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Titania maintained her composure better than anyone else.
Perhaps it was her age or the many losses she had endured through her long life.
Whatever the case, she t Erebus’s eyes, urging him to calm down.
"Violence is not the answer..."
But her bright eyes revealed deep sorrow.
As a queen leading her people, she could not show that grief.
To cause fear and sorrow among them... she couldn’t.
"W-What happened?" Acorn asked. "She was... um, captured or sothing? M-Maybe she’s just wounded? We can heal her!"
"Y-Yeah! If that’s the case, we can do sothing...!" Nieve nodded. "Please don’t cry, it’s... it’s not too serious... r-right?"
"Ahhh..." Elena kept crying, unable to answer.
No response could only an one thing.
Acorn and Nieve dropped to the floor, their eyes wide with disbelief.
"A-Ah... no... this can’t be... L-Lady Planta would never..." Acorn muttered.
"T-The tree is right there, she’s alive...! She’s...! Alive! Right?" Nieve asked desperately.
"The tree remains alive thanks to the forest. It is full of Lifeforce and Spirit Energy as the core of our Forest, which has beco a small separate realm," Titania explained. "However... I felt it three days ago. Planta’s presence... vanished completely from the tree."
"...?"
"What?!"
Acorn and Nieve stood shocked, and Erebus glared at Titania with fury.
"Why didn’t you tell ?!" Erebus demanded. "WHY?! NO! NO! I CAN’T...! I CAN’T LET HER DIE AGAIN!!! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN! DAMN IT!"
mories surged within Erebus, of a distant past when soone dear to him died during the true Demon King’s rampage.
That soone felt eerily similar to Planta, as if they shared the sa soul.
"So people are getting curious. Let’s return to my castle for now... We must keep this between ourselves," Titania said, carrying Elena, who still cried, and flew toward the castle.
Inside, Anna painfully recounted what she rembered. Elena was too distraught to speak, and Titania held her, offering all the warmth she could.
"I see..." Titania closed her eyes. A few tears fell, but she kept her composure, looking at the girls and nodding. "It must have been terrible... I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry..."
"That bastard...!" Erebus, beyond his tears of sorrow, burned with rage. "That damn Thanatos! He’s crossed far beyond his boundaries...! I’m going to rip his soul apart! I’ll rescue Planta and the others no matter what!"
"E-Erebus..." Acorn muttered. "But... how can we do that? The Netherworld is full of dangers! The nether could kill us almost instantly..."
"It’s no place for the living..." Nieve murmured, her face bleak and emotionless, her brightness gone. "We... we’re nothing... it’s over... there’s no hope... only nothing..."
"No!" Erebus roared. "Elayne restored to life by infusing into that giant tree! We can do the sa! Think about it! If we retrieve their souls and place them in the tree, they might be reborn!"
"...!"
Everyone looked at Erebus in surprise.
What he said... wasn’t wrong!
"Even if that’s possible..." Titania said. "We’re in no condition to wage war against the Demon King of Death! Especially now that he’s grown so powerful...! What can we do... I don’t know..."
"We must tell Camilla," Anna said. "She was counting on my mother-in-law. Now that she’s... gone, we need to inform her. We must find another strategy, another way... we have to gather forces and grow stronger than ever."
"..." Elena stayed silent, finally ceasing her tears. "Erebus... can mom really co back if we do that?"
"I... think so..." Erebus said. "We have to try... but damn it! That skeleton bastard... he’s too strong, and he’s expanding his forces and- We don’t know what could happen next! It feels like sothing awful could befall us all- Ngh?!"
At that mont, Erebus felt it.
A sharp, piercing strike at the root of this world’s reality.
Then, he heard a giant gate opening.
Instantly, a wave of invisible fog rushed in all directions.
"T-The Domain of Death is here! No! He’s here already?! The gate opened ahead of ti!!!"
Erebus panicked as everyone’s eyes widened.
He flew into the skies, looking into the distance.
Hundreds of kiloters away, he saw a crack in space and ti, revealing a black distortion.
From there, Miasma and Nether spread, beginning to contaminate all life in this world.
The sky darkened, and undead sprouted endlessly from the ground.
"Already?!" Titania asked. "We’re not ready...!"
"He’s overstepping his boundaries! He’s defying the System...!" Erebus muttered. "But that will cost him. He won’t move as fast as he wants...! We still have ti! Don’t give up, we must quickly decide what to do with what we have!"
"But first..." Titania said. "All of you must return to your world."
"What?" Elena asked. "B-But we can help...!"
"No," Titania said. "Planta... No, Elayne, saved your lives. Do you plan to waste them fighting right after escaping death?!"
"I have to fight!" Elena scread, crying. "I have to avenge mom!"
SLAP!
"...?"
Elena fell silent as Titania slapped her face, making her co back to her senses.
"I’m sorry, I didn’t really want to, but I had to do that. Elena... I love you like my daughter," Titania sighed. "But you can’t win, not now... Are you underestimating us? We are people of Arcadia; we know how to handle a threat or two! Do you think we’ll give up? We’ll fight and find a way, I promise. But you... you have a ho to return to, and people to inform of what happened."
"...!" Elena clenched her teeth but nodded, holding back tears she could no longer shed. "I know..."
"But... can we even leave?" Anna asked. "I-I don’t know how..."
"I think... maybe this?" Monica said, pressing the logout button. "Woah!"
BBZZZTTT!
Monica glitched and vanished in an explosion of bright digital colors.
Everyone stared in shock.
"W-What happened? Did she die?!" Elisa scread in horror.
"No, I felt her...! She moved between dinsions!" Erebus said in disbelief. "Y-You have the power to move between both worlds!"
"B-But we aren’t even using the helt..." Elena muttered. "W-What the fuck is happening?"
"Did we really rge with our avatars?!" Anna asked. "How will I explain to my mom that I look like this now?!"
"What matters is that you must return!" Titania said. "Go now, you must find a way to help us, but also grow stronger in your world... and protect it from Thanatos."
"...!" Anna nodded. "Then I’m going!"
" too!" Elisa said.
Both girls quickly vanished, moving between dinsions with a strange power.
One last thing remained for Elena to give them before she left herself.
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