In the last camp of the Neothaliyans.
Zaren remained still for some time, but then a calm, yet disturbing, voice filled his ears. However, Zaren tried to recover and muttered, "Sorry, I will be leaving."
Xenthoiur didn't move and remained there for a moment. Zaren quickly rushed out of the camp. When Zaren left, Xenthoiur nodded his head in disappointment and moved into the core of his resting place.
As he moved, his hands began to shake, and soon a drop of blood fell to the floor. Xenthoiur looked in surprise at the sword he was holding. "You are still trying to resist me," he said with a smile, and continued walking.
*Meanwhile, Julicious tried everything and was now sitting in a corner. "There must be some weak points in this cage, but..." He first saw the bars in front of him, which began to repair themselves, and then noticed the tips of his fingers, which were bleeding from his efforts.
In disappointment, he looked at his bleeding hands. He clenched his fists, and they began to bleed further, but he ignored the pain and remained still.
After waiting for a while, he muttered, "Please, someone help me." He fell into a dreamlike state and saw images of his fallen comrades, their voices echoing in his ears. Suddenly, he stood up, his eyes now red, and began searching the area.
After a moment, he rushed towards the bars and kicked them in anger. As expected, a dark energy rushed towards the area of impact. After a while, the bar began to return to normal.
But this time, something was different. Julicious's eyes turned even redder with each passing moment. Without waiting, he grabbed the bars with his bare hands.
The bars began to push his hands back, but he roared and began pushing the bars apart. With a final roar, he created a hole large enough to free himself.
Julicious jumped through the hole, but before he could completely escape, the black substance covered the impact area again. After a moment, the bars began to return to their original state, but before he could understand the danger, their repair speed suddenly increased.
Julicious could only see that the strange black substance's quantity had suddenly increased, and then, with a strange sound, the bars struck Julicious in the abdominal area, trapping him midair.
The impact was so great that Julicious's eyes suddenly turned blank, and he fainted. After a while, the pain awakened him. His eyes burned with anger, and his vision blurred, but he roared, "What was I thinking, waiting for WHO? I will not betray MY OWN PEOPLE!"
His eyes began burning at an alarming rate. The tears rolling down his face suddenly caught fire and turned into vapor. The moisture in his eyes began to boil, his eyes began to dry, and he roared. He grabbed the bars with his hands, and with a mere touch, those rock-solid bars turned into soft metal. Julicious didn't stop for a moment and pushed his hands apart.
Julicious tightened his grip on the bars. The strange black substance once again rushed towards the impact area, but it failed to reach it in time. With a roar, Julicious bent both bars away from each other. The gap he created was large enough for him to pass through. Without thinking, he jumped, but...
Suddenly, the black substance's speed increased. It rushed towards the impacted area. Julicious, unaware of this, was crossing the bars, but when he was halfway through, he felt a strange sensation. He looked towards the source, but before he could react, the black substance had reached its destination.
Within a fraction of a second, the bars returned to their former position, crushing Julicious's waist. Although trapped midair, he still tried to resist, but unfortunately, neither his legs nor his arms could provide mobility.
His nearly dried-out eyes were about to close for the first time, but the shock of the attack kept them open.
His blood began to flow all over the bars, which continued to break his body and spirit. He roared in pain, but his blood-filled eyes, burning with thirst, began to darken into a deeper shade of red.
Suddenly, his eyes, which had lost their power, began to glow again. A drop began to roll down his face and fell to the ground, but this was no ordinary tear; it was a tear made entirely of blood. He roared again, and dark energy rushed from his body.
He roared again, and the intensity of the dark energy increased threefold or more. His mind filled with memories: "Farewell, Commander, just tell them we fought to the end of our lives..." "...and... tell them to forget that we ever existed in the first place." "FOR ACRONIYA!"