His vision returned to the real realm, outside of his core. It was jarring at first, proven by his blurry eyes and his waning mental focus.

Though even he knew how messed up the current situation turned out to be.

The moment his senses returned to him, the air felt stifled, and the land shooked constantly all around him. The otherworlders behind him made so much noise that it hurt his sensitive hearing, and the people around him were just as bad.

"Zeke!" A blurry voice called out his name. "Zeke! Are you okay?! Talk to me!"

He knew that voice no matter how distorted it was. His eyes still couldn't focus well, but he would be remiss to not be able to notice the woman he loved.

Huh… That was the first time he ever admitted to being in love with her.

Mikella looked frazzled and he had no idea why that was. He glanced to his side to find Saang and Kote messing with some canisters Lyle showed him. Around them were perhaps dozens of empty glass bottles, each one dripping with a clear blue liquid substance that shimmered from the available light.

Farther away, he noticed Lyle carrying the lethargic Janet. Her eyes were exhausted, and she looked pale, her cheeks sunk in slightly. Mana burns, similar to his own, were covering a bit of her exposed skin. Lyle was currently pouring a small vial down her mouth as gently as he could, the liquid content being more potent in energy compared to the rest. Zeke didn't blame him for using his more improved and limited concoctions for himself and Janet. He would do the same.

Before getting into it further, his clearing vision now became riddled with red, and something kept pouring out of him. At first, he thought it was just sweat, but the smell of copper in his mouth along with the aching head of his proved that it was way worse.

His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were bleeding profusely. Trickles of blood kept pouring out of him, a sort of pain that became more severe as seconds went on. Was that actually what Saang and Kote were trying to do? He could barely feel any pain.

The fact that he can barely feel it meant that he was really messed up, physically and mentally. The entire process took too much out of him, and apparently from everyone else too. Mikella was the only one trying to bring him back to life, and it was thanks to her that he managed to get the best of his senses.

"Zeke!" She called out again before another shake occurred. He couldn't see what was going on, but the fighting was probably getting worse.

"I… I'm here," Zeke answered, finally letting Mikella relax her expression.

"Thank god… what happened? Did it work?"

It was a simple question, something that she was clearly waiting for. Without really thinking, he smiled with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

"Yeah… it did."

Without waiting for it, Zeke raised his arms, surprising the others as his palm faced the fake sky, his fingers splayed out.

His body was weak. His mind turned muddy and feeble. But his soul burned to activate it. Sparks, not made by electricity, but from concentrated bits of mana spiraled from his chest to his arms, then finally to the palm of his hands.

The skill was refusing to activate. It was too new, too raw to be activated so soon, and with so little resources to draw on.

But Zeke made the skill. He was its creator. If he wished, he could force the skill to activate even at the cost of his life energy.

At least, enough to get the skill to work with all of his heart and soul poured into his words.

"Mithril Bastion!"

An hexagonal shape first appeared above his hand. Then several more interlocked with the first as they appeared one by one, covering a wide distance.

The barrier lifted itself up as it spread out, slowly but surely covering the entire field where they stood. Everyone finally clammed up as they watched the spectacle of the newly borned skill activating for the first time.

It completely covered the group right to the bottom of their feet, somehow ignoring everyone standing on the ground, filling out the field neatly. A sense of fulfillment washed over Zeke.

He was home. He knew it was just his spell, but he felt as though he returned to his old home after getting evicted by a grouchy old man. But now it turned into a grand mansion with security detail already out and about, awaiting his next orders.

Everyone else felt the same level of calm and security coming from the barrier. Some even knelt to the ground, unable to hold back their tears of knowing that they will be safe. Even Mikella couldn't help but shed a tear before wiping it away, smiling broadly.

"Wow… it's beautiful," She said in awe, looking over at the barrier. "This is nothing like the barrier from before. It's… better."

Zeke agreed wholeheartedly. Putting aside the difference in their stages, this felt like an upgrade that could trounce Cronus' high level Barrier Craft.

The barrier had a turquoise sheen to it, yet it also had that ivory coloring over it, proving that the material woven into the barrier was not just magical in nature–it had the element of mythril within it. A metal that supposedly was lost ages ago in Tarial.

Either way, seeing it in its full splendor brought Zeke to finally give in to his exhaustion. He fell, only to be caught by the fast Mikella.

"Hahaha… Hahahahaha!" Despite his exhaustion, a maniacal laugh bubbled from his lips. "Take that, Cronus. You fucker… I got my barrier back. I… I got my barrier back!"

He shouted, roared even, at the sky. His eyes were glazed and his body aching. But his soul roared in triumph at his accomplishment.

He was never able to pull this off without everyone nearly wasting themselves away to save him, but he recognized that all of this was still his own handiwork. That was something he can be proud of, and perhaps something that even Cronus had to admit defeat to.

His mind wandered away as he kept staring at the barrier he made. It was so beautiful.

Though it still paled in comparison to the woman carrying him in her arms.

…..

"Hey, is he okay? He's laughing like a maniac."

One of the otherworlders pointed out, turning out to be Mark who watched with concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Mikella said with a slight chuckle. Meanwhile, Zeke was giggling like a true maniac to himself while staring at the barrier above.

She can't blame him for feeling ecstatic. Even she felt a tear coming out of her eyes when she saw the barrier back. Basking in its secure atmosphere once again felt like too much time had passed.

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She knew relying on his barrier like this was bad for her development, but it was different. After fighting for so long without any protection from his barrier, she realized that what she lost wasn't some convenient shield to hide behind.

She lost her home, a place to go back to feel safe and secure. Even if her body was ripped to pieces, almost on the verge of death–as long as she can return back to this barrier to recover, she can go and fight again and again.

She was certain everyone could agree that this was alright. So everyone let Zeke have his little glory while giggling like a schoolgirl who had her crush talk to her.

"It's beautiful…" Kote's voice pulled her out of her musings. She looked back to see the man staring at the hexagonal tessellation of the barrier. His eyes glowed as though he was staring at the constellation of the stars. "It feels so solid, and there's something compact holding it together, carrying a meaning far beyond my own understanding…"

"Saang," Mikella called out to the woman who was also staring in wonder. "Can you keep an eye on Zeke? I wanna check our surroundings."

"O-Oh, yeah!" Saang nodded, prompting her to jab an elbow to Kote who yipped in surprise. "Stop drooling and let's help Zeke."

Rather than get offended, he quickly went over to Zeke who looked ready to fall over anytime soon. She wanted to help him, but she had to focus on the other downed person by their side.

"How's Janet doing?" She asked after turning to find Lyle brushing Janet's wet and matted hair aside from her sweaty face. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing rampantly.

She felt a bit hesitant to ask. After all, Zeke was the one that put her in that position in the first place.

"She'll be fine," Lyle answered softly. He wasn't joking as usual, so this was putting Mikella on edge a little. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not angry or anything."

"You have every reason to," Mikella asked to be sure, but Lyle shook his head with a smirk.

"You think Janet would feel the same? She'd probably be ecstatic that she helped everyone survive thanks to Zeke. Knowing that, I can't help but agree. Besides, we both know how hard Zeke fought to get this barrier working. Didn't you see him? I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep after seeing him lose that much blood…"

Mikella tried to shake off what he just said, but the image of Zeke bleeding from every hole on his face was enough to prove his point. He expended so much mana that his body couldn't keep up, yet he still kept pushing.

And now, they were surrounded by a powerful barrier that, despite the outside chaos still occurring–the barrier hasn't even shifted at all.

It was a strange feeling. She knew the ground was still shaking like an earthquake with a high magnitude, but she still felt stable, standing perfectly still. Even the air outside was becoming harder to look at, what with all the trees surrounding them breaking apart one by one as the battle between two powerful monsters continued to persist.

"A-Are we… back home?" A small voice echoed, surprising Lyle and Mikella to see Janet's eyes flickering.

"Janet!" Mikella knelt to her side, smiling. "You're awake! How do you feel? Is anything off?"

"Ugh… My head is aching so much, but I'm fine…" Janet shifted beneath Lyle's lap, making herself comfortable. She moaned a little as though she was right at her bed. Mikella almost chortled thinking that perhaps Janet did think she was home after her next words. "Did we get out of that horrible place?"

"No, we're still in the most dangerous place we have ever been in our entire lives," Lyle answered as smooth as butter, causing Janet's eyes to widen.

"W-What? But…"

"The barrier worked," Mikella rolled her eyes. Looks like Lyle's back to normal after seeing Janet. "You did good. Zeke took care of that."

Taking another look around, Janet instantly pushed herself off of the chuckling Lyle as she looked around. Her eyes widened at the majesty of the barrier around.

"T-This is Zeke's barrier? It's so powerful…"

However, her words died off when she watched the scene from the outside. Everyone else did the same as Mikella turned around to find Cerulean still battling the knight.

Despite the situation occurring here, it was as though the battle continued its constant draw. The knight continued to use its spiritual dragon heads to attack Cerulean, only to be deflected back multiple times by Cerulean's sword. Whatever it was, it exceeded any equipment Mikella has owned so far by several degrees.

Then it was as if the knight heard a snap of a finger, turning directly towards the group. Its fiery eyes glowed brighter, as though in rage. It roared with its ethereal voice and suddenly flew right towards them, ignoring Cerulean entirely.

Looking shocked herself, Cerulean looked over to the dome that covered the group, while the inside saw the charging knight and reacted properly.

"Oh god, it's gonna kill us all!"

One otherworlder screamed as the knight seemed to be pulled straight at them with vigor, the flames of the nearby dragon heads somehow pooling behind the knight and giving it a boost. Mikella paled as it came straight for them, but despite all this, Zeke only smiled.

"Hahaha…" Zeke chortled, staring at the knight with wide, almost manic eyes. "Bring it on! Bring it on! I'll take everything you throw at me!"

"Zeke!"

Mikella screamed, trying to pick up the destabilized Zeke–but it was too late. The knight winded its arm up and punched at the dome with all of its might.

The force of it was like a nuclear strike. It blew apart everything else around the dome as the punch dug deep into the Mythril Bastion. The force even brought the area inside the dome to shake from the force, as though something other than kinetic energy passed through. She realized, just a little too late, that the knight surrounded its fist with the Barrier Craft skill. However, even as the force was practically pushing Mikella down to the ground from the sheer weight of it, Zeke didn't budge.

Gritting his teeth, Zeke screamed. "You got nothing on me!"

Mana-filled sparks coiled around the barrier, as though it was collecting something from the force of the knight. Zeke thrusted out one hand, the skin beginning to burn and turn alight with blue flame, much like the liquid-like flame his giant form produced. It scathed, bleeding in places that should've been painful, but Zeke grinned wildly as he balled his flaking, bleeding and burning hand into a fist and punched at the knight.

"You got nothing! On! Me!"

The sparks coiled and gathered, beginning to form right where the knight was. As the glow of the Mithril Bastion became brighter, the knight's own body began to glow with the same turquoise sheen. It roared in defiance, but in the end, it was blasted away with a force equal to, or perhaps even greater than its own.

Its body began to moan, the arm that punched at the dome becoming a wreck of metal and bits. Its once clean obsidian surface began crumbling, showing cracks from the intense damage done to it. Even its own Barrier Craft cracked and broke apart into shards of magic dispersed into the air.

Everyone in the dome could only watch in awe as the knight flew right to the sky and was sliced in the back by none other than Cerulean herself.

Taking her chance, her glowing sword struck the knight from top to bottom in the air, a manic grin on her own face. The knight roared in pain, holding its body in place with its crumbling arms.

"What now, huh?" Cerulean said, flying towards the front of the knight and brandishing her sword at it. "Just stay still and–"

Before she could finish her words, the knight roared one final time, speaking in its ethereal voice.

Cheaters… will be… punished!

Then, it just vanished. Its body became encased in bright light before it dispersed itself into thin air. Everyone, including Cerulean herself, watched at the area where the knight once was, befuddled.

"...Well. Shit."

Cerulean commented and sheathed her sword. There was a disappointed look on her face, mixed in with surprise but also somehow expected it.

"I knew the thing had some sort of hold over some great power, but to think it can just escape like that… huh."

She commented to herself, but then realized the obvious as she took a look around. The entire dungeon was beginning to shake, and even the fake sky above was beginning to crack apart like spiderwebs. Her eyes widened as though she only just saw it right now. She grimaced as she flew straight down to the front of the dome, facing the group inside with a mild look of guilt.

"Umm… we should probably get out of here," Cerulean said, trying to pull off a sweet smile. "Don't worry, this was totally on purpose. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get you guys out of here."

Mikela can smell the bullshit from a mile away, but she didn't care. She looked over at Zeke who was now worse for wear than before. His face was pale, his body was bleeding–again–and his fist was a mess. His eyes were now glazed with his pupils going straight up to reveal the white of his eyes.

"Oof, I'm betting he's the one that made the barrier, right?" Cerulean watched the poor wretched look on Zeke and nodded. "Impressive, especially since it's covering the entire group. It'll be way easier for me then!"

Then she had her hand put on the dome, and it felt like an entire claw grabbed hold of the entire dome in Mikella's senses. It felt like magic, but it was something more than that. Whatever this was, it was definitely not within the system's normal parameters.

Then, with a smile, Cerulean said.

"Mission accomplished! Hehe, Dad's gonna be so impressed after this."

Then, just like with the knight, Cerulean and the dome vanished, bringing all of its inhabitants with her as the entire dungeon soon collapsed onto itself.

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