**Somewhere in the country of Pandene**

Max grabbed Zern by the hair and dragged him up the corridor to a room on the other side of the mansion. He left behind a bloody trail as he bled from all the different wounds that he had been put through.

"Please," Zern cried out. "Just kill me. Please!"

"Kill you?" Max asked. "So you can come back alive in some different place? I don’t think so."

"Who are you?" the man shouted, not understanding his current situation. "What did I ever do to you?"

He had just gotten the news of what had happened back in Starhall, how all 5 of the Novas that had gone to destroy them had ended up dying. He had been planning on what next he could do when this young man had teleported in and kicked him around.

Max casually carried a spear on his shoulders while dragging Zern through the mansion.

"Well... I could say you made bad use of the gift you were given, or I could say you troubled my sister," Max said. "But the truth is, I’m just doing this for some points. I got a quest to bring you to your maker."

"My... maker?" Zern asked, unsure what Max was talking about.

Max kicked open the door to a large hall, bright sunlight peering through the stained glass window. It was like a throne room that Zern had made, with a single seat at the far end of the room.

A man sat on it, seemingly in his early 30s with fair skin, and long black hair flowing down the side of his shoulders like a waterfall.

Zern looked at the man with pure awe in his eyes. "M-Master?"

"Yo! Zern," the man said in a youthful voice. "I see you’ve made an empire for yourself with the powers I gave you."

"Master, I—"

Zern suddenly lost his voice, unable to speak.

"And yet," the man continued as though nothing had happened, "you used those powers for all the wrong things. I expected better of you, Zern."

Zern tried to speak again, but no words came out. Only after the man waved his hands did he find his voice return. "Master, I can fix this. I promise. Give me a second chance, please."

The man shook his head. "Did you forget why I gave you your powers?" he asked.

"I..."

"That was your second chance," the man said as he stood from the seat and walked down the hall until he came before the bloodied Zern. "Not anymore. I’m sorry it came to this, Zern. But you need to pay for all of your sins."

The man placed his palm on top of Zern and suddenly Zern felt all of his energy drain away until nothing at all was left.

"Goodbye, Zern," the man said. "I would wish you a good life in the next one, but we all know you’re not going to get one."

A powerful blast from Max obliterated any physical remains of Zern, killing him forever.

The man watched the large crater on the floor and shook his head, letting himself forget about what he had to see. He looked up.

"All loose ends have been tied, have they not?" he asked. "Let’s leave."

"Actually, Father!" Max quickly said. "There’s one more thing."

* * * * * *

**3 Days after the Invasion at Starhall**

Stanley stood in front of his mother’s grave, or at least an approximate location of where it should have been. A year had passed since her death, and half a year since his brother’s death.

The landscape of the Last Hope which had been completely destroyed by the Crawlers half a year ago had begun regrowing new plants. Even after such a disaster, life found a way to thrive.

It was a hot summer day, but this far north, the air was cool.

"I’ve avenged you, mother," he said. "Both you and Bradley."

He felt at peace now, talking to his mother one more time. "I wish Bradley was here so we could tell you this together, but..." Stanley sighed. "I’m told Dulls like you have a chance at a different life somewhere else. I do not know if that is true, but I choose to believe it. It means you might finally have the life you deserve, Mother."

"And don’t worry about Bradley. His soul," Stanley thumped his chest, "it’s right here. I suppose that is one benefit of being a Nova. I get to carry around the souls of my loved ones even after they pass away. No matter where I go, they will always be right here."

He could feel his eyes tearing up now. He was sure he wouldn’t cry this time around, and yet...

Sheila walked over to him and knelt down on the ground, placing her hands over his. Stanley looked back and placed his other hand over hers.

"Don’t worry, mother. I found someone who can take care of me like you did," Stanley said. "She loves me like you did as well."

Sheila looked toward the small plant that grew in front of them. "Do not worry, Miss Yelena. I will take good care of your son."

Stanley couldn’t help but smile.

"STANLEY!" a loud voice called out.

Stanley slowly turned around toward the voice, confused. He and Sheila should have been the only two here. Who else had...

"Max?" Stanley asked, surprised to see the red-haired man jumping down from the sky toward them. He landed with a thump near them, and Stanley quickly got up to meet him.

"Hey!" Max said with a wide grin.

"You’re really here. How did you get here? How did you know we would be here?" Stanley asked.

"I heard you wanted to meet me again, so I came," Max said, ignoring the other question.

Stanley was about to say something when a bright light flashed and two more people appeared close by.

One was a woman with bright red hair and a beautiful face. And the other was a man with long black hair.

"Sister Amy?" Sheila asked in surprise.

"Amy?" the man next to her asked with a confused look. "You didn’t tell me you were using a different name? If you’re going to choose one, you should choose one that’s not so close to your real name." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Amy grunted a little in frustration. "I told them my name, and they misheard it, and it was a whole debacle. I’m not going to bore you with it," she told the man.

"Your name isn’t Amy?" Stanley asked. "What is it then?"

"It’s Emma," she answered. "Just Emma."

The man chuckled to the side and walked toward them. He reached out for a shake. "You must be Stanley. I heard a bit about you from my daughter," the man said.

"Yes, I am," Stanley said. "Your... daughter?"

"He’s our father," Amy said from the side.

"Huh? But he’s so young," Sheila said.

"Don’t get duped by his age, he’s like a hundred billion years old at this point," Amy said.

"Hundred... billion?" Stanley asked, simply failing to fathom such an amount.

"The name is Ning," the man said as he shook Sheila’s hands. "I’m sure you’ve heard of me."

Stanley felt like he had heard of the name before. Sheila knew exactly where she had heard of the name. "You are... You are that... that man... that..."

"Anyway, you wanted to talk to my son, so I will leave you two," the man said and teleported a few distance away.

Amy looked around and shrugged. "I’ve already said my goodbyes, so I don’t need to say many words, I suppose. Take care." She teleported away as well.

Max had a goofy grin on his face. "You wanted to meet me?" he said.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," Stanley said. "I wanted to thank you for training me. If not for you, I would have died so many times."

"Oh, no problem. I’m glad to be of some help," Max said. "Besides, I did it mostly because I had a chance to get some points."

"Some... points?" Stanley asked.

"Don’t worry about it. It’s for my system," Max said. "So, what are you going to do now? Go back to AAA?"

"Most likely," Stanley said. "At least, for the time being. Who knows what I will do in the future though? What about you?"

"Me? I’m gonna spend some time with my parents. My mother misses me dearly. I’ll be there for a few dozen years, and then... who knows, I’ll be off to another world, another adventure."

"Another... world?" Stanley asked.

"Well, don’t worry about it," Max said. "Anyway, this is the last time I’ll see you guys. I’ll try to remember you all, but... memory isn’t my strongest suit, I’m afraid."

Stanley nodded. "I will definitely remember you, Max," he said.

Max grinned. "Take care you two, and live long," he said as he reached his hand out for a shake.

Stanley instead hugged him. "Thank you, and take care of yourself."

Max was taken aback for a bit but smiled. "I will," he said and gave Stanley a hug before letting go. He walked back and gave Sheila a small salute before walking off toward his father and sister.

Ning suddenly teleported in front of them and handed them something. "Last time I did this, it went very badly," he said. "This time though, I have a feeling it will all turn out great. Don’t let me down."

He teleported away and then all 3 of them were gone, leaving behind just Sheila and Stanley.

"That... was Ning," Sheila said softly. "The guy who coined the term Nova."

Stanley’s eyes widened. "Oh! That was him?" he asked. "How was he alive for so long?"

"And he’s Amy’s father? Didn’t sister Amy say he’s been alive for a hundred billion years?" Sheila asked, doubtful. "Do you think that is true?"

"Who knows," Stanley said, looking at the small chip he was given. "What’s this?"

"Looks like a storage chip," Sheila said. "Like the type that holds files and data. Was that what he gave you?"

Stanley nodded. "I wonder what is in here."

"Let’s go check," Sheila said.

Stanley nodded. He looked back toward his mother’s grave. "We’ll be heading off, Mother," he said. "See you later."

Stanley and Sheila went on their way, walking down the destroyed cliff-side, toward a future that awaited them. The bubbling energy that festered within Stanley had yet to reveal a new power, but soon, he was sure he would awaken so many more.

He had started this journey as someone who had no powers, someone who society deemed useless. He had fought through it, oblivious of his own self.

But that had changed now. It would remain changed.

He did not know yet, but with the aid he had just received, he would go on to become a pillar of Peace and Stability in the future, someone whose name alone sent the world into a stir.

There were many Novas in the world now, and many more would be born. And even among them, not a single one would compare to him.

Throughout the remainder of human history, he alone would remembered as the Strongest Nova.

[The End]