For the briefest moment, Lumine thought the world had frozen.

Only when Azriel stood did he realize that was not the case. Without thinking, Lumine rose as well, facing him while Azriel held the lantern in one hand.

"What... what do you mean, you’ll be dead? W-Why? No—how?"

With a gentle curve of his lips, Azriel said,

"There are certain beings I am up against, and it seems I am too weak to escape this one... even if I gamble."

Then he stepped back and, without warning, loosened his robes, revealing his bare chest to Lumine.

The sight made Lumine flush instantly, his face reddening before he could stop it.

But then his attention shifted.

Slowly, his eyes settled on Azriel’s chest.

A small black star was marked on the right side of it.

Noticing where his gaze lingered, Azriel spoke in a calm voice, free of tension.

"A powerful being was trapped inside the Forest of Eternity. I have to defeat him if I want to leave this scenario... yet this star is a curse that was placed on me. At most, I only have a few weeks left to kill him. Otherwise, I die."

Lumine took a step forward without realizing it.

"No... there... there has to be something you can do, right?"

But Azriel shook his head.

Lumine could not accept it.

"W-What about me? I-I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’m the Apostle of Life... you’re the Apostle of Death... if we work together, surely we can think of something—"

"Fool."

Azriel cut him off, looking at him with exasperation.

"Be grateful his eyes are on me instead of you. If they were on you, he would not stop at harming you alone. He would go after everyone you care about. And he is not limited to this scenario."

Lumine swallowed hard.

’This being... how strong is he? For Azriel to accept defeat... and death... it sounds like he’s speaking of something inhuman... something like... a god.’

A shudder ran through him as he rejected the thought with all his strength.

’That can’t be... if... if that really is the case... then he’ll really die...’

He couldn’t.

Lumine could not allow that to happen.

He had to—

"You think you have to do something. Isn’t that right?"

Lumine flinched as Azriel read his thoughts so easily. A quiet chuckle escaped Azriel’s lips.

"But even if, by some miracle, I survive the curse... my death is still inevitable."

As if searching for a way to make Lumine understand, Azriel loosened his robes further and revealed his right upper arm.

For a few seconds, Lumine could only stare.

His body lagged behind reality.

Then he understood what he was looking at.

...Cracks.

It looked as though veins of fractures ran through Azriel’s arm, like dried stone split apart from within.

Lumine sucked in a cold breath and clenched his teeth.

For some reason, they looked agonizing.

And horrifying.

"The price for leaving the Forest of Eternity... was my life."

Azriel traced his fingers lightly over the cracks, his gaze solemn.

"I consumed too many cores inside the Forest of Eternity, and it came at a cost. I developed a rare illness called Mana Core Syndrome..."

"There... there has to be a cure, right?" Lumine asked quickly.

"A cure has not yet been developed... though I do have the capability to create one."

Immediately, Lumine’s eyes lit with hope, only for Azriel’s next words to extinguish it.

"But the number of cores, and the quality of the cores, that I consumed were simply too much. As you can see, the disease has already spread too far. No cure will save me now... No, that is not entirely right. If I were to stop using mana completely, and somehow return to our world where we have the proper resources, then perhaps there would still be a twenty percent chance of saving me."

He gave a faint, humorless smile.

"But that is nothing more than a fool’s dream. The cracks have already spread this far because I kept using mana, and they will continue to spread until I die."

"No..." Lumine whispered, shaking his head. "I can’t accept that! There has to be another way! There is no way you are really going to die! You just revealed to me that you’re the Apostle of Death—how am I supposed to believe this is truly the end!?"

Lumine’s outburst did not seem to surprise Azriel at all.

"I am trying to make you understand," Azriel said quietly, "that there is no path left for me now except the one I am about to take, Lumine."

Then Azriel stepped closer.

"There is one question I haven’t answered yet, isn’t there, Lumine?"

The lantern in his hand flickered for a moment, casting Azriel’s face into darkness as he spoke in a low voice.

"Am I... evil?"

Feeling his breath catch in his throat, Lumine watched as Azriel’s face was once more lit by the lantern.

"I do not know whether I can be called evil or good. I have done horrible things while convincing myself they were for the greater good. But... I realize now that I did them out of fear as well. And maybe there were choices I could have made that would have been better for everyone."

A hint of melancholy lingered in Azriel’s eyes, and within them Lumine saw the reflection of his own desperate face.

"But the choice I make now is one I know I will not regret. Not when it is for the sake of my dear sister... and all of you."

"W-What do you mean?"

It felt as though something deep inside Lumine had stirred and begun to ache.

’Oh...’

And then he understood.

’My soul hurts...’

Azriel stepped closer, and Lumine felt his cold breath brush against his face. Then Azriel looked past him, toward the empty darkness stretching ahead.

"True to my name, from this point on, I will kill everyone on the other side of that darkness. Until my very last breath, I will leave behind a trail of blood and bodies... and I will never look back."

Lumine pressed his lips together, trying to steady his racing heart and trembling body. But he was not trembling out of fear of Azriel or the words he spoke.

No.

He was trembling from the overwhelming sorrow crushing his chest.

"Even if I do not leave this scenario... I will make sure all of you do."

"..." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"I will kill many. Participants from our world. Innocents from this one."

"No... please, Azriel... don’t do this. We still have some time, right? W-We can still find another way... there has to be... there has to be some way to save you."

He pleaded with him, but deep down, Lumine already understood.

Azriel had no intention of letting him get involved in whatever fate awaited him.

"There is one way."

Once again, the lantern flickered, casting darkness across Azriel’s features. But Lumine did not care.

"Tell me, please!"

"...Since the oldest of times, in the most cliché stories, death has always been seen as evil, and life as good. The Apostle of Life is good. The Apostle of Death is evil. If the two of us were characters inside a book, you would be the hero, Lumine... and I would be the villain. And in the kind of happy ending most stories have, the hero wins by killing the villain... and in doing so, saves everyone."

"What are you—"

Lumine had no time to react.

Suddenly, Azriel snatched his free hand and pressed it against his chest. Instead of warmth, coldness seeped into Lumine’s palm as he felt the steady rhythm of Azriel’s heartbeat. In his other hand, he nearly dropped the notebook.

"You must kill me, Lumine. That is the only other way."

"...!"

Lumine stared at him in absolute shock, unable to speak, able only to look at him like a fool.

Azriel, however, looked dead serious.

"H-How... how!? How is that saving you, you idiot!?" Lumine finally found his voice and shouted at the top of his lungs. His words echoed through the darkness as he tried to pull away, but Azriel refused to let go.

"I just told you I am about to kill dozens of innocent people, and you are still talking about saving me?" For the first time, Azriel sounded deeply irritated, glaring at Lumine with open frustration.

"Well, you’re the one in danger right now, aren’t you!?" Lumine shouted back, refusing to retreat.

Azriel’s grip tightened as he yanked Lumine closer, his teeth gritted.

"Have you not been listening!? I am going to kill! Do you not wish to be a hero!? What kind of hero would let me get away with murder!?"

Struggling against his grip, Lumine shouted back,

"I know what you’re trying to do, Azriel! I’m not falling for it!"

"Falling for it!? You think I’m lying!?" Azriel’s voice rose, startling Lumine even more. "Have you not already seen how I broke a prince’s back?! You think I did not notice the way you looked at me when I called myself the unworthy prince? You think I do not know that you know the truth behind those rumors!? Are you really about to let a monster walk away like this?!"

Utterly shaken by how easily Azriel had read him, Lumine found himself stunned by something else entirely.

"Y-You know as well...?"

"Of course I do! Why would I not know the truth behind the title of the unworthy prince?" Azriel spat. "Being branded a monster, having the truth buried, the great kings and queens gathering to decide what to do with me... this was the solution they came up with. The only ones against calling me the unworthy prince were King Ragnar and Queen Lyraelle. Not even my own father and mother truly stood up for me. Though I suppose that is still better than being dead, isn’t it?"

"I—"

Azriel’s grip only tightened further, making Lumine wince in pain.

"You still do not understand, do you? Do you not want to be a hero, Lumine!?"

"I do!" Lumine finally shouted.

"But I can’t call myself a hero for killing you! How would that solve anything!?"

"If you have any courage—if you have any ambition to be a hero—then you will slay me here, carry my head to the great kings and queens, and they will all rejoice. And even if they do not, I assure you the gods certainly will."

"Gah!"

At last, Lumine tore free of Azriel’s fingers and staggered back, water splashing beneath his feet. He glared at Azriel, and Azriel glared back with a dark, ominous intensity.

"As if I want to be that kind of hero! And what about your sister, huh!? How will killing you here save her? Or Celestina? They need you!"

Azriel looked as though he were clenching his jaw hard enough to crack it. At last, he clicked his tongue and spoke again, quieter now, softer.

"I already told you... that thing will not stop at me. It will go after everyone I care about..."

Azriel stepped closer once more, while Lumine stayed tense, on guard.

Then, with a gaze that almost looked like a plea, Azriel said,

"Kill me..."

’Ah...’

Now he understood.

Now Lumine understood why Azriel had said all of those things.

His words had said one thing.

But his eyes had said something entirely different.

They said—

Please... please, Lumine... please kill me.

Because killing him...

would save him.

Lumine clenched his fist and tightened his grip on the notebook. He felt the wet warmth of his own blood trickling down and dripping into the water below.

"I... can’t..." he finally said in a resigned voice, then looked away, his eyes squeezed shut.

"I don’t want to..."

Lumine could not do it.

Not because he was against the act of murder itself...

But because something deep inside him refused, especially when it came to Azriel.

Azriel lowered his gaze, wearing a smile that was neither happy nor angry.

"Alright..." he said quietly.

Lumine opened his eyes and looked at him.

"You know, someone pointed out to me today that I looked tired. The truth is... I am beyond exhausted."

A long sigh escaped Azriel’s lips. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and when he looked at Lumine, there was a quiet resolve in them that made Lumine bite his lip.

Then Azriel held out the lantern to him.

"There is no need for you to follow me any farther. I am sure you are deeply worried about Yelena, aren’t you? Go. Be with her."

’No...’

Without even realizing it, Lumine had already taken the lantern.

’Wait.’

Then Azriel walked past him.

’Move, dammit!’

But Lumine already knew.

His legs were not going to move.

They were not going to follow him.

And just as surely, he knew that this conversation—this moment with Azriel—would haunt him for the rest of his life.

So Azriel kept walking.

He took the path Lumine could not follow.

The sound of splashing footsteps grew quieter and quieter, until there was no sound at all.

Then he was gone.

Swallowed by what looked like a void.

And Lumine remained where he was, standing still, holding the only light in that endless darkness.