I watched Sethrak's memories to the very end of her tragic story. Most of it was just as the fragmented images carved into the ruin walls had depicted;

but the memories brought with them the raw, unfiltered pain and hatred that the pictures could not show.

It was not pleasant to watch someone, especially a child, live such a life.

Especially a life that ended in failure, one that did not even fully achieve its goal on the path of vengeance, a path born from that bottomless hatred...

I did not find it right, her annihilation of tens of thousands of innocent lives in the name of her personal revenge.

But still, after seeing those memories, I felt a deep understanding for Sethrak. Especially after everything she had lived through... Most likely, if I one day found that so called "family" that abandoned me, I would want to kill them just as mercilessly.

These were my thoughts as I looked at the girl lying before me, now cleansed of the curse, naked and vulnerable.

She looked completely human now; that canine like face had given way to weary but human features.

I had lifted her curse. Now, it was a matter of waiting for her soul to recover from that deep trauma.

When I turned around, I saw that Fredrinn had already placed that new, blue ruin stone into his chest.

He had withdrawn to the side, sitting with his eyes closed, trying to digest his newly acquired power and rest.

I could not blame him. He had almost single handedly defeated Sethrak while she was in that Berserker mode. It was an incredible display of power.

On the other side, my loyal guardian Zagna stood firm like a giant statue, its black eyes watching me.

It had stood guard for us throughout this entire spiritual journey and rest.

I pulled a simple blanket from my dimensional portal and wrapped it around Sethrak's new form, or whoever her new personality now was. I stood up and turned to Fredrinn, who still had his eyes closed.

"Hey, Fredrinn! How much longer are you going to rest there? Come on, get us out of this cursed dimension."

Fredrinn did not answer, as if in a deep sleep.

"Fredrinn?" I called out, baffled. Had he seriously fallen asleep in this ominous place? Or did he faint?

I quickly approached him. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Fredrinn! Hey, Fredrinn, wake up! You idiot, wake up! You're worrying me!"

I even gave his face a light slap, but he gave no reaction. His pulse was there, and his body was not even injured. I grabbed his collar, continuing to shake him more roughly.

Suddenly, Fredrinn's hand shot out and grabbed my arm like a steel vise. His eyes widened in panic, his face breaking out in a cold sweat.

"THEY ARE COMING!"

"They are coming? What do you mean?" I asked, confused. But before I could finish my sentence, seven dark, tear like portals appeared within the ruin.

My eyes trembled as I looked at those ominous portals. This... this was not a good sign. Not at all.

"Zagna! Take the girl and get over here!" I shouted. Zagna gently scooped up the blanket wrapped Sethrak with its massive hand and instantly appeared at my side.

I turned to Fredrinn. "Can you get us out of here?"

"I can't!" he said, his voice tense. "Someone... someone is sealing the dimension, blocking the exit!"

I took my katana in hand and gripped it. I was on edge, ready to enter a fight at any moment.

The portals grew larger and larger. Then, the first figures began to emerge from the portals. One person from each portal. Seven people in total.

A strange, humanoid monster made entirely of tangled branches and thorny vines. As soon as it entered the room, it began to spread its limbs, those vines, throughout the chamber.

Another was a man who looked normal, but the place where his eyes should have been was covered with a bloody bandage. He held a pitch black, leather bound book.

Another was a massive gorilla. It looked very much like the silverback gorillas I had killed in the forest once, but it was far larger.

Sharp, obsidian like spines protruded from its body. Its hide looked like an impenetrable, rocky armor.

Another was a nightmarish woman, a mix of spider and human. Eight sharp tipped limbs, just like a spider's, extended from her back.

The place where her mouth should have been was just like a spider's maw, revealing venomous, sharp fangs.

Another was a female elf cloaked in black, tattered garments. Her pointed ears were visible despite the rags she wore.

On her back, she carried a bone bow, slightly smaller than herself. In her hand, she held arrows dripping with a black liquid.

Another was a large, muscular man. His entire body was covered in purple veins that looked ready to burst from beneath his skin. His eyes glowed with the same ominous purple color.

His right arm was chained to a massive, metal coffin. He did not seem to be using it as a weapon, but it was obvious from every angle that it was dangerous.

The coffin was covered in countless chains and glowing runes.

And the last one... was a massive, twoheaded ice golem. It was even larger than Zagna.

I... I recognized most of them. From the game's story, they were the bosses of the damned ruins! But why were they here? Weren't they supposed to be protecting their own ruins, their own stones? Besides, we had already conquered two ruins. There should only be three ruins left. So, how could there be seven bosses here at once? Impossible!

I whispered to Fredrinn. "Can you fight?"

Fredrinn, donning his dark armor again, grasped his sword and stood up. "I can take down two at most. My mana is almost gone."

"What about you?" he asked, his voice full of expectation.

"I have no mana either. As I am now, I can't even beat one of them alone. At best, I can support you and Zagna."

Our conversation was not even over when the large golem lunged at us. Zagna immediately stepped forward and stopped the golem's massive ice fist.

Then, with one of its four arms, it bit off one of the golem's two heads and tore it away.

At that moment, the man with the bandaged eyes and the book muttered something, and the golem's severed head regenerated from ice, returning to its original state.

The golem then forcefully pushed Zagna back. At that moment, Fredrinn stepped forward and swung his sword to cut the golem. But the spider woman shot her sticky webs at Fredrinn.

I did not allow it. I summoned the Chaos Flames and burned the webs. Fredrinn, his path clear, cut the golem's legs.

Zagna also moved forward, trying to create an opportunity for Fredrinn to finish the golem. But just then, the coffin in the purple eyed man's hand opened.

From within, hundreds, thousands of ghostly hands reached out and suddenly swarmed Zagna, beginning to pull it toward the coffin.

As fast as Zagna broke the arms, new ones reached for it. At the same time, vines extending from the tree man impaled Zagna and wrapped around it.

At that moment, as Fredrinn tried to finish the golem, plunging his sword into it, the elf woman loosed her arrow.

The arrow whizzed, struck Fredrinn's sword, and changed its direction. The second arrow was about to hit Fredrinn... I formed one last wall of Chaos Flames and ice in front of Fredrinn

. But it was no use. The arrow, coated in that black liquid, pierced both the magic and the ice and was about to hit Fredrinn, but he barely managed to dodge it at the last second. He jumped back, putting distance between himself and the golem.

Zagna, meanwhile, had been completely suppressed while we were fighting. Arrows were embedded in its body, and it was immobilized by the ghostly hands. It was barely protecting itself from being dragged into the coffin. The silver gorilla had grabbed one of Zagna's arms and was savagely biting its shoulder, with no intention of letting go.

With a final effort, I formed two large Lightning Spears and threw them at the silverback gorilla. But that damned archer elf shot my spears out of the air with her arrows before they could even reach the gorilla.

Dammit! They were not giving a single opening!

Fredrinn reverted to his Dark Knight form and charged forward to support Zagna.

The archer elf rained arrows nonstop, but Fredrinn's dark armor deflected the arrows I had weakened.

He stabbed the silver gorilla in the back and cut its hands. As soon as Zagna found this gap, it tried to break free from all those ghostly hands, but they did not let it. The tree man's vines had impaled Zagna again. Zagna was now completely entangled.

"Fall back!" I yelled at Fredrinn, and using all my remaining mana, I sent a massive tornado of Chaos Flames onto Zagna.

Fredrinn obeyed my command and immediately moved aside. The fire tornado enveloped Zagna and everything holding it.

Yes, these flames were harming Zagna too, but the damned vines and ghostly hands binding it were instantly burned to ash.

As for me... my mana reserves were now completely empty. I could barely stand.

Fredrinn took a protective stance around Zagna, giving it time to recover from those terrible burns.

The situation was not good at all. We were trapped in this dimension, at war with seven enemies far stronger than us. And all three of us were almost completely exhausted and without mana. If I did not do something, we would all lose within minutes.

I had only one option left. Only one thing I could do... Activate the Sovereign Form. But... but if I do that...

My mind went to those nightmarish dreams, to the silver haired man, and to the Obsidian Dawn Cult.

They could find me. If they sensed this power, they could pinpoint my location.

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