Nexus had already told her about Kenji and his grand role in the Crusade as the heir of the next Crusade administrator and the only one qualified to replace Nexus.

Ayla recalled their conversation vividly as she lay there in the quiet room.

"Why is it Kenji?" she had asked the system back then. Sure,she loved Kenji. But other than not dying, she really hadn’t seen anything special in his trait.

Death Looper was only a cheat code because she was by his side, allowing her to have full control over the regression points as she wanted without her own monstrous strength resetting in the process.

Every single time Kenji regressed, his physical strength completely returned to zero, and in her opinion, his trait was only a conventional way to avoid permanent death.

The only thing he could ever improve across the timelines was his battle style, but even then, a common quality E-grade fireball could kill him before he could even react.

"Don’t you think you are looking down on him?" Nexus had asked her with a strange tone.

Ayla had thought about it for a long moment before answering honestly.

"Yes."

She had always considered him as someone she would protect forever, and she didn’t see why he had to face dangers when she could easily solve every single problem for him.

Also, the title of a Crusade administrator sounded completely ominous to her primitive monster mind.

If Kenji actually became that entity, she feared he would become just like Nexus, existing without a physical body as just a wandering consciousness that spanned every corner of the Crusade, and Ayla absolutely didn’t want that to happen to him.

"Did you ever ask Kenji for his opinion on the matter?" Nexus had questioned softly.

"I will take his opinion later," Ayla had stated stubbornly.

"What a benevolent person you are, exactly the same as—" Nexus’s voice had contained a distinct tinge of mocking before she cut herself off.

"Well, if someone else made a massive decision like this that affected your future evolution and strength without asking for your opinion, what would you feel toward that person?"

"There is no one in the world who can make a decision for me," Ayla had growled out.

"Then what about him?"

Ayla had been confused for a moment by the question.

"He... he has me," she had argued, but her words completely lacked conviction.

"Then did he ever make a decision that you didn’t want?" Nexus had continued asking, pushing her further.

Ayla had started to recall every single time they did something, realizing that she always chose to do things her way and every single decision belonged to her.

He hadn’t even suggested otherwise a single time during their entire journey. She bit into her lips as the realization hit her.

If he ever had a different opinion about his own life, would she even consider it?

Ayla knew she would never allow it, but didn’t he also deserve to have his own opinions about himself?

"Little girl, did you forget what I said about the threads of a relationship?" Nexus had sighed, her voice turning completely serious.

"Even if one single thread snaps, the whole pattern will never fail because it just changes its shape and continues existing. But if one of these threads is forcefully pulled by an outside force, not only may the thread break, but enough force can completely shatter the master pattern too.

A relationship cannot last without two people having opposing opinions, and he had his fate decided the very day he was born.

As long as he tries to oppose this fate, resentment will start to develop between you two. That pressure will eventually reach a breaking point where your love turns into pure resentment, so sometimes partings are much better for the survival of love itself."

Ayla suddenly snapped out from her deep thoughts when she felt Kenji’s calloused fingers gently tracing her warm cheeks.

"If you say no—" Kenji started to speak, his hazel eyes locking onto hers, but Ayla quickly raised her small hand and covered his mouth before he could complete that sentence.

She knew that if he did complete it, her possessive answer would be the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear.

"It’s fine," Ayla gave him a soft, reassuring smile as she looked at his face. "It’s not like I can’t see you anymore, and I will come to find you whenever I want."

Both of them knew that once they officially parted ways, it would take years or even decades for them to meet again, but neither of them wanted to admit that terrifying truth out loud.

Kenji pulled her tightly against his chest, holding her secure as they both lay together under the same mattress, the heavy sadness of their impending partition growing thicker at each passing moment.

*

* *

General Roric Vale continued in a deep coma. Without a legendary treasure that could completely rebuild his shattered soul, he was destined to remain like this, a hollow shell of a great warrior resting silently under the steady hum of the green medical monitors.

Kenji and Ayla stood quietly near the edge of his bed, their expressions reflecting the dim, clinical light of the private recovery room.

Lieutenant Maren stood directly together with them, her hands crossed over her chest and her gaze fixed on the old general’s pale face.

Kenji stepped forward, his hazel eyes locking onto his grandfather’s motionless features as he silently said his goodbyes to the man who had anchored his lineage in the Solgrace sector.

He turned his face toward Maren, his voice dropping into its standard cadence.

"Look after him, Maren," Kenji requested quietly, his tone calm but carrying a definitive weight.

"The internal lines of the fortress are stable for now, but his physical security cannot be compromised while the investigation continues."

He didn’t say the same words to Ayla because he knew her nature well enough to understand that she would never remain bound to this human military outpost without him by her side.

Kenji had never explicitly told anyone within the fortress command about his impending departure with the Nexus system.

He had kept the forbidden trial a total secret, simply informing the military staff that he was taking a temporary leave of absence to return to Earth so his mother could travel up to Solgrace and take his place at the general’s bedside.

He reached down, his large, calloused fingers wrapping firmly around Ayla’s small hand, pulling her toward the exit door.

He had decided that before the system’s countdown reached zero, he wanted to take her for one last outing outside the rigid human settlement of Solgrace, mirroring the carefree days they used to share back on Earth when they had ride together on his motorcycle.

The military base had a few civilian transport assets available for high-ranking families. Kenji secured a heavy, black tactical hover-bike from the central hangar, its engine letting out a low, bass-heavy growl as he fired up the ignition.

Ayla didn’t waste a single second. She hopped directly onto the back of the seat, her slender arms wrapping tightly around his waist and her chin resting comfortably on his shoulder as the vehicle shot out of the fortress gates and into the wider, open sectors of the Solgrace perimeter.

For the next several hours, they completely left the dark shadows of sadness behind.

They rode through the bustling civilian trade zones located at the outer rings of the human territory, where low-level rankers and merchants from Earth gathered to sell resources.

Ayla’s gloomy mood completely vanished the moment she smelled the local food stalls. They stopped at a noisy, brightly lit marketplace where she dragged Kenji from one vendor to another, greedily devouring plates of heavily spiced grilled meat, sweet pastries, and local delicacies.

She ate with absolute joy, her cheeks completely stuffed as she forced Kenji to take bites of her favorite snacks.

They spent the afternoon doing fun things, playing simple arcade games at the human recreational centers and walking through the crowded parks without a single care in the world.

To any passing merchant, they looked just like a normal, affectionate young couples enjoying a casual weekend date.

But the passage of time was unyielding, and the night eventually arrived.

The bright neon lights of the civilian markets slowly faded behind them as Kenji drove the hover-bike up the winding, rocky paths of the highest vantage point in the human sector.

They stepped off the vehicle and walked to the edge of the jagged cliffside, standing together in the cool night breeze.

From this immense height, they could watch the entire human settlement stretching out across the dark valley below, its millions of artificial lights twinkling like a fallen constellation against the barren, gray earth.

The silence between them grew incredibly thick, filled only with the rhythmic rustle of Ayla’s dark fur coat.

Kenji turned his body slightly, his hazel eyes looking down at her silver hair one last time. He didn’t offer any dramatic promises or long, emotional speeches.

He simply tightened his grip on her hand, his thumb lightly tracing the smooth skin of her wrist.

"Keep yourself full while I am away," Kenji murmured softly into the dark air.

Ayla laughed, "don’t you worry I will eat all humans here?"

She squeezed his large hand with all her physical strength, her heart heavy but her mind completely resolved. "I will wait for you Kenji."

Suddenly, the empty sky directly above their heads split open.

An absolute, blinding pillar of pure white system light fell straight down from the sky, completely enveloping both of them within its massive, silent column.

The sheer intensity of the light was so overwhelming that it momentarily blinded Ayla’s vision, forcing her to close her eyes.

The phenomenon lasted for only a single, split second.

When Ayla finally opened her eyes and returned to her proper senses, the blinding white light had completely vanished from the cliffside, leaving the dark sky perfectly still once again.

She instinctively reached her hand outward, searching for the familiar, steady form she had been holding onto just a moment ago.

But her fingers closed around nothing but the cold, empty night air.

There was no warmth of Kenji standing beside her anymore.