Kojo found himself once again at the depiction of the end of the world: dread, dragons, death. He heard a loud peel of thunder and looked up to see the clouds spiraling, charging up a ball of red energy at its center. Kojo leaped from the top of a building and rode on a cloud toward the spiral. Some dragons noticed him and tried to attack. He jumped over one of them, blasting it in the mouth with a fireball, then jumped on its back. Summoning his sword, he landed on another, stabbing it in the back.
Another dragon tried to fire a beam of energy at him, but he steered the dragon he was on into the energy beam. He was, however, knocked off by another dragon, and a whole swarm dove after him as he fell. Caliburn began to glow, then shot out of his hand. Something—no, someone—shot past him so fast he could barely make them out, and instantly the whole swarm was reduced to ash in a flash of light. The figure, a young woman with silver hair and blue eyes, with a petite body, looked down at him. Kojo noticed three swords floating around her. She looked away, then blasted towards the spiral.
Kojo, who had almost reached the ground, stopped falling, catching himself in midair using wind magic. Flames suddenly appeared in his palms. His feet touched the ground, and he squatted, cracking it. He then shot upward, using the fire to propel himself toward the spiral. He saw the woman standing a distance away, watching the destruction.
He landed a few feet away from her.
"You finally decided to show yourself," he said.
She turned to face him.
"Estelle," Kojo said.
She smiled.
"Took you long enough," she said.
"You're not what I expected," Kojo said, looking at her from head to toe.
"What did you expect?"
"First off, I thought you'd have more assets." Kojo rubbed his chin as he narrowed his eyes at her chest.
"Hey!" she yelled, covering her chest with her arms.
"I didn't summon your mind here so you could insult me."
"I didn't mean it as an insult, I'm just saying." Kojo shrugged, then looked at the charging ball of energy.
"So, how do we stop this?"
"We can't, it's already happened," Estelle said, turning to face the destruction. "I replicated what happened in the past so that you'd know the full weight of the situation. If you want to save this world and not die again, you have to be the one to stop the Crimson Dawn from happening again."
"But I don't even know the powers at play here," Kojo said.
"You've already been attacked, no?"
"Yeah, that strange aura I sensed when the silver lynx attacked Ekron. Then that anti-magic spell that was homed in on me had similar Arcana residue. Gaston also said something about someone else wanting me dead. It can't be a coincidence," Kojo replied. "Do you know who that guy is?"
"Yes. But I won't tell you," she said with a cheerful smile.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Where's the fun in telling you when you can figure it out on your own?" She then straightened. "Listen, Atari, I don't know how things were for you in your previous life, but I know it's gotta suck getting a second chance and having a huge responsibility placed on your shoulders," she said in a serious voice. "You're strong, maybe even stronger than me, and I once shattered a Demon Lord's Domain." She smiled. "Just come out of that shell of yours and be the symbol of hope that will beacon people during the dark days to come. They'll need you."
"Hmm. Those are some pretty heavy words coming from a 14-year-old," Kojo said.
"Hey! I'm a lot older than 14, you know."
"Whatever you say, little girl."
"I'm not little. I'm still growing," Estelle said, hugging herself.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"What about you?" Kojo asked.
"Me? My body's been destroyed. My soul's all that remains. Now that I've given you a heads up, I should be preparing to cross over to the other side, but you're too stupid to get anything done on your own. I can see why Sysia's always exasperated, so I think I'll stick around for now," she said.
The energy beam hit, expanding and destroying everything in all directions.
"Well, that's all for now. You'd better wake up, your friends are getting worried."
The beam reached them, engulfing them in its destructive power.
"Hey, Estelle," Kojo yelled.
"What?" she yelled back.
"Thanks for the sword."
"Don't mention it."
"Hey, Estelle," he yelled again.
"What now?"
"I'll free you from this ring and bring you back. That's a promise."
She looked at him, her body slowly disappearing.
"You're such an idiot," she said. She then mouthed something inaudible before disappearing.
Kojo instinctively reached out and grabbed something. It was soft and squishy. He pressed it a bit more, then heard a moan.
He opened his eyes and saw that his hand was squeezing Adriana's chest. He quickly withdrew his arm and tried to sit up, but a sharp pain stopped him.
"Hey, you're not healed enough to get up yet," she said, laying him down.
"Sorry," Kojo said, embarrassed.
"Oh, it's okay," she said reassuringly. "I noticed your temperature was rising, so I wanted to cool you down."
Kojo noticed the sponge and a bucket of water.
"Oh, thank you," he said. It was then that he noticed that there were bandages on his head, chest, and arms.
"Hey, Adriana, how long have I been passed out?"
"This is the sixth day since you went unconscious."
"What, the sixth day!" He tried to get up, but she stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
"You were in pretty bad shape, and it would be dangerous for you to return to the inn in such a weak state, so my father arranged for you and your friends to stay at the estate until the tournament is over. You can rest here."
She began to sponge him.
"You know, father was really worried. He sent for Doctor Olson to come look at you right away. He said it's a miracle you can still stand after taking a beating like that. Your regeneration ability is truly something."
Kojo couldn't shake the feeling that a sinister presence had been in the room, but he shrugged it off.
"Tomorrow is Onyx's match with the fighter from A'get. Father made some arrangements so you don't have to fight for a week."
"Wow. Hey, Adriana, thanks for taking care of me while I was out," he said, placing his hand on hers and smiling.
Adriana blushed.
"Oh, uh, it's nothing," she said.
The door burst open. Sharone, Koniko, and Lin rushed into the room, accompanied by Reynolds. Kojo sat up.
"You're awake!" Lin said happily, hugging him.
Kojo mumbled something inaudible, drawing her attention to his head, which was buried in her bosom.
"Oh, sorry," she said, releasing him. "I was too excited."
"Naa, it's fine," Kojo said.
Sharone and Koniko came to sit next to Lin on the bed.
"Are you feeling better?" Sharone asked with concern.
"I actually thought you were dead," Koniko said.
"Aww. So you were actually worried about me. What happened to the tough girl act?" Kojo teased.
"Shut up." She punched him in the shoulder.
"Ouch. Anyway, I'm fine, guys, you don't have to worry."
"I'm surprised you're still with us at this point. You took quite the beating," Reynolds said.
Kojo just stared at him.
"Yeah. Who are you again?"
Reynolds felt as if he had been stabbed with a knife.
"It's me, Rey, the guy you saved in the forest a while back," Reynolds said.
Kojo thought hard.
"Oh yeah, I remember now. Wait, didn't that guy die from an ant bite or something?"
Reynolds collapsed.
Kojo laughed.
"I'm kidding."