First, there was Saro Uth.

"- Saro Uth!"

Then, there was Elsa.

"...... Elsa?"

Next, there was Lilith.

"No, no, don't -!"

Then, there was Yuzuriha.

"Why? Why..."

Finally, there was Mio.

"...... Everyone... everyone..."

- Died.

In the sky, a giant Beast Source User emanated golden light, facing Aloof, while spewing golden breath from its mouth. Under this breath, everyone except her vanished instantly.

They completely disappeared, leaving no trace.

There was nothing left, no physical body, no soul, no trace of anything.

All that remained was herself.

Aloof could only stare blankly at the Beast Source User in the sky. Her brain shut down, her body completely stiff, instantly losing all sensation, making it unbearable for her to accept. If there was anything she had left, it was only her parents and older brother. Besides that, she had nothing.

At this moment, Aloof's mind was blank, unable to imagine anything.

From beginning to end, it seemed like she hadn't played any role at all. Even in this situation, she could only watch helplessly as everyone died, unable to do anything, not even dying a moment earlier.

Among all the people, whether it was Green or the others, not only did they die, their bodies didn't even remain, as if they were directly erased from existence. But, only she was left.

Why was that?

Looking at the Beast Source User in the sky, it felt like it was mocking her.

It had killed so many powerful people, but only she, the weakest existence, survived. This was a great humiliation and sorrow for Aloof, but for the Source User, it was nothing more than amusement.

Completely golden, with the appearance of a dragon, the Source User fluttered its wings. Its whole body fluctuated in sync with the frequency of the wings' movements. It gazed upon the small humans below, filled with an unprecedented disdain.

Unexpectedly, something happened.

The entire body of the Beast Source User emitted a bright light, like metal glowing from intense heat. In this state, its entire form rapidly shrank, changing shape continuously, until it ultimately became the size of a human.

Immediately after, the intense light dissipated, and the golden Source User had actually transformed into the form of a human man.

The man had a cold expression and wore a pitch-black suit. He had short white hair, too pale as if it had lost its color; his eyes were black, contrasting the color of his hair, seemingly containing everything in the world. His skin was also white, but slightly different from his pale hair, giving off a sickly pallor.

He no longer had the gold color that he had before, only black and white remained on his body.

At this moment, the man was not very far from Aloof, just a few steps away, close enough that they could reach out and touch each other's faces.

Aloof looked at the Source User who had suddenly transformed from a golden beast into a human, her expression showing confusion.

Why did he specifically not kill her?

And why did he turn into a human form?

What exactly was he?

The man seemed to sense Aloof's subconscious confusion and fear, and his previously expressionless face twitched slightly before breaking into a faint smile in the next second.

No matter how you look at that smile, you can't find the emotions that a smile should have.

The man walked forward, wearing a fake smile that couldn't even deceive children — or to be more precise, he merely made the facial muscles perform the action of "smiling" — and headed towards Aloof.

When Aloof snapped out of her daze, she found that the man had already walked up to her.

Just as the man reached out his hand to lift Aloof's chin, Aloof finally reacted. She was startled, then quickly stepped back, avoiding the man's hand, which she didn't know what he wanted to do with.

The man's pale palm was devoid of any color, resembling that of a dead person.

The man's smile still hung on his face. Faced with Aloof evading his actions, he didn't show anger or resentment, nor did he change his mind — soon, the man resumed taking steps forward and walked towards Aloof again.

Subsequently, the two of them began playing a game of cat and mouse: whenever the man approached Aloof, she would step back, and then when the man approached her again, Aloof repeated the motion of retreating. And then the man repeated it once more.

No one knew how long it lasted, but the man, unrelenting, continued walking towards Aloof with the same smile, and stretched out his pale hand to lift her chin.

During this time, not a single word was uttered between the two, nor was there any exchange on any level.

It wasn't until Aloof felt something hard behind her back that she realized the two of them had unknowingly reached the boundary of the space. Turning her head to look, she saw a blank space behind her, but her body was unable to move back even a little.

The man still maintained his false smile, and then step by step, with crisp footsteps, he moved closer to Aloof, slowly bent down, and gradually, slowly extended his hand, gradually narrowing the distance between his palm and her jawline.

Finally, the man's palm made contact with Aloof's chin.

In the instant that Aloof felt the touch of the man's palm, she suddenly widened her eyes in surprise, and for some reason, tears welled up and trickled down her cheeks, flowing into the man's hand.

The man's smile underwent a slight change, but it was still very false, lacking any emotions. His smile was completely different from that of a human — not because he was happy, nor because he deliberately disguised himself to deceive others, but simply, purely, and genuinely made the expression of "smiling."

But for some reason, why did Aloof feel so heartbroken?

"...Who are you?"

"..."

The man remained silent and continued to smile, offering no response. However, even without words, the man responded to Aloof's question with actions — he gently exerted force, lifting Aloof's chin, then closed his eyes and slowly leaned down to place a gentle kiss.

In the moment their lips touched, Aloof finally understood —

"Green? Green... you're Green, right! Green!"

"..."

Aloof's emotions suddenly surged, because she used her body to recognize the touch that belonged solely to Green.

Once her inner consciousness confirmed this, Aloof quickly pushed the man away with all her strength, and when she saw the man's face, she revealed a look of astonishment.

The man's expression was no different from before; it was still that "fake smile," but his eyes glistened with teardrops — no, tears were already rolling down — tears that contained all the emotions he had left.

At this moment, Aloof noticed cracks forming on the man's face, and golden light burst out from the cracks. The cracks quickly spread throughout his entire body, gradually shattering and collapsing the smile on his face.

In that moment, as Aloof looked at the crumbling face with the smile, he finally understood the most important emotion:

"I love you... forever, loving all of you..."

"Ugh... Green? Green!"

Aloof couldn't control his emotions any longer and cried uncontrollably, desperately rushing towards Green like a child. But upon reaching him, Aloof realized that Green's body was no longer as indestructible as before. Instead, he was like a person made of paper, easily shattered upon touch.

At this moment, the golden light bursting out from Green's cracked body grew even more radiant. His clothes turned into fragments and dissipated into the air, and his whole body started to waver, as if on the verge of shattering at any moment. Even when embraced by Aloof, his fragile body couldn't be stabilized.

"No... don't... don't die! Don't leave me alone!"

The decaying hand touched Aloof's worried face, using its last bit of strength to wipe away a few tears.

In the next instant, the intense golden light finally broke free from the confines of the body, unleashing itself with a dazzling display. Then, under the influence of the intense emotions from Green, the Source User who had been forcibly transformed into human form returned to its original state.

The shattered body completely transformed into golden light and instantly broke free from Aloof's embrace, shooting straight up into the sky. Following that, a blinding burst of golden light erupted in the sky, accompanied by a deafening roar that resembled a wild beast. A golden, dragon-like beast Source User reappeared in the space, completely gold and imposing.

Aloof ignored the roar of the behemoth.

Aloof maintained the pose of hugging Green, but there was nothing in his embrace anymore, not even the warmth from Green's shattered body.

At this moment, Aloof truly realized a fact - Green was truly dead, even his spirit...

This fact was like a surging wave, constantly assaulting and overwhelming Aloof's consciousness, as if it wanted to brand this cruel reality deeply into her heart and mind, never to be erased or forgotten.

At this moment, Aloof thought of a phrase: turn grief into strength. But how could one do that? Facing an enemy with no possibility of defeat, even the beloved person had died...

How could they defeat such a powerful enemy?

In reality, whether it was life or death, it was not Aloof's decision to make. She couldn't leave this space, she couldn't even commit suicide. Her life was completely controlled by the Source User, with no hope or room for change.

Regret, grief, countless similar emotions mixed in Aloof's heart.

What should she do?

Is there anyone, anyone who can come and help?

Even if it meant sacrificing her life, as long as it could save Green, save everyone, she would do anything...

She wanted to see Green again, see everyone's smiles again, return to the peaceful times of the past.

This was her - Aloof Farcist's only wish at this moment.

Just then, Aloof suddenly heard a voice filled with apology -

"...Sorry, I'm late."

Dawn broke through the darkness, and the darkness was finally dispelled by the light.