Everyone was celebrating their freedom when the light spoke.
[All inhabitants of Earth, hear this. In the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, the city of "Mariana" has now been freed. Soon, the largest school in the Northern Region will be freed as well.]
The moment the voice finished, the light vanished and the sky cleared. The sun returned, pouring its light back over the earth.
Everyone on the planet watched it closely. It had been eighteen years since the last prophecy. The city Jhed and Shine had saved was called Mariana.
The people of Mariana were overjoyed.
"A prophecy, after eighteen years," one man said.
"I still can't believe it's real. The whole world's going to be free soon," another man said.
In Mariana, an adventurer's guild opened for the first time in seven full years.
"Anyone who wants to become an adventurer, come here and fill out the form." The guildmaster, Ro-Ro, announced.
A line of people had formed outside the guild.
"Master Ro-Ro, you haven't forgotten me, have you," a man of about thirty-five said.
"How could I forget you. You got stuck in a dungeon every single time," Ro-Ro said.
"That won't happen again," the man said, smiling and scratching his head.
That was the kind of story the guild had to tell.
Joy was everywhere.
A guard made an announcement.
"His Majesty is throwing a party tomorrow for everyone in the city. Don't forget to come."
"A party tomorrow. His Majesty really is generous," a man said.
Everyone was so swept up in their own freedom that they'd already forgotten how many had died — how many children had been killed. What about them? It was as if none of it had happened.
Do people only ever think of themselves? Does no one grieve the children who never made it to this day?
Luccos and Nain were inside the palace. Luccos now sat on the throne. Nain stood beside him. He'd fully recovered, having drunk a healing potion.
The palace had been completely cleaned. The bodies of every dead guard and child had been burned, since they'd already decayed too far to be handled any other way.
A golden crown now sat on Luccos's head.
Jhed was making his way to Linea's house. Shine walked alongside him.
"You freed this entire city in one single day. I should've just rented you out for a week," Jhed said.
The two of them talked as they walked. Blood still stained Jhed's face.
Passersby couldn't stop staring at them.
"Jhed, come on... it's nothing like that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here today. Honestly, this was nothing — the people I've faced before were far stronger than him," Shine said.
"You must have seen a lot of death."
"Yeah. You're right."
Their eyes landed on people reuniting with wives they hadn't seen in years.
"So, Jhed, where exactly are we headed?" Shine asked.
"We're going to meet my mother — from this world," Jhed said.
"From this world? I don't follow."
Jhed didn't explain any further. People kept staring at him, which made him deeply uncomfortable.
People murmured around them — "Look, that's the boy the guards took away." "Why is there so much blood on him."
"We're here," Jhed said.
The door to the house stood open.
The two of them stepped inside.
Outside, clothing shops and food stalls had already reopened. People stood in lines outside the restaurants. It struck Jhed as strange — these were the same people who'd had no food to eat and clothes torn to rags just hours ago. Where had all this food and clothing suddenly come from? Maybe it had been hidden away out of fear of Miruth all along.