>>5946905While you could do the job just fine yourself, and would even relish in doing so, the killing blow deserved to go to Ingrid before you. She was far closer to the Blue Lions than you were and was still reeling from seeing their bodies corrupted. There was nothing you could extract from Cleobulus, nor was there any value in keeping her alive. You’d already failed at rehabilitating one Sage today, and you weren’t about to try again.
>“Ingrid.” You call out. “You can-“Luin flies out of her hand before you can even finish your sentence. The Hero’s Relic sails like a javelin over you, impaling Cleobulus through her mid-section. Without any fanfare or even a yelp, the body falls to the ground, released from the shackles that had been placed on it. Ingrid walks over to her prone form and grabs Luin in both hands. She twists the spear, ensuring her kill, before ripping it out with a spray of blood.
>“Are you okay?” You ask Ingrid as she walks away from the bleeding corpse. She cleans the blood off Luin with a flick of her spear.“No.” She answers honestly. “But this helps.”
Anemone destroys one of the Agarthan pillars with a wave of her hand. It crashes to the floor in a heap of rubble. She wastes no time doing the same to the other three, until the room is covered in debris and dust. With their destruction, the final traces of Anacharsis’ plan have completely vanished. The Agarthan deities will continue to slumber forevermore. You spare one last glance as your adoptive father’s body laying there. You think to say a quick prayer, but you wouldn’t know who to direct it to. Given how he felt about the Goddess, perhaps it wasn’t entirely appropriate. Instead, you simply make a wish to whoever may hear you that he will finally find some measure of peace.
>“Let’s leave this place. The others are waiting for us.”While all of you are entirely exhausted, going down the tower proves to be far easier than your initial trek up was. Even with Anacharsis’ demise, you find that you still feel uneasy walking through these halls. The curse of the Nabateans within this place runs deep, and you wonder if it may ever return to the way it once was. Was it even possible to purify a place like this? Now that the taboos surrounding the Forbidden Valley had all been shattered, you wondered if the floodgates to entering Zanado had been opened. You shake your head. It wasn’t worth thinking about anymore. Your battle was done, and as far as you were concerned, that was someone else’s problem.
You and your party exit the tower, leaving its unholy aura behind and returning to the world you once knew.
“You’re back!” Milly exclaims excitedly. As your eyes readjust to the sun outside, you witness a plethora of dead Demonic Beasts scattered outside the tower and within the valley. “How was it?”
