Perfect Avatar-Chapter 268: Dawn Of The Apocalypse

- Ambrosia, Paradea port.

Many days passed during the crossing, seeing some changes take place. The Queen’s Marina reached its destination without much problem.

Ahead, a new figure observed the familiar land, a bright smile on his lips. With short green hair and emerald eyes, Hope looked impatiently at his homeland.

"Did you seriously spend the night here?" Cid joined him.

Hope nodded, clenching his fist.

"Yeah, I couldn’t wait any longer. I definitely want to see everyone and tell them it’s over."

Hope and Liliana had absorbed the soul stones of Envy and Lust, becoming pseudo Avatars in turn, and suffering the rebound of their transformations.

Hope was weaker than before, unable to properly use his power on his own due to Envy’s blessing forcing the wielder always to be weaker than anyone else.

However, after the battle against Apophis, he was sure how phenomenal his full power would be, and after his last moment with Lust, he was like a new man, or rather, back to his previous behavior.

Hope was Hope again, joyful and relieved, now burning with the desire to be welcomed as the heroes they were.

He didn’t need to be glorious or act nobly and powerful, he was who he was and had learned to live it fully and stop crying.

He and Cid watched the land move closer, and soon, the sounds of footsteps grew closer.

Behind, Morgiana was also watching the land, immense relief filling her face.

She fell to her knees, sighing loudly.

"Damn... It’s really over... finally..."

Lilith and Liliana joined them in turn, less joyful than their comrades. Liliana hadn’t changed much after her awakening, the only visual difference being the color of her hair and eyes turning blue.

She patted Morgiana who was sobbing, as for Lilith, she was more embarrassed for her friend.

"Come on, enough tears, put some shame on our name."

"Don’t be so harsh, after all that we deserve to cry a little." Freya also joined them.

She was accompanied by Iris and Mercy, completing the team.

Unlike the relief shown by Hope, Cid, and Morgiana, Freya’s eyes could not hide a growing depression.

She stood on the edge of the ship, bathed in the light of dawn, dazzling like a goddess.

This sight was gradually drowning Cid, he never stopped looking at Freya during the return, hypnotized by her new appearance.

He was so confused that he had forgotten how to talk to her, even though it wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

"So... it’s decided? Ya won’t change yer plan?"

"Yes, we can’t wait any longer. We get the capital back first, and if by some miracle we succeed, I’ll go to Fenrir."

She looked out at the ocean, her eyes regaining some life.

"I’ll bring him back, evil or not...I refuse to lose him."

Mercy smiled at her, then nodded at Iris.

"Good, then it’s decided, we go together when it’s all over. By the way, about them being evil, I noticed somethin’ about the other Personas..."

They engaged in conversation, fully invested. They were devastated after leaving the Kalaharis, but during the journey, their only goal was to get Dora back, no matter the consequences.

It was a devastating sight for Cid, Freya was inaccessible, even more so now, but this Goddess was obsessed with a man.

Cid simply sighed. As he looked out to the sea, a whistling noise caught his attention next to him.

"What? You want to make fun of me?"

"Hm? I am just cheering for you, I didn’t know that a tough guy like you would end up like this. I mean... Nefertari was right, you look like a creep, bro."

"You think you’re any better? Your girl hasn’t even talked to you. No one noticed your transformation."

Hope chuckled, pointing at himself.

"That’s because they haven’t yet seen how amazing I am now. I will fight with everything I have to become worthy of everyone, and I will conquer my lady again."

"Dude, your lady said this guy was beyond repair, but look how motivated she is to find him. You don’t stand a chance."

"Well, I’m the hero of envy, so I will envy everything he has, it will only make me stronger... and you have to stay positive, if he’s evil, maybe they won’t look up to him that much? It will be our new challenge, to surpass him and get the girls back!"

Hope tensed his muscles in front of Cid, the latter was getting angry but it was still a better sight than his past depression.

Morgiana sat, watching the land pass.

"...You guys never get tired... Well, you guys are strong after all, you’re all so tough... but for me... I think I’ll stop there."

"Morgy? What do you mean?"

Morgiana smiled at Liliana, her eyes reflecting her immense fatigue.

"Guys... I’m sorry, but I don’t have the strength to continue. I... I won’t go with you to the city, or even to the capital. I’ll stay here in Paradea, so I’ll see ...what life has in store for me."

Lilith and Liliana were speechless, the others, surprised at first, understood that it was probably the best option for her.

"I don’t know how I survived all that... but now that I’ve seen death so close... I want to take a break from it all. Emissaries, Avatars... I just...I just want a little rest."

"...And Marie?" Lilith began to tremble. "You’re going to leave like that without trying to..."

Suddenly, Liliana pulled her by the wrist, she shook her head at Lilith, urging her to be quiet.

Morgiana scratched her hair.

"It was Dora, wasn’t it? Dora would never hurt her... He didn’t hurt you, so maybe Marie is safe? And... maybe you don’t need me for this role? I’m not as strong and as important as you."

She forced herself to smile, Lilith, more and more devastated, looked in vain for the faces of her comrades.

It was over and everyone understood it. Freya crouched down in front of her and grabbed her hand.

"Is this how you see our comrades who died for this cause? To me, no one is weak, you are strong in your own way, and you are as important as each of us. If you want to leave, then leave and feel no regrets... If one of us could have done it sooner, we would not have to suffer such a terrible loss."

She placed an object in Morgiana’s hand, a crest with a purple flower carved into it.

"This is the crescent of the Astaroth family, with it, you can use my name to get anything you want. You are now linked to the Astaroths, so don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything. I wish you all the good in the world for the future."

Morgiana stared at the crest with wide eyes, she was ready for many things, but not this one.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she began sobbing once more, warmly hugged by Freya.

The boat managed to reach land and the group entered Paradea and, as expected, Morgiana left them before making contact with the people.

After tearful goodbyes with Lilith and Liliana, she jumped ashore before the boat stopped.

She disappeared behind the neighboring houses, it was the closing of another story.

"Alright, let’s go."

Freya led the way, their goal was to reach any communication point to announce their return, but as they did not know the place well, they needed people to lead them, however, something was off.

"... Where are the people?"

No matter where they looked, there was no trace of citizens, as if they had all disappeared.

They split up and checked some buildings, but there was still no trace to their surprise.

They ran around the city for about 8 minutes, but there was no trace of soul, the situation was so abnormal that they resolved to break the entrance of a random building to get any communication device possible, and it didn’t take them long to find a phone still functional.

Freya dialed Candace’s number in a hurry, with no result.

"What’s going on here? Now I’m getting really nervous..."

Next to her, Iris was biting her nails.

"... Dora said... Dora said something about the dean... Maybe... T-try the alliance... I mean the parliament! There was a number for the social service, right?"

"Yeah, good idea."

She dialed the number as suggested and after a few seconds of anxiety, a new sound brought joy to their faces.

[Hello??? Do you hear me?]

"Thanks God! Finally... Yes, we hear you, we can hear you..."

Freya put the phone in loudspeaker, to let her friends share this moment, without noticing the panic in the speaker’s voice.

[Miss, where are you?? I see this call is from Paradea, are you really there? Is this a joke?]

The smile slowly faded from Freya’s face.

"Uh? What... This isn’t a joke, we are in Paradea, we came..."

[Why are you still there?! Why haven’t you evacuated with the others?! Damn... Why is it so hard to follow instructions?... Alright, listen to me, there’s no more train available for now, I’ll report your situation to the higher-ups and they will send a rescue team to escort you to the South. Please, no matter what, stay hidden in this exact location!]

Everyone looked at each other more and more confused.

"Miss, we are the team from the expedition on Kalaharis, I am Freya Astaroth. We’ve returned and we need to talk with the head of the parliament."

A loud noise could be heard from the other side of the phone call, soon mixed with several voices.

[Hello? Hello??? Are you still there?? Lady Freya???]

"What’s going on, for God’s sake?!" Lilith groaned.

[Our apologies, lady Freya, we are contacting mister Agiel right now! Just wait a few-]

There was another noise, but this time it was a breakdown in communication.

Then, a new voice emerged.

[Freya?! Is that really you???]

"Agharita? Fina... Yes! It’s us, what is the situation? Why is everyone..."

[When did you come back?? Damn it, there are no train to get to you... Wait, you tell me what’s the situation?! It’s been weeks! Did you bring the elf Queen?!]

Freya had to sit down to maintain her calm, to everyone else, it was very far from the warm welcome they expected.

"We just came back, we faced many situations with Queen Apophis, but we have now the power to fight the Players. Now what’s going on on your side?"

A new noise of voices arguing could be heard, then the recognizable voice of formidable man took the lead.

[Miss Freya, here’s Agiel. I would like to hear about the context more, but things are getting out of hands now. We will come to you in maximum two days, there, we’ll have a proper talk.]

"You expect me to wait one day after you said all of this? Tell me now what the Hell is going on!"

An heavy silence filled the air, the tension visible in Freya’s group eyes.

"Agiel?"

[... I hear you, the situation here is disastrous. The Queen and Anesidora fought for days and destroyed several regions around the kingdom, and after they finally stopped... Something started coming out from the Rift.]

"... What?"

On the other side, in a room with Agharita and some people from the parliament, Agiel murmured.

"Miss Freya, the Players aren’t the biggest threat anymore. I think we’re finally getting visited by the thing Anesidora met in the Rift."

********

In another world, Dora, Peters, and Elizabeth stopped at the entrance of the school where Midgard was standing.

They followed her gaze and met the origin of the girl’s strange attitude.

"... Midgard... Who... Who is this?"

"... Something interesting sugar cube, a very odd visitor."

The wind picked up, blowing gently the hair of the individual.

"Something? Ah, is this a way to introduce your kind, Midgard Serpent?"

The emerald eyes of indifference looked at the emerald eyes of amusement, both adorned with the same feature: the reptile’s pupil.

"I said interesting, Apophis."