Her breath stayed focused—yet her heart pounded with growing anxiety, each step quick but weighed down like she carried the world itself.
Merilyn feared deeply for the lives of her family, the thought clawing deep within her mind—with every stride she took.
"Let's hurry!" Merilyn shouted over her shoulder to Erenhold, her voice sharp with urgency.
*Fwoom!
She then wrapped Eidra tightly around her legs, feeling the surge of energy ignite beneath her skin before she bursted forward with blinding speed.
Erenhold gritted his teeth and pushed himself, matching her pace as best he could, knowing there was no time to waste.
===
A while had passed before they finally arrived at the location.
Merilyn's eyes widened and shook at the horrific scene unfolding before her.
It was a wasteland, a nightmare of destruction—hundreds of thousands of Zeraf soldiers scattered across the ground, their limbs torn—and lacerated by the monsters that had ripped them apart.
Before her stood a mountain of corpses, the bodies of soldiers piled one over another, lying lifeless, cold, and stripped of any dignity.
Merilyn trembled uncontrollably, her breathing quickening as her widened eyes darted left and right across the carnage.
"Evaan...! Heria...!" she screamed, her voice tearing from her throat.
"Enerken...!" she cried again,
*Crack—Roar!
but the only response was the crackling of a dying flame wall and the distant, guttural roars of Atroxian beasts beyond it.
There was no sign of her children.
No sign of her husband.
"N-No... NO!" Merilyn cried out, panic flooding her as she stumbled through the field of death, her eyes wild as she scanned each fallen body in desperation.
Then, a trembling voice caught her attention, snapping her head sharply toward the sound as she rushed forward.
Erenhold quickly pointed toward a soldier lying in the dirt—half his body already missing, his intestines spilling out into a pool of blood.
"B...ster...gen...we...!" the soldier gasped, his voice barely more than a whisper ass blood began to flow in his throat.
"What is it, soldier!?" Merilyn cried out, dropping to her knees and placing her hands gently at the dying man's neck—lifting him slightly.
"G-General... and t-the young l-lady and lord..." the soldier's voice stammered, coughing violently as blood streamed from his mouth.
His body was failing him, but his spirit clung on the best it can.
"POINT IT OUT! WHERE DID THEY GO!?" Merilyn shouted, her voice fierce, desperate, as she tried to keep him awake.
The soldier convulsed,
*Cough!
blood spilling from his lips, yet he summoned every last shred of strength to lift his trembling hand and point in a direction.
West.
As his fire of life finally went out, Merilyn lowered him carefully back to the ground and closed his eyes with her hand.
"The empire shall be eternally grateful for your sacrifice," she whispered.
Without wasting another second, Merilyn sprang to her feet and sprinted west, her heart pounding anew—Erenhold following close behind her, silent and determined.
Their strides were swift and laced with urgency as they raced toward the west, staying close to the edge of the flame wall.
Merilyn's heart hammered in her chest as her eyes scanned the horizon, and then, a silhouette caught her gaze.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
There, in the distance—Evaan's body was lifted upward—the blade of the monstrous beast piercing through his chest, blood pouring from the wound and dripping down in a crimson trail.
Evaan's eyes flickered, locking with Merilyn's as she rushed closer.
His head shook weakly, his voice barely a whisper as blood flowed down his mouth.
"M-Merilyn… I'm sorry!" he managed to choke out, blood spilling from his mouth.
"E-EVAAN!" Merilyn cried, her voice breaking as she and Erenhold blinked forward,
*Clang!
striking the beast with precision, forcing it to release its deadly grip on Evaan.
*Thud!
With a sickening thud, Evaan's body fell to the ground, the hole in his chest pulsating as blood flowed freely from the wound.
Erenhold fought the beast with everything he had, holding it back as Merilyn dropped to her knees beside Evaan.
"M-Merilyn…the children..." Evaan's voice faltered, his grip weakly clutching her hand. His words trailed off into a low, barely audible stutter.
"P-Please…"
His hand went limp, falling lifeless in hers.
Evaan was gone, his final breath taken in the very arms of Merilyn.
"N-No… NO! Evaan!!" Merilyn screamed, her voice thick with desperation and grief.
Her tears flowed freely as she held his cold, lifeless form, unable to accept the loss.
"No..."
Yet, Merilyn couldn't allow herself the time to mourn, not when her children were still in danger.
"I-I must save my children!" Her voice cracked, the urgency cutting through her despair as she stumbled forward, leaving Erenhold to continue battling the beast.
But as she ran, a scene unfolded before her that made her entire being tremble in despair.
The beast lifted both of her children into the air, throwing them upward with terrifying force, their bodies shaking as they struggled in its grip.
Merilyn's eyes widened in horror, and without a second thought, she released a powerful gust of crimson wind behind her, propelling herself forward in a desperate dash to save them.
But before she could even reach them, the beast duplicated itself once more, sending an even weaker copy of itself toward her.
It delayed her pursuit holding her back just enough to distract her for a single moment..
And that single moment of distraction would cost her everything.
*Slice!
As she struck down the copy, Merilyn's eyes shifted toward the original beast, just in time to see it bring her children higher into the air, preparing to tear them apart.
With one horrifying leap, the monster shot toward them, its two blades lacerating their bodies in midair.
*Slick, *Slosh *Thud!
Parts of her children's bodies fell to the ground—arms, legs, hands, heads, internal organs—scattering across the battlefield in a grotesque display of carnage.
Merilyn gasped, struggling to breathe as if her throat had been gripped by an invisible hand.
*Thu-Thump Thu-Thump Thu-Thump
Her heart raced, pounding in her chest, while cold terror coursed through her veins.
"Ha… haa…" she gasped, her voice unable to escape, trapped in her throat.
And in that moment, everything...
Broke
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Merilyn screamed, a primal, gut-wrenching cry that reverberated across the battlefield.
Crimson wind surged around her, wrapping her body in torrents of raw power, twisting and tearing through both the surrounding air and her very skin.
Cyclones of crimson energy spiraled out from her, pushing everything in their path.
"Y-YOU WILL PAY!" she shouted, her form twisting and shifting into something far beyond mortal—pure eidra energy.
She had become the ultimate pure eidra form her own eidra...
Galevryn—the crimson wind.