"Quick, we have to show this to Wolfsbane! We can free them!" Ethan and Oliver soared toward the gate using the leaf, crossing the kingdom's entrance with urgency.
"Come on, have you already forgotten the severed body parts of Matteo and Luka?"
Eero's voice cut through the air, laced with an eerie amusement.
"What do you think happened to them? Or should I ask how Elena's cake tasted? For that cake, Matteo and Luka lost their limbs." He laughed at himself, a hollow, bitter sound.
Ethan and Oliver froze, their grip on hope slipping.
"Didn't you say you wanted to save them?" Eero continued, his voice almost mocking. "Then watch their suffering. They're already dead inside. If you truly want to save them, let them rest forever. They came here with a purpose, but do you really think they can fulfill it like this—half-alive?"
He stared at his palm, as if searching for an answer within his own flesh.
"They are my friends. I could never even dream of doing something like that," Ethan said, his voice firm.
Eero only smiled wider. "Then tell me....how are you going to save your wife? Don't forget, she was missing."
A vision struck Eero's mind...a dark void, Elena screaming for him, her arms stretched toward him as shadowed figures dragged her back.
"This is a treacherous world," Eero whispered, his voice almost trembling. "Do you really think she was living happily?"
The image sharpened, Elena's wails echoing.
"No.... I will save her. I will," Eero muttered, his body trembling as he crawled forward.
"How?" Eero's voice turned sharp, his tone cutting through the haze. "Look at your friends. You can take their training, their memories. At this rate, all of you will die, and for what? If everyone dies, their sacrifices will be in vain."
Memories flooded Eero's mind—his friends' struggles, their pain, their dreams left unfinished.
"But... if you inherit their experience, you can fulfill their motives. They may not live on, but their will can survive in you."
Eero clenched his head, nails digging into his scalp.
"Don't you want your friends to succeed?"
"Yes... Yes!" Eero scratched his face, his nails drawing blood.
"Then what about Elena?"
A vision reappeared—Elena, crying out for him, pleading.
"You can see it, right? If you don't act, you'll lose everything. So, what will you choose? Them—or Elena and your child?"
Eero felt his own hands pulling at himself, as though two halves of his soul were fighting.
"Are you going to carry their duties, or will all of you die here?"
A voice whispered in his mind, relentless.
"Just accept me. I am you. Elena wants you. You're going to save your friends' dreams, aren't you? Let it go... let it go."
Elena appeared before him, whole and smiling.
"I love you, Eero," she whispered. "Let's spend eternity together like this, shall we?"
Her form melted into mud, slipping through his fingers.
"No....come back! Elena! Elena!" Eero's screams shattered the air. Then, suddenly—silence.
He stood up, stumbling like a drunken man, laughter bubbling from his throat. His gaze fell on his friends, their bodies covered in blood, still struggling.
"I sacrifice."
Eero raised a trembling finger toward the fire.
A line seemed to form in the space between them—Eero standing on the white side, his friends on the black, separated by a great distance.
His laughter grew louder.
Livio turned sharply, his gut twisting at the sound.
"You bastard....what have you done?" Livio's mind spun in panic.
He crossed the fire instinctively, reaching out to Eero( the white side).
"Cancel it....come on, undo it! Undo it! This place is controlling you....Eero, stop!" Livio shook him desperately, but Eero only laughed like a madman.
"I said STOP!"
Eero melted away from Livio's grasp, dissolving into nothing.
Livio's eyes widened in horror. "Where did he go? Eero!"
The air thickened with the stench of rotting flesh. Blood soaked the ground beneath them. Above the fire, the moon began to drip crimson, turning the flames red.
A black veil surrounded Livio's friends. The moonlight shone directly upon them, casting eerie shadows.
"Wait—no!" Livio slammed his katana against the veil, but it didn't budge. His strength was useless.
The Vritra in the sky burst apart, scattering into thousands of writhing snakes. They slithered around his friends, constricting them before dragging them toward the sky.
"No, NO!" Livio's screams were swallowed by the rising darkness.
Laughter erupted from the fire....deep, unnatural, twisted.
From the flames, creatures emerged. Black, shapeless beings, with nothing but hands, bodies, and long, snaking tails.
"Haaa... I can't wait to taste it," one of them hissed.
They seeped through the veil like shadows, forcing themselves into his friends' mouths.
"Damn it! Don't give up, guys! I'm coming—please, hang in there!" Livio hacked at the veil again, his katana glancing off like it was striking steel.
His friends convulsed, blood pouring from their mouths, ears, and eyes. From their lips, snakes slithered outward, their forked tongues tasting the air.
A small voice spoke amidst the horror.
"Brother... aren't you going to save me?"
Livio turned just in time to see a little girl speaking to Nitin.
Nitin smiled, calm, before a snake sank its fangs into his throat. His head tore free from his body, rolling across the blood-drenched floor.
One by one, the others received their final memories—then, they were ripped apart, screaming.
Livio's sword slipped from his fingers. His knees hit the ground, the weight of despair pressing into his chest.
Sobs wracked his body. The night air echoed with his hollow, broken cries.
Then.....a presence.
From the fire, a figure emerged. The blood dripping from the moon ceased.
It was him.
Eero.
Completely healed.
The cries of the fallen faded. A cold, amused smile stretched across Eero's face.
"Haaa..... haaaa….."
Wolfsbane's laughter joined in, his soldiers cackling in unison.
"So, your friends were innocent?" Wolfsbane mocked. "Well then.....you can take them... if they come back alive."
Ethan and Oliver knelt before the dungeon entrance, trembling. Their last hope had shattered.
Now, all they could do was wait.