Alicia asked Clevatess what he meant, but before he could respond, the Queen approached her. Smiling faintly, she admitted she was relieved to see Alicia alive—she had believed she’d perished at the hands of Clevitus during the mission. She then asked if any of the other heroes had survived. Sadly, Alicia confessed she was the only one to return alive.
Though clearly disappointed, the queen expressed her gratitude. In Hititet’s current state, all they could manage was stalling Drel’s forces. None of their soldiers had the strength to stand against him or his terrifying magic. Their only hope was Alicia and her regalia. She pleaded with her: would she fight to stop Drel for the sake of the kingdom?
Alicia promised she would do her best. But before moving on, she had something important to reveal—Tala’s son was alive and currently in hiding. The queen froze in shock. Until now, no one had known his whereabouts. But Alicia insisted that Luna had to be her son—after all, he clearly carried royal blood.
The queen was overcome with joy at the revelation. She begged Alicia to take her to him immediately. But Alicia warned her it was too dangerous. She promised to bring Luna back safely so Tala could see him again. That wasn’t enough for the queen. She may have been a monarch, but more importantly, she was a mother. If her child was in danger, she could never sit idly by.
Understanding her resolve, Alicia reluctantly agreed to bring her along.
Meanwhile, inside the forge, the beheaded king’s body prepared to sacrifice Luna to the flames. Clevatess watched carefully, curious to see how events would unfold. But when it became clear that the king meant to throw the boy into the furnace, Clevatess grabbed his arm to stop him.
He asked if this was truly how a grandfather should treat his grandson. The king admitted he knew how twisted it was and that he did not want to do it. But he wasn’t in control—his body was being manipulated by the will of the forge itself.
The ritual, he explained, was ancient. For generations, every child destined to inherit the throne was cast into the forge and reduced to ash. Moments later, the flames would resurrect them in a new body—one incapable of disobeying the forge’s will. Normally, after the naming ceremony, the chosen heir’s name would be engraved upon the forge. Once marked, the forge compelled the child to leap into the fire of their own accord.
But because Clevatess’s earlier attack had interrupted before Luna’s name was inscribed, the forge had been unable to compel him. Instead, it had revived the king’s corpse to forcibly complete the ritual by throwing Luna inside.
Clevatess asked if all this meant the King himself had once been forced to jump into the forge and remade as its puppet. That was exactly the case. In fact, the same fate awaited Luna’s father—the king’s son—but he had been so terrified of becoming enslaved by the forge that he chose the “heroic” way out, stylishly leaping off the castle walls to his death.
The king thought his son’s choice was foolish. Taking his own life only meant the next in line would be chosen, and the cycle would continue. And so, the tradition persisted—the king dropped Luna into the forge, reducing him to ash in an instant.
Meanwhile, overhead, Drel soared on his undead dragon. The voices in his head had grown so convincing that he now believed the only way to save the world was to destroy it—by drawing out whatever was hidden inside the forge.
On the ground, Alicia urged Tala to climb on her back so she could carry her to the forge as fast as possible. As they moved, Tala explained that since she was never a true ruler, much had been kept secret from her. When her husband was destined to become king, he too took his own life. But before he did, he confessed one thing: all the true heroes were gone, and the heroes of today stood no chance against the Dark Beast Lords.
At the time, Tala hadn’t understood, but now she wondered if he had been right. Heiden had over a thousand years of history, yet there were no records of anyone ever defeating a Dark Beast Lord. There wasn’t even proof that slaying one would grant freedom to explore the wider world. So who, then, created this legend in the first place?
She once tried asking her husband, but he had been unable to speak of it—only giving her a sorrowful smile. To Tala, it seemed the kings of Heiden had been hiding the truth for generations. If so, then the former king had knowingly sent Alicia and the other heroes on their doomed mission, fully aware they lacked the strength to win. She called it irresponsible.
But Alicia disagreed. Even if their chances were slim, she would have gone anyway. For her, it was never only about defeating a Dark Beast Lord—it was about facing an impossible challenge with the optimism of a hero. That was the way she wanted to live, and the way she intended to continue, until she broke the cycle.
Drel, however, had succumbed to despair. He abandoned the path of the hero, choosing instead to destroy everything. Of course, Alicia still sought revenge for her father, but more importantly, she had to stop Drel to prove that her belief in living as a hero was right.
Tala reassured her, saying she was a great hero. But Alicia admitted she saw herself as weak—not as strong as Drel, and nowhere near the level of the Dark Beasts. Even so, she had no intention of quitting. She had once thought about giving up, but then she met someone who refused to let her.
At that very moment, that person—Clevatess—was laughing. He found the scene before him hilarious. The king of Heiden had just dropped Luna into the forge. Or so he thought.
In reality, the boy who had burned to ash was nothing more than a shadow clone created by Clevatess. The real Luna rested safely in his arms. With a mocking grin, Clevatess asked the king what would happen now—since he had clearly failed the mission the forge had forced upon him.
The king gave no reply. He only stared at Clevatess as his body leaned backward and toppled into the forge.
As he watches the king’s body turn to ash, Clen is surprised by the sudden turn of events, but he knows this won’t be the end. He yells for the master of the forge to come out and face him already. Moments later, massive flames erupt from the forge, destroying the mountainside in a violent explosion.
Drel sees this happen, and the voice in his head urges him to act quickly because there’s no time to waste. Alicia and Tala also witness the forge explode, and they see Drel heading straight for it. Tala grows deeply worried about Luna’s safety, but Alicia tells her to stay back, warning that it’s far too dangerous now. She’s confident Clen would never let Luna die so easily—but the real threat is if Drel manages to reach them first.
Just as Drel is about to enter the forge, Gart swoops overhead and drops Rod off, just as promised. Rod calls out Drel’s name and swears he will stop him. Activating his spear, he forms a massive ice spike at its tip. The ice javelin pierces straight through Drel’s dragon, and Gart, finding the clash interesting, decides to linger nearby and watch.
When they hit the ground, a massive dust cloud rises, and Rod wonders if he actually defeated Drel with that strike. But as the dust settles, he realizes Drel managed to block it. Rod is thrown back, and Drel prepares to finish him off—but suddenly, Alicia steps in and knocks Drel’s swords away.
Growing annoyed with their constant interference, Drel decides to end things quickly. Alicia and Rod regroup, meeting each other properly for the first time. Rod asks if she’s a hero, and Alicia confirms it. They briefly introduce themselves, but there’s no time for pleasantries—they must face Drel together. Rod asks if he can count on her to fight by his side, and Alicia replies she was about to ask him the same. Both know that alone, they stand no chance.
Drel finds it laughable that they think teamwork will be enough. He tells them their strength is bound by the limits of their human bodies—limits he no longer shares. In an instant, Drel appears behind them and slashes with such force that both Alicia and Rod are sent flying. He follows up, striking again and launching them into the air. While they’re disoriented, he flies up, stabbing Alicia in the chest. Rod tries to strike while he’s distracted, but Drel sees it coming, catches his wrist, and sends both of them crashing back down to the ground.
Hovering above them, Drel looks down with disdain before descending to finish them. The two desperately need a plan. Alicia tells Rod to use his ice javelin once more. Confused, he doesn’t see the point, but he trusts her. He points his spear skyward and summons another massive javelin of ice.
As expected, Drel dodges easily, scoffing at the obvious attack. But then he notices Alicia is no longer on the ground. She had leapt onto the ice javelin to propel herself behind him, ensuring he can’t escape. At that moment, Rod uses the last of his strength to freeze Drel’s feet in place, giving Alicia the perfect chance. She drops down and slashes him clean in half.
However, Drel is barely inconvenienced by his body being bisected, as his true form now resides within his sword. The blade spins violently through the air and slashes at Alicia, cutting off her arm and sending her crashing to the ground. Rod rushes forward to catch her, but above him, he watches in horror as Drel’s body reforms from his dark ichor.
Drel tells them their efforts are admirable, but ultimately meaningless, because people like them can never become true heroes. The very fact that humans must implant magic stones in their bodies just to use magic proves their inferiority. He declares to Rod and Alicia that all humanoids on this continent are weaker than the “true humans” who once ruled the entire world centuries ago. Current humans and dark beasts alike are nothing more than pawns in the endless game of the true humans. Unless someone ends it, the cycle will continue forever.
That, Drel explains, is why he intends to burn away every trace of the so-called “hero legend,” to reduce it all to ash so the world can start anew. Until then, he will commit as many atrocities as necessary.
Through his mental connection with Alicia, Clen hears Drel’s entire speech and finally understands his true motives—and by extension, those of his master, Varden.
Clen himself has never met these “true humans” Drel speaks of. He assumes they must have vanished long before he became a Dark Beast Lord. That also means the strange book must be one of the last remnants of the true humans’ legend. The moment the book appeared, the entire forge disappeared. Clen realizes it wasn’t the forge itself, but this book that had been driving the kings of Heiden to kill themselves, resurrecting them as puppets to serve its goals.
He begins to suspect that everything—the manipulation of the royal family, Alicia and the other heroes being sent to fight in the southern beast forest, the wars between human kingdoms, even his own desire to destroy humanity—was orchestrated by this book’s influence.
Clen laughs bitterly at the absurdity of it all, mocking himself for being manipulated so easily despite being a Dark Beast Lord. He inherited no memories from the lords before him, so there are truths he still doesn’t know. But one thing is clear: his very existence must have been designed to fight against the elusive “true humans” that Drel mentioned.
If that’s true, then everything he thought he knew about the world was a lie. Reflecting further, he wonders why he had been bothering with this child at all. With that, Clen sets Luna down and begins walking away, no longer interested in destroying humanity—or even involving himself with them any further.
