Nova was so terrified that she completely lost control of herself.
Her body trembled violently, and the fear overwhelmed her mind.
When her eyes fell on Akuma again, she tried to run—
but her legs refused to move.
She was frozen.
At that moment, Akuma noticed her too.
He looked at Nova and said calmly,
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before… but I can't remember where."
Those words sent a wave of panic through her.
Summoning whatever strength she had left, Nova turned and ran as fast as she could.
But fear slowed her down—
her body simply wouldn't obey her will.
Akuma, however, paid little attention to her escape.
Instead, he raised his gaze toward the sky and spoke in a cold, detached voice,
"This world will never change.
There is only one way to fix it…
and that is to destroy it."
He then turned toward the Giant Monster and said,
"Friend, it seems even you were born because of humanity's hypocrisy.
But don't worry…
I will stand by your side."
With that, Akuma placed his hand on the monster's head and continued,
"Now tell me—
what was it that disturbed your sleep?"
The monster responded by slowly nodding its head.
From a distance, Nova witnessed everything.
Her fear deepened, tightening her chest.
"I have to get out of here alive," she whispered to herself.
"If I die here, I won't be able to warn my king…
and the entire plan will collapse."
The scene then shifted to Max.
At first glance, he looked dead.
But he wasn't.
His condition was so critical that he couldn't even speak anymore—
his body barely clinging to life.
Soon after, the Leader returned to Akuma.
The moment Akuma saw him, he attacked without hesitation.
"What are you doing?!" the Leader shouted.
But Akuma didn't respond.
He continued his assault in complete silence.
Finally, the focus returned to the monster.
It was now speaking to someone unseen, its voice low and heavy.
"It seems…
you are finally ready."
Nova ran.
Not because she wanted to—
but because fear had taken control long before her mind could.
Her breathing was broken, uneven. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if the air itself was pushing back against her. The sky above Yukanda no longer looked like a sky. It felt low. Cracked. Watching.
She didn't dare look back.
She already knew what she would see if she did.
Nova's hands trembled as she forced herself forward. Her speed, once unmatched, was gone. Fear had stripped her of precision. Light no longer answered her the way it used to. Every time she tried to accelerate, her body hesitated—as if it understood something her mind refused to accept.
This battlefield was not meant for her.
"This isn't how it was supposed to happen," she whispered.
Her thoughts raced faster than her feet. The barrier. The warning. The calculation. Every possible future she had seen ended the same way—collapse. The difference was only the order in which things fell apart.
If she didn't escape now, there would be no message.
No warning.
No second chance.
And her king would walk blindly into extinction.
Nova clenched her jaw and forced herself to keep moving.
Elsewhere, among the ruins where buildings had folded into themselves like broken bones, Max lay motionless.
Dust covered his face. Blood stained the ground beneath him, already dark, already cold. From a distance, he looked dead—another forgotten body in a city that had learned to accept loss as routine.
But Max was still alive.
Barely.
Every breath felt like glass in his lungs. His heartbeat was slow, irregular, as if his body was unsure whether continuing was worth the effort. He tried to move his fingers. Nothing happened.
His mind screamed.
His body refused to answer.
So this is it, he thought.
This is where I stop.
Images flickered behind his eyes—not memories, but regrets. Things unsaid. Choices delayed. Moments where he could have acted sooner but didn't.
He had never believed himself to be a hero.
But dying like this—
unable to stand, unable to fight—
felt worse than death.
A shadow moved through the dust.
The Leader stepped closer.
The Leader looked down at Max without expression.
This was not anger.
Not hatred.
It was assessment.
He crouched slowly, ignoring the pain radiating through his own body. Even he was not untouched by what had happened. His armor was cracked, his breathing controlled but strained.
"You're still alive," the Leader said quietly.
Max tried to speak. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Blood filled his throat. His vision blurred.
The Leader watched him for a long moment.
"You always were stubborn," he continued. "Refusing to know when you've lost."
Max's eyes twitched, rage and shame mixing together.
The Leader stood up.
"Stay alive if you can," he said flatly. "Or don't. Either way, this world won't wait for you."
With that, he turned away.
But his steps slowed.
Something had changed.
The ground vibrated—not violently, but enough to be felt. The air shifted. Pressure built like an approaching storm. The Leader's instincts screamed at him to move, to prepare, to choose.
He clenched his fists.
"This is getting out of control," he muttered.
For the first time, doubt crept into his thoughts.
Nova finally stopped running.
Not because she was safe—
but because she couldn't go any farther.
She leaned against the remains of a collapsed tower, her legs giving out beneath her. Her chest burned. Tears mixed with sweat, though she didn't remember crying.
She pressed her palm against the ground and tried to stabilize her energy.
It wavered.
"Calm down," she told herself. "Think. You don't survive by panicking."
But survival had never felt this fragile before.
She replayed what she had seen. What she had sensed. The way power had twisted the atmosphere itself. This wasn't just destruction.
This was judgment.
Nova realized something then—something terrifying.
No one was in control anymore.
Not the rulers.
Not the protectors.
Not even the ones who believed themselves gods.
The universe wasn't reacting.
It was retreating.
"If I don't leave now…" Nova whispered, "…then none of this will matter."
She stood up, forcing her legs to lock, forcing her breathing to slow. She focused—not on fear, but on duty.
Live, she told herself.
Even if it means running.
Light gathered faintly around her.
She turned away from Yukand
Back among the ruins, Max finally managed to move a single finger.
Pain exploded through his nervous system, but he welcomed it. Pain meant he was still here.
He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth, and laughed weakly.
"So… not dead yet," he whispered.
The city answered with silence.
Max dragged himself an inch forward, then another. Every movement felt pointless—but giving up felt worse.
"I won't die like this," he said through clenched teeth. "Not today."
Above him, the sky groaned.
And far away, Nova vanished into the light—
carrying the truth of Yukanda with her.
The Leader stood alone, watching the horizon darken.
For the first time, he understood.
This wasn't a battle anymore.
It was the beginning of an ending.