@Anonymous Yes. Well, depending on the length, I might split them further. But the idea is basically that. Two chapters which would conclude the three storylines: Eddie's fate, the Grandmaster and tge Necromancer King, and the Kingdom's destiny. Eddie is easily the most tragic character I have ever written (along with Lys), he can only lose and lose.

@[Pcm](/user/show/10039396) Wow, Eddie really had it rough here, doesn't he? It makes me depressed seeing Eddie suffering times and times again. I just wish for the guy to have his happy ending here, but with you, the probability of it will be close to none, and I'm afraid to see what will occur next to Eddie.

@Anonymous C'mon. My characters always end up blissfully happy, don't they?

@[Musclefan123](/user/show/10053226) Collin could live out his secret kink of having his father ram his boyfriend. (Not canon) The problem remains if Eddie would see Forlorn as Collin at all, especially since Collin never really existed here.

@[Anon](/user/show/10049352) However, I think there is still hope. The north, and the beastfolk might ironically become better amidst all of this. I hope Eddie survives. Maybe if forlorn meets Eddie things can get better...but considering how hope caused Collin to tragically fail, maybe it's best they stay far away. I mean...it's not like forlorn remembers Eddie since Eddie can't remember him right? ...I really hope Eddie doesn't wind up stalked by forlorn. That would be true horror. Perhaps now, the hope for the future lies in gil's sons. How ironic then...their father indirectly contributed to all of this, and now his sons will combat what has come to pass. The demons are strong, but reckless hedonism I believe will always undo itself in the end- it cannot sustain itself. Evil in the end always destroys itself. So let the demons entertain themselves for a time...their doom will come. It may not be now, or any time in the direct future, but it will come. I hope the survivors can rebuild their lives and heal amidst the grief. This may be the end of the east, but it may not be the end of fighting against the demons. The worst part is that I can also see why the demons are so happy- free from the worst of Eastern cultural abuses. But they pose a threat to all. I think one can pity them, understand them, but also fear them. They are sensual and terrifying, yet tragic as well.

@[Anon](/user/show/10049352) Thank you. It is making me somewhat sad as well. To Collin's credit, despite lapsing at times, he held on right until the end. It took the demon basically rewriting his past to make him have always been a demon to finally make him succumb. I mean, what can you do against that? The demons have their happiest ending possible for now; tgeir family reunited and rewritten in such a way that tragedies had never even occurred to them. They have always been together, indulging themselves and each other with mindless lust. Thw Infernal Realm is the realm of chaos, where its landscape and history are malleable to change. The Overlord did not alter their memories (the demons pretty much remembered all their human self and have their memories, they just don't care), he shifted the reality to make them have always been demons native to the infernal realm. In the infernal realm, they were actually born and raided there, you would find all traces of their growing up in the infernal realm as that is the new reality. The idea is for Collin to be an incubus-esque demon. He is meant to be conventionally attractive to as many people as possible. It is his method of corruption. He was born from erotic dreams after all. His spswns would share his attrractive features. Lys is Eleven, btw. Think Grandmaster cam heal her? Ironically, the Wolfmen no longer remember their death threats to Collin. In this new reality, they just knew that the King went crazy and made a deal with some powerful demon prince just to keep Aaron from them.

@[Pcm](/user/show/10039396) In a way this reminds me of the video game persona 2, where slight changes alter the fabric of reality into something completely different, and going back isn't an option. In doing so, the beastfolk have become less malevolent in a way, as now the real issue began with the easterners cavorting with demons. I wonder how the grandmasters and the others had their memories over written. The kingdom of the east is doomed anyway. Fleeing is the only option now. In a way, with reality being rewritten, the human aspects of Collin and the others are essentially fake and don't matter. So in reality, Eddie and the others could simply deny they ever knew forlorn. He might chalk up the feelings to some magical shenanigans. But something tells me he's about to meet forlorn in a very bad way. I don't blame Collin for falling. He literally was able to handle himself until the big demon went and rewrote reality. There's not much to be done in the face of that. Collin as forlorn is beautiful, but will he as per his namesake bring people to despair, or is his name a sigil moreso about how the east is truly doomed? Something tells me his pleasure would be slow and sensual, and he might even retain his healer attitude in a way. I think the grandmaster may be able to figure something out. But I think what's fascinating here is that Eddie might just not fall for Collin as forlorn because technically- Collin never existed in this new reality. Those are just fake memories. And Collin as forlorn will never be that person again. So in reality, Eddie shouldn't really have any affinity to forlorn anyway. Something tells me Collin will though. I think one alternate timeline that makes me wonder is one where Eddie sees the situation as too far gone and retreats to the north, trying to move on with his life. Cue forlorn slinking in and trying to tempt him in the fashion of the tempting of the forty days in the desert with christ. Yet Eddie, since he has no connection to forlorn and due to being justifiably traumatized over anything demonic, wants nothing to do with him (maybe he figures out a way to magically shut down his ability to sense pleasure to belay demonic strategies), leading to forlorn increasingly trying to get what he can't have, and wondering why he's so obsessed over this human- I mean- it's not like he was actually human, just made to be one for a while- so why does he want this boring human? Why is he special? Sure, he knew him, but he couldn't have been that special? After all, if they don't care about their human memories, they probably don't care about most of the humans in them. This probably contradicts a lot of your established lore principles though, so it's more a personal what if scenario. The way you say "happy ending for now" seems to imply things could still change. The demons might not be out of the woodworks yet, and honestly I'd be glad to see them knocked down a peg.

@Anon Your definition describes tge demons perfectly. I wouldn't say the Beastmen aren't in the wrong. Thye still did try to convert the East through the King. They never expected the King to go crazy and struck a deal with a demon prince. They were livid at that, unable to recognize their hypocrisy. They still attempted to get back by doing the kidnapping though. For the Grandmaster and Eddie, they simply lived their life, but without Collin. Eddie, who was very close to Collin in particular, experiences a dissonance between his love, like he has lived a happy life instead of a cold empty one that is the current reality, onky to wake up and realizes it is all a dream. Worse, he can no longer remember that dream. I brought up the concept of the Vinnana, easily most understood as the soul which exists. However the perception around it twists and changes, the soul is still the same. Is one's personhood defined by that soul, or is it the experiences surrounding it? Or is it perhaps something else? Your potential scenarios, as always, are interesting and tragic. I would love to explore them some times. Since no one pointed it out yet, the Necromancer King was not in the dungeon, was he?

@[Jockboy Joe](/user/show/910088) I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it. I am currently in the process of writing the next installment of this series called "Wild Family Adventure". Keep an eye out for it!

@[Bearraygood](/user/show/939370) I couldnot agree more!