They had to follow Christoft's word. The streams took them through the ruined city, past buildings that had fallen down and people running away, right to where Bork had locked up the Eternal Engine carriage. The water put them right on and into the moving vehicle, with Bork at the wheel.

"Boss! Thank the gods you're all alright!" Bork yelled. "What the fuck is going on right now?!"

"Drive first! We can talk about it later!" Greg ordered.

"We're going east!" Greg and the others start to get inside the carriage while they see all the remaining survivors get led by the water that Christoft controlled.

Seraphine starts to talk. "That guy... I can't believe he can use the full potential of magic water to save them all..."

The Eternal Engine roared to life, and the carriage lurched forward. The fight between Christoft's last attack and the Calamity was at its height behind them. The tsunami had engulfed the monster, and billions of gallons of water were trying to crush, drown, freeze, or do anything else to stop its rampage.

They watched through the back window of the carriage as the blue light got stronger and stronger until it was blinding. Then it started to fade away slowly.

The water came back down to earth in a rain that lasted for minutes and soaked everything. The Calamity was in the middle of the flood, battered but still standing.

There was no sign of Christoft. No body. No sign of life. The water was returning to its natural state, accompanied by a creature that had survived the death of an Elite Knight.

Lylia looked out the back window, her hands shaking as the last bits of blue light disappeared from the sky. The rain kept falling, cold and heavy, making it hard for her to see until she couldn't tell where the water ended and her tears began.

"He is gone," she said again, as if saying it softly would make it less real. "Just like the Elite Royal Knight, Lady Rosalina... One by one, they are gone...!"

She shook her shoulders as she sat down on the bench, holding her chest like it hurt to breathe. "When I first became a member of the Royal Knights..."

"Christoft was already a legend," she said, her voice breaking. "They called him the kingdom's shield. He was the man who would do anything to prevent a civilian from dying...!"

She laughed weakly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I used to watch him train from a distance."

"I thought that if I paid close attention to him and learnt how he stood and spoke, I might become half as strong."

Lylia looked down at her hands, which were tightly curled. "He told me once that being a Royal Knight wasn't about power. It was about deciding to stay there even when you're scared because someone else needs you to."

Her breath caught. "And he did just that. Until the very end..."

She put her forehead against the cold window glass and watched the rain run down her face. "I wanted to keep people safe like he did..."

Lylia's voice got hushed. "I never even got to thank him."

The carriage sped east, leaving Mistfall behind. They could see the city continuing to fall apart through the windows as the Calamity continued to destroy it in a planned way.

Christoft's last attack transformed the beautiful waterfalls into small streams. The mists of the rainbow were gone, and there was nothing left but ruin.

"He bought us maybe ten minutes," Seraphine said quietly as she looked at the compass. "That thing will get better and keep going."

"We need to get to Meridian and use the resonance chamber to locate this Veldway person..."

Felix said, "If he even exists," in a voice that sounded empty.

All of his gaming references and playful energy were gone. "Three years... do you guys think he's still alive?"

Tunner said, "He exists." He was sitting with his head in his hands. "Veldway Blackcourt was the first Elite Knight. He is the standard against which all other Elite Knights are measured. He's the only one who can stop that thing."

"Then why did he go away?" Hammy held Elwen close to her chest as she asked.

Tunner said, "Nobody knows."

"He left one day and didn't tell anyone where he was going or why."

"Some people thought he had died in secret, and some people thought he had given up his responsibilities. But if he's out there somewhere, if the compass can find him..."

Greg said, "It's our only chance." He looked at Lylia and saw the sadness and determination fighting in her eyes. "Christoft gave us that chance. We can't let it go to waste."

Lylia said firmly, "We won't."

"We'll look for Veldway! We will stop the Calamity. And we will make sure that Christoft's sacrifice, and everyone's sacrifice, meant something for the future!"

The carriage kept going all night, and the Eternal Engine never stopped. The Calamity finished eating Mistfall and started to move toward its next target in the distance behind them. The race was on, and there wasn't much time left.

The Brotherhood sat in silence inside the carriage, feeling worn out. They had lost a lot.

Hilda, the woman who saved Greg's life. Lady Rosalina, who had given Lylia a reason to live. But the worst thing is that the Calamity claimed thousands of innocent lives.

And now, Christoft, the proud Elite Knight, had finally found his heroism in death.

Lylia broke the silence and said, "The water remembers."

"What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know," Tunner said. "But Veldway will."

"Before Veldway became the First Elite Knight, they trained together."

"He is the only one who can understand Christoft's last message."

Greg said, "Then we find him as fast as we can before the Calamity destroy everything that causes a bigger problem for others."

"We use that compass to find him no matter where he is, and then we get him to help us."

"What if he says no?" Bork asked. "Maybe he would rather not be found if he's been hiding for three years. He might not care about the Calamity."

"Then we make him care," Lylia said in a firm voice. "We tell him what that monster has done."

"We tell him how much it has cost us. If he still doesn't, we'll find a way to stop it ourselves. Because giving up isn't an option here!"

Mira, who hadn't said anything since the fight, finally spoke. "Master-forger-darling is right. We've gone too far and lost a lot."

"The Calamity thinks it cannot be stopped and that it can consume everything, but that is not the case! We are still alive and fighting! We will not relent until that creature is vanquished!"

The others nodded, drawing strength from one another. They were battered, sorrowful, and exhausted. Yet, they were still alive. As long as life remained, hope endured.

The carriage rolled through the dark, carrying the last desperate hope of a world that was being destroyed by its own weapons. The compass could locate the missing Elite Knight, and Meridian, the resonance chamber, lay just ahead.

The Calamity kept destroying cities behind them, getting stronger with each one it destroyed. The last fight was about to happen. And this time, there would be no getting away.

Greg looked at his friends, who were like family to him, and made a promise to himself. No more losses. No more giving up things. They would find Veldway Blackcourt, stop the Calamity, and do it without losing anyone else.

He really wanted to keep that promise, but as the night went on and the carriage sped toward an unknown future, he started to have a small doubt. A whisper that asked the question that no one wanted to say.

What if the First Elite Knight wasn't enough?

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