The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

When we teleported back, Luna and Amber were waiting for us. I wish I could say they were concerned or worried, but no... Amber looked at me with a concerned expression while Luna lay outstretched, lazily wagging her fluffy tail from side to side. Irene went straight to the bathroom with a big and loud yawn while I stood, unable to decide what to do now.

"Theon, you can't protect everyone..." Amber softly stated.

"I know, Amber. I know that I can be wrong as well." I smiled.

"That's good..." She looked inquisitively at me for a moment and sighed. "Are you sure you are fine?"

"What do you mean?" I said, taking off my shirt.

"I mean- you don't blame yourself for their death?" she finally asked, no longer beating around the bush.

"What? No... Amber, while I don't set my denizens to kill anyone intentionally, I don't set them to be pushovers, either. I'm a dungeon, not a spa resort. Someone careless was bound to die here someday," I replied while pouring myself a glass of water.

"So why are you sad?" She was not going to give up anytime soon.

"Sweetie... I'm not sad, I'm disappointed, and there's a difference." I shrugged and drank my water. "Truth be told, I shouldn't have intervened just now. The only reason I did was because that particular party was the most promising."

"Oh... Okay then." She yawned. "But I see you want to do something about it anyway."

"Maybe. Maybe not." I shrugged, but truth be told, I already had a simple solution on my mind- I would use over levelled knights or legionnaires as guards, similar to the starting zone anti-player-killers system in most of the MMO-RPGs I had played so long ago.

Irene came out of the bathroom and headed straight to bed. I took a shower and quickly refreshed myself before going to bed as well. Luna and Amber were already sleeping by that time. I could only smile to myself upon seeing them. Yes, I had lost my previous family for now, maybe until the end of days, but they would be happy in heaven. The days were long and demanding in this new world, and I didn't have much time for idleness or boredom. It would soon be three months! Just three already, yet I felt like years had passed, and now I felt like I had a new family. I lay down in bed carefully so as not to wake them up again, but when my head touched the pillow, two slender hands grabbed me, and in my field of view, two incredibly blue eyes shone brightly. Irene looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

"Theon... Were you serious back then?" I heard the sadness in her voice as she moved to lay on top of me.

"When, my Darling?" I asked her softly, closing her in my hug. She smelled so wonderful after her shower.

"When you told those adventurers about the world you wished to create." There was some tension in her voice, as if she was uncertain or even afraid.

"Technically..." I started stroking her back slowly with short, soft moves at first, making her finally smile. "But I also lied, my Beautiful. I will create a world of carelessness for all of you. I will create a utopia for Amber, Luna, and you, Irene. I will do everything that's in my power to ensure your safety. You are my family."

She smiled and relaxed, rubbing herself against me. Her breasts pressed into me as she moved herself up a bit, and I grabbed her greedily around the waist. Her lips parted in a lustful smile, and she kissed me with a long, passionate kiss. A kiss that was suddenly and abruptly disturbed by her yawn. She giggled and kissed me one more time.

"I love you, Theon..." She murmured and fell asleep, leaving me with a heavily beating heart and spinning head.

I lay in the darkness of our room as always, unable to sleep and left to my thoughts. Hmmm... I started thinking about the next things I had to do as I looked mindlessly at the ceiling. I subconsciously patted Irene's back, making her moan through her sleep. When she started moving, I decided to stop. That was playing with fire, and she had lessons with Stella tomorrow. Well... It's more like in the morning at this point.

•••

Fania looked at Glenn, who had told her about what had happened while she was unconscious. The two doors shone brightly in the night as they tried to decide what to do next.

"I really don't know what to do." Eri sat softly on Gil's coffin and patted it with tenderness. "He was like my brother... I want him to find rest... and Trix."

Eri started sobbing and hugged Gil's coffin. They all were huddled together in the cold air of the late night, crying softly. But as much as they would have liked to reverse time, it was impossible, and they knew they had to make some decisions soon.

"What should we do with them? Gil had no one... But Trix never told me much about herself..." Glenn walked towards Trix's coffin, extending his hand as if he hoped to feel her soul and try to heal her. But he understood how lucky they had been... "Guys!? What was the Saintess doing here?!"

They looked at him with stupid facial expressions, and only Fania seemed to understand quickly, thinking harder.

"You are right! That noble Elf woman... Queen Irene? She introduced herself as the Saintess of Eriar." Fania nodded her head. "But that Human king..."

"He is not Human, Fania. But he saved us all." Glenn's voice was full of confidence. "She told us that somewhere, there is a Cemetery that will most certainly allow our friends to reach the afterlife. Eri... I want to allow my brother to rest here."

"You think you can trust them?" she asked through her tears.

"I..." He hesitated for a moment and clenched his fists a few times. Glenn stood with his eyes closed, facing the night sky. "Yes, Eri. The King and Queen of this place bothered to come to our rescue themselves. He is probably the most powerful scion of this place, so what exactly could he gain? If not for his intervention, those bandits would have killed us, and the dungeon would have gained energy. No... They had nothing to gain by lying to us."

They looked at their party leader in silence and nodded their heads in agreement. Reassured by that thought, Eri stood up just before freezing in fear.

"Ah!" she gasped and pointed behind everyone. "There is something over there!"

"Eri... We are still in the dungeon. The fact nothing is attacking us also shows their good intentions."

"I... *ekhem* I won't go with you, my friends." Kumak looked at them with sadness in his eyes, standing next to the silver portal. "Please forgive me!"

"So this is farewell?" Fania looked at the big Lizardman sadly.

"I'm sorry... I know I can't persuade you, but if you stay here, you will die! The Cridian army will attack in spring! Staying here is suicide..." He was scared but determined to try for the last time. "The King may be an incredibly powerful scion, but he is alone! His eagles wouldn't be enough to stop Cridians... Please, you three..."

Fania just took Glenn's hand and bitterly shook her head. "No, Kumak, I can't do that! Gil believed we could fight for a better world together, and Glenn and I also believe that."

"Eri? At least you..." He looked with hope at the Dwarf girl.

"I also want to change this world, Kumak..." Eri said timidly. "Yes... I am scared. And yes, I will probably die. But I want to go to my ancestors proudly and say to them I died fighting for a better world."

"You're all crazy..." Kumak said sadly, shaking his head. "Goodbye, my friends! May fate allow us to meet once more!"

They hugged their friend goodbye and waved to him until he disappeared into the silver portal. They looked at each other sadly and started thinking about how to carry their friends’ coffins when twelve knights in magnificent armours emerged from the darkness. "Don't worry about your friends," said their supposed leader.

•••

Ori sighed, looking at the portal exit glowing in the middle of the town market. It was very good and everything that new adventurers would join their guild ranks but… but couldn't they just MOVE?! It was after midnight! Ori puffed at his cold hands, and he even jumped a bit in an attempt to get warm, cursing himself for not bringing warm clothes with him. Finally, the first adventurer passed through the portal, followed by two more. A Human, a Half-Dwarf, and a Dwarf... Huh? Did they manage to pass the trials with just three people in their party? But before Ori could say anything, from the portal emerged a few Avalon knights who carried... Eriar, have mercy! Two coffins...

"Oh God..." Ori whispered and added loudly, "Welcome to the Everlight, the town under Avalon. My name is Ori, and I represent the Town’s Guild."

"We weren’t expecting anyone..." the Human man tried to smile futilely. "My name is Glenn, this is Fania, and this is Eri."

His faint smile darkened when he pointed to the coffins and patiently waiting knights. Snow had just started to fall, but fortunately, there was no wind.

"This is my brother, Gil, and our friend Trix. She died just before help arrived." Glenn angrily wiped his eyes into his arm. "Sorry, Mister Ori."

"How did it happen?"

"We were ambushed by one of the shadiest parties that stayed in The Respite Tavern... *sigh* I thought we were goners until King Theon and Queen Irene intervened, saving our lives."

"I see... Follow me then." Ori decided they first needed to go to church.

•••

Glenn looked around the 'apartment' Mister Ori had said was his for now. He slowly walked towards the window and watched the falling snow in silence. He sat down on a chair heavily and looked mindlessly into the distance. Glenn hadn't noticed when Fania first entered his room, but he looked up when she snuggled herself to him.

"Thank god you are here, Fania..."

"I wouldn't be elsewhere, stupid..." she whispered, sitting on his lap. "Eri told me you refused to leave me behind."

"I wouldn’t be able to live, knowing I left you to die... God..." Glenn felt tears on his cheeks. "He died, Fania... My brother is dead... And Trix... She died in my arms..."

"I know, Glenn. But they will live in our memory, my love." She hugged him even harder. "And you saved me..."

Glenn looked into her blue eyes and hugged her back. She was right...

•••

Sebastian monitored Gorn for an entire day and was sure that those winter monsters were as dangerous as his Master had thought them to be. For some reason, they brought almost fifty corpses of various people, including five that were still alive. Sebastian wasn't sure what to do. He weighed his options- on the one hand, he should gather more data, and on the other hand were the teachings of King Theon that told them every life was important. Even their seemingly immortality was not an excuse to die in vain. He needed just a moment to decide, and, in the end, he was the oldest scion. He felt it was the right thing to do- although maybe it was unintuitive and awkward for a dungeon denizen. The urge to kill mortals was powerful, and that strange bloodlust was only increasing with each moment outside his home, but Sebastian knew it was the taint of the Dark Empire. His Master, in his wisdom, had told his Scions, ordering them to make sure every denizen leaving Avalon knew that the taint of the Abyss corrupted the land and air itself.

Sebastian looked through his binoculars into the village. This item was incredible, and Sebastian felt privileged that his Master had bestowed it upon him. With it, he could observe his targets from afar, without the help of Arani's eagles. He could now see clearly that the winter beasts had locked their abductees in a shack close to the forest which was strange- like Master used to say, if something was too convenient, it was possibly a trap. However, no matter how Sebastian looked at it, he couldn't see how that particular trap worked. Sebastian sent his orders to the main forces that would act as a diversion. It was a rather an unorthodox way and not exactly as planned, but he would try to save those people.

With a simple gesture, he decided to throw most of his forces into a simultaneous attack from the north and the northeast, pushing two centuries of Legion Aegis- the Legion responsible for the defences of Avalon itself. Loud war horns called for battle as the rhythmic thump of one hundred and sixty legionnaires formed a phalanx and advanced slowly. Alarmed by the horns, most snow beasts moved to intercept, swallowing the bait. Interestingly enough, some beasts moved to the shack where their prisoners should have been. Should have been… except that Sebastian had led the elite slimes towards the area he had been observing. They had released the prisoners at the exact moment the war horns’ call had caused a commotion. For now, the people were safe and cooperated with his slimes, believing fellow people were saving them.

Sebastian, however, observed the battle in anticipation, signalling four more centuries to attack from the west and the east. Having the entire cohort engaged in the battle, Sebastian watched the disciplined ranks of the legionaries facing almost two hundred beasts in awe. The Phalanx formation stood unscathed after the first single beasts tried to maul the soldiers with their enormous fangs. Other beasts moved slowly, observing the slowly approaching centuries as they moved into their own formation, but Sebastian couldn't tell its purpose. Behind the lines of legionaries, a line of archers was ready to fire. Their insanely large bows were aimed over the allied lines, and with the roar of angry hornets released, their arrows killed many snow beasts on the spot.

The beasts suddenly changed, seeing they were not fighting normal opponents. Their hides started oozing a thick black substance that burned the ground and the shields of the phalanx. Some of the beasts reared up on their stumpy legs and started to cast very devastating spells. It would have been bad if only two centuries had been sent to the battle. But now, as four more monsters from the flank were engaged, it was already too late for the beasts to create any other formation. The phalanxes moved forward methodically, hacking and slashing monsters with their short swords, while the second and third lines used spears and pikes to crush all the monsters in front of them. The decision to use short swords in the first lines was a good one. While the pikes and spears were effective, they were not efficient, as the winter beasts disregarded them or were able to destroy lighter spears outright. When confronted with large tower shields and swords, however, the snow monsters could not break Avalon's lines, falling dead under the armoured feet of the cohort.

The remaining beasts tried to fall back, only to be cut down in ambushes skillfully placed by the slimes. Not a single beast survived the battle. But it was a surprisingly hard battle. Despite a large number of advantages, Sebastian had lost almost one century- eighty heavy legionaries. The fallen monsters started crumbling into black dust that disappeared, blown away by the wind. It was an alarming outcome. Sebastian ordered the entire village combed, looking for any piece of knowledge that could be brought back to Avalon. King Theon must be informed about everything.