As the Threnodian fled, the entire illusion began to collapse bit by bit. Seeing this, Rover decisively picked up Zane and hurried out together with Jiyan and the doctor.
Thanks to Zane's appearance, the group hadn't actually used up much strength while fighting the Threnodian, so they quickly walked out from the crumbling stone giant's body.
After reaching a safe place, Rover carefully set Zane's body down on the ground. Then she sat beside him, reaching out to gently stroke his face, her eyes filled with a sorrow she couldn't put into words.
They had clearly promised that neither of them would leave the other, yet this liar had stolen her heart and then left her behind.
Looking at that familiar face, she had imagined countless times traveling with him, facing powerful enemies with him, sitting together and watching the stars… Growing old together, hand in hand.
But all of it had really become nothing but a fantasy…
The mysterious creature circled around Rover, who was sunk in grief, a few times. It looked at her sorrowful face, then at Zane in her arms, and tapped its two little paws together.
"How many times is this?"
Hearing that, Rover raised her head. Her eyes, filled with confusion, looked at the mysterious creature.
"What do you mean by that? What do you mean how many times…"
Just as Rover was confused by Abby's words, a voice as gentle as a spring breeze suddenly appeared beside her.
"The Tethys System once made a prophecy, Zane will experience three deaths before he can welcome a new life."
"Who?!"
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Rover suddenly turned to the side, but saw no one. There was only a blue butterfly circling around her.
She thought it might be her imagination, so she spoke uncertainly.
"Who are you?"
"Shorekeeper." The butterfly gently landed on Rover's shoulder. Its aqua-blue wings shimmered faintly under the sunlight.
"This is a name that exists because of you."
'A name that exists because of me?', Although the confusion in Rover's heart was almost overflowing, she knew clearly that now wasn't the time to worry about that.
At that moment, she suddenly recalled her late-night conversation with Jinhsi.
[Although his heart started beating again a few minutes later, there is no doubt that during those short minutes, he experienced one death.]
"So you mean…" Rover murmured, quickly patting her cheeks to wake herself up. Now wasn't the time to grieve.
At the same time, uncertainty flickered in her golden eyes. "Zane can come back to life after dying?"
Then Rover recounted everything Jinhsi had told her that night, word for word.
Naturally, that included the information that Zane had seemingly died once back then.
Meanwhile, Jiyan used the excuse of returning to stabilize the army's morale and left the scene. He had a feeling that what was about to happen next was not something he should know.
Rather than struggle over whether he should learn these secrets, it was better to arrange everything before Zane woke up.
Jiyan firmly believed that Zane wouldn't die so easily.
After listening to Rover's explanation, the doctor nodded and walked over to Zane, crouching down to carefully examine his injuries.
As an evil spirit of Babel Tower, the doctor could be considered a true all-rounder. Commanding battles was only her side job, her main profession was actually being a doctor.
"No, he doesn't have that kind of ability. What happened before was probably just that he was revived through emergency treatment.", The doctor spoke while multitasking, explaining to Rover as she examined Zane's wounds.
"Each of Zane's three deaths is a trial between life and death. Only after going through all of this can he truly break the shackles of his past and become a new version of himself."
The more she examined, the more shocked she became.
Although it was very slight, she could confirm that under the effect of some kind of power, Zane's wounds had already stopped bleeding, and even tiny new flesh had begun to grow. The severe injuries were indeed slowly healing…
Could it be the thing on his wrist?
Thinking this, the doctor shifted her gaze to the Nexus Armament. Under the sunlight, the core on it faintly flickered with a trace of light.
Rover quietly watched Zane, whose eyes were tightly closed and whose face had no color at all. She couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but it felt like everyone knew something she didn't.
That feeling made her inexplicably irritated.
"What do I need to do?", Rover stood up, her golden eyes firm.
All this time, he had always been protecting her, protecting the people around him. Yet he had never truly handed his back to anyone. All the wounds and pain had been borne by him alone in silence.
What he left others with was always a bright, easygoing smile.
She wanted to do something for him.
Help him smooth over his wounds, take care of his daily life, tolerate his recklessness, stand by his side, live and die together with him.
The blue butterfly flapped its wings, gently flying up before landing on Rover's shoulder again.
"I will use the residual frequency Zane left at the Black Shores to build a passage leading to where his soul is."
Black Shores again.
But at this moment, the Black Shores was willing to lend a hand for Zane's sake, which made Rover's impression of it rise rapidly.
To Rover, anyone willing to help at a time like this was a good person.
On the other side, the mysterious creature placed one of its paws lightly on Rover's shoulder.
"I, Abby, will be responsible for protecting you, making sure you don't get lost inside."
"My original task was to ensure that during this process, his body wouldn't decay first. But now it seems that I'm not needed for that anymore.", As the doctor spoke, she shrugged, a relaxed smile appearing on her face. But soon, her expression turned serious again.
"We don't know what you'll encounter in that domain, but remember this, your own safety comes first. Also, Zane is Zane. He is still the person in your memories."
Sensing the concern in the doctor's words, Rover nodded solemnly.
Very soon, a golden black hole opened beside the blue butterfly. In an instant, a chilling wind blew out from the other side of the doorway, like a monster with its mouth wide open, waiting for prey to walk right in.
It was as if on the other side of that door, there was some enemy that couldn't be defeated.
Even so, Rover didn't hesitate at all. She stepped forward with her long, slender legs and walked into the doorway without looking back.
She knew that on the other side, he was waiting for her.
Watching as Rover and Abby entered the passage, only the doctor remained behind, guarding Zane's body.
Only at this moment did the girl, who had always presented herself as cold and rational, finally drop her disguise.
She let her legs, wrapped in black stockings, be stained with blood as she knelt beside Zane.
"Tell me, why are you so stupid… If it weren't for the fact that you just happened to be able to heal your body in some way… injuries like this really would have killed you!"
The penguin-like girl spoke as she lay down beside him without minding the blood on his body, resting her head against his cold chest.
As if only like this could calm her chaotic heart, even just a little.