Durandal would begin to spin around and immediately was already at a high speed without much effort ad Alex held on tightly while trying not to pass out from the extreme sense of motion as he closed his eyes and continued to charge up.

As he continued to do so, he felt the flames on his sword pick up a ton in intensity and heat along with the infected arm flaring up again.

Alex could only grit his teeth in pain as he had to tough this out no matter what.

As Alex's attack charged stronger and stronger, Durandal was reaching insane speeds that no ordinary human could ever come close to.

Soon, the time came as Durandal reached a tremendously high speed while Alex, infected arm and all had finishing putting as much into thr attack as he could.

"Okay Durandal now!" Shouted Alex, opening his eyes as time seemed to slow down for him.

Durandal would aim downward on this final swing as right before she let go, she gave him a confident nod.

"Go get em." She said.

The blonde would then let go and release Alex at full force as the boy was pratically shot at max velocity, barreling down at the Herrscher as he held his sword steady, ready to strike.

Once he was in distance, Alex spun around and with all the strength he had left, delivered a full forced slash on the Herrscher as it combusted into flames as yet again a bright light engulfed Alex's vision.

When his vision returned, Alex had expected to start falling down to the ground, however he somehow wasn't as he looked around and saw he was in a night sky like void with said sky having numerous stars.

As he looked around, he heard a voice from behind.

"It's........over...." Said the voice in a tired tone.

Alex would turn around and gasped a bit when he saw who it was.

It was Owl as in his hands he held an unconscious Ana Schariac.

BGM: Friends in my Heart from Kingdom Hearts II

"O-Owl?" Said Alex in shock as the boy looked up at him and nodded.

"Congratulations, Alex. You and Mei Raiden...............have won...." He said as Alex simply nodded, not uttering a word as Owl looked back at Ana.

"All I ever wanted was to just see her again. Tell her how I truly felt. Is that, wrong?" He asked.

"Not in the slightest. She saved your life so you had every right to do so. Unfortunately, circumstances aligned against your wished. I'm sorry." Responed Alex as Owl chuckled.

"What're you sorry for? I was the one who made things more complicated. We're Herrschers. Monsters that must be destroyed. You were just doing your job. You did what you had to do." He said, falling silent for a bit before speaking again. "Say, I remember you mentioning that you had another friend in the same situation Ana was in, right?"

"Yeah I do."

"Promise me, that you two won't end up with the same fate like us." Said Owl as Alex nodded.

"Don't worry. I promise we won't." He responded.

The area around them began to faintly glow as Owl sighed.

"Looks like our time is up. Mei Raiden's already using the Scepters to take the cores. I guess.......an end like this isn't so bad after all. Ana, we can be together at last." Softly said the boy as the two's bodies also began to glow.

Owl would look at Alex one last time and gave him a smile.

"Thank you, for everything. I'm glad...........we could have one last chat..."

Those were the last words Owl would say as he and Ana would disperse into thin air, rising up to the sky as Alex watched on with a somber look.

Soon this space he was in would go away too as his vision was obscured in pure white as he had one last thought.

BGM Ends Here

'Sayonara, Tianwu Chen.'

[TimeSkip: A Couple of Hours Later]

Relief efforts immediately went into action after the Herrscher's defeat as tons of Schicksal defends troops went into the city and began to work of salvaging what was left of the ravaged city.

For the first time, ths sun began to shine down on the land as it was slowly setting, showing the true extent of the damage as the whole place was now a desolate ruin.

Elsewhere on a shoreline stood Mei Raiden, as in her hand she held the Herrscher cores.

She stared at it with silenece as Raven approached her.

"The two cores are still 'alive'? Congrats. You're one step closer to your goal."

Mei wouldn't respond and remained silent as Raven sighed.

"What? You expecting me to applaud your great feat or something? Cheer up. It's your victory."

"I........don't think I can call this a victory..." Said Mei.

The two remained silent for a bit until Raven responded.

"You probably can't accept how things turned out. I certainly couldn't. I don't think anyone could. This js just how the world's works." She said, patting Mei on the back as the two stared at the setting sun.

"Be strong. You have someone to protect after all. A brief moment of weakness may cost you dearly." Said Raven as Mei had a small smile.

"I assume you feel the same way about those kids of yours, right?" She asked as Raven gave out a sigh and smiled as well.

"I'll not say anything about that." She said as Mei had a slight frown before brushing that aside.

"I suppose it's time for us to leave. Where's Alex?"

"He's at the beach." Said Raven as she pointed at it in the distance. "Schicksal Valkyries made a tomb for both him and Ana so the kid wanted to go visit Owl one last time before leaving. To me, he's an evil traitor that World Serpent won't forgive, so that's how I'll view him as from here on out. Despite that, I know Alex will see things differently. You should go bid your goodbyes as well."

Mei nodded however she had one last thing on her mind.

"Tell me the truth. What's wrong with Alex? Why's he always favoring his left arm?" She asked.

"That's something I'll let you ask him." Responed Raven.

Mei would head off towards the beach as she saw the two graves there, with Durandal standing at Ana's and Alex sitting with Owl's.

The girl would first approach Durandal as the blonde noticed her and smiled.

"Though she turned into a Herrscher, Ana remained a glorious Valkyrie till the very end of her life. She fulfilled her duty, and the time has come for her to rest." She said as she saluted and mourned the young Valkyrie's unfortunate death.

Mei would remain silent and looked at Ana's tomb as she saw a shiny object resting on top of it which was a necklace that had half a heart.

"Is that, Ana's necklace?" She asked.

"Yes. She wore it all the time. It was very dear to her." Said Durandal.

Mei would then take out another, very similar necklace that she had obtained when acquiring the Herrscher cores.

"I guess, this belongs to her as well." Said Mei as she stepped forward and attached both necklaces together, completing the heart as she rested it on top of the tomb.

"It's been an honor to work together Mei Raiden. I'll be taking my leave now." Said Durandal as she turned to walk away. "You should go talk to Mr. Mustang. The boy's been sitting there for a while."

Those were Durandal's last words as she walked away from the beach.

Mei would look to the side and saw that Alex was still there as she approached him.

The boy looked at her for a brief moment before looking back ahead at Owl's tomb.

Mei would sit beside him and also look at Owl's tomb as neither spoke a word.

During this silence, Mei looked and saw that Alex's whole left arm had entirely been wrapped up in bandages which only raised her suspicion even more.

Before she could ask, Alex would finally speak.

BGM: Memories of the School from Persona 3

"In all the time that's passed since then, I've been wondering about something. What if the roles had been reverse? What if I was in Owl's situation instead? Trying to protect a crazed Herrscher while the whole world was against me. While fate itself was against me. Would I befall the same fate as Owl? Would I defy it all? All those questions keep ringing through my mind. It's cruel how the world works. Owl and Ana just wanted to live their lives, and god dealt them a bad hand. The worst of all hands he could've dealt. Sensei told me that rhe Serpent won't forgive Owl. That he'll always be viewed and branded as a traitor that'll be forgotten in due titime. Me however, he's not a traitor. He's a friend. I won't ever forget him." Said Alex.

Mei remained silent and was a little surprised by his sudden speech as Alex awkwardly chuckled.

"Why am I even rambling? None of it matters anymore. The jobs done and you've got the cores. Our business is done here." He said as Mei shook her head no.

"I agree with everything you said. Owl's a unique person that can't be forgotten. Fighting against the world for a person he believed in, just like us with Kiana. I admit that I should've realized sooner. I was so clouded by the mission that I lost all sense of self-awareness."

"I should apologize. My betrayal caused things to escalate this far. As a mercenary, you shouldn't let personal feelings and emotions get in the way. That's what Sensei said while training me years ago. I thought I had already figured it all out, yet I'm still immature."

"Even if that's the case, it shows you still deeply care for others. I really appreciate that." Said Mei as Alex nodded.

Mei then grabbed his wrapped up left arm.

"Be honest with me. Did, I cause this?" She asked.

Alex kept silent for a bit before nodding as he slowly pulled back a bit of the bandages, revealing to Mei his infected left arm as the girl gasped.

"Back when we fought in Nagazora, I had tapped into my sword's Honkai Energy for the first time. This was the result of that. Thankfully, Sensei's been looking after me by neutralizing it but it still hurts a lot whenever I use the sword's flames." Explained Alex.

Mei simply looked down to the ground, shedding a few tears as she couldn't believe that he had put up with this for nearly a month by now.

Alex noticed this and immediately tried to reassure her.

"H-Hey don't blame yourself it isn't your fault! I made that decision so this is the price I had to pay. This is all on me and not you. Come on, cheer up." Said the boy as he picked her head up and wiped away a few tears as Mei smiled and wiped away the rest herself.

"Sorry. Please, don't hide anything like this from me again okay? We're friends." Said Mei as Alex nodded.

"Right. Sorry for the way I've been treating you. While I don't necessarily agree with your way of protecting Kiana, I should've at least been less standoff-ish about it. My apologies." He said.

"It's okay. Water under the bridge." Said Mei. "Well, one last thing."

Mei suddenly grabbed Alex's shoulder and gripped it tightly as she stared daggers into his eyes.

"Care to reiterate what you said? I had a what up my where?" She asked in an extremely ominous tone as Alex felt shivers done his spine.

"I-I'm...sorry........." Said the boy, looking down in defeat as Mei went back to normal, smiling.

"I'll make sure you repay me for that later." She said as the two stood up and gave Owl one last farewell, before leaving and departing Coral as a whole.

Their fractured friendship now rekindled, and stronger than ever.

--------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15: Complete