The group had finally arrived at a large room where within resided a large creature with a woman's upper half, the lower half being spider-like with a scorpion's tail and her hair being made entirely of snakes and a blindfold covering her eyes.
"You dare to get in the way of my vengeance, do you?" she demanded.
"Revenge doesn't lead to anything good. Believe us. We'd know." Ross said.
"You can't keep going on like this. Let us help you." Theo said.
"Silence! This continent's fate is sealed. All will wither and die within a sea of poison!" she declared.
"Then… I guess we'll just have to do what we do best." Petra said.
(Cue- Accolade *Intro*- Ender Lilies: Quietus of Knights)
"I really wish it didn't have to come to this." Hera said as she drew her sword. "But we must do all we can. For the glory of the Greek Continent!"
"We've got your back, Hera. Let's stick it to her!" Ross said.
"Yes." Thorani said. "Let's put her to rest for good."
"Oh...do you?" she said as she swung her tail, causing rubble to block the others off from Ross, Petra, Theo and Hera.
"She knows she'll be overwhelmed if everyone goes in on the fight. So she's split us off." Hera said. "That's fine. This isn't the first time fought with a limited party."
"Sorry, you she beast. But you can't limit us that easily." Theo said.
"She beast?!" the oracle roared as she swung her scorpion tail.
"Knew that would get her." he said, swinging his blade down as he severed her tail.
"I'm going to put this bluntly. The goddess that you gave the wording to was as toxic as can be. And now...you confined yourself as nothing more than her tool." Ross said.
"Don't be ridiculous. You know what she asked?" the oracle said, charging them as they ran. "If she would ever be more pretty than Persephone. I told her she would never compare and her hair would wither. After that, she made me into this!" she said, striking at them with her legs.
"And now look at you. Spewing poison everywhere yourself." Ross said, striking her legs with his axe. "What's the point that you're trying to make here?"
"You would never understand my anger!" she cried before her snakes started to rapidly strike against the four.
"The Serpent's Strike!" Hera said, swinging her blade and slicing off the snakes from the woman's hair. "Least we are not hellbent on blaming our problems on others."
"She's right. If all you do is blame everyone else for your misfortunes, you'll never make peace with yourself." Petra said.
"Peace? I've given up all hopes for peace long ago." she said as a poisonous mist started to flow from her mouth.
"Uh oh…" Theo said seeing part of his gas mask starting to melt.
"This poison is starting to melt our gas masks." Ross said.
"We have to finish this, fast!" Petra said.
"We need to end this quickly." Hera said.
"I'll see if I can set something up." Petra said as she took to the air and flapped her wings, sending wind slashes her way.
"She's not going to be able to blow away the poison. There's no ventilation." Hera said. "No ventilation...yes...that could work. Petra! I want you to stir the poison into a massive fog!"
"You've got it!" Petra said.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Hera." Ross said.
Petra started to stir the poison gas around as it created a massive fog.
"You fool...you cannot hope to hide. I may not be able to see but…" the oracle said before she heard slithering as she turned around to see Hera swinging her sword and cutting her human half from the monster. "What?!"
"I figured you could use other senses besides sight. So I used the fog as camouflage. It hid almost everything about my presence. You wouldn't have noticed because of the poison." Hera said as the woman's upper half hit the ground as the lower half fell lifeless.
"Such a waste… If only she didn't let anger consume her." Ross said.
"My anger wasn't just at the woman...I begged for help...but...no one even bothered to help me...how am I...in the wrong?" the oracle gasped as she coughed up some blood.
"Yeah...that was pretty petty of her...cursing someone for something they asked for." Theo said, kneeling down next to her. "None of this should have ever happened to you."
"I would like to deny it...but...what he says is true. This is all the result of a goddess's distaste. Had things been different, you would have never gone through this." Hera said.
"Simple...acknowledgement...that's all I desired." the oracle said as the poison began to fade as the temple began to fall apart.
"Crud...the dungeons starting to come apart. We need to go." Ross said.
"Wait...tell me...you said someone told you they remade the doorway. Who was it?" Theo asked.
"Right...they claimed to be a dungeon maker. Their name was...Canaan." she muttered before lying there lifelessly as she smiled as they hurried out of the temple just as it finished collapsing.
"That was...way too close." Ajna said before they all saw the poison clouds were gone.
"Looks like the poison cleared after the source was dealt with." Hera said.
"I feel bad for that woman who was cursed by Achlys. But she was overwhelmed by vengeance and grief." Hope said.
"There was nothing we could've done for her. This was the only way." Ross said.
"He's right. There was no way to return her to her original form...nor anyway to restrain her poison. It was either end her...or lose a nation of citizens." Hera said.
"It's sad, but true." Thorani said.
"I understand how you feel, Hope. But… Sometimes, being a true hero means having the discipline to make hard decisions." David said. "This was one of them."
"Yeah. I agree. She didn't deserve this, but in the end, she was left a bitter monster because of the creatures of this continent along with her despair of being in the one percent." Theo said. "Adventurers make choices like this on a daily basis. That's why we're the best with them."
"Come...we should see if the other villages are okay." Hera said as they departed from the fallen temple.
And so, they visited each of the surrounding villages, finding the citizens okay after having been cured of their poisoning after the death of the Queen of Venom. A festival was held in the four heroes' honor that night. However, not everyone was in a partying mood.
"The dungeon maker...Canaan…" Theo muttered as he looked out.
"Having a hard time?" Ross asked as he, Petra and Hera joined him.
"Nah...just thinking things over." Theo said. "You know, I was actually raised by the minotaurs of this land. Though...with everything that's happened after...it feels strange to still call this place my home. What about you? Petra? Ross? You've been away for even longer than I have. Can you still call this place your home?"
"It doesn't matter, Theo. These are still our people. No matter what happens, this place will always be our home. Right, Petra?" Ross asked.
"He's right. We may have lived in Tokyo after Yamigedo attacked this universe, but these are still our people. Just being able to see our families again...is more than enough of a reason for us." Petra said.
"Yeah...I had the same thought." Theo said.
"Even though I was made into a gladiator slave...I am still grateful to call this land my home myself." Hera said.
"Heh...yeah...this place...will always have a special place in our hearts." Theo said.
"Yeah." they all said as the stars shined exceptionally brightly that night.