Minutes before Azura and Arlo's battle came to an end—
Elric stepped into the restaurant.
The sight that greeted him was almost absurdly peaceful.
Alexander was in the kitchen, frantically trying to finish a dessert while Alicia stood nearby cheering him on. Hana and Rose continued playing music as if nothing in the world could possibly go wrong.
And at the center of it all—
River and Celestia sat together, sharing a plate of spaghetti.
At that exact moment, they were leaning in, about to kiss while sharing the same strand—
Only to both pause and look toward the entrance.
Elric stood there calmly.
Smiling.
"Isn't this lovely?" he asked, clapping slowly.
His voice carried light amusement.
"Do forgive me for interrupting your date."
Celestia's expression instantly darkened.
She bit down on the spaghetti noodle hard enough to snap it.
"I was having a peaceful night…"
She slowly stood up.
"And you just had to ruin it."
River rose as well, reaching into a bag of holding and pulling out the Onyx January.
Elric remained completely composed.
His crimson eyes moved from person to person, counting them one by one.
"…Six against one."
He smiled faintly.
"That hardly seems fair for all of you."
Celestia moved first.
Dark magic formed into blades around her, and in the next instant those blades ignited with flame.
She rushed him without hesitation.
Elric casually stepped aside.
Every movement smooth.
Effortless.
As if he wasn't even bothering yet.
From the kitchen, Alexander peeked out and glanced at Alicia.
"Should we help them…"
He looked at the half-finished dessert.
"…or finish the lemon meringue pie?"
Alicia smiled sweetly.
"I was really looking forward to the pie."
A pause.
"But we can make another one later."
"Sweet."
Alexander immediately tore off the kiss the cook apron, tossed it aside, and grabbed his sword.
Then he charged.
Rose moved with him, and together with the two swordsmen pressed Elric from all sides, forcing him into constant motion.
Still—
He kept dodging.
Calmly.
Almost lazily.
Behind them, Alicia fired arrows of light.
River launched blades of wind.
And Hana began firing her own arrows in precise support.
"My record is twenty against one," Elric said with a faint smile.
He stepped around another slash from Rose as if they were dancing instead of fighting.
"Though, to be fair…"
His crimson eyes swept over the group.
"The quality of your little team more than makes up for the smaller number."
Rose lunged at him again.
Elric sighed.
"Still…"
He caught her by the throat in one smooth motion.
"You are rather disappointing."
His grip tightened.
"Far too boring for my taste."
Rose glared at him through the chokehold.
"Don't underestimate me."
Stone rapidly formed over both of her fists.
Then—
CRACK.
She slammed both of them into Elric's head.
The impact made his skull snap to the side.
For the first time, his expression faltered.
He loosened his hold just enough for Rose to drop.
"…I apologize," Elric said, smiling again despite the blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Clearly, I judged too quickly."
He raised one hand.
"Repel."
A spiraling mass of dark force condensed in his palm—
Then exploded outward.
Rose was hurled across the room and crashed straight into the piano.
"Rose!" Alicia shouted.
She immediately fired a rain of light arrows at Elric.
Several struck his shoulder before he could dodge, holy light burning into his flesh.
But Elric simply touched the wounds.
"Heal."
The damage vanished almost instantly.
His expression darkened.
"…Annoying."
He slowly raised his hand and pointed toward Rose.
"I think I'll kill you first."
Darkness condensed at his fingertips into a deadly, concentrated point.
Alexander moved without hesitation.
"Not on my watch."
He stepped directly in front of Rose, sword raised.
At the same time—
"Smite!" River called.
Holy light wrapped around Alexander's blade.
"Defend Dark!" Alicia added.
A protective spell settled over him, weakening the force of any dark magic that hit.
Hana acted just as quickly.
She fired arrows at Alexander's feet, and roots burst from the floor, wrapping around his legs and anchoring him in place so he could withstand the coming impact.
Across the room, Celestia lowered her stance.
Eyes narrowed.
Body coiled.
She was waiting.
For just one moment.
Because after Elric released this spell—
He would be open.
"Pitch Black."
Elric spoke the words calmly.
A beam of condensed darkness erupted from his hand—
Sharp.
Piercing.
Absolute.
It slammed into Alexander head-on.
"Ghh—!"
Even with every layer of support placed on him, Alexander struggled to endure it. His feet dug into the floor as the roots at his ankles strained to keep him upright.
The holy enchantment on his blade cracked.
Then shattered.
His sword broke apart in his hands as the force drove him backward.
He didn't die.
But only barely.
The beam threw him across the room, and the moment it ended he dropped to one knee, vomiting blood onto the floor.
Elric's expression darkened.
"…Annoying."
His voice had lost its calm edge.
"The lot of you are incredibly annoying."
That single moment of irritation—
Was all Celestia needed.
Flames exploded around her legs, propelling her forward like a launched arrow.
She swung with everything she had.
Elric turned just in time.
The blade still cut deep across his neck, the strike only barely missing full decapitation.
Blood sprayed.
For the first time, genuine anger flickered across Elric's face.
"Photon Travel."
His body lit up.
Then vanished.
In an instant, he reappeared behind Alexander.
"Reaper Strike."
Darkness engulfed his hand, condensing into a blade-like edge as he swung for Alexander's neck.
River moved on pure instinct.
He lunged in.
The Onyx January intercepted the strike at the last possible second.
"Counter!"
A shockwave burst out from the clash.
Unlike Perfect Counter, this spell was easier to activate—
But it came with a price.
Recoil.
For both sides.
River's body shook violently as blood rose into his throat.
Elric's expression twisted as the same backlash struck him.
Both of them coughed and vomited blood at the same time.
For one split second, the two simply stared at each other—
Then both raised their hands.
"Heal."
Their wounds began to close.
But the strain remained.
Elric took a slow breath.
But this time—
He didn't calm down.
His composure began to crack.
Not all at once.
But visibly.
His hand trembled as he reached into his cloak and pulled out Miserable September.
Then he rang it.
DING.
The sound was soft.
Beautiful.
And deeply wrong.
This time—
He turned the bell on himself.
He let its curse dig into his own heart, dragging out every twisted thought, every buried desire, every piece of grief he had tried to control.
Tears began to pour from his right eye.
"Penelope…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"My beloved…"
More tears followed.
"I miss you."
Around him, dark orbs began to form.
One.
Then ten.
Then dozens.
Floating in the air like stars born from grief.
"Despair Rain."
He spoke the spell almost absentmindedly.
Then the orbs launched.
From above.
From the sides.
From every angle.
They crashed into the room in a merciless storm, slamming into walls, tables, bodies, and floor alike.
It was a dark spell that fed on negative emotion—taking sorrow, grief, despair, and converting them directly into destructive force.
And Elric's sorrow—
Was immense.
The barrage intensified as he rang the bell again.
DING.
Then again.
DING.
Each ring amplified the worst parts of him.
Each ring dragged him deeper into his grief.
Like all thirteen masterpieces, Miserable September fed on something within its wielder.
For Elric—
It fed on sorrow.
And right now, he had more than enough of it.
Tears streamed endlessly from his right eye.
From his left—
Black goo began to pour.
His face twisted with pain and obsession as he kept speaking her name.
"Penelope…"
Another wave of dark orbs formed.
"Penelope…"
They fired.
Relentless.
Obsessive.
Violent.
"Penelope…"
The restaurant trembled beneath the assault as Elric drowned the entire room in grief made manifest.
River moved.
He rushed forward through the storm, raising barrier after barrier of light magic as dark bullets slammed into them from every angle.
One shattered.
Then another.
Then another.
But he kept pushing forward.
Step by step, he closed the distance, aiming to blast Elric at point-blank range.
Elric's eyes shifted toward him.
"Anxious Fall."
The curse struck River's mind instantly.
In one moment, he was in the restaurant.
In the next—
He was dead.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He saw futures unfolding in flashes, each one ending with his body torn apart in some new grotesque way. His skull split open against the wall. His organs scattered across the table. His throat opened by a dark spear. His arms ripped away. His chest imploding from within. Thousands of impossible deaths sprayed across his vision all at once.
It was overwhelming.
Suffocating.
Enough to make any sane person freeze.
River staggered—
But didn't stop.
"It doesn't matter…"
His voice shook.
He forced another step forward.
"I can't let it matter."
His eyes were wide, blood vessels rupturing under the strain.
"Even if I die a thousand times…"
Light gathered in his hands.
"…I can't let you hurt them."
Elric's own mana surged as he began forming his next spell.
River raised the Onyx January.
"Prismatic Laser!"
At the same moment, Elric answered.
"Misery Absolute."
A concentrated beam of radiant light and a blast of condensed despair collided between them.
The impact shook the restaurant.
Neither gave ground.
River pushed forward, feet digging into the floor as his muscles screamed. Elric stood opposite him, drenched in his own grief, forcing his sorrow into raw destructive power.
River began to cry tears of blood under the strain of the curse.
Elric's right eye wept ordinary tears.
His left wept black sludge.
Still, neither yielded.
"Devour my will…"
River's voice came out ragged.
"Feed on my conviction…"
He tightened his grip.
"And recognize my strength."
His bloodied eyes sharpened.
"Selene… enhance my mana."
The light around him swelled.
"I refuse to fall here."
A breath.
"…For my friends."
Across from him, Elric's expression twisted with obsession.
"Devour my sorrow…"
His voice trembled.
"Feed on my misery…"
Darkness deepened around his body.
"And recognize my pain."
He rang the bell again, forcing more madness into himself.
"Enhance my despair…"
His tears fell harder.
"I refuse to fall here…"
His lips trembled around the name.
"…For my Penelope."
The two stood like twisted reflections of one another.
One driven by conviction.
The other by grief.
Two masterpieces devouring the hearts of their wielders.
The clash finally broke.
River and Elric were both thrown backward, their attacks collapsing in a violent burst of light and darkness.
They hit the ground hard.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then—
Slowly—
Both forced themselves back to their feet.
Shaking.
Breathing hard.
Barely able to stand.
Elric looked worse than before.
His composure was gone.
His grief had become something wild.
Something desperate.
"No more."
His voice was low.
Unsteady.
But absolute.
"I'm ending this now."
He raised Miserable September with trembling hands.
"All of you…"
His eyes darkened.
"…begone."
He poured every last drop of mana he had into the bell.
Then he rang it.
DING
This time, the sound was no longer beautiful.
It was sharp.
Piercing.
Violent.
It tore through the air like a blade and forced its way directly into the minds of everyone who heard it.
River.
Celestia.
Alexander.
Alicia.
Hana.
Rose.
Even outside the restaurant—
Arthur and Azura.
No one was spared.
Not even Elric himself.
The curse took hold of all of them at once.
Their bodies froze.
Then one by one—
They collapsed.
River tried to resist.
Tried to keep his eyes open.
Tried to take just one more step.
But the sound kept burrowing deeper into his mind.
Dragging him down.
Down.
Down.
Until darkness swallowed everything.
Not a single one of them remained awake.
All were dragged into unnatural slumber.
When River opened his eyes again—
He was somewhere else.
He slowly stood and looked around.
The road beneath his feet was smooth and black, marked with neat painted lines. Buildings towered above him, many of them made almost entirely of glass, reflecting countless lights back into the night.
Signs glowed everywhere, lit by captured lightning instead of flame.
Some displayed words he could not understand.
Others showed strange figures—
People dressed like mercenaries, each bearing bizarre code names and even more bizarre outfits.
The people around him wore unfamiliar clothing.
The streets hummed with energy.
The world itself felt
It was night.
And yet the city never slept.
Countless glowing orbs bathed the streets in artificial daylight, making the whole place shine as if the darkness had been defeated long ago.
River stood there in stunned silence.
It felt like he had stepped into another world.
A Kingdom of Glass—
Where Lightning Served as the Sun.