Lymar Village.

05:45 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

The desperation surrounding the battle for Lymar village had reached a fever pitch! The monsters in the valley had experienced a massive boost in strength every since the earlier mana explosion. Worse yet, the evil aura not only increased the monsters' strength, but also unceasingly healed their injuries, small or large.

Hundreds of centaurs had given up their lives in the process of fighting the monsters, their potential futures crushed beneath the paws of the callous monsters. However, even in death, the proud warriors held a strong, determined gaze.

They did not believe they were throwing their lives away. If their lives were the cost they had to pay to secure the wellbeing of their friends and family, then so be it! They would happily pay the price.

On the battlefield, in the face of possible extinction, race became meaningless. Be they Lymar, Dora, Tulpar, Glashtyn or Longma, each warrior fought for the sake of the other and protected their own. The Longma tribe in particular, stood out amongst the rest. The fearless warriors stood at the forefront of the army and battled against the larger threats.

Even the most cold-hearted and skeptical centaurs could not help but admire these proud warriors who were willing to freely shed their blood for the sake of the entire centaur clan. Only now did they see the truth about the Longma tribe. Though they might indeed be scary, that power had always pointed toward the centaurs' enemies. The Longma tribe had always given their lives for the tribe without care for gratitude and even sometimes incurring ridicule.

Faced with the somber reality, the centaurs from the other centaur tribes banded together and joined the Longma tribe, unwilling to let their brothers carry this burden any longer.

Unfortunately, despite the centaurs' combined efforts, the juiced-up monster army proved too powerful in the end. Warriors fell in droves as the defensive line was pushed farther back until they were only a kilometer from the peak upon which Lymar Village rested.

"Is this the end?" Balasius regretfully murmured as he watched another centaur fall prey to the enemy horde. The centaur general grimaced as he glanced over the monster army at the woman comfortably seated upon her direwolf with a smug smile on her face.

The woman's confidence did not surprise Balasius, as he was well aware that he and the rest of the army were working on borrowed time. At this rate, the centaurs would be wiped out within a few more hours as they grew wearier and succumbed to their injuries, whereas the monsters' ki, mana, and stamina endlessly generated.

However, just as the centaurs were about to abandon hope, the monsters all froze in their tracks as if held by some invisible being. A deathly silence spread over the battlefield as the centaurs gazed at the silent monsters with suspicion.

The smile disappeared from Verlito Amberheart's face. Unlike the stunned centaurs, she knew that the strange phenomenon meant that the monsters had lost connection to the dark crystal. This should have been impossible as the crystal was protected by a demi-god level demon. Sure, he had lost most of his powers, but he should never have lost to a mere mortal.

Verlito had no way of knowing that Kashi had Yggdrasil inside him, a force which was the natural antithesis to the crystal's corrupt force. Despite this, the daeben topped her list of potential culprits. The young woman took out her Rink and placed a call to her superior.

Verlito only spoke a few words, "The crystal has been taken."

"Oh?" a light male voice responded. "Any suspects?"

"One," Verlito confirmed. "Kashi of the Hopeful Maggots."

The voice on the other side went silent for a moment and then said, "Return. The daeben will answer to the Order soon. We are all heading in the same direction after all."

"What about the Chaos Energy?"

"Do not worry. Gurt collected enough last time he was there. We no longer have a use for that factory."

Verlito nodded and then confirmed. "I will return." The daeben looked up the mountainside, and then, with a snide chuckle, spurred her beast into a hard gallop toward the north.

Balasius' eyes widened as he watched the daeben's retreat. He looked from the woman to the frozen monsters and then shouted as he raised his sword to the sky, "VICTORY!"

"Victory!" The centaurs broke into a wild cheer as their hopes were finally confirmed. The survivors hugged each other, shedding tears over the loss of their clansmen as well as surviving what was certain doom.

Balasius looked at the monsters with a weary gaze but made no move to touch them in fear of reactivating them. Instead, he looked to the direction of the Chaos Order Outpost and shouted, "Thank you, Kashi-dono!"

The surviving centaurs, upon hearing the general's shout, finally understood who was responsible for the strange phenomenon. With hearts filled with gratitude and joy, they humbly bowed toward the Chaos Order Outpost and roared at the top of the lungs, "Thank you, Kashi-dono! Live Long and Prosper!"

Chaos Order Outpost,

05:50 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

While the centaurs cheered, the man being praised, Kashi, was in no shape to receive or care about praise from anyone. The daeben's body violently spasmed, veins bulging grotesquely with dark red energy.

Larsial's gaze flickered as she stared at the daeben, unsure of what to do. Kashi's expression and the way his body spasmed appeared eerily familiar to what happened after they left Suvron's Gate. Back then, Kira was the one who helped him get back to normal. Unfortunately, Larsial had no clue how the direwolf accomplished that task, so she could not offer any help to Kashi.

Larsial gritted her teeth as she recognized the severity of the situation. Without help, it would not be long before the daeben gave up the ghost. She could not let that happen. Not now. Kashi had exposed her to a new world. A new view that did not require the suffering of millions and endless pain. A world she could actually be proud of. She could not let him die without fully exploring that world.

"Larsial-san!" Larsial looked over her shoulder to see a bloodied Darius approaching, waving in delight. Just like Lymar, the infected monsters in the Outpost had frozen in place like robots without orders from the master computer, which gave the centaurs free rein to trample over the acolytes.

Darius galloped up to Larsial with a big smile, ""Kashi-dono did it! The monsters—" The words stuck in his throat when he laid eyes on the shivering Kashi. He instantly stabbed his spear into the earth and worriedly examined the daeben. "What's wrong with him? What happened!?"

Larsial shook her head. "I do not know," she replied in a defeated tone. "He jumped into that pit. And when he came out, he was like this."

"He is fighting the infection," Agamios stated as he joined their side. "I've seen this before in a monster. That red ki in his veins is a by-product of fighting the infection."

Darius raised a brow in surprise and shock. "Humes can be affected!?"

"I don't know," Agamios frankly replied. "This is the first I'm seeing this happen to a human myself."

"Yes, humes can be infected," Larsial confirmed and then pointed at Rayatha, "That druid confirmed as much to us. He was also responsible for spreading the blight."

"My name is Rayatha Thorn," the druid declared as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Kashi, and his eyes suddenly shone with an enthused light as he screamed "Your friend did it! He actually did it!" The druid made to stand up but suddenly fell over. Only then did he realize that his hands and feet were bound by dimeritium shackles. These shackles, when secured on a hume and activated, drained them of all their magic.

Rayatha glared at the clasps for a moment, but then surprisingly began to worm-crawl his way over to the daeben with excited fervor. Larsial, Darius and Agamios were so stunned by the sight that they failed to react until the druid was only a meter from Kashi,

Only then did Larsial come to her senses. She quickly jumped on Rayatha's back and pinned him down. She placed a dagger next to his neck as she questioned, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Get off me, woman!" Rayatha roared as he struggled to shake off the persistent daeben. "Do you have any idea what you're witnessing here!? This is history, and you are making me miss it!"

"What are you talking about?" Darian questioned with furrowed brows. "What do you mean history?"

"The Blight, you fools, the Blight!" Rayatha shouted, brows furrowed in disbelief and disgust at the stupidity of his captors. "He has absorbed the blight into himself!" Rayatha further emphasized as he stared at the daeben with greed. "He's still alive, which means his body has built an immunity to its effects. Do you know what this means? If he lives, his blood will forever contain the key to curing the blight, not only in humes but in beasts and plants as well!" The excited druid's voice rose to a crescendo as he shouted, "Do you not get it yet!? We might be witnessing the end of blight for all eternity. How can you not be excited!?"

Darian and Agamios shared a look, neither sure what to make of the druid's words. However, one thing was clear. Regardless of Rayatha's claims, Kashi was in real danger. Whatever was in his body was tearing him up from the inside. It was far beyond anything either of them could handle.

"The shamans might know something," Darian suggested as he worriedly looked at the daeben.

"Maybe," Agamios agreed with a curt nod. "It's worth a shot."

Larsial looked at the centaurs with renewed hope. "Your shamans can help him?"

"I am not sure, to be honest," Darian admitted. "However, if there's anyone who can help Kashi-dono, it'll be them."

Larsial looked at Kashi and then nodded. "It seems that's our only choice." She got off Rayatha's back and walked over to Shadow. She crouched in front of the sleeping assassin and shook him awake.

Shadow groaned as he groggily opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Larsial's worried, helpless expression. His brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "What happened?"

"It's Kashi—" Larsial started to say, but Shadow immediately shot to his feet at the mention of the daeben's name and interrupted her.

"Where is he!?" Shadow demanded, but then spotted the shaking daeben a moment later. Shadow grimaced and could not help but curse out, "Damn it! Not again, Kashi!"

Although Shadow did not know the exact cause of Kashi's state, he recognized the symptoms to be eerily similar to the one the daeben displayed earlier. Considering there were very few things that could actually cause so much pain to a Summoned, or produce such a phenomenon, he was inclined to believe they were related.

Shadow gritted his teeth. "Damn it! What can we do?"

Larsial walked up to his side and proposed the centaurs' plan. "The centaurs think their shamans might be able to help."

"That's reasonable," Shadow agreed with a hesitant nod. He looked at Darian and Agamios as if sizing up their trustworthiness. Moments later, he came to a decision and then politely requested, "Please could you take us to Drixlia? We'll go the rest of the way on our own."

Darian shook his head. "It's better we go together, in case you get attacked."

"Time is of the essence," Shadow argued as he glanced at Kashi. "No offense, but you are all too slow to keep up with Drixlia at full speed."

Darian's brow twitched. "I assure you that is not the case."

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there," Shadow replied with a sigh. "But just in case, please tell me how to get past the illusion around Lymar."

Darian, although feeling it unnecessary, explained the safe route through the illusion while Shadow and Larsial loaded Kashi onto his back.

They kept Rayatha on Agamios' rough back and then climbed onto Darian's back.

The centaur did not seem to feel the weight, as after ensuring they were comfortable, he charged out of the outpost into the woods was Drixlia, and two other horses awaited their riders' return.

Shadow loaded Kashi onto Drixlia's back and then climbed onto its back himself. Sensing the severity of the situation, not only did Drixlia not throw a tantrum, but it allowed Shadow to spur it on.

Larsial mounted her horse and followed the centaurs through the forest.

As for Drixlia?

Well, it had long since left their sights.