Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

"Necromancy…?"

Absalom and Barns remain suspended in the void, locked into each other. As the dreamworld of Ravinatra faded, so too did Absalom's more human look. The longer they spend in the void, the quicker he becomes more dead-looking.

"The power to control the dead. Now that you've lost King Clancy's cleansing foam, this may be the only way for you to reach your goals - is it not?"

Barns ponders the thought. He didn't like the idea of having a horde of undead - not one bit. But if such a power is something he could turn on the Sentinels…it's worth looking into, at the least.

"I imagine you could control the dead - zombies, monsters - and force them to dash themselves against the King's barrier," Absalom notes in somber silence.

"That's…way better than the idea I just had," Barns smirks.

So even now, Clancy is giving him a way to resurrect humanity. It's hard to see it any other way - Clancy is and forever will be his miracle. The path to restoring all humanity.

But as uplifting as it is, Barns' heart sinks just thinking about it. He recalls a conversation he had with Eldrie the day before - about Guardian Beasts, revivals, and marbles…

Barns wishes with all his heart that such a thing could be possible, but he'd found no trace of any 'marble' anywhere.

No matter how slim, he clung to that hope fervently. He wants to reset the apocalypses, but more than anything, he wants to reset the apocalypse that took his best friend away from him.

At least in the moment, however, Barns has just one clear goal.

"Then it's settled," Barns says. "We're gunning for that astronaut, and you're going to help me steal his power, Absalom."

"Yes," the former undead nods. "To repay my debt to Dimartino, and to get my revenge upon the ones who cursed me so. I refuse to die until I have made good on this promise to you. Together, we shall deliver a crippling blow to Emperor Yharan."

"Now we're talking!"

As he speaks, the darkness fades around from them. He blinks his eyes a few times, and he's standing back where he was before.

In front of him, Absalom has returned to his ghoulish form. And at his side, still sitting on the stone steps, Eldrie and Osmond look up at him.

"What the hell happened, bro?" Osmond raises an eyebrow. "You and…that guy, just suddenly went into a daze. You wouldn't respond to anything for a whole minute!"

Barns shook himself out of it. A strange experience, indeed - was he truly a mindless zombie? But the fact it was only a minute…it seems some time distortion exists with the undead control as well.

"Absalom showed me our next trial," Barns says, his voice full of conviction. "The leader of the horde outside Dimartino. It's…a zombie lord in a spacesuit, if you can believe it."

Osmond locks up immediately. "No…" he says, his eyes widening. "I've heard of this, he's -"

"Corpsie," Eldrie replies sullenly. "He visited Ordella once or twice, to see Adon and Adea. How could I forget something so grotesque? I was a vampire at the time, and even then it made my skin crawl. The one person - thing - that seemed even more unhinged than the twins."

"You both are aware of this guy, then?"

Osmond shrugs halfheartedly. "Just from my memories - the ones implanted in me when I was created. All these years, I've never forgotten. That jerking, dancing, mysterious thing in a spacesuit…it's enough to even give a demon nightmares, boys."

"Sounds like it's waiting for us in that horde," Barns says quickly, his hand gripping his sword. Already he feels the tension of the battle to come. For this astronaut to have made such an impression on Osmond and Eldrie, it must truly be a horror.

"Then the next mission of Dimartino…is to end the nightmare."

Osmond groans. "Maria won't like this one bit," he sighs. "I've told her about this…thing, before. One of only two memories I have that cause me fear. The other is Lamashti, the demon Sentinel…"

"Adon and Adea were the only nightmares I've ever had. And Barns showed us that even they could be defeated. I'm not afraid of anything, not with the allies we have."

Barns takes a deep breath. He feels the same way, even after the bout with Nazakiel.

The next time he sees Nazakiel, the Sentinel will die. It doesn't matter if it's in a week, or a year. Barns will give everything - even his own life - to ensure the Sentinel falls.

'Rebirth Flame,' Barns thinks. 'I'll destroy him with that if I must. Even if there's no way to reincarnate.'

Barns looks to the dark horizon. It's getting pretty late, but things just haven't been the same since Clancy's death. His whole rhythm was thrown.

"I think the cafeteria in town is still open," Barns says quietly. "Have you all eaten, yet?"

"...No…" Absalom shudders.

"Now that you mention it," Osmond starts.

"I've been busy all day and I haven't made it down to town yet," Eldrie finishes.

Barns looks around at the group.

A former zombie, one that still looks half dead.

A former vampire, with a glowing red eye that still held powerful vampiric magic.

A current Demon Lord who once enslaved Dimartino - under Maria's guidance, of course.

"We're quite the bunch, aren't we?" Barns laughs. "Hope we don't scare anyone when we show up."

"We should be fine," Eldrie smiles. "I feel out of place all the time, Barns…but you're the legendary hero of Dimartino's best friend. With you, none of us could ever feel insecure. If we belong at your side, we belong here."

A smile creeps up on Barns' lips. "I've been demoted from 'legendary hero' to 'legendary hero's best friend', huh?"

He glances upward, at the towering stone visage of Clancy's final act. "You always find a way to take all the glory, Clancy. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way."