suddenly turned, and its hollow skeletal face locked onto Tartarusios. Onto him. The ruler of infinity lunged instantly, space warping around its body as it hurled itself toward the ship at terrifying speed and the atmosphere caved in behind it. Youri didn't move. But before Almesis could reach him, Leonora intercepted it. Gaisen slammed into Almesis from the side while Leonora brought her golden blade down with enough force to split the heavens. The strike carved across Almesis's chest in a great burst of golden fire. Almesis roared, and the shockwave shook Tartarusios from top to bottom.
And as Leonora passed in front of him, Youri simply watched — watched the face of the woman he loved, the woman who had just shattered him completely. Wow, the thought echoed emptily in his mind. So this is what it feels like. To have your heart broken.
There was no anger in him, and no rage — only emptiness. Something inside Youri Kronos changed that day. Not suddenly, and not dramatically; it simply stopped. The endless struggle, the constant hope, the desperate need to keep moving forward — all of it disappeared quietly. And standing there beneath the crimson skies of Tartarus, he made a decision. He no longer wished to go on — not with the wars, not with the fighting, not with the searching, not with any of it. He only wanted to disappear somewhere quiet, whether in Tartarus or forgotten in the corner of some distant galaxy. He no longer cared which.
Slowly, he turned away from the battle. The winds roared behind him as explosions lit up the skies, but he didn't look back. He walked into Tartarusios again, through massive corridors that echoed around him as the ancient ship climbed toward the fractured crimson sky, and every alarm, every tremor, every explosion outside felt distant now. Meaningless. At last he reached the control room again, where the gigantic viewing glass stretched before him and showed the catastrophic battle outside. He walked slowly to the captain's seat and sat down — silently — and simply watched the war unfold.
Outside, the battle grew fiercer still. Almesis had lost all control; its skeletal wings unleashed devastating gravitational storms while black ruptures swallowed whole sections of Atlantis, and Gaisen fought desperately to keep the monster away from Tartarusios while Leonora attacked relentlessly with her blade of light. Altopereh went on rampaging across the battlefield, its anti-matter form clashing violently against Almesis over and over, its black plasma blades carving through the skies and its anti-matter explosions swallowing whole clouds.
Then Leonora shouted. "Altopereh!" Her voice rang out across the battlefield. "Go back! The ship is going to leave any moment now!"
Altopereh roared in fury, its monstrous form swelling violently as anti-matter energy burst around it. "Don't tell me what to do! I will finish what I started!" And it lunged at Almesis again, and the two collided in another catastrophic impact that shook the heavens.
But Leonora shouted again, and now there was pain in her voice — real pain. "You won't find your revenge down here! I hate you with all my heart!" The words cut across the battlefield more sharply than any weapon. "After everything you made him do, I will never forgive you!" Even Altopereh paused for a moment. Her golden blade trembled faintly in her hand. "But he can't do this without you. And that's why I'm asking you — go with him." Her silver hair whipped violently through the storm. "And no matter what… don't let him die."
For a moment the battlefield fell strangely quiet. Then Altopereh laughed — a deep, monstrous laugh full of bitterness. Its anti-matter body began slowly to dissolve, dark matter peeling from its gigantic form like burning ash. Beneath it the Orbiton emerged once more, the massive mechanical frame revealing itself as the shell faded away. Before the change was complete, Altopereh spoke one last time, colder than ever before. "Next time, I will come for you… Sacrosian."
The anti-matter shell vanished entirely, and only the Orbiton remained. The gigantic machine descended slowly toward Tartarusios and landed heavily on its deck in a burst of steam and sparks. In the control room, Youri didn't react. He only watched in silence.
Then the fractured sky above Atlantis split open once more. A colossal rupture formed overhead and light poured endlessly through it. Tartarusios had reached the gateway, and the ancient ship began to climb toward the opening through which it had first come down into Tartarus.
But Almesis wasn't going to let them escape. The skeletal ruler gave a monstrous roar and hurled itself toward Tartarusios at terrifying speed, infinite pressure caving in the skies around it as its gigantic claws reached for the rising vessel. Before it could reach the ship, Gaisen intercepted it once more. The dragon slammed straight into Almesis. Leonora followed at once with her golden blade bursting into blinding light, and the three of them collided in a devastating explosion beneath Tartarusios.
And above them, the ancient vessel rose — higher, and higher, toward the shattered heavens, toward escape, toward another world. And beneath the crimson skies of Tartarus, Leonora and Gaisen stayed behind, holding back the endless monster called Almesis while the ship that had once brought the Sacros into Tartarus finally left the realm once more.