In front of Caius’s eyes, the essence forming the threads that bound Arthania burned and disintegrated.
And through her beautiful face, two lines of tears flowed.
She raised her hand and placed it over the right side of her face to cover one eye. "How... how did things come to this?" Her tone was full of doubt.
’This should never have happened...’
She lowered her hand, wiping away the tears before looking at the sky, then at Caius standing silently before her.
Standing there, staring at the empty space above her head as if he could see something incredible.
And behind him, she could see the first Awakened who had begun arriving after hearing the noise from the fight a moment earlier... or at least pretending to.
She returned her gaze to Caius, who looked at her calmly now.
"So, did you see it... did you realize it now?" His words were calm... not in the way someone of his age should have sounded.
Arthania closed her eyes as she answered, "Yes."
"Yes, we should never have lived after that day... not like this."
Even then, Arthania still could not remember what happened after darkness engulfed the world. That period was like a dark void in her head.
And all she remembered was standing there in the same place where she had been about to give the speech.
But with a shattered moon in the sky.
Even in that moment when she remembered nothing... she felt it was wrong.
But she ignored it... ignored it because every rift around the city had closed, and the monsters no longer attacked them or approached them.
But more importantly, everyone was still alive.
Yes, they were alive, all of them without exception... her dear people.
Even if they behaved strangely, it was fine. The important thing was that they were there.
As for the old man... he had not changed like the others, but he had also changed in his own way.
He withdrew from everyone and stayed there in his house alone, lost in his magic and his plans.
Days passed, then turned into years, only for them to discover that they had stopped growing... and reproducing.
But Arthania did not care much... as if something had made her ignore everything and simply accept it.
And now she remembered what that thing was.
She looked back at Adam’s corpse, withered unlike what it had been a few hours ago.
She remembered many years ago when she had gone to visit the old man and talk to him, but all she ever said was met with the same reply from him every time:
"Asfaria died long ago, and everyone died with it... what remains now is something else, Arthania. Stop being stubborn and open your eyes."
At that time, she was irritated by his words, but deep inside she knew he was right... he had always been right.
Once again, she looked at the young man standing before her.
"You must leave here now." Her voice was urgent this time.
All Caius did was raise his eyebrow calmly. "What will you do?"
"What I should have done a long time ago," she answered without hesitation or any trace of doubt as she stepped forward.
She stood before Caius while gathering her usual smile, but she failed to do so, so sadness was clear on her beautiful face.
"I hope you can forgive me for nearly killing you."
She thought he would hold that against her, but contrary to her expectations, Caius did not get angry or act cold after hearing this shallow apology. Instead, he smiled.
"Well, the only one who deserves the blame is me."
Arthania frowned. "And why is that?"
"Because I’m weak."
She took a deep breath. "You’re really strange, but you must run now... as fast as possible. Leave this place."
Her smile returned once again.
"I don’t know how you got here, but I hope you find a way back to your world."
Caius was not surprised by her words. Instead, he smiled too and nodded.
"So this is your decision... alright then, and thank you for the kind hospitality."
"Hahaha." A soft laugh sounded from Arthania.
"Kind... I don’t know about that."
Then, for the last time, as she felt the people heading toward them, Arthania nodded at Caius, who simply returned the gesture, and then each of them walked past the other.
Only for Caius to be stopped after a few steps.
"Take this, boy."
After feeling it, he raised his hand and caught the thing the old man Elias threw at him.
He looked down at his hand to see a small leather bag, slightly bigger than his fist.
Without inspecting it, he looked at the old man Elias, and their eyes met as they exchanged simple gestures.
At the same time, Arthania turned her head and looked at the others behind her one last time.
"Good luck to you all... it was pleasant spending those short moments with you."
Her eyes stopped on Leona at the front, the person she had spoken with the most.
"Our short conversation was enjoyable, Leona. I hope you make sure to return home."
With those simple words, she looked forward again and walked with measured steps while Leona clenched her hand until her knuckles turned white.
But there was nothing to do.
Caius reached the others and met their gazes.
Kyle stared at Arthania’s back with an unreadable expression, while Izel’s gaze was full of confusion.
At the same time, both Elliot and Ellen looked at her with respect.
As for Leona, she was like someone seeing a friend for the last time.
"I told you to run. Stop wasting time there."
Arthania’s voice came again, urging them to leave quickly.
Caius took a deep breath.
"You heard her. Hurry."
He moved forward, placing his hand on Leona’s shoulder and pulling her out of that dazed state.
"It’s over, Leona."
"Are we going to run like this... again?" Izel muttered in annoyance, though it was not directed at anyone but herself.
Essence surged through Caius’s body as he gave a short answer.
"Yes."
Kyle was the first to turn, followed by Izel.
Elliot let out a sigh and looked at the sword in his hand before hiding it and turning his back, then Ellen silently, with an unreadable expression on her face.
With one last look, Leona also turned.
The next moment, they started running.
With their strengthened bodies, they ran at astonishing speed until they disappeared into the maze in just a few moments.
But not everyone understood exactly what was going on... were they running before the rest of those strange residents arrived and surrounded them... or why exactly.
And what about Arthania? In those brief moments after Caius cut the threads, they did not fully understand what had happened.
So Izel hesitated before asking the most important question.
"What will happen now, and what will happen to Arthania?"
Everyone fell silent. No one was sure what was going on, just an uncertain thought.
But Caius understood.
It was true that Arthania had not said it... but he was certain of what she would do.
"She will burn... and burn everything."
"So we must hurry so we don’t turn to ashes by mistake."
...
At the back, Arthania stood beside the old man, a small smile on her lips.
Not the smile of a happy person, but of someone who had already made peace with everything.
She stared at the approaching people as she spoke.
"You were right, old man... and why the hell are you always right?"
Elias raised his hand and stroked his chin.
"Perhaps that is wisdom that comes with age, or maybe I’ve seen too many disasters."
"Oh, you’re starting to sound like a senile old man again."
Elias did not care. Instead, he simply shrugged.
"In the end, I really am just a senile old man."
Arthania laughed softly while Elias asked,
"So are you finally going to end this?"
"Yes," she answered firmly.
"But I still can’t believe it. They were from the other world all along... it seems humanity hasn’t gone extinct there after all."
Elias nodded.
"No, they’ve prospered... can you believe there are many people at Rank 7 there, something we failed to achieve on this side."
Arthania’s eyes widened slightly.
"Really... speaking of that, did Caius stop me earlier because he discovered something about them?"
"Of course I did. What do you take me for, a stupid girl like you?"
At that moment, the first person reached Arthania, and it was none other than Rem, whom she had left behind.
But unlike before, Rem did not speak a word. Instead, she stood several dozen meters away.
Behind her, a large crowd from the city gathered.
Arthania stared at them calmly as she watched these strange actions.
It was like the final moment when she had stood before her people.
But this time, they were not her people but something else.
’They need more time to get away,’ she thought of Caius and Leona.
At that time, Rem opened her mouth, and every person behind her did the same, merging hundreds of voices into one.
A single voice that made the air tremble.
"Why... why did you refuse to become one of us, Arthania?"