The conqueror posed his questions. But it wasn’t long before he also offered what he believed to be the answers.
“It was not our intention,” he said, “but we proved that it is not possible. We proved that our current heroes are doomed to failure.”
Beneath his helmet, the warrior narrowed his eyes. His lips curled in rage as he declared the source of his resolve.
“No hero of the Age of Gods can slay that beast! Thus, we are left with only one choice!”
“We must go back! Back to the Age of Heroes spoken of in myth and legend!”
Ottar’s eyes widened in terror.
“You…you can’t mean…!”
“Yes! We must reverse the wheel of time! Return to an age when true legends walked the earth!!”
Zald raised and clenched his fist. His own words elevated him past his grief, toward a cruel and barbaric solution.
“When monsters roamed free and fear ruled the hearts of men! When humanity stood on the brink and still chose to fight!”
The age Zald spoke of was from at least a thousand years ago. Before Orario, before adventurers. Before even the gods came down to wander the mortal realm. When all races lived in darkness, and natural selection separated the weak from the strong.
“They chose to be the predator! They refused to be the prey! They tore through despair and went beyond what others deemed possible!”
Several brave men and women stood up to change all that. Men and women still spoken of in legends to this day.
“They were fierce! They were brave! They earned their place in history! And no one alive today can claim to be their equal!”
The great blaze in the Sanctuary. Exterminating the bullmen in the capital. Guarding the continent with spear and hunting hound. Recapturing the Lonza Mountains. Uniting the animal tribes. The revival of Orland. Leaving hoofprints throughout history. And the ultimate hero: the man who plucked out one of the great wyrm’s eyes.
These were all feats that people of today could never dream to match. Even now, they were considered the crowning achievements of mortal beings everywhere.
And so, after they confirmed what they believed to be the hard limits of the Age of Gods, Zald and Alfia came up with a solution. When Ottar realized what it was, his voice trembled.
“You wish to take us back to ancient times?!” he demanded. “And to do that, you would release monsters from the Dungeon? Destroy the peace our heroes strove to uphold?!”
“I would,” said Zald without hesitation. “The world has grown soft. Only in chaos can a true hero be born. It is the only way!” he roared, as if the fires of his own failures were burning him up inside. “This is the only path forward! If we do not change course, the apocalypse will come for us all!”
This was Zald’s wail of despair. This was what had driven the old heroes to the dark side.
“We must pay the price of millions to produce the one! The one hero capable of overcoming the Black Dragon!”
“A thousand years,” said Alfia as she let her thoughts drift to the past. “A thousand years since the gods came to earth and gave mortals their blessings. A thousand years to devise a course of action against the ancient beast, and what do we have to show for it?”
Her words were a confession. Hollow guilt wrapped in a cloak of silence. All the girls of Astrea Familia bore witness.
“Everything our familias wrought… Everything our gods wrought… It was all for nothing!”
Lyu, Alize, and Lyra had no words. They had never seen the witch show such emotion before.
“Never had there been a man of such majesty as him! Never had there been a woman so fearsome and noble as her! Yet I watched their blood spill! Their limbs fly! I listened to their death cries! All of it, gone in an instant, leaving me with nothing but despair at this world and everyone in it! Even ourselves!”
By this point, there was no stopping her. The words spilled forth uncontrollably, fiery with hate, and Alfia spat them at the ground as though she could burn away all the sins of her past.
After a while, she regained her composure and lifted her gaze.
“But all is not lost,” she said, calm again. “A heroic tale can still be written.”
Mired in despair, the witch spoke of the same idea her fellow conqueror had described.
“In ancient times, there were no Falna. Though the spirits aided them, humankind repelled the monster threat with nothing but their own skills. Is that hard to believe?”
It was the truth. The people of old laid the foundation for the modern day, including the city of Orario itself.
“Starting with the first hero, a line of great men and women performed impossible feats…culminating in the robbing of the Black Dragon’s eye and the removal of monsters from the surface world.”
Their tales were still told today. An unbroken tapestry of heroes stretching all the way back to antiquity. They had even managed to drive off the very beast responsible for Zeus and Hera’s downfall.
“Those heroes did what we could not. That alone speaks volumes.”
When Alfia finished her tale, the girls of Astrea Familia just stared at her in shock. None of them could find it in themselves to say a word. The roar of flames continued in the distance, and in the end it was Lyu who spoke up.
“Then what you’re saying…” she said through trembling lips. “Your despair… Your goal… It’s…!”
“No hero born of gods will ever suffice,” Alfia answered. “We must cast them off and raise a true warrior. We must return to the Age of Heroes.”
“Wh-what…?!” stammered Neze. “Then the reason you’re trying to destroy Orario…”
“It is to save the world.”
This was the reason Alfia had returned. This was why she conspired with evil to bring death and destruction. This was why she and Zald joined Erebus, obeyed his commands, and sullied their own hands. They had made up their minds. They had decided that the fate of the world outweighed everything else. For the mortal realm to truly thrive…Orario needed to fall.
The girls of Astrea Familia were stunned. None of them could find the right words. In the end, it was Lyra who spoke.
“So you guys are after peace as well! Why not team up? We both want the same thing, don’t we?!”
“We could not be more opposed, prum. You have not seen what we have seen, nor felt the despair that we have felt. The threat of that beast is far greater than any of you can possibly imagine.”
Alfia remained resolute. Fear of the Black Dragon dominated her mind.
“Our views are hopelessly incompatible,” she concluded. “For Zald and me, there is no other way.”
“Grr…! You can’t—!!”
Lyu began to argue back, but then it happened. The wind howled, and the air shook.
“Wh-what was that?!” cried Neze.
“Look over there!” yelled Iska, pointing to the center of the floor. There, some mysterious force caused the winds to swirl at an incredible pace.
“A tornado?! Here in the Dungeon?!” cried Lyra, her voice barely audible over the noise. “What monster’s doin’ that?!”
The whirling winds stretched all the way to the cavern roof, taller still than Delphyne itself. All of Astrea Familia turned and stared. They had never seen anything like it in their lives.
“None of them…” said Alize at last. “That’s no monster!”