Arthur and Lywen keep exchanging blows while the King is attacked by all the nightmares. "Why are these nightmares only after me?" the King asks in frustration, slashing his lightning sword and obliterating several nightmares. Arthur slashes his black sword vertically, but Lywen blocks it, their blades clashing with a metallic ring. The rune nightmares launch a fire attack at the King, which he narrowly avoids with a desperate dodge.
"You're using fire in my realm?" Lywen says with a confident grin as the fire arcs toward Arthur.
"Every nightmare, stop using fire! Switch to wind, ice, and water!" Helios commands, his voice echoing with authority. The King charges toward Helios, but Arthur breaks off his fight with Lywen and intercepts him, their swords colliding with a jarring force.
"This is getting boring. Why don't we change the view?" Helios's dual voices echo throughout Lywen's realm. "Summon: Realm Manifestation!"
Lywen's realm begins to collapse, replaced by a dark void where broken structures float across a sky that swallows all light. In the centre sits a throne, shrouded by a heavy red curtain.
"Why does he have a Summon Realm?" Lywen asks, his face pale with shock.
"Welcome to my realm, gentlemen," Helios says, sitting regally on the throne behind the curtain. Shadowy hands begin to rise from the ground; all the nightmares they had previously slain are returning to life.
"We can do this. If we hold on, he might exhaust all his spiral energy," Lywen says, gritting his teeth.
"He's a Veilborn! They have nearly infinite energy!" the King snaps, his eyes darting around. "His realm might not affect us... we might survive this."
"I remember you forcing me to kneel. Why don't I show you what that feels like?" Helios says, his voice directed sharply at the King. "Kneel."
At his cold command, a crushing pressure descends. Everyone in the realm falls to their knees, including the nightmares.
"What is this pressure...? I can't even fight back," Lywen wheezes, struggling to breathe.
"This pressure... it feels like I'm carrying a mountain," the King groans, desperately trying to channel his spiral energy to offset the weight.
"You're already weak just from that?" Helios asks, his tone turning threatening. "Nightmare's Dream."
The King and Lywen fall into a trance. The King dreams of shadowy tentacles grabbing him, squeezing tighter and tighter, though his body keeps healing through the pain. Lywen dreams of an absolute darkness swallowing him, with whispers crawling into his ears telling him to give up.
"We thought they were going to be stronger," Helios and Orion's voices say in unison. "But they are weaker than expected."
Suddenly, Helios winces, clenching his head as memories of his childhood flood his mind.
"Helios, you should always take care of your siblings," his pregnant mother says in the vision, patting his head gently. "Even if you have to go against the world."
"Dad!" Helios shouts in the memory as a man opens the door.
"Helios, I thought you would be sleeping by now."
"No! I was talking to Mom about my sibling. We decided if it's a girl, her name will be Luna," Helios says with a wide, childish smile.
"What if your sibling is a boy?" his father asks, lifting him up.
"I don't want a brother!" Helios pouts.
"Is that so? You never know, maybe you will get a brother," his father laughs, putting him down.
"Why don't you go to sleep now?" his mother adds warmly.
"Good night, Mom and Dad!" Helios says happily.
As the memory fades, his parents whisper to each other. "What do you think? Should we go back?" his father asks.
"No, the Vaelthorne clan would kill me," his mother replies.
"Maybe they will forget all about your bloodline," his father says, holding her hand. Helios watches through the crack of the door, unseen.
The memories shift to Orion's past. He is a historian peering at a newly discovered stone.
"Boss, you should really get some sleep. That stone isn't going anywhere," a colleague says.
"Later. There's an interesting story here about a war that happened," Orion says, waving them off. He sighs, rubbing his golden eyes. "I should go visit my parents; they've been worried about me. The stories on this stone are just myths..." He tries to remember what he read, but the words remain blurry. "I can't remember it again..."
The memories snap shut. Helios starts coughing up blood as his realm begins to dissolve. His silver hair reverts to black, though his eyes remain a piercing gold and red.
The King and Lywen gasp for air as they are transported back to the crumbling palace.
"I'm too weak to stand up... Are we going to die like this?" the King asks, slumped against a pillar.
"Dying with you is the worst thing that could happen to me," Lywen mutters darkly.
"You're still angry about that?" the King asks with a regretful sigh.
"Yes! She was my crush, and you stole her from me!" Lywen snaps.
"It wasn't my fault. The royal family has a rule... we have to marry a distant cousin after two generations pass," the King explains.
"You could have chosen someone else to be the Queen!" Lywen snarls just as a rock crashes onto his legs.
"True, I could have. But she agreed... at least you found your wife after that," the King says weakly.
"I hate you with a burning passion, and now I'm going to die with you," Lywen says as a massive boulder falls toward them both.
The rock suddenly freezes in mid-air. Sara appears, rewinding time around the palace structure.
"You guys look like you need some help," Sara says in a teasing tone, a smirk playing on her lips.
"It seems we aren't going to die after all," Lywen sighs, closing his eyes in relief.
Using her time magic, Sara stabilizes the imperial palace. With the help of others, she carries Helios, Lywen, and the King to safety.
"Leader," Sara says, her voice softening with worry, "why do you always have to start fights with people stronger than you?"