Chapter 37: Ragnarok
The frontline in the battle against Origin consisted of Lloyd, Sheena, Raine and Genis. The one who wanted the Eternal Sword to save both worlds, the summoner who forged the pact with Origin, and the two half-elves who wished to not make the same mistake as the last half-elf who wanted Origin's power…It was an all-too fitting group for this last fight with a Summon Spirit, and the others were more than willing to step back and let this battle unfold.
Kratos and Yuan were the most cautious of the observers, having fought Origin once before and recognizing that his power is far beyond that of all the other Summon Spirits. Even though he had faith in Lloyd's capabilities, Kratos couldn't help but weakly murmur "…Lloyd, good luck…"
After Raine has used her healing artes to put Lloyd back to full strength, Origin made his first move upon his foes, choosing to demonstrate his great might right off the bat by swinging forth his pikes out and sending forth a spiraling blast of fire from the center of his body without using a runic seal below. Raine and Lloyd, being the target of his attack, are forced to roll out of the way before they are incinerated, and the fireball blazes through many trees in the forest.
The fire wasn't made widespread by Origin's will, but there was still a burning scar across the ground. "Spiral Flare…A high-level magic arte, and Origin just used it without any effort…" Raine comments in a somewhat concerned tone of voice as she gets onto her feet alongside Lloyd. Lloyd isn't too worried about the attack as he gets to his feet and runs straight at Origin. After all, a spell can only be used if the user is focused, and Lloyd planned to disrupt that focus while his three other friends supported him.
However, Lloyd's plan had one major flaw, and that he fought while forgetting the fact that Origin wielded two weapons. Lloyd took a swing with both of his blades towards Origin's chest, but the man effortless holds his right arm out and spins his pike around to deflect Lloyd's swing and leave the boy stumbling for a couple moments. In the meantime, Origin holds his left hand out and summons forth a large pillar of ice around Genis' body as the half-elf was busy trying to use a spell of his own.
Raine was naturally concerned for her brother's safety, but didn't let her emotions consume her enough that she'd recklessly attack Origin in response. Instead, she calmed herself, holding her staff in front of her body while summoning forth a magic circle below her feet. Origin was focusing on all of his opponents and noticed Raine's efforts, which forced him to raise one of his back arms to use a weaker spell to try and disrupt her efforts.
Specifically, he summoned forth a thunder blade diagonally towards Raine. Lloyd was forced to leap back and swing both of his sword outward to cut the blade away before it strikes. While he did this, the ice surrounded Genis shatters, and though the half-elf boy felt a bad chill he quickly continued to focus his magic into his kendama. Origin doesn't notice the spell being cast in time, and is quickly surrounded by a tornado of ice that pounds him with a great chill multiple times.
Surprisingly, for the greatest of the Summon Spirits, Origin had no resistance against other elements, which is something that grabbed Sheena's attention as she threw two exploding seals towards Origin as the ice tornado was broken by himself slicing through it with his pikes, only to be consumed by the two explosions that cause him to slightly flinch.
Sheena then reaches into her clothes and pulls out a brown seal for Gnome, but then Origin warps time and space to teleport behind Sheena and raise both of his pikes up into the air. Sheena was unaware of where he had gone off to until Lloyd exclaimed "Sheena! Watch out!" She then flipped around and used her athleticism to leap out of the way as Origin impaled both of his pikes into the ground where she stood.
Origin swiftly followed up by shattering the ground underneath the feet of his opponents, throwing all but Raine off-balance. The Summon Spirit rips his pikes from the ground and flips them around rapidly with great dexterity of his fingers, throwing off two tornadoes at Lloyd and Genis. The two are blown away, crashing through the bark of two trees.
But as he did this, Raine fired off her Sacred Shine upon Origin, lashing him with multiple waves of light from the tip of her staff while Sheena gets onto her feet and pulls out another one of her seals. This time she pulled out Volt's seal and focused on it in front of her body, performing the necessary chant while Origin was using his pikes to cut down the waves of light before they could inflict further damage upon him.
Sheena swung her right hand out and called forth Volt from the seal in her hands. The clouds in the sky grew dark, and Origin could sense the familiar energies of his "brother" being called forth as he turned towards Sheena and said proudly "Hmm…To think that another would gather the eight Summon Spirits again…" As the Summon Spirit is summoned, he immediately gives Origin a fervent glare and talks in his particular tone of voice.
Origin responds not to Volt, but towards Sheena's effort by saying "Let us see how loyal they are to you…" He swings his pikes out and summons forth a triangle of electric orbs in front of his body, and three streams connect the orbs together before he sends forth an arrow of electricity large enough to attack both Sheena and Volt. Volt widened his eyes and takes the electricity in his body to send out an equally sized arrow to match Origin's power.
The two thunder arrows clash, their energies grinding together and breaking it apart, the loose bits spreading apart into the skies, which causes lightning bolts to fire down across the Torent Forest and Heimdall. The elves in the village panicked, even though none of the bolts struck touched their houses. Once the two thunder arrows were dissolved, Volt immediately summoned down a line of thunder bolts towards Origin, forcing the Summon Spirit to raise his pikes into the air and absorb the energies from the bolt that came down above him.
With his weapons charged, Origin once more sets them in front of his body to summon forth more orbs of electricity for another attack. This time, however, the electricity was thicker and more luminescent, making it take on a divine appearance as Sheena visibly looked worried for a moment. As Origin began to exclaim the name of his spell "Rameesh!", Lloyd managed to run behind him and slice at his backside with a leap and swing of both his blades.
The swords cut deep into Origin's body, failing to draw blood but breaking his focus long enough for his attack to not go through. It was afterwards that Lloyd landed on the ground and skid for a few seconds while turning around to face Origin. With Origin's ultimate attack stopped, the Summon Spirit had to utilize another attack to deal with the summoner.
Taking both of his electrically charged pikes above his head, Origin throws them straight at Sheena to impale her right through, the weapons moving at such speed that even her agility won't be enough to avoid them. Her eyes widen in the time span she is allowed to do so, but before she is struck down Volt flies in front of her and takes both pikes through it's body before the tips can even touch Sheena's body.
She looked at Volt in utter shock of what he was doing, and the Summon Spirit spoke out in pain as he took the electricity in both pikes and absorbed it into his very being. But even though he didn't overload his body by doing this, the pain of the pikes being stuck inside of him during it did enough damage to cause Volt to collapse onto the ground. Sheena couldn't believe that Volt of all the Summon Spirits was the one to save her life, and for a moment she cried out it's name in a melancholy tone.
Volt vanished as it said one last thing to Sheena, but it had no died…No, it merely had to recover from all the pain inflicted inside of his body. Origin folds his front arms against his chest and says proudly towards Sheena "For even Volt to show loyalty…Your skills as a summoner are to be praised, indeed." Origin then takes his back arms out and calls forth the pikes back into his hands, putting all his focus back onto the battle again.
Sheena trembles for a few seconds but then rises to her feet, gritting her teeth in anger before she admits "…You're right, I have become a great summoner…And forming a pact with you will be the final proof of that!" She then reached into her clothes and pulled out the seals for Efreet, Undine, Sylph and Luna in both of her hands, swinging her arms out and exclaiming to her friends "We're going to end this now!"
Origin was curious about Sheena's intentions with the four Summon Spirits, but was of course not willing to let her go through with them. But before he can use anymore of his magic Origin is attacked from the side by Lloyd leaping at him and cutting down the skin, leading to Origin glancing at the boy as he lands on the ground and swinging his pike out with enough force to blow Lloyd back through the air despite him blocking the attack with his blades.
But as he does this Genis has managed to get onto his feet and cast Indignation onto Origin while Raine uses her magic to summon forth a light sphere that sends down multiple beams of light across Origin's body. After the two use their different spells, Raine and Genis combine their magical energies together to send forth a series of blue and orange stars of light at Origin from all directions.
Seeing himself swiftly surrounded, Origin draws out his second set of arms and summons forth two more double-edged pikes, spread his arms apart and masterfully swinging the weapons around to rapidly deflect or destroy all of the stars that came his way. But in focusing all of his efforts into defense, Origin basically allowed Sheena to summon forth all of the Sylvarant Summon Spirits.
They appeared all at once above Sheena's body, with Origin quickly forcing himself to sustain damage from some of the star projectiles so he can dispel two of his lances and throw his hands out, sending another Spiral Flare off at Sheena before she can give commands to the Summon Spirits. But Efreet instinctively flies in front of Sheena and extends his claws out, summoning forth an orb of fire that would be fed by the Spiral Flare, which causes it to grow in size until it was half that of Efreet's body, at which point the Summon Spirit launched it straight back at Origin without hesitation.
The fireball collides with Origin's body, engulfing him in a burst of fire as the stars from Genis and Raine's magic come to an end. Meanwhile, Sheena cups her hands in front of her chest and says to the four Summon Spirits "I command thee! Gatherest before me and unleash thine power!" At her command, the four transform into bits of colored mana representing their elements after a swift nod of their heads. The four gather themselves in front of Sheena's palms, combining in a singular orb of raw blue light that the girl is barely able to contain in her hands.
"Origin…If you've been in Tethe'alla for this long, then that can only mean…" As Sheena thinks this to herself, the Summon Spirit recovers from Efreet's attack and summons back his last two pikes and calls upon the energy of the gods themselves to prepare his ultimate attack once more. As the electricity gathers forth and Origin prepares to fire off his Rameesh, Sheena tells herself "…Everything is going to be ok." And bravely thrusts her arms forward to release her Sylvarant-based variant of the Mana Cannon upon Origin.
At the same time, Origin fires off a lightning arrow twice as big as the last one. However, it matters not, for the miniature Mana Cannon blast is powerful enough to puncture right through the center of the Rameesh, and Origin quickly notices this and crosses all four of his pikes to try and block the attack. It crashes into the center of them all, with Origin showing heavy visible exertion as he tries to stop the orb from advancing further.
"…Sylvarant mana…Heh, what a brilliant tactic…The experiences these people must've had…" Origin comments in his mind as he notices cracks forming on his pikes. Origin subtly shuts his eyelids and smiles, with the pikes shattering apart and the Summon Spirit taking the full brunt of the miniature Mana Cannon against his chest while stating "Maxwell…It seems that once more I have lost…But if this is the strength of their will…Then perhaps this time…My trust will not be betrayed…"
The energy of the Sylvarant Summon Spirits creates a blast of raw power against Origin's body, and in an instant he is thrown back first against the ground and sent grinding through the forest floor for a good hundred feet before he finally is stopped. The blast also creates a shockwave that forces the rest of the group to brace themselves before they are thrown about due to their close proximity to it.
Sheena lowers her arms and pants, noting the strain such an attack pushed on her body. But she smiled brightly and said to Lloyd "Heh…How…How was that?" Lloyd glanced at her with widened eyes despite seeing that attack once before with the Tethe'alla spirits and said "Are you ok Sheena?" Her condition was more of a concern to him.
"I'll…be fine…I just hope I didn't get too out of control on Origin…" Sheena admits, and Raine immediately gets to work healing her without any prompt from anyone else. Meanwhile, Lloyd looks to the left and sees that Origin has disappeared from the ground. "H-Huh?" The boy draws his swords under the assumption that even Sheena's attack wasn't enough to finish Origin off, but as he turns around to look for the Summon Spirit he is surprised to find him floating above his seal without any of his pikes returned.
He proudly folded his arms and looked down at the four that fought him while the remainder of the group gathered together, and then told them all "Pact-maker Sheena...and Lloyd. I place my power in your hands. ...With that power, transform the Eternal Sword into a blade to save all life! However, the Eternal Sword remains, as by Mithos' pact, unusable by those who lack the blood of elves. You must master the sword by your own power and forge a new bond with it."
He looked visibly exhausted, hence why he was direct with his words before he began to fade out, his body leaving behind a clear seal for Sheena to use in case she needed to summon him for battle. But for now, he chose to rest…
Lloyd walked up to Sheena and placed one hand on her right shoulder while giving her a confident smile, and Sheena nods her head while putting the seal away. "Volt…Ironically, I have to thank you the most for this victory…" Sheena thinks to herself.
Kratos and Yuan begin to approach Lloyd to discuss what to do next, but at the same time Genis looked at Lloyd and said to him merrily "You did it, Lloyd…" As he finished his sentence, however, he felt something begin to move within his clothes. He felt the shape of the object and looked down just in time to see a particular red sphere emerging from his collar, taking him entirely off-guard.
"Ahhh!" Genis exclaims in shock, while Riku glanced to the right and grimaced upon realizing what was to come. He clenched his right hand tightly and prepared to take action. As Genis' panicked cry was heard, most of the group turned to face the floating Cruxis Crystal, but as Lloyd glances at it the crystal immediately flies at his chest before he can defend himself.
However, before Lloyd can be hit by the Cruxis Crystal, Riku flies straight in front of the boy, letting the crystal merge inside of his body, which causes enough pain to break his flight and make him collapse onto the ground in front of the flabbergasted group. Riku convulses for a few seconds as everyone watches on, but then suddenly he rises up onto his feet with little will in his action and turns around to face the rest of the group. He extends his right hand out and opens his eyelids, which have become a little brighter in shade. Lloyd looks at him and says "R-Riku…What was that all about? What have you done?"
The teenage Overlord's mouth opens, but it's not his voice that emerges through his lips but rather one that the group thought had been silenced forever "Sorry…But the Elemental Overlord isn't here at the moment…Lloyd." It was Mithos, whose will was so strong that he was able to manipulate the Cruxis Crystal even after his demise.
"Mithos…! You're still alive?!" Yuan exclaims in disbelief, and Lloyd immediately clenches his right fist and says to Mithos as his spirit looms behind Riku's body "Let him go Mithos! It's us you have a problem with!" Mithos laughs at this statement, pointing out to the group as a whole "Hahaha…Haven't you forgotten that I also have qualms with this boy pretending to be a god? Besides, what should I care what you think? I'm leaving this cursed world behind forever!"
Mithos forces Riku's right arm up and is about to cast a spell, when suddenly the body's eyes return back to normal for a few moments, which infuriates Mithos' spirit as he exclaims "No! How can you have the strength to resist my will!" The teenage Overlord forces a grin and weakly says to Lloyd regardless of Mithos' presence behind him "…Heh…I think this more than makes up for everything I've kept hidden from all of you…"
"Riku…Wait, of course you knew this was going to happen! You idiot, if you are strong enough to speak to us, then force the Cruxis Crystal out of your body now!" Lloyd demands that the teenage Overlord quit this foolish act, but Riku merely says to him "…Lloyd…If I was strong enough to do that…I would've already…"
"Why! Why are you doing this now?!" Lloyd angrily asks as the rest of the group looks on in shock. The teenage Overlord admits in turn "Because if I hadn't intervened…It would've been you…And then one of your friends would've stepped in…You didn't need to deal with that…At least with me, I'm the least important of all of your friends…"
"Riku…You do realize that if you allow Mithos to possess you, you're truly giving him the power of a god, right?" Kratos points out with little calm in his voice, and Riku nods his head but smiles and points out "Heh…Like I haven't dealt with someone villainous trying to take over my mind before…Don't worry, I'll be strong enough to hold him off while you claim the power of the Eternal Sword for yourself…"
"W-What?" Lloyd commented, and Riku clenched his fists together and said to the boy "This is the last leg of your journey Lloyd! Claim the Eternal Sword, follow Mithos and I to Derris-Kharlan, and slay us both before we are allowed to do serious harm to you and the entire planet!"
Mithos had enough of Riku's words at this point, and swung his right hand while exclaiming "Shut up! A filthy human has no right to touch the Eternal Sword, even if he has a pact with Origin! Farewell to you all…And this rotten world!" With his efforts, Mithos is able to fully wrench control of Riku's body, using his powers to release a shockwave of wind that blows the group down while simultaneously using his own magic to teleport Riku's body straight onto Derris-Kharlan.
After gathering themselves off the ground, Zelos immediately points out "Damn it all, Riku's a bigger idiot than I took him for! He's seriously considering suicide just because of all that's happened?!" Though it was a bit hypocritical of Zelos to say this, it still got Lloyd thinking for a few seconds before he clenched his fist and exclaimed "We're not going to kill Riku! I don't care what we have to do, he's coming back down here alive! …But this time, Mithos…"
Before he could be gripped by hesitation in his words, Lloyd and the others are met with an immense trembling through the entire planet. The group turns around to face the Tower of Salvation, which much to their shock and horror began to collapse at the seams, with hundreds of fragments being set ablaze as they fly down towards the planet itself, causing widespread destruction on the ground while other fragments fall harmlessly into the sea.
"No! Mithos is sealing off the route to Derris-Kharlan!" Yuan points out in a panicked tone, while Lloyd notices the direction some of the debris was falling and exclaimed more urgently "Damn it, we'll have to worry about that later! Heimdall's in trouble!" Thus without a moment of hesitation, the group ran back to the village of Elves to see what chaos was unfolding there.
Once there, they find that the debris from the Tower of Salvation has crashed into most of the houses in the village. People were killed by the debris left and right, while others were trapped or running around in a panic. There was no hesitation from Lloyd as he runs forward and tries to help the elves out, with his friends following close behind to cover more ground.
Lloyd is able to get to the elder, who looked towards the chaos in the skies of Tethe'alla and commented "…To think…This would happen to my people…Is this our punishment for what transpired years ago?" Lloyd exclaimed "Elder! Come on, we have to get out of here!"
The elder glances back at Lloyd with a melancholy look in his eyes and says "No…This shall be where my life ends…" Lloyd clenches his fist and says "Are you kidding?! I'm getting really tired of hearing people trying to end their lives today! Come on, the rest of the village is being evacuated right now!"
"…Really?" The elder was surprised to hear that as he turned around and noticed that the rest of Lloyd's friends were helping the elves get out of Heimdall, and he folded his arms behind his back and commenting "To think that half-elves and humans would be helping my people…" Lloyd then exclaims "Who cares about that now?! Let's get out of here!"
After a moment's hesitation, the elf elder follows Lloyd and his friends to the entrance of the village before his house is further destroyed by some more debris. Once everyone was evacuated, the group turned towards the sky and watched as the remainder of the Tower of Salvation was swiftly obliterated by a single massive thunderbolt as the skies were darkened by a large purple sphere, with the clouds turning a similar color as the remainder of the sky because a ghastly crimson.
Upon closer inspection, the sphere appeared to be some sort of planetoid with a hazy blue atmosphere and electricity of pure mana shooting off of it. "W-What is that?!" Lloyd exclaims in disbelief. Kratos replies in a disbelieving tone of voice "That…is Derris-Kharlan."
Losing his cool for a moment, Regal turns towards Kratos and points out to him "Impossible! How can a planet exist in such close proximity?!" Yuan responds to that swiftly with "It is the Eternal Sword that makes the impossible possible. It was hidden by the protective barrier projected from the Tower of Salvation. But it has always existed there, for four thousand years…"
"Yes…" A familiar voice calls to the others, and as some of them turn around they are surprised to find Tabitha standing there. Her voice seemed to be different than before, but nobody paid much attention to that as she explains "And now, Mithos, with the Great Seed in hand, is trying to leave this land and take Derris-Kharlan with him…"
"Tabitha! You're feeling better?" Presea kindly asks, leading to Tabitha nodding her head while slightly lowering her eyelids. "Wait a minute. Derris-Kharlan is a mass of mana. And the Great Seed is the seed of the Giant Tree, right? If he takes both of them, then wouldn't that mean…" Sheena's sentence is cut off by Presea, who points out "The world will die…due to insufficient mana."
"This is a much bigger problem than reuniting the worlds!" Genis bluntly points out, while Zelos folds his arms and states "Hey, aren't you also forgetting what happened to Riku? What the hell are we going to do, Lloyd?!"
"What else? We're going after Mithos!" Lloyd says, but as Regal points out "But the Tower of Salvation was destroyed." Kratos then looks at the two of them and states "Use the Eternal Sword. If you really made a pact with Origin, with it's power over time and space…"
"You forget Kratos, it will be impossible to form the Ring of the Pact without Altessa." Yuan comments, but with a spark of inspiration Lloyd states "Wait! Dad can do it for us if we head to Sylvarant!" Yuan blinks a few times in surprise and says "Your fath-…Oh, that's right, you were adopted by a dwarf. I had almost forgotten about that. Then what are we waiting for?"
"We will head there together…Is that alright, Lloyd?" Kratos asks, and after a moment of hesitation Lloyd nods his head. The group then heads back through the Ymir Forest and go for the Rheairds with Yuan and Kratos following close behind on their own ones. They head straight for the Renegade Base's portal and fly back to Sylvarant, only to find that the looming Derris-Kharlan is there as well. One could imagine that the people on both worlds were panicking more than when the Giant Kharlan Tree showed up, but there was no time to go down and quell people's thoughts…
The group went to Dirk's House north of Iselia and land, running inside of the house quickly much to Dirk's surprise "Lloyd…?! What on earth is going on out there?" Dirk was quickly brought up to date on everything that has happened, with Kratos pointing out that they need him to make a Ring of the Pact. "Hmm…Are you sure about that? I have lost most of my skills living on the surface, after all." Dirk admits with some reluctance.
"There's no one else. The dwarf that has the skills is unable to move." Kratos explains, and Lloyd begs to his father "Dad…Please!" Dirk was contemplating the matter, but Kratos points out "…I've gathered all of the necessary items." The man then pulls out a wing pack he had been keeping on him all this time and opens it near Dirk's table. A bundle of wood and three stones were laid out on it, surprising all in the group besides Zelos.
Dirk walks over to the supplies and looks at them while saying "Fascinating…Adamantite for polishing…And what is this piece of wood?" Lloyd recognizes the wood and states "Wait…This is sacred wood, isn't it?" Kratos is silent for a moment before he states "This must fuel the fire…"
"…Is that why you were traveling all over Tethe'alla? To prepare all of this?" Lloyd asks, but this time Kratos does not respond in the slightest. "But wait…What about the Aionis?" Dirk points out, leading to Zelos lifting his head up and slapping his forehead while saying "Oh yeah! I almost completely forgot about that!" He then reaches into his clothes and tosses the Aionis over to Lloyd.
"I got that baby from Derris-Kharlan…You can thank me later, Lloyd." Zelos says with little humility, and then Lloyd states with a smile on his face "Hehe…You really are a life-saver Zelos." Dirk then states in a relieved tone of voice "Everything is set then. I can't very well refuse after you've gone through so much trouble, now can I? And I suppose it won't hurt me to help out my dearest son. After all…I'm his father, too. Dwarven Vow #1: Work together for the sake of a peaceful world. Now then, I need a little bit of time…"
For the next hour or so, Dirk works to craft the Ring of the Pact, with Kratos staying behind to help out however he can. Once he's done, the group heads back inside, where a sweaty Dirk presents Lloyd with a ring made of a mysterious material that had a pale purple glow. Lloyd looks at the ring and states "…So with this, I'll be able to wield the Eternal Sword?" He then puts it on his right ring finger.
Kratos glances at Lloyd for a few seconds, and after a moment to take something into consideration he asks "Lloyd…If I you would allow me to ask a favor." Lloyd looks at him and says "What is it?" Kratos extends his right hand out and comments "Would you allow me to join your journey once more?"
Everyone in the group was surprised by this offer sans Lloyd, who nodded his head and said "…I figured you were going to say something like that. Of course you can help." Kratos smiles and reaches towards his hilt, leading to him pulling out his crimson blade and handing it to Lloyd, saying to him "Then take this…With it, we will stop Mithos together."
"K-Kratos…" Lloyd didn't know what to say as he took the blade from Kratos' grasp, looking at it while Dirk grins and says in a tone of awe "That is a marvelous blade. I doubt you have a sword in your possession to match it…However…" The dwarf turns around and goes for a chest hidden off in a corner of the room, reaching into it and turning around so he can go over and give Lloyd another sword, this one having a sapphire blade with a water aesthetic to compliment to burning aspects of it's opposite.
With both swords in Lloyd's hands, he hold them up and presses them together, saying in an impressed tone of voice "Wow…I'll become even stronger with these two swords. Thanks, Dad. And…Kratos…" Kratos wasn't too hurt by that comment, and said to Lloyd "…Well then, let's be on our way. The final battle awaits."
"Yes…It does…Dad, please watch over my other two swords until I get back, and be careful here…" Lloyd puts his other two swords onto the table and takes the new blades into his hilts. Dirk grins and says "I am a dwarf…I wouldn't worry about myself. Just return here safely, Lloyd." With the faith of his dad behind him, Lloyd, Kratos, and the rest of the group exit the house.
"Alright…Now it's time for us to go to Derris-Kharlan and put an end to this." Lloyd states, and the group is preparing to head back to their Rheairds when suddenly Yuan folds his arms against his chest and states "So Kratos…You've decided to join Lloyd and the others again."
Kratos turns to face the man and nods his head, and Yuan smirks and states "…This whole thing started with the Four Seraphim and their foolish plans. Our treachery, secrecy, and murders…Doing that for 4,000 years can really tire someone out. That is why, I feel, I should come with you all to stop Mithos once and for all."
Lloyd glances at Yuan in disbelief and states "Wait, why? Wasn't your goal to save Martel from the Great Seed? She's gone now, she pushed her soul out of Colette's body, and her body itself is gone…" Yuan points out in a blunt tone of voice "Are you stupid or something? Her body may be gone, but her soul still has to be anchored to the Great Seed. Therefore, I still have a reason to fight…But this will be the final time."
"Alright Yuan, then let's do this." Lloyd says, and without any further distractions the ten of them take their Rheairds back to Tethe'alla via the portal, where they end up flying straight to the base of the fallen Tower of Salvation, where they aren't surprised to find that the bottom floor is still intact, with the Eternal Sword placed in the center of it all. After landing directly outside the stairs, the group ran towards the Eternal Sword, with Lloyd going ahead of everyone else to end up behind the blade.
The fact that he could approach it and not be launched back shows that the Ring of the Pact worked, and with that in mind he grasps both of his hands on the handle and pulls it out after a few seconds of effort. The almighty violet blade is brandished towards the sky, but then another force causes the sword to rise up out of Lloyd's hands and transform into a glowing energy sphere that splits apart into a separate blue and red one that floats down and fuses with the two blades in Lloyd's possession.
Upon doing this, Origin speaks to Lloyd from afar by stating "You, who possess the new right. What do you ask of me?" Lloyd bluntly states "Carry us to Derris-Kharlan. To where Mithos and our dear friend are!" Origin states in turn "Understood…" With the will of the Eternal Sword's new wielder as his guidance, the Summon Spirit encapsulates the ten people into a singular sphere of concentrated blue mana, sending them straight up at the departing planet, Derris-Kharlan, where they would put an end to this prolonged journey and save Riku from Mithos' clutches…
Next Time: Sins Past and Present