Toussaint coughed pitifully as he lay atop the rubble of his palace.

He could hear the screams of his soldiers as they were all put to the sword. These barbarians... they paid no heed to the cries for mercy that they received.

He heard the sound of leather armor being punched in and flesh stripped from bone. And yet, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Toussaint could no longer deny a very obvious truth.

’Poison.’

It was the only thing that could explain this weakness he was feeling. Using a very fleeting amount of his strength, he lifted his hand to the back of his neck.

He found a very small opening in his skin. Ordinarily, this would not have been any major cause for concern, given the scale of the battle he had just been through.

But when Toussaint pulled his hand away, the blood that colored his fingers was an unnatural purplish-black.

"Those... whores...!"

A ball of fire descended from the sky, forcing Toussaint to shut his eyes. They almost immediately flashed back open when he felt a searing heat crush his leg.

The scream he released was so guttural that he could have been mistaken for a wounded animal.

Solomon loomed above him, his body split perfectly down the middle into its two incarnations.

An immortal warrior, and a flaming spawn of the outer dark.

Both stared down at him hatefully.

"I will not ask you again... Where.."

Solomon’s sword pierced Toussaint’s arm, stapling it to the forest soil. The second scream was even louder than the first.

"Is..."

A spear was drilled through his shoulder with so much speed and power that Toussaint barely felt it at first.

But pain, just like morning sunlight, arrived all the same.

"YARI!?!"

Solomon’s roar shook the entire forest floor. The power, the emotion within his voice, was so great that it set nearby foliage ablaze.

Blood and sweat soaked Toussaint completely. His body was so thoroughly exhausted that he could barely move a muscle, and yet he was still trying in earnest to escape the creature in front of him.

He had not known a fear this great since he first met his master. Perhaps the two of them were the same kind of being.

’Master...’

A single thought about the man he idolized brought about a serious shift within Toussaint.

His eyes became watery. The split lip he’d had since the fight began was now trembling like a lone branch in the winter.

The sight was so baffling, it even gave Solomon pause.

Toussaint used his free arm to cover his eyes as he sobbed.

His throat was raw from screaming, so when his voice came out, it held no more power than a gust of wind.

"Master... Why have you abandoned me...? Have I failed you in some way...? I.. I have endured as well as I..."

Solomon’s eyes widened. The flames dominating the left half of his body sputtered out.

’It can’t be...’

Solomon stepped forward to yank the man up, but that was the moment fate decided to play a very cruel trick on him.

"YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE, HANDSOME!!!"

Out of nowhere, Fury plummeted from the sky like a rocket, smashing Toussaint’s face into paste with her bare feet.

Blood and flesh spattered against Solomon’s chestplate, his face going slack.

Fury rose to her full height, wiping away her brow in satisfaction. "You savor the glory of the battle after the kill, handsome, not before. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll-"

"What did you do...?"

Solomon’s gloves groaned underneath the pressure of his clenched fists.

"He could have told me something useful just now, you oaf...! Can you not think past your unending bloodlust for once in your miserable little existence!?"

Solomon didn’t realize that his voice was not only getting progressively louder, but it was also attracting the attention of his siblings as well.

Fury didn’t take kindly to being talked down to even if she did like Solomon’s face.

She lashed out at him, wrapping her meaty hand around his much smaller throat.

"You should keep a much better grip on your tongue, boy. I don’t care if you belong to that weak woman or not. I will make sure Xu watches every moment that I break you underneath me."

Solomon would have been furious even if Fury hadn’t just threatened to rape him. Her casual attitude about doing so only further exacerbated his anger.

He grabbed Fury’s wrist with surprising strength, the heat of his skin hot enough to burn even her flesh.

"Give me back Jiaoying... NOWWWW!!!!"

Solomon could not explain what happened next. He only knew that he had demanded something so deeply, from the very depths of his soul, that even a greater being could not so easily refuse him.

Stunned, Fury slowly released Solomon, her gaze immediately going from one of rage to disbelief.

Her blue skin faded. Her muscles shrank considerably.

In just a few seconds, Jiaoying was standing in front of her lover once again. But after four full days of fighting, she was more than just a little weary.

Solomon caught her before she could tumble to the ground.

He held her body gingerly in his arms, his back resting against the great tree.

Jiaoying was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. But her sole concern was not how tired she felt.

"Did.... Did we find her...?"

It was a single question that carried an unbelievable amount of hope inside.

Solomon couldn’t believe it. How had he failed again?

Another woman he loved, gone without a trace. It was a terrible thing to say, but... Solomon had loved Yari so much more than he had loved Rena. Because Yari was never afraid to say just how much she loved him back.

With her light no longer around... his world became noticeably darker.

And Jiaoying noticed the dark light in his eyes. It was all the answer that she needed.

Her eyes filled with water. Solomon mirrored her.

Together, underneath the shade of Muria, they showed each other sides of themselves that they would never allow anyone else in the world to see.

In that moment... tired, low on hope, and terrified, they completely broke.