Thanks to the forces led by Baalbel, the four-winged angels fighting on the ground and the undead army were pushed back. The Raven units and dark elves wiped out the acolytes who were incessantly resurrecting fallen soldiers into the undead. Seeing her army being slaughtered, Ophelia grew furious. She stood and floated into the air, spreading her arms wide. Her body grew immense as golden armor encased her form, and six golden wings erupted from her back. She reached into her own chest and pulled out a long sword of yellow fire, then immediately swung it.

Seeing Ophelia’s transformation, the angels and Templars on the battlefield instantly bowed down, even as their enemies cut them down.

"No creature can oppose me," Ophelia spoke, her voice booming and echoing.

"Swoooosh," she lashed out with her blade. "Gyaaaah!" Four-winged angels, undead, demons, acolytes, Ravens, dark elves, and even the soldiers of the Orthus Empire were instantly turned to ash by the trailing light of Ophelia’s sword. Varvir, unable to dodge in time, shoved Durgat away and was struck by the blade, disintegrating into ash.

"Varvir!" Durgat screamed in grief.

Xeria and Baalbel struggled to save Abel and Bhadra by dodging to the side, but Xeria was caught by the sweep of the attack, and her spider body began to turn to ash.

"Xeria!" Baalbel and Abel cried out. Baalbel immediately cradled Xeria’s head as she fell weak.

"It’s... okay... continue our fight... Your Majesty... Abel... and... Baalbel... good... bye," Xeria said before closing her eyes with a smile.

Instantly, Xeria’s body turned to ash and vanished from Baalbel’s hands. Abel and Baalbel felt an overwhelming sorrow. Abel remembered how Xeria had helped and looked after him in the elven village, while Baalbel mourned the loss of a friend who had stood by him for a thousand years, waiting for their king’s return.

They turned to see Bhadra, whose leg had been struck; the light continued to crawl upward, consuming his body. Baalbel and Abel moved to help him, but Bhadra sat back and raised his hand. He shook his head and smiled, his face seemingly saying, "don’t give up," before he completely vanished into glowing dust.

The two of them looked back toward Ophelia and then turned to see Durgat kneeling, clutching Varvir’s gauntlet. They immediately rushed to Durgat’s side and placed their hands on her shoulders. Durgat, her face wet with tears, looked up at them. Baalbel stared at Varvir’s gauntlet, and his hand tightened into a fist.

"Varvir... farewell, my friend," Baalbel said.

"That damn goddess... I’ll kill her," Durgat growled, struggling to stand.

"Don’t, Durgat! You’ll only be throwing your life away... keep your emotions in check!" Abel shouted, gripping Durgat’s shoulder firmly.

"Hu... hu... damn her... damn her... Your Majesty... please, avenge us!" Durgat wailed.

Meanwhile, Ard, Eva, and the others watched in shock as Ophelia grew to an immense size, returning to her true form. She floated toward them, swinging her sword once more, the trailing light of the blade heading straight for Ard and the group.

"Quick, get behind me and Eva!" Ard shouted.

Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, Claudia, Ainsley, Geoffrey, and Irwin immediately scrambled behind Ard and Eva. The two of them pressed Exgrandal and Exelion together, creating a gray shield to parry the attack. As the light closed in, "thud," Irina shoved Adeline into the safety of the shield. But she was too late for herself. She turned to look at Irwin and smiled one last time before she vanished into dust.

"Sis... big sister... sister... SISTEEEEER!" Irwin screamed, trying to run out to save her.

"Stay calm, Irwin!" Geoffrey shouted, grabbing him and holding him back.

"Huaaaa... huaaa... sister!" Irwin wailed hysterically.

Ard and Eva ground their teeth, tears streaming from their eyes. Although those inside the gray dome were protected, the forces behind them—both friend and foe—were mostly disintegrated into dust. Ard and Eva watched as the zeppelins in the sky, the angels, the wing tribes, the harpies, and the rest of the ground troops turned to ash. The power of the goddess Ophelia was overwhelming, and she continued to drift forward, closing in on Ard and Eva’s group.

Tears streamed down all of their faces. Alicia and Adeline wept as they saw the Fredonia forces vanish into dust; Rosalind and Beatrice cried for the Rellios army, which suffered the same fate—not to mention the dragon corps led by Reina, whose status remained unknown. Claudia and Mirea sobbed as the barbarian tribes and the Ateras troops were ground into ash, while Pyria wept for the vampires and elves who didn’t survive. Geoffrey cried as he watched his kingdom’s soldiers fall, as did Milia. Ainsley, though he appeared calm, was weeping with his teeth clenched tight.

They all stared at the goddess Ophelia with pure vengeance, forgetting for a moment that she had returned to her true, terrifying form. When the light from the goddess’s blade faded and the dome opened,

"Yaaaaaaah!"

They all leaped forward, charging the goddess on their familiars or riding together. Their faces were streaked with tears and twisted with rage. The goddess, whose face was now hidden behind a golden mask shaped like a human face, swung her sword at them again. Ard and Eva pressed their blades together once more, parrying the radiant wake of her strike.

"PUSH FORWARD!" they all screamed, tearing through the light that hammered against them like a solid pillar.

Meanwhile, Alexis, who had survived, watched from behind the bushes with Osgrelf. Reina, also safe and accompanied by several wing tribe soldiers, watched from the cliffs. Elmer, Grethia, and Tatiana, who had also survived despite being in rough shape, watched from a surviving zeppelin. Eledar, who was cradling Dimitri, looked on from the rear. Abel, Baalbel, and Durgat, standing at the front, watched with desperate hope. They all saw the gray protective sphere containing the thirteen of them and their familiars, hurtling toward the goddess’s face like a bullet.

"Go, Your Majesty!" Baalbel and Durgat screamed through their tears.

"Go, Ard... Eva!" Abel shouted, also weeping.

"Go... team of heroes... you truly are kings and emperors!" everyone screamed, their voices rising to join the cries of Baalbel, Durgat, and Abel.

Inside the protective sphere, their momentum was being held back by an endless flood of light. Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, Claudia, Ainsley, Geoffrey, Irwin, and Adeline drew their swords and, along with all their familiars, shouted, "Fire!" Multi-colored beams erupted from their soul swords, accompanied by the energy blasts from their familiars. The goddess’s light was forced back as their combined power surged forward, striking directly at her face.

"Yaaaaaaaah!"

They all screamed together. Ard and Eva released their swords and joined the barrage. "Blaaam!" "Aaaaaah!" Their combined beam slammed into the goddess’s face until it exploded, making her scream and stagger back a step, clutching her face. Immediately, they began raining beams from their swords upon her, their familiars circling the goddess and carrying them through the air. Ophelia, her face struck, peered out from behind her mask.

"Bastards... bastards... bastards!" she roared, her voice echoing through the heavens.

She tried to snatch her attackers out of the air and lashed out with her sword, but their movements were too fast. They swarmed her like mosquitoes, circling her while firing off magic and slashing their blades across her massive body. Ophelia was becoming overwhelmed; she couldn’t catch them, and she couldn’t even pin down their familiars. Bedryt’s words from before the war began to ring in her ears, and a flicker of fear appeared as her eyes darted left and right, trying to track the enemies that now looked like a blur of multi-colored comets. But then, she snapped back to reality.

"Shut up, Bedryt! I am Ophelia, the goddess of this world... it is impossible for me to lose to them," Ophelia declared.

But before she could act, her eyes widened as she saw Ard and Eva flying toward her like comets. They plunged their swords directly into both of her eyes. "Gyaaaaaaa!"

Ophelia recoiled, screaming in agony. Immediately, the barrage of multi-colored comets rained down upon her body until she could no longer even scream. Finally, she reverted to her human form and drifted down, crashing to the earth. Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, Claudia, Ainsley, Geoffrey, Irwin, and Adeline landed in front of the goddess with their familiars. They were all panting heavily, watching the goddess as she lay helpless on her back. But then,

"Hahaha... you really are impressive... fine, I admit it... you are the true soul fragments of Ordione... now... hurry and seal me... prevent his awakening... do it fast, before he takes me over," Ophelia said.

"Huh... what are you talking about?" Ard asked. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"My goal... reaching Malekh wasn’t because I wanted to be with him... he is my lover and I love him... just as you all love one another... but... you made a grave mistake 3,000 years ago," Ophelia answered breathlessly, her life fading fast.