Sacha was in a panic.
He had promised himself to keep a closer eye on Cassian.
But Cassian had vanished, and he didn't know where.
He had tried to follow Cassian's scent, but it stopped abruptly.
How is that possible? His scent can't just… disappear like that.
A young soldier approached Sacha, visibly nervous.
"Uh… Sir Sacha?"
Sacha spun around sharply.
"What? Have you seen Cassian?"
The soldier nodded.
"Yes. I saw him fly off while you were distracted when the ogre disappeared."
Sacha understood immediately.
It makes sense now.
He looked up at the sky, desperately searching for any trace of Cassian.
Eric approached, looking worried.
"Sacha, I can't find Gus. Where is he?"
Sacha remembered Gus.
Turning his head toward the last place he had seen him, he realized Gus was nowhere in sight.
Strange.
"I… I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was fighting Borzak."
Eric frowned.
"And Borzak?"
"I don't see him either."
Suddenly, a blinding light appeared in the distance.
Then a piercing whistle.
SZZZZZZZZZ.
Followed by a massive explosion.
BOOOOOOM.
The shockwave swept through the entire camp.
Hair and clothes whipped violently. Dirt surged in a wave.
Everyone heard the explosion in the distance.
The knights of the Order of the White Swans and the Orcs all stopped and turned their heads toward the blast.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"AN ENEMY ATTACK?!"
"THAT WAS HUGE!"
Eric adjusted his hair, staring in the direction of the explosion.
"What just happened?"
---
About two kilometers from the camp
In the middle of a massive crater floated a large spherical form of ice.
It slowly opened, revealing Cassian.
Cassian looked shocked.
I… I didn't expect it to have such an effect.
He gazed at the area, fascinated.
I did this.
The crater was enormous, stretching dozens of meters wide.
Cassian had gotten too close to the ogre to ensure he hit it.
Good thing The Shoreless Sea protected me. Otherwise, I could've been done for.
Of Thomas, almost nothing remained.
A clean hollow. Charred fragments. A column of steam rising into the sky.
Bones and flesh had been turned to plasma.
No identifiable shape. A pungent smell. Intense heat. Vitrified residue at the center of the crater.
There was a tremendous amount of steam.
The steam began to be absorbed by The Shoreless Sea.
That's the water I lost, Cassian thought.
Nothing was wasted. The steam that didn't come from The Shoreless Sea was ignored.
Cassian approached the center of the crater.
He saw a unique earring on the ground, faintly glowing.
That's pretty.
Suddenly, the earring leapt toward him.
"What?!"
But a watery hand shot out from The Shoreless Sea and grabbed the earring mid-air.
It tightly gripped the object in its translucent fists.
Cassian blinked.
"Thanks?"
The Shoreless Sea made a motion as if to say: You're welcome.
---
Back at the camp
Eric had heard about Cassian's disappearance. His expression was grim.
Where has he gone off to now?
Suddenly, a knight came running, his face pale.
"Your Highness! We've found Grand Master Gus!"
Eric and Sacha turned to him.
"Where is he?" Eric asked.
The knight hesitated.
"He… he's dead."
A heavy silence fell.
Sacha and Eric were stunned.
"What?"
An Orc charged toward Eric at that moment.
Without even looking, Eric slashed it down with a single strike.
SLASH.
The body collapsed.
Eric didn't have time to deal with it.
"Are you sure?"
The knight nodded, pointing toward a few knights moving the Grand Master's body.
In Eric and Sacha's minds, it made no sense.
How could a man as strong as Gus have died?
They had been through battles worse than this one.
Gus dying like this? It's illogical.
---
In the forest
Borzak had fled the camp.
He walked through the forest, clutching his head and staggering at times.
"What's… what's happening to me?"
His head was pounding.
He wondered what he was doing there.
No, why was I acting so strangely?
Blurry memories came back. Orders he followed without question. Absolute submission.
"What was… what was that?"
---
At the camp
Slowly, the Orcs began to act strangely.
The effects of the earring were starting to wear off.
Now that Thomas was dead, the earring no longer had a host to maintain its control over them.
"What am I… why am I here?"
"Where's the leader?"
"I want to go home."
The knights, seeing the Orcs behaving so vulnerably, seized the opportunity to eliminate as many as possible.
"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Borzak was one of the first whose control had lifted.
Some Orcs in the camp didn't understand why their comrades were suddenly acting so strangely.
"What's wrong with them?!"
"Why aren't they fighting anymore?!"
Cassian returned to the camp.
He spotted Eric and Sacha below and joined them, gracefully descending from the sky.
With a wide smile, he announced:
"I defeated the ogre!"
Then, seeing Eric and Sacha's expressions, he asked:
"What's wrong?"
Eric asked calmly:
"Cassian, was that explosion we heard earlier you?"
Cassian answered proudly:
"Yes!"
Then he showed Thomas's earring.
"There was this where I took out the ogre. I picked it up for you because I thought it was pretty."
Eric held out his hand, and Cassian handed it over.
Upon quickly inspecting the object, Eric sensed traces of mana.
"It's a magical artifact."
Sacha frowned.
"How could an ogre have a magical artifact? Those aren't common items. It's possible, but it's rare."
Eric thought for a moment.
"If Thomas had a magical artifact, that might explain the anomaly he was. Rallying so many Orcs to his cause… Now we just need to figure out the artifact's properties."
A knight approached Eric.
"Your Highness, we found the green offspring in the camp."
Eric's expression darkened further.
It was inevitable. Too much time was wasted before this threat was eradicated.
He ordered coldly:
"Do as usual."
The knight withdrew and shouted orders:
"LEAVE NONE ALIVE!"
Eric slipped the earring into a pocket.
---
Some time later
Cassian stood before Gus's body.
The prince had asked him to resurrect him.
It was a guess on Eric's part. Perhaps Cassian was capable of it.
If he can pull anything out of The Shoreless Sea, there must be a way to bring people back.
Cassian saw no reason to refuse Eric's request.
Eric, standing nearby, thought: Gus is too important to lose. Plus, if Cassian can truly resurrect him, I'll have to do everything to keep him by my side.
Cassian asked The Shoreless Sea to solve the problem.
The Shoreless Sea produced from its depths a large green leaf with an unknown liquid in the center.
Cassian took the leaf and understood he needed to pour the liquid into Gus's mouth.
He brought the leaf closer and poured the liquid.
A large group surrounded the scene, watching intently.
The moment the liquid touched Gus's lips, a piercing sound rang out.
SZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Cassian covered his ears.
What is that?!
Everyone around Cassian froze.
Their expressions didn't change.
The grass and tree leaves stopped swaying in the wind. Voices ceased.
Everything stopped.
Cassian's vision blurred as he felt an immense tension throughout his body.
The reality around him began to shift to blue.
Like brushstrokes.
One brushstroke: a tree vanished, replaced by a blue void.
One brushstroke: a knight's frozen arm disappeared, replaced by a blue void.
One brushstroke: two people vanished, replaced by a blue void.
Stroke after stroke, reality was altered, transforming around Cassian.
The Shoreless Sea was restless, swirling violently.
The sound grew even louder in Cassian's ears, pushing him to scream.
"AAAAAAH!"
Then, abruptly, the sound stopped.
Around Cassian, there was no one left.
He didn't recognize where he was.
He was in a blue sky.
No matter where he looked, there was blue everywhere.
Below, above, in front, behind.
An infinite bluish horizon. No clouds. Just an endless blue sky.
The mere act of being here oppressed Cassian.
But that wasn't what caught his attention the most.
In front of him was a woman.
She was lying on her side, on nothing.
Her clothes were a long, intricate blue robe that covered her body from neck to ankles.
Her skin was transparent and faintly glowing.
Her hair, long and wispy like clouds, floated around her, unbound by gravity.
Her face was a blinding source of light, impossible to discern.
Looking at the woman was a trial for Cassian.
He already felt exhausted after observing her for less than ten seconds.
The silence didn't last long.
An authoritative voice thundered.
"I AM THE WORLD."
The voice was even louder than the sound from before, echoing all around.
Cassian covered his ears, but the voice passed through effortlessly, without resistance.
"YOU DARED TO TAMPER WITH LIFE AND DEATH."
The woman was highly accusatory and stern.
"THIS IS A DOMAIN NOT TO BE MEDDLED WITH. IT IS A GRAVE FORBIDDEN ACT."
The Shoreless Sea sensed Cassian's distress. It grew more and more agitated.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DEFY MY LAWS?"
As the seconds passed, Cassian felt like his head was about to explode.
Moreover, he felt an immense fear, a distress so… overwhelming.
The Shoreless Sea churned and distorted.
Then everything erupted.
BOOOOOOOM.
From the depths of The Shoreless Sea, indescribable horrors of all sizes, from all ages, and countless in number surged forth.
They all hurled themselves at the world.