"Nouel, Nouel… when you're grown, I'll show you the Kingdom of Aeridor. My dear, your father would have wanted that too…"
"Mom, let's go to the kingdom!"
The voice faded into the distance — an echo from another time.
"Nouel! … Nouel!"
"Nouel! Don't die on me!" shouted Alvios as he charged forward with Viktoria, straight between the chimera and the unconscious hunter.
The beast roared, the wind burst apart. With its remaining arm, it swung — a fist wrapped in black lightning, fed by the snakes coiled around its hips.
Alvios and Viktoria drew their weapons.
The air vibrated as Aether clashed against Aether.
The blade Liberta met Viktoria's twin swords against the chimera's fist. A deafening crash — sparks flew, lightning cracked.
"Don't let up, Viktoria!" Alvios shouted through clenched teeth.
"I… I'm trying!" she gasped, sweat on her brow.
Inch by inch, the monstrous strength of the chimera pushed them back. The wood of the deck splintered beneath their feet.
But in the very moment when the pressure became unbearable, Alvios braced himself with a furious cry.
Viktoria followed — and together they hurled the attack back.
The explosion of Aetheric force shook the air. Smoke. Sulfur. Then — silence.
Both of them were panting.
Their arms burned, their muscles trembled. To withstand such an assault would have broken even the strongest soul.
On the ground, half in blood and half in water, Nouel crawled weakly.
He opened his eyes with effort; they were glassy, his breath uneven.
With a hoarse voice, he rasped:
"Run… away… if you fight it… you'll die."
Viktoria stepped forward, her voice calm but firm.
"Nouel… you know, if you abandon someone who needs help — how do you expect to move forward in life?
You can only resist fate… together."
Viktoria's deep sense of justice spoke through her words — but what truly guided her was compassion.
Alvios closed his eyes for a moment, then smiled.
He raised Liberta, the sword catching the sunlight.
"She's right. Only together can we stop it."
He lifted his head, a broad smile forming — and despite the looming danger, his voice was filled with hope:
"When all this is over… let's get to know each other better — and travel together. What do you say?"
A brief moment of peace — before doom stirred again.
The chimera roared, so deep that even the sea seemed to tremble.
The snakes around its arm began to coil tighter. The red glow grew stronger — brighter, deadlier.
"What… is it doing?" Viktoria asked, unable to look away.
The beast raised its hand toward the sky. Around it, the air began to shimmer, as if the world itself recoiled.
Black sparks danced. Aether condensed.
Bolts of red and black lightning flickered in a chaotic pattern.
"She's gathering energy… she wants to destroy everything here," Alvios whispered.
A shadow stirred behind them.
A voice spoke — calm, clear, resonant.
"This is… troublesome."
Out of the haze stepped a figure — nearly Alvios's height, draped in a black cloak.
A hood covered his face, but within the darkness, his eyes glowed with radiant white. Thin, black lines — runes — traced down his cheeks.
A well-kept beard framed his chin, and every movement he made was deliberate, almost unnaturally calm.
"Step aside," he said quietly, yet his voice cut through the noise like a blade.
Alvios blinked. "Wait… you're—"
"No time for explanations," the stranger interrupted.
As they spoke, the chimera's power kept swelling.
Between its hand and maw grew a sphere of pitch-black energy streaked with red lightning.
The air burned. The sea boiled.
"She's going to fire!" Viktoria screamed.
The stranger stepped forward with steady pace.
"Stay behind me. And hold on to something."
Instinctively, Viktoria grabbed Alvios by the waist.
"Not me!" he yelped, turning red as she did too.
"What… what is he doing?" Nouel murmured weakly, his vision blurred.
The man slowly lifted one hand and began to speak in an ancient, long-forgotten tongue. The runes on his cheeks pulsed with a deep, black glow, his voice echoing through the Aether.
"Umbra profundi… audi me… remitte hanc sordes ad orcum."
An ancient incantation.
The words resonated, and even the corrupted Aether seemed to pause for a heartbeat.
The chimera screamed — a sound that echoed through the depths of the sea — and unleashed the sphere.
The stranger opened his eyes fully.
"Redi domum."
The words struck like thunder.
The black orb stopped — frozen midair before his hand.
A moment of silence. Then — the spell turned back.
With immense force, the sphere was hurled back — straight toward the chimera itself.
The monster could not withstand its own power.
Bolts tore through its flesh, black fire devoured its skin. The Aether within its body collapsed and spun out of control.
A blinding flash. A scream like the tearing of worlds.
The chimera was almost entirely obliterated.
Then — silence.
As the smoke cleared, only the creature's legs remained, drifting in the blood-red water.
The stench was unbearable — a mix of burnt flesh and dead Aether.
The sea slowly began to calm.
The waves, moments ago wild and furious, now lapped quietly against the ship's hull.
A single breeze swept across the deck.
They had done it.
The beast was slain.