The rain continued to fall intermittently over the area known as the "Peninsula of Weeping", causing the grasses to be a brilliant shade of green due to the rain, and the sky to be covered with gray clouds like pure ash.
Running at full speed under that unchanging sky is Torrent, the spiritual steed, while above him is Aldrich, Lord of the Circle and who keeps his frown slightly frowning.
Aldrich's micro reaction is not surprising, even he who is used to keeping up appearances finds what his eyes see surprising.
"Is... Is the city on fire?"
Stopping Torrent who had been running at full speed, Aldrich keeps to Marika's shattered fourth church and watches intently towards the shore.
Huge plumes of black smoke stretch upward, almost looking like pillars connecting earth and sky in a single structure. On the other hand, on the outskirts there seems to be nothing, be it soldiers, animals or any living thing affected by the Frenzied Flame... Everything is extremely devoid of any movement.
"Shouldn't you be heading that way? I still remember you were quite... hyperactive and curious, nothing could be left unexplored."
Along with the woman's curious voice, a flash of yellow flames illuminates the surroundings behind Aldrich's back before he can even register it.
"Irina... No, Hyetta?"
...Christopher/Asahiko pov...
Looking at the young woman fiddling with the now extinguished ash remnants, he was briefly taken aback, before accepting her existence.
First Shabriri in the form of Yura and now Irina in her Hyetta form, it seems that they really do find themselves coexisting with the mission line of the Frenzied Flame and Ranni.
"Surprised, Aldrich? Because I am. I truly considered myself dead when I was devoured by the flames beneath the capital... But I was gifted with a new form, almost like that of your former companion."
"Companion? "
"That fake finger maiden, the same one who tried to stop you in front of the Three Fingers chamber... Umm, Melina I believe her name is"
Bending her head to the right side in a rather cute gesture, Hyetta brings her index finger to the tip of her lips and puts on a smile, though by the half covered face, it's hard to tell if it's real or fake.
"So you are a being that lies between the physical world and the spiritual world, so what brings you to me?"
It may have been difficult to affect a spiritual being before because of the distance between the planes, but now both the physical and spiritual planes are extremely close, so she poses no threat.
"How cold, perhaps this is what my father meant when he said you had to leave the old behind to adapt to the new identity... How ugly, I prefer the Aldrich of old"
"Too bad, I am now Aldrich, the Lord of the Circle and ruler of the Midlands. On the other hand, you are a destabilizing factor, something that attempts against my perfect order"
"Perfect order... We'll see about that, Aldrich"
Without even seeming to take my words seriously, the ashes in Hyetta's hand burn again and her whole body along with them.
There were no screams of pain or anything like that, Hyetta's entire body was devoured by the yellow flames and after the flames were gone, there was nothing and no one right there anymore.
"I already know that the end chosen was that of the noble Golden Mask, the end of Ranni, of the Frenzied Flame is also active... So it remains to confirm that of Zampaeces and Fia."
Considering the possible clashes of realities, I can simply sigh and hope for the best... It is something beyond my capabilities, literally already underway.
Shaking my head at such defeatist thoughts, I petted Torrent who was at my side at all times and with a leap mounted me back on his back.
"The girl on the bridge? Yes, I suppose you can call her that, although she's Hyetta now, why the change? I don't know, Torrent, it's only like that now."
Without giving much explanation to the horse/goat, as it was feeling weird talking to him, I briefly moved the reins and Torrent took off at full speed forward.
It was a quick trip to get to the Tower of Return, which surprisingly is still standing despite my worst premonitions. The portal is still up there too, sealed, making it clear that no one has been tampering with it.
"Lift seal. What!"
Just in the microsecond that I make the seal disappear, a pale arm that is clearly female reaches out from the portal and tries to drag me inside.
Of course he didn't make it, basically all my abilities are at their maximum, so to beat me in sheer brute force... Very good luck. With that said, he grabbed the pale arm with one hand and yanked it outward, so much so that the stranger crashed to the ground.
"AGH, that hurts, you fucking idiot!"
"Lansseax?"
Watching the one who wipes away the dust cloud with his scream alone, I notice his distinctive white hair along with twin horns, golden reptilian eyes and white scaly tail... Yes, it was Lansseax who had appeared.
"Aldrich?"
"... Lansseax?"
"Aldrich!"
Tensing all her muscles like a spring, Lansseax jumps towards me directly and prods me with all her might, which feels like being rammed by a bull... She even has horns.
"What are you doing!"
Grabbing one of her Lansseax horns to try to push her away, I watch out of the corner of my eye as the ground gets closer and closer. Yes, she had thrown us from the top of the tower and now we were falling.
"Revenge! You know what it was like to stay in Leyndell... I was almost tempted to do paperwork!"
Completely encircling my waist with his arms, Lansseax presses his head harder against my chest, making it impossible to pull it out before we reach the ground.
*Booom*
Letting out a forced puff of air from my lungs, I notice how a cloud of dust tries to surround us, though it's dispersed by the pair of wings coming out from Lansseax's back.
"You'd better"
"Hold it right there, Aldrich. Don't you want to know why I knew that attack was going to work?"
Keeping an intriguing smile on his face, Lansseax sits comfortably on my waist, then taps his white dress a couple of times to remove the dust from there, before giving me a meaningful look.
"What do you mean, you just caught me by surprise"
"Why so defensive, Aldrich? Maybe you remembered the times you fought against it and had to call her out~"
Frowning and ignoring the gentle finger she uses to swat one of my cheeks, I quickly scramble my memories and finally come to a conclusion... The bulls.
Some have trouble with certain bosses, others with really tough enemies such as the Crucible Knights, while I... It's with the Astels in their first form, the one where they're a bull made of rock.
"So Tiche told you?"
"Yes, he told me with all the juicy details, such as the time at Volcano Manor and the... I was fooled, wasn't I?"
Continuing to stroke the right side of her face, I place special emphasis on the small, soft scales scattered across her skin, until Lansseax finally goes static with fear.
"Slow, Lansseax, very slow..."
"Wait, wait, Aldrich. You can't silence me... Tiche knows I'm here and so does Al, you can't just disappear me!"
"Relax, it'll just be a bump on the head to make you forget certain things, nothing too serious"
Holding her head static with the hand I used to caress her before, I see how her whole body tenses up and even her tail goes on alert, but it was too late.
"Put that fist down, put it down!"
"Sweet dreams, Lansseax"
"Noooooo!"