Darkness.
Silence.
Then—a faint breath.
Jin's eyes snapped open.
His entire body was numb, broken, barely functioning. Every inch of him screamed in pain, but his mind was clear. He was alive.
But was anyone else?
The last thing he remembered was collapsing beside Lia. Laplace was dead. The island was in ruins. But—what happened after?
Slowly, painfully, Jin forced himself up.
The cave around him was barely standing. The walls were charred, cracked, soaked in blood. The air was thick with the scent of death.
And then—his gaze fell on her.
Lia.
She was lying there, still unconscious. Her breathing was faint. Her face was pale, dirt and blood staining her fragile features. But—she was alive.
Jin exhaled. Relief.
He reached out, trembling, touching her cheek gently. "Lia…" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
She didn't wake.
But she was breathing. That was enough.
For now.
Jin's gaze hardened. He had to move. They couldn't stay here. Not in this graveyard.
He struggled to stand, his legs weak beneath him. His entire body ached, burned, screamed. The battle had taken everything from him.
And yet—he had no choice but to move forward.
He lifted Lia into his arms, holding her close.
And then, he stepped out of the cave.
What he saw next froze him in place.
The battlefield—a nightmare.
Bodies were scattered everywhere. Blood soaked the earth. The air was thick with the scent of burning flesh.
The sky, once filled with airships and reinforcements, was now empty.
No one was left.
Jin's breath hitched. His team…
Lysander. Arden. Kaelros. Rin. All of them.
Dead.
His legs nearly buckled. His hands clenched into fists.
This… was his failure.
A wind blew past, carrying whispers of the fallen.
Kaelros's final words echoed in his mind.
"Jin… Don't die. You have to live… Protect them."
A weight crushed his chest.
His team had believed in him. And he had failed them.
He gritted his teeth. His vision blurred. His body trembled.
Then—Lia stirred.
A faint whisper left her lips. "Jin…"
He snapped out of it, looking down at her.
Her eyes fluttered open.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—her expression twisted in horror.
She saw the battlefield. The blood. The corpses. Everything.
And then—she remembered.
The screams.
The deaths.
Rin being torn apart before her eyes.
Kaelros sacrificing himself.
Lysander falling.
Arden's skull being crushed.
She let out a scream.
Jin held her tighter. "It's over." His voice was quiet, almost numb.
But Lia shook violently. Tears poured down her face.
"No… No, no, no, NO!" She grabbed his chest, sobbing. "They're all dead! They're gone! Jin, they're GONE!"
Jin closed his eyes.
He had no words.
He couldn't promise her that everything would be okay.
Because it wouldn't.
Instead, he simply held her, his grip tight, unyielding.
Minutes passed.
Hours.
Finally, Lia's sobs faded.
Her fingers clutched his shirt, trembling. "…Where do we go now?"
Jin's eyes lifted toward the horizon.
The island was destroyed. The war wasn't over.
And deep in his soul—he knew something far worse was coming.
His voice was cold. Empty.
"We survive."
"And then… we make them pay."