Rosa couldn't believe what she was seeing — Diablo, being beaten back by a girl who couldn't have been older than ten.
Sebastian let go of Rosa and turned toward his severed half, regenerating himself before rushing to help Diablo. Rosa moved on him before he could reach Diablo, seizing his leg, binding his left ankle with a rope of light.
When Sebastian looked at her, dread crawled up his spine. Her eyes held nothing but a terrifying will to keep going, her face carrying a demonic smile, a hunger for victory. He tried to strike her, but she severed both his hands and sealed his regeneration entirely. Sebastian was stunned — he hadn't expected her capable of that.
She bound him with a rope of light and turned toward Miko.
As she approached, Diablo's aura hit her, and her eyes began to bleed. Blood came up from Rosa's throat under the weight of it, but she kept moving.
She found Miko locked in battle with Diablo — and Diablo couldn't even strike back. When she reached them, she saw the former Elf King's sword in Miko's hand. Rosa grabbed Miko and pulled her back.
Diablo screamed:
"I won't let that brat live. I'll kill her. I'll kill her. I'll kill her. This bloodline ends here, this whole race gets wiped out. I don't care if you run now — we'll meet again in the Elf forest, once every last one of your people is gone. You'll come to me whether you want to or not."
Rosa kept backing away, bleeding, terrified of what Diablo might do next. Miko looked at her and began healing her wounds.
"Why did you come and pull me away?" Miko asked. "I was close to killing him."
Rosa paused. "Wait... you're speaking so clearly. And you just healed me. How is any of this possible?"
Miko smiled. "I'm the Jewel. I accelerated Miko's body — sped up her mind's growth so I could control this power through her. I reached out to the spirits, and they gave me this strength."
"So you're going to fight?" Rosa asked.
"Yes," the Jewel said. "For our people."
They headed back toward the forest to protect the Elves — but Diablo had already gotten there first.
When they entered, they found the forest on the edge of total ruin.
Rosa screamed in anguish. "No... he beat us here."
"No," the Jewel said. "We're early."
The Jewel teleported, taking Rosa with her.
Rosa found Diablo gripping a small girl. The child was sobbing, her mother helpless on the ground, and Diablo was laughing. He moved to stab the girl — but Rosa severed his hand, caught the child, and flung her toward Miko.
Diablo smiled. "There you are. You came back to me after all."
A shiver ran through Rosa's body. She tried to sever his other arm — but couldn't.
Diablo drove his sword into the center of her chest, pulled it free, and kicked her. She was sent flying, slamming into a house hard enough to collapse it on top of her.
Blood poured from her chest, her mouth, her nose. Her breathing kept stopping and starting, weaker each time. Her hearing was fading — but she could still hear Diablo's laughter.
Rosa wept, begging the Jewel to save her people.
Her brother stepped out from the rubble and sat beside her. He smiled.
"It's alright. No one is strong in every way. We all have weaknesses we never see coming, never recognize — until they find us at the worst moment of our lives. If you've reached the point of giving up, that means you're standing at the edge of a new beginning."
Rosa smiled, her voice rasping.
"I don't think I have a new beginning left. I failed my people. I'm dying, and I'm leaving behind a child to face the most dangerous person alive."
The former Elf King laughed. "Seems like my daughter is the Elves' only hope."
Then he fell silent, and said:
"Rosa... get up. You have to rise. You protected that child — listen closely, and you'll hear her crying, begging you not to die. You rebuilt the Elves from nothing once already. Get up... there's still more coming." And he vanished.
Rosa smiled and forced herself to move. The sound of stone shifting filled the ruined space as she dragged the rubble off her body.
As she tried to rise, Diablo appeared beside her — missing both arms and legs.
Rosa fell flat on her face and dragged herself out from under the wreckage.
Once free, she found the Jewel furious, her voice sharp:
"How dare you lay a hand on my mother? I'll cut it off for you."
A voice began speaking inside Rosa's head: "You poor thing... let me help you."
Small lights drifted out from her chest, healing her — tiny, laughing lights with voices like children's. The strange voice spoke again:
"I've healed you. Get up, and go help your daughter."
Rosa stood once more. The forest had lost countless trees, countless homes. No wind moved through to smother the flames. She was healed, but the pain of what had happened to her home still weighed on her — she still felt weak.
She looked toward the Jewel, floating in the air, wrapped entirely in light.
She took hold of Miko and said:
"I have a plan. Will you help me?"
The Jewel agreed instantly, and they began to map it out.
Diablo climbed out of the wreckage of the house, brushing dirt from his clothes. He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and raised his head.
"It won't change the outcome. You couldn't kill me. Do you really think your mother can finish the job, when the Jewel hasn't even submitted to her?"
Rosa told the Jewel her plan, and they moved.
Miko approached from Diablo's right. Rosa came at him from the front.
Diablo lunged at Miko. She braced to strike — but he feinted and shifted toward Rosa instead. The illusion broke apart, and Diablo found himself face to face with Miko instead.
Rosa's plan had been simple: We create an illusion. You, Jewel, take my place — disguised as me. I'll take your place — disguised as Miko. Diablo will go for me without question. The moment he does, the illusion breaks, and you'll meet him face to face.
Diablo couldn't process what had just happened. Miko wasted no time — she drove a punch straight toward where she thought Rosa was. Diablo was sent flying toward Rosa, and she stabbed him.
Rosa was carrying her brother's sword. She tore it free in an instant and severed his limbs in a fraction of a second.
She fell back carefully, taking her place beside Miko. Miko advanced and launched him upward with a punch.
Diablo regenerated himself mid-air. Rosa set the sword against her hip, mimicking her brother's old technique.
Diablo closed in on Rosa — but she couldn't land the strike. The moment he got close, his aura crushed down on her, on the entire forest, freezing everything in place from the sheer weight of it.
Miko stepped forward, took hold of the sword, and cut Diablo clean in half. She struck him with a massive fireball that tore straight through him, sending him hurtling into the distance.
Once Diablo had fallen back, far away, the Elf army returned and began pulling survivors to safety. Amid the sound of the army organizing the evacuation, Diablo's laughter cut through it all.
Silence fell. Nothing remained but the sound of that laughter.
Diablo rose again, his shadow stretching across the sky like an inevitable death sentence. He dropped from the sky with brutal force, sword drawn, and surged toward Rosa. Rosa activated the illusion again.
"That trick won't work twice," Diablo said.
He went for Miko, believing her to be Rosa — but a massive fireball fused with water slammed into him instead. Miko had thrown it, and Diablo was launched clean out of the forest.
Miko ran after him, Rosa close behind.
Diablo healed Sebastian and ordered him to deal with Miko. Sebastian smiled and bowed to Diablo.
"I won't let that girl get anywhere near you."
Miko charged at Diablo, but Sebastian was already waiting. He stepped in front of her, and Diablo hit Miko with a purple fireball. She dodged it, but Sebastian landed a punch that knocked her clear away from Diablo.
Diablo stood before Rosa, smiling — while Rosa trembled with fear.
Diablo noticed it.
"You're shaking. That's not very becoming of a Queen."
"Shut up," Rosa said. "I'll make you choke on those words, and carve them into your own gravestone."
Diablo laughed, and Rosa's terror deepened.
"Who's going to kill me? You?" He kept laughing.
Then, suddenly, he stopped — and said, with a cold that could kill:
"I'm bored of fighting you."
Rosa's eyes went wide with terror.
Diablo surged at her, blade swinging for her throat. The sword closed in — close enough to clip strands of her hair as it passed, close enough that her head nearly left her shoulders.
Then his blade was stopped.
A deafening sound tore through the forest. Diablo was sent flying backward in a shower of sparks.
Someone now stood in front of Rosa — a figure whose cloak danced and swayed in the wind.
A new presence had entered the battlefield.
The voice of the forest, the spirits, rose and filled the clearing.
The silence broke into a single chant:
"The Shield Hero."
The Shield Hero turned to Rosa, smiled, and said:
"Hello there... I'm the Shield Hero. Pleasure to meet you."
(End of Chapter 57)