The four dark players footsteps neared closer and closer as our two families held each other dear. I reluctantly looked up as the fabled Zade and freshly proclaimed DeathGod peered down at us from where they now stood. Evil grins were ridden across their faces as young Yui began to scream in fear. I snapped to attention seeing Vassago bring up his cleaver blade on Asuna as she protected an unconscious Kirito and their daughter.
"I'll see you in Hel." DeathGod chuckled, readying his serrated scythe to attack.
"As will those who follow you." Zade was more serious as he reeled back his blood red katana; Red Ribbon.
I shut my eyes and pulled my family in tighter with my black feathered wings. I braced us all for the devastating blow we were about to take.
"K..." Sinon's voice spoke as our Athena lay weakened in her lap.
I quickly turned and my eyes instantly met her gorgeous blue ones. A look of sadness and affinity glistened off her pupils.
"...I love you." She reluctantly spoke.
"I love you, Shino." I rested my forehead against hers and she pulled our daughter closer.
Time began to feel slow for just a moment. Our desperate embrace made me think back to the good fun Sinon and I had in the past. I remember introducing her and the others to a brand new game, teaching them all new concepts that were sometimes unfamiliar to them. I remember the vivid memories of the two of us getting married in ALO and I could never forget meeting her IRL for the first time. Shino and I had a special connection that couldn't be attested and our journey had truly solidified that. A tear of happiness fell off my cheek as I came to accept our destined fate. We lost... and this was our punishment. I prepared to feel the cold steel of their blades as the wind picked up around us. A loud clash of metal pierced the air and the thud of someone's feet hitting the ground caused us all to shake from our dissociative fugue. Our vision came up and right before our eyes were a pair of half red and half black... feathered wings? Shock hit me like a truck as a familiar smirk peeked back at us.
"What? You didn't really think I was gonna leave you hanging, did you?" Pitohui turned back to the aggressors with her red coated poison blade; Sting.
"Pitohui!" Sinon and I yelled.
"And she brought the cavalry with her!" A lost voice yelled.
We turned and watched as Leafa leaped over Asuna to attack Vassago with her sword. The legendary PoH blocked her strike but was immediately forced to block another from Klein as he moved in to assist.
"Now, Agil!" He yelled as he struggled to recollect himself.
"Rrrrrraaahh!!!" A fully armoured Agil jumped up into the air and brought down his large two handed battle axe for an intense ground smash.
A puff of dust kicked up as Vassago Casals was knocked sliding back away from Asuna. With distance now between the royal families and their attackers, the heroic saviours stood to bask in their glory.
"You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to defeat us." Agil stood tall.
"Full speed ahead!" A squeaky voice called out.
Upon the back of a screeching Griffin, Silica led the charge as a swarm of other players arrived to assist in our fight.
"Sylphs! Take up formation!" Queen Sakuya arrived with her army.
"Cat Sith! Shield wall!" Alicia Rue was able to command her battalion to defend Sakuya's fleet.
"Now they're quakin' in their boots!" Liz confidently stepped forward with her mace and shield.
"We'll make sure they pay for their insolence." A close friend joined my side.
"Itsuki!" I looked up at him in surprise.
"Swordsmen stick together." He smiled down at me genuinely before turning angrily back to our enemies.
"This guy just never dies, does he?" Fukaziroh walked up and winked at me.
Joy and hope immediately filled my soul as our friends came valiantly to our aid. I thought back to before I met Sinon and how I could have missed out on the absolutely amazing adventure we've been on. There have been many highs and a few lows but in the end, it brought us all closer together. A spark of determination filled the air as our entire unit assembled as one.
"What a marvellous display!" Johnny Black cackled as he suddenly threw three of his thorn-like knives.
Before they could reach anyone however, a bladed boomerang spun in and deflected the knives before returning back to the person who threw it. As it spun along its trajectory, the hand of Shirley caught its middle handle and suddenly pulled it apart to give her two uniquely curved daggers.
"You won't break through us so easily." Shirley took her place at Sinon's side next to me.
"How poetic. The entirety of Alfheim has come to be voluntarily wiped from their miserable existence." DeathGod adjusted his grip on his scythe.
"How convenient." Zade grinned with Red Ribbon at the ready.
"We'll take them down with us, straight to Hel." Johnny laughed.
"That's if we don't kill them all first." Vassago growled.
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Liz smiled confidently in our mass of combined forces.
DeathGod audibly chuckled with a smirk and snapped his fingers loudly in response. At that exact moment, many bright lights appeared one by one behind the Four Fabled Horsemen as a mass of cloaked figures gathered together.
"You had to ask..." Leafa was unimpressed and unamused by Liz's big mouth.
"Large force or not, you will be snuffed out like the perishing flame that you are." Pitohui growled as she readied her blade.
"Is that so? Then try and try as much as you'd like..." DeathGod stood his scythe on its stick.
"But you will never break our ancient bond." Zade barked.
"You won't break ours either." Pito lunged forward with her feathered wings and the battle began.
"For the Queen!!!" A soldier shouted as the Sylph army charged ahead alongside the Cat Sith battalion.
DeathGod lifted his scythe and struck the bottom of it's stick upon the ground, creating a loud thud that the cloaked killers instantly complied to. The battlecries of both good and evil filled the air as they violently clashed in the middle of the battlefield. Pitohui advanced quickly towards DeathGod and Zade, flapping upwards for an intense downward strike. She smashed Sting upon the ground as the two villains jumped back. DeathGod used his speed to strafe behind her and he reeled back to use his scythe.
"Pito!!" I warned and she instantly looked back, pivoting with swift strike.
Instead of making contact however, she swiped completely thru a shadowy after image of DeathGod and it disappeared.
"Foolish girl!" Johnny Black pounced but she turned around and caught his wrist, stopping his knife from stabbing into her.
In a clean and precise motion, Pitohui drove her poison blade straight into the stomach of Johnny Black. Her thick greatsword pierced thru his spine and the game grid began to leak from him. As an added bonus, Sting's red poison coating leaked from his wound to simulate the bloody lethality of this brutal strike. Johnny lost his air and tried his best to laugh it off, but it was obvious he had suffered tremendous damage.
"You're a pretty little birdie. I can't wait to come back someday and pluck those ingenious poison feathers." Johnny cackled as his life and HP drained from his body.
"Not," Pito disarmed him of his knife in a swift backwards hand motion.
"A," She drove his own thorn-like blade of plague into the bottom of his chin.
"Chance!!" With intense force, Pitohui yanked Sting to the side and ripped a huge gash where Johnny's hip used to be.
Black's mutilated body collapsed and immediately exploded into shards as Pito blocked a blinding sword swipe from Zade. The force of the attack pushed her sliding back against the ground but she opened her wings to stop her momentum. I was amazed by her flawless swordskill and quick air maneuverability.
"K! Sinon! Take these health potions! We need to get you back in the fight!" Lizbeth rushed over and handed us two small bottles of red liquid.
"What about Kirito and Asuna?" I wanted them to be helped first.
"Asuna's up and getting help to heal Kirito. He's kicking tho and Yui is okay. Don't worry about them. We need to regroup and end this, once and for all!" Liz brought the spark back with her words and we felt motivated to fight again.
Shino and I instinctively wrapped arms and downed the entire health drink together as one. A blue aura suddenly pulsed from us both as our HP was instantly returned to full. The crazy burst of energy caused my wings to spring open as wide as they could.
"Ho, man. It's time to ruin shit." I cracked my knuckles out of habit.
"You go. I will tend to Athena and bring her to Asuna." Sinon assured me.
"Are you sure? I may not be able to come back and help you if I go." I worried.
"She'll be protected. Go! We need our most valuable assets out there!" Shirley took charge for once and assisted my Shino in helping to carry Athena away.
I slowly stood up and raised my open palm to recall my crystal sword. I caught it's handle and Itsuki stepped forward at my side with his blade pointed forward.
"Together this time... brother." Itsuki nodded at me with a smile.
"As an army of two." My Obsidian arm blade extended and I readied to join the fight.
"For the Spriggan race!" Itsuki shouted and lightly ran ahead.
Feeling the vigour and the spark of the moment, I began to sprint alongside him. In the distance, Pitohui continued to fight both DeathGod and Zade all on her own as we were cut off by a group of hooded players.
"You won't get to them so easily!" One spoke as they both charged with their swords.
I crossed my arm blade with my crystal sword and stopped his strike entirely. With the stiffness and rattle he received from hitting dead centre of both blades, I front kicked him to the ground. The second one charged Itsuki but he took up a finesse I had never seen before. His opponent stepped forward with a stab but Itsuki swiftly parried it. His sword almost wrapped around his opponent's as he deflected it and performed a deep chest stab. His opponent immediately bursted into shards and he stood with a smile as I watched him in awe.
"Fencing. It's quite a helpful real world skill to have for this sort of game." Itsuki smiled.
"You fools!" The cloaked player got back up and charged me with a dagger.
"K!!" Itsuki yelled.
I simply aimed my free open palm and blew him away with an intense purple flamethrower. I saw the dead icon appear and I let up on my fire, leaving the very tip of my Obsidian arm blade ablaze.
"Woah. K, that was-"
"Come on! We have to help Pitohui!" I interrupted as I ran ahead of Itsuki.
"You don't really believe that you can take us both, do you?" DeathGod scoffed.
"I for one grow tired of her resistance. Why not just die like the rest of the pathetic weaklings?" Zade tilted his head.
"Because someone taught me what it means to live." Pitohui lunged forward but DeathGod and Zade attacked together with an upward strike.
She tried to block but the force of it knocked her high into the air and I instinctively dropped my sword.
"Pito!" I jumped up, retracted my blade and caught her before she could hit the ground.
The momentum threw us but we both ultimately split and landed smoothly on our feet.
"What happened? I couldn't use my wings there for a second..." Pitohui was confused.
"It's the light. What they said was true about our World Tree, we need it to survive. That includes the ability of flight manifestation. Even for us feathered ones, our wings serve no purpose without the all light of Alfheim." I explained as we both stood and readied our weapons.
"So, we're grounded now? Great. That just creates a whole slew of new problems." Pitohui looked over to the two villains as I recalled my sword and extended my arm blade again.
"Just like the good old days." DeathGod chuckled.
"No more winged warfare." Zade smiled.
"Even without our wings, I think you'll find that our combined skill in combat is more than enough to outperform the likes of you." I called back.
"I find that extremely hard to believe." DeathGod shook his head and the two of them lunged at us first this time.
Cat Sith, Sharp, Ice Queen: Sinon
"Haha! This is fun!" Leafa smiled as she helped Liz fight back against advancing hooded players.
"Careful, one of the horsemen might hear you say that." Liz smashed her mace onto the head of a player.
"He already has." The blue marked Vassago returned.
Before he could approach any further however, Silica swooped in upon her Griffin and it screeched loudly in his face.
"You stay away from Asuna and Kirito!" Silica commanded.
"Damn straight!" Liz yelled and took her place next to the mythical beast.
"You tell him, Silica!" Leafa yelled as the three of them stood to protect us.
"Sinon! Shirley! I'm so glad you're safe. May I request your aid? Kirito still needs to be healed." Asuna was doing her best but it happened to be an extensive amount of damage.
"I'll help her, Sinon. Please, quickly help your daughter first. The two of them suffered a tremendous amount and they both need to be cared for as soon as possible." Shirley began to assist Asuna.
I sat with my Athena again and chanted some runes of healing until my hands started to glow. I began to patch up her wounds when the others ahead of us suddenly screamed. We looked up to see the severed head of Silica's Griffin falling to the ground as it's whole body exploded into shards.
"You're a monster!" Silica flipped backwards and landed, kneeling as she began to cry.
"Not a monster. A demon." Vassago brought up his cleaver blade but Leafa and Liz blocked his strike as he tried to bring it downward onto Silica.
Casals chuckled as he smoothly took back his blade, dropped to one knee and sliced it cleanly across Leafa's stomach.
"Leafa!" Liz yelled but Vassago kicked her and they both fell backwards.
"Now, you die again!" He attempted to slash Silica's head but he was instantly blocked by a strong sword stance.
A windy arrival revealed a confidently coated Kirito with his crossed dual wield blades in hand.
"Kirito!" Liz, Leafa and Silica all exclaimed.
"No one will be dying this time." Kirito held his stance true as he forced Vassago's cleaver upwards.
Kirito readjusted and reeled back both of his swords in a smooth backspin as he swung for Vassago's ribs. Kirito's strike was denied with a swift block and the hard clash knocked Casals sliding backwards.
"Lemme help you with that!" Liz jumped in with a swing from her mace but it was ultimately smashed out of the way by Vassago's blade.
"Stay back, guys! I'll take this bastard alone!!" Kirito shouted and charged in as PoH was distracted.
He sprinted over and stepped into another fierce double sword swipe with a loud battlecry. PoH blocked but only barely as he stumbled to regain his balance. Kirito advanced with a swipe from his left sword but it didn't land as Vassago brought his blade up. Kirito used his right sword to try and cut PoH's hip but he managed to quickly bring the long hilt of his cleaver down to stop it. Seeing no other options, Kirito shoulder checked Vassago and pushed forward in an intense flurry of calculated blows. First from the right, then the left. A low right, a high left, and a swift stab attempt but PoH strafed with a chuckle as he stood next to Kirito. In a fit of pure frustration, he swiped for Vassago's neck with his right sword but PoH ducked fast and strafed quickly again. Using this to his advantage, Vassago Casals sent a fury punch straight into Kirito's gut in an attempt to temporarily stun him. Kirito's reflexes however kicked in immediately as he rolled forward on the ground and turned to face the villain once more.
"Quick on your feet, I'll give you that." PoH admitted.
"You're not so bad yourself." Kirito smirked and charged him again, meeting him with a stiff sword block.
Their blades grinded together and they stared angrily into each other's eyes.
"You hurt my family, now I'm gonna hurt you." Kirito growled.
"I doubt that. When I'm done with you, I'll make sure your family becomes nothing more than faded icy husks that once were." Vassago hissed.
"No," Kirito struggled to push back against Vassago's heavy cleaver blade.
"Chance," Kirito lifted up and Vassago was visibly shocked as he couldn't bring his blade down any more.
"In," Kirito spun underneath and strafed, giving him a positional advantage as he lined up his strike.
"Hel!!!" Kirito sliced both of his dual wield blades into Vassago's chest, killing him quickly as he tumbled and bursted into shards.
The Black Swordsman stood victorious amongst his allies.
"You did it, Kirito!" Silica cheered.
"It's not over yet! K and the others still need our help!" Kirito pointed with one of his swords to the other side of the still raging battlefield.
"Prioritize wisely. We still have wounded over here, remember." I suggested as I still held my hurting Athena.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Sinon! I should have been prioritizing Athena right after Kirito." Asuna immediately stopped healing Leafa and rushed over to help us.
"It's okay, really. You're the Berserk Healer, after all. You just want to see everyone safe." I acknowledged.
"But I want to see the children safe first." Asuna focused on her healing spell.
"Don't worry about me, Shirley. I can heal the rest myself." Leafa smiled and began to speak runes as she hovered her palms over her wound.
Shirley nodded and stood to her feet as we all heard Kirito yell to us.
"Whoever's fit to fight, follow me!" He readied himself before going ahead to help the others.
Spriggan King, Master, Crystal Swordsman: K
"Pitohui!!!" I watched as DeathGod sliced his serrated scythe across her breastplate.
The force of the strike tossed her thru the air and I watched her tumble past me. She tried to get to her hands and knees but was too hurt to continue.
"Kill these... fucking bastards..." Pitohui was hurt but she tried desperately to get back up.
Her black and red wings were bent out of shape from landing on them too hard and some feathers even began to fall off. Pito had worked herself to the bone trying to protect us and I wouldn't dare let it go to waste.
"A pity. Now I'd say the odds are uneven." Zade spoke as he stepped up with his red katana.
"Not in the slightest! You'll pay for the treachery you've bestowed upon this land!" Itsuki took his place next to me.
"They're more than about even now." DeathGod grinned and adjusted his grip on his scythe.
"What are you still doing here Itsuki?! Go help Kirito and the others! I'll take on these sons of bitches myself!" I barked.
"Out of the question! It's a two on two circumstance, and I am here to help you!" Itsuki insisted as the two of us looked back at our opposition.
My two most hated arch enemies from the past: Red Eyed ZaZa, the infamous killer of Laughing Coffin. And Zade, the ghost blade that no one dared to speak of. I was mainly concerned for Itsuki's safety but I stood still and patiently awaited their next move.
"If you think we're going to go easy on you two, then you are sadly mistaken." DeathGod told me.
"We will come at you with all of our force and send every last bit of you straight to the depths of Hel." Zade tilted his head.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I readied my Obsidian arm blade and stood poised with my crystal sword.
A chuckle came from red eyed ZaZa as he shook in head in disapproval.
"What is a King to a God?" DeathGod spoke.
They both stared but eventually grew tired of waiting and charged at us together with their weapons. I used my arm blade to quickly knock DeathGod's scythe out of the way which in turn, caused Zade to rush Itsuki before I could stop him. I instinctively hammer fisted DeathGod's scythe blade into the ground and utilized it's stick as leverage. With DeathGod's grip still upon the stick of his wedged weapon, I forcefully drove my Obsidian arm blade into his shoulder. I tackled him and dropped my sword, reeling back to smash my knuckles straight across his mask. I hooked him hard a few times until I heard Itsuki grunt behind me. I peeked back to see him barely fended off against Zade and his unpredictable sword techniques. I suddenly felt DeathGod's grip upon my arm and I instinctively sent a fiery red hook into the side of his head. The force of my burning knuckles sent a spider crack thru the side of his mask and his head bounced off the ground. Changing focus quickly, I frantically scrambled back to my feet and turned around rapidly as I did so. Zade simply glared back at me with a wide evil grin across his stupid face. I looked over and Itsuki on the ground behind him, weakened from the amount of damage he had abruptly sustained. I clenched my teeth and recalled my sword, standing to face the fabled Zade with my burning hatred as a weapon. In that moment, DeathGod slowly rose with the red game grid glowing within his shoulder wound and his mask now visibly damaged. The two horsemen chuckled together and I sprinted forward at them with an annoyed growl. I reeled back my crystal sword and quickly jumped ahead to attack but before my blade could contact either of them, I felt my muscles suddenly become stiff. My entire body suddenly began to levitate in the air and I instinctively poised my arm blade. My motion however was immediately halted as DeathGod aimed his palm right at me.
"Try as hard as you may, Crystal Swordsman..." Zade smirked.
"But you'll never escape your past." DeathGod's tensed hand began to close.
In that moment, I felt what could only be described as immense water pressure crushing me from all around. My whole body was in a wrestling match against DeathGod's mighty power and my wrists began to be slowly pushed away. I shook violently as I tried hard to resist his will but the toll it took was difficult to bare. Feeling my wrists starting to bend backwards, I dropped my crystal sword and winced as it clacked loudly upon the ground.
"Can't go on?" DeathGod chuckled and eased up slightly on the pressure.
As the force applied was loosened, I opened my right palm wide and instantly recalled my crystal blade to my hand. The crystal blade however was not my sword, it was in fact the crystal kunai knife that had been hiding in my boot all this time. It's handle flew up to my palm and I flicked my wrist hastily, watching Leafa's gifted green ribbon dance in the wind as I threw it towards them. The blade's point flew straight into DeathGod's abdomen, causing him to wince in pain as he dropped to one knee. I was suddenly cut loose from the telekinetic shackles and I quickly tried my best to capitalize on it. I sprinted for DeathGod with my arm blade at the ready but I was abruptly stopped dead in my tracks once more. I struggled to resist the same crushing force yet again as Zade walked up to me with a confident smile on his face. DeathGod stood to his feet and their looming eyes began to intimidatingly pierce my soul. I suddenly felt the invisible death grip around me grow tighter and it became much harder to fight back against it.
"Tsk tsk..." Zade smirked and the pressure became next to impossible to endure any longer.
"Well played." DeathGod chuckled without breaking a sweat as he simultaneously ripped the knife from his abdomen.
I let my head start to fall back as the crushing force upon my body doubled in strength. I began to feel extremely nauseous and dizzy as the pressure on my head began to worsen. I tried my hardest to look back down at my aggressors but doing so violently re-ripped open my right eye scar. The strain grew immensely and I was quickly at the end of my rope. I couldn't combat against the tension any longer. In that exact moment, Zade heard something behind him and he instantly spun back around just in time to stop it. Using his red katana, Zade swiftly turned and disarmed a jumping Kirito before his devastating blow could even remotely land. In what felt like slow motion, Kirito had prepared for this and he adjusted his grip on his other sword. With a smooth aerial transition, Kirito drove the point straight between Zade's eyes and forced the blade thru the back of his skull.
"Noo!!" DeathGod not only watched his ally die, but felt him die with their new telekinetic powers.
The force grip on me was instantly loosened and I instinctively hit the ground running in a fierce sprint. With a series of power steps forward, I successfully drove my Obsidian crystal arm blade straight up into DeathGod's chest. His stunned red eyes met mine and I spared no mercy in the slightest as I growled in his face. He tried to pull out a knife similar to Johnny Black's but I rapidly knocked it from his grasp. With my off-hand now at my side, I made a fist and out extended a second Obsidian arm blade that I drove into DeathGod's heart. In an angry war cry, I slowly lifted him up off the ground with all my might and began to forcefully pull apart as my blades impaled him. I violently yanked each of my arms to both sides which ultimately ripped DeathGod's body completely in half.
Eviscerated into pieces, the fight was done, and I looked to Kirito who felt the same anguish as me. I suddenly noticed that the others were already finished and they began to crowd around us, seeing that we had successfully won the battle. I heard a sound and turned to see Asuna helping up a freshly healed Itsuki. The Sylph Queen gave me a grateful look as Alicia Rue and Fukaziroh took her sides with smiles. Asuna rushed over to Kirito with a hug and she presented him with a happy pixie Yui. Leafa, Liz and Silica all giggled as Pina flew over to greet her. Shirley shyly stood alongside them as Agil and Klein joined Kirito's side.
"Their armies have been totally flushed out. You may rest easy now." Sakuya assured me.
"Wait, what about-" I frantically looked around.
"I'm right here, K. Don't worry." Pitohui joined the group alive and well.
I let out a sigh of relief as everyone looked back and suddenly parted. Between them all came Sinon holding hands with our pretty grown Athena. Her wounds had been healed and she happily skipped at her mothers side until she saw me.
"Daddy!" She rushed over and crashed into my leg with a hug.
I lifted my arms for a moment and nervously chuckled as I quickly retracted both of the Obsidian arm blades.
"Is the battle... really over?" Sinon asked as she approached.
The dark clouds in the air suddenly began to dissipate and the light seeped thru the cracks as it was put back into the sky by the Great World Tree. The evil had been vanquished and the land felt whole again.
"Yes, my love. It's finally over." I pulled her in close for a hug and everyone was relieved.
"Whew! I thought we lost there for a second!" Liz let out a laugh.
"Technically, we did." I smiled as I looked back at her.
"But we bounced back in full force, did we not?" Leafa was happy to be done.
"That we did. Thanks to Kirito, I got out of a tight squeeze." I winked at him.
He opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly cut off before he could say anything.
"Yeah! Kirito saved me from PoH when I was in trouble too!" Silica cheered.
"I think Athena owes him a thank you as well." Sinon patted her head.
"Sounds like you were quite the hero today, Black Swordsman." I saluted.
"Thank you, Uncle Kirito!" Athena yelled and the girls all gushed over it.
"Aww, you guys. Come on. It wasn't that great." Kirito nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"It truly was, Kirito. If it weren't for you, I would have most certainly broken and perished from the sheer force of their power." I assured him.
"And if you hadn't gotten up to save Silica, Vassago would have cut her down right then and there." Asuna presses against Kirito's chest.
"I suppose I did arrive just in time..." Kirito doubted himself.
"Whatever the case may be, let this be a celebration for all. You have saved Alfheim from utter peril once again and this time, I believe everyone will look back with hope for what may come in the future. Your influence on this world is a great one and tho some may choose to doubt your abilities, know that you are all capable of accomplishing amazing things. I congratulate everyone on this day! Let it be a reminder for all who seek guidance in this wide realm of uncertainty!" Queen Sakuya motivated us.
"Preach!" Fukaziroh and Liz both said at the same time.
They let out a laugh and the others joined in with them. A blissful breeze passed over us all as we shared a good laugh in our moment of triumph. The joy and happiness that had once been lost was finally returned to my heart which brought back many sentimental memories. I remembered when I first joined the team alongside Sinon and now we were one great big family. Their smiling faces as I looked around at them made me realize that I would do anything for any of them. I had their backs and they had mine till the bitter end. It sparked my inner flame with the motivation to push forward and I felt like I had a new lease on life. I looked down to Sinon's eyes and before we could properly interact, a voice spoke up shyly from the sidelines.
"K?" I recognized it immediately as my eyes met a vibrant red outfit and skirt.
"Kureha-" My gaze met hers.
"I thought about what you said, and... I'll do it. For you, K, I'll take on this brand new world and master everything it has to offer!" Kureha flared with determination as she raised a clenched fist in the air.
Her spark brought a smile to my face as I happily took on another disciple to pass my teachings.
"Then let us take this world by storm and grow strong enough to defy even the mighty Aesir gods!" I smirked as I made up a heroic speech.
"Huh? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Kureha was clueless.
The group of us all broke out in laughter once again as the solemn moment finally came to a close. A new adventure awaited along the distant horizon, beckoning for us to heed its carrying call. With all of us together again, I felt like we could take on the entire world and any number of enemies that dared to come our way. Hope was inspired amongst everybody as the bright sun of Alfheim shone down upon the grassy open plains. As I looked off to the distant towering World Tree, I thought to myself: What more could we discover?