After completing every installment of The Mayhem, David explained the next step of the plan, which would be the final stage before they left Earth. He then showed them, on his laptop, a photograph of the crystal taken from the Venus asteroid, which happened to closely resemble what had been described in the early lore of The Mayhem. The crystal was now being kept at the National Space Agency, and only David had access to it.
"Could this be Johann's way of showing us the path to save him? To me, this is quite a coincidence..." Sherubiel said.
"Thank goodness if that's the case! But honestly, I'm afraid of having to enter the next world just like in the game's storyline..." Glynpatra replied.
"Don't be afraid, Princess! Lord David will protect us as long as we stay by his side!" Gruzhnil comforted her.
David made no comment and instructed Gruzhnil and Glynpatra to inform their employers that the following day would be their last day of work. Sherubiel also reported that David's clone had been completed and was ready to be awakened. David nodded before returning home to resume work the next day while thinking of a way to retrieve the venusian crystal.
The next morning, just as David was about to leave for work, he suddenly received a call from Murphy. The moment he answered, Murphy immediately delivered urgent news from the National Space Agency.
"Sir David! The red crystal from the asteroid we talked about suddenly started emitting some kind of very strange energy! There has been significant instability in the communication systems here! Would you like to come here right now?!" Murphy's voice panicked over the phone.
"I'll be there right now!"
Dianne became worried, but her husband still asked her to stay calm. After kissing his wife and the baby in her womb, David drove to the National Space Agency. Upon arriving, he saw many soldiers guarding the area around the building. He was granted permission to enter. David steadily walked into the building while everyone else was running about in panic.
As he went through one of the corridors, he noticed someone walking toward him wearing a formal military uniform. When they passed each other, the man stopped and stared at David sharply. David also stopped walking and looked at the name embroidered on the uniform, which read 'Weims'. Several stitched scars were visible across the man's face.
"So we meet again here after all this time because of what you did to me. Are you looking for trouble again here, David...???"
At once, David remembered that this was Colonel Weims, the man whose face he had beaten during their conflict when David was still serving in Delta Zero. The large stitched scars were most likely the result of surgery to repair his fractured facial bones. David steadied himself by briefly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
"I'm here to carry out my duty, Colonel. I'll do everything I can to stop the chaos that's happening right now..."
Colonel Weims merely smiled somewhat sarcastically. Unexpectedly, David raised his hand in salute. The colonel looked confused by the gesture.
"I apologize for the grave mistake I committed against you, Colonel Weims. What has happened to me since then is my punishment. If you wish to repay what I did to you back then, I'm ready to accept it now..." David confessed.
The colonel stared at him in even greater astonishment. But he did not do what David expected. Instead, he returned the salute for a brief moment while smiling.
"I won't use violence here, even though I could repay you right now. Remember this, David! The military does not teach violence; it teaches the values of a chivalry—to protect and to guide those under your command. I also understand that afterward I interfered too much with the operation you were led. You'll continue to make great contributions to this country, no matter where you serve, David..." Weims said.
David simply smiled and thanked the colonel. The two of them then continued walking toward their respective destinations.
When David arrived at the entrance to the research laboratory, the soldiers standing guard warned him that the situation inside had become extremely critical as they were trying to completely isolate the crystal. He asked them to open the door. The scene inside looked almost like the aftermath of a shipwreck. Papers and cables were scattered everywhere, while numerous researchers rushed back and forth in panic, shouting over one another.
David looked toward the center of the room, where the red venusian crystal floated inside a special transparent cylindrical containment chamber. The strangest phenomenon was directly in front of the chamber, where crimson sparks had begun to form. As David watched them, the sparks gradually shaped themselves into a small portal. Realizing what would happen if it was left unchecked for too long, he immediately walked toward it. But one of the researchers stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
"Sir!!! Don't go in thereee...!!! The radiation levels are extremely highhh...!!! Your body will be severely damaged...!!!"
"Do you want everyone in this place to be killed by the monsters that will come out of there???" David glared at the researcher. He could only stand there in stunned silence as David walked past and entered the containment area.
David stood facing the tiny portal formed by the crimson sparks. Almost all of the researchers fell silent as they watched him remain completely unaffected inside the isolation chamber. David extended his right hand toward the small black opening within the sparks and pulled it apart with the fingers until the opening grew larger. Suddenly, a surge of black and crimson energy burst out, sweeping throughout the entire research laboratory. Most of the people struck by the energy immediately collapsed unconscious.
David crushed the portal shut with a single squeeze of his hand and picked up the red crystal with his bare hand as well. There was a special storage box beside the isolation chamber door, and David took it and placed the crystal inside. He then hurried out of the building toward his car. He contacted Murphy and asked to meet him somewhere.
That afternoon, Murphy arrived at a monument on a hill at the edge of the city, where David was already waiting.
"Sir David, you managed to handle the situation at the National Space Agency building all by yourself! But I still can't believe you picked up that crystal with your bare hand and are completely unharmed. What are you going to do with that crystal?"
"I'm going to take it somewhere and make sure it no longer remains on Earth. It will become a great disaster if it's dealt with too late. You don't want to face something beyond our ability, do you?"
Murphy simply smiled and saluted his captain. David returned the salute and asked him to take care of himself and the others.
That night, Dianne was asleep with one hand resting on her increasingly swollen belly, while David lay behind her, embracing her. Standing in the doorway, the real David, already wearing his armor, could only look at his wife one last time while his clone lay beside her. He quietly walked to Darla's room, kissed her forehead, and his daughter smiled in her sleep. He then looked at the pot of forget-me-nots flower by the living room window.
"I won't forget. I'll come after you soon, Johann..." he murmured.
David left through the back door, where the others were already waiting. Mendicore created a portal, and they entered one by one. Only David remained. Suddenly, he heard a meowing sound coming from the house. He glanced back and saw Doly running toward him. David picked up his beloved cat and gently kissed its head.
"Take care of them for me, Doly. I'll be back soon."
He gently set the cat back down. Doly simply watched its master step into the portal before it disappeared.
They all emerged in an open grassland surrounded by forest. The surroundings were quiet, illuminated only by the moonlight and the chirping of crickets.
"This is the place where the aurora resembling the dreadstone appeared, Lord David! We can open a portal to Hell using the Venus crystal!" Mendicore said.
"Ahhh... I'll miss working at that construction site, where the other workers and I would have warm conversations over coffee high above the unfinished building..." Gruzhnil reminisced.
"Me too, Uncle! I'll remember how that food stand was always full of customers who probably just wanted to see me. I was even once offered a job as a magazine model, hahahahaaa..." Glynpatra excited.
"As for me, I'll miss the beauty of nature across every corner of Planet Earth. I want all of us, together with Johann, to travel around the world someday. What do you all think?" Sherubiel asked. Gruzhnil and Glynpatra agreed with the idea.
David remained silent as he removed the red crystal from its case. He walked forward a few steps and held the crystal out in front of him. It began to shine brilliantly and emit crackling arcs of electricity. David then threw it forward, and immediately a portal to Hell formed, its edges glowing crimson while its center was pitch black.
"Let's begin our journey!" he said briefly, marking the start of their mission to find Johann.
David stepped into the portal, followed by Gruzhnil, Glynpatra, Sherubiel, and finally Mendicore. After they had all entered, the portal rapidly shrank and disappeared.