[LSB] Chapters 142, 143, and Book 2 Epilogue

Chapter 142: The Prologue of A New Chapter for The Two Worlds Part 1

“They left me. Expunged me from my own grave—and then abandoned me here, in a world I never asked to be part of.”

Silvie knew exactly who the Shield Saint was. Victoria had mentioned her before, a clone that was made directly from her DNA and then placed, without her choice, to be one of the pioneers for the Otherworld project.

It was highly unethical, perhaps even beyond that, as Victoria was a highly religious individual. Of course—of course, she was one of the people who created the Order of Artemia. It fit perfectly in the timeline; the only reason why it had never truly crossed her mind was that Victoria said that she was dead. So did Julian’s father. So did the rest of his former colleagues. So… who lied?

Was it a cover-up? A mistake? Or was this something far darker?

Silvie thought that the silence of the village would help her think, but not at all. Not when she knew what the Order of Artemia did to achieve this silence.

It didn’t matter if the Shield Saint had been a victim once. Not anymore.

She was dangerous.

And more than that—she was deranged.

Silvie subtly adjusted her grip around Julian’s lifeless body, slowly edging them both away from the Shield Saint. She glanced at Cyrus, who stood silently at the ruined doorway. And when their eyes met, he understood her immediately. No words were needed.

Next, Silvie looked toward Juliet.

But Juliet still hasn’t moved. Her eyes were wide, still trembling, locked helplessly on her master’s face. She was there, but not really present.

Silvie exhaled through her nose and refocused. The only thing she could do was keep moving—inch by inch, dragging Julian’s corpse across the damp ground of the ruined cottage. The mattings were warped, slick with water and blood, and Julian’s body, so much heavier now, made it near impossible to slide cleanly.

Never did she truly think that she would immediately feel the cons of being human. Just moments ago, she was having the best time of her young life, dancing beneath the snow. Everything felt… new. Alive.

But now she was faced with something her human self was not yet fit to handle; she could barely hold the weight of the one person who gave her life.

She was still capable of imagining a thousand ways to escape this. She knew the angles, the physics, the paths—but it didn’t matter.

Because the mind and the heart of a human were completely separate things, she knew that now.

She pushed again, her feet slipping slightly, praying that the Shield Saint wouldn’t notice what she was doing. She dared a glance upward—

And froze.

The Shield Saint suddenly reached out and placed a hand on Julian’s arm. She didn’t yank him back, not forcefully. But the touch alone was enough. Silvie felt the weight pull against her, even if it was just by an inch.

An inch too much.

The sudden change in atmosphere snapped Juliet out of her daze. She gasped quietly, blinking fast as she saw the Shield Saint’s hand gripping Julian far too tightly for comfort.

The events flooded her mind over and over again—how helpless she was as the two men started beating Julian to death right in front of her. She wanted to move, she truly did.

She wanted to do all sorts of violent things against them, but she was trapped in her own body.

Right when Julian needed him the most, she couldn’t do anything.

She was supposed to be there—she was always supposed to be there. To hand him his hammer, to bring him his tools, to say the things he couldn’t. That was her role. Her place. All she had to do was be present when it mattered most.

And she failed.

Now he was gone.

Juliet knew that Julian still existed out there somewhere, in his real body, in that distant world among the stars. But this Julian—the one lying in front of her, the one whose hands she knew better than her own, this Julian was… hers. The only one she would ever know.

And he was gone.

Useless. She was so useless. It all happened so fast. And now—it was happening again.

But not this time. She couldn’t help before, but she could do something now.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” She shouted, her hand snapping toward the Shield Saint’s wrist.

But the world suddenly twisted around her—her vision blurred, her stomach flipped, and the next thing she knew, she was gasping for breath in Cyrus’s arms.

“Shit—are you alright?!” He asked, lowering her gently to the ground.

It happened so fast that even someone like Cyrus, whose entire build prioritized Agility and Perception, didn’t see it coming.

He assumed the Shield Saint was a Tank-class, slow and unshakable. But now he wasn’t so sure. Or maybe she was a Tank… but the level gap between them was just that wide.

She has been so warm these past few days. Almost kind. He’d almost forgotten who she was.

But there was no mistaking it now.

Right now, they were in the presence of one of the most powerful hyums in all of Artemia.

Cyrus was really only able to react when Juliet suddenly came flying toward him.

“W…” Juliet tried to speak, but only a wheeze escaped her lips as she felt her ribs cracked and caved in.

Cyrus quickly fed her a potion, but he made sure to grip her hard so that she wouldn’t lunge and rushed back toward the Shield Saint…

…because in truth, there was nothing keeping them alive now but the Shield Saint’s whims.

The Shield Saint glanced at Juliet, then at Julian’s corpse, before returning her gaze to Silvie.

“I won’t hurt him,” she whispered. “I didn’t know this was going to happen. Artemis told me I’d be with him… with my son. I’m so angry right now. I’m so… so angry.”

Silvie stared at her like she was crazy—no. She is crazy.

Silvie didn’t know everything the Shield Saint had been through. She didn’t need to. Whatever it was, she was sure it wasn’t beautiful—but that didn’t make this okay.

“What… the fuck are you talking about?” Silvie said, almost growling at her when she didn’t let go of Julian’s hand.

“Artemis promised me I would be with him. My son.”

“He’s not your son. Let go of him.”

“He is.”

“He’s not. I don’t know what happened to you, or what you think this is, but he’s not—”

“And you think he’s yours? You fucking whore!”

“W-what?!” Silvie gasped, clutching Julian tighter as the Shield Saint suddenly screamed; her saliva spitting out of her mouth and her veins almost popping from her face by how angry she was.

She stared at Silvie for a long moment before her shoulders lowered and her breath began to steady.

“I apologize. That was... rude. Unbecoming of me.” She cleared her throat and, finally, released Julian’s hand. “I know you’re not her, but you look so much like her. Charlotte.”

“Julian’s mother.”

“She’s not!” The Shield Saint snapped, jabbing her finger in the air as her voice cracked with fury. “She was only supposed to be a test subject—nothing more. But she... that whore did something to Jayce. She made him—he doesn’t love her. He loved me. Me! He told me he would marry me. But that woman… she poisoned him. Make no mistake, Julian might have come out of her, but he’s my son.”

Silvie had already begun inching away from her, but her words and the tone of it all made her stop.

“Wait… you and Julian’s father were—”

“Lovers. We swore vows under Artemis. He promised he would find a way to bring me back to Earth. But instead, he brought her back. And now he’s dead, I know he is—Julian wouldn’t be here if he weren’t. He wouldn’t… he never would have let Julian go to this hell.”

"What… happened to you?"

“Artemis happened,” the Shield Saint said, her voice almost reverent now. “She brought me back. Her light gave me purpose. And I know she's given you one too. All of this, everything, was her design.”

“Julian’s dead. Was that part of her design too?”

“But he’s not, isn’t he?” The Shield Saint said softly.

She slowly rose to her feet, towering above Silvie as she extended her hand.

“He’s alive on Earth. And you… are going to bring me to him.”

“What?”

“This is Artemis’s plan. You don’t know what you are yet. But you will. You are the br—”

A deafening explosion shook the cottage before she could finish her words. Smoke flooded the room, shrouding everything in white haze. Silvie wondered what was going on now, but before she could react, she felt herself lifted from the ground—she didn’t resist, as she recognized the voice holding her.

The next thing she knew, she was being carried away from the cottage at full sprint, smoke billowing behind them.

Cyrus.

And just ahead, Juliet carried Julian’s body.

“L-let me go, I can run on my own!” Silvie protested.

“I’m not taking that risk. You were born, like, three hours ago!”

She squirmed, but Cyrus tossed her over his shoulder.

“Wow. You’re really light.”

“Wh—!”

She was about to shout something back, but her words died when she saw it—the village.

What remained of it.

Corpses littered the snow. Homes smoldered. The people she had danced with, eaten beside, laughed with—they were all gone.

The joy she felt not even an hour ago now felt like a dream.

“I have no idea what the fuck is happening,” Cyrus whispered as he continued to run. “But you're MEGAN, right? Julian’s MEGAN?”

“You—”

“Don’t worry, I shut off my stream. Shit. What the hell is this? Is Julian’s clone actually dead? Juliet, are you okay? Silvie, I need you to walk on your own now—I’ll try to draw them off. Juliet! I said, are you okay?!”

“N-no.” Juliet’s lips trembled as she answered, but she didn’t stop running, clutching Julian in her arms like the most fragile thing she had ever held. He… still smelled like himself.

She shook her head, forcing the thought away. She focused on each step, steadying her breath, doing everything she could to avoid stumbling. Briefly, she glanced over her shoulder, expecting the entire Order of Artemia to be at their heels—

But no one was chasing them.

The Shield Saint wasn’t moving. She simply stood there, watching them flee. One of the soldiers made to give chase, but she raised an arm, blocking him with a silent command.

“Saintess… shouldn’t we follow them?” he asked cautiously.

“There’s no need. The traces they will leave behind are going to shake this entire planet upside down,” the Shield Saint murmured.

“For now…”

She opened her hand. And from inside the cottage, her massive shield began to tremble—then shot into the air with a deafening boom, cutting through the air like thunder. It crashed into her arm at the speed of sound, locking into place. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she even adjusted it calmly to fit properly.

“...Artemis has declared my quest complete,” she said. “Though I mourn the loss of Julian Winters, I know I’ll see him again as the one who will make the way has been born. Artemis does not think as we do, Geralt. If this is what She wished to happen, then so be it. We are merely cogs in Her great design.”

Geralt hesitated. “And what of the others? The villagers who surrendered?”

“Let them formally pledge to the Order of Artemia,” she said without pause. “If they refuse… kill them all.”

She began walking again, her armored boots pressing deep into the snow with every heavy step. Back inside the cottage, she retrieved her helmet, placed it over her face, and sealed it tight. A plume of mist briefly hissed out from the gaps in the steel, then vanished into the cold air.

“We’re done here,” she said, her voice echoing faintly from within the helmet. 

“We return to our secondary purpose, as She intended...

…We wage war against the Eldazens.”

Chapter 143: The Prologue of A New Chapter for The Two Worlds Part 2

Silvie no longer knew just how long she had been running, and the only thing she could feel was the heat building up inside her chest, tightening slowly… but surely. She wasn’t exhausted. Or at least, she didn’t think she was. She didn’t know what exhaustion felt like yet.

But her body, the one that was gifted to him by Julian, was perfect. She had no basis to compare it to anything other than all the data in her brain. No, they were no longer data, but memories in her mind.

Even the snow clinging to her shoulders and melting into her skin—those were memories now. The white blanket under her feet, rising to her ankles. The vapor billowing from her lips, clouding her vision. All of it... memories, being written into her for the very first time.

Julian’s clone, too, carried carefully in Juliet’s arms, was just a memory now. But it wasn’t just a clone, was it?

Julian’s clone was the bridge. The only connection linking Earth and Artemia.

And now that bridge was broken.

She… was never going to hear Julian’s voice again. She had always imagined what Juliet would feel like once Julian felt like he was done with the Otherworld and one day just no longer return to Artemia.

So this… this was what it felt like. Never did she imagine that she was going to feel it too.

Her chest wasn’t tight from exertion. Her legs didn’t ache because her amino acids were being broken down for energy and were being used to build and repair muscle tissue.

Her body wasn’t failing her. This pain wasn’t physical.

It was the slow, heavy realization settling in her bones. The truth that she might never see him again.

And without meaning to, Silvie stopped.

Her legs gave out. She dropped to her knees as the cold snow soaked her pale skin, and her tears began to melt through the white beneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop them, and when that didn’t work, she covered them with her hand.

Why now?

Why, in this moment, right as she finally became real, did she lose the person who had given her everything?

No. She had already been real. Already human. Maybe not in form, but from the moment she was bonded to Julian, the only way he had ever treated her was as a human.

He made her feel human. So why—why did this have to happen now?

“J…Julian…”

The name cracked in her throat.

And when she realized that she couldn’t stop her tears, she removed her hand from her eyes and covered her mouth instead. But once again, the feeling of hopelessness, if that was what it was, was too overwhelming for her who had just gained true feelings and emotions.

Her gasps seeped out from the gaps of her fingers, ramming through her hand like a wild beast wanting to be let out—and so she did.

She let it.

She screamed.

Her voice ripped through the silence, tearing across the snow, sending it flying in a ring around her. Her anguish carved the frost from the earth, exposing the dead and damp grass beneath.

“Silvie!”

Juliet’s voice trembled. She held Julian tighter for a moment, afraid to let go, but the sound of Silvie’s sorrow struck something in her chest.

Gently, reverently, she laid Julian’s body on the ground. And then she walked to Silvie’s side, the cold forgotten, her heart breaking open again with every step.

Juliet was grieving too—but Silvie’s had reached a place Juliet never wanted hers to be. It was… painful. Too painful.

“Silvie…” She whispered, crouching beside her and wrapping her arms gently around her. Silvie collapsed into her, burying herself in Juliet’s embrace, clinging to her so tightly it nearly tore the fabric of her clothes.

And there, in the snow and silence, they wept—both of them.

“Julian…” Silvie choked out his name, her face twisted with grief, tears and snot streaking what had once been pristine. She couldn’t catch her breath; her sobs stole them away before her lungs could even fill. They stayed like this for minutes. And then minutes more.

Silvie might’ve stayed like that for hours—if not for the sudden shimmer of words appearing in front of her.

[Congratulations on receiving the Unique quest: The Bridge.]

She wanted to swat the words away again, but instead, she glared—furious, as if her grief might reach through to the gods themselves.

[You have been blessed by Artemis herself. Inhabitant of the dead, avatar spirit of the Eternalflame, Helios. One who is connected to both worlds. Born from the mightiest of its elements, crafted by the Shadow Blacksmith himself, and patron to the mana of the primordial spirit, Exhalia, and the spirit of Frostfire, Searadyn.]

The messages continued, line after line pouring into her vision.

[You hold unimaginable power and potential, just as fate and Artemis intended and foresaw. You now hold the Unique class: Starlock. You—]

“I don’t fucking care about any of that!” Silvie suddenly screamed.

Juliet jerked back in surprise. 

“What’s wrong?!” She asked, her eyes darting between Silvie and Julian’s lifeless body.

But Silvie was no longer seeing the world around her—only the injustice of it.

“What good is any of that without Julian?!” She shouted, slamming her fist into the frozen ground. The force scattered the tears resting on the dead grass beneath her. 

“I want to see Julian! I need Julian! You have no idea what he means to me! I would’ve been fine as an AI, even less than that—just a voice in a speaker, a fucking refrigerator for all I care… if… if it meant I could be with Julian! Ju—”

But before she could finish her next word, a sudden crack split the air in front of them.

Both Silvie and Juliet looked toward it, instinctively crouching close to Julian’s body, securing him between them.

And then they saw it.

The crack materialized itself. A rift, splitting the very fabric of space itself.

A fissure—no. A portal that Silvie would recognize anywhere.

She’d seen this before.

It was exactly like the portals that had let daemons invade Earth. Which meant… the daemons were coming here.

Silvie gasped, already grabbing Julian’s arm. 

“We—we have to run,” she said, her voice trembling. “Now.”

She was preparing to lift him when Juliet suddenly froze.

“Julian…?”

Silvie stopped, turning to her. “Huh?”

But Juliet wasn’t looking at her. Her eyes were locked on the portal. Silvie watched the reflection in Juliet’s eyes for a bit before finally turning her focus back to the portal.

And there, Silvie saw something that should not exist in Artemia.

A room. Sterile white, softly lit, sleek. And then… the Shield Saint was there.

Silvie and Juliet both flinched, instinctively crawling back—but Silvie stopped the moment she looked closer. No, it wasn’t the Shield Saint. She looked younger. So much younger.

“Victoria… and Ellie?”

Yes. Ellie was there too.

And judging by how Ellie’s eyes suddenly locked onto them, she could see them as well.

Then Silvie’s gaze dropped—Julian. He was lying on a bed, unconscious, his chest rising and falling in quiet rhythm. He looked peaceful, unaware of the miracle happening before him. Ellie said something, her mouth moving quickly, but Silvie couldn’t hear her voice at all.

[Congratulations on completing the Unique Quest: The Bridge. You have called forth your first Gate.]

“Wh…what?”

[As the Starlock, you have been granted the ability to jump through the stars. Summoning a Gate that will lead you to places you have been. Mostly by chance, sometimes by fate, and rarely, very rarely, by will. You, Silvie Winters, are the Bridge.]

“Huh?”

[Be warned: once a Gate is opened, it is fixed and cannot be closed—not even by the event of your death. Only the exit can close, as the destination can change randomly, by fate, or by will. The bridge stays open; only the path shifts.]

Silvie stared at the words in front of her, lingering on them for a moment before a gasp escaped her lips.

She glanced at Juliet, who was already looking at her.

Their eyes met, and in that moment, everything clicked. There was no hesitation. Even Ellie must have realized it too… because she rushed toward the portal from the other side, reaching for them.

Silvie and Juliet threw Julian’s arms over their shoulders, lifting him between them.

No words were spoken. They rushed forward with everything they had, their faces tight with desperate hope, as Ellie stretched her hand toward them.

But just as they closed the final step of the gap between worlds, the room on the other side vanished. Ellie, Julian… gone. Replaced in an instant by a vast black void.

“Shit!” Silvie tried to stop, but it was too late. Momentum carried them forward—and with Julian’s weight between them, they stumbled headfirst through the portal.

Silvie twisted in the air, cradling Julian’s body to keep his face from hitting the ground. She landed hard, the back of her head slamming into the floor—but she didn’t care. Not even a wince. She immediately checked Julian, and when she saw that his face was untouched, she sighed and pulled him into a hug.

Her moment of peace didn’t last long, however, as she watched as Juliet got up from the floor… and slammed her head on the ceiling from having stood up too fast.

“What the—?!” She gasped as she bounced from the ceiling. And when her feet landed back on the floor, she tried to walk and steady herself, but she tripped again from how light she felt—fortunately for her, she was able to balance herself before she threw herself over what she now realized was a ledge.

She calmed herself and then saw the myriad of lights of different colors in front of her.

Hundreds of them. Thousands. Floating, drifting, some flickering like oversized fireflies, while most rested on towers that looked like they wanted to pierce the sky.

“H-Huh…?” Juliet’s breath began to stutter—and then completely stopped as her gaze dropped. Her entire body started trembling, and her knees nearly buckled the moment she realized she was standing on one of the towers herself. 

Her limbs locked in place, refusing to move. Fear gripped her so tightly that even the idea of shifting her weight sent dread crawling up her spine. One wrong move, and she was certain she’d plunge into the abyss below.

“Where… where are we? There’s… there’s so many lights. And why… why are we up so high? What is this…?” 

She didn’t get an answer right away. She cautiously glanced back at Silvie, following her with her eyes as she approached the ledge without any fear at all.

Silvie stopped just short of the edge, staring out toward the colorful horizon. After a few long, silent seconds, Silvie let out a deep breath. Her eyes briefly flicked back to the portal behind them, then returned to the sprawling city in front of them.

“Sky Net,” she whispered.

“Sky… Net?” 

“Earth, Juliet. Welcome…”

“H-Huh?”

“...Welcome to Earth.”

***

Back in Julian’s room, he was now sitting up on the bed. He hurried to stand when he heard Ellie scream and run toward the wall, but he had no strength to do so at all and just fell back on his bed. He could hear her cry, but since he couldn’t hear anything or anyone else in the room, she should be safe.

Julian clenched his fists, trying to will himself to stay conscious. He knew it instinctively: if he passed out again, he might not wake up for a long time.

Somewhere nearby, Victoria was speaking softly to someone, though Julian couldn’t make out the words. He didn’t focus on her. His attention was locked on Ellie.

“Ellie?” He called out, his voice hoarse and exhausted even though he had just woken up in his real body, “What’s wrong?”

“It… it was MEGAN. And… and Juliet, I think. I… I don’t really know. I think I saw your body too. They were… on the snow. I…” 

Ellie’s words came out disjointed, broken by gasps and sobs. Julian could hear the rapid pounding of her heart. It was beating far too fast.

“You saw Juliet and Silvie? Was it Cyrus’s stream?”

“N-no. It was… it was—” She tried to explain, but the words wouldn’t come. Her panic was too overwhelming. Seeing this, Victoria gently stepped in to speak for her.

“It was a portal, Mr. Winters,” she said.

“A portal?” Julian instinctively tried to sit up again, but Victoria was already beside him, gently pushing him back down with one hand.

“Yes, Mr. Winters. A portal similar to the ones the daemons use. But this time, it wasn’t filled with dark creatures—it was your friends from the Otherworld. They came through it.”

“The portal connected to Artemia?” Ellie finally managed to speak more clearly, though confusion still clung to her voice. “What is going on here? And… I saw Cyrus’s stream. Your clone… is alive?”

Victoria opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She stood there quietly, taking slow, controlled breaths. She didn’t show it, but Julian could feel it—she was just as shaken, if not more than all of them.

And why wouldn’t she be? This entire unraveling had roots buried in her decisions—decisions made long ago. A decision to use her own remains as a test subject.

And yet, she suspected… no matter what choices she had made, things may still have ended here.

“I also…” Her words started weak at first, but she soon returned to her usual composure, straightening her back as she faced Julian,

“I had no idea that my Artemian clone was still alive, Mr. Winters. But we’ll discuss that in time. For now, there’s someone here who wants to meet you.”

“Hmm?” 

Julian tilted his head as he heard someone approaching the room. He wouldn’t have heeded it any mind, but there was something about the person’s steps that felt oddly familiar. The gait, however, was… fettered.

The person knocked on the door, and it wasn’t until Victoria stood at the wall did the door slid open. Ellie rushed to Julian’s side, gently taking his hand as she looked toward the entrance.

A cane entered first, a cane shorter than even Ellie’s knee. Perfectly sized for its bearer.

“An… Eldazen?” Julian whispered, angling his ears toward the figure.

But that wasn’t what made her feel so familiar.

It was… her presence. It was the fact that she felt exactly like—

“...Erin?”

Epilogue

She felt exactly like Erin—but older. Weathered by time.

“Yes,” the Eldazen answered, tapping her cane on the floor four times as she chuckled. Her voice was incredibly deep, almost vibrating due to her obvious age, 

“But not the same Erin that you know, Master Winters. I am to her what… Silvie is to you. I was the first and only life Erin had made—also named Erin.”

“The one in my visions.”

“Memory,” she corrected gently.

“Not visions. Memories. From a time long past… millennia ago.”

Erin stood beside the bed, and Victoria bowed her head in respect before stepping away and giving her space.

The aged Eldazen looked to Ellie and smiled, then turned fully to Julian.

“May I hold your hand, Master Julian?”

“Hmm.”

She gasped softly at the sound of his hum. Her gnarled hand reached forward, hesitating, trembling at first… and then wrapped gently around his fingers. Her tears fell freely, tracing the wrinkles of her face like rivers down old stone.

“So… this is the hand of the one who forged me,” she whispered, “Forgive me, if this feels improper. I know I must seem like a stranger to you. But to me, you are anything but. You are my creator. And everything I have built… belongs to you.”

“Me…?” 

“The Radiant Gates. Humanity Engineering. All of it. Everything I have built… is yours.”

Julian said nothing. He tilted his head closer to Ellie, and Ellie moved closer so he could rest it on her shoulder. He stayed like that for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.

“I don’t want them,” he said at last.

“Still, you will have them. I believe you’ll need them… for what’s to come.”

“I only want answers.”

“I know you must have so many questions, and I will answer all that I can. In time.”

She gently placed his hand back at his side and bowed again.

“But for now… you must rest.”

Erin glanced toward Victoria, who nodded silently and stepped out of the room.

“Sleep long and well, Shadow Blacksmith,” she whispered, her cane tapping gently as she turned to leave.

“For we have much to discuss in your rouse.”

***

Three months later, on Ferros—a planet far from Earth and home to the shell-skinned Kregans, daemons had arrived.

“R-Run! Just leave them behind!”

The humans stationed at the embassy did their best with what little forces they had, but they were unprepared, ill-equipped to fight daemons. After all, the daemons shouldn’t be here in the first place—it was… impossible.

And it was also impossible for them not to be overrun. The dark creatures came in swarms, hundreds at least.

And the Kregans, who had never encountered beings like these, were completely unready. Their numbers fell just as quickly. Hundreds were slaughtered before they even had a chance to understand the threat. The humans tried to protect them as best they could while waiting for reinforcements, but at the end of the day, their priorities were clear—save themselves.

But of course, some didn’t agree with that.

“What are you doing?! We need to evacuate! Just leave the Kregans behind!”

“There are children here!”

Out on a vast, rocky plain near a docking site, the humans have boarded their ship. Several Kregans were there too, many of them were severely injured, their skins were fractured, and the shells covering the upper part of their backs and heads were also cracked.

At the ramp, a member of the embassy crew waved her arms desperately at her friend.

“Armand! We have to go!”

But her friend, still out on the field, refused to leave.

“They can fend for themselves!” The woman cried. “We’ve already saved enough! Armand! We need to—”

“No!” Armand shouted back. “Just a few more seconds—W-wait… I see… I see someone! Wait!”

The embassy staff winced as she saw her friend rush toward what seemed to be a family of Kregans running toward their ship. She was about to chase Armand, but then saw the shadow trailing behind the family, closing in fast.

The embassy staff clenched her teeth. “Shit! Armand, they’re coming! Just leave them!”

But he didn’t stop. He wouldn’t.

“No…” She held her breath as the daemons closed in. The Kregans were far too slow—they’d never outrun them. What Armand was doing wasn’t rescue. It was suicide.

She cursed under her breath and practically leapt down the ramp to chase after him. She’d barely made it three steps before she heard it—

A boom.

She turned toward the sound just in time to see a shadow blur past her.

This shadow also passed Armand, and the Kregans who were running for their lives before it stopped, standing tall and unwavering despite the swarm that thundered toward him.

“An… Exterminator?” The woman whispered, shielding her eyes from the dust cloud the shadow left behind.

The Kregans who were running stopped as they looked at him—a human, taller than usual, wearing a dark exosuit that completely covered his body except for his head.

And this human also acknowledged their presence, angling his ear toward them and revealing his face that was eerily calm despite the impending horde of daemons.

Of course, it was Julian Winters.

“You don’t need to run,” he said before turning his focus back to the horde.

He took a step forward, raising one arm lazily to the side. A ripple passed through the air as his suit responded—and with a vibration, his Flossblade materialized and crawled from his arm.

“I’ll get this over with quick.”

***

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

Sorry for the long read, I wanted all of you to read it in one go or something. So I took my time to at least get close to perfect T_T. lol.

And thus Book 2 concludes. You do not have to worry or wait too long again. The Legendary Shadow Blacksmith Book 3 will immediately continue this coming Monday.

Thank you very much for continuing to support me; all of this wouldn't have been possible without you guys. And also... any tips on how to promote Book 1? T_T

And please do holler if you notice any mistakes, I will be sending all book 2 to the editor soon.