Orion and Elliott walked out of the portal together.


    At a glance, nothing of importance caught Orion''s eyes as he scanned the whole room.


    They were in a large room, similar to an experimentation laboratory. There were many broken cylinders capable of holding human sized creatures, broken instruments that appeared to have been used to dissect living creatures, and papers scattered everywhere, rotting from the passage of time.


    It was only when Orion looked above him that he noticed something.


    ''The ceiling''s broken...''


    He looked at the weirdly shaped opening in the ceiling, which made it possible for the faint light of the sun, hiding by the dark clouds above, to enter.


    His eyes followed the trajectory of the supposed objects that broke through.


    "..."


    Orion opened his eyes wide, while Elliott glanced at him. A faint smile broke at the corner of his mouth.


    "I sure wasn''t expecting to see a familiar face among the many possibilities."


    Stepping on crumpled papers and broken glass instruments, Elliott approached the massive blue crystal embedded into the back wall of the room, and tapped on the glass carefully.


    "Reon Feales. I truly wasn''t expecting it."


    Once Elliott tapped on the crystal, its insides became clearer, revealing at its core a white-haired man perfectly preserved.


    "Dad."


    Carefully, Orion walked toward the crystal, and placed his hand on it. The emotions he felt seeing his father were the same as when he found his mother.


    A mixture of happiness and relief took over him, as he looked at his father''s frozen body.


    "I have no reason to antagonize you if that was on your mind. Feel free to retrieve him."


    Slowly, Orion looked at Elliott, and nodded.


    With a snap of his fingers, a portal formed over the crystal, sending it straight to where Orianne''s crystal was resting.


    "Well, my end of the bargain is done. I believe this is where we split ways."


    Elliott turned around, and walked toward the broken doorway.


    "I''ll deal with father so you won''t have to. You should just enjoy your life peacefully from now on."


    He placed his right hand on the wall, and was about to walk away, before Orion stopped him.


    "Who said you could go?"


    With a glare, Orion stopped Elliott. As he turned around, Elliott looked surprised when he saw Orion pointing toward the portal they came through earlier.


    "You''re coming with me. I''m not letting someone as powerful as you are roam aimlessly through the continent."


    "Why?"


    Gently and carefully, Elliott placed his hand on Vanitas'' hilt.


    "Trusting you before leaving Noctelagia was out of the question. As you probably know, I won''t forgive you for what happened to my parents."


    "A monster that easily overpowered me, and can easily do so in this very moment. A fearsome opponent indeed."


    Orion crossed his arms.


    "What do you say about an alliance?"


    Surprised by the sudden proposition, Elliott removed his hand from his sword.


    "Huh? With me?"


    "There''s no one else besides us."


    "An alliance? With some you despise?"


    "I am not na?ve enough to ignore a powerful help. If we can deal with Miasma in a timely and safer manner, I''d rather do that than to cling to a worthless vengeance."


    Following his sentence, he sighed.


    "And I hate you. I don''t despise you. There''s a difference."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Why all of a sudden? I was persuaded you''d avoid making too much contact with me."


    "For two reasons, which are pretty obvious if you think of them."


    Elliott sighed too.


    "Because I''ve protected your brother, and I found your father?"


    With a nod, Orion continued.


    "A man''s judgment can be rather simple, don''t you think? There is more to us than our past, as what we are today is the most important."


    "I am ready to turn a blind eye to what happened, going as far as to welcome you in Horizon. In exchange, I''ll use you to defeat Miasma."


    The situation between the two wasn''t that great, but Orion was doing his best to believe in the man Elliott actually was.


    "If we''re both working against Miasma, then I don''t see why I should let you struggle alone."


    A dark, spiraling wave of magic enveloped Orion, as his body transformed.


    "And I''m not as weak as I was before our first meeting."


    "The demon blood... you truly are an incredible individual."


    With a smile, Elliott remembered Orianne briefly, who fought with a similar appearance.


    "Before I agree, tell me. What are you going to do with that crystal? Why did you recover it?"


    Elliott pressed his shoulder against the wall, and crossed his arms, waiting for Orion to answer. He seemed to think if this was a good idea to tell him, but in the end, honestly answered.


    "I intend to merge their soul back into their bodies."


    "..."


    Orion watched the surprised expression on his face, until it turned into a grin.


    "Amazing. I suppose I have some apologies to go give them."


    "Fine, count me in. Thinking of walking the way back alone in this cold made me slightly discouraged. I''ll gladly follow you."


    The two walked toward each other. Orion undid his transformation, and held his hand toward Elliott.


    Elliott stared at his hand, before grabbing it with a smile.


    A handshake between the Knight, and the Sovereign. One that signified their acknowledgement toward each other, and signed the start of a friendship that would last until the end of time.


    ~


    Eogis, the same day.


    "..."


    Laylah, controlled by Miasma, was walking around the edge of a crater somewhere north of Paraviel.


    He glared into the hole, trying to see if something could be scavenged from this ancient place.


    "There doesn''t seem to be anything useful..."


    While walking, he scanned the center, and its walls. It looked like a very ordinary crater. There were no traces of a meteorite at its center.


    "Strange. I do feel a pulse around here, but there''s no visible entity-"


    "Visible?"


    Miasma stopped, his red eyes glowing from having thought of something interesting.


    "Let the corruption consume you."


    He opened his hands, pointed toward the ground, and released corrupted fumes that began to imitate fog.


    "Haha... HAHAHA~"


    A devious and chilling laugh echoed through the purple mist, before the ground began to shake violently.


    "I knew it! It''s even better than I expected. Fuck! How can everyone ignore this thing?!"


    "Bunch of morons!"


    The ground split opened, starting from the center of the crater. A giant shadow rose from the opening, its blue eyes slowly changing to red.


    "Hmm~"


    Miasma looked at the creature, hidden in the fog, and thought.


    "It''s not fun like this. Eat more."


    The corrupted mist became thicker.


    "More! I said more!"


    He released an unfathomable amount of corruption, which entered the beast.


    "Kagalkan! I had no idea you were resting here. You poor fucker! How do you feel?"


    As the giant creature''s eyes turned from red to purple, a deep and ominous voice shook the air.


    "I... Where?"


    "You''ve been gravely injured, and went to rest in this kind of place? What happened to you?"


    "That... voice... You!"


    A giant club rose above the mist, bigger than a tree.


    "If I were you, I''d avoid doing that. It''s not like you could anyway. Hahaha~"


    The club began to sway left and right, before it fell to the ground. The purple eyes of the giant fell on his hands as they trembled.


    "What... did you do... to me?"


    "You''re now part of my army of corrupted. I hope you''re ready to cause havoc because there will be a lot to do."


    "Impossible..."


    Miasma crossed his arms, and glared at the shadow hidden in the fog.


    "Your children, don''t you want to avenge them? I know exactly who did it."


    "You... do?!"


    "My son. Elliott."


    "Your... son."


    The purple eyes of the creatures glowed brighter.


    "If you help him, I''ll give you the powers to avenge them."


    "Avenge... my children..."


    "I... will help. I... will avenge... my children."


    With a grin, Miasma turned around.


    ''You stupid moron. I was the one who killed them.''


    ''But I need you to believe that, so I can manipulate you into stopping Elliott from bothering my plans again.''


    ''Elliott, you will regret parting ways with your father. I''ll make you pay for insulting me!''


    As he gritted his teeth in rage, a voice sealed deep inside his core called out to her Lord.


    (Lord Elliott... Please. Save me.)


    ~


    Before walking through the portal, a chill ran down Elliott''s back. He felt as if someone was calling his name.


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Would you believe me if I said that I heard someone calling my name?"


    "Normally, I would think that you are crazy, but since it is you we''re talking about, someone is probably asking for your help. Do you have any idea who it might be?"


    "..."


    Elliott''s gaze dropped to the ground as he began to think.


    "I''ve heard this woman''s voice multiple times during this expedition. I wasn''t able to identify it, but I think I finally understand who that it belongs to."


    Orion used ''Calm Analysis'' to rapidly find the only person capable of remembering Elliott.


    "From what I know, everyone you knew is already long gone. I don''t believe Miasma to be that attached to you besides your importance toward his conquest, so that only leaves one person."


    "Right."


    They looked at each other, and nodded at the same time.


    "The Apostle Layla. / Layla."


    On the same page, they continued.


    "That fanatic, I can only think of her. Moreover, if it''s a woman, I have no other candidates."


    "I believe so, too. Father probably took control of her after I left. I made a mistake."


    "How so? I doubt this is entirely your fault."


    Elliott shook his head in disagreement.


    "I should''ve been more thorough. I was so focused on freeing myself from his control that I ignore everything else."


    "We wouldn''t have been in this situation if I had sealed his core after expelling it from my body. Thinking about it now, no wonder he came back that quickly."


    Orion had no reason to alleviate his guilt, so he kept quiet.


    "If Layla is asking for my help, then I will help her when I find her. Otherwise, there is nothing I can do right now."


    "Right."


    "Please, lead the way. We''ll talk about this matter another time. I''m sure you have better things to do than to focus on me right now."


    With a nod, Orion walked into the portal leading to Horizon.


    "I sure do."


    Elliott followed right after, before the portal closed behind them, never to be opened again.