Knives spun through the snow. Kika's crimson fangs gleamed, matching the scarlet-stained flakes. Her pulse thundered with wild anticipation—an addictive hunger tearing through her veins.

Every clash set her blood ablaze; every fight became a desperate, beautiful gamble she ached to win.

As Asahi approached, Kika ran her tongue along her blades and tossed them with a reckless grin, desperate to stake her worth on violence.

"How fascinating. It seems your battle hasn't roused me yet."

Kika seized her blades in a flash, heart pounding too violently to allow the stillness. She bared her teeth at Asahi, voice raw and biting: "What are you doing here? Can't you see my knives are hungry for blood?"

Asahi met her blow for blow, parrying each strike with determination born from loss. The Sword of Eventide carved arcs, slicing between flying knives.

With the Orb of Immortality lost and absorbed by the three, he finally fought without restraint, determined to reclaim what was taken from him and restore his sense of purpose.

Yet the girl with midnight-purple hair remained a blur, always just ahead, fighting to defend her power and what it represented for her.

"What's YOUR problem?" Asahi shot back. His eyes flashed with irritation. "Do you always try to kill people before they speak?"

With each swing, the battle grew more frenzied, tension mounting in the hush of falling snow.

He batted away Kika's next strike and caught her gaze.

She darted in, swift and low, but he twisted aside with practiced grace.

Kika's grin vanished, replaced by a scowl as anger and old wounds gnawed at her.

For one breathless instant, the weight of expectation and betrayal locked her in place.

Her pink eyes clashed with Asahi's gray, both dulled by exhaustion from their endless struggle. Suddenly, she unleashed a storm of blades at the blood-marked circle, conjuring a floating crimson light above it. A beacon of red shot up into the air, transforming the clouds. As Asahi prepared for his next swing, the smoke dissipated, revealing..

"Asahi!"

Just beyond the shifting smoke, a pink-haired girl with glimmering turquoise eyes appeared in Kika's grasp. In that instant, the stakes soared. The immortal was cuffed in both hands, helpless to intervene. Gazing at those bright cyan eyes, Asahi instantly recognized the figure.

"Primrose!"

Even with immortality, she seemed utterly helpless, smothered by despair. A memory stabbed through Asahi, sharp with fear.

"Shouldn't she..."

With the Orb's curse in effect, Primrose should have been able to fight back. Yet her borrowed power crumbled before Kika's, and even Yawman's, might. Rage thundered in Asahi, his blade ready, but fear held him captive, caught between the urge to save and the horror of watching.

"Move one more time, I dare you."

Suddenly, Asahi's gray eyes caught a glint: an iridescent shard of the Orb lodged in Kika's flesh.

He jerked back in shock, watching as Kika gripped the shard, wrenched it free with a wince, then moved with chilling intent.

She hauled Primrose up and, in one swift motion, slammed her to the ground, driving her blade straight through Primrose's heart. Blue essence gushed from the wound, painting the snow with grief. Asahi watched, agony lancing through him—a howl of despair caught in his throat, limbs paralyzed by terror and awe.

"Primrose!" Asahi screamed, awestricken by the wretched sight.

Fury churned hot and wild beneath his skin. All his struggle, all his desperate hope, now burned to ashes before his eyes. He trembled as memories stabbed at him—cold, pitiless, of ice caverns, watery graves, frozen mountains, and ruined castles—his sacrifices laid bare, every victory now tasting of bitter loss.

"You..."

Asahi hurled his sword at Kika. Her wicked smile only widened, savoring the chaos she had unleashed.

"YOU!" Asahi screamed, his voice raw—anger festering in the ruins of his heart. Kika's cold gaze bored into him, the cruelty in her smile twisting the knife deeper.

Because she couldn't find the answers she needed, she gutted everything he loved, savoring his devastation.

At first, she stopped knowing that there wasn't a way to get them to become human again.

But that's when she found The Orb's shard splintered into Primrose's skin. Not just her, but also everyone else who came before.

The moment the shard loses contact with the person, all its attributes would be revoked and stripped away. Which, thus, causes this product.

Even if Asahi were to fight back, he had no choice. No choice at all. Anger continued to boil, mixed with sadness and desperation. Asahi staggered back, teeth clenched, his voice raw with rage and desperation as he demanded answers.

"What did you do to them?"

That's when he noticed Primrose wasn't the only victim.

All three, Trid, Grandpa, and Primrose, were all corpses, 'puppets' for this sick display of power.

Kika dropped her knife, knowing that her job was complete.

"It appears my job is done. See that, Queen? That's my love for you in all the ways I can."

With that, she giggled and left, leaving the three corpses lying in the snow, blood oozing and spilling out from their wounds.

Kika hadn't even realized that her knives were still stuck through the three bodies. Asahi, deep down, tried everything in his power to fight Kika and bring them back. But he knew that he couldn't win.

So... with the thought of meeting The Ruler of Bones, his followers, and everyone else he met this loop, vanished after a single snap... he realized there was more to this than meets the eye.

He HAD to reset.

He HAD to abandon everyone he met.

Questions arose such as...

"What would happen to Saunek and my followers?"

"Where would they go without me?"

"Will they be safe?"

As memories surged, chaos and despair crushed him.

Looking at the three silent corpses, his breath caught sharply—every hope shattering.

He ached with guilt, longing, and dread.

But he had to do this... just one more...

(SNAP)

. . .

Like before, and the one before that... Asahi's soul was placed back at the...

"Get back in the damn wagon, dim wit!"

As the snowflake fell, so did his last thread of sanity, unraveling in the cold night.

He couldn't bear to lose anyone else.

Asahi was so distraught that he didn't even bother to shatter the Orb. Like the moments before, the Orb was absorbed.

Immediately, after all these moments of loss and grief, Asahi ran back to the wagon with Trid and Grandpa, then off they went, flying into the snowy horizon.

Tears tracked down his numb cheeks—each one a testament to endless loss, the agony of repeating death grinding his spirit raw.

He could only stand mute, words strangled by grief.

He had remembered what he did to Yawman and knew that simply doing that wouldn't be enough.

Instead, silent and trembling, he shrank inward—dread and memory pressing him down. Every setback haunted him, each failed loop tightening like a noose, despair battling with a longing to act.

At that moment, the falling snowflakes seemed to dissolve into the darkness, mirroring his fragmented journey.

Asahi closed his eyes, letting the chill seep into his skin.

He grasped for a new resolve within the chaos, inhaling deeply as the frosty air whispered promises of change.

Somewhere in the distance, a faint light flickered, inviting him to unravel the truth behind the veil of limited resets. This beacon of hope whispered of a loop where all had been saved and loved. Yet, these bright promises were shadowed by memories of nightmares past—a time when despair ruled and victories were fleeting. The contrast between these two realities gripped Asahi, fueling his desperate longing for change while the weight of past failures threatened to pull him into darkness once more.

The massacres in Blacksmith Haven...

Primrose, Trid, Grandpa had been slaughtered on the spot...

Suddenly, the weight of everything that had happened crashed down on Asahi.

Before he realized it, Asahi was trapped in a dead end.

Haunted by his failures, Asahi buried his head in Primrose's lap and wept. The cold was so bitter his tears froze, yet Primrose's warmth offered a fragile comfort.

"Asahi, what are you doing?"

He curled in on himself, sobbing and shaking as his mind howled and churned.

"What do I do?!" he screamed inside, the question echoing a hundred thousand times in his tormented mind. "What do I do? What do I do?"

With villains closing in, Aiyana's revelation, and all he had endured, it was no wonder Asahi finally shattered.

So Asahi did nothing at all—he simply let himself drift to sleep on Primrose's lap.

Then moments later, Trid intervened.

His dark crimson hair shimmered underneath the cloud-lathered sun. He spoke in his usual speedy tone, saying...

"Why rush when slowing down is the proper sense of life?"

Grandpa had tried several times to wake Asahi up. But all he did was stand and sit there, doing absolutely nothing.

"Don't you think it's rude of you to run away?"

Primrose raced straight to the back and grabbed five enchanted soil canisters.

At once, she threw all of them at the approaching figure.

Flames erupted from the sides, but only the surroundings were devoured.

"Hey, lady. I mean no harm. Just give up now and..."

Primrose had hoped for Asahi to engage. But all he had done was stare at the bottom like a confused dog. She then turned to Grandpa, who had struggled to parry Yawman's attacks.

"Get in the damn wagon and leave. Your father and I will handle this, damn it!"

With no choice, knowing Asahi would do absolutely nothing, Primrose yanked on the reins and they skidded forward, leaving Trid and Grandpa behind.

. . .

(A day later...)

After leaving Trid and Grandpa behind, Asahi and Primrose decided to settle themselves deep in Erunkshinkdle City.

Despite a few actions, Asahi hadn't really interacted with anyone at all. The deep scars of the past had festered in his soul, rendering him unable to move because of these traumas.

All hope had dwindled, knowing he may never have the chance to meet his followers again. Not just that, but the impending doom of Kika came wherever he went.

The single question that bit at his tongue was,

Why does Kika have to kill everyone? What were her motives? And why was she so focused on Asahi's despair? Perhaps, deep within her tangled heart, Kika believed that understanding Asahi's deepest suffering might unlock the answers she sought for her own unresolved pain.

Perhaps within the chaos, she sought answers that eluded her—or a resolution hidden beneath layers of vengeance and anguish?

Yet, these were thoughts left unspoken, buried beneath the hardened surface of her resolve like the glaciers trapped in the ice.

Just when she thought they were safe, Asahi's chest lit up with a blue luminance that swallowed the walls. And then they were spotted.

"There's the Orb's thief!"

With that, Asahi stood there motionless, surrounded by officers all around. Primrose was stuck, appalled by his despair, questioning what had gotten into his head. But Asahi spoke not a word. Instead, he got captured and cuffed, unable to snap his fingers. Then he, along with Primrose, was thrown into the back of the police carriages and swiftly escorted to...

"Take them to the deepest depths of Astait's prison..." An officer said as a tall woman stood there, watching the carriage pace back and forth. "They shall not see the light of day."

"Has the Orb been absorbed already?"

"Yes, Madam Switly." The officer replied as he saluted her. "We will try our best to extract the Orb of Immortality from him in the meantime."

"Good." She said as Asahi's vision fades to black. "Soon, he shall know of his transgression for stealing such an artifact. Also, take the girl too."

"Yes, your majesty."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.