"Chaos? Dracula must have something to do with this as well." Said Arthur. "You're working beside him?"
"Pwa ha ha!" A magic circle immediately appeared underneath Vrunemir's body. "The day will come when we are all joined as one! United in disorder!"
"Teleportation Magic?" Arthur raised his brow, lifting Excalibur. "You won't escape!"
"Nie Ma Da!" Grimhild lifted her hand to nullify the teleportation circle, but there was no effect. "Hm? Magic fueled by chaos?"
Both Arthur and Grimhild were too late.
Vrunemir vanished.
"Blasted! We were too late!" Shouted the king in anger.
Grimhild lowered her hand.
"Let him be, we'll come across him soon. There's something else we should give our attention to."
"What is it?" He asked.
All of a sudden, the skies went dark.
From every corner of the horizon, a thunderous sound of magic, metal, and storming armies echoed.
From the South, a great thunder of engines roared as mechanical titans walked across the land and through the fractured forests; airships blazing overhead in triangle formation.
"This must be the other Legendary Heroes." Said the witch.
Clad in crimson armor with internal reactor cores, a warrior stood atop the lead battleship. His blade, Galatine, glowed with engineered might behind his back.
It was Sir Gawain, Champion of the Southern Empire—the Land of Technology.
He crossed his arms, looking overhead.
"The magical readings across the planet hit apocalyptic levels five minutes ago. Now the chaos has subsided. Arthur... this wasn't your doing alone, was it?"
From the West, through fields torn and roads, came an army of warriors, millions of them, marching on foot with their blades lifted together in resonance.
And at their lead, riding atop a horse born from mythical steel, was a man cloaked in a hood with quiet eyes and his longsword, Failnaught on his back.
Sir Tristan, from the Western Empire, the Land of Swords, had arrived.
He surveyed the shattered battlefield with a quiet stare.
"It seems the end came and went... and you're still standing, Arthur. As always."
From the East, a light descended like a golden sunbeam, carrying down with it angelic warriors and paladins dressed in divine white.
They touched the ground with reverence as their arrival was more like prayer than war.
And at their head, floating down on radiant wings, was a serene man holding Longinus, the Holy Spear.
He wore no armor—just robes stitched from light itself.
Sir Percival, High Paladin of the Eastern Empire, the Land of Faith, placed a hand over his heart.
"My Lord... I felt your cry through the soul of the world. What has transpired here was not the End, but the Beginning, wasn't it?"
Arthur turned to face his fellow Heroes, his brothers of fate, and gave a gentle smile.
"So you've all come? It's great to see you again, my comrades."
Gawain hovered in the sky atop the lead battleship and jumped to the ground, landing a dozen meters away.
"What happened? I felt the same magical power all those years ago during the Legendary Age. You have some explaining to do, Arthur."
Gawain was a beautiful man, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was quite slim, but his mechanical armor made him seem beefier than usual.
Grimhild stared at all three heroes with quiet, calculating eyes.
She couldn't analyze them with the spell, Anull, they seemed far too strong for basic magic to get a reading on their mana.
Percival, clad in golden robes with flapping wings and long blonde hair approached.
"I'd like to know the situation at hand if you do not mind, my Lord."
Sir Tristan descended from the hill from afar, riding atop his steed before disembarking.
Wearing his cloak, and hiding most of his face, he approached his comrades with many questions, but his attention seemed taken by Grimhild's appearance.
"And who might this be, Arthur?"
Arthur inhaled deeply, as his gaze drifted from Tristan's steady eyes to Percival's calm glare, and finally to Gawain's fierce, almost mechanical glare.
He could feel the weight of the moment press on him.
He turned to Grimhild who was standing silently beside him before Arthur heaved a deep sigh and faced his brothers hesitantly.
"This is her." He said with a voice of conviction. "This is Grimhild Yorgana, the Witch of Destruction."
Almost immediately, there was silence.
The very name fell like a blade through the wind.
Sir Tristan stopped walking as his eyes sharpened beneath his hood.
Sir Percival, for the first time in ages, flinched.
And Gawain's reactor core surged.
He stepped forward, pointing Galatine at her.
"Grimhild… Yorgana? You expect us to believe that is one of the three witches of calamity?! After what she did?! After she destroyed half of Midgard and threatened Yggdrasil?!"
"Do not raise your weapon." Arthur warned gently.
"Then explain yourself!" Gawain snapped. "She's the witch who killed countless lives! Enslaved countless races! She was even responsible for the corruption of the Elohim! Then to hide her actions she tried brainwashing the entire world to forget her name with a powerful spell!"
"I understand she's done some horrible things." Arthur admitted. "But she lived, and more importantly, she chose to live a righteous life. After our battle, she created her own path and wanted to do what was good."
Tristan stepped forward as his voice was quiet but firm.
"That woman erased kingdoms from the Root of History. I remember the day my own sword stopped working because she had destroyed the very idea of 'will.' We fought together, Arthur. We stopped her together, and now you stand by her side? She cannot be redeemed."
Arthur's expression didn't waver.
"She is not the same. She's changed."
"No one changes like that." Gawain muttered. "Not someone like her."
"She cried…" Arthur said.
Grimhild looked at the Pendragon with her stoic eyes, quietly letting them converse.
His words were quiet, but they hit harder than any sword.
All three heroes paused.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
"She cried…" Arthur repeated. "She felt pain, regret, and remorse. She wanted to be saved, and she was. Not by Excalibur, magic, or divine intervention. But by being listened to, and understood. By being given the one thing she never had from people; a chance."
Percival slowly lowered Longinus as his expression became unreadable.
"Is this true?"
Grimhild's lone eye met his gaze.
"I've done horrible things."
Said Grimhild in a deep voice, lowering her head. Sadness, shame, and regret were evident in her expression.
"I was made to end things, and I was going to go back to my former self, feeling that I was truly irredeemable, but Arthur once again changed my life." Closing her eyes, she exhaled from her nose. "I know I will never deserve your forgiveness. But I'm not asking for it."
Grimhild slowly stepped forward.
"I am Grimhild Yorgana. I carry the burden of everything I've done. And I will carry it until I die."
There was silence again, but one of them frowned.
"…What foolishness!" Gawain shouted as his blade lowered. "The world doesn't just hand out second chances."
"No." Arthur said. "But we can."
He stepped beside her and looked up at the sky that was no longer in chaos.
"Because if we, the Heroes of Yggdrasil, can't believe in redemption… then who will?"
Tristan exhaled through his nose, quietly.
Percival, ever the sage, closed his eyes.
"…I've never doubted you once, during our time together, my Lord, but this seems farfetched."
Arthur smiled, chuckling at his comment.
"There is no need to worry, my friends, she means no harm. Grimhild truly wishes to change as a person."
They all questioned their Lord, but nodded nonetheless.
"I'll take your word. But if she goes behind your back I will not hesitate to eliminate her." Said Gawain.
"As long as Arthur says it's fine, then it's truly fine." Said Tristan.
"That's fair." Said Grimhild almost amusingly.
During their agreement, Arthur's expression suddenly changed. The warmth in his voice gave way to a heavier tone; one touched by sorrow and disbelief.
"I wish that were the end of our concerns." He said, turning to the sky, as if searching for some explanation that had yet to come. "But there's something else… something beyond my knowledge."
Percival furrowed his brow.
"What could it be?"
"It's about Merlin."
At once, the air grew tense again.
Even Gawain, still glaring at Grimhild, paused.
"Merlin?" He asked, confused. "What about her?"
Arthur lowered his head, as if still struggling to believe his own words.
"She betrayed me."
They lifted their eyes as none of them spoke.
Grimhild stepped forward, her one eye calm and focused.
"It was Merlin who orchestrated this entire situation. She used Vrunemir as a pawn, implanting the Idea of Evil inside of him. She's been watching me for quite some time and likely knew I would be coming to Loreanzus village, where Vrunemir and his men forcibly take resources."
Percival looked thunderstruck.
"Impossible. Merlin is the guiding star of the Medial Empire. She's the wisest mage of all!"
"That's what we all believed." Arthur muttered. "But she's changed. Maybe she always had this plan. Maybe we just didn't see it. Or maybe we were never meant to."
"It isn't only she who's changed, but Lancelot as well." Added Grimhild.
That name made the temperature drop.
Gawain balled his fist.
"Lancelot?" He repeated slowly. "What are you saying?"
"Lancelot isn't the man you once knew. He is long gone. In his place is a machine of war and carnage. A man who slaughters without remorse, lost in a haze of corrupted chivalry and delusions of justice, likely twisted by someone's influence." Grimhild closed her eyes in thought. "I once believed he was just a King, bored with everyday things, craving something new, but that cannot be it. Something's not adding up."
Tristan lowered his head in shame.
"Lancelot… too?"
"Yes." Grimhild confirmed. "The Northern Empire is no longer the Land of Magic. It's become something else. A land of silence and dread."
Arthur even lowered his head, furrowing his brows.
"I… was unaware."
"He was the second strongest of us." Gawain muttered. "Almost as strong as you, Arthur."
"I know." Arthur admitted. "But I can't believe our own brother has likely joined their side."
Percival closed his eyes again.
"The balance of the Five Heroes has already begun to fracture. What has happened during these last 20 years?"