The Blendbreeds emerged inside the Abyssal Cave, the walls lit by the familiar iridescent glow that had illuminated Niccolò's death. In front of them, still chained in the pool of water, stood Nerio.
The god of the abyss watched them with icy eyes, his mask nearly destroyed. "Welcome back. You managed to reach me again," he said. His voice echoed through the cave and returned to their ears as a deep resonance. "This is the end of the line."
Shirei and the others stood up. They were soaked, shivering from the cold, and gasping for air too thin to breathe deeply.
The time for the final confrontation had come.
The cave echoed with the unsettling whisper of water trickling down the walls. The god's mask was even more cracked than the last time they had met. A piece broke off just as he opened his mouth.
"So? What have you decided to do?"
He raised a chained hand, and the water around them began to move with a will of its own. "Will you set me free, or choose to die?"
Havel grinned. "Come at me."
With a fluid gesture, the god unleashed a wave that morphed before him: aquatic projections of his own body, each one perfect and deadly, launched themselves at the Blendbreeds.
"Son of Cragar! Do they look familiar to you?"
Shirei recognized the figures and connected them to his arrival in the rift. Not that it mattered much to him anymore, to be honest. Nerio hoped to make him hesitate with that trick, but the boy wasn't concerned with how he had ended up in the rift.
An ambush, a trap… I can close yet another breach. That's what matters.
Havel charged forward, axes ready to strike. With inhuman strength, he cleaved through one of the water projections, which dissolved into a spray of droplets. But there was no time to celebrate: two more closed in and attacked simultaneously. The son of Sidal parried both strikes, but was then caught by a third projection, which hit him in the side and slammed him to the ground.
"Ada!" he shouted, trying to get up, but pain pinned him down for a moment.
It wasn't a cut—it felt more like a brick had been thrown at him. He growled and pushed the sensation away.
The daughter of Rutia was already in motion. She spun on her heel and summoned a mass of darkness that engulfed the deity's projections.
"They won't last long!" she warned, her voice already strained with effort.
Elaine, meanwhile, was trying to keep the remaining enemies at bay. A burst of lightning shot from her hands, striking one of the creatures in the chest.
The situation was getting worse. Ada found herself trapped between two of Nerio's copies, moving in perfect unison. Every strike she tried to land was deflected, and her darkness began to falter—a sign of her growing weakness.
Shirei moved swiftly, trying to distract the god and his projections to ease the pressure on the rest of the group. The Ancient, however, showed no signs of faltering. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a surge of water that swept the Blendbreed away and hurled him against a wall.
Havel struggled to his feet, but the pain in his side limited him. He looked toward his companions—Ada in trouble, Elaine trapped, and Shirei on the ground. "We… can't… lose…" he muttered through clenched teeth, gripping his weapons with a strength drawn from his Divine Core.
Nerio raised his free arm, and the water around him surged into two towering columns at his sides, ready to strike the Lilies of the Equinox in a final assault.
"You had two chances! Wrong decision, Blendbreed!"
Shirei lifted his gaze and saw Reno materialize beside him. The Tenebrae tossed an object into the air, which was caught mid-flight by a figure that had just emerged in the cave.
No.
He had been mistaken—that wasn't a creature. It was Niccolò.
A gunshot echoed through the cave.
The water dispersed in an explosion of glittering droplets. The god blinked, his gaze landing on the Venetian.
The young man held a pistol, the bullet of which had embedded itself in the cracked mask, shattering it with a sharp, chilling sound.
Shirei looked first at the boy, then at the weapon in his hand. It's too early.
Guns shouldn't even exist in this era…
The scene blurred, and a piercing pain in his head dropped him to his knees.
A thousand needles in his skull pinned him in place.
Nerio opened his mouth in a scream that shook the entire cave. The aquatic projections vanished, leaving the Blendbreeds free.
"Cursed mortals! No! What have you done? What have you done!?"
The ground began to quake violently. Cracks opened along the walls, from which streams of water burst forth. The floor split beneath them, and massive boulders began to fall from the ceiling.
Alongside the water, a familiar figure fell. The Saint of the Tides had returned in human form, but her body was still bound by chains that had torn her dress and exposed her bare skin.
Now utterly drained, she turned to her god. "My lord, I'm here. What is happening?!" she screamed, but received no reply.
A massive rock detached from the ceiling, crashing down directly on her. The woman let out a bloodcurdling cry before being buried beneath the rubble. Nerio, weakened and maskless, tried to summon his powers, but each attempt failed. The water that once obeyed him now ignored his commands, streaming uncontrollably as the entire Temporal Rift collapsed.
Niccolò, already sprinting toward the exit, called out to the Lilies of the Equinox with urgency: "Quick, we have to get out of here!"
Ada and Havel rushed to Shirei, trying to drag him away, but his body remained limp. Elaine, catching her breath, looked up at the ceiling, which was moments from total collapse.
"We have to go!" shouted the son of Sidal, hoisting the unconscious Blendbreed onto his shoulders despite his wounds.
Niccolò paused only for a moment, staring at Nerio's weakened figure. The god, now vulnerable, looked back at them with empty eyes, almost resigned to his fate.
A sudden silence fell over the cave. Despite the tremors, the air felt inexplicably still.
"Get back! It's all about to collapse!" shouted the Venetian, but before he could take another step, he saw Shirei's body convulse. "Sir?"
The boy slowly opened his eyes, but something had changed. His eyes, usually calm and kind, were now empty—dark wells of shadow. Without a word, he slipped off Havel's shoulders.
"Shirei, are you okay?" Ada asked, receiving no response.
The Blendbreed stepped toward Nerio's figure. The god raised his gaze to meet his. The shattered mask lay on the ground, and for the first time, his face showed fear.
"S-stop!" he stammered. "You don't want to do this. I have information—valuable information."
He turned his attention to all the Blendbreeds. "Have you ever wondered who writes history? Or who decides what's true and what's false? You've grown up believing you knew who the heroes were, and who the villains were, but let me tell you something…"
Several excruciating seconds passed.
"It's the victors who write history—who choose what to omit, and what to twist to suit their ends."
Ada stepped forward, her expression confused. "Are you saying everything we know is a lie?"
Nerio leaned forward, as if trying to flee, but the chains rattled and pulled him back. "Not everything. Just the parts that made you obey."
The tension in the cave thickened as his words crept into the hearts of the Blendbreeds. Niccolò felt his legs weaken, his breathing even more labored. He looked at Shirei's back, wondering what was going through his mind.
"As you can see, child of darkness, you are all pieces on a chessboard manipulated by Rakion, his son, and others like them. The gods!" he shouted, his fervor intentionally theatrical. "Now it's your choice. You can keep believing the lies they fed you, or you can seek the truth."
The words hung in the air, heavy as stone, while the Blendbreeds tried to make sense of what they had just heard.
"I'm on your side! I told you the truth!"
The son of Cragar stopped just a few steps from the Ancient. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the collapsing sounds of the rift. A dark shadow spread across the floor, and tendrils of darkness rose toward the Forbidden Heir's right arm. Without hesitation, he raised a sword that materialized from below, its blade forged of pulsing darkness.
"Shirei, what are you doing?!" shouted the daughter of Rutia, running toward him.
The violet-eyed boy spoke, but his voice was different, as if it belonged to someone else. "I bring death to the Nerio, once known as an ancient god."
"Stop! Stop! My knowledge will help you! I am a being millennia old! You can't kill me!"
With a swift motion, the blade fell upon the deity, decapitating him in a single clean strike. The lifeless torso collapsed forward, still chained, as the water at his feet turned red.
The Equinox Flowers stood frozen.
A mortal had just slain a god.
The executioner remained still for a moment, watching the blade fade from his hands. Then, as if all the energy had drained from him, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
After a moment of taut silence, Ada and Elaine rushed to his side, checking both his pulse and breath. "He's fine," the blonde confirmed, relieved. "But we have to get out of here immediately."
Havel nodded, lifting Shirei onto his shoulders once again. "Let's go."
The Blendbreeds ran toward the cave entrance. The water continued to rise, lapping at their feet as the walls crumbled around them. At that point, Niccolò dove into the water and motioned for them to follow.
The cold engulfed them, the water seeming to tighten around their bodies like a living trap. For a moment, none of them understood what was happening—then they saw the Venetian swimming ahead with incredible speed.
Suddenly, a powerful current surged upward, sweeping them along. Havel, Ada, and Elaine let themselves be carried, unable to do anything except cling to that overwhelming force.
When they finally broke the surface, the sky's light welcomed them. They all coughed and gasped for breath, trying to recover from the ordeal.
"What just happened?" Ada asked, her tone incredulous as she looked at Niccolò.
He smiled, seemingly calmer than they had expected.
"It's thanks to you," he said with genuine gratitude. "In the past, I didn't know why I could do certain things. In water, I was faster than anyone else, I could hold my breath for impossible amounts of time… but now I understand. It's because of my powers. I was never crazy—I saw the monsters for a reason. I'm special, I'm like you."
The Lilies of the Equinox exchanged meaningful glances but said nothing. They all shared the same thought: a son of Idur.
Havel broke the silence, wiping his face with a nervous gesture. "Come on," he urged, his tone resolute despite his exhaustion. "Let's reach the portal before it's too late."
Niccolò joined them, but his eyes lingered on the son of Cragar. "Are you sure he's okay?"
"He's alive," Mardi's daughter replied, panting. "But… something's not right."
"It doesn't matter now," the leader continued, signaling for them to move. "That's a problem for another time. We have to leave."
A few minutes later, they reached the point of entry. The Temporal Rift was dissolving around them, the colors of the world blending into indistinct shades of blue and white. The Equinox Flowes stood on the threshold of what remained of the boundary between the rift and the Mortal World.
Niccolò's face was marked by fatigue and the weight of all that had happened. He paused, glancing at the Blendbreeds, his prototype pistol still gripped in his right hand.
"Come with us," Elaine urged. "We don't know what's going to happen to this rift, but you can't stay here. It'll collapse on top of you."
The boy shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. "No," he replied. "The specter already foretold my grim fate. I can't leave—I accept that. I just need to know… I need to see if my mother has recovered, if all of this meant something."
"Don't you even want to try?" Havel insisted, taking a step forward. "Maybe Shirei's creature is wrong and there's a flaw in the Temporal Rift it doesn't know about."
Niccolò shook his head, more resolute this time. "I'm not like you. I have no destiny, no future. All I want is to return to my parents. If Venice is destined to fall and I'm part of it, then it's only right that I stay here."
Ada stepped closer, her face serious, though not without understanding. "Are you sure? You won't get a second chance. We won't be able to help you again."
"Yes," the Venetian replied firmly. "I don't know if I'll ever see you again, but thank you. For everything. Without you, Sirs and Ladies, I would never have learned the truth."
The Blendbreeds looked at one another. The daughter of Rutia stepped back, reluctantly accepting the boy's decision. Elaine looked about to protest, but Havel placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. The boy turned, but his arm was held back.
"Niccolò," said Shirei in a low voice, still visibly shaken from the recent events. He had regained consciousness, but didn't seem entirely himself. "You have no memories of me, but Reno must have mentioned something."
"Yes, Sir Shirei. I know everything. Thank you for keeping your promise."
"I wish I could do more."
"It's enough," the young Verardi reassured him. "Thank you. Farewell."
"Farewell."
A few tears began to flow from the young man's eyes, as he already tasted the moment he would see his parents again.
"On behalf of the inhabitants of this city, I thank you all for saving Venice," he added. "Safe travels home."
He turned toward the old family tavern, his face bathed in the faint blue light enveloping the area. Without another word, he walked toward the building, his figure slowly retreating.
"It's really over," Elaine murmured, her voice choked with emotion.
"It is," Ada confirmed, lowering her gaze, "but there are other problems to worry about. We need to speak with Aena and Lyceum."
The Blendbreeds moved away, aware that the mission just concluded would leave a lasting mark on their hearts. Silence fell among them.
── ⋆⋅❂⋅⋆ ──
Niccolò entered the tavern, which remained intact despite everything. The air was quiet, almost surreal. The familiar scent of aged wood and sea salt filled his nostrils. He climbed the stairs with his heart pounding, each step echoing louder than the last. He was afraid of what he might find, but part of him clung fiercely to hope.
When he reached the hallway, he stopped in front of his mother's room. The door was ajar, and through the crack, he could see a glimmer of light.
"Mother?" he asked, his voice trembling.
He entered the room.
The woman was sitting on the bed, her gaze lost outside the window. Her face, once pale and ill, now seemed radiant. When she heard her name, she turned to him, a gentle smile lighting up her features.
"Niccolò, my son," she said, her voice calm and full of affection.
The boy ran to her, kneeling beside the bed. "Mother, are you… are you healed?"
She looked at him for a moment. "I've never felt better, to be honest."
Niccolò burst into tears, holding her in a tight embrace. "I didn't think I could make it. I was so afraid!"
A hand rested on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son."
"F-Father!"
As the three embraced, a blue light began to surround them, growing in intensity until it filled the entire room. Niccolò closed his eyes, surrendering to the feeling of peace that washed over him.
The rift closed, and their time together froze in an eternity of light. On the other side of the city, near the portal, the Blendbreeds watched the blue glow fade, leaving behind only the echo of what once was.
── ⋆⋅❂⋅⋆ ──
The sensation felt like a rude awakening.
The salty air filled the lungs of the Blendbreeds as they appeared on the beach of an unknown island. The sky was gray, the clouds reflected in the calm water lapping at the shore. Silence was broken only by the sound of waves crashing against the coast.
Ada was the first to move, scanning the surroundings with wary eyes. "Where are we?" she asked in a low, tense voice.
It wasn't the entrance they had used to reach the interior of the Temporal Rift, and that made her fear a potential ambush by monsters.
Shirei, still dazed, staggered slightly. Elaine approached to support him, but he raised a hand to stop her. "I'm fine," he murmured, though the deep pallor of his face told a different story.
The Blendbreeds exchanged wary glances, but chose not to mention what had happened in the cave. Havel turned, noticing a familiar detail on the horizon.
"There," he indicated with his chin.
A few kilometers away stood the ruins that Shirei recognized as the place where he had been ambushed by Nerio's projection.
"It's there," confirmed the son of Cragar.
"Yeah…" Ada whispered, her voice hollow as she stared at the ruins with vacant eyes. "So we're just going to pretend nothing happened inside the rift? Pretend we're not worried that everything we believed might be a lie? That all the knowledge we learned at Lilies Park was written to manipulate us?"
Shirei remained silent, not fully grasping what she meant. "Had something else happened while I was unconscious?"
In his mind echoed the words of the Placid: "They'll have to admit it themselves, or all of this will have been in vain."
Havel scoffed and ran a hand through his wet hair. "We can't even trust him. Come on, seriously? He was a god in chains, full of hate and resentment. He would have said anything to destabilize us and get free."
"And what if it's true? What if everything we were told really was distorted? We can't ignore that possibility either. Don't you think there are too many anomalies in this story?"
The son of Sidal gritted his teeth. "Not now, Ada. Enough."
"But why—" she stopped. Something was wrong.
They weren't alone.
A group of figures in crimson armor emerged silently from the vegetation. The Blendbreeds snapped into a defensive stance. Havel stepped in front of the group, body tense and ready to strike, while Ada summoned a shard of darkness that wrapped around her hand like a whip.
"Hold," said a familiar voice.
From the forest emerged the captain of the Scarlet Sparrows: Samara Dearca. Behind her marched a small platoon of Blendbreeds, all armed and ready for battle.
"And who might you be?" Elaine asked, surprised.
The woman raised a hand to calm her group, then stepped forward. "You're alive," she noted, her tone neutral, though a flicker of relief shone in her eyes.
"Barely," Ada replied. "What are you doing here? The other rift?"
The girl didn't answer. Instead, she gestured behind her. More figures emerged from the woods: a group of Blendbreeds in black armor, their faces hidden by dark helms. They moved with military precision, silently positioning themselves in front of Shirei.
"It's already been closed by them. They were supposed to withdraw, but after my report, they rushed here."
The leader of the group, a tall knight, removed his helmet and let it fall to the ground, revealing a mane of black hair streaked with acid green, and two amber eyes. Behind him, a girl took position with a weapon resembling a precision rifle.
"I knew it…! I knew I shouldn't lose hope," exclaimed the newcomer.
All the knights in black kneeled in unison before the Blendbreeds, following the young man's lead. He raised his eyes to Shirei, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Our general will never be defeated. They were right."
The Blendbreeds from Lilies Park exchanged confused glances. Havel crossed his arms, Ada merely watched, while Elaine leaned against a rock. At the center of the scene stood the son of Cragar—back to normal, stripped of the coldness that had overtaken him before.
"You know who I am?" Shirei asked, trying to stay composed.
The young man nodded firmly. "Of course. You are the general of our regiment."
That answer shook the violet-eyed boy.
A general?
His thoughts immediately leapt to Rakion and his army, worried that the boy might be part of it. Then, his encounter with the Placid resurfaced, bringing certain details into focus.
The black clothes and the emblem… Did I belong to this group?
But before he could ask more, Samara stepped closer, arms crossed and wearing a thoughtful expression.
"It's useless," she said, studying the Forbidden Heir intently. "He has no memory of you."
The son of Cragar focused on the Blendbreed. He nodded at him.
"Stand up," he said gently. "All of you."
The soldiers rose, their eyes filled with respect and admiration. Shirei found himself wondering whether to ask if the young man knew his true name, but then a deep voice echoed in his mind.
It was the Placid, and he said: "Not yet."
In the end, Shirei chose a safer question.
"Can you tell me who you are?"
The dark-haired youth seemed surprised by the request. After a moment of hesitation, he tilted his head and replied solemnly,
"I am Alabaster Leiss, sole captain of the Black Swans, Fifth Regiment of the Daffodils Academy."
A stunned silence fell over the Equinox Flowers. The name rang distant to Shirei, but he couldn't deny that it stirred something within him—a faint echo of a forgotten past. Behind him, the Blendbreeds were far more focused on the boy's surname.
A Leiss, heir to one of the four noble families of that era, had just knelt before Shirei, whose connection to the Daffodils Academy was becoming unmistakably clear.
Then, a familiar voice shattered the tension.
"Wow, what a heavy atmosphere. All that's missing is Cragar… oh wait, we already have his mortal knockoff."
Ammir greeted Shirei with feigned boredom. The god of travel had appeared unannounced, as usual. His orange robes fluttered lightly, his travel staff stuck into the ground and used as a makeshift perch for his feet, and his face bore a relaxed grin. He somersaulted forward and floated in the air, eyeing the tense faces of the Equinox Flowers with mock awe.
"Surprised to see me? I'm not here for you, don't flatter yourselves. I just like to check in on my darling girl from time to time."
He gestured lazily toward Samara, but none of the Blendbreeds laughed. No witty retorts, no reactions—only stares thick with mistrust.
Ammir halted.
His eyes flicked between the faces of the Equinox Flowers, reading something he clearly hadn't wanted to see. His smile faltered slightly.
"What? Were you expecting someone more important? Emion? As if he'd ever care about—"
The words caught in his throat.
Silence.
The god of travel stiffened. His eyes grew more serious, as the truth dawned on him.
"Damn it… you know," he said—this time, his voice flat, stripped of flair. "You actually know."
The moment's tension shattered as Elaine suddenly coughed and collapsed, her face pale.
"El!" Ada cried, rushing to support her.
Samara stepped in, her tone pragmatic.
"She's not in life-threatening danger, but we can't treat her without medicine—and more importantly, without knowing why she fainted."
Havel shook his head.
"That won't be necessary. We're going back to the park. They'll heal her there."
The Equinox Flowers offered no protest. They all knew their leader wouldn't accept alternatives. Ammir, clearly relieved at the chance to escape the subject, twirled in mid-air and opened a portal.
"Then off we go! Destination: Lilies Park."
But Alabaster stepped forward, his voice urgent. "Wait!"
The son of Cragar turned, his expression unreadable.
"I understand that you don't remember us," said the knight, his voice heavy with sorrow. "I can see it in your eyes—I get it… but I want you to know one thing: the Black Swans will wait for you, until your return. Take all the time you need."
Shirei did not answer, but something in his eyes seemed to waver. He barely nodded at the Blendbreed, who bowed along with the entire regiment.
The last thing he saw before being carried away was Alabaster's smiling face, then his thoughts shifted to Elaine, and finally wandered elsewhere. He could return to the park, see both Dahlia and Marina again.
They had completed the mission. It was over.
But they also uncovered a truth long hidden.
The gods were lying.