Meanwhile...
A mile away, the stench of blood still clung to the wind, even as the group fled deeper into the ruined wilderness of the dungeon zone.
Ron's scaled raptor feet pounded the ground in a rapid gallop, claws digging into earth and propelling him forward with astonishing speed.
His green feathers fluttered violently as Klee clung tightly to his back, her fingers gripping his neck with white knuckles.
Lina floated above in her spectral form, a blurry shimmer in the sunlight.
Beside her, Shiro's entire body flickered like a living shadow, his cloak rippling in sync with the world around him.
But none of them were calm.
Behind them, the distant echo of goblin roars still chased their ears like phantoms in the wind.
They didn't dare look back.
They couldn't.
"Sh-Shouldn't we… go back?" Klee's voice cracked. Her lips were pale. "Elius is—he's the reason we're alive! He's the reason we awakened! He's—he's the reason I have power!"
Ron skidded to a stop, panting.
"…She's right," he growled. "We can't just run away like cowards."
His golden eyes glared toward the dungeon's smoky skyline. "He's fighting alone. Against the boss. Against the whole goblin legion."
"And?"
Shiro's voice was cold.
Everyone turned.
He stood still.
His expression unreadable.
"…That's what he wanted."
Klee's breath hitched. "You don't know that."
"I do," Shiro said calmly. "I read body language."
Lina hovered beside him, frowning. "You mean, like gestures and expressions?"
"No," he said softly. "I mean everything. The twitch of muscle under tension. The contraction of veins when a heart rate spikes. The curl of a finger. The shifting of weight on a foot. The way someone exhales before moving."
Ron frowned. "That's absurd."
"It's not," Shiro muttered. "It's called kinetic empathy. I trained under my master in the Assassin Corps for eight years. I learned to read people faster than they can lie. Faster than they can breathe."
He walked forward slowly, his cloak trailing behind like a shadow made of wind.
"I watched Elius the moment we were told to run. He didn't yell. He didn't plead. He just turned around. Planted his feet. Tilted his shoulders. Centered his balance."
Shiro raised a single finger.
"That's the stance of someone preparing to hold a line."
"He doesn't want us there."
Klee gritted her teeth. "But—!"
"He moved between us and the goblins. He chose to stay. He looked over his shoulder once. Not in fear. Not in hesitation."
Shiro's voice dropped to a whisper.
"But to make sure we were running."
Ron opened his mouth to argue.
But something stopped him.
The look in Shiro's eyes.
"…You saw all that?"
"I saw everything," Shiro replied. "And more. He didn't want us to die. Not yet. He doesn't trust this world—but he trusted us enough to protect."
There was silence.
The wind whistled through the shattered ruins.
"…He's insane," Ron finally muttered.
Shiro's mouth curled into a dry smile.
"Yeah. He is."
They stood still.
Breathing. Thinking.
Klee's eyes welled up with tears, but she wiped them quickly.
Lina lowered to the ground, her ghost-light flickering faintly.
"…Then we keep running," she whispered. "Right?"
Shiro nodded.
Ron snarled, reluctantly turning forward again.
But just as they began to move—
A voice echoed behind them.
"…Shiro was right."
Everyone froze.
Eyes widened.
Klee gasped.
Lina's eyes blazed with ghostlight.
Shiro's head buzzed.
"…That voice…"
The leaves rustled.
The wind stilled.
But when they finally all turned around again—there was nothing behind them.
The winds rustled.
The little grass moved with phantom steps, but there was no one there. No figure. No shadow. No light. Just empty silence behind them.
"What…?"
Klee blinked, confused. "Ha—some—someone just spoke, right?"
Ron spun around in a crouched stance. "Where the hell is he?!"
But before anyone could say anything else—
"Look…!" Lina's voice cracked.
They turned to the front.
And they all froze.
Elius.
Standing there.
Unscathed.
His robes were torn and stained with dried goblin blood. His silver-white hair swayed in the wind. His face was half in shadow, half in the morning glow. His arms—his arms—were intact, both hanging casually at his sides. His gaze calm. His presence undisturbed.
"…You're kidding," Ron muttered.
"You're kidding!" Klee screamed.
In one impossible moment, she leapt off Ron's back—arms flailing, feet kicking wildly.
"ELIUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
She ran at full speed.
She stumbled.
She screamed again.
She tripped on her own feet—but bounced back up.
She flailed forward like a cannonball with too much sugar, her face blotched red with emotion.
And then—
WHAM!
Klee slammed into Elius with full force, wrapping her arms around his chest like a child grasping the last teddy bear on Earth.
"YOU'RE ALIIIIIIIIIVE!!"
Elius blinked.
His hands hung awkwardly in the air.
"…Ah."
Klee sobbed violently.
Snot.
Tears.
Hyperventilation.
All at once.
"I thought—hic—you—hic hic—died—and—and I didn't even say goodbye—and you didn't even scream when they ripped you—and I saw your body—AND—AND—your clone—and—and—and—I—hic—"
Ron arrived with a face pale as chalk.
"…You're… alive?"
His voice trembled like he couldn't trust his own eyes.
Even Shiro staggered forward a few steps, his jaw clenched, trying hard not to show how stunned he was.
"But your arms were ripped, Elius," Lina whispered.
"We saw it," Ron added. "We saw your arms—separated."
"We thought you were dead," Shiro said, cold sweat running down his neck.
Klee kept crying, not letting go. "DEAAAAAAAD!!!"
Elius looked helpless. His arms now slowly moved to pat Klee's head with an awkward hand motion.
"Okay… okay now. Breathe. Klee. You're flooding my shirt."
She hiccupped, snorted again, and just cried louder.
Lina was next.
She stepped forward, staring at Elius as though she were seeing a ghost. Her ghost-form flickered involuntarily.
"…I mourned you."
"I thought I failed you," Ron admitted, voice rough. "I thought we abandoned you."
"I… I thought you did it on purpose," Lina said with a weak laugh. "But I hoped you didn't."
Shiro crossed his arms and stared.
"You arms were separated from your body, Elius. That wasn't just an illusion. How did your arm–"
Elius took a breath.
"I know what you all saw."
He gently untangled Klee, who was now holding his waist like a drowning kitten. He knelt down slightly to meet all their eyes.
"You were supposed to run."
"But you are supposed to be dead," Klee said again, still sniffling.
"She is right," Ron muttered. "How…?"
Lina's voice was barely audible.
"…How are your arms even okay?"
"Yeah!" Klee shouted suddenly, eyes wide. "YOUR ARMS! Your arms were ripped off! There was blood! We heard bones snapping! How are they—" She poked his shoulder. "These are real!"
Elius chuckled softly.
To avoid worrying them, he offered a lie—half-truth wrapped in wisdom.
"I needed you to leave," he said, voice steady. "I needed to put myself in a real life-and-death situation. That's the only way to grow stronger. To sharpen my mind. To awaken something deeper. I knew if you were there, I'd hesitate. I'd hold back."
They stared in silence.
"I needed to focus. Without distraction. I made that choice."
There was a long pause.
Then Shiro stepped forward.
"…He's right," he said quietly. "If we had stayed, he wouldn't have pushed himself like that. He wouldn't have come back stronger."
He looked at Elius. "You are stronger now… right?"
Klee nodded. "Y-Yeah! You have to be!"
Lina smiled faintly. "Your aura feels… heavier. It's like you're walking differently."
Ron raised an eyebrow. "And again—your arms. Those were gone. I saw them rip. What's going on?"
Elius grinned slyly and tilted his head.
"What do you think?" he said. "They were never real in the first place."
All four stared.
Klee blinked twice.
"…Huh?"
"They were fake," Elius said. "Constructs made of qi and bone dust. Temporary limbs I created to move more naturally."
He held one arm up, curling his fingers in slow motion.
"I've been training myself to not rely on my arms. To fight without depending on them. To act like I'm vulnerable."
Ron's jaw dropped. "You mean… you fought without real arms this whole time?"
Elius nodded. "Yeah. It was my plan from the start."
Lina whispered, "You let yourself be handicapped… just so you could grow faster?"
Elius's smile deepened. "Exactly."
Shiro burst into a rare, sharp laugh. "You're a lunatic."
Klee just fell to her knees again and resumed sobbing.
"I DON'T CARE! I'M JUST GLAD YOU'RE BACKKKKKK!!"
Elius gently patted her on the head again, this time a little more naturally.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Not yet."
They all stood there, slowly coming to terms with it—Elius, alive. Standing. Breathing.
And stronger than ever?
They don't know, but as long as he is breathing, everything is fine.