Lisbeth strolled through the Handulia streets, subconsciously kicking through the small squares of cobble ripped out from the ground at the sides. She stared down before her gaze wandered towards the main street in the middle.

All the buildings left and right, separating the other parts of the district were painted with a crimson hue. Such didn't come from the roofs above or the fact that they were already of this shade earlier.

Then, she spotted the other sights. Blood spoke of everything that happened here, atop the chaos. Ruined stalls stretched from one end to the other, bodies hacked, slashed through and laid on the ground, as well as debris of what was destroyed and completely looted.

Seeing a puddle of the red liquid, she floated up again, moving forth, before coming to a halt near the canals, as if searching for something. A smile appeared on her face, although none could see it.

"Why don't you come out already?" she asked, breathing in. "You've been following me for quite a while, after all."

She glanced back, and as she predicted, there it rested. A shining eye peeked through the three open lines of the small metal plate near the water, and two, dark, fur hands rested near the cobble.

"My, my." Lisbeth chuckled. "You were there, this entire time, even without anyone calling for your name. Was it him, then? Did he ask you to join us?"

The creature didn't respond, but Lisbeth simply nodded.

"I see," she answered. "You smelt blood and rushed over. A lot like Isak, then, but of course, you would've been way more subtle about methods. Tell me, am I right when I say that you took the goblin mutant's skin and attacked that Tributal in Swania? I swear, the other was right near the king's lap this entire time. Feisty as ever, which you managed to replicate with sheer strength. Again." she chuckled, and the creature blinked.

She took a deep breath. "Thank you, then. I assume some things wouldn't have come as easily."

The demon tapped the top of the metal plate, and Lisbeth turned.

"If it's a victory, then why am I here?" she asked, as if repeating its question. Lisbeth crouched, looking back and forth. "Well, tell the truth, we've got a little pig on our tails. I should've expected that a promise wouldn't satisfy their insatiable greed." she shook her head. "I'm searching for more treasure to give. Someone, to be precise. I'm sure they wouldn't give up as easily."

Lisbeth straightened up, once again, scouting the area. Eyes met even more chaos. Wooden elements crashed into pieces stuffed in between the small streets connecting the longer ones, or the few left alive scouring in the distance, with a scream that followed.

On the first day of Herbes, the sun was visible from everywhere in the world. It wasn't a custom or some belief that caused this to happen, but a sign of the coming of the great spring winds, which marked the beginning of a new season.

They were these high-speed gusts of air, carrying seeds, smells or tastes all over Errarion, causing clouds to shift or completely disappear, revealing the scorching sun as it illuminated nature which was soon to change. Snow started melting, leaves turned a different shade or sprung from their buds, and life became much different than it once was.

Even now, in most of Shimori, the sleet turned into a subtle purple colour, coated by all the life growing beneath it, subject to piercing through the thin white veil and showing its crowns.

However, this Herbes was a bit different. Much like in the land of Morta, the light seemed bleak, covered by thick grey smoke, coming from the debris of the smouldering buildings, broken chimneys or fires that were still alive, albeit much smaller.

The night was plentiful, but not for the people of Magna. The goblins and the demons destroyed and ravaged almost anything in sight, leaving empty clothes on the streets, people imprisoned in buildings, and everything else, with an eerie silence.

Most of the weaker goblins already scoured back home, while the smaller and more insignificant demons either roamed the building or looked for their next targets, elsewhere. Lisbeth was, amongst many of the stronger ones, an exception to this rule.

"Leopold and Tabus are holding the fort," she added. "Bunmo is waiting at the front lines in case anyone dares to try and solve the unsolvable... and I'm here, bowing my head, once again. I assume I can't ask for your help when it comes to making more... brutal amends with the goblins. You must be exhausted. I assure you, though, Aishao. The Zimorron dynasty has already won."

She put her hand up, squinting her eyes, and as the light from below vanished, so did she, moving through the distant streets.

A small, red imp flew from the sky, landing on one of the cracked red roofs in Handulia, watching over a weapon covered in blood, calmly laid on the road, next to a small ditch. It growled, before jumping down and running on its short legs towards the prize. It bared its fangs, and sharpened its claws, before tripping directly onto the sharp blade, which, without anyone's doing, cut off two of its limbs and caused it to fall into the water.

Atomu opened an eye, feeling a sudden rush inside his body. He slowly looked to the sides, hearing nothing but an uncertain silence, and then moved his hand towards the Knrhum's Blade's grip. He clenched his fist and crawled from beneath the rubble and light streams, then sat up on the street.

His clothes were ripped, his face was bruised with dried blood that flew down earlier, and his eyes were teary. After a shaky, stressful and uncertain second, he stood up, glancing around to find anything in sight.

He wanted to say something but was too afraid to raise his voice. He dragged the Guardian Demon behind him and used his other hand to nervously brush through his hair.

He quickly noticed just how much his legs hurt, and how much his arms seemed weaker than before, yet continued to move on, trying to recall exactly what happened.

Then, it flashed before his eyes.

"Humans like you would die after one hit. But you're not a human, are you?" she looked down, and Atomu barely saw her, through the blurred vision, and somehow heard her words, amidst the muffled screams which stormed in.

"One wouldn't just stand there and take it. The next time we fight, at least try to hit me." she slowly walked away, and even though the Paladian tried moving again, he eventually lost consciousness.

Anxious, Atomu bit his lip, before a couple of sounds in the distance caught his attention. He slowly turned, facing the headless statue of Darius, as his eyes widened.

***

Eventually, the Paladian made it out of the wreck that Handulia was in, stumbling into Swania, trying to find any signs of life. A fear grew deep inside his heart, that somehow, everyone was either taken by the demons, or goblins or slaughtered, while he remained alive. Searching through the ruins only revealed either empty pools of blood or unmoving corpses, hacked and mixed with all the other rubble.

His hands grew weak, and his mind heavy, and no one seemed to respond to his footsteps. A demon didn't show up, a goblin didn't try to take away his riches, and no fire was big enough to pose a threat.

It was quiet, and the sun reflected that null.

He stepped over a few bridges and wandered into Midcity, with boots soaked in a mix of water and blood. He held onto his Guardian Demon as if it was his only hope if he turned to the right, he'd spot a reason to use it to his advantage.

Paladians heavily disliked rain, as during Gorro it almost always poured at night in Lignoria. Yet, Atomu dreamt of the first Herbes shower, soaking his body as a reminder that everything stretching before him is real, and not some strange dream he can't escape.

He even asked for snow, knowing how much he hated it during the past few days in Shimori. He wanted to crawl back into the same ditch and wait for everything to pass.

But he didn't.

Eventually, he found himself banging on the doors of the Midcity church, hoping that at least someone hiding on the inside would answer. A glance through the window, however, revealed even more of everything stuffed inside, and as he tried to climb through to what he assumed was a trapdoor near the few seats, a metallic pole crashed from above, with a few bricks following suit.

He leapt back, heavily breathing out, and putting his hands on his forehead, grinding his teeth. Atomu slowly slid down the wooden entrance and onto the small set of stairs below. He put his hands together and up on his knees, burying his face in his arms. Instead of tears of frustration or any other sign of his stress, a wound opened, with blood splattering on the ground. It formed a small river between the tiny, marble stones. It eventually stopped, hitting a small lump of snow, and the Paladian closed his eyes.

Suddenly though, something sounded in the distance.

Atomu swiftly turned, standing straight as an arrow, and putting his hand on the church's broken wall, peeking out. He saw a massive goblin, snoring and sleeping behind the building, chained to the ground with thick silver lines. He opened his mouth, slowly moving back, making sure each step made no sound.

Nonetheless, his curiosity took advantage of his fearful heart, and he stayed there for a moment more, squinting his eyes and trying to make out the shape of something he had already seen once.

The goblin sniffed Morgana, which was Chyuuichi's Guardian Demon. Following suit, was another creature of its kind, quickly smashing its head and glancing at the weapon on the ground. It murmured something, before kicking it off to the side, and trying to drag the creature by those ropes, yet, quickly gave up, walking away elsewhere.

The massive goblin groaned, before slowly strutting towards the open square where a few wooden buildings separated two different streets. It tumbled on a few cobbles, and fell to its side, seemingly snoring.

Atomu breathed out, moving back, resting near the wall again.

"AH!"

Out of the blue, a yell was heard, coming from his right. Alerted, he immediately stared at the source of the sound, seeing a silhouette running through the street. He clenched his jaw, nervously.

"ATAM! ATAM!" he quickly recognized the voice, seeing Chyuuichi speeding towards him with a wide beam.

His heart dropped.

"Atam!" Chyuuichi yelled one last time, before leaping at the Paladian.

"Shh, sh! Sh-" Atomu quickly shushed him, and covered his mouth. The Mirillian raised an eyebrow, seeing Atomu's terrified expression, and the finger that pointed towards the loud noises. The two stared at the goblin who started inching, almost opening an eye.

Chyuuichi pushed Atomu away, sticking his hand out in silence and shaking his head. He slowly trod towards the Goblin, carefully taking each step.

"Chyuuichi!" Atomu whispered, reaching towards him. "Come back!"

The Mirillian picked Morgana up from the side and then stepped in front of the goblin, who rolled to the side, revealing something on the ground. He squinted his eyes, before putting his hands near his chest and furrowing his brows. "Damn it, they even took my chainmail!"

"Be quiet! You're gonna wake him up!" Atomu started stomping on the ground with his foot, frustrated.

"Pff, like I'm scared of some goblin," Chyuuichi took one of his earrings off, and placed it right next to the chainmail, slowly ripping it out of his big grubby hand and replacing it with the other, shining item.

The goblin snored, with a small smile on his face.

"What?" Atomu gasped.

"It's a bit shinier than some armour!" Chyuuichi smiled. "Goblins are so stupid that he won't notice a thing!"

Atomu closed his eyes, and his eyebrows shook. "Chyuuichi," he said, before walking up to him and putting his hand on his shoulder. "I'm so glad that you're alive..." he breathed out, as if exhausted.

"O!" Chyuuichi's eyes gleamed. "Thank ya, Atam! I think it's kinda cool as well! Where are the others, though?"

Atomu breathed in through his nose, before shaking his head.

"Huh?" Chyuuichi turned. "I'm pretty sure I saw a guy or two! Eight hours ago! Wait. Oh yeah." he glanced around. "It is pretty empty." he nodded.

"I walked through three districts and not a sign of life until now," Atomu added. "I'm happy that I at least found someone, but I have no clue where anyone else could be, even if..." he gulped. "No, I don't want to even consider that."

"Hm." Chyuuichi put his hand on his chin, squinting his eyes. "I know goblins, Atam. I'm a Mirillian, hard to not know them! Sometimes I hate admitting that we're kinda similar. Hmm."

Atomu seemed a bit confused.

"If I were a goblin, where would I take my shinies?" he hmm'd a bit louder than before. "Someplace memorable, one that I wouldn't forget about! Atam! What's the place where that Haban works?"

"Haban?" Atomu looked at him.

"The woman! Told us to work yer ass off!" he snapped his fingers, trying his best to recall and grinding his teeth in maximum concentration.

"You say memorable, yet you can't name her," Atomu muttered.

"Elka!" Chyuuichi said. "The bar!" he beamed from ear to ear.

Atomu slowly sat down. "No, that's stupid, and we'd hear something already." he squinted his eyes, shaking his head. "Oh my. What if they took them down into their caves? Gaah!" he rubbed his hands into his hair.

"Listen to me, Atam! I'd put them in the most obvious spot!"

"No smart being would do that!" Atomu pointed.

"Am I smart?" Chyuuichi uttered. "Yeah, exactly. Goblins aren't any smarter too!"

"You're not making this any better! Demons were involved as well!"

"Goblins are way more stubborn than those freaks, and is there any better option than just sitting here and being all like... boohoo, all hope is lost... boohoo, I can't do anything!"

Atomu raised an eyebrow, feeling a little stupid.

"Ya call yourself a leader, Atam?!" he raised his voice.

"I never called myself one, it's you who did!" Atomu immediately stood up.

"Leaders command and don't give up when coming face to face with despair! They look death straight in the eyes and say, not today, ya Zakku!" Chyuuichi raised his voice.

Zakku was an old witchtale about a man who became nothing but a shadow sent to taint others. It served as his punishment for accidentally killing a woman who he presumed was a demon. Sometimes, people tell stories of hearing her songs in Malikan's Majed Woods, which are a telltale sign of the shadow following suit.

"B-But..." Atomu stuttered.

"DON'T LET THAT SHADOW CONSUME YOU, ATAM!" Chyuuichi yelled.

"Alright, alright!" Atomu covered the Mirillian's mouth again, and Chyuuichi kept saying something, not realising it was muffled. "W-We'll head to the Midcity Bar if that's what you think is the right choice. If there's nothing there, then..." He gulped closing one eye."I don't want to think about it!" he yelled out.

"That's the spirit!" Chyuuichi raised his fist. "Run like cowards and the problem will fix itself!"

"Oh my, Chyuuichi." he sighed.

"Pss," something sounded nearby.