I chuckled at his comnt, then turned my gaze toward the others. There was sothing different in their eyes now, a quiet reverence, a kind of respect that hadn’t been there before.
I understood it. After everything they’d seen, after the way we had ended this battle, they looked at differently.
I gave them all a small smile and nodded. It felt earned.
Then I started talking with them, moving from one group to the next. We exchanged stories of the battle—who fought where, what they had seen, how close so of them had co to dying. The mood was calm but heavy. The sense of victory didn’t hide the weight we all carried.
Soon, the topic shifted to what the Empire had lost. We had won but at a price. With the Holt Grandmasters gone, the overall power of our world had taken a huge hit.
Everyone knew it. Even here, among the masters who had been freed from imprisonnt, I could hear the sa concerns echoing in different words.
Would we be able to defend ourselves if another world attacked? How long until soone tested our weakened defenses?
The future felt uncertain, but at least for now, we had peace.
After spending so more ti listening and speaking with them, I straightened up and gave them a firm nod.
"You’ve all fought hard," I said. "But now it’s ti to clean up the battlefield. Help the others, and once that’s done... go ho. You’ve been held captive for far too long. Your families are waiting."
A few of them teared up at that. So smiled quietly. Others just nodded, but I could feel their emotions shifting, so kind of release, like a breath they’d held in for years was finally let go.
One by one, they left to carry out the task, so moving with purpose, so still a little dazed. But they moved. They had sothing to do now.
Once they were all gone, I looked at Steve and North.
"Let’s go," I said.
Without wasting another mont, I opened a portal back to the realm. The sa place that had once felt like a prison to so many of them, now, it would serve as our base once again.
North and Steve stepped through with , and together, we left the broken battlefield behind.
We arrived directly in the floating ruins of the castle, our temporary base in the pocket realm.
Before I could say anything, North caught my arm and stared dead in the eye.
"I need a bath."
She said it like she was preparing for war.
I blinked, surprised at her intensity, and silently pointed my thumb behind .
She was gone before I could even speak, storming off like a soldier on a mission. Probably straight to whatever place she could find to bath herself.
I heard Steve mutter beside , "It’s just blood. Not sure why she’s acting so dramatic."
I glanced at him. He was keeping his tone light, joking, but I could see the tension behind his eyes. He was trying not to think too much.
So I played along.
"Yeah," I said. "Blood just... red. Basically water."
He snorted, shaking his head. "Sure, let’s market it."
I grinned.
Steve laughed again, and this ti it sounded a little more natural. He exhaled and looked around. "Man... this place really is floating."
"Welco to the realm," I said, stepping forward.
With a casual motion, I willed a large stone slab to flatten itself beside us.
Then I raised my hand again and Essence surged out, forming a pool in front of us circular, glowing faintly with violet light. I waved my hand again and water poured in clear and fresh. Steam rose gently from the surface.
"Pool’s ready," I said, plopping down and dipping my legs into the warm water.
Steve hesitated, then sat beside and did the sa.
He took out his sword, still stained and red and quietly dipped the blade into the water, scrubbing it gently with a cloth. The tal hissed, as if sighing.
"Don’t tell it’s your emotional support weapon," I said, glancing at him.
He rolled his eyes. "Nah, just don’t want it rusting. It’s picky."
"Yeah, well... I’d be picky too if I had to cut through that many people."
His scrubbing slowed for half a second. Just a flicker.
Then he shrugged. "Yeah, well. They started it."
I didn’t push. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it. So I let the silence hang for a few seconds before tossing a small pebble into the pool.
Steve dipped his sword in the pool, swirling it like a spoon in soup.
"Been thinking about naming this thing," he muttered.
I raised a brow. "The sword?"
"No, my leg. Yes, the sword."
"Why?"
"I don’t know. Feels like everyone with a fancy class has a weapon with a na. You’ve got your staff. Arkas had a trident nad after so ancient legend."
"Yeah but that trident isn’t that good."
"Still a cool na though."
I leaned back, toes in the water, enjoying the silence. Of course, Steve couldn’t allow that.
"I was gonna go with ’Bloodborne Eclipse’."
I turned slowly to look at him. "You serious?"
"It sounds deadly."
"It sounds like sothing a fourteen-year-old would na their fanfiction sword."
He gave an offended look. "Okay, Mr. Na God. What would you na it?"
I squinted at the blade.
"It’s got a slim build. Kind of elegant. Maybe sothing subtle. Like... ’Whispers Edge.’"
"Ew."
"You asked."
"I want sothing that makes people tremble. Like... LifeEnder.’"
I pointed at him. "That’s taken. I saw a guy nad his fork that last month."
He ignored . "Okay, what about... Soulshatter?"
"Sounds like a cologne."
He paused. "...Now that you say it, yeah."
We both stared at the sword. Its dull edge caught the pool’s soft glow. It looked tired. Just like us.
"What about Slice?" I offered.
"Slice?"
"Yeah. Imagine this: you cut through a monster and just say, ’That was Slice.’ Instant legend."
"...Honestly," he muttered, "that’s not the worst one."
"I know."
Steve looked thoughtful, then tried again. "What about... ’Edge of the Void’?"
"You don’t have void powers."
"True."
"Or a void personality."
"Also true."
He made a disappointed face and started brushing the blade with his sleeve.
I leaned over.
"Call it sothing aningful."
"Like what?"
I paused.
"Maybe... ’Brightfang’? Sothing poetic."
He stared at blankly.
"You are so bad at this."
"I am giving you thes, Steve."
"Okay, okay. What about... ’Heartpiercer’?"
"I an... technically, most swords can do that."
"True."
There was a beat of silence. Then he said, "What if I na it sothing harmless. Like... Banana."
I snorted. "Imagine yelling that in battle. ’TASTE MY Banana!’"
We both burst out laughing.
Steve wiped his eyes.
"Okay. Okay. Final idea. Sothing understated. Mysterious. No one will even know what it ans."
"I’m listening."
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