Inara watched overhead with her remaining right eye. The black eyepatch still hid Oeil, her monster.

As she stood there, arms crossed over her chest, her long green hair whipping behind her like a sea of clustered leaves, her high boots, tight pants, and green sleeveless top hugging her form…

…Inara was quite the sight to behold.

There was something both holy and grotesque about her. Her current Master-rank aura alone was enough to reel even the hardest of hearts.

The Heiress of the Mother of Monsters pursed her lips. Finally, she was strong enough to perceive the barrier surrounding the Graveyard of Monsters.

The barriers loomed high above, rectangular in shape, woven from the flesh of monsters and the remnants of their souls.

One could hear the wails of the monsters, their anguished souls screaming from being treated in such a way.

Souls were never meant to linger in the Seen World. This act was a blasphemy to The Tree, and one could only wonder how Echidna had managed to sever the control her monsters' souls once held under Her authority.

But none of that concerned Inara.

What occupied her thoughts was the simple, terrifying truth that the barrier would not last much longer.

Parts of it were wavering, slowly dissipating into a misting haze.

There was a limit to how much a soul could be exploited before it shattered completely.

Inara could see that most of them were already at their limit.

She cursed silently, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Maggot," she called.

A black-and-white maggot crawled out from her left ear.

"Yes, mother," Maggot answered, her body squirming, shining oilily under the sun.

She, too, had decided to be addressed as she rather than it. Inara wondered, briefly, why they all seemed so fond of the female gender.

She shook her head, dismissing the useless thought, parted her lips, her eye still fixed on the barrier.

"You will stay here. You, Hound, and Blue Bird," she ordered. "I have to return to Darklore for a while. My mother must be worried."

"In the meantime," her right eye hardened, "begin the creation of a new barrier. Same size as the current one."

"Do it fast, because this one will not hold for long. Use everything you have, especially those fucking Grandmaster monsters who refused me." She hissed the curse, making Maggot squirm excitedly.

The monster loved it when her mother's mouth shaped profanity.

Maggot nodded vigorously. "Understood, mother."

Next, a black hound and a blue bird appeared before Inara.

The hound was the evolved form of the two-headed wolf. It was enormous, pitch-black, with two mismatched eyes shining black and grey. It growled affectionately at Inara before kneeling, head on the floor.

With her new Master-rank skill, Inara could merge different monsters to create new ones.

The Hound was born from that power.

The cost had been steep. But worth it.

The blue bird hovered above the ground, its entire body shrouded in blue wispy flames. It opened its beak and released a sharp screech of respect.

Inara smiled and patted them both, explaining their new tasks.

After giving her instructions, the daughter of Lady Ouroboros cast one final glance at the barrier and turned back toward Darklore.

She could feel it.

The next time she returned, she would meet the enemies Echidna had left behind.

And then…

She would pay the price for her power.

Was she ready?

Inara cracked a deep grin, madness and fear tightly knotted behind it.

"It doesn't matter," she whispered as darkness swallowed her senses.

It never did.

…

Meanwhile, in the frosted City made of cats, Meris had returned to her original human form. She flexed her muscles, feeling the simple suppleness she once had in her cat body, along with her improved control over magic.

Something worthy of a smile. Yet she didn't smile.

Since that day, Meris had been unable to pull her lips upward, her mind and heart crushed beneath the weight of that revelation.

Doubts about herself — about who she truly was — crawled through the cracks in her ice, slowly corrupting her with existential dread.

She suppressed a shudder.

"Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye?" Solace asked, her voice tinged with sadness as she observed Meris's state. "They would be sad if you left without telling them. The little ones, especially. You are their idol, as they say."

Meris forced an empty smile. "Next time," she promised. "Next time I'll ask for forgiveness for leaving so abruptly. But not today."

Solace fell silent, her purple feline eyes shimmering with unmistakable sorrow.

"The Seed of Frost," she said at last, breaking the tense quiet, "will you take it? We have no use for it, and it is clearly meant for you."

"You said it yourself, Grandma Solace," Meris whispered, silver eyes lowered. "The frost inside me is sealed, allowing me to retain some semblance of emotion."

She slowly raised her head, fixing her mirror-like gaze on Solace.

"What would happen if I unsealed it by absorbing the Seed of Frost?"

She shook her head vehemently.

"I don't want to lose the little bit of feeling I still have. I don't want to become a heartless monster," she murmured, her voice trembling. "So I won't take it."

Meris had always known her emotions were numb since childhood. She had learned to live with it, accepting her cold, monstrous side as part of herself.

But now everything had changed.

She was a deeper monster than she had ever believed.

And accepting that meant discarding her humanity.

She couldn't.

And she wouldn't.

Solace remained silent, watching the turmoil raging inside Meris. Slowly, she nodded.

"If that is your will, then so be it, little kitty."

Meris nodded back with a strained smile, then waved her hand. "I will come back, Grandma," she promised. "Tell them I'm sorry."

And with that, she disappeared, returning to Darklore.

Solace sighed and raised her head toward the silver ceiling above.

"Yes… come back, little kitty."

But please, come back with emotions and mischief still inside you.

Not with coldness. This place is already still and numb enough.

She sighed once more, then closed her eyes.

…

In the capital Asterion of the Celestial Empire, in a corner of a sunlit street, a woman was sitting alone inside a wide park, watching children play.

She smiled peacefully, her brown eyes filled with warmth, her matching caramel hair tied into a ponytail.

A candy rested on her lips as she enjoyed the peaceful breeze ruffling her skirt.

She smiled. only to freeze when something lit up in front of her.

She yelped in surprise, her candy falling to the ground. She staggered up, intending to run, but her feet refused to move, mesmerized by the beautiful sight in front of her.

A wisp of black fire was swirling in on itself, shifting before forming a beautiful flower.

A Jearuwy flower. Her favorite flower.

Lisa's eyes went wide, "W-What?" she stammered.

"Do you like it?"

The voice jolted her from her dazed state. She snapped her head to the side and saw a handsome orange-haired man with dancing black eyes.

He smiled faintly.

"K-Kenan?" Lisa stammered. "How do you—!"

"Many golds," Kenan cut her off as he sat beside her. "It cost me many golds, and quite a few complaints from my mother to finally find you."

He looked at her with a small smile. "Ashes… you are making things difficult for me, Lisa."

Lisa scoffed, huffed, and snapped her head away, arms crossed over her flat chest.

"No one asked you," she scowled, her heart trembling with an unasked joy carried by the wind.

Kenan chuckled.

"No one asked, yes. But I wanted to."

Lisa froze, yet still didn't look at him.

Silence settled between them.

Then…

"I am sorry about last time," Kenan whispered, eyes fixed on the black fire flower before him.

"I… I was just worried about you."

Lisa remained silent. Her mind drifted back to that day in the restaurant, how strangely eager she had been to spend time with him, despite telling herself she didn't like him.

It was odd, she realized, how one could lie to oneself even while knowing the truth.

She parted her trembling lips.

"Did everything go well?" she asked softly, remembering the weight Kenan carried that day.

The Heir of Noir nodded, playing with the flower. "As well as this ashen world would allow me."

Lisa didn't understand the deeper meaning behind his words, but she unconsciously smiled at his chosen phrase.

Ashes.

Still…

"Why did you come to me?"

"I missed you."

"Why?"

"Why?" Kenan shrugged. "Ashes… you tell me. I'm the clueless one when it comes to matters of the heart."

Lisa couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips.

"You think coming back with a lame magic trick would solve everything?" she growled.

"That was actually a very high-level trick, Lisa," Kenan defended himself.

"It doesn't change anything."

"What do you want?"

"You leaving me alone."

"Something that wouldn't ash my heart, preferably."

"Your word."

"My word?" Kenan echoed.

Lisa paused, then finally turned to face him.

Her brown eyes were strangely serious.

"Never again?" she asked.

Kenan fell silent, understanding her meaning. His mind immediately flashed to the quest his ancestor had given him, a quest so deadly it had robbed him of sleep.

Could he really promise Lisa he would never distance himself again, knowing what lay ahead?

Kenan didn't know. But he knew one thing.

He never wanted to be apart from her again.

Lisa frowned at his silence, anger beginning to churn inside her like oil fed to flame, but…

"Lisa," Kenan said, heart pounding with reckless resolve, "would you accompany me on a journey?"

All of Lisa's rising anger melted like snow beneath a blazing sun, leaving only…

"W-What?"

…

In the city of Silver, smoke billowed and curtained the ruins in thick, scalding steam.

Everything had been razed to the ground.

Buildings burned with untamed fire, the earth drowned in a sea of blood mixed with ash.

Kaden and Dain stood together, watching the scene with indifference etched into their crimson eyes.

Kaden stood tall, a crimson-gold phoenix of fire resting peacefully on his shoulder. Blanche quacked softly before brushing her fiery head against his cheek.

Dain sat atop the edge of his colossal flaming battle axe, Griffin perched on his head. The fairy, now his beast, admired the destruction with dark glee.

"He escaped?" Dain asked.

Kaden nodded with a smile. "He did."

"Shame." Dain clicked his tongue. "Now what?"

"Well," Kaden whispered, cracking his neck, "time to return to Darklore. Let's go back home."

Dain smirked, lifting his gaze to the sky.

"Of course, youngest."

A heartbeat later, they vanished from Fokay, leaving behind nothing but ashes.

Not long after, the news reached the capital, and Luminary and Mahina cursed the Warborn brothers for their reckless behavior.

— End of Chapter 361 —

— End of Volume 4: War against others. War against oneself. —

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