Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

As the light of Resurrection blankets the bloodstained Abattoir, Barns holds Yunie in his arms, cradling her head with his hand even as the blood continues to spill from her wound.

"NO WORK."

Barns ignores the crab and tries again and again. Tears spill from his face.

Yunie was his first human connection in this life. She’s given Dimartino so much. Is this how it must end?

He’s felt like this too many times. This hopelessness - this dread. The inability to fix this broken world.

All of humanity was lost to the apocalypse. Barns struggles with his hubris - did he truly believe he was a stronger force of change than all of humanity’s combined efforts?

"BARNACLES! FOCUS!"

Barns snaps back into his head, turning to Clancy. He’s never had the crab shout at him like that before - but as he turns back to Yunie, he sees her for the first time as a lost cause. And yet, for just a moment, Yunie’s eyes open.

"Master Barnacles," she says, softly and full of hope as she looks at him. Her wound refuses to heal - she doesn’t have much time. Soon, she’ll simply die again, but Barns’ efforts have bought him one small piece of time with her.

"Don’t cry for me, Barnacles," she says, her smile weak. "Not even a legendary hero can save everyone. For me, just knowing Roscoe is alive again is all I could ever wish for. Barnacles…look after my brother, won’t you?"

"Yunie," Barns voice cracks. "This isn’t fair. It should be me, not you."

She grabs his hand in hers, squeezing him with all the strength she has left. "Eldrie fought for me, even when he knew he couldn’t win. And you fought for me too, Barnacles. Time and time again. You’ll always be my hero."

It takes everything for Barns not to break into a full sob. Clancy scuttles behind him and puts a loving pincer on his back, hovering over Barns and Yunie in her final moments.

"If I may have just one selfish request," Yunie sputters. She doesn’t have much time left. "Please tell Roscoe that I died fighting in my own way, and that I never gave up. Tell him I died with a smile on my face. I’m entrusting his future and the future of the Guild to you, Barnacles."

"I can’t protect everyone. But your memory will live on forever. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the hero, Yunie."

Her smile widens. "Such a Barns thing to say."

Barns’s eyes flicker, and Yunie’s sweetness reaches the deepest recess of his heart. She called him ’Barns’, for once.

"Don’t live your life for revenge," she says, her hand falling out of his. "But if there’s any way to kill that fucking vampire, Barns, give him an extra thrashing just for me."

She’s laughing as she slips away for the final time. Barns lifts her from the ground, holding her body tightly.

They were in the middle of a battle, but he couldn’t leave her here in this hellish prison. Too many souls have lost their lives in this Abattoir, and they beg for justice. The Kingdom of Dimartino now had two goals.

To restore humanity and reset the apocalypse.To kill Adon and Adea.

"GIVE YUNIE," Clancy offers, holding out his claws. Barns passes her frail corpse to the crab. "WILL BURY. NICE SPOT. CONTINUE FIGHT BARNACLES!"

Barns nods, his attention shifting to the entryway of the Abattoir. Others, not just Yunie, were out there fighting for their lives against the vampires and Mantis Shrimp.

The claws retract from his Silver Rake even before he clenches his fist - the weapon can sense his determination.

Barns glances down at his bloody hands, filled with purpose. He would do everything in his power to prevent another tragedy like this - no matter the cost to himself.

"Today we free Ordella from the vampire curse," Barns declares. "Yunie - we’re going to make you proud, so keep watching us, okay?"

…

Elsewhere, between Dimartino and the Pale Court…

Adea was no match for Maria’s ultimate form. As the Princess transcends into a divine angel, Adea remains a slobbering monster of a vampire. She flies through the air, hacking and slashing at Maria with the speed and ferocity of a mighty falcon.

Maria, despite her grievous leg injury, dodges and anticipates all of Adea’s attacks. The vampiress is too predictable, relying on her blades and claws alone to deal damage. Maria shows her the full extent of the Royal Arts - though with each technique she uses, one of her resplendent feathers falls to the ground, and her wings gradually weaken and fall apart.

Golden blades of light form around Maria, each one large enough to cleave an elephant in two. They dance in perfect spirals through the air, slicing Adea to shreds over and over again. Adea’s body maintains some level of cohesion - she can’t be killed, after all. Not by Maria - but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t take devastating damage.

Maria swoops up for a final attack, and her almighty light breaks the black eclipse over the land. The sudden and searing light of the sun torches Adea, as the vampiress immediately ignites from the sunlight.

"Ave Maria: Third Form. Heavenly Splinter."

As she speaks, a thorn of light manifests from the clouds above and rockets into Adea, sending her crashing into the ground. It completely pins her into the earth, draining the malevolent energy from the vampire.

Maria begins to float back down to the earth, looking over her work. The thorn is the size of ten Clancy’s, the tip of which is sunken deep into the earth. The golden light bleeds around the open wound in Adea’s chest where it has pierced her. The vampire gasps for breath as she experiences the most horrific pain imaginable - every single cell of her demented body throbs with burning light, as if her entire body were invaded with corrosive acid.

Adea might still be alive, but she wasn’t going anywhere.

Maria’s wings fade away, and the golden light that overtook her shimmers into nothingness. As soon as her Royal Art is completed, she falls to the ground.

Maria’s attention turns to her leg, still bleeding from the vampire’s bite. If she didn’t figure out something soon, this wound would kill her.

The Princess drags herself toward Osmond, calling his name as she crawls closer and closer. The demon is still unconscious from his own battle with Adea. Maria makes it about halfway too him when her strength gives out, unable to move another inch.

"Osmond, please…wake up…" she says breathlessly. She collapses face-first into the dirt.