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It came from a time when the world had been a very different place.

On the brink of absolute conquest.

By the dreaded Kingsparrows. The enemies of all humanity. A force so terrible that it united even the Vanguard and Abolish against it for nearly a century.

And Axiolis furthermore realized that this was not one memory. It was many. A whole lifetimes’s worth, in fact.

It all came back to him in a rush. An overwhelming wave of recollection. Too much to process now, certainly.

And difficult though it was, Zeff did his best to suppress it. They could think through it all later. In this moment, his full attention needed to remain on the field of battle.

On the apparent demise of not only Vanderberk, but also the Monster of the East, too.

Zeff couldn’t believe his eyes.

Gohvis could not break free of his cage. It took a while longer, but just as with Vanderberk, the lines of light graduated to a stage of slowly smothering him, until eventually, they enveloped him entirely.

And then he, too, disappeared. Vanished behind luminous particles.

The Water Dragon of Sair was dumbstruck.

He kept expecting one or both of them to suddenly reappear, to attack from some unseen angle at the edge of his vision.

But that didn’t happen.

Graves, however, was still there.

But the land all around him had changed.

The mass of ardor-filled lava? Even the few trees and rocks that had managed to avoid being struck down or set alight?

In their places, only mounds of ash remained.

Even parts of the prison had been turned to dust, and Zeff was briefly frantic with the worry that some of his kin might have gotten caught up in whatever Graves had done, but he was soon relieved when none appeared to be missing. In fact, all the ash appeared to be distinctly around them, as if they had been deliberately avoided.

And the ash itself was something else. Something disturbingly strange. Axiolis could sense that about it, at least. It felt like a hole in the universe. No soul power or ardor to speak of, not even in trace amounts.

Before he could continue processing the unbelievable scene around him, Graves approached him, still in his seemingly human form while the ash made no noise under his boots.

“Be not alarmed,” said the marshal. “The area is now safe.”

Zeff had to struggle for his first question. “Did you... really kill them both?”