Outside the walls of Hebthej, the shockwave of retreating Gloom spread through the military tents, clearing away all the suffocating pressure of the dark magical element.

The Kingdom Rangers and the Brigades felt it immediately. The Gloom that made the air heavy and unsettling was suddenly gone. They all looked up as the churning, blood-red clouds above the town violently parted, allowing a single, brilliant shaft of natural sunlight to pierce through the rot and strike the earth.

A young Brigadier standing near the barricades dropped his Graceblaster, pointing a happy finger at the sky.

"They did it!" he yelled, his voice filled with overwhelming emotion. "They killed the Demon Head! Hebthej is free!"

A rush of relief and ecstatic triumph spread through the encampment. Hardened veterans fell to their knees in prayer, while others embraced, cheering so loud it echoed against the town’s stone walls.

The heavy flaps of the command tent were thrown open. Brigade Commander Thornson and Head Ranger Durmon marched out side-by-side, their previous animosity completely forgotten in the face of impossible victory.

They looked at the clearing sky, then at the town entrance where they had set up a barricade.

Thornson unholstered his smoking carbine and raised it high. "Brigade!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Durmon drew his silver broadsword, the metal catching the sunlight. "Rangers!"

The entire encampment turned to their leaders in attention, armor clattering and weapons charging.

"CHARGE!!!!" Thornson and Durmon roared in unison.

The soldiers yelled out in response as they marched hurriedly and determinedly into the town.

"Destroy whatever is left and bring the civilians out to safety!"

"For HUMANITY!!!!"

The barricades were violently pushed down as the soldiers poured through the main gates. They charged into the ruined streets with their weapons drawn, a tidal wave of righteous fury and triumph, ready to mop up the stragglers and reclaim the town.

"For HUMANITY!" they yelled again.

Deep inside the devastated central square, relief was also starting to settle in although everyone was thoroughly exhausted.

"Thor!"

Astensia arrived with Renan, Frieda, Amira, and Darian, navigating the rubble of the destroyed clocktower.

The offensive vanguard looked terrible. Valeria Bloodgood was slumped against a chunk of masonry, clutching her fractured ribs, her breathing shallow and ragged.

Silas Mercer was covered in dust and blood, sitting cross-legged as he desperately carved glowing golden healing runes onto his own bruised forearms. Kaleb Vance and Evander Nightcross leaned heavily against each other, completely drained.

"By the Heavens, you actually did it," Darian breathed, looking at the remains of the Demon Commander and the charred Demon Head.

"Amira, quickly," Astensia ordered.

The Arcanist immediately rushed forward, a symbol glowing beneath her palms as she used a healing hex over Valeria’s chest.

Renan walked up to Vernon, offering a respectful nod, then turned to Thor, who was casually wiping thick, purple Demon blood from her silver breastplate.

"Congratulations," Renan said earnestly. "You saved Hebthej."

Thor paused her cleaning and looked at the First-Year. "Are we leaving now? I want a bucket of ale to wash this disgusting taste out of my mouth."

Renan shook his head grimly. "We can’t leave yet."

Thor’s brow furrowed in genuine confusion. She turned her electric-blue eyes toward Astensia, fully expecting the other legend to agree with her. Instead, she saw a terrifying depth of worry etched into Astensia’s usually unshakable features.

"Why?" Thor asked, her voice dropping. "What’s wrong?"

Astensia stepped closer. "We cannot find our master."

Thor narrowed her eyes, genuinely perplexed. "What master?"

Astensia knew Thor hadn’t fully accepted the reality of her summoning, nor her bond with Lancet. But now wasn’t the time.

"Lancet is gone," Astensia clarified. "We have no idea where he is."

Thor stared at her for a long, quiet moment. Then, she let out a scoff and turned her head away, returning to cleaning her revered armor. "I don’t see how that’s any problem of mine."

Vernon smirked. Frieda gasped softly, stepping behind Renan, who looked confused by Thor’s response.

Astensia’s face narrowed with frustration, but she couldn’t yell at Thor. Not now. Lancet was what mattered.

Astensia placed a hand on Thor’s shoulder. "Then please understand that it is a problem of mine," Astensia said, her blue eyes piercing into Thor’s.

"Listen, Thor. You might not like him like I do. But at the very least, you should recognize that you will no longer exist if he were to die."

Thor stiffened. She looked down at Astensia’s hand, then back up to her face. Everyone knew that was true.

There were two types of Summoners, and Lancet was the type that without him being alive, the anchor would shatter, and his summons would disappear.

In Thor and Astensia’s case, they would simply vanish back into the void of history.

Thor let out an irritated breath. She shifted her warhammer to her other hand and turned fully back to the evac team.

"Where did you see him last?"

A profound look of relief appeared on Astensia’s face, and she smiled.

Renan gave the answer. "He was with us inside the catacombs."

"The catacombs?" Thor asked, surprised. "How could you lose him there?"

"That’s the strange thing," Renan explained. "One second he was gone and after the chapel fell, we—"

THRRRRRMMMMMM.

Renan’s words were instantly cut off.

The bedrock beneath their boots lurched violently, causing several of the exhausted students to be thrown to the ground.

At that same moment, a shockwave struck them. Unlike the first one, it didn’t feel like a shockwave of receding Gloom. No, this shockwave was introducing more Gloom into the town.

It was actively growing, expanding, pressing down on their lungs with double the malice of the first Demon Head.

Then silence.

"What the hell was that?" Valeria gasped, forcing herself up against the wall.

Astensia’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. She slowly turned her head toward the eastern outskirts of the town where the shockwave had come from.

"No," Astensia whispered, face pale. "No. It can’t be."

The students looked at each other with panicking gazes.

"What are you talking about?" Vernon urgently asked. "What can be?!"

Thor joined her fellow Heroine, peering into the distance. Her Hammer of Force began to sizzle lightning.

Miles away, tearing through the brief patch of clear sky, a blinding, colossal pillar of blood-red light pierced the heavens.

"There’s another one," Thor muttered. "Another Demon Head."

The students were all paralyzed with gut-wretching fear. Frieda let out a terrified sob, clutching Renan’s arm. Kaleb and Evander stared at the red sky in complete disbelief.

They had used every ultimate skill, most of their Grace, and every ounce of their physical strength just to survive the first one.

And now there’s another one?

KRAAAARRRRRR!

Then came the shrieks.

From the eastern streets, a terrifying, dissonant roar echoed through the ruins. A new swarm of Demons was pouring out from the red light.

They dragged thick clouds of miasma and blobs of rotting red energy behind them like chains. They snarled, clicked, and roared, an unstoppable tide of fresh horrors flooding into the town.

At that exact same moment, a different sound echoed from the south.

"For Humanity! For Humanity!"

Astensia’s head whipped around.

The Brigadiers and Kingdom Rangers had breached the gates. They thought the town was cleared and were charging at full speed, weapons raised in victory, running completely blind into a renewed, infinitely deadlier Demon Break.

Astensia’s eyes stretched wide with pure terror. With urgency and fear, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"RETREAT!!!!"