Back in Etum city,


    Under the floating sacred tree, the resident of the so-called Godmother, the ruler of this Phronesia, was lying Rio''s cold corpse.


    [Wakey wakey host.] System''s voice echoed in the peaceful silence of darkness where his mind rested. [Enough sleep, it''s time to work now.]


    The sound came again, and under thezy grunts of his thoughts, a blue orb of light shone over his eyes, forcing him to wake up, as the whole scenery changed around them.


    The pitch ck darkness, cker than the abyss disappeared, and in its ce was the scene of hanging heavenly castles and heavys on the branches of Yggdrasil.


    "So... they''re all done?" Rio asked groggily, his voice still thick with lethargy.


    [Yupp, all the children of godmother are dead, except Baani of course.] System replied happily, [But the bombs will go off in two minutes.]


    "Then why''d you wake me so early?" Rio said as he yawned and turned over to sleep again. Only to be stopped by the hovering system''s disco orb.


    [2 minutes host..(sigh) .. And I woke you up so you can kill.. Forget it. I''m the idiot here.] (Rio chuckles)


    System was speaking something, when it did a scan outside, only to see his ''corpse'' surrounded by corpses of every other alien in the city. Valtor standing there, two short daggers in his hands, dripping crimson onto the ground. His once pristine clothes were now torn and soaked in blood, highlighting his godly physique under the dim light.


    In front of him was Baani, on his knees, holding his chest painfully and coughing ck blood, with disbelief written all over his face.


    The poor fellow couldn''t believe how all his soldiers lost their strength suddenly, how he was poisoned, or how the puppet, godmother controlled, broke free and started attacking them. And his shock only surpassed the seventh sky as he saw Valtor turn his head, and smile.


    Baani watched as a dark sapin came out from the shadows of the forest and walked towards them.


    "D--Dayum?" Baani said slowly, as his voice cracked in happiness.


    But before a thought of hope shed by, celebrating that at least his loyal general hade back to help him, -  he watched Dayum kicking the corpses like discarded toys, and walking over them, without as much as changing his expressions. Even when a dead soldier''s skull came beneath his shoes and cracked in pieces.


    "We meet again, Baani. Hope I''m not toote." ''Dayum'' said as he ignored his leader''s confused eyes and walked over to the sacred tree in steady steps.


    Baani kept looking in his direction, though the mysterious poison in his body had nulled his magic, he could still sense something was off with his runaway subordinate. And as he saw him raise his sword and chop at the sacred tree''s root branch that tied the cursed one''s corpse, a chill swept up his spine.


    "Noooo..." He shouted and tried to run towards them, only to stumble and fall as Valtor kicked him in the back. And pressed his feet over his head, forcing him to watch the ''ceremony''.


    Baani helplessly watched as Dayum freed the cursed one''s body and then ... fell down with a heavy thud. Like his soul had left his body all of a sudden.


    Phe.. Phwoooooo


    There was nothing but silence in the city, so much so that even the sound of a long breath seemed to echo in Baani''s ears.


    He watched with horror in his eyes as Rio''s corpse started moving slowly. From the subtle movement of his feet and fingers, to him sitting up and then standing straight.


    "Soul travel sucks, system." Rioined as he rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles. His whole body feeling like it had just finished the toughest joyride and longest ferris wheel together.


    [Well, then it''s good that you can''t do it again for the next 100 days, right.]


    "Whatever, I still feel like you cheated my money on this one though."


    [If you don''t like it, I''ll dly take it back. Want to sell it?]


    "Fuck off."


    After cursing his system, while he just moved his arms and legs to let himself be familiar with his body again, Rio slowly rolled up his sleeves, as his gaze drifted to Dayum''s empty shell of a body before settling on Baani, who was struggling beneath Valtor''s foot.


    "Miss me?" Rio said with an ''innocent'' smile, giving the poor fellow a mild heart attack.


    "How? We killed you? He pierced your heart, I saw it with my own. Then ... how?" Baani asked, coughing heavily as veins of poison spread all over his body. Working their way to his heart. But despite the heart wrenching pain he still asked, "How are you still alive?"


    Rio looked at his shallow struggle on the deathbed and smiled sincerely, "You see, I want to tell you,... But I don''t wanna ruin your suspense for the sauna in hell. Think there, k?"


    Before Baani could respond, Rio''s hand plunged into his chest, fingers curling around his poisoned heart. And with a swift yank, he ripped it free, the organ still beating faintly in his grasp. Baani''s body convulsed violently for a few seconds, before finally going still. His eyes ssing over as thest of his life drained away.


    As soon as Baani died, the whole dungeon started shaking violently. The sacred tree which looked harmless and lifeless till this point, seemed to be possessed by some spirit as all the branches of it started hovering in the air, writhing and twisting like serpentine tendrils or floating hairs.


    The root branches attaching this tree to the altars of the city''s center, let go of their ground. And it started to truly float freely in the air, rising higher and higher until it hovered nearly 1500 - 2,000 meters above the city.


    The branches pierced the clouds, breaking their fog apart, giving everything an eerie look among the heavy downpour and thundering storms. The day had turned to night, the sun swallowed up by the darkness and horrific weather.


    This was no ordinary thunderstorm--it was like drums of war sounding the herald of destruction.


    The same scene happened in the other cities simultaneously too. The ce where Leon killed Kurami for Kami''s revenge, or where Saisha and Amelia''s battle directly destroyed everything, or where Katherine killed Tauba, and the next city where only shriveled up skeletonsy motionless, tied up in spider silks, or covered in water bubbles.


    And as if to challenge the might of Phronesia, and reply to its call of thunder, huge sts started happening around all the wastnds.


    Rio''s work, oh no, Dayum''s hard work ever since he ran away from the Etum''s massacre on day one, started showing its results.


    The air grew heavy with energy, as heat waves and thundering roars kepting from the clouds. Every raindrop hitting the ground was like a sharp splinter shot from a shotgun.


    All the major cities started cracking in pieces and crumbling apart, as their sacred trees tethered to this, broke free from their anchors and started hovering in the air.


    Next moment everything starteding together like pieces of ma pulling each other. The whole dungeon seemed to be crashing into a ck hole, as space started shrinking. Especially as wholends, forests and volcanoes between cities disappeared and turned to trash.


    Like someone had crumbled a piece of paper and now all corners were mixed up in the center.


    Surrounded in a golden barrier, Rio and Valtor watched as four shadows of trees gathered in the air, surrounding the original sacred tree from all sides, before being pulled by its branches and merging together into one.


    All five sacred trees gathered and formed one.


    Its height, shadows and the aura it exuded, reminding Rio of the visions he saw of the world tree whenever he talked to Skuld.


    "I hope your n works?" Valtor said to Rio, before turning around and leaving without waiting for a response.


    "Of course it will, you''re free, I''m alive, and everything''sing together, isn''t it?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rio, who turned to answer, but only saw a helpless Romeo running towards his Juliet,.. (Cough cough) I mean, he just saw Valtor going towards the towering mountain where he could see a group of students gathered together, shrouded in a shell of trees, under a shining light of several protection scrolls, a signature move of his soul mate, Amaya Stormswill.


    [Stop feeling jealous, host. Your girls are there too, you can go and check on them too if you want.] System quipped as it saw its host staring at Valtor and Amaya hugging each other and chatting happily in relief.


    "... . First of all, I wasn''t feeling jealous, and second, you said, girls, as in plural. I hate that, and you know it. And Third, I don''t need to ask, as I know Ba''s okay."


    [Yeah yeah, as if I didn''t just read your mind and was lying.]


    "...Weren''t you going into silence till I leave this dungeon, saying it was my test and wada nada, it''s good, so you''re muted now."


    [Wait, wait that was just... . ]


    "I''ll unmute you outside, okay buddy." Rio said and silenced the voice in his head with a smile, and ignored the floating texts on panel.


    Rio took a final nce around the new forming mountain peaks and grasnds where groups of students started appearing slowly. To the ces where Amy and Saishay unconscious under Amaya''s care, to where Katherine was getting treatment with Rubina, ric and Lucille, to where Reba was meditating near a masked student with gray eyes who stood guard.


    shhh_thud


    "A sneak attack doesn''t suit someone of your level." Rio said as he shed a couple of branches shooting in his direction without looking. He turned his attention towards the floating tree, where a female figure with an imposing but graceful aura stood in front. Regal, terrifying, and filled with murderous intent.


    "Godmother, let''s dance." He said, holding a sword in one hand and controlling invisible mana threads from the other, while rushing forward, sliding and jumping between the dozens of sharp branches and hundreds of falling leaves acting like loose arrows on his way.


    The prophecy is real, and it''s about to be fulfilled.- Ahead of time and in an unexpected way.


    The final fight between the Godmother and the cursed one had started.


    One that''ll determine not only the fate of this world, but also the hundreds of others, where simr prophecies of doom brought by a devil''s hands echoed as legends and myths throughout the different eons and the eras.


    Will everything really end under the darkness of the dark spawn? Who knows?


    ... ...


    Been a while since I did this "who knows?" thing right.. Old days