For added effect, when they meet the fiend, play this music. Search up Patchwork Chimera and click on the one with the girl in a pink dress and blue hair. Enjoy!
Once they returned the warriors were surprised to find that the village and earth were still rotting. They looked around and tried to question the people, but only received blank and depressed stares.
"Wh...I-I thought...We already defeated the one who put the spell on this place...Shouldn't it be..." Saria said, devastated that the town was still in its current condition.
"It's just as I thought. There really is a bigger picture to all this...A-Ai. Where's Master Sarda from here again? Let's go see him, I know he'll have some useful info for us." Erick said as he looked at Ailith. Who then nodded and pondered for a while.
"Let's rest up. It's gonna be a walk from here but we can get there within five hours time." Ailith said, remembering the path to their cave house.
~ The Next Day ~
They all ate their meals and followed Ailith, who led them to a cave. Some floors down, the entrance was blocked off by a deep hole and stone golem inside, digging. They walked up to him and he turned towards them, his face showing no signs of hostility.
"I'M SO HUNGRY. TRAVELERS CAN YOU GET ME A STAR RUBY? I HAVE WORK HERE AND I CANNOT LEAVE JUST YET." The golem asked in a slow and deep voice. Claude pondered for a moment and then reached into his free bag, which contained the enormous ruby from the Cavern of Earth. He handed it to the giant and the giant happily grabbed it. He leaned over and allowed them to pass on his back. The Warriors walked out the cave and reached a field full of different coloured flowers. It had trees on one side, a meadow with a willow tree in the opposite, and a pond at the back of a giant boulder. The flower's gentle scents drifted in the wind along with their petals and in the distance, the entrance to a cave could be seen. Saria and Leon looked in awe at the peaceful scene as they all walked toward the cave.
"Yeah, good thinking Ai." Erick said as he looked at the nostalgic scene in front of him. Claude's eyes softened as he saw how the petals danced in the air, this reminded him of something. He quickly brushed the thought aside and shook his head. Soon enough the warriors reached the cave. Inside the walls were lined with torches and the floor was lined with a red carpet. The cave had several rooms, two of which were Ailith and Erick's rooms, and one of which was a library full of various books. There were also some creatures inside that looked like giant walking rats that would clean, cook, and fix things. They entered a room with mats on both sides and parts that showed the outside, almost like windows. In the middle of the room sat a sage that read a book. Ailith and Erick immediately ran to the sage and bowed.
"Master Sarda! We're here with the other crystal bearers." They both said happily in unison.
"Nice to meet you. You don't need to be so shy. I'm Sarda, the one who taught and raised these two." He said, pointing to Ailith and Erick. Leon and Saria gave him a polite smile and shook his hand. "Anyway what can I help you with as of now?" He asked, his voice calm and wise. Sarda eyed Claude cautiously and shook his hand, smiling politely.
"Hmph. Not bad. He can sense my power even though I'm hiding it..." Claude thought to himself, smiling and shaking Sarda's hand.
"Sifu, we already defeated the one who has been terrorizing Melmond, but his spell hasn't stopped working. We were wondering if you could maybe give us some insight on this?" Ailith asked. Leon and Saria cautiously and awkwardly approached the sage. Sarda gave them a warm smile and reached his hand out to them.
"Have you really defeated the one who has been rotting Melmond? Because it is to my understanding that you defeated the one who terrorized Melmond, not the one who is causing it to rot. Take this warriors. You'll need it if you want to progress through the Cavern of Earth." Sarda said, handing them a rod that was enchanted.
"I...I thought there was no more there." Erick pondered to himself and Sarda sighed.
"Ah my boy. Everything is not as you see it. You have so much more to learn. Use the rod in the lowest floor you got to and then it'll light up. Then use it to open the door." Sarda said.
"Thank you Sifu. Uh...I see you hired helpers." Erick said eying the rat that came in with a tray full of food. It squeaked and raised its ears. Sarda laughed and squeaked back at it, then it left.
"Yes I did! I am an old man after all. Do stay a bit longer my boy. We have plenty food for everyone. Ohohoho! Food prepared by oversized walking rats!" Sarda joked and playfully laughed. They all ate and stayed for the night. Then they left the next morning, Ailith and Erick giving Sarda a hug and kiss. Sarda saw them off and waved goodbye.
~ Somewhere Else ~
"Ah...So my son has died...What a terrible fate he chose for himself...It matters not, we are of the fallen and no matter how many times we fall, we are destined to rise again...Sleep well my beloved son...Sleep well Oliver, I will wake you up again when the time is right..." A giant shadow next to a dim crystal said, his deep and monochrome voice echoing throughout the darkness of the cave.
"May you meet your demise...O Warriors of Light..." He said, a hand of bones reaching out to the dim brown crystal. The figure narrowed his blood red eyes and laughed, the eerie and slow laughter shaking the cave slightly.
~ In the Caver of Earth ~
"Whoa. This must be what Sage Sarda was talking about." Leon said as the Earth Rod shook slightly and began to be attracted to a glowing door below the throne of the vampire.
"Uh, guys. The corpse is gone...The blood is still here but the corpse is gone..." Saria said, freaked out and then she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little. Erick just nodded and she sighed and got up.
"That's irrelevant right now. Let's just find out who's doing all this and defeat him alright?" Erick said and Saria nodded following them down the door. They were met with eerie silence and several rooms. They explored each one, except for the middle one, which was at the far end. A strong energy was radiating from the room and they all braced themselves. Leon pushed the door open and they were met with gentle streams of light that shone down from the ceiling of the cave. A giant figure in purple lay crouched down in the middle, in front of a brown crystal, which was hardly shining. He looked almost like a giant boulder with a purple cloth covering it.
"That must be the Earth Crystal. We need to restore it guys." Claude said, and they readied their weapons. They approached the giant figure and it suddenly stood up, revealing its towering height.
"Who are you to wake me like this?" The being said in a deep and monochrome voice, towering over them. It wore a purple hooded robe that was torn and tattered on the edges, a crown to hold back the hood and reveal its face, two shoulder guards that were made of a strong metal that looked like bone, and several necklaces and bracelets of varying jewels. The being was made entirely of bones and had a skull for a face, its eyes were a blood red and glowed, and its mouth did not move when it talked.
"You must be...The Fiend of Earth, Lich. Hmph, I should have guessed you were the one who was rotting Melmond." Claude said, cringing at the sight of it. It turned and looked at Claude, its gaze judgemental and terrifying, and then laughed.
"Hahaha. You are correct traitor. Oh but I have plans for not just Melmond...But the entirety of the earth we stand on! The land of the dead, BELONGS TO THE DEAD!" Lich yelled and then stretched out his arms, laughing and disappearing into the shadows behind the streams of light that shone down from above them. Suddenly, he reappeared above them, his silhouette a sharp contrast to the light.
"Arise! Arise my sons! Arise oh thou who hath fallen on the battlefield!" He yelled, his voice commanding and powerful. Just then, the whole cave began to shake and then beings could be seen coming to the surface. Their bones were broken and shattered, and their faces and bodies were rotting. Yes, they were the dead, coming to life as Lich commanded. The Warriors all began to come nearer towards each other until they were back-to-back and surrounded.
"This...This isn't good." Leon said as he looked at the thousands of fallen who were now surrounding them, ready to attack in an instant.
"It's no time for that! Hold it together!" Ailith yelled at him as she swallowed the rest of her fear and began to attack the undead. Soon after Leon and Erick followed, attacking the horde of undead around them. Saria put a defensive barrier on all of them and worked her healing magic, healing any of their wounds, and using whatever magic she could to increase their speed and power.
Claude threw various talismans at the undead in front of him, which exploded and made a path for the other four as well. Erick threw whatever spell he could at Lich, and Leon cut anything undead in his way. Saria used one of her special spells that was especially for the undead and damaged quite a number of them.
Lich tried to slash Claude with his sharp bony hand and then Claude jumped, dodging it and landing on the hand. He then, began to run towards the fiends head, readying his sword. He unsheathed his sword and ran his hand along the blade. His eyes and sword glowed a blood red and an energy began to radiate from the sword, both extending it and strengthening it. Claude run up to Lich's head and slashed it, cutting off a part of the massive skull. Lich held his broken side and then Claude jumped off, landing on the undead and then attacking again.
"You're really a daredevil aren't you!?" Leon said, striking the undead.
"Heh! Yeah, you could call me that!" Claude said running towards Lich. He jumped, grabbed the undead king's robe, and began to climb on it.
"Hmph. You think human undead is all there is here? Arise! Arise my fallen sons of the sky!" Lich said, opening his arms. Suddenly the cave began to shake again, and then out of the ground, came a claw of bones. Next, wings of bones, and then the body of bones. It's eyes glowed and it roared, making the cave shake even more. Yes, this was an undead dragon and on it, was a familiar vampire.
"Hmph, not bad, you bony scum." Claude said, smiling and then jumping on the dragon. He unsheathed his sword and began to attack Oliver, who has now risen again.
"Arise! Your master commands you now!" Lich yelled, and then more dragons began to surface. The dragons flew up and then threw fireballs at them, most of which were blocked by Saria's defensive spells. Erick then concentrated and then released a wave of energy, slicing up whatever undead and undead dragons that was unfortunate enough to come near. Then, there was a silence as the all the undead were defeated.
"Ahaha...AHAHAHA!" Lich only laughed as he raised his arms and then the very undead they slew, began to rise again. All of them looked for their limbs and then attached them back to their bodies. The four warriors looked in horror, they were already very worn out.
"It...It's no use! They just keep on coming back!" Erick said as he dodged and countered an undead's attack.
"Leon! It's no use this guy's a necromancer! No matter how many times we slay all of these guys they'll just keep coming back unless you defeat him! Attack Lich!" Claude said, while dodging and countering Oliver's knives.
"Right! Give me a lift! I think I can get to him if I jump high enough!" Ailith said and then Leon pushed her up with his arms, and she jumped off them. She kept on jumping towards the face of the fiend, grabbing on to his clothes and pushing herself higher. She landed on Lich's shoulder guards and she placed the strongest kick she could muster on his face, shattering a large part of his skull. Ailith jumped off just in time to dodge a knife that was thrown her way, Saria did all she could to defend them and Erick began to throw various energy spells at the Fiend of Earth.
"Can you not see it is futile!? You are harmless against my father!" Oliver yelled at Claude, as he twirled and grabbed a knife from his shoulder guards and slashed at him. Claude evaded and then placed a fist on his stomach, making both Oliver and the dragon stumble. Then he sheathed his sword.
"Ahahaha. Well, this was getting a bit out of hand already. Just look at the poor warriors, getting all tired like that."Claude said, looking down at the four, who were struggling to fight on. He unsheathed his sword, a strong energy radiating from and extending it, and then slashed at Oliver. Oliver tried to jump away but was unable to escape the sword's energy extension, and he was cut badly.
"It is no use! I will just be revived!" Oliver said, holding his nearly cut open stomach and trembling.
"Point taken. Thanks for that." Claude said plainly, as he tilted his hat and smiled arrogantly, before jumping to Lich's shoulder guards and slashing his skull.
"Father!" Oliver screamed as he desperately threw a knife at Claude who caught it and smiled at him arrogantly again. "AAAHHH!" Oliver screamed falling to his knees, the dragon also let out a sharp cry and then fell to the ground.
"Bitch please." Claude said and then stabbed Lich in eye. Lich screamed, holding his eye and then the undead began to scream as well. Soon enough, all of the undead were screaming and crying in pain. Claude watched as Lich began to writhe in pain, a horrid and feral smile curling in his lips.
"This is for all the times I had to die and for all the pain I had to go through...for you and your bastard siblings..." Claude said and laughed maniacally as he took his sword out, and then stabbed Lich in the heart. Lich suddenly stopped screaming and so did all of the undead, an eerie silence drifting in the room. Lich fell backwards and then Claude jumped off.
"I couldn't protect you... I...I'm sorry father..." Oliver struggled to say, as he reached his hand out to Lich, before falling limp.
"I am of the Earth... and of the Earth I shall return..."" He said, closing his eyes. "To meet my one true creator and father...Meet your demise, O Warriors of Light. In the end, we shall sit by the throne of our creator and none will be left alive." Lich said weakly, before dying soon after. They suddenly turned their attention to the floating brown crystal in the center of the room. The dimly lit crystal spun in a slow manner and looked almost as if it called out to them. Leon looked back at the others and they nodded to him. He took his necklace and then held it out to the crystal. Both crystals began to glow and sparkle, their lights synchronized with each other. Soon enough, the giant crystal looked brimming with life, shinning until it was nearly blinding to look at.
"Hey...Look." Saria said, looking at the ground underneath her feet. Various little plants began growing underneath them and the ground began to feel more alive, and look less like it was rotting.
"The Earth crystal is radiating it's energy again. The same energy needed to create life." Claude said, looking at the shimmering and bright crystal.
"That's amazing...Can you guys feel how pure that energy is?" Erick said, astonished.
"Look at this place...It looks like a sanctuary now..." Saria said, gazing at the beautiful scene in front of them. The flowers grew and then opened; surrounding the giant shimmering and bright crystal, the streams of light and the energy of the crystals feeding them and making them grow abundantly.
"Let's go. We have to check on Melmond." Claude said, and then he noticed a monument next to the crystal. He signalled them to follow him and then they all stepped in front of the monument. Within a flash, they were outside the cave.
"Wow. How convenient." Erick jokingly said and they all went back to Melmond. They were happy to see the people there waking up from the trance, almost as if it was a dream. Some could be seen jumping for joy at the sheer thought that they were happy again and others could be seen pondering whether or not it was a dream. They all looked at the Warriors and then smiled, finally realizing what had happened. The villagers held a celebration for the Warriors. Before they left, they thanked them and gave them extra food for their journey.
"Hahaha..." Leon began to laugh happily. "That's one down. Three to go!" He said energetically and triumphantly as he sailed the ship.