The sun dipped low over the capital's skyline, its light cast in amber gold as Kane stood alone on the upper parapets of the capital's citadel. His hair was longer now, streaked with silver at the temples. His eyes were sharper, haunted—but resolute. The armor he wore bore Arasha's crest over his heart, polished until it gleamed.
Below him, inside the throne hall, King Alight delivered another speech to his people, firm and righteous, crowned not just with gold but with the people's trust.
A trust Kane had fought a decade to forge.
Ten years of quiet wars. Of uprooting corruption. Of honoring Arasha's will at every forked path.
He had taught Alight not only to rule, but to listen—to wield mercy without losing strength, to inspire without dominating, to become the kind of king Arasha once dared to dream of.
Below, the world she'd dreamed of was no longer a vision—it was real. He had done it. Every plan Arasha once whispered into late-night strategy tables. Every reform she etched into desperate missives. Every sacrifice, every hope—Kane had carried them to completion.
The corrupted nobility? Purged or broken.
The Order? Reformed, unified, and fiercely loyal.
The Awakened? Trained, protected, and free to wield their gifts in service, not fear.
The rifts?
Sealed.
One by one. Closed, cleansed, buried beneath stone and time.
And with the final one sealed just weeks ago, the system that had been silent for nearly a decade finally pulsed to life with a tone he had not heard since the day Arasha disappeared from his arms.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Main Quest Complete: Uphold Her Legacy
Progress: 100%
Reward Unlocked: "Thread Reconnection – Singular Crosspoint Access"
Kane laughed softly, but his chest ached.
"So this is it…" he whispered, tracing the message with his finger, as if touching it could make it more real. "You didn't lie."
The system pulsed again.
[Would you like to claim the reward now?
Warning: Memory retention permitted only for the Traveler. Target soul is unaware of prior timelines.
Proceed?]
Kane closed his eyes.
A long silence passed.
Then, he nodded. "Yes. I'll remember for both of us."
[REWARD INITIATED]
The light enveloped him—not harsh or blinding, but warm. Gentle. Like the firelight of nights spent planning beside Arasha, like the golden dusk of the day she first smiled at him without her armor on.
And then—he vanished from the tower, leaving only the wind and silence behind.
****
Across continents, across oceans, in lands Arasha had never stepped foot in, her name lived on.
In the taverns of the Southern Wilds, traveling minstrels sang it loud:
"Monsters swarms,
Her blade unyielding,
Innocent lives are untouched,
but her path bloodied and shadowed…"
In mountain monasteries, young acolytes whispered her final stand like prayer:
"Fallen to her knees,
Yet she still shields,
Burdened by duty,
She fights till her dying breath,"
Even among the Awakened Ones, her story was etched into the marble of the new Sanctuaries, where initiates knelt beneath murals of her final charge—each version of her captured in ink and gold.
Children asked about her before bedtime. Elders spoke her name before battle. Grieving hearts held fast to her memory as the night closed in.
For Arasha was more than a commander.
She was myth. She was music. She was meaning.
And the Ballad of the Arasha the Eternal Flame—sung in ten thousand tongues—wove her story across time and space:
Fallen to her knees,
Yet she still shields,
Burdened by duty,
She fights till her dying breath,
Monsters swarms,
Her blade unyielding,
Innocent lives are untouched,
but her path bloodied and shadowed
She fights not for herself,
but for the many,
Herself unbroken by fate
Yet twisted destiny lay her claim
Commander and her knights,
Always at the center of justice and peace
But both yields thorns and swords
So they fight tenaciously
Bringer of light and hope
Lose not your way,
We pray and praise you
So hold on, don't let go
Great Flame lend your light
to the lady hero
who fights endlessly
For the embers of life
Hear us and hold on
Lady hero don't lose your way
Shine brightly to fan the flames
of us dying embers