Glenn flicked Nelg on the forehead, stopping him from dozing off. The armored doppelganger opened his eyes confusedly, drooling at the lips.

  "What...?" He closed his mouth when he saw the incoming priest Glenn was pointing at. Valentin wiped the sweat off his forehead, wearing an amiable smile. He was the same priest who took care of Redan in his last moments. The Church of Onnea had promoted him to the Bourgeoisie due to a growingly reduced workforce. The war had taken many priests away from King's Rise, and the situation with the Dark Wall hadn't helped either. Many had received unexpected promotions.

  "How is it looking?" Glenn asked, his arms crossed.

  Valentin scratched his chin and pointed the direction he came from. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?"

  Liara dragged herself out of the hospital room, her teeth clenched and her tone pale. Nelg shot on his feet and hurriedly went to her side, worried.

  "Are you alright?"

  The Black Heiress gave him a weak smile as she lightly pushed him away, refusing his help. Valentin scribbled something down in a notepad before nodding.

  "Every drop of poison in your body has been purged, but you'll still feel very weak for a few days. I predict a dozen, but I'm probably wrong." He scratched the back of his head with his pencil and added: "I recommend you eat a lot and don't exert yourself, at least for the next 48 hours. You should give yourself to Sir Glenn for the emergency treatment he administered. Without it, it would have taken us a couple of months to heal you."

  Liara looked at Glenn and nodded slightly. The corner of Glenn's lips curled upward as he mirrored the movement. He turned to Valentin and shook his hand.

  "Thank you, priest."

  Valentin smiled. "It's my pleasure."

  ***

  "I know it's late, but congratulations on making it to Crusader," said Glenn. Liara was sinking into one of the comfortable armchairs of the manor's relaxation room. Nelg had gone to fetch Sahro at Glenn's request, while the others were about their separate affairs.

  "...Thanks." Liara's golden eyes slowed on Glenn's chest. "Congratulations as well, Archmagi."

  Glenn shrugged. "What can I say? I had to stop Sahro from overtaking me."

  Liara rubbed her stomach with a complicated expression. The wounds, even if healed, had left scars on her previously pristine skin. There was a chance they'd disappear with time, but it was a foolish hope to hold.

  Glenn pursed his lips, unsure how to broach the subject.

  'Come on, you coward! Just say it outright, it'll be faster this way!' Diamanes' unnerving voice echoed in his head, a constant distraction.

  "Liara, I..." Glenn grimaced. "While I was unconscious, I was...in some sort of, uh, space."

  Liara raised an inquisitive eyebrow, silent.

  "And...I can't understand why, but I was shown some of your memories." Glenn finally admitted.

  Liara blinked. "What do you mean?"

  Glenn drew a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "The caravan crossing the black desert, your father and..." He trailed off, not ending his sentence. Liara had grabbed his wrist, stopping him. She was trembling slightly, her eyes widening. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times without a sound coming out of it once.

  "I-I'm sorry, I didn't intend on—"

  "It's fine," she interrupted him. She leaned back in her armchair, her eyes lost in the distance with memories of blowing sandstorms and betrayal in the night. Of lost family and shattered fate.

  "You..." She hesitated, scowling painfully as if even thinking about it made the years-old wounds ache. "You saw my father. What about...what about him?"

  'Him?' Glenn was about to ask who that 'him' was, but he restrained himself. He didn't need to. From her pained and enraged expression, it wasn't complicated to understand who she was referring to.

  Salim.

  He nodded. Liara's grip on his wrist tightened. Not with her Crusader's strength, but with the desperation and hatred that betrayal left in its wake. Glenn felt his heart tighten in his chest. Liara's face was hidden behind her long, white hair. He opened his mouth to say something, but a voice stopped him from doing so.

  'Don't. Right now, you just need to shut up.'

  Glenn sealed his lips shut, letting Liara compose herself. The Black Heiress stayed in the same position for a dozen minutes, breathing heavily.

  "Uhh, Glenn, I feel like I should wait outside, am I wrong?" Nelg's message almost made Glenn flinch.

  'No, you're right. Give her a few minutes, I think I might have struck a sensible nerve.'

  'A sensible nerve? Hah! You literally made her recall her most painful memory!' Diamanes snorted.

  "Wait, what? Why am I out of the loop?" Nelg asked confusedly.

  'Give us some time, Nelg. I'll explain later.'

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "...Alright."

  Liara exhaled heavily and pulled her hair back. Tears had welled up in her reddened eyes, but none had streamed down her cheeks.

  "Thanks." She finally whispered. Glenn reached out hesitantly, before giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. She flinched and looked down at Glenn's wrist, which she still hadn't let go of. She pulled her hand away almost shamefully.

  She shook her head and rubbed the corner of her eyes. "Sorry. I-I'm not used to... talking so much."

  Glenn grinned. "No worries. I'm not exactly the most open on the chaotic mess that is my mental health either. Now, what do you say I get all of this off your mind?"

  Liara chuckled slightly. "How?"

  The Devil's Hand's grin widened from one ear to the other. "Follow me."

  ***

  Creak, creak.

  "Alright, that should do it." Liam let out a small tired sigh. He taped his wrench against the already-warm metal, grimacing. "I don't think the materials I have can keep up with your strength, Sahro. Saint rank is a little too powerful for mundane metals."

  Sahro picked up his sword from the ground using his new, improved MK-something prosthetic. "Every time, I destroy your prosthetics, and every time, you give me something even better. Maybe I should just keep doing that until you make me a perfect new arm?"

  Janica clicked her tongue as she stowed screwdrivers and bolts away in a toolbox. “Don't joke about this, Sir Sahro. It doesn't look like it, but fine-tuning your prosthesis takes up a lot of our time and money. Time and money we could have spent on someone's artificial heart, for example.”

  Liam chuckled as he pulled her closer to him. "Don't say that. Giving the failed prototypes to the Academy was enough to award us with more than what we paid and my heart is more than fine." He pocketed his wrench and added, "And that's not even counting the fame. I've received half-a-hundred demands for prosthetics similar to yours, Sahro."

  The Black Heir. "Why?"

  Janica rolled her eyes and pointed at a journal on the floor. Nelg stopped messing with a half-built automaton and picked up the paper.

  "Uhh, let's see... 'Munirp's News: Another Success for the Devil's Hand's Team!'. That's about the expedition into the unknown a few weeks ago." He flipped the page and laughed in disbelief.

  "Hah, look at that! 'Everything on the famous hero Glenn and his companions!' Ah, I'm not mentioned. Makes sense, I suppose. What about...Oh-ho, I found Sahro!" Nelg was about to read the lines presenting Sahro, but the latter stole the journal away. His eyes widened as he read its contents.

  "Subordinate? I'm not Glenn's subordinate! Who the hell wrote this garbage? Liam, where is the Munirp's News located? I'm going to destroy them!"

  Janica took the journal away with an exasperated sigh. "Listen, the key point is that someone somehow managed to get your picture." She opened the journal at a specific page and pointed at an image. Indeed, Sahro was fully shown, ready to enter the Horizon Gates leading to the Beyond besides Glenn, Milena, Lucian and Liara. It was a black and white picture, making the Aura surging through his prosthesis even more intimidating.

  Nelg whistled. "You're a natural poser, Sahro. Dude, if I didn't know you I would create a fanclub or something."

  "A fanclub? What's that?" The Black Heir's confusion only grew.

  "About that, you might find it, uhm, amusing, but..." Janica scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

  "Oh, yeah, those already exist. I created one for Glenn and you in the Academy for laughs, but somehow a ton of people joined." Liam picked his ear, unfazed.

  Sahro grunted and turned away, clenching his sword and practicing a few moves. The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle that seemed to slice even sound itself. Liam, Janica, and Nelg stopped and stared at the Black Heir, dead silent. Sahro exhaled slowly, a grin drawing up on his lips.

  "Two arms is still the best..." He muttered.

  "Sahro!" Glenn called out as he entered the training room. Liara followed behind him, her eyes stopping on Sahro. She blinked a few times, her mouth shaped into an o.

  "Ah, yes, we couldn't tell her, could we?" Sahro grumbled. The color of his skin had returned to his usual dark tan, but his ears were still as ridiculously pointy. His Primal energy, result of the clash of his Mana and Aura, was also still broiling deep within his chest, pulsing with the same strength as a Saint. His fox Raijin suddenly appeared on his shoulder, purring.

  "Wait, you were way blacker before, what happened?" Glenn inquired, puzzled.

  Sahro sighed and brandished his sword. Glenn instinctively took a step back, his spells flaring. The Black Heir's blade lit up with a dark, voracious red crackle, a primal electricity. A thunder of unquenchable hunger. The dark red lighting engulfed his body, darkening his skin as the mirage of a fox's tail and ears appeared like a veil over him. The symbol on his forehead shone brightly, brimming with might.

  'This is...' Diamanes gasped unconsciously.

  Sahro sheathed his sword and the pressure disappeared. Glenn flinched as he realized he had summoned both his Saturn Rings and a Black Hole. He hurriedly dismissed both and sighed heavily.

  "So that's Primal energy, huh? Fuck this is scary. No wonder you refused to show it on the flying boat."

  The Black Heir grimaced as black smoke puffed out of his prosthesis. "Well, that and I'm not too...comfortable having foxlike features, honestly. I still can't believe that's the secondary effect of using this power."

  Liam grabbed Liam's arm and quickly looked for the source of the smoke, grumbling. "Whatever. If becoming as powerful as you means I need to move around looking like a dog, I would be more than fine with that. Try and think about those of us who can't learn magic or Aura."

  Sahro cleared his throat awkwardly, petting his fox without thinking. Liara looked at Whitey. The tiny bird was perched on her shoulder and singing happily, unbothered by the demonstration of strength. She pressed her lips together and grabbed Sahro, dragging him away to one corner of the training room. Glenn looked at Nelg and Liam and sighed, before using his Gravity Manipulation to make sure no sound would escape the two Black Heirs' discussion.

  'Gravity Manipulation... Is it even Gravity now? I'm more and more convinced it would be proper to rename it Reality Manipulation by now,' jeered Diamanes.

  'Stop saying whatever crosses your mind.' Glenn dusted his hands off.

  "He better not complain when his prosthesis stops working again," grumbled Janica. "I'm starting to have nightmares about mechanical arms with how many we built..."

  Glenn stroked her head, ruffling her hair. “And he's very, very grateful for it, Janica. But in case he didn't say so, thank you.”

  Liam frowned at the sight, but quickly tried (unsuccessfully) to escape the same fate. Glenn also ruffled his hair before leaving the room with Nelg, laughing.

  "Come on, let's check on Lina and mom—" He stopped in his tracks and looked at Nelg, pondering. "Huh. Is she your mom too then?"

  Nelg rubbed the back of his head. "I...uh, that's a good question."

  "Why does it matter?" Diamanes complained. "Who even cares about that? Come on, let's go kill some more monsters, cultists and divine bullshit!"

  Glenn looked at his left hand in disbelief. "We've barely just returned, Diamanes. Do you mind letting us rest?"

  Diamanes scoffed. "Sure, just make it less boring."

  Glenn shook his head and continued walking. "Whatever. Right now, I just want to enjoy life, not deal with the latest world crisis. Hey, Nelg?"

  "Yeah?"

  "What do you say we cook some fried dragon?"