Reinhard groaned as his hand pressed against splintered floorboards. His body ached with exhaustion instead of pain from being thrown like a rag doll. Around him, similar sounds echoed as the others pushed themselves up from where they'd landed.

"Is everyone okay?" Marie asked softly as she rose to her knees, her platinum hair disheveled and hanging across her face.

Scath laughed as she rolled her shoulders, testing for injury. "Damn, I wish she hadn't hurled us like that."

"I'm good." Nikki pushed herself into a sitting position, crimson hair sticking to her forehead with sweat. Her hands patted down her sides, and she sighed in relief when she felt everything was fine.

Grans adjusted his glasses and frowned as he examined his arms and legs. "There's no sign of injuries..."

Joseph chuckled lightly as he flexed his fingers and rotated his wrists. "Nothing's broken."

Roana frowned as she stood up while brushing debris from her grey dress. "It seems like the golden light protected us. Even when it hurled us through the walls and floors, there was no pain."

Reinhard nodded before he turned quickly, hands reaching for Anasha, who still lay against him. "Are you okay?"

Anasha's warm smile bloomed despite everything, and she nodded. "I didn't land on any debris or floor because of you, Rein."

Relief flooded through Reinhard's chest, and his shoulders sagged slightly as tension bled away and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Look!" Nikki's voice cracked with urgency, her arm raising as she pointed to the sky.

Everyone paused before looking up at the sky.

Reinhard and the others' eyes widened at the cracked sky. Golden fissures spread across the blue expanse, and through those cracks, something terrifying.

A golden eye.

Reinhard felt his entire body lose control. Every muscle went rigid simultaneously, he couldn't breathe, and a cold spread through his limbs as if death was here for him. Around him, the others weren't much better as Marie's hands shook violently at her sides.

Joseph's knees buckled slightly. Scath's face went pale as she felt her hand clutching her throat while her eyes stared in shock.

Grans's glasses slipped down his nose as his hands went slack. Roana stumbled backward a step and fell to the ground in despair while Nikki's pointing arm fell limp.

Anasha gasped before her hand flew to her throat, and tears flowed down her face. The cry of Anasha seems to reawaken Reinhard, whose arms moved on instinct.

He pulled Anasha against his chest, his palm covering her eyes, blocking the sight of that impossible golden gaze.

But he couldn't look away.

The eye drew him, held him, and made breathing difficult as if the air itself had grown thick.

Through the cracks, something descended.

Black-furred legs wrapped in golden chains emerged from the void. The beast followed, forcing its way through cracks with its six eyes that opened across its face, which hurt to look at.

Reinhard grit his teeth as pain shot through his mind before he forcibly looked away. The others followed him before they quickly headed towards the other room where the ceiling was closed.

Then, while everyone was gasping for air and struggling, Reinhard gripped the necklace and his fingers closed around the swirling orb.

Light burst from the necklace with a projection shooting out before expanding and solidifying into a woman's form.

Vanna's expression shifted immediately as she took in their surroundings, her brow furrowing slightly. "What happened?"

"We don't have much time to explain." Reinhard's words came rapid-fire, clipped. "Fenrir has been summoned with a ritual. Do you have any idea how to stop it?"

Roana stepped forward, her golden eyes intense. "Did the Information Institution find any leads or answers?"

Vanna's eyes widened as shock appeared across her face for three full seconds before becoming completely blank.

"We continued working with the History Institute. A squad visited the ruins of Salem Town." Her voice remained steady. "One of the squad members had a Beast Spirit called Three-Eye Fox Dream. It was able to recreate the scene of what happened, although in limited detail."

Reinhard's eyes went wide before his head tilted slightly in disbelief at such an ability existing.

Grans frowned, his grey eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "So it was Levi? Okay, then what did she find?"

"As the Salem Town people were summoning Fenrir, there seemed to have been a center node. Basically, the thing that continued powering Fenrir's descent." Vanna's hands moved as she spoke, gesturing to illustrate. "But when that node was destroyed by one of the townspeople, it seemed they no longer wanted this anymore. The summoning of Fenrir stopped, and it was forced back into the Throne of Myth."

Scath hummed, her wine-colored eyes narrowed. "So then what's the description for the nod-"

Marie's teeth sank into her lower lip as her light-gold eyes had gone wide with realization. "Was the node the summoner...?"

Vanna blinked rapidly before nodding. "Yeah, they were."

Silence descended, with the others' expressions shifting.

Reinhard broke it first. "Does the node need to be destroyed to stop the summoning?"

Vanna sighed, her shoulders rising and falling heavily. "We aren't sure. The revealing of the past was blurry and skipped." She paused, adjusting her glasses with one finger. "But what Levi did catch was that as the summoning was going on, the summoner held a golden light. And then after it was stopped, the summoner was lying on the ground with an odd golden light away from them."

Joseph nodded slowly, pieces clicking together in his mind. "So maybe we just need to remove the Star Jewel from Martha to send Fenrir back up?"

The others nodded in agreement.

Vanna blinked before she said quickly. "Martha is involved in this? Never mind that, are you saying the Star Jewel was used?"

Reinhard nodded while Roana stepped forward. "She is, but that isn't very important right now. Martha revealed it was the Star Jewel being used to summon Fenrir."

"No wonder..." Vanna sighed again, heavier this time. Her hand rubbed across her forehead briefly. "Alright, you need to head to Martha and remove the Star Jewel."

Nikki frowned, her crimson hair swaying as she tilted her head. "Then Martha should still be in the Mehko building?"

Grans nodded, already turning toward where the research center once stood. "She shouldn't have left, which means we need to hurry up and rush toward it before-"

The roar hit them without warning.

Reinhard felt no strength in his legs as he dropped to the ground, while Anasha clutched her chest as she dropped next.

Around him, everyone fell next.

Marie collapsing forward onto her hands, Joseph crashing onto his side, Scath slamming into the floor, Grans's glasses flying from his face as he hit the ground, Roana crumpling like a puppet with cut strings, and Nikki folding in on herself.

All of them were trembling, but it wasn't the subtle shaking from fear.

But uncontrollable spasms that made bones rattle and teeth chatter with involuntary and hot tears pouring from every eye.

The tears streamed down cheeks, dripped from chins, and created dark spots on the floor beneath them.

The roar continued with it vibrating through the air, through the floor, through their bodies and bones and skulls.

Reinhard's eyes closed while his arms tightened around Anasha, feeling her trembling match his own.

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