After Sebastian's fist sent Rosa crashing into the trees, her body hit the ground — and somewhere between the impact and unconsciousness, she felt her hair move.
Sebastian walked past her, glanced down, and said:
"You're weak. How does someone this weak become a Queen? Doesn't matter... you're going to die here, and the Elf people die with you." He started laughing.
While Sebastian laughed, already turning to head deeper into the forest, Rosa never heard a word of it. Her eyes were slipping shut, her consciousness giving way.
Then, suddenly, her brother appeared before her — the former Elf King. He reached out his hand and said:
"Rosa... get up. Your people are fighting. Some of them are crying from fear. Some of them are crying, praying for a victory. Your army is about to face Sebastian, and they'll die. You're weak — you're a woman before anything else. You fall fast... but you also rise fast. Get up. My people are calling for you."
The instant those words left him, a shiver ran through Sebastian's body, and he froze mid-step. He looked back and found no sign of Rosa — because she'd already gripped his right shoulder, unleashing a powerful aura that drove him straight to his knees.
Sebastian felt the crushing weight of that aura settle over his entire body. With great effort, he raised his hand and caught Rosa's wrist. The moment he looked at her face, fear gripped him — her eyes held nothing but hatred, fury, and a hunger for vengeance.
Her face was soaked in blood.
Sebastian's grip tightened around her wrist, unease plain on his face.
Rosa raised her sword and drove it into his back — the blade erupting out through his chest.
Sebastian lifted her by the wrist and hurled her away, then tore the sword from his own back and snapped it in half. Fury consumed him, and he released an aura that rivaled the former Elf King's in sheer power.
He pressed his hands together, pulled them apart, and drew a sword out of nothing — mimicking the Elf King's old technique, resting the blade against his hip as if drawing it from an invisible sheath.
While Rosa was still airborne, twelve swords materialized behind her.
Sebastian was ready to cut Rosa down. Rosa was ready to cut Sebastian down.
Rosa closed the distance and hurled a sword at him. Sebastian dodged it and leapt toward her, swinging his blade at her head — she caught his wrist and said:
"Don't you dare try to copy my brother's technique."
She threw two more swords, driving them into both his sides. She seized his head firmly, and as they neared the ground, she positioned his head in front of her and slammed it into the earth.
His head buried itself in the dirt. She grabbed a sword and moved to drive it through his skull — but Sebastian pulled free and staggered back. He flung his own sword into the air and lunged at her, grabbing her by the throat. She severed his hand in response.
She caught the severed hand, drove the sword straight through it, set it ablaze, and hurled it back at him.
Sebastian's fury boiled over — this was an insult he couldn't let stand. He didn't just regenerate his hand; he caught his own sword in the same motion. In the blink of an eye, his blade was inches from Rosa's pupil. She tilted her head at the last possible instant and deflected it.
Sebastian seized her wrist in the same breath. Rosa tried to defend, tried to counter — but he severed her left hand clean off.
Blood sprayed outward, painting Sebastian's face. He swung toward her throat — but she cut off his right arm, then his left, and fell back.
She grabbed a sword and jammed it into the stump where her hand had been, replacing it.
The wind howled. The taste of dirt mixed with blood in the air, and the atmosphere itself grew heavy.
Sebastian spoke:
"Looks like you've lost a hand. Still want to keep fighting me?"
Rosa let out a loud, genuine laugh — and fear crept into Sebastian for the first time. How is she still laughing after an injury like that?
Rosa fell quiet for a moment, then said:
"That question of yours proves I already have the upper hand here. Giving up already? Want to go catch up with your army?"
Sebastian smiled. "Seems I underestimated you. Now I understand why the two of you were siblings who took the throne."
Silence settled over them for a moment, and both took a deep breath.
Rosa tended to her bleeding. Sebastian regenerated his arms. Then, suddenly, both of them vanished from sight.
A violent storm tore through the area, winds howling, the clouds thickening into black until the sun vanished entirely behind them.
Then, suddenly — the clash of swords. Rosa and Sebastian were still locked in battle. Rosa had only a handful of swords left; she regenerated them, wrapped her robe around her severed left arm, lowered her crown and fused it with her blade, and gathered every remaining sword into a single weapon.
Sebastian pulled back, bracing for a final, decisive strike.
Rosa's breathing grew heavier, more labored, every breath cutting through her chest — while Sebastian calculated how to finish her.
In a single step, they collided. The force that erupted shattered the trees around them. The ground couldn't withstand the power and began crumbling apart. The shockwave echoed across every kingdom, every village. The entire area exploded, and the forest's entrance was devastated.
Smoke swallowed the area; nothing could be seen through it. When it finally cleared, a sword of pure light hung in the air, declaring Rosa the victor.
Rosa stood, triumphant but badly wounded. Sebastian had been cut clean in half — only his lower half remained standing.
As Rosa was about to collapse, a deadly aura surged outward, spreading far beyond the forest.
The aura was so immense it didn't stop at the forest's edge — it swept across all four kingdoms. Villagers everywhere were gripped by terror, begging their kingdoms for help, and the kingdoms turned them away.
Every king in every kingdom hid away, whispering:
"That's not a human aura... that's the Demon King's. He's coming to kill us all."
Rosa's entire body shook violently as she fought to stay standing.
She heard a voice behind her:
"That's our King... that's our leader... that's Diablo."
Every demon who had believed their King dead began chanting his name — Diablo — in unison.
Terror spread through every Elf who heard it. They didn't hear a victory cry. They heard the demons' chant instead.
Rosa suddenly remembered — she'd left Miko behind at the Jewel. She forced herself toward it with whatever strength remained. But Sebastian had other plans.
He seized her by the right foot and said:
"You'll die for our beloved King."
Rosa looked into his eyes and found nothing there but the willingness to die for his cause.
She fought to shake him off with everything she had left — but Sebastian only smiled, and detonated himself.
Rosa severed her own foot to tear free from the blast, sacrificing the limb to save herself. But the real shock came after — Sebastian was still alive.
Fear took hold of Rosa, her whole body trembling. How is he still alive? I cut him free. He blew himself apart. How is he still breathing?
Her foot bled. Her arm bled. Rosa had almost nothing left.
Then, suddenly, she caught sight of a burning body flying through the air, trailed by a glow of light. It landed near her.
Rosa moved toward it, trying to make out who it was — but Sebastian lunged and seized her by the torso.
"Going to sacrifice yourself now?" he said, and started laughing.
Rosa raised her sword, ready to drive it through her own stomach to reach Sebastian's heart through her — but as she lifted the blade, she felt Diablo's aura. This time, it was close. Far too close.
Both their bodies shook, breaking out in a cold sweat. Rosa caught sight of the burning body again, moving toward her.
She tried to pull away, but Sebastian held her fast. She looked at him and found fear written across his face as he stammered:
"I apologize, Diablo."
Suddenly, the burning body passed right beside her — still being struck, still being beaten. When Rosa finally got a clear look at it...
it was Diablo.
And the light beating him down...
was Miko.
Miko — ten years old — had been guarding the Jewel the entire time.
(End of Chapter 56)