Upon returning to the city, Ard and Eva received reports that Elders Bhadra, Varvir, and Xeria had been killed just like Irina; none of them had survived. Furthermore, they learned that over half of their forces had been wiped out by Goddess Ophelia’s previous attacks. Eledar survived, but many of the elves had perished, while the dark elves—having lost their chieftain—appointed a new leader. Dimitri confined himself to his home because, with the disappearance of magic, he was no longer immune to sunlight and could only venture out at night.

Additionally, by the time Ard, Eva, and the others arrived, the floating island of the Soratopia Kingdom was no longer hovering over the city of Vernice. According to witnesses, they had headed for the sea as their island continued to sink, not wanting to crush the city beneath them. Afterward, a funeral for Irwin was held. His body was placed on a ship along with Varvir’s gauntlets, Xeria’s bracelet, and Irina’s knife.

They held the funeral ceremony at the harbor, where tears and a somber atmosphere enveloped the entire city. Ard stood in the center, his arms around Eva and Alicia; beside them were Milia and Pyria, followed by Claudia, Adeline, and Beatrice, and finally Rosalind and Mirea. Ainsley stood with Geoffrey, Abel, Alexis, Riana, Baalbel, Durgat, Vahn, Cain, Tatiana, Elmer, Grethia, and everyone else involved in the recent war. They watched as the boat carrying Irwin’s body drifted further away, then Ard turned to Eledar, who stood ready with a fire arrow. Eledar nodded and "thwip," he fired his arrow; it struck the boat and burst into flames.

Cries began to erupt across the harbor. Durgat wept as she hugged Baalbel, who was also crying and hugging her back. Ard held Eva and Alicia while he wept, as did everyone else. Once the heroes were laid to rest and his grief had subsided, Ard began to think.

"That means it’s time for us to work hard," Ard said.

"Huh... what?" Eva asked at his side.

"It’s time to build ’Earth’ in this world," Ard replied.

"You’re right, Ard... a lack of magic is no obstacle for us. It’s time to build this world," Eva said.

"With so many races in this world that have relied on magic all this time, it will certainly be difficult to explain this to them, but it is a new challenge for us," said Ard.

"Yes... I understand. Like it or not, we have to explain and reveal everything we learned back on Earth," replied Eva.

"I just hope they can accept it," replied Ard.

"I am sure they will be able to accept it; the reality is that magic really has disappeared from this world," said Eva.

"That’s exactly right," muttered Ard.

"If the two of us work together... I’m sure we can do it, my husband," said Eva.

"Yes... you’re right, Eva... my wife," said Ard, answering Eva.

The two of them then fell silent, simply watching the ship carrying Irwin’s burning remains in the middle of the sea. Yet, there was a strong resolve in their eyes; though they realized that now was the time for them to play a crucial role—just as the dragons had tasked them—to lead the world into a future different from the one before.

Even though their hands were trembling and they held each other tightly, they were certain that if they were together—plus having the support of Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, and Claudia—they would prevail. Meanwhile, Pyria, who had been silent from the start, was thinking hard. Even though her tears flowed endlessly, she kept observing Ard and Eva, as if offering silent encouragement from the side, her eyes showing that she was waiting for their next move.

The day after the war, Ard and Eva got to work. They gathered all the tribes, including the mermen represented by Tatiana and the remaining wing tribe members in the city. When the Orthus Imperial army arrived and immediately pledged their loyalty to the new empire—the Liberta Empire—Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, Claudia, and Adeline set off for the Orthus capital. They were accompanied by Baalbel, Ainsley, Durgat, and their entire army to take over the capital and establish it as the center of the Liberta Empire.

After successfully occupying the capital and receiving a warm welcome from the citizens—who even cheered for them as the new emperor and his eight empresses—Ard and Eva appointed Baalbel, Abel, Ainsley, Nikolai, Hardim, Kresus, Vahn, Eledar, Dimitri, and Cain as the new senate members, representing their respective races and kingdoms.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey returned to the Durnhill Kingdom, as did Alexis, Elmer, Grethia, and Tatiana, who each returned to their own lands. Ard and Eva immediately went to work, explaining the concept of a life without magic—which they had experienced on Earth—to the senate.

After Ard and Eva explained what they had learned on Earth to the Senate, Baalbel, Abel, Ainsley, Nikolai, Hardim, Kresus, Vahn, Eledar, Dimitri, and Cain listened and thought deeply. Hope flickered across their faces, and they didn’t seem skeptical at all.

"Hmm... truly fascinating. So, the dwarven technology we’ve possessed all this time—you’ve seen it on Earth before... and even surpassed it?" Hardim asked.

"Exactly. We have experienced the same thing, and what the dwarves have achieved so far is still below what we had on Earth," Ard answered.

"This is interesting. Naturally, we of the Elven race will be open to this and are ready to accept the change," Eledar replied while deep in thought.

"Hmm... so on Earth, there are only humans, and other races exist only as legends, though you say many mysteries still shroud Earth that you don’t know about?" Kresus asked.

"Yes... for instance, the pyramids on Earth are exactly like the pyramids in the Tartagia Kingdom in Le Rein Infernal. You use those pyramids as a means to generate electrical energy, which is extraordinary. We actually want to study and implement that for our collective survival," Eva answered.

"Of course, we would be delighted to explain the mechanics and how to construct those pyramids on the surface by drawing energy from our atmosphere," Kresus replied enthusiastically.

"And we dwarves will be open to collaboration from now on," Hardim added.

"Thank you, Kresus, Hardim," Ard replied.

"We must discuss all of this in greater depth. Very well, where shall we begin?" Nikolai said.

"First of all, we must quell the chaos happening across the world due to the disappearance of magic. It is time for us to work on bringing everyone together," Ard stated.

"Understood. We are ready," the senators replied enthusiastically.

The year the war ended was designated as Year 0, serving as the start of a new calendar and a marker for the turning of the ages.

***

Six months passed, and the efforts of Ard and the senate to build the world from scratch began to show results. The first thing they tackled was communication; Ard and Eva implemented a mail delivery system and created a dedicated department to manage it. After that, Ard and Eva traveled to the surface of the southern continent to visit the newly unified kingdom of Grimgarth and Tartagia—now named the Kingdom of Diborg (a name finally settled upon after endless arguing between Murmic and Vogir). Now permanent neighbors with the Durnhill Kingdom, the goal of the visit was to establish zeppelins as a method for mail delivery, following a proposal from Hardim. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Furthermore, Ard and Eva asked Murmic—who had already been briefed by Hardim—to open their technology to all the other kingdoms. Murmic agreed, even noting that his people were developing tech to protect bodies from water pressure and to help the mermen reach the surface. They collaborated with the Durnhill Kingdom, exchanging resources with one another. Following this, an expedition to the gates of hell was carried out by the Raven forces and the dark elves, led by Baalbel and Abel. They found that the gates had crumbled into ruins, but discovered a path through the wreckage leading to Le Rein Infernal that emerged directly into the Victorian-era city.

A bridge connecting the surface to the Victorian city was constructed so they could begin exchanging knowledge and technology, all thanks to Cain’s efforts in persuading King Leonard to cooperate. With King Leonard’s approval, a massive elevator from the surface down to the city is currently under construction. Meanwhile, the demons, now led by Durgat, migrated to the capital along with the elves, who no longer had protection since the Forest of Illusion had lost its magic.

Dimitri moved the vampires to Le Rein Infernal, settling directly beneath the Ateras Kingdom to live alongside the Victorian city residents and avoid the sunlight. Though slow, civilization finally began to adapt to life without magic by cooperating across different races, just as envisioned with the founding of the Liberta Empire.

To commemorate the conflict known as the War of the End Times, a statue was erected in the Vernice city square as a war monument honoring the heroes who fell in battle. The statue of Irwin stands at the very front, followed by Irina, Varvir, Xeria, Bhadra, and Bernard—who was also discovered to have perished—along with several others, totaling about 30 people. Thus began a new era of world civilization, named the Liberta Civilization.