While the monsters were devouring the bandits, Alicia was having a rough time descending to the bottom of the lake. The water pressure increased the deeper she went, and being unable to breathe wasn’t exactly helping her mood. Still, she pressed on—because, hey, she knew she couldn’t die anyway. Her real enemy was her own weak body.
After a tough struggle, she finally reached the bottom and spotted something glowing—it was the sword. She swam toward it, but just as she reached it, the biggest, meanest monster of them all appeared out of nowhere. Alicia was stunned. How could something that huge stay hidden down here for so long? But there wasn’t time for awe—the monster grabbed her and yanked her toward its gaping mouth while she desperately tried to reach for the sword.
Just in time, she managed to grab it—while practically lodged between the monster’s teeth. She remembered what her father once told her: that her hands might be weaker than a man’s, but she was far better at drawing out a sword’s true power. Channeling that strength, she slashed her way free and unleashed the sword’s energy. Guided by the legendary sword techniques passed down in stories, Alicia started moving freely underwater like she was born there.
She realized then that the sword grew stronger in the right environment, and it finally clicked—this was the same creature that likely defeated the hero known as the “Current Cutter.” No one could’ve imagined a beast like this existed. It had to be one of those ancient monsters from legends—immortal creatures that rarely appear and live for thousands of years.
While trying to escape, Alicia caught the attention of other monsters. But all she cared about now was oxygen. Slashing through anything in her way, she reached the surface, gasping for breath. The remaining bandits were stunned—there she was, emerging from the water, wielding the sacred sword. But before they could cheer, the enormous monster burst from the lake and went full rampage mode, killing everything in sight.
Alicia tried escaping but couldn’t do much. She attempted to attack the monster’s limbs, but it was useless. To kill it, she’d need to chop its legs off—and she couldn’t even reach those. It became obvious: no single hero could take on an ancient beast like this. So, she made the logical choice—she retreated. The bandits begged for her help, but she coldly left them to their doom. The monsters made quick work of them.
From a safe distance, Alicia watched it all go down. The monsters weren’t leaving the lake, and that meant her mission was technically complete. Clevatess had only asked her to eliminate the bandits. Plus, she now had the sword. So… win?
Just then, Clevatess started speaking to Alicia through the essence of darkness. He knew she’d completed the mission—even though he hadn’t seen it, he could somehow feel it. Clearly, it had been rough. Alicia, not in the mood for compliments, snapped back that “rough” didn’t even begin to describe it—it was destructive. She demanded to know why he didn’t help if he knew how bad it would be.
Clevatess replied that he had… a problem. Alicia was baffled. “A Lord of Darkness with problems?” He explained that part of it was his limited human form. The other part? He’d been dealing with this whole thing called magic—something completely new to him—and it was seriously messing with his senses. “Why didn’t you tell me about magic, Alicia?” he said ominously. “Come to me now… so I can punish you.”
Meanwhile, Brokov (yes, he survived somehow) was limping away, wondering how all of this happened and who the heck that terrifying kid was. Haunted by the memory of facing Clevatess, he eventually collapsed from the stress, unable to even comprehend the power he’d witnessed. Still, he kept crawling… until he saw Luna and Nu up ahead.
By now, Alicia had reached Clevatess. He greeted her with his usual sass: “You’re late.” She snapped back that she came as fast as she could—like she even had a choice. But then she noticed the smoke… and she was stunned.
So, Clevatess asked Alicia about the sword. She told him flat-out that she wasn’t handing it over—after all, she basically paid with her life to get it. Surprisingly, Clevatess didn’t care about the sword. Instead, he asked about the strange magic in the area. It wasn’t affecting animals—just him—and it was incredibly effective against dark monsters. He couldn’t even smell properly, and both his ears were ringing like crazy.
He mentioned he could avoid all of this by transforming into his true form, but doing so would likely destroy the cave—and possibly kill Luna, who had only just gone missing. That risk wasn’t worth it. Hearing this, Alicia was shocked, realizing that anything happening to Luna could trigger a massive disaster. Clevatess then told her she needed to do something about the magic.
Alicia explained that she didn’t know how to use magic—because, well, hardly anyone did. Magic was rare, and only a few chosen ones could wield it. To even begin using magic, one needed a Mana Hydrite Medal, something ordinary people had a 0% chance of obtaining. Upon hearing that, Clevatess casually called her useless. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with Alicia. She pointed out that some of the heroes she’d killed could use magic—but Clevatess ignored her and simply kept walking.
Alicia insisted they needed to find Luna, even though the chances were high she was already dead. She asked what would happen if Luna really was dead. Clevatess answered coldly: “If Luna dies, my interest in humanity dies with her.” That’s when Alicia realized—Clevatess had already considered destroying the entire world. The only thing stopping him… was Luna. So now, Alicia had one mission: find Luna alive. She was everyone’s last hope.
As they moved forward, Alicia noticed bloodstains and asked if Neil was injured. Clevatess said Neil wasn’t even in a condition to crawl—meaning someone must’ve dragged her away.
Elsewhere, we see Froco moving ahead. But Neil, stubborn as ever, kept tripping him up—so Froco started kicking her. Even then, Neil wouldn’t let go of his coat. He was furious. That coat was a rare, one-of-a-kind item made from black feathers! Still, his mission to get Luna out of there came first.
Froco remembered that when he tried to touch Luna, she suddenly burst into tears—causing the lantern in his hand to explode. That’s when it hit him: this child had magical power. Not just that—he had pure royal blood. He had to be the lost prince of the Heiden Kingdom.
Suddenly, Alicia appeared. Froco was stunned to see her. He asked where his men were. From behind, Clevatess calmly told him, “They’re all currently being digested inside the dark monster’s stomach.”
Clevatess looked at Neil and said, “Looks like you fought right to your last breath.” At that, Froco made a threat—if anyone moved even a step, he’d start cutting off Luna’s fingers. Clevatess, not even slightly fazed, said, “Do what you want.”
Alicia, however, stepped in, saying, “Let me handle this. This guy will actually cut her fingers off. Even if we can heal them, the pain and trauma won’t just vanish.” Then she made Froco an offer—she revealed the legendary sword.
Froco was stunned. Without warning, Alicia threw the sword into the wall and said, “You can’t pull that out with one hand. So let’s make a deal—leave the kid, take the sword, and walk away. But if you try anything funny, I’ll kill you myself.”
Froco laughed, saying, “If you’re giving up the legendary sword that easily, then this kid must be worth even more than the sword.” His suspicion confirmed, Alicia was furious. Then Froco started asking where the rest of the legendary swords were—after all, one-for-one wasn’t a fair deal.
On Clevatess’s orders, Alicia revealed the location: the rest of the weapons were at the bottom of Grand Valley. Immediately after learning that, Froco pulled out an invisibility potion and used it on himself. Alicia was caught off guard. Froco then struck Luna on the head, making her cry harder to fuel his magic—and both vanished.
Still talking (despite being “invisible”), Froco gloated about getting revenge. But suddenly, Alicia dropped down and sliced him in half. “How did you know where I was?” he gasped.
“You idiot,” she said. “Stop talking so much—we could hear you moving.”
At the same time, Luna’s cries rang out again. She reappeared next to Clevatess, who wiped off the magic powder from her to dispel the invisibility.
Then Alicia brought up Neil, who was barely alive. She asked Clevatess if he was going to save her. After all, even in that awful condition, Neil had done so much for Luna. Without her, Luna would never have been saved. Getting emotional, Alicia pleaded.
Clevatess agreed but told her he would need to use the dark fluid from Alicia’s body to heal Neil—and that meant Alicia would have to die. Again.
Alicia accepted without hesitation. It wasn’t her first time.
While Clevatess drained her blood from the inside, Alicia died once more. But now, Neil‘s body was fully healed—and even her appearance had changed. Clevatess told her that Alicia had made the sacrifice to save her, and that she herself had been saved from the monster. “Don’t worry,” he said, “Alicia will definitely come back.”
For the first time, Clevatess actually praised Alicia, admitting she was stronger than other humans.
Sure enough, Alicia came back to life again. First thing she did? She looked for her sword—her most prized possession now.
Then, Clevatess handed Luna to Neil—now fully recovered—and said it was feeding time. Oh, and also… he renamed Neil to Nelor, which left her completely stunned.
“You’re a new person now,” Clevatess told her. “So you need a new name. Will you join us?”
She responded happily.
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