A few days later, while walking with a man she loved, Vivian found Tenebria and her fellow, Ravi, were staying in a forest. They were performing a ritual and inside the ritual cycle, a group of humans and Suin was being chained together. And then, when Tenebria raised her hand towards them, the ground glowed and a devilish magic seal appeared. It made their body bigger, before blowing them off to blood, and absorbed everything. Later, a transparent red stone appeared on the air and dropped on the ground.
"Miss Tenebria, what are you doing?" Vivian and the man beside her quickly rushed to them.
"What a nuisance. Please allow me to get rid of her," said the girl, Ravi, who was wielding a big axe.
"No need. I just wonder if she hasn't awakened yet," Tenebria smirked and looked at Vivian.
"What are you talking about?" Vivian was stunned when she heard that.
"Humans are so pathetic. Just give them a nice dream and they never care anything else."
As Tenebria said, Vivian was more uncomprehensive. Then she looked at the person who stood next to her but he was disappeared. She called his name, "Kawerik, where are you?"
"I don't know what that Kawerik person is but apparently, he is so important with her that she couldn't realize it was a delusion after all," Tenebria commented and she was very enjoying the shock from Vivian's eyes.
Vivian tried to find the answer. She asked, "What do you mean?"
"That means everything you see, specifically, the man you think is always with you, is nothing but simply an illusion created by me," Tenebria replied. She could not hold back her excitement when she saw how naïve and struggling Vivian was.
"No, it can't be true," Vivian was stunned of what she just heard. She tried searching for him desperately and left. At this moment, nothing was important than Kawerik, the man who she loved deeply. He was still alive, and she believed that.
"You see, Ravi, it's why I always tell you why humans are so stupid and miserable. They would rather hear a sweet lie instead of facing the cruel truth," Tenebria commented.
"I understand," the girl next to her nodded. Then she said, "So what's next? Can I kill her now?"
"Since she helpfully gives us about those annoying investigations, as well as give us more sacrificed material, I think we should play nice and let her live. When we complete, I will give her another sweet dream and she will never awake from it. And it is what she wants."
Vivian kept running and searching for Kawerik. She ran through streets and roads, through houses and inns, and finally, when she returned to her bedroom desperately, she saw what she wanted to see. The man was there and smiled at her. She ran to him, hugged him, and cried. At that moment, Tenebria finally finished her ritual.
The giant black eye appeared and floating on the air. When people looked at it, they were stunned for a few seconds before acting strangely. They no longer had their own senses and started being strange and did unimagined actions. They were lying down on the ground and the dirt, running on the streets, and swimming in the fountains. Worse, they started fighting for nothing. As for Vivian, she was not the exception. When she looked at the black eye, she paused and did not care anything except the delusion Tenebria gave her.
At the present, Tenebria appeared to Iseria, Yuna and Carrot with her true form, which was called "Specter Tenebria". Both Iseria and Yuna was so angry at her that they attacked her the moment she came. Iseria controlled her flying swords while Yuna summoned a big mechanic canon. They kept attack and shot her but Tenebria was dodging with ease. It was not until Karzan joined the battle. He froze the time and attacked her with his unseen sword. Slashings appeared on the air and Tenebria kept dodging while counter-attacking with her magic balls and bolts of lightning. Despite their effort, Tenebria could easily dodge their attacks without even sweating, even though they attacked her from all directions.
When Iseria was preparing to attack Tenebria again, suddenly, they all felt a powerful earthquake. From a far distance, the giant monster who had sharp-head tentacles was destroying everything on its way. On the ground, people were running away in fear and panic, some of them stopped running and hid, praying that it would end soon. Meanwhile, Witchaven's sorcerers were doing their best to stop the monsters but sooner or later, they would all be killed.
Realizing the situation was getting worse, Iseria looked at Yuna and Karzan. Understanding her intention, the two of them nodded and kept attacking Tenebria. Iseria then crossed her finger and summoned her guardian, Zaeon. After a short praying, a giant humanoid guardian appeared from the sky and attacked the giant monster. It used its tentacles to attack the guardian but his rough and tough skin protected him from all the attacks. When the monster released a deadly purple beam, the guardian used his purple cape to block it but at the moment the beam contacted the cape, it scattered to many smaller beams and destroyed the ground. Then the giant monsters used its tentacle again but this time, Zaeon successfully grabbed them and used his sharp claw to cut them.
When the battle was going on fiercely, Tamarinne once again saw something wrong. Ras, Mercedes, and Vildred were attacking each other, the same thing happened with Iseria and Yuna, Karzan and Zaeon. This time, it was getting worse. Wounds and injuries started appearing on their body, even the guardians were no exception. Worse, they were not realizing they were fighting against their friends while destroying the city. Additionally, the Archdemon did not appear and wreck anything. Meanwhile, the citizens still had not wakened up yet. Carrot looked at the giant eye on the sky again and it was opening its eye. She tried to order it again but Tenebria teleported to her.
Tenebria then released a black smoke and grabbed Tamarinne, and it squeezed her brutally. Tamarinne screamed in pain but the smoke even covered her mouth. Smiling, Tenebria said, "You definitely give me a little surprise here, so I will grant you a quick death, just like I did to the other Heirs of that guardian. However, there is something I want to ask you as well."
As she spoke, Tenebria released the smoke that covered Tamarinne's mouth. She could not understand what Tenebria was saying. She then asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You know, most of the time, Minos' Heirs don't live long, and when they die, he becomes a monster, just to be killed and nobody remembers him. In the time like that, I find it very amusing to see him suffered and corrupted."
The more Tenebria spoke, the more shocked Carrot was about her cruelty. She then asked, "Why did you kidnap Al?"
"Oh, I forgot. It is his name in this reincarnation. Well, just know that his power is similar to me but better. As you can see, he can manipulate people's minds so easily while I can only create illusions," Tenebria explained while she and Tamarinne looked at the others were fighting to the death. She then continued, "Isn't it amusing? Comrade-in-arms killing each other. I can't wait to see their reactions when they kill their friends."
"You're the worst," Tamarinne was so angry. She was known as a shy and embarrassed girl. But at this moment, when she faced Tenebria's nonsense actions and purposes, she felt no sympathy towards this woman. She tried to escape from the black smoke but no matter how hard she tried, it squeezed her harder as if it could break her bones easily.
"Tell me, girl. What do you think that every time, Minos chooses his Heirs who he has feelings for, do you feel jealous?"
"What?" Tamarinne could not understand what Tenebria just said.
"Guess he hasn't told you as well. Here's the thing," the female Acolyte smiled mysteriously, "To take it simply, your guardian has fallen in love and has slept with many women, who are all his Heirs, in many lives. And you are the same as them."
Tamarinne was getting more confused as she could not believe what she just heard.
"That's right. That is the face I want to see. Confusion, struggling, pain. I've never got bored looking at them," Tenebria said as she was enjoying.
Tamarinne did not know what to think anymore. Yuna explained to her that most of the time, Al's Heir was a woman who he was very closed to, and could possibly be his love. They also told her about his corruption in the past and it could relate to the death of his Heirs. However, if Al had to live through many lives and suffered from the death of his loved ones, Tamarinne could not help but feel sorry for him more. She did not feel any jealousness towards those Heirs. And if she was his Heir, she knew she had to stay alive for him. First, she needed to find a way out. Thinking fast, she pretentiously asked, "Can you tell me what do you mean when you said "many lives"?"
"Oh, you don't know," Tenebria paused, and then she did not mind explaining. "In fact, Minos is a stupid divine being who decided to abandon his duty so that he could live with a woman she loved. Of course, it made the gods angry so they punished him. They took away his immortality and killed that woman. Then Diche stepped in and saved him. She was the first one to stop his corruption. She could not recover his immortality and could only give him a lifespan of a human being. However, if he awakes his guardian power, then his memory will recover but it doesn't stop him from forgetting everything when he dies," Tenebria chuckled.
Trying to connect everything Tenebria just said, Tamarinne started having a clear picture of Al and it only made her feel sorrier for him. She realized that if Al was a guardian like Karzan and Zaeon, even if he had a lifespan of a human being, he was not different than Ras and other guardians, who witnessed countless deaths of their friends and Heirs. And for Al, he would remember and suffer from every death of those he loved.
"I cannot die…" Tamarinne said when she tried escaping the black smoke.
Tenebria was surprised. After everything she said, she thought she would see Tamarinne suffering before she killed her. But the way Tamarinne fought for her life surprised her. She said, "Still resisting? You're quite stubborn but I expected that."
Surrounding Al was a pitch black. His eyes closed and he could not hear anything. But he still felt sleepy. He was tired and he wanted to sleep more. Then, a strong glowing light appeared in front of him. A beautiful woman who had long golden hair and angel wings flew to him. As the woman stepped close to Al, she was crying. She felt very sorry for him. Even though everyone might forget him, she was one of the few persons who knew his suffering.
She then held his face softly and spoke to him. "Wake up, Al. Your Heir is in danger. The person you love in this reincarnation is in danger. You have to save her."
Al slowly opened his eyes and he was dazzled by the light, but it did not stop him from recognizing a familiar face. He spoke, "Goddess Diche?"
The goddess then smiled at him softly and flew away, before she disappeared completely. Al stood up and the next thing he saw was Tenebria and she was about to kill Tamarinne.
"Finish your last line? Then die."
When Tenebria was ready to kill Tamarinne, a flash of lightning broke out from the giant eye and charged to her with high speed. Feeling a dangerous threat, Tenebria released Tamarinne and dodged it. When the lightning landed on the ground, Al caught Tamarinne before she fell down and looked at Tenebria angrily, as if he wanted to kill her once and for all.
Before Tamarinne could say anything, Tenebria quickly shot a magic ball to them. Al turned his body quickly and kicked that ball away before he released Tamarinne and charged at Tenebria. The Acolyte released her delusional shockwave but Al punched and broke it like glass.
"Hold on, Al! Everyone hasn't woken up yet!"
Despite the relief, Tamarinne did not forget the thing was happening here. When Al was attacking Tenebria, she called out for him and Al quickly realized what was happening. He then jumped back near his Heir and snapped his finger.
"R…Ras?" Vilred spoke in shock when his sword was aiming as Ras' neck.
As for Ras, he was shocked as well and realized he nearly stabbed Vildred's chest. He then asked rapidly, "Vildred? Is that you? Where's Kayron?"
Meanwhile, Iseria quickly stopped her flying swords before they pierced through the president, "Yuna?"
"Iseria? Why are we fighting?" Yuna asked. She could not believe that the monsters she kept shooting were Iseria's swords.
"Zaeon?" Karzan was surprised when he saw that the thing he kept attacking was not Tenebria, but the giant guardian.
Zaeon could not believe what was happening. His body was full of cut wounds and they were all from Yuna's guardian. He then asked with his echoed voice, "Karzan? What's happening?"
Each of them called the friend in shock but it did not take them too long to realize who was the culprit. They then looked at Tenebria angrily as if they wanted to kill her. However, she still kept her calmness, and this time, she truly summoned the Archdemon, including the giant monster everyone saw in their delusion. As for the giant eye, which Tenebria used to prison Al, it scattered to pieces afterward.