Minutes passed.
Long, suffocating minutes.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The battlefield, once filled with chaos, explosions, and screams, had fallen into an eerie, unnatural silence. Smoke still lingered in the air, drifting lazily above shattered stone and broken streets. The ruins of Dichondra stood like a wounded giant, its pride reduced to ash and debris.
At the center of it all…
Helmond's body lay motionless.
Zagan had already been absorbed into him.
And yet—
Nothing.
No surge of power.
No awakening.
No sign of life.
Just stillness.
The Star of Phantom Craft, once a monstrous entity of writhing shadows and destruction, now floated silently in the distance—lifeless, suspended in the air like an abandoned weapon that had lost its master.
It no longer moved.
It no longer attacked.
It simply existed.
Useless.
Empty.
Leo stood there, unmoving, his eyes locked on Helmond's body.
"…It didn't work," he whispered.
No one answered.
Rein covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling as tears slowly formed in her eyes. Ethan clenched his fists, jaw tight, refusing to accept what he was seeing.
From above, Alice and Princess Katelyn descended from the rooftop, landing beside the group.
Katelyn's eyes widened as she saw Helmond lying on the ground.
"…No…" she whispered.
The realization spread through them all at once.
They had won the battle.
But lost something far more important.
Meanwhile… Inside Helmond's Mind
Darkness.
An endless void stretched in all directions, silent and infinite. There was no ground, no sky—only an empty space that seemed to exist beyond reality itself.
Helmond opened his eyes.
He stood alone.
"…So this is it," he muttered.
A slow, deliberate clap echoed behind him.
Helmond turned.
Zagan.
Sitting casually, one leg crossed over the other, his expression twisted with frustration and disbelief.
"You…" Zagan growled, rising to his feet. "You should be nothing."
Without warning, he lunged forward, his fist aimed directly at Helmond's face.
But—
The moment his strike reached him…
It stopped.
Completely.
As if reality itself refused to let it land.
Zagan's eyes widened.
"…What?"
Helmond didn't move.
Didn't react.
Didn't even flinch.
"You're inside me now," Helmond said calmly. "Did you really think you still had control?"
Zagan stepped back slowly, his expression shifting from anger… to something else.
Realization.
Helmond looked down at his own hands.
Power surged through him—different, deeper, more complete than anything he had ever felt before.
"I see now…" he murmured.
Then his gaze lifted.
Sharp.
Certain.
"There's only one thing left."
Zagan's expression hardened.
"Don't act like you understand anything!" he snapped. "You're nothing without me! You always were!"
Helmond stepped forward.
"No," he said quietly.
"We were meant to become one."
Zagan froze.
"You just couldn't accept it."
Silence filled the void.
"I am the ultimate creation of our creator," Helmond continued. "That was the purpose from the very beginning."
Zagan clenched his fists.
"You're not," he spat.
Helmond didn't hesitate.
"I was made to be the same as Kharous Raine… wasn't I?"
Zagan's eyes narrowed.
"And now," Helmond continued, his voice steady, "I'm here to take what our master gave to me."
"You?!"
Zagan's voice echoed with rage.
"You're nothing without me!" he roared. "All of you are nothing compared to our Master!"
Helmond stopped in front of him.
Close.
Unshaken.
"You're just weak," he said.
Zagan's expression froze.
"Weak enough that you couldn't even conquer this land…
Silence.
For the first time—
Zagan didn't respond.
His anger faded… replaced by something heavier.
Defeat.
Helmond exhaled slowly.
"…It's over."
Zagan's shoulders dropped.
His resistance… gone.
And in that moment—
He understood.
There was no escaping this.
No fighting it.
No winning.
Slowly… reluctantly…
Zagan closed his eyes.
"…Fine."
The darkness around them shifted.
Energy began to gather.
Zagan's form started to dissolve, breaking apart into shadow and power, flowing toward Helmond.
Helmond clenched his fists.
He knew what this meant.
He hated this.
But there was no other way.
To save everyone…
He had to complete what Kharous started.
"…I'll end it," he whispered.
And then—
Zagan fully merged into him.
Back to Reality
"Leo…"
Rein's voice trembled as she reached down toward Helmond's body.
Leo stepped forward, about to lift him—
Then—
A pulse.
A sudden surge of dark energy burst from Helmond's body.
Everyone froze.
Helmond's body slowly rose into the air.
"…What?" Ethan muttered.
Dark aura began to swirl violently around him, thick and overwhelming. The air itself grew heavy, pressing down on everyone like an invisible weight.
From the shadows—
Tentacles.
Dark, writhing tendrils wrapped around Helmond's entire body, lifting him higher into the sky.
Katelyn stepped back, her breath catching.
"…Is this… part of the plan?" she asked quietly.
Leo didn't answer.
But his eyes—
They didn't look afraid.
They looked… hopeful.
"It worked," he whispered.
Alice's eyes widened, a rare spark of excitement breaking through her composed demeanor.
"You actually did it," she said, almost in disbelief. "Leo… that plan…"
Rein's tears flowed freely now—but she was smiling.
"This is it…" she whispered. "He's coming back…"
Ethan said nothing.
He just watched.
Waiting.
The tension reached its peak—
And then—
BOOM.
The shadow cocoon exploded.
A shockwave of dark energy rippled outward, scattering smoke and debris across the battlefield.
For a moment—
Nothing could be seen.
Only darkness.
Then slowly…
The smoke began to fade.
And within it—
A figure.
Standing.
Silent.
Helmond.
But… different.
He was no longer the unrecognizable being they once knew.
He looked human.
Fully.
His form was refined, his presence overwhelming yet controlled. His face… familiar.
Leo's eyes widened.
"…Kharous…"
Not identical—but close enough to feel unsettling.
Same essence.
Different identity.
Helmond stepped forward.
Alive.
Behind him—
The Star of Phantom Craft stirred.
Still floating.
Still present.
But now—
Irrelevant.
Helmond glanced at it once.
That was all.
The ground beneath the creature began to crack.
Then—
Thousands of shadow spikes erupted from below, piercing through the monstrous entity from every direction.
The Star trembled violently.
Helmond raised his hand.
"…End."
The spikes exploded.
A massive detonation tore through the creature, completely obliterating it into fragments of darkness that dissolved into nothing.
Gone.
Completely.
Silence.
Then—
Relief.
"He's… not the enemy…" Katelyn whispered.
Helmond slowly descended to the ground.
He looked at them.
At all of them.
And smiled.
"I missed all of you."
That was it.
Leo rushed forward first.
Then Rein.
They hugged him tightly, saying nothing—because words weren't enough.
Ethan followed.
Alice.
Katelyn.
A group that had almost lost everything…
Now whole again.
"Thank you," Helmond said softly. "For saving me."
Leo closed his eyes, relief washing over him.
They had done it.
The tension finally broke.
Katelyn stepped forward, addressing them all.
"Thank you… for saving our land," she said sincerely.
But before she could finish—
Ethan pulled her closer.
And kissed her.
Right there.
In front of everyone.
She didn't resist.
Not even a little.
Alice blinked.
"…So after all that… this is what I missed?" she said.
Ethan scratched his head.
"It's not official yet…"
Katelyn stayed silent.
Which said everything.
Helmond smirked.
"…So you two aren't kissing?" he teased Leo and Rein.
Both froze.
Then immediately looked away, blushing.
Alice crossed her arms.
"Wait… so everyone here is a couple now?"
Helmond laughed.
Then Ethan.
Then everyone.
For the first time since the battle—
They laughed.
In the distance, the sound of marching echoed.
The Knights of Dichondra had arrived.
They moved through the ruins, searching for survivors, helping the wounded, carrying the fallen.
Despite the destruction…
The losses were fewer than expected.
But still—
Lives were lost.
The fallen were gathered, to be honored at the castle.
The people of Dichondra began rebuilding, helping one another, lifting debris, tending to the injured.
Life…
Slowly returned.
But not everything could be saved.
Prince Keane…
Was confirmed dead.
His body was found among the ruins.
Broken.
Used.
His organs were destroyed.
His mind… long gone.
A victim of Zagan's control.
And as the sun rose higher over the broken city…
Victory felt real.
But not complete.
Because somewhere out there—
Something far worse still existed.