The dust still hung in the air.
The battlefield was silent except for the faint whisper of the wind.
Kael knelt on the edge of the ten-kilometer crater.
His hand trembled as he reached out and touched the scorched earth.
The ground seemed to hum faintly with residual magic.
Images flashed before him—quick, sharp, painful.
A small girl laughing under cherry trees.
A lazy afternoon with Yuki, tossing pebbles into a river.
The two of them training, learning together.
Her smile. Her stubbornness. Her endless laziness.
And now…
Nothing.
Kael's fingers dug into the cracked soil.
"Yuki… why… why did it have to be like this?" he whispered.
Tears fell freely, tracing streaks through the dust on his cheeks.
He remembered the warning.
Rescue her… and he would be erased.
A choice no one should ever have to make.
"I… I can't…" he said, voice breaking.
"…Even if I wanted to… I can't save you."
The crater seemed to stretch endlessly, a silent void echoing his pain.
Kael's chest heaved.
Memories of laughter, of friendship, of a bond broken by fate itself, crashed over him.
Prince Eldarin hovered awkwardly behind him, unsure what to do.
"…Um… Kael?" he said hesitantly.
Kael shook his head.
"…Don't… don't say anything," he said, burying his face in his hands.
Lira, meanwhile, crouched on the other side of the crater, quietly observing.
Her ramen-stained fingers wiped clean as she finally said, softly:
"…Good… friend," she murmured.
"…Strong. Painful."
Kael stared at the empty crater, remembering Yuki's lazy smile, her laughter, and the girl she once was.
The battlefield around him was shattered, but his heart… shattered even more.
"…Why does it have to be like this?" he whispered into the wind.
No answer came.
Only the echo of what was lost, a crater ten kilometers wide, and a memory he could never reclaim.
To Be Continued…