Down in the Chamber of the Primordial Fire, Cirrus finally reached it.

"The hot air and sickening aura…" Cirrus said, looking around.

"Seems you're finally here." Said Malion, turning to him. Her eyes widen upon sight. "Your eye. What happened?" She quickly came up to him, worried.

"He got me good." Cirrus makes a wry smile. "A High Potion couldn’t heal the slash. I guess I got another badge."

"Cirrus, we need to hurry." Nox hands him a case of magic potions. "It’s a shame you lost an eye, but we can’t get hanged up on it."

"Thanks." He drinks them one after the other. "Malion?"

"I will keep watch and ensure no one interrupts you," Malion said. "And… It is a shame you lost an eye. They were the best quality of your mother."

"Thank you." Cirrus nods his head. "You should focus less on me and more on your enemies. Oh and if you meet Fafnir, know that she is with me, and sorry in advance."

"Hm." Malion nods. "I am not sure why you are saying sorry, but I will make sure nothing gets in your way." She goes to the entrance of the chamber and waits.

"So…" Cirrus walks over to see the pot of darkness. "This is going to possibly kill us, huh? I could sense the Demi-Arcanum emanating from it. Can you not purify it with your magic? I can give you all my magic to do it?"

"Won’t be enough. The flame is long gone. Anything that isn’t my all won’t even put a dent in it."

"Did you try? How do you know?"

"It’s the Primordial Flame. It’s literally like a weaker god, and in case you didn’t know, a god is a god."

"Haa…" Cirrus lets out a deep breath. "… Then, can your full magic do it?"

"Most likely, but with how my magic works... well, I don’t know how you're gonna deal with this power inside you."

"Hecton, you still have my back, right?"

Hecton popped his mouth from Cirrus’s collar.

"Of course."

"Then shall we deal with the flame internally?"

"Hm." Hecton and Nox agreed.

"Scared Cirrus? This may actually kill us."

"… Yeah, but I have faith we will make it wanna see my kid—Shit!? I just jinxed myself!! Ugh!!!"

"Pfft!! Hahaha!!" Nox's laugh echoed through the chamber.

Nox laughed for a minute before silence fell on them.

"…"

"…"

The only sounds made were the corrupted fire and Cirrus drinking magic potion after magic potion.

The thing before them was radiating power; it was enough to put their existence on edge.

"Let’s finish this, Cirrus," Nox said, getting up and standing next to Cirrus. "You survived similar odds."

"I rather not like to think about the result of those times. But Nox, I think today you can call me Alcides for this."

Nox turned her head slightly and looked at him as a smile came on.

"I always knew you had a true name." She was grinning ear to ear. "Well, you can call me Candidus if you want me to call you Alcides... Actually, Cirrus is better."

"I can say the same: Candidus doesn’t really roll off the tongue."

"And neither will that eye of yours." Nox gave off a snide smirk.

"Asshole."

They both made a slight smile; held hands, and took a deep breath.

"Let’s do our job as a Spirit—"

"—And as a Hero."

They both put on their sternest expressions as Nox goes first.

She turned to her owl form, which was growing big. Cirrus jumped and landed on her.

They soar to the top, and Nox glows.

"(From the shadow of the night genesis a white light birthed."

 

Outside, everyone watches as the sky turns white.

 

Down in the chamber.

"(My name is Candidus Nox, the beloved darling of the enigma of prophecy.) [White Night]!!!"

The orb fell into the pool of darkness, and it was as if space had broken.

*!*!*!*!*!*!**!*

It made an incomprehensible sound as the flame was sucked in and entered Cirrus.

"Whoa…" Malion says as she sees Nox’s magic at its highest output.

Cirrus absorbed the flame's essence, and his body then burst into purple and bloody-red flames.

"!!!!!!!!!!" the pain ran through everything; it was as if lava ran through his veins and every cell of his body, but Cirrus knew this would have been the outcome, and with gritted melted teeth, Cirrus shouted. "(Exousía, Adorn Synafxáno: Nox)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Booooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!

White and black energy sprang around Cirrus as he fell from the sky.

"Cirrus!!!" Malion quickly rushes towards him. "(Voyager of the Twilight.) [Rǫkkvi]!!!!"

She runs quickly, but as she reaches the black and white energy, she is hard stopped.

Bam!!!!!!!!

"!?!?"

Malion bangs her head on a barrier created by the energy radiating off of Cirrus as it engulfed him in fire.

"N-no!!!" she watched Cirrus free falls. "Fuck!! Fuck!!" She hit the barrier with all of her strength.

Bang!!! Thud!!!

Clang!!! Ting!!!

None of it even affected the barrier.

It was so deep that Malion couldn’t even hear him crash into a charred wooden altar.

Suddenly, the energy and fire moved clockwise. The energy swirled faster and faster until it shot through the ceiling and into the sky like a drill.

 

Outside, they watched as the once-white sky moved in a spinning black fire and white light.

"You must get help."

"!!" Malion turned to the voice to find no one. "Who goes there!!"

"My name is Hecton. I am a shadow of Sir Cirrus. it has ejected me from him."

"Show yourself!!"

From the shadows, Hecton sprouted one of his heads.

"!!" Malion was shocked to see it just appear from the shadows.

"You must hurry and go. Sir Cirrus is in a stalemate with the Heavenly Flame, and as much as I have faith in him, the current predicament could only last so long."

"Tell me what is going on!?"

"Currently, he is fighting the corruption in the flame. The flame has taken over Sir Cirrus’s mental landscape and even ejected me from it. The form you see now is only a fraction of what I am."

"Can I not help as well!?"

"Yes. You must keep the one known as Epimetheus away from his Divine Weapon. That weapon makes him a massive threat to everyone."

"Understood! But what if he gets through while I’m gone?"

"I can hold him off as long as I can if it comes down to it. But please hurry, Sir Cirrus may be powerful, but he is not invincible, and in his mental landscape he is at his most vulnerable."

"I’ll be back!!" Malion quickly turned and ran.

"Godspeed."

 

The Plaza of Olympia.

"Huff! Huff!  You're pretty good!" said Aphrodite.

"Not at all." Said Fafnir in her human form. "I am simply doing as my master instructs."

"Speaking of, can you look around to ensure there aren’t any stragglers when you are done to bring Hera and the others who were taking this place as our own?"

"Not at all." Her body turns to ink-like darkness before it turns back into her dragon form and flies around.

"Alright, my beautiful children!! Time to reinforce our city!!"

"URAAA!!!" All of her Familia and the people she charmed roared to life, even despite having fought for hours, rebuilt Olympia.

 

Achro Hills.

"Isn’t that something…" Epimetheus said weakly as he is regenerating his lower torso and limbs.

"Please rest, my lord!" said Rhea and some of the Order of Prometheus. "You were just a literal head and some neck a handful of minutes ago!"

"Where is my sword? My body will recover quicker with Ethon in hand."

"I saw it being thrown into the mountains." Said Ilia.

"Ilia!!" shouted some priestesses. 

"Where were you!!"

"I was trying not to get killed or charmed!!" Ilia reeled back as if they were gonna strike her.

"No matter. Find it and tell me. I can feel the—!!!"

A throbbing pain runs through them all.

"Geh!!!"

"He is destroying the souls!!" shouted Epimetheus. "Hurry and bring me my weapon!!"

"Yes!!!!"

 

Back in Orario.

"Hm! Hm! Yup! That is his kid!" Circe said, using her magic to see Ai’s abdomen. A soft, faint glow grew with a twilight-colored string connected to it. "I am connected to it, so yeah! Albeit it’s weak, but as the kid develops, that connection will get firmer!"

"Of course, it’s his!" Ai said, offended. "Who else could it be?"

"My apologies, it’s just that… It’s really hard to believe you two will be parents!" Circe was smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah…" she said a bit sadly. "But so when the child is born, will you serve them as you do Cirrus?"

"Well… Given that I pledge to serve his blood and that child in you is his, I will serve them if the contract is finalized. Until then, they are like an extra lifeline for me."

"… What do you mean? Lifeline?"

"Well, unlike Nox, my contract with Cirrus is not so intimate, but it is far longer. If, for example, Cirrus has a child, I am bound to serve them as I pledge to serve his blood and Nox pledges her soul, so if he dies, she goes with him. But me, so long as his blood is flowing through one of his kids, I too will live on."

Ai understood more about why he wanted to have a child. For Nox, it was ride and die together, but for Circe, she had an option Nox doesn’t.

"Look, you want to see?"

"Hm!" Ai nodded.

‘I… I think I will keep to this myself... I don’t know how Circe would react. From how she is acting, Cirrus didn’t tell her where he was going.’

Circe walks up to Ai and makes a circle with her index finger and thumb.

"(A myriad vapors obscure the light.) [Atéleio̱tos Voyage]."

A transparent sheet of glass appeared, and Ai could see faint threads connected to her womb. She could even see the glow of their soul slowly getting brighter.

A warm smile grows across her face as she gently touches her abdomen.

"So." She looked at Artemis. "How does it feel to be a mother soon!"

"… It is amazing." She said it with a small smile.

"So, any thoughts on names?"

"I came up with a few, but I think I’ll keep them to myself until Cirrus comes back."

"That’s wonderful! So tell me some—" Circe’s eyes quickly go dull as a twilight glow covers her whole body as it goes limp.

"Circe!!" Ai quickly catches her. "Artemis!! Lenoa!!"

Artemis quickly goes over and checks on her as strands of blue light, or natural magic, are absorbed into her.

"She is alright!" Artemis said. "She is just… I guess he's in a mind-down-like state. Dammit!"

Walking in, Lenoa looked at the three.

"Oy. You lot should look outside."

 

Room of Prayer.

As Fels and Ouranos were discussing some stuff, a door from the secret passages opened up.

"Ouranos!!" Shouted Ai and Artemis, who were carrying Circe, who was burning up as she glows.

"What is wrong!?" Fels quickly went to Circe.

"What is happening!! Circe is knocked out and the sky turned white and black!" Shouted Artemis.

"… It seems Cirrus and Nox’s fate put them at a halfway point," Ouranos said.

"What does that mean!!" Artemis shouted.

"It means Artemis that Nox’s purification wasn’t enough to fully cleanse the flame. The corruption has begun to fight itself off. It got to the point that it forced Circe into this state to supply Cirrus with magic."

"Is there anything we can do to help? Circe has a mind-down-like state. The magic she is absorbing is overheating her." Fels said.

"… Go to Olympia and help Hera and Aphrodite. The barrier that hid the city is now gone. I permit you, Artemis, to use your tracking ability to get there quickly. Bring Hestia with you as well. She is the only one who can save this situation."

"Lord Ouranos, the Hestia Familia, left a while ago to save a small nation at the request of the nation! They are not in the city!"

"Artemis, you and your Familia will make a path for Hestia. There is no—"

"Lord Ouranos!!" Royman shouted, running down the stairs. "The sky!! It’s white and black!!"

"Royman. Just on time. Tell all the Familia to be on standby and bring the Hestia Familia up to speed when they return. Should the worst happen, Orario must not fall. Artemis, I trust you and your Familia will hold the line."

"Hm! Ai stay here and—"

"No! He is my husband! I will get him back! I can still fight even if I am pregnant!"

"Y-your pregnant!?" Shouted Fels and Royman.

"Yes! So let's get a fucking move on!!"

 

Sometime later, in the chamber of the Flame of Heaven.

"So…" Hera said, looking down to see Cirrus on the altar engulfed in flames. "That’s what it is. Seems we need to bring Hestia after all."

"Seems like it… Unfortunately, Prometheus can hide his or her damn divinity." Said, Aphrodite.

"Master had hoped it didn’t have to come to that," said Fafnir.

"Hmm?" Hera looked at her. "Is there a particular reason besides the fact that she is a virtuous goddess?"

"I do not know."

"…" She knew she lied, but knowing she is somewhat of a spirit, getting the truth out would be a waste of time. "You giant?" Hera looked into a shadow.

"That is for Sir Cirrus to say." He said, popping one of his heads.

"Tsk…" Hera looked back at Cirrus. "He is fighting with everything he has... Fafnir, how fast can you go?"

"Hera, you’re not thinking of—"

"I am Aphrodite, I need to return to Orario. I’m sure by now those gods are having a Denatus and wasting time. Fafnir, you can handle yourself in combat, yes?"

"Of course, I am in terms of power, at least at the level of a Spirit King."

"Good. Aphrodite keeps the defense up; we don’t know when that fallen hero will come back. Malion is keeping watch, but she doubts she will be of any use if Epimetheus finds his divine weapon, so as much as I would like to say to find it none of us could even touch the blade or let alone have the skill to outmatch a 3000-year-old hero. So defending the city to the best of your abilities."

"No need to worry. My children are very well-skilled in construction!" Aphrodite said so with great confidence.

"Good." Hera then walks away with Fafnir behind her.

‘His condition is stable; he’s holding his own, but it’ll slowly start to destabilize, and even more, if that hero gets Ethon back. Who knows what it could cause in this situation, and the most crucial issue is what that Demi-Arcanum is doing to Cirrus and Nox? I will need to ask Ouranos some questions.’