Clen lets the Book of Toa fall to the ground and turns to leave. But through their mental link, Alicia hears his entire speech and calls it utter nonsense. Clen is genuinely surprised to hear her voice again—he honestly didn’t think she would have survived this long against Drel. Her current condition is dire, but that doesn’t matter to her right now.
She demands to know if Clen really thinks it’s acceptable to just walk away after everything he’s done. But Clen replies that he finally understands what Drel and Varden are after, and frankly, he has no reason to stop them. If they want to erase every trace of the heroes from this world, that’s none of his business. Whatever happens to fragile humans as a result is not his concern. He tells Alicia that if she truly wants to survive, she should abandon her identity as a hero and let events play out.
But Alicia was never worried about her own survival. She asks him if he can honestly say the world is meaningless after looking into Luna’s eyes. She doesn’t care about “true humans,” “true heroes,” or the so-called prophecy—because none of it matters. Those “true humans” the legends speak of? If they aren’t here anymore, they clearly weren’t strong enough to survive in this world. And if they couldn’t, then what right do they have to call themselves superior?
Clen falters, realizing she has a point. He turns to look at Luna, who is crying but trying to stand. He stumbles at first, but after several shaky attempts, the boy manages to take his first step. At that moment, Clen is reminded that humanity still has room to learn and grow from its past mistakes—perhaps there really is hope for a better future.
Meanwhile, outside, Drel taunts Alicia, telling her she should know she cannot possibly defeat him without her regalia. But Alicia charges anyway. Drel smirks, declaring this is the end, and moves to slash her apart—only to be knocked back at the last second by a massive block hurled by Bloco. The interruption buys Alicia enough time to sprint toward her regalia.
Drel quickly recovers and dives after her, but Alicia slides beneath him and, once close enough, uses her dark ichor to pull her severed hand back to her body. Drel’s confidence wavers for the first time when he realizes that Alicia also has dark ichor coursing through her veins. That brief hesitation gives her the opening to unleash a Rising Dragon Strike.
Everyone on the ground watches in awe as her attack connects—but Rod quickly notices something is wrong. Drel managed to block her strike with his sword, leaving him unharmed. Worse, during the clash, he also slashed Alicia across the chest, sending her tumbling helplessly through the air.
Mocking her, Drel sneers that a “fake hero” like her, with no ambition, never stood a chance against him. But mid-fall, Alicia retorts that he’s the one who lacks ambition. He was so quick to dismiss the hero legends as fake just because he was weaker than the Dark Beast Lords—never once considering that maybe it was his own lack of skill holding him back.
Infuriated by being called weak, Drel charges at her recklessly. But Alicia, calm and unfazed, tells him he might want to get his eyes checked—because when she struck earlier, she wasn’t aiming for his body. Her true target was his sword.
Drel ignores Alicia’s words and raises his blade to deliver the final blow. But just as he’s about to swing, the sword suddenly shatters in his hands. He stares in disbelief—something like this should be impossible. A regalia isn’t supposed to break.
Alicia admits she isn’t entirely sure how she managed to damage it either. But during their clashes, she kept hearing faint screams coming from the blade, so she knew it could be broken. Hearing this, Tala recalls how she struck Drel’s sword earlier with the Hammer of Heiden. Though it didn’t shatter then, it must have left a critical weakness.
Meanwhile, Alicia is still plummeting, but Nell rushes forward and catches her before she crashes into the ground. She’s battered, but alive. The same can’t be said for Drel. His body is made entirely of dark ichor now, and with his regalia destroyed, it’s clear that Varden has abandoned him.
Suddenly, dark ichor erupts violently from Drel’s body, tearing his flesh apart. His screams echo as his form is ripped away piece by piece. He begs Varden not to forsake him, crying that he hasn’t destroyed the hero legend yet. But it’s far too late—Varden is reclaiming his power, leaving Drel to die in agony.
In his final moments, Drel reflects on his hatred of the prophecy. Deep down, he realizes the real reason he despised it was because it gave Margo false hope—hope that ultimately led to his death. That’s why Drel made his deal with Varden in the first place, hoping to save both himself and Margo. But as he’s torn apart, he wonders why he let things spiral so far.
Before long, his body completely disintegrates, leaving behind only a cloud of dark ichor mist and the shattered remnants of his regalia.
Even though Drel is gone, Alicia worries that Varden might still make a move. She knows she wouldn’t be able to stop him. But at that moment, Clen arrives. He tells her there’s no need to worry—Varden isn’t the type to deal with things personally. And without a host, the dark ichor has no true power; it will eventually drift back to Van on its own.
Relieved, Alicia is also glad to see that Clen chose to keep Luna safe after all. Moments later, Tala rushes over, overcome with emotion at finally seeing her son again. She drops everything and runs to embrace him, but Clen stops her.
For a moment, Alicia fears he might refuse to return Luna. But that’s not the case. Clen simply believes it’s only right that a future king should return to his mother by his own strength. So, he gently sets Luna down on the ground and tells him to walk to her.
Tala is overwhelmed to see her little boy standing on his own two feet. Tears stream down her face as Luna makes his way over to her. The reunion between mother and son is heartwarming, though Alicia can’t help but find it ironic—after all, it was Klen who destroyed the city and practically kidnapped Luna in the first place.
Moments later, the exhaustion from her long battle catches up with Alicia, and she collapses onto the grass. Ro and Nelleroo rush to her side, worried that her injuries might be fatal, but she reassures them that she’ll be fine. “Wounds like this won’t be enough to kill me,” she insists. Instead of worrying about her, she urges Ro to go inform the soldiers below that Drell has been defeated.
Understanding, Ro picks up Drell’s broken regalia and rushes down the hill to spread the news of Dill’s death. Klen watches him go, pleased with how things turned out, though he decides to keep the Book of Toa for now—at least until he uncovers the truth about it. Suddenly, one of Varden’s avatars appears behind him, warning that he will regret his actions, as the legend of Toa will soon come to pass. Klen, uninterested in hearing more from Varden, uses his shadows to kill the familiar.
This chapter comes to a close, but the story is far from over—Klen still has much to learn about the humans.
Meanwhile, Ro marches onto the battlefield, loudly announcing that Drell has been slain by the hero Alicia. As proof, he raises Drell’s shattered regalia for all to see. The moment the soldiers of Drell’s army realize their commander is dead, they lose the will to fight, knowing they stand no chance. The army retreats, and Ro, unwilling to allow needless bloodshed, orders his men to stand down and let the enemy leave.
The news spreads quickly across the battlefield. Even those still fighting drop their weapons as soon as they hear the message.
As for Nay, she has spent the entire time lying in a stack of hay, unsure of what to do now that the war has ended. Gart, who observed the battle from afar, takes flight to report all he has seen.
Meanwhile, by the lake, the head priest of the kingdom watches over the blood sphere containing Clevatess. When one of his guards foolishly attempts to touch it, the priest stops him, warning that whatever lies inside is still alive—and has chosen not to emerge. He orders his men to ensure no one approaches or even looks at the sphere.
Back in the ruins of Heiden, Alicia, Nell, and Klen rest inside one of the few houses left standing. Nell has just finished bandaging Alicia, though the treatment is unnecessary since Klen already healed her. Still, it would raise suspicions if anyone noticed her lack of injuries. Yet despite her wounds being closed, Alicia continues to feel the agonizing pain, making it hard for her to focus.
Klen explains that he had to heal a fatal wound instantly to keep her alive, so the lingering pain is only natural. On top of that, he allowed her to bleed slightly so no one would suspect the presence of dark Echor, which he intends to keep secret. He asks Nell to make sure she tells no one.
Finally, Alicia asks Klen if he believes what Dill said—that the so-called true humans were the only ones capable of becoming real heroes. Klen admits that he has no idea.
All Klen knows for certain is that the name Toa holds incredible importance to the legend, and the book has been manipulating the kings of Heiden for generations. The secrets of the original legend must be hidden within it. Unfortunately, Klen hasn’t been able to read it because it is locked. When the book appeared, it came with a key, so Klen tried opening it to uncover its contents. To his surprise, the key didn’t work.
The only logical conclusion is that the key he has must open a similar book elsewhere in the world. But where that book may be, or how many such books exist, remains a complete mystery.
Just then, there’s a knock at the door, and the three are informed that the queen wishes to meet them. They head to the castle, which is heavily damaged from Clevatess’s attack. Fortunately, the throne room is still intact, so they gather there.
The queen thanks them for coming and says they probably already know why she summoned them. First, she expresses her deepest gratitude—for without their help, Heiden would have been completely destroyed.
However, Nell seems unusually nervous. Suddenly, she breaks into tears and starts apologizing to Tala. Confused, Tala asks why she’s acting this way. Klen reassures everyone that it’s nothing, but Nell continues crying, feeling unworthy of having fed the future king in Tala’s place.
Tala walks up to her and gently tells her that she would never consider her unworthy—in fact, she sees Nell as her savior. During the time Luna was missing, one of Tala’s greatest fears was that he might starve without his mother to nurse him. Learning that Nell had cared for him brought her immense relief. Hearing this, Nell says it’s an honor beyond words.
After that, Tala tells everyone that if there is anything they desire—land, money, or even a title—they should feel free to ask. Alicia considers the offer seriously, intrigued by the idea of receiving a noble title. But Klen already knows what he wants. He requests to stay and work in the castle as Luna’s magic instructor.
