What happened for Krahinn to look this tired? I wondered to myself. Krahinn looked disheveled and exhausted for once, in a way distinctly different than when he just wasn't sleeping.

"A lot." Krahinn informed me with a heavy sigh. He was mind reading again to save time, which was not a good sign.

"Is Nautilus okay?" Helga inquired immediately, looking quite upset.

"Relatively, yes." Krahinn answered her. Seeing how deflated Krahinn looked made that statement bone-chilling. Who is not fine?

"What do you mean, relatively?" Helga probed. By her face she was clearly uneasy by his answer. Hoggdin looked a bit alarmed by the state of Krahinn.

"She might have some scars, her wounds are not closing as fast as she wants, and her spine is probably going to be sore for a while. Other than that, Nautilus is fine." Krahinn explained. The worst part was what he didn't say; from his tone and just something about how he said it implied 'she's at least alive'.

"King Krahinn, are you okay?" Hoggdin asked in an excessively polite tone. Hoggdin seemed unsettled by the state of Krahinn.

"Physically speaking." Krahinn replied. Krahinn's reluctance to elaborate was speaking way louder than he probably realized.

"Is… Nil… fine?" I inquired. Krahinn sighed as he looked at me, clearly thinking of how to phrase his answer.

"Define fine." Krahinn requested as he rubbed the bridge of his beak. Riva and Ein were clearly beginning to pick up on the dread in the air as they now looked scared.

"Why are you requesting that?" I probed, dreading whatever words were about to leave his mouth.

"Because the answer coming to mind is not going to make anything better; I'm trying to think of how to phrase and handle this." Krahinn confessed. What was this? Something finally clicked in my mind.

Who died? I asked him mentally. The shame in Krahinn's face let me know I was unfortunately correct. Helga seemed to reach the same conclusion I did; Hoggdin might've known immediately from Krahinn's demeanor.

"Just, be ready when we step through the <Portal>." Krahinn warned us as he made the new one. His tone sounded so crushed and defeated.

"Thank you for all of your help, Sovereign Hoggdin." Helga thanked him with a polite bow before all but shoving Ein and Riva through the portal.

"We appreciate your assistance, Sovereign Hoggdin." I added on as I bowed and sprinted for the <Portal>.

"Thanks, Hoggdin." Krahinn sighed as he followed us through the <Portal>.

The first thing that hit me was the smell; the pungent stench of <Ichor> hit my nose before I could even make it all the way through the <Portal>. The second was the underlying scent of smoldering buildings and ash just clinging to the air. I stepped into Umbra, seeing the nearby buildings looked scorched. Krahinn dropped us in front of the castle, just outside the protective ward. I did a few quick turns to see that Umbra had extensive damage from what looked like the city being lit on fire, with plumes of smoke billowing from a few smoldering piles. We all moved inside the castle, with Helga all but dragging Ein and Riva behind her. We rapidly navigated towards the middle floors, quickly reached the dining room the family typically went in. I saw a disheveled Nil, looking completely broken as he was just slumped in the chair. His eyes lit up with recognition when he saw me, but I could tell by how his body twitched he could barely move. I rushed to his side, giving him a hug, which Nil leaned into the best he could. With a quick glance I saw Emperor Azzeck and Empress Senna which was a relief. I saw Nautilus crushing the life out of Helga with a hug. Riva and Ein ran over to their parents. Where was Dad?

"Where's my dad?" I asked immediately upon realizing I hadn't seen him yet. I could feel warmth from Nil's <Arcane Eyes>, which could not be a good sign. I looked at him, realizing Nil likely was barely able to see. His pupil's look similar to after he fought the <Etzkal Nightbeast>.

"Inspecting the extent of the damage. He's safe." Emperor Azzeck answered, sounding like he was choking tears.

Emperor Father Nil, Empress Mother Poam, or Prince Nox are likely dead at minimum. Just from the state of Emperor Azzeck I suspected one of those three was not alive. Maybe more than one. Krahinn slumped in a chair, looking so guilty. Is Nez okay? Wait, Krahinn was friends with Emperor Father Nil too. Forl. I still wasn't sure if Nez was fine, but I think I knew at least part of the answer. I dreaded probing just how bad it went; I needed to know unfortunately. I could feel Nil's despair as he was near motionless next to me. What were the chances Emperor Father Nil and Prince Nox were both dead? From the air in the room, I imagined both were not alive anymore. I needed to verify despite how much I dreaded the answer.

"Is Nez okay?" I checked, holding Nil's head close to me.

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"Physically." Empress Senna said softly. Oh. It was indeed both of them.

"Come on Nil, let's go." I prodded him. Nil remained still, not moving a muscle.

"He may not be able to move on his own, the False Immortal's Serum might be starting to leave his system." Krahinn stated in a dejected tone.

I helped Nil stand, seeing how creaky and stiff his motion was. Lords above, Nil's movement was so rigid. The wisps of <Mana> he had recovered were feeling around us, confirming my theory that he was going to be nearly or completely blind once the False Immortal's Serum wore off for a bit. I am unsure how long that is going to last this time. It was ten days last time; this time I imagined it might be a bit longer. Nil was staggering along at a slow pace, beginning to lean heavier on me the longer we walked. Tears were slowly falling from his eyes as we walked while he seemed so deflated. I'm sorry Nil, I'm sorry I couldn't do more. What happened? Was Ryker's army that devastating? I felt there was more to it than that; there was some barb from Lord Nyx that I was unaware of. Part of me wanted to learn more about it, but I imagined that it was going to take some time to learn it all. Nil and I walked in silence until we reached the staircase where Nil couldn't lift his leg high enough to go up a single step. I put Nil up onto my back, carrying him up the staircase.

Now that I was carrying him, I could gently sense his <Mana Channels> and how bad parts of his body were shaking. Holy shiza his body is in awful shape; how was Nil even moving around? False Immortal's Serum must've performed some miracle to keep his body even functional. Nil was going to be in some nightmarish shape, wasn't he? I felt small droplets on me from his tears hitting me. I kept carrying him in silence, wondering what I should do. What could I say? What should I say? Two of Nil's family just died. Grief destroyed him last time; Nil doesn't handle grief well at all from what I remember. What happened? There was this dark pit in my stomach as I carried Nil up the stairs, an inky dread clung to me with each step I took. We reached Nil's floor where I set him back down, allowing him to shuffle next to me as we moved towards his room. It took over fifteen minutes to walk the short distance from the stairs to his room as we moved at a crawling pace.

I sat at the top of Nil's bed, letting him curl into me as he began whimpering into me. His body wasn't moving as I heard him try to cry. Nil slowly moved his arms to hold himself into me as he clearly began breaking down. I held him close, gently stroking his hair. What could I possibly say to Nil? Currently I was just here for him, wishing I was able to do more. I could feel his body deteriorating as I held him, his body shaking and feeling creaky as the False Immortal's Serum began wearing off more and more. Nil made incoherent noises as he bawled uncontrollably into me, crying harder as time went on. I kept petting his head, trying to assure him. I silently held him, wondering what I could possibly do to help him. Emperor Father Nil and Prince Nox both died in this.

"I'm so sorry this happened Nil." I told him weakly.

It just hurts. It hurts. Nil cried at me mentally.

"I'm sorry I can't do more." I whispered to Nil, holding his head tight.

They… they're… I couldn't… Nil stammered, struggling to articulate his emotions.

"It's okay, Nil. You don't have to articulate it today. You can let it out; you don't have to act like you're fine. I'm here for you Nil." I assured him. Nil's body began spasming as he made an incoherent screech.

"Nil?! Nil?! Are you okay?!" I asked, not understanding what I was seeing.

Pain. Nil managed to squeak out. False Immortal's Serum seemed to be fully wearing off; I guess we were about to see what happened when it wore off.

"I'm so sorry Nil. Does my <Magic> make it better?" I offered, slowly covering him with <Mana> and trying to heal his body a bit. It was likely trying to put out a raging inferno by spitting on it.

Lit. Was all Nil could manage to respond. His body was convulsing involuntarily as he was trying to scream, but no sound was coming out. I held Nil tighter, stroking his hair as delicately as I could.

"It's okay Nil. It's okay. It will get better." I assured him, trying to alleviate the agony he was in.

Nil contorted and convulsed at unnatural angles as I heard unsettling clicks and cracks emanating from him. He shot up, looking towards me desperately; I recognized the look in his pupils. Nil's currently blind again. I caressed his face so he knew where I was, as his joints flexed and cracked at angles that had to be excruciating while his body seemed to revolt against itself. Nil was silently howling in agony, his voice refusing to come out from how much pain he was in. Nil's face was twisted in grief and anguish while he tried to settle into me, but that wasn't happening as his body refused to cooperate. His spine began curling back which caused Nil to look to be in the most pain yet. He clearly was trying to cry, to express his pain, but absolutely had no method of expressing that sensation. I tried soothing his pain, desperately trying to alleviate what he was experiencing. Something occurred to me while I was caressing Nil's face, my hand was feeling hot. Shiza, that's his <Arcane Eye>.

The flesh around his eyes was burning from how hot his <Arcane Eye> was. I immediately used my <Mana> to cool his eyes and heal them as best I could, trying to stop them from scorching his eye sockets more. Why were they heating up this much now? Unless False Immortal's Serum suppressed the reaction and this was simply how far Nil pushed himself passed his limits. Did False Immortal's Serum seriously let Nil go this far? I had nearly all my <Mana>, and his <Arcane Eye> was devouring it to keep them cool enough not to burn him. Nil's body kept creaking and snapping at unnatural angles as he kept trying to wail in pain, the entire time with his eyes attempting to sear his flesh. Do I have enough <Mana>? Lords above Nil went way further than I realized. I suspected that False Immortal's Serum would let him push it and might have some unpleasant side effects, but this was well beyond what I expected. How did Nil push his body this far? I think he might have broken his fingers from how drastically they bent from his body convulsing. Krahinn appeared in the room, gave me several <Mana> recovery potions, and vanished without saying a word. Gee, thanks Krahinn. I kept cooling his <Arcane Eye> with one hand and began drinking the awful potion with the other. How long was this going to last? How long was Nil's body going forcefully twist itself like this? Nil's eyes felt even hotter as I felt like I was battling a raging inferno.

"This will pass, Nil." I tried assuring him. I hated seeing Nil like this, there had to be more I could do. I held him, trying to comfort him as I battled the heat emitting from his <Arcane Eye>. Please Nil, please stop hurting. I just wanted his pain to stop.

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