Morio's body was sent back to the other wall, and he slowly fell, landing in a snowdrift.

He closed one eye, seeing a blur out of the other, and then his weapon fell from above, spinning midair, before piercing through his side. Morio screamed out in pain, sitting up and immediately grabbing the grip, forcefully pulling Gloria out. He kept screaming, trying to pressure the wound, and Isak jumped down.

"It looks like to me that you've already dug out a pretty grave for yourself!" he smirked.

"Ahh, ehh..." Morio breathed out, in a panic, combined with a sinking pain in his abdomen.

"No more running, MORIAN!" Isak stormed towards him, and Morio turned, with a clenched jaw.

"AAAAAAH!" Jeffy raised his voice, before jumping from above and sticking his weapon into Isak's nape. He immediately fell onto the stone ground, and Isak turned around, angered. He used his hand to cover the wound, before looking down at Jeffy, furrowing his eyebrows. "L-Leave my darn friend alone, you shuckle-nutted demon!"

"Hehe. What's this? Courageous Morian number three coming to the rescue, again?" he laughed, grinning. "White-haired, you really are useless!"

Morio stood up. "JEFFY! RUN! HE'LL KILL YOU!"

"I'm done running from things! It doesn't make me cool!" Jeffy raised his weapon, and Isak immediately sprinted forward. Its sharp end pierced through his arm, paralyzing it. Jeffy crouched beneath, and in front of Morio, as Isak desperately tried moving, yet was restricted by Jeffy's ability.

"JEFFY! PLEASE!" Morio stuck his hand out, before tripping on the ground, with blood gushing out of his wound. "Jeffy...!"

Isak clenched his fist, as his arm suddenly moved, punching Jeffy's face in, and throwing him to the ground.

The Morian immediately tried standing up, but the demon launched himself on top, looking deep into Jeffy's eyes, pinning his hands to the ground and even crashing through some of the cobbles below. Morio froze, sticking his hand out.

"Tell me, Morian. Are you afraid?" Isak smiled, and Jeffy struggled, furrowing his brows, as if spitting in the face of cruel fate.

"I want your fear! I WANT YOUR FEAR!"

The Elshuim lay next to Jeffy and was just barely out of his reach. He screamed out and thrashed, but the demon didn't budge.

Eventually, through the pain Morio stood up, immediately running at Isak with anger screaming out of his expression.

Then, a high-pitched scream was heard, followed by the sound of something crunching through a meaty material, and a bone snapping. Jeffy's yells went silent, and Isak raised his head, with blood dripping from his jaw, followed by a wide grin.

Morio stopped, for a millisecond, before his eyes shrunk.

"GAH!" he let out a painful yell, before striking the demon's face. Blood moved down the blade, and the Morian breathed heavily, before moving back. Isak grabbed the sword, despite its sharpness, and threw it to the side. Litres of the red liquid dropped onto his hands, from the open wound that once used to be his eye, and he took one final look at Morio, before stepping back, with a sinister smile.

"Not bad, Morian." he chuckled, and essentially disappeared into the darkness.

Morio dropped to the ground, with another ache of pain overcoming his side. He closed his eyes, swallowing saliva before his eyes met the unsightly sight in the front.

"Jeffy?" he asked, calmly, in a fear that caused his heart to beat even faster than before. He moved forward and put his hands on his shoulders. Jeffy's face was... unrecognizable, on par with everything that made his now hacked body.

Morio completely froze. His eyes went blank, his hands weren't shaky anymore, and his body refused to listen to him. He stood up and kept eyeing the corpse, with tears flowing out of his eyes, mixing with the blood gushing out of the wounds on his face.

Was he terrified? Was he sad? Was he in pain? Was he angry?

Perhaps, all of those things, at the same time.

It felt strange, yet familiar. He wanted to sink beneath and bawl his eyes out. He wanted to ask if Jeffy was still there, perhaps just waiting to open his eyes.

There were no last words of courage or even a warning sign.

It just happened.

Then, a four-legged demon grabbed Morio's side, almost forcing him to snap out of the moment. He yelled out, in pain, before managing to reach Gloria with one finger and slicing through the demon's limb. It tumbled to the side, and Morio breathed out, staring in shock.

He couldn't dare to look back again.

Demons stared, and most goblins continued their hunt for items. The waters reflected the fires that endlessly grew in the distance, separated by the stone bridges. People were hiding, dying, and didn't know what to do.

It seemed as if, there was no end to the chaos. Hours felt like days, and minutes felt like hours.

Morio started walking. His feet marched on their own, and it seemed like no one stood in his way anymore.

Suddenly, he started running, covering his face with his hand. He kept making turns, squeezing between the demons striking and atop the bodies lying on the ground. He ignored the pleas of the people, asking for his help.

He ran and ran until his legs told him to stop.

...and Magna continued to fall.

***

The first raid on Magna seemed much more devastating. The army of goblins was twice in size, and the damage was thrice as big. However, humanity managed to win, with the help and sacrifice of Darius. The only person who could ever come close to his power, in Morio's mind, was none other than Bancho.

He wondered if things could've been different, if just one person, an elderly man, living in the calm town of Mistwick, stood amongst the other Demonears.

Would have Jeffy lived through otherwise? Would he be strong enough to kill that demon?

Would they be able to save hope?

Everything went in and out, back and forth, and he couldn't focus on one thing to find the answer.

After all, he was nothing more than a child.

The grey morning came after a night, and peaks of sunlight graced the crowns of the Bore Forest, trying to sneak in from above. Morio took five hours to get from Magna to the woods. He ran out of breath halfway through, and tripped often, biting into the snow in pain from the wound he received earlier. His combined emotions didn't come out of him in the form of tears, but in anger that he couldn't just hold back. Despite all that, he simply trod forth, without a destination.

One last time, when running through the snow, passing all the trees he already saw, he tumbled, grinding his teeth in pain, as the blood dried out on the sleet.

He looked forward, seeing something that somehow found itself outside of his garments. It was Gloria's necklace. He sat up, crawling over and picking it up in his cold hands. It reflected the dull sunlight, as he stared forwards, before eventually standing up.

Waves crashed upon the shore, coming from the many bifurcations of the Aria River. It was the first day of Herbes, no birds could be heard, and no snow started melting. He squinted his eyes, staring into the distance before his gaze softened, and tears went down his face and slowly dropped onto the emblem below.

He gulped, feeling his dry lips, and wept, albeit quietly.

Did it all come down to the same thing after all?

"If in doubt, remember." she wrapped a necklace around his neck, with an emblem of a reversed triangle with a line going down the middle. "You can always come home, Morio."

Morio breathed out and gasped. He knew what rested on the shore. He rubbed his tears into his sleeve, furrowed his eyebrows, and quickly put the necklace over his head, before marching forward.

He put his hands on the boat's deck and pushed it into the water, as it flew above the shallow edge. His eyes widened, as he noticed a backpack, stuffed under the seat. He slowly pushed it out from beneath the wooden plank, confused.

"Morio?" Jyuzou asked, standing on the shore, and coming out from a small grove. "What... what are you doing here?"

Morio's eyes lit up at the sight of his friend, but it took him quite a while to say anything.

"Where have you been, Jyuzou?" he spoke out, his voice, instantly breaking down. "Magna has fallen, and I couldn't find you for the longest time." he continued, sobbing.

"I k-know," Jyuzou added, before waddling over to Morio, and pushing the backpack back where it once was. "I couldn't join you. N-Nothing would've changed. It was too dangerous."

"Are you leaving?" Morio asked, ignoring all of his other words.

Jyuzou visibly hesitated and bit his lip in stress. He put one foot on the inside of the boat, and then the other, as Morio stayed on the shore. "Why do you care, Morio? I thought you didn't want to see me again." Jyuzou uttered. "You said that you didn't want to be my friend and that I pushed everyone away. So, I wanted to make this job easier."

"J-Jyuzou," Morio spoke through the gulps.

"...and why are you here too, huh? Answer my question already!"

"No, Jyuzou, you don't understand. You don't get it!" Morio yelled out, clenching both fists.

"What is there not to get?!" Jyuzou raised his voice. "If I stay in one place, nothing will ever change." he gulped. "If you want to see a better Jyuzou, you'll have to let me leave," he stated.

Morio shook his head, then breathed in and out, through his teeth. "Jyuzou. I..."

The other Morian grabbed the oars, grinding his teeth and trying his best to swim away. "Jyuzou, wait!"

"Go home, Morio!" he yelled out, turning back.

"I'm not going anywhere without you!" Morio ran forward, but Jyuzou pushed him back, and he landed in the snow.

"Morio, why don't you get it? Please!" Jyuzou shook his head. "C-Come back to Mistwick. For your safety!" he begged, holding back all the tears which brewed inside. "For now you're facing nothing but a coward!"

Morio stood up and sprinted, before leaping into the boat and landing in the water. The blood from his wound coloured some of the liquid, and Jyuzou's eyes widened.

"M-MORIO!" Jyuzou let go of the oars and immediately reached down, grabbing Morio's hand, grinding his teeth and pulling him onto the boat, falling himself.

Morio quickly sat up, and Jyuzou did as well, putting his hands in the front.

"W-WE'RE BOTH COWARDS, THEN!" Morio screamed, spitting out some of the water and Jyuzou was stunned. "I ran away from the battle because I couldn't take it. I ran away because I wasn't strong enough. Because I was a coward!"

Jyuzou opened his mouth slightly, hesitating.

"I'm so tired of acting that everything will turn out great because it never really does," Morio spoke, breathing out with a shake. "...and I hate it when you get angry because you're always right."

"No, Morio, don't say that," Jyuzou added, huffing through his teeth. "I was the one who screwed everything up. I kept denying your hope when you only wanted to look forward to a bright future. For the b-both of us!" he shook his head. "I don't want to lose you as a friend. You're still Morio, right? I don't want that to change, even if I do."

"Then... it won't," Morio muttered, smiling. "So d-don't tell me to go home, Jyuzou. What would I await to see there when I'd return? Won't it be more empty than it already is?"

Jyuzou covered his eyes, breathing out. "I'm... sorry," he spoke. "For everything I said, back then."

"I'm sorry too," Morio uttered. "I don't want to lose you, Jyuzou. I don't want to lose anyone."

The two hugged, and the boat swam further from the shore, carried by a light breeze and a small current.

Jyuzou ground his teeth, and a tear went down his eye, falling onto the ground. "I-I..." he stuttered. "I-I don't know how long it will take us t-to get to the other side. So I'll need your help with rowing," he stated.

Morio took one final glance back at the Shimori shore, and by that rule, the home he was about to leave behind.

"It's your decision, and it's your route," Atomu said.

He turned back to Jyuzou, and his gaze slowly softened. He sat down, putting the oars into his hands, and so did the other Morian, without uttering a word.

The boat drifted atop the water, disappearing into the mist that extended above the skyline, and then went down into the ground.

The longer they swam, the more Shimori resembled nothing but a blob of white, before disappearing entirely.

***

The sky lit a warm orange, changing into a fuzzy pink over time, and the two found themselves on a calmer side of the Aria River, with sharp formations, sticking out of the ground above light fog and grey water.

Morio stood up, and so did Jyuzou, standing behind.

"We're not far from the other shore," Jyuzou informed. "Only a few hours more, I t-think."

Morio breathed out, thinking about something. He promptly turned to his friend.

"What is it, Morio?" he asked.

"Thank you for being here with me." Morio smiled.

Jyuzou beamed, fixing his glasses, only responding with a smile. "There better be some good plants on the other side."

Morio chuckled, before rolling his eyes, and sitting back down.

The boat slowly drifted forward, and the Morians went back to rowing, soon enough.

The world could've been cold, but there was something out there that made it warm.