Shattered and opaque crystals, scattered across the floor. Blood drips from the metal gauntlets, a sin that also stains the edge of the longsword. The person remains standing in the center of the silent throne room, her hunched figure cloaked in shadows.
The double doors are kicked open. The group of restless soldiers that enters, torches in hand to illuminate the dark dungeon, is led by a knight in red armor. Axiel does not hesitate; with a sharp gaze and an icy tone of voice, he seeks to assert himself and quickly dominate the scene.
"But, what have you done?"
The second captain's voice conveys the perfect mixture of surprise and disappointment. The soldiers accompanying the blond man are left slack-jawed, unable to believe their eyes.
The figure in the center of the core room does not utter a single word, but she does react to the new presences. She turns with a stained countenance devoid of emotion, a sword in her right hand and the crest of a golden helm in the other, her single eye devoid of light. As she steps, the crystal fragments grind and shatter beneath her soles, turning into fine frost.
"Answer my question!" Axiel erupts, unsheathing his rose-hilted sword and pointing it forward. The blade is enveloped by a growing scarlet glow. "Or do you also understand that there is no answer or excuse that suffices for the sin you have committed?!"
The figure remains quiet and distant, as if detached from the world around her. She lets go of the crest, and the golden helmet hits the floor and rolls between her feet.
"In that case, you leave me no other choice...!" Axiel grits his teeth in a visible attempt to control his rage. "For the murder of Ser Claus, of His Majesty the King, and for the destruction of the Dungeon Core, I, Axiel the Thrice-Illuminated, sentence you to death for your treason against humanity...! Captain Montsierra!"
Hilda closes her eye and after blinking, her face tenses, and for the first time since Axiel arrived, she shows a trace of consciousness in her now restless pupil. She utters a few words too weak to be heard. She looks at her hands and trembles upon seeing her bloody palms, but is even more startled upon noticing the remains of Jimbo around her.
Meanwhile, from the bowels of the underground, banners of different dark elf houses march in unison once again, heading toward the surface. High above, the crack in the ceiling that serves as an entrance to the surface shows the vestige of a cloudy sky.
Observing everything from the deep, below the City of Thorns, a powerful presence projects its ethereal and scarlet presence to contemplate the events of the new invasion. Everything The Master sees is transmitted to the eyes of his most trusted subordinate.
Dominus, the beautiful succubus, clasps her hands near her face and shoots a look of infinite adoration toward the skull carved into the stone of the wall.
"Everything is proceeding according to your will, master! This will be a new milestone for our history! So many years of preparation and caution will finally have been worth it!"
A crimson glow erupts from the sockets of the stone skull, transmitting a powerful voice that only Dominus is able to hear.
«The die is cast.»
And the dice were also rigged.