​In the blink of an eye, with an incredible, near-imperceivable speed, the pillar of searing hot white fire swallowed the old man whole.

The torrent of elemental force did not stop there, continuing its devastating trajectory into the far horizon. The sheer, terrifying might of the attack made the sky and the entire surroundings immediately dim, as if the world's focus had narrowed entirely to this single, blinding column of absolute destruction.

​More than a mile below, Finn immediately reacted with subconscious instinct. He violently embodied his Crimson Fist Baboon to strengthen his body, repeatedly thumping his chest like a frenzied ape in response to the immense threat from above.

Usually, Finn could suppress the urge of the soul debt whenever he manifested the Baboon's power, but faced with the immense existential threat radiating from above, the thought of suppression didn't even cross his mind. In fact, it filled him with a semblance of false courage to at least stand his ground.

​But even his desperate manifestation of power was not enough.

​Despite the distance from the pillar of fire, Finn still felt the intense thermal radiation crinkle and char his skin. The ambient temperature had risen to furnace-hot levels, making Finn wonder what would have happened if he hadn't embodied his Crimson Fist Baboon in time, as even with the embodiment, he still took damage from the peripheral effects of the attack.

Just as the thought flickered through his mind, a substantial force suddenly slammed into him, taking him off guard.

Immediately, in his tense state, his immediate response was panic, followed quickly by the primal urge to fight back at what had slammed into him, but when his nose registered the Micah's familiar musk and he felt the familiar texture of Freddy's shadowy form, his tension eased slightly. He realized he had been lifted off the ground, and was now airborne.

Squinting against the harsh, bright-white glare that still shone down from the sky, he looked beside him, spotting Althea and Yvonne. In front, Micah had taken charge, and was using Freddy's terrifying speed to rapidly increase the distance between them and the aerial duel, prioritizing their survival.

​Slowly, the bright white light of the red dragon's flames rapidly subsided, fading to a flickering orange inferno. The Ossuarists instantly looked up to see the colossal beast closing its maw, and a visible plume of superheated steam venting from its nostrils. It seemed the attack was over… at last.

​But before Finn even directed his gaze toward the old man's last position, his eyes were drawn to the carnage below. All around them, the surrounding foliage that had survived the initial destruction of the void had now combusted. The remaining trees and the entire landscape was cast in an apocalyptic orange glow as fires raged from the peripheral heat of the red dragon's attack.

There's no way the old man could've survived that… Finn thought grimly and looked up, but still held onto a small tinge of hope that he was wrong, considering the fact that the old man — Preceptor Elias, was actually on their side. He was the only wall standing against the monolithic power of the Queen, fighting for his and Althea's freedom.

Finn had held on to that small flicker of hope, but as he looked up, he was still utterly unprepared for the sight that met his eyes when the white residual flames in the air fully cleared.

​Right there, still poised in the same spot in the air, standing on his exquisitely crafted, floating sword, was the old man. His heavy robe was singed and charred at the edges with burn marks from the dragon's flame, yet it still fluttered gently in the wind.

He slowly retracted the weathered, rusty-looking sword — Cruor Mortis, in a seamless, fluid display, pulling it back from the vertical cutting motion his hands were outstretched in, before breathing out softly to stabilize himself.

How the hell did he survive that?! Finn's eyes were wide in shock as he struggled to comprehend the feat that had just been displayed.

But then he suddenly registered a crucial detail. Far, far in the distance, where the pillar of bright flames had continued its trajectory, the entirety of its mass slowly separated into two equal halves that continued to spread further and further apart as they continued to travel farther into the distance.

Finn immediately sucked in a cold breath. ​What the hell?! Did this man just slice a literal pillar of flame in half?!!

The fact was doubly shocking when one considered that this wasn't just any flame, but a flame from the attack of an Archon-level ranked beast — A live, breathing Calamity-grade Red Dragon.

But while Finn was shocked, the two parties in question seemed unperturbed, as if that was simply an opening round just to feel each other out.

"Elias. You truly intend to see this to the end?" The Queen frowned for the very first time. She stared at the old man pensively, exchanging deep meaning with her eyes, meaning that couldn't be passed on with words openly.

Preceptor Elias sighed softly and looked at the Queen with clear eyes that conveyed a firm, unshakeable conviction, free of personal motive and intention. "Undying Flame. As long as I stand, I shall see this to the very end," he deadpanned, holding the Cruor Mortis in a fight-ready position.

The Queen regarded him silently for a moment, before casting her gaze directly towards Finn and Althea in the distance.

"Your conviction only solidifies their value. I must know the truth these two hold about this anomaly that has forced the Ossuary to react so strongly against my authority," the Queen declared with a firm voice. And for a moment, it looked as if another round of attack was about to begin, but then she continued:

"Yet, it is also your conviction that assures me of the immense cost securing them would require."

To Finn's surprise, the Queen retracted her gaze, and along with it, her immense aura that suffused the surroundings the whole time.

"—The collateral damage you are prepared to wreak upon my realm, and the resultant destruction of my subjects' lives, exceeds the limits I am willing to bear," she finished with a calm, analyzing tone.

Finn glanced at the distance opposite himself, where the remaining half of Woodhaven town that hadn't been devoured by the void earlier, remained standing. Despite being beneath the direct trajectory of the red dragon's earlier fire attack, the town still remained standing, contrasting harshly against the flames that raged on just outside its edges.

Within the town, the remaining survivors were still alive, and without the slightest trace of burn injuries too.

It seemed that even while attacking, the Queen had been conscious enough to prevent the red dragon from causing harm to her subjects. The act made Finn see her in a slightly better light. He still did not have much goodwill towards her, seeing as her intentions to whisk him and Althea away for intense questioning was made clear for all to see. But her care towards her subjects improved her image in Finn's eyes just a little.

It also made her 'concession' more understandable. From the earlier exchange between her and Preceptor Elias, even though she had the upper hand, the gap between the strength they had displayed was not too vast.

But that was going by that single exchange. Extrapolating a fight of a scale greater than that… then the Queen's words made even more sense. If Preceptor Elias was truly cornered, the amount of havoc he could wreak would be devastating.

It was all a game of weighing costs and benefits, pros and cons… And Preceptor Elias himself seemed to understand that.

With a small smile on his face, he dispersed the Cruor Mortis back into his shadow and acknowledged the Queen with a curt, thankful nod for the peaceful resolution she had chosen.

"But there must be a condition for this," he concluded with a small smile, "state them before this willing old man and he will do his best to fulfil them."

"A reasonable assumption," the Queen replied stoically. She did not return the old man's smile, but instead regarded him with a look that stripped away all false formalities.

"My condition is one of temporary truce and equal access." The Queen held up a single finger, as if she was laying down a decree:

"You will escort the two subjects to one of the territorially neutral islands at the edge of Aethelos' western border. There, I will send a single, trusted emissary to receive their truthful and faithful account of everything regarding this… anomaly," she cast her gaze to the clean circle the black void had 'chomped' off the terrain.

"A sound proposal, Undying Flame. Your terms are logical, your concern for your subjects is remarkable, and the request for information is just," Preceptor Elias replied, giving a curt, respectful bow from where he stood on his floating sword. "The condition is accepted."

The Queen acknowledged his assent with a nod, before her calm, analyzing tone immediately hardened, shedding the air of diplomacy it previously had.

"But let this be understood, Elias. This truce should not be regarded as an opportunity for the Ossuary. Should any betrayal, misdirection, or deliberate falsification of the two subjects' account be detected by my emissary, the consequences will be dire."

Her eyes turned cold and hard as she stared the old man dead in the eye, speaking with a tone that assured him of the truth of her words. "You will understand that you have signed the death warrant of the entire Ossuary within Aethelos. I will not hesitate to cleanse every last trace of your kind from my continent, swiftly and completely."

The red dragon she stood on growled, rising higher in the air with every of her words. The movement of its massive body added to the pensive weight and tense promise of her unveiled threat.

"Do not make the mistake to think the protection of Aethelos from chaos breaches and chaotic soul mass outbreaks depends solely on the Ossuary. Remember that even the Royal family has its own internally bred Ossuarists — loyalists who will unhesitatingly step in to handle such outbreaks in your stead."

She raised her chin, and her immense, terrifying aura briefly flared one last time, making her look not just like a ruler, but like the personification of the state of Aethelos itself.

With that last, warning threat, the Queen gave a final, decisive wave of her hand, and immediately, the red dragon turned its colossal head, and with a powerful beat of its wings, ascended toward the hazy horizon in the blink of an eye, leaving the smoking battlefield and the stunned Ossuarists behind…

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