"End it?" Shi Hon chuckled.

"Stop making a fool out of me."

"You're the only one standing in those shoes." Shi Hon pointed. "I guess you could say that you chose to be a fool, trusting someone twice as foolish." he chortled. "Then again, I'm this saviour. Someone who always listens, and the only person who doesn't underestimate your strength. I understand all of your struggles. I relate to them, but it's not something I'm willing to live through again."

Ennyou clenched one fist, before letting go.

"I've given you so much and you just keep asking for more." Shi Hon shook his head. "How are you ever going to pay back that favour?"

"Use my strength." Ennyou uttered. "Guide me."

"Guide you to find the joy you threw away? For a power you've craved ever since that Tributal abandoned you. I'm not a man who goes back on my words. Not anymore, at the very least." Shi Hon trod forward, as the moment itself was filled with silence.

The watery ground beneath him never reflected anything beyond Ennyou's face.

"You have to find the answer yourself. Why am I angry? Why did I lose what I'd sworn I would dedicate my life to? Did you swallow too much of the power you were given?" he put his sharp nail below Ennyou's chin. "Your calling, choices, and... the world you seek is only for you to find. I can't point you in the right direction, even though, I'd love to. I'd love to help all of my children, but none of us are equal." he rubbed his fingers against his palm, before suddenly stepping away. "Yet, we all move towards the exact, same thing. Power, since there's nothing else for us to long for."

Ennyou ground his teeth.

"You have to define what power is in your eyes."

"FIGHT ME ALREADY!" Ennyou screamed out. No voice answered him, and when his eyes were open, he was back there again.

Up on all the bones he crafted, soaring through the air like a bird, reaching the tallest buildings carefully crafted into the mountains. Small, vulnerable and meaningless, much like he was atop all that bone.

A Tributal, in the very end, and a weak one, if that strength meant nothing. He yelled, punching, as the four legs shifted, completely wrecking one of the surrounding formations in half. The dust settled, revealing his angered, and unsatisfied expression.

***

Ingo and Rowan set out in the morning. Fortunately, they managed to catch quite a good amount of shuteye, with the Haran sleeping like a log for eight hours or so. Even the Tributal managed to sync up the race's sleep cycle, and the two awoke as the sun peeked in from the palm tree above.

Rowan took a glance at the compass. Fortunately, most of the bag's contents were unscathed, spare for the papers, either halved in the heat of the moment or completely gone with the wind. Either way, the trinket was the one thing they cared for, and the only way for the two to find Ennyou.

From the place they stood in, right near the Hales riverside, the arrows pointed east, so they followed the said trail.

At one point, the tropical climate of the waters turned into a shortcut Ingo mentioned in a conversation about Rowan's curiosity about the nearby villages. Sohota Town was the focal point, but the nearest one was none other than Mercury, and Ingo kept quiet. What he was keen on revealing though, was a mention of another cave, leading directly from across the water up to the canyon above.

It was presented as this deeply orange corridor, bending upwards with stair-like structures following a circle around deep roots planted in the middle. That gave way to more rocky terrain, with a crushed circle allowing a sneak onto the vast landscapes of the south of Harabara. There were structures as tall as the cliff, forming towards the north, with tower-like rocks and plateaus covered in mist.

Mount Aria, in all plausible cases, could not be seen, even from here. It'd take them a month of travel to begin thinking about reaching a country like Lignoria, and a few good hours until Halesdeep.

In many tales of Harabara, it was the tallest of rocks guiding the path to the next point of interest. Many built villages or standalone houses following that rule. Thinking of such revealed a small settlement closer to the distant forests and a passing mention of a certain silence attached to the idea. Wouldn't it be easier to try and ask for help now, instead of carrying this burden by yourself?

Would the Harans join the fight, or would their efforts be meaningless? Ingo squinted, breathing out, while Rowan looked around, almost hopelessly.

The quiet moment there, where such thoughts permeated, was interrupted by a loud sound.

"You reckon the bastard's nearby?" Ingo uttered, fixing his grip on the bat.

Rowan turned to the compass, as the arrow slightly bent in the direction Ingo gazed at. It shook, before calming down as if reacting to the sound itself. "Probably."

Ingo breathed out. "It didn't look like we were heading anywhere else besides the mouth of the beast. You want to defeat that guy, right?"

"I'd be lying if I said otherwise."

"Didn't he almost kill you?" Ingo asked, tugging on one bandage that itched him. He took a few steps forward, ready to step off this view of the landscape and move towards the plateaus.

Rowan breathed out. "I guess you could say it's for the safety of the people."

"I guess it is something to think about." he turned to the distant village. "I'm sure there's a deeper meaning, though."

"Yesterday you didn't add a thing either." Rowan shook their head. "But you're still following me."

"Because you asked me to."

"You..." Rowan spoke, opening their mouth for a bit. "You can still turn back. You don't have to fight it."

Ingo sighed, crouching. He tapped at the ground with the bat, very lightly, and a small sinkhole appeared before all the other dirt covered whatever he had created. "You healed me. Twice, saved my life."

"I said that it's not a favour."

"I'm travelling by your side. I'll listen to the guide." Ingo trod forward, stepping down.

"Even if the guide doesn't know where they're heading?"

"Yep." Ingo nodded.

"Why?"

"I'm damn tired of trying to find reason. You too, probably." Ingo turned, his eyes meeting Rowan's. "Fewer words, like you said."

Rowan sighed, before following suit.

***

Much of the same terrain presented beforehand stayed the same until the compass started strafing towards a different point. A sharp turn from the usual east revealed the south, at about the crossroads a few kilometres behind the Perpeace Mountains and ahead of the other dunes.

Rowan grew more anxious with each step taken, almost subconsciously. The Perpeace Mountains only meant one thing, and the direction they were heading in suggested visiting that one place.

"I can see it already," Rowan informed. "The dust this place creates."

"Halesdeep, huh?" Ingo uttered. "Never wanted to step into here."

"Hm?"

"I heard that a lot of shit went down in these areas. Beastmen, and all that."

"Figured." Rowan fixed their glasses. "You two don't find common ground that often."

"Never in my case." Ingo rolled his eyes. "But if the bastard's there, what else, then?"

Rowan gulped, pulling one arrow out of their quiver as if to preemptively predict that a shot. An hour or so passed, and there they were, closer than beforehand, with the sights eventually clearing up.

The sound too, kept repeating itself, as the arrow trembled, before completely halting.

A moment of silence meant a few seconds of understanding the reality of the situation. Rowan stared forward, and so did Ingo.

When the dust cleared, bodies were revealed, sprung along the ground as if flowers in a cold-handed garden. Heads were lying all around, or other body parts extended from one half to the other, sliced mercilessly.

This was certainly not the state Rowan left the town in. Everything seemed fine back then, and except for Alfredo, they never took another life in the name of their victory. Whatever passed through, had different intentions in mind.

Moving past the already destroyed arch presenting itself as the gate, Rowan dared to step in. All of the buildings present in hindsight were just debris or blood that stood in its place, now dried out and painting the tapestry of Halesdeep. The mountains too, didn't resemble the grand sights from below.

Ingo covered his mouth, while Rowan continued moving forward, shaking their head and furrowing their brows. Was there anyone in this wretched world who had as much power as Ennyou?

Rowan pointed to the compass, as the arrow slightly changed directions. They tilted their head accordingly.

They breathed out. Deep inside, they too, couldn't believe the scale of the tragedy. Even ones as despicable as beastmen were wiped without another word added. There might have been a few survivors, but that didn't compare.

That one second of anxiety led them to stand completely still.

"What the hell is all this?" Ingo shook his head, jumping to the side with an awful expression. "Was that him?"

Rowan trembled.

Could even Shi Hon be this cruel? What power did a monster like this hold?

A monster they knew, so, so well.

"I wish that my flowers would bring knowledge. The answers to questions that have been troubling the people of Errarion for decades!"

Then, it sounded. A loud groan, and a thick step through the nearby ground, leaving it rumbling.

Rowan stared, seeing as a silhouette moved out of the shadow of the adjacent mountains and revealed itself, eyes piercing through the distance. Even if the Tributal couldn't necessarily spot them from here, they felt its gaze, as if it longed for more.

Ennyou didn't say anything either, for a moment there, but unlike Rowan, the bones on the lower body moved, as if he didn't control them. Ingo took a cautious step back, and unlike Rowan, his face didn't tell stories of a fearful resentment, but rather, anxiety itself.

One glance back at the Tributal next to him and the Haran was panicked. Then, his eyes turned to the one body hanging from where Ennyou's real legs stood paralyzed, connecting all the thin white webs eventually turning into the calcium that grew like spikes.

Ambrosia's body. He didn't know who or why they were there, but gasped, trembling.

"You're back," Ennyou uttered, as his legs stomped, with one bone stopping a few meters away from Rowan. The backdrop of the city was now covered in the same dust the carrion kicked up. Ennyou's eyes swiftly moved to Ingo, and with a squint, they almost dismissed the other Haran. "Brought aid because you were too weak back then?"

Rowan clenched one fist, breathing in.

"You reckon anything's going to change now?" Ennyou's tone shifted from a rather snarky tone to one suggesting mild anger. "I already defeated you once and that should've been enough proof to tell who's stronger."

Rowan closed one eye, before putting their hand closer to his glasses, at first fixing them and then seemingly concealing something about to come out. Ingo's gaze drifted back and forth between Ennyou and Rowan as if the interaction struck a fearful nerve. The Haran gulped, clenching the grip of his bat.

"Scour, you wench. When you still have the time." Ennyou uttered through his teeth.

"After everything you've done here?" Rowan asked. "Everyone would try and seek an answer, even if they were afraid. They'd step in, see the tragedy, and investigate further. To try and understand why someone would ever be this cruel."

Ingo breathed in.

"They'd be foolish, then." Ennyou uttered. "Just another to step on."

"They'd be as curious as humans come. Maybe more fearful than I am, but that's about it. You'd need to have a foolish reason to do all of this in the first place." Rowan looked up. "Why did you kill all the beastmen here, even though they rescued you back then?"

Ennyou's eyes widened, as, almost without the Tributal's control, one of the bones swiped forward, cutting through the ground before Rowan. Ingo instinctively jumped away, covering his face with his forearms, coughing. Ingo glimpsed at Rowan, who stood almost effortlessly atop the spiky white claw.

They didn't budge with fear anymore.