Keilia's breath came in broken pieces as she ran — each step heavier than the last. She wasn't running back because she thought she could win. She knew what was waiting.
She ran anyway.
She threw everything she had left around Ice — not just a physical barrier, but something built from love and absolute despair, the kind that doesn't ask permission.
One last look at him.
A look so heavy with grief it would stay with the boy forever.
Then she turned and ran into the slaughter.
On the other side of the mountain, Naz stood like something that hadn't decided whether it was still a man or had become something else.
His hand was behind his back, holding golden energy that burned the air around it.
He stopped the enemy with words that came out cold and certain:
"No one can stop me now. I fight alone. And I will erase every single one of you."
He raised his hand toward the sky.
A golden sphere exploded outward — swelling, expanding, becoming something that looked like a second sun hanging over cursed Java Land. It wasn't just energy. It felt alive.
A deep voice rumbled from inside that golden light:
"You called me to this miserable place again?"
Naz answered without looking up: "We'll discuss it later."
The dragon took form amid the sparks, its roar shaking the ground:
"Let's deal with these wretches first — then I'll settle accounts with you!"
With the dragon's breath, the earth beneath the enemies began to crack and crumble.
Meanwhile, Keilia was still running — but a dark voice had begun to stir in the deepest part of her:
"Release me, Keilia… release me."
She stumbled, terrified.
"Who are you?"
The voice came back like something ancient waking up:
"I am Zeus… have you forgotten me?"
Her hands shook. Whatever composure she had left shattered as the voice roared:
"Let me out! I can feel my brother's power — Zis — pulsing somewhere in this world."