When the sun came up, the carriage rolled through Meridian's eastern gates. The city looked different than it did when they left.

The entire neighbourhood had been evacuated, leaving empty streets that felt unsettling. The palace, or what remained of it, resembled a broken tooth against the morning sky. Yet, the walls still stood, and guards continued to patrol, maintaining order despite the lingering fear among the people.

Bork drove the carriage through the quiet streets to the Elite Knight fortress. The building had survived the first attack because its thick walls and advantageous location kept it safe from the worst of the Calamity's rampage.

Greg saw someone standing at the door, waiting, as they got closer. His heart stopped.

He whispered, "That's... fucking impossible," and pressed his face against the window of the carriage.

Even from a distance, the figure was clear. She had brown hair in that unique wolf cut, mining clothes that were useful, and most importantly, a pickaxe resting on her shoulder.

It was Hilda Hearthmine. And she stood there, very much alive, as if she had been waiting for them.

"BORK! STOP THE CARRIAGE! NOW!!!" Greg yelled and opened the door just to jump out before Bork could fully stop.

"Greg! What are you doing!?" Marina was shocked seeing him just jump out of nowhere.

His mind wouldn't let him believe what his eyes were seeing as he ran towards Hilda. He remembers that the Calamity fully engulfed her.

They had all witnessed the tragedy. The whip wrapped around her and pulled her into the pile of weapons until she couldn't have lived.

Hilda turned around and smiled tiredly as he got closer. "You took your time long enough getting here."

Greg got to her and stopped, not sure what to do. Was this real? Was he seeing things because he was tired and sad?

"You're still alive.... How... how are you still alive?"

"Long story," Hilda said, and then she grunted when Greg hugged her tightly. "Okay, okay, take it easy. I'm still getting better."

The other people had caught up and were looking at Hilda with varying levels of shock and disbelief. Lylia looked like she had seen a ghost. Elwen's mouth was wide open. Even Hammy's chirping sounded confused.

"Explain," Lylia said. "We saw that The Calamity took you inside. That should have a survival rate of zero...!"

Hilda stepped back from Greg and pointed for them to come inside. "Like I said, it's a long story. And you're going to want to sit down for this."

...

The inside of the fortress was cool and quiet, with emergency lights creating long shadows across the stone floors. Hilda took them to what looked like a recovery room with a few beds set up. There were medical supplies all over a table nearby, and a few empty food containers showed that she had been there for a while.

"After that thing grabbed me," Hilda said, sitting down on one of the beds with a wince, "I felt like I was being pulled apart."

"The Calamity takes people in and breaks them down into their parts to make itself bigger, but the good thing is it doesn't happen right away because there's a process."

She rolled up her sleeve to show the strange marks on her skin. They looked like silver circuit patterns that glowed faintly from the inside.

"These came up about halfway through the absorption."

"My body may have developed some kind of resistance, or it could be because I worked with raw ore for so many years."

"Let's say... miners get used to some mineral toxins, and maybe that meant being able to resist magical metal transformation."

"You fought it off from the inside?" Greg asked, both amazed and scared.

Hilda said, "Not exactly. I couldn't stop the process, but I could slow it down."

"And while I was stuck in that nightmare, I saw something... like someone that maybe I know..."

It got very quiet in the room.

Hilda said, "Lady Rosalina is alive," and the words hit like a bolt of lightning. "She's stuck in the Calamity."

"She's still awake, still fighting. I could feel her there and hear her voice."

"She's been trying to slow the monster down from the inside by doing things that make it harder for it to work. That's why it hasn't been going as fast as it could because she's been giving us time."

Lylia put her hand over her mouth, and tears came to her eyes right away. "Is she really alive...? Are you... really sure about that, Hilda!?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Hilda said softly. "She knew who I was, of course, and she told me to run away if I could, to let you all know."

"She also said to tell you that she hasn't given up yet."

"How did you get away?" Tunner asked, his voice rough.

Hilda said, "Rosalina helped."

"She knows how to change the Calamity's internal structure a little bit."

"From what I remember... she made a hole, and I pushed myself through it before it closed. I landed in the ruins on the outskirts of Ironhaven, and it took me two days to walk here."

Greg sat down in a chair and thought about what he had just learned. Rosalina was still alive, and also Hilda.

Against all odds, two people they had mourned were back. But Hilda's haunted eyes and shaky hands as she talked about her time inside the monster made it clear how much it cost.

Greg said, "We need to find Veldway as fast as we can."

"If Rosalina is fighting from the inside and we can get Veldway to help from the outside, we might have a chance."

"The compass," Seraphine said as she took it out and looked at how it worked. "We need to use the resonance chamber again by turning it on to find out where Veldway is."

They all walked together to the resonance chamber, which was a round room with a pedestal and glowing runes. Hilda came with them and used her pickaxe to help her walk. It was clear that the trip had worn her out, but she wouldn't rest until the work was done.

"Someone needs to run it," Tunner said as he looked over the controls. "The chamber needs certain inputs, like magical signatures from Elite Knights, to work right."

"I can't do it honestly..."

Lylia expressed her willingness to try. "I once learnt here, and I know the basics."

Lylia was in charge of the controls, and Tunner helped her out. Seraphine and Elwen helped with the magical maths.

The compass was on the pedestal, and its needles spun as the room came to life. Felix and Mira stood vigilantly at the door, ensuring they remained undisturbed.

After a few hours. Greg noticed that someone was missing as the process started.

He looked around and asked, "Where's Lylia?"

"She was just here," Marina said, noticing that she was gone too. "She might have gone to the toilet."

But Greg's gut told him it wasn't that easy. He said he was sorry and went to look for it, checking the side rooms and halls. Finally, he saw her on an outside balcony that looked out over the broken city. She was facing away from the door.

She was in tears...

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