Alexia flicks on the TV and flips to the news.

  “What began as a peaceful morning in Manhattan was shattered when a creature resembling a twenty-foot ox appeared in the heart of the city, causing mass panic and destruction. Witnesses described the beast as ‘falling from the sky like a meteorite,’ its impact leveling cars, buildings, and infrastructure in seconds.”

  “That’s the other demon,” Liddle says softly, pointing at the screen.

  Alexia’s expression tightens. She doesn’t answer—just stares.

  “She came out of nowhere. Just… fire everywhere,” says Carla Mendes, a survivor clutching her child. “She saved us. No question.”

  Without a word, Alexia grabs the remote and flips to another channel. A live interview fills the screen—her father.

  “Given that the public has now witnessed a demon protecting civilians,” the reporter asks, “do you believe this could lead to a change in the Alien Department’s official stance?”

  Marlion lowers his gaze, his pause deliberate.

  “At this time, we’re carefully reviewing all developments and considering the appropriate steps moving forward.”

  Alexia stares at the screen a moment longer, then snaps the TV off.

  “I just… can’t right now.”

  Markus shifts beside her, his voice low. “I get it. I never liked the guy, but… I didn’t think he’d actually pull a gun on you.”

  For once, Alexia says nothing. Her silence is heavier than words, her expression unreadable.

  The quiet hangs—until a knock rattles the door.

  Markus rises and pulls it open. Lemres stands there, hat low, his expression unusually grim.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Lemres says. His tone leaves no room for small talk. “But I need your help.”

  Markus doesn’t hesitate. “What’s going on?”

  Lemres’s eyes flick past him, already calculating, already moving.

  “There’s no time to waste.”

  “I’ll explain on the way. Just… get ready. We don’t have much time.”

  Within minutes, the three of them are out the door, trailing Lemres into the unknown.

  He opens a portal, its edges crackling with raw magic. A gust of cool air spills through, carrying the sharp scent of pine and damp earth. Beyond it, a dense forest stretches beneath a gray, overcast sky, heavy with mist and shadows.

  “Where are we?” Markus asks, stepping through cautiously, his eyes scanning the trees.

  “A powerful beast known as the Morgi Ox is here,” Lemres says, his voice flat, almost forced. “It has the strength to destroy cities — and yet, here it lies.”

  Markus swallows hard. “So… we’re really going to kill it?” His voice is barely more than a whisper.

  “So many lives have been lost already,” Lemres replies coldly. “It’s better for everyone if this ends here.”

  Markus drags a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. His shoulders knot with tension, but he forces his feet to keep moving.

  Lemres leans close to Liddle, voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re an ice demon, right?”

  Liddle nods quickly.

  “Good. Freeze the ground here. About fifty by fifty feet. If we can make it slip, we’ll have the upper hand.”

  Then Lemres turns, finger pointing at Markus. “Your whips — can you drive it onto the ice?”

  Markus hesitates, then gives a small nod. “Yeah. I can do that.”

  “Alexia,” Lemres says, resting a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Your healing magic is too valuable. Save your mana for when one of them gets hurt.”

  Alexia smirks, though her eyes are sharp. “As much as I’d love to fight, I get it. Markus has a habit of throwing himself into danger. I’ll keep him breathing.”

  Markus pushes through the last of the underbrush, his boots crunching over frost-rimmed leaves left behind by Liddle’s magic. The forest suddenly opens wide into a clearing.

  And it’s quiet. Too quiet.

  The kind of silence that feels like the world itself is holding its breath.

  And there it is.

  The Morgi Ox sprawls just beyond a shattered pine, its mountainous body rising and falling with each slow, rumbling breath. Its fur is blackened in patches, charred as if it had fallen straight from orbit. Bone-white horns twist from its skull like jagged crowns, and hooves the size of car tires dig into the dirt. Steam hisses off its hide in rhythmic bursts, as though the earth itself struggles to cool it.

  Markus freezes.

  It isn’t just the size — though that alone steals his breath. It’s the presence. The sheer wrongness of it. This thing doesn’t belong in a forest. Doesn’t belong on Earth. It looks torn from another world, dropped here smoldering and furious.

  His voice catches. “We’re really doing this,” he mutters, hand brushing against the Mahoishi in his pocket.

  A gust of wind shifts through the clearing, rustling its fur. One massive eye cracks open — golden, wild, unblinking. It locks on Markus. And in that instant, he feels very small.

  Markus exhales, forcing his feet forward into the open.

  The Ox’s eye follows. It doesn’t charge. Doesn’t even stir. It only watches, waiting, as if testing him.

  He raises his hands. Magic pulses. The whips unfurl in a crackle of light, coiling around his arms like living serpents. With a flick, he snaps one near its flank — not striking, just drawing its gaze.

  The Ox snorts. Steam blasts from its nostrils.

  “Come on… just a little farther,” Markus mutters, inching back toward the frozen patch Liddle prepared. He cracks the whip again, closer this time.

  The Ox stirs, groaning as it rises. A mountain finding its legs.

  Each step thunders. The ground trembles. Trees quake. Markus keeps moving.

  Twenty feet.

  Ten.

  Then it hits the ice.

  The Ox’s hooves slip instantly. Its massive body lurches sideways, legs scrambling for purchase.

  That’s when it panics.

  With a bellow like a collapsing building, it rears up — and its tail whips around like a battering ram. Markus doesn’t even have time to react.

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  The blow slams into his chest.

  Pain detonates through his ribs. The world tilts. Trees blur — green, brown, flashing past as he crashes through them like a ragdoll. Branches snap, bark tears at his skin, and then—

  Thud.

  The impact rips the breath from his lungs. He hits the ground hard, sliding across dirt before crumpling at the base of a tree. Everything aches. The world spins.

  He groans, trying to push himself up, but his limbs won’t answer.

  “Okay…” he rasps. “That… didn’t go as planned.”

  Leaves crunch. Footsteps pound closer.

  “Markus!” Alexia’s voice cuts through the haze just before she drops to her knees beside him.

  Markus coughs, wincing. “Hey… good timing.”

  She doesn’t answer — just presses glowing hands to his chest. Her Mahoishi hums, light spilling between her fingers as warmth floods through him, knitting bone and easing fire-hot pain.

  Alexia exhales, shaky. “Even Lemres knew you’d get yourself killed,” she mutters, brushing dirt and pine needles from his jacket. “You really don’t know how to not be dramatic, do you?”

  Markus manages a weak smile. “Wouldn’t be me otherwise.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She sighs, hands still glowing. “Just shut up and relax. Your job’s done. You can rest while I patch you up.”

  Her voice softens as she leans over him, more tired than angry now.

  “Next time, let the monster throw someone else.”

  The Morgi Ox thrashes wildly, hooves scraping against the ice. With one final, panicked bellow, it lashes out — a blind, violent kick.

  The massive leg slams into Liddle’s side.

  She’s airborne before anyone can react — a blur of pale limbs and white hair flung into the trees.

  “Liddle!” Markus forces himself upright with a grunt, pain tearing through his chest. He stumbles, but doesn’t stop — adrenaline shoving him forward. He crashes through brush until he finds her crumpled in the undergrowth, motionless.

  “Hey, hey — I’ve got you,” he whispers, scooping her carefully into his arms.

  He staggers back toward Alexia, his breath ragged, vision swimming.

  “I’m fine,” he lies, barely standing. “Just… make sure she’s okay.”

  Alexia’s eyes widen at the sight of Liddle. “Sit her down, quick.”

  She drops to her knees, pressing glowing hands against Liddle’s chest. Her Mahoishi pulses weakly — the light flickering, unstable. Her brow furrows.

  “Come on, come on…” she whispers through clenched teeth.

  A beat later, Liddle’s eyes flutter open. Her breath catches in a weak cough. Markus exhales hard, relief flooding his chest.

  Alexia leans back, skin pale, sweat beading at her temple. Her hands tremble as the glow dies out.

  “Sorry,” she says, voice cracking. “That’s… all I’ve got for now.”

  She catches herself on one arm, trying not to collapse.

  “It’s okay,” Markus murmurs, still cradling Liddle as she blinks up at him in confusion. “Thank you.”

  From across the clearing comes a sharp crack — arcane energy tearing through the air.

  Markus looks up.

  Lemres stands alone now, his coat flaring in the wind as glowing sigils ignite around his boots. Ribbons of light stream from his fingertips, lashing across the clearing and wrapping the Morgi Ox in radiant chains.

  The Ox bellows again—

  but this time, it’s fear. Not fury.

  Markus holds Liddle close as the light from Lemres’s magic grows brighter.

  “Let him handle it,” he murmurs. “He’s got this.”

  Lemres hurls another arcane shockwave. A crackling bolt of raw magic slams into the beast’s flank with a thunderous boom. The Morgi Ox stumbles, bellows—

  but doesn’t retaliate.

  Instead, it steadies itself, steam hissing from its wounds. The fire in its eyes dims.

  It begins to walk.

  “Wait,” Markus whispers, shifting Liddle carefully in his arms. His breath catches. “It’s not fighting… Where’s it going?”

  None of them move.

  Alexia leans against him, pale and trembling, her eyes narrowing in confusion. Lemres lowers his hands, watching silently as the monster trudges away.

  The massive creature lumbers through the ice field into a clearing untouched by trees, ringed in a veil of mist.

  With effort, it lowers itself to the earth.

  It folds inward—hooves tucked beneath its bulk, horns angled to the sky. Not angry. Not lashing out. Just… tired.

  A low, rumbling sigh rolls from its chest. The sound is weary, final. The sound of something that has been running too long.

  Markus swallows hard, chest tight.

  “It just wanted peace,” he says.

  Silence drapes over the clearing, broken only by the crackle of melting ice and the Ox’s heavy, uneven breaths.

  Its massive body rises and falls, slower and slower, the golden light in its eyes flickering like dying embers. It stares upward, watching the mist curl through the treetops—

  until even that light begins to fade.

  Markus stands frozen, Liddle still cradled in his arms, her head resting weakly against his chest. Alexia says nothing, one hand pressed to her stomach, the other brushing dirt gently from her knees. Even Lemres stays quiet.

  The Morgi Ox lets out one final breath — long and low, the sound deeper than thunder and softer than sorrow. Its chest rises once more… and does not fall again.

  A breeze stirs through the trees. No roar. No collapse. Just stillness.

  A bird chirps in the distance, then goes silent, as if the forest itself holds its breath in mourning.

  Markus lowers his gaze, holding Liddle a little closer.

  “It wasn’t just a monster,” he whispers. “It was in so much pain.”

  Lemres steps forward, his voice quiet. “Then let me end it. End its suffering.”

  He raises one hand, arcane energy sparking to life at his fingertips. A soft hum builds in the air as he aims directly at the creature’s heart.

  With a single shot, the spell strikes true.

  Markus flinches. His face goes pale as he turns away from the newly still body of the beast.

  The forest holds its breath.

  And then — silence.

  He doesn’t look at Lemres. He just keeps his gaze low, his arms wrapped gently around Liddle.

  “Do we have to kill them?” Markus asks, his voice low, fragile. “Can’t there be another way to solve this?”

  Lemres pauses, his gaze drifting toward the still body of the Morgi Ox.

  “You’re able to stare into the face of your foe and still see yourself in him,” he says quietly. “That’s… respectable.”

  The wind rustles the trees. He doesn’t look at Markus when he adds:

  “If you’d had the Life-Giving Blade… maybe my family would still be alive.”

  Lemres lets the silence sit for a moment. Then he adds, his voice low:

  “But if you want lasting peace, Markus… it doesn’t always come to those who avoid conflict. Sometimes it comes to those willing to end it — even when it hurts.”

  Markus just stands there, staring at the remains of the Ox — blood pooled beneath its still body, dark and silent beneath the trees.

  “I know it’s never easy,” Lemres says. “But think about New York. Think about the people you saved today.”

  Markus lowers his head, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Should I even have that power? To decide who lives or dies? Should anyone?”

  Lemres doesn’t answer right away. He only watches the mist settle over the forest.

  “That’s a good moral question,” he says finally. “But sometimes… you have to pull the morality out of it and take the shot.”

  They leave the body behind.

  No one speaks as Lemres steps forward and opens a portal, the air shimmering with violet light. The wind that passes through the clearing stirs the leaves but doesn’t lift the weight pressing on their chests.

  Markus takes one last look at the Morgi Ox — peaceful now, motionless beneath the trees — before adjusting his grip on Liddle and stepping through.

  The hotel room is dim and quiet, a far cry from the forest’s heavy stillness. Curtains hang shut, casting soft shadows across the faded wallpaper and worn quilted beds.

  Markus moves without a word. He carries Liddle gently, as though she might break, and lays her down on the bed furthest from the window. Her hair spills across the pillow, her breathing light but steady.

  Alexia steps in after them, brushing a leaf from her shoulder. Lemres lingers by the door, eyes distant.

  Markus doesn’t join them. He sits beside Liddle, one hand resting near hers, not quite touching.

  For a long moment, no one speaks.

  Only the low hum of the air conditioner fills the silence, soft and constant, like the world exhaling after holding its breath too long.

  “Heya, Markus,” Alexia says gently, placing her hands over Liddle once more. A faint glow pulses beneath her palms. “I’m doing one last healing round. Once she’s stable, we’re heading back to Ohio City to celebrate. You should come.”

  Markus shakes his head softly. “I’ve got a lot to think about.”

  He glances at Liddle, still resting quietly beneath the blankets.

  “And besides…” A small smile tugs at his lips. “Wouldn’t be much of a boyfriend if I went out partying while she can’t even stand.”

  Alexia smirks faintly but doesn’t argue. “Fair enough.”

  She stands, gives his shoulder a quick squeeze, and follows Lemres out of the room — leaving Markus alone with his thoughts.

  The door clicks shut behind them.

  The light in the room is soft. The hum of the AC steady. Outside, a bird calls once, then falls silent.

  Markus sits quietly beside the bed, watching the rise and fall of Liddle’s breath.

  So much has happened. So much is still unclear.

  But right now…

  This moment is quiet.

  And for now, that’s enough.