Leviathan rose up enragedly from the water. It was clearly targeting a certain person with its glare.

"..."

Ophelia stared baffledly at the flying girl above the group.

"W-who are you? Are you perhaps related to Mika-"

"Don’t you dare utter his name."

"!"

The girl cut off Ophelia with an intense glare as if she was offended by hearing a certain name.

"I’m Raspalia. That’s everything you need to know. Now, don’t bother me with your stupid questions. I’m still in a foul mood."

"I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him..." she added in a sad tone, inaudible to the others.

Then, another thin portal made out of light appeared above everyone.

"Loogam, was it? I will send you there for now." Raspalia said grumpily.

That portal slowly descended on them and suddenly brightened up.

Leviathan, however, noticed that and rushed to them with its mouth open.

"!"

"Don’t move." Raspalia ordered calmly.

Out of reflex, Sara was about to move away when Leviathan came after them.

The light got brighter.

But Leviathan also came closer until its teeth almost tore them apart.

Ferociously, Leviathan clenched his teeth. However, it noticed that it caught nothing in its mouth.

It let out an angry roar across the restless and yet empty sea.

"Ack!" Ophelia groaned after she landed in a bush.

"..."

Apathetically, Raspalia looked at the group which she teleported with herself to the outskirts of Loogam. They were on a cliff outside of a small forest with a view of Loogam.

"My job is done." she remarked after confirming the safety of the group.

"Wait...!"

"Hm?"

Elsa was on her feet again, albeit shakingly.

Her breath was still ragged and she did not grasp the meaning of her actions nor her identity yet. However, those thoughts were pushed back to the back of her mind.

"You were ordered to save us, right...?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Then, why... Why did you come so late...?"

Elsa glared at her, whereas Raspalia reacted with a threatening grin.

"Oh~ Would you look at that~?"

Raspalia touched the ground with her feet and walked over to Elsa.

"You sure have guts to tell me, your savior, that in the face."

"..."

In turn, Elsa clenched her fists. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Answer me...!"

"What’s there to answer? I did save you, didn’t I?"

Now, Raspalia was clearly mocking Elsa.

Elsa realized that and immediately threw a punch.

But that punch was effortlessly caught by Raspalia who turned indifferent again.

"You have the audacity to call this a finished job...? Do you even know how many of us died...?" Elsa said, gritting her teeth.

All civilians on board died, including children.

Dura, Elsa’s grandmother, died.

And Sylvia, Elsa’s cousin, died.

"You came too late! You could have saved the others, too!" Elsa shouted with tears rolling down her face.

Her hands were now on Raspalia’s collar.

Those, who were still conscious and watched the confrontation between Elsa and Raspalia, could only avert their gazes while trying to fight against their own tears.

"Why didn’t you arrive in time?! Why didn’t you save the others?! Why?!"

Elsa’s heart throbbed and she was out of breath after venting out her frustration.

She knew that it was unfair and rude to say that, knowing fully well that she could not have survived without her help. However, she could not help but complain about the death of a beloved one.

"Let go." Raspalia stated sharply.

"Give me Grandma bac-"

Raspalia slapped Elsa away with her backhand.

"Didn’t I say to let go of me?"

"..."

Holding her throbbing cheek, Elsa glared at Raspalia even more.

"If you want to I can send you to your grandmother and the others who died."

Around Raspalia many portals appeared.

"It’s been a long time since I actually got the chance to run wild."

A menacing smirk crept onto her face.

"And after watching that brat using my ability so clumsily, it increased my desire to fight even further...!" she added.

Elsa knew that she absolutely stood no chance against her in a battle now but she still readied herself.

"Please, stop!"

It was Ophelia who got between them.

"What are you doing, Ophelia...?" Elsa wondered weakly.

"..."

Raspalia just gazed at her.

"You have our gratitude for saving us, Ms. Raspalia." Ophelia stated, bowing her head.

"Because we’re all still in shock, I hope that you can overlook our rude behavior." she said additionally.

"Are you kid-"

"Stop it!" Ophelia shouted with her gaze still directed to the ground.

"Tch!" Elsa clicked her tongue frustratedly and averted her gaze from Raspalia.

Then, the portals around Raspalia disappeared.

"Would you care if some ants die?"

Raspalia turned her back on the group and started to walk in the direction of the cliff.

"...?"

Ophelia did not know how to answer as she quickly understood the meaning behind her words.

"Just consider yourself lucky that you’re the first ones to survive Leviathan."

Following those words, Raspalia began to get engulfed in light.

"I doubt that we will ever see each other again so don’t you dare waste that chance of living which he gave you." she stated sternly, glancing back for a short moment.

Starting from below, Raspalia began to disperse.

She was about to leave the depressed group behind her.

"He did not give me a specific time of when Leviathan would appear so is it my fault that I overslept a little...?" she muttered airheadedly before she vanished from everyone’s sight.

Elsa slammed the ground with her fist.

"Damnit!!!" she shouted with a stinging throat.

Her tears could not stop flowing anymore.

And not just hers, everyone else began to wail. Even Belian mourned frustratedly in silence.

One week later.

It was pouring from above.

"..."

Standing in the rain and letting herself soak, Lily gazed at the grave of Sylvia.

Her eyes, which had dark eye bags, were void. Her were lips fry and slightly cracked. Her skin was paler than usual and her body thinner than usual. Her hair was unkempt and her posture bad.

Loogam was finally rebuilt but the first thing Lily and the others had to do once they arrived in Loogam was to make the graves for Leviathan’s victims, including their classmate Sylvia.

Lily would always visit her grave since then and spent countless hours there.

Ophelia, Elsa and Sara departed a few days ago for the Grand Order meeting.

Rachel, Harik and Lisa needed consultation for a while due to the traumatic experience.

Thus, it was only Belian who was the most mentally stable of the entire group. He, too, was obviously affected by the previous incident and the death of a friend. However, he was already used to such situations and could, therefore, move forward.

"..."

Hours passed and Lily still stood in front of Sylvia’s grave.

It poured even more but Lily did not care. It did not matter, whether it was the rain or her tears, which dropped on her face.

"Hey, did you know...? Mika hasn’t returned yet nor did he show any signs of himself..."

Her voice was trembling and there was no real strength behind her words.

"So let’s go and find him and give him a good scolding..."

Lily stretched out her hands and grabbed the stone.

"Let’s drag him back and go on another quest, adventure, restaurant or whatever..."

Her lips started to tremble more and her tears increased as they dropped on the soil.

And it did not stop as she remembered the times they hung out together as a trio.

She remembered the day they formed their team. The first fight between her and Sylvia. The first quest of the trio. The month Sylvia and her spent together to train. The opening ball of Loogam’s tournament week. The time at her home. The time as exchange students in Grat. The festivities after the battle in Youra.

She remembered everything all up to the day before they departed from Youra.

Lily fell on her knees and sniffed.

Her eyes were glassy.

"Sylvia... Come back already..." she begged as she wailed loudly.

Her frail hands formed fists.

"You, too, Mika... Where are you...?"

Her crying was deafened by the heavy rain.

Only Belian, who sat on a bench protected from the rain by a small roof, noticed her.

Sitting far away from her, he finished reading the newspaper which he initially used to distract himself from his crying friend whom he knew that he could not offer the right words.

"What’s going on in this world right now...?" he sighed as he put his palm on his face.

In the newspaper were countless articles about the sightings of two individuals who caused massive destruction in certain places in Malnor.

There were, for example, reports about deserted villages where not even the corpses of the villagers could be found.

But what caught the people’s attention the most was the article of the complete annihilation of the Great Jungle, including the subjugation of a monster which was rumored to be on a level above a Grand Order member.