Josuke and Rita were thrown away by Falco's overwhelming Phantasmal Aura Shockwave, the gigantic bird now had all the time it wanted to tear apart his former owner. The Evil Ghosts possessing him were telling him to severe the last bond he had with Mark, by killing him and devouring his flesh.
The giant bird's sharp claws reached Mark, about to pierce his chest and kill him for good. His Mana had completely exhausted, and he couldn't even fight back anymore.
"F-Falco…" Mark muttered. "S-Stop… You're… not… li… like this…"
Although perhaps he could fight back somehow… He still simply couldn't bring himself to hurt his pet.
"CRYAAAAAH!!!"
CLAAAASH!
Silence filled the hall, only for Falco's eyes to open wide at what it saw, its giant claw was stopped by a pair of beautiful women riding a giant red wolf, Elayne, and Rose!
"CRAAAH?!"
Elayne stopped the claw using her Shovel-Staff and her Shield together, generating a powerful barrier, while Rose used her Blood Aura, creating a gigantic Blood Claw to aid Elayne in blocking the powerful talon of the bird monster.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Elayne lost it, seeing Mark almost die a second time made her snap. Her enormous Magical and Spiritual Aura surged like a gigantic, overwhelming eruption, as she swung her weapon with all her strength, slamming Falco so strongly the giant bid was flung into the walls faraway, clashing with a loud noise.
CLAAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!!
"C-Craaahh…!"
Falco fell into the floor, his wings were broken and some of his bones were cracked, the bird vomited a mouthful of blood, glaring with hate at Elayne from afar, but barely being able to move anymore.
"Mark!"
Elayne jumped towards Mark, hugging him.
"E-Elay… ne?" Mark was slowly losing his consciousness. Not even his vision was alright, as he seemed to be slowly falling into the darkness of death.
"Calm down, everything's alright!" Elayne said while crying, her spiritual and magical powers flowed into Mark, his body started healing, but it was taking a while. She took out many Health Potions and forced him to drink them, but they were not working, his lungs couldn't be repaired.
"His lungs can't regenerate yet…!" Elayne panicked. "My healing magic is not strong enough…"
Her hands started trembling. The same thing had happened before, and yet again, she felt like she could do nothing for him. That… she could do nothing to save the life of the one she loved, so similar to when her own husband died by cancer.
She felt so powerless… so useless.
"Agh, girl! If you can't regenerate a lung, then make it from zero!" The Great Spirit snapped her back to reality.
"W-Wha? Is that even possible?!" Elayne was surprised.
"Somehow! Use your [Spirit Creation] and [Nature Magic] and fill his body with it! Remember that magic works in ways according to their users! It will shape into what you desire, as long as there's enough Mana!" The Great Spirit said.
"Then… [Pathway]!"
FLUOOOSH!
By calling the divine powers of Gaia, Elayne started something she neve thought she would be doing. The power of dozens of Spirits converged together into her hands, alongside the flowing power of Nature, and of the World Tree Body back in Arcadia.
Alongside that, the divinity of Gaia was imbued into this spell, as not only Mark's lungs regrew anew, now made of plants, wood, and spiritual power, but his heart, which was hurt and bleeding severely was also repaired.
FLAAAAAASSH!
Roots and branches started growing over Mark's chest, regenerating his wound and slowly making him be able to breathe again. Blood started pumping through his body once more, and his eyes opened again, as he gasped for air.
"AAAH! Hahhh… Hahhh…" He gasped, looking at Elayne. "E-Elayne…?"
"Mark!" Elayne hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek. "I-I was so worried. I thought… I would lose you… again."
"Again?" He wondered, feeling slightly confused. "I'm sorry… I was a fool… I shouldn't had… risked my life like this. I am… too reckless. Thank you… You're always saving me; I feel so stupid…"
"Maybe, you're a bit dummy." Elayne sighed, giving him a head pat. "But I know why you went so soft… That bird is Falco, isn't it? Your kind heart… I know you wouldn't had been able to hurt him at the end."
"F-Falco…" Mark muttered, slowly trying to stand up. "Is he… dead?"
"No, he's still alive." Rose startled Mark. "Is that your familiar? It has been possessed by hundreds of ghosts… It has transformed into some sort of powerful Phantom Falcon."
"Yeah… I… Maybe we should take him down. I tried to exorcism him but it didn't work." Cried Mark. "I just… I never had a pet; I don't want to lose him…"
Elayne looked at Mark's eyes filled with so much sadness. He was a very stiff man sometimes, never showing his emotions so openly, but now, he did. She felt slightly relieved about that because it meant he trusted her.
"Don't worry, I'll finish the job." Elayne said. "I'll exorcise him."
"Can you even do that?" Josuke wondered from afar.
"Elayne, you're finally back!" Rita cried.
"Rita! Yeah, I'm back. Let's bring Falco back as well." Elayne said, quickly stepping towards the giant bird on the floor with Mark.
Falco was barely crawling, most of his body was in tatters.
"C-Craaahhh…"
Elayne touched the giant and furious bird's head, closing her eyes. She quickly felt hundreds of furious ghosts possessing him, the souls of many innocents that Phantasmos had captured and used as materials to create this dungeon.
"Don't worry, you'll rest in peace now. Mark, can you help me out?" Elayne asked, holding Mark's hand.
"Sure. I think I get it." Mark nodded. His powers quickly reacted to hers, as they merged into her hand, imbuing themselves into Falco's head, and then flowing down through his entire body. "[Holy Exorcism]!"
FLAAAAAASSSSHHHH!!!!
A bright golden light encompassed the giant bird completely, hundreds of souls started emerging and then fading away constantly. Both Elayne and Mark combined their willpowers, fighting against the grudges of the many souls.
However, once it was all over, Falco's body was not only fully healed, but the gigantic bird slowly opened his bright eyes, looking at the two of them.
"Cooooh!"
"F-Falco? You're back to normal?!" Mark wondered.
"He is." Elayne said with a smile.
Meanwhile, in the distance Josuke and Rose were watching the scene with faces filled with… cringe.
"Oh my god they're so corny together…" Rose sighed.
"I guess they have this type of relationship…" Josuke said.
Both loners felt slightly jealous…
.
.
.
CRASH!
"AGH! WHY?!"
Within the depths of the Dungeon, Phantasmos crushed the Crystal Ball he was using to see what was happening within his Labyrinth. Seeing his prisoners defeat every threat that surfaced in front of them made him deeply angered.
"T-They even killed a Death General…" Phantasmos muttered. "If I have to deal with them, I simply cannot use conventional methods! That World Tree Incarnation has mastered the power of Exorcism after all!"
Phantasmos looked into his vessel, which was overflowing with an enormous power he had never seen before back in Arcadia.
"I'll make sure to put you into a good use then, my new vessel…"
