Kevin stood alone in Yukong's chamber. The others' footsteps had long since faded.
He walked to the communication console and activated it.
Jing Yuan's hologram flickered to life. The General sat at his desk, brush in hand, looking unsurprised to see him.
"Ah. I had a feeling you'd reach out."
"I need to talk," Kevin said. "Face to face."
Jing Yuan set down his brush. "I'm at the Seat of Divine Foresight. Top floor. Though I suppose you'll need an escort to"
"I'm already there."
The hologram vanished.
Jing Yuan stared at the empty space where the transmission had been.
A chill ran down his spine.
He turned.
Kevin stood in the center of his office.
Jing Yuan's hand moved toward Lightning-Lord's seal by pure instinct before he caught himself. His heart hammered once, twice, then steadied.
No sound. No disturbance. No warning from any of the Seat of Divine Foresight's extensive security measures.
The young man just... stood there. Like he'd been there the entire time.
"That's..." Jing Yuan's voice came out slightly strained. He cleared his throat, forcing his usual smile back into place. "...quite the entrance."
Kevin didn't smile back. Didn't move. Just watched him with those gray eyes.
Jing Yuan rose slowly from his seat. His hands clasped behind his back, but his posture was tighter than usual. Ready.
"You've certainly gotten my attention." He kept his tone light, but his mind was racing. What is he? How did he no. Focus. "What is it you need to discuss so urgently?"
Kevin's expression didn't change. "You don't have Blade."
The smile froze on Jing Yuan's face.
"And you don't know where the Stellaron is."
Jing Yuan said nothing. Waited.
"You're using the Astral Express," Kevin continued, voice steady and cold. "Drawing out whoever's behind this. You need them to find what you can't."
The silence stretched.
Jing Yuan's smile faded slowly. His golden eyes studied Kevin with new intensity. "...You're more perceptive than I gave you credit for."
"I can tell you who brought the Stellaron aboard."
The air in the room changed.
Jing Yuan's relaxed demeanor vanished completely. His expression turned sharp. Focused. The mask of the lazy, smiling General dropped, revealing something far more dangerous underneath.
"What do you want?" His voice was quiet now. Controlled. But there was steel beneath it.
Kevin met his gaze without flinching. "A deal."
"With me?"
"With someone who can speak for the entire Xianzhou Alliance."
Jing Yuan's eyes narrowed. "And what would I get from this deal?"
"Information. The mastermind's identity." Kevin paused. "And my cooperation while I'm on the Luofu."
"And what do you get in return?"
"A promise."
Jing Yuan tilted his head slightly. "Just a promise? That's all?"
"Yes."
Something about the way Kevin said it made Jing Yuan's instincts scream. This wasn't simple. Whatever promise this was, it mattered more than information or cooperation.
"What kind of promise?" Jing Yuan asked carefully.
Kevin's hand moved to the ring on his right hand. His fingers brushed the dark metal.
"I've met Elio," he said quietly. "The Stellaron Hunter. The one who sees the future."
Jing Yuan's expression didn't change, but his jaw tightened slightly.
"He showed me something." Kevin's voice was steady, but there was weight behind every word. "The Astral Express will land on a specific planet. There are four possible futures from that moment. Four versions of what could happen."
He paused.
"All of them end in catastrophe."
The room felt colder.
"In one of those futures," Kevin continued, gray eyes locked on Jing Yuan's gold ones, "the Xianzhou Alliance is the cause."
Jing Yuan's hands, clasped behind his back, tightened.
"A woman named Jingliu."
Jing Yuan's breath caught.
For the first time, his composure cracked. His eyes widened slightly. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.
"After she discovers what's on that planet," Kevin said, watching Jing Yuan's reaction carefully, "she goes rogue. She challenges you for control of the Xianzhou Alliance."
Jing Yuan's face had gone pale.
"She takes over by force. Then she returns to that planet, takes what's there, and transforms into an Emanator of Destruction." Kevin's voice dropped lower. "Then she wages war on the Abundance. Not a careful war. Not a strategic war. Total annihilation."
"That's..." Jing Yuan's voice was hoarse. "That's impossible. Jingliu wouldn't—"
"She would," Kevin interrupted. "And the war wouldn't stay contained. It would spread. Entire star systems caught in the crossfire. Civilizations burning. Destruction consuming everything in its path."
Jing Yuan looked like he'd been struck. His usual calm had completely shattered. His hand came up to his face, covering his mouth as he processed what he'd just heard.
Jingliu. His master. The woman who taught him everything. Becoming an Emanator of Destruction.
"This is just one possible future," Kevin said, his tone firm. "One version. But I will prevent all four. Every single one."
He raised his right hand.
The Ring of Finality flared. Dark energy erupted from his palm, coalescing into a sphere of absolute blackness. The air around it distorted. Warped. Reality itself seemed to bend away from it.
Jing Yuan took an involuntary step back.
Then Kevin raised his left hand.
The Ring of Death and Beginning pulsed with light.
The black sphere changed. The power flowing through it shifted, transformed. Origin—the domain of fundamental truth, of returning things to their beginning, of unmaking.
The sphere compressed. Solidified. Extended.
A sword materialized in Kevin's hands.
It was black. Not dark metal. Not shadowed steel. Pure, absolute black—like staring into the void between stars. Light didn't reflect off its surface. It was consumed by it. Wisps of shadow curled off the blade like smoke.
Just looking at it made Jing Yuan's instincts scream.
Kevin held the sword out. Not threatening. Just presenting it.
"This blade holds two strikes of my full power."
Jing Yuan stared at the weapon. He could feel it. The wrongness of it. The weight of annihilation compressed into a single edge.
Two strikes.
Two promises of absolute ending.
"Here's the deal," Kevin said, his voice calm and clear. "You promise to keep Jingliu under control. You ensure she never reaches that planet. You prevent her from going rogue."
His gray eyes were hard. Unwavering.
"In exchange, I give you this sword. If Jingliu does break free if she goes rogue despite your efforts you use this to stop her. Two strikes. Enough to put down even an Emanator if it comes to that."
Jing Yuan's throat felt dry. "You're asking me to..."
"To keep your master in check," Kevin said bluntly. "To do whatever it takes to prevent her from reaching that planet and starting a war that will consume the universe."
He paused, letting the weight of that sink in.
"I'll handle the other three futures myself. But this one—the Xianzhou one—I'm giving you the chance to prevent it. To stop someone you care about before she becomes a monster."
Jing Yuan's hands trembled slightly. He clenched them into fists.
"And if I refuse?"
Kevin's expression didn't change. But something in his eyes grew colder.
"Then I eliminate the threat myself." His voice was quiet. Calm. And absolutely certain. "If the Xianzhou Alliance moves toward that planet—if Jingliu isn't contained—I will destroy them before they can reach it."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"I'm not bluffing," Kevin continued. "I will stop all four futures. No matter what it takes. No matter who stands in my way." His grip on the black sword tightened. "The people on the Express, the people on that planet I won't let them burn because someone couldn't keep their people under control."
His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, but every word carried the weight of absolute conviction.
"Nothing will stand in my way. Not you. Not the Cloud Knights. Not the entire Xianzhou Alliance. If you can't contain Jingliu, I will do it by erasing the threat entirely."
Jing Yuan felt something he rarely experienced anymore.
Fear.
Not for himself. But for what this young man represented. The sheer, unwavering determination behind those words. The willingness to commit genocide—to destroy an entire civilization—to prevent something worse.
This wasn't a threat made out of anger or pride.
It was a statement of fact.
One that Kevin would absolutely, without hesitation, fulfill.
Jing Yuan looked at the black sword. At the two strikes of annihilation it contained. At the young man holding it with hands that didn't shake.
The choice was clear.
Accept the deal take responsibility for Jingliu, keep her contained, and use the sword if all else failed.
Or refuse and watch as this man erased the Xianzhou Alliance from existence to prevent a future that might never come to pass.
Either way, Jingliu's fate was being decided right now.
And Jing Yuan had to choose which version of that fate he could live with.
Slowly, his gaze moved from the sword to Kevin's eyes.
There was something there. Something beyond the cold determination. A flicker of desperation, buried deep but still visible to someone who'd lived as long as Jing Yuan.
He's serious. Completely serious. He'll do exactly what he says.
But he doesn't want to.
He's hoping I'll say yes. Hoping he won't have to destroy an entire civilization.
Jing Yuan's mind raced.
Jingliu. Master. Could she really fall that far?
He thought of the Mara-struck. Of immortality's curse. Of how even the strongest minds could fracture given enough time and trauma.
She's been through so much. Lost so much. If she found something on that planet—something that promised revenge against the Abundance...
He couldn't dismiss it.
Couldn't risk it.
Jing Yuan took a slow, steady breath.
Then he looked at the black sword one more time.
Two strikes.
Two chances to stop someone he cared about from becoming a monster.
Or two chances for this young man to destroy everything if the Xianzhou became a threat.
The weight of the Xianzhou Alliance rested on his answer.
Kevin didn't wait for the response.
He'd said what needed to be said. Made the offer. Drew the line.
The rest was up to Jing Yuan.
Without another word, Kevin turned and walked toward the door.
"Wait"
Kevin's form blurred. One moment he was there. The next, he was gone.
The office fell silent.
Jing Yuan stood alone, staring at the space where Kevin had been, the black sword still hovering in the air where it had been presented.
Slowly, carefully, he reached out and took it.
The moment his fingers touched the hilt, the weight of it nearly drove him to his knees.
Two strikes. Two promises of ending.
Master... what have you become in that future?
Kevin walked through the halls of the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Cloud Knights passed by, saluting or nodding respectfully. None of them noticed anything wrong. To them, he was just another guest making his way out.
They couldn't see the weight he carried.
Couldn't see the calculation running through his mind.
Elio. I needed a name. A reason Jing Yuan would believe without questioning how I know.
That was all. Simple. Necessary.
Kevin stepped out into the open air of the Luofu.
The artificial sky stretched overhead. Ships drifted in the distance. The sounds of the city echoed around him people going about their lives, unaware of the threats looming over them.
He stopped at a viewing platform, looking out over the vast interior of the Xianzhou.
The second reason I came here.
Not just to protect the Express.
Not just to stop Jingliu.
Amphoreus.
Kevin's hand moved to the Ring of Death and Beginning on his left hand.
The souls stirred within. Watching. Always watching.
Millions of dreams that would never be realized. Thousands of wills with no future to shape. Hundreds of hopes that had died with their bearers.
He'd carried them through the fall of Aionios. Through centuries of meaningless battle. Through the void and the silence and IX's cold gaze.
They were with him. Always.
But they weren't alive.
Amphoreus. The planet of rebirth.
Where data and reality intertwined. Where souls could be made into something new. Where the lost could exist again in a different form.
If he could reach it. If he could prevent the catastrophes that would destroy it. If he could ensure it survived to be reborn...
Then maybe he could do it.
Transfer the souls from the rings into Amphoreus's data. Let them become part of the rebirth. Give them a chance to live again.
Mei.
Her face flashed through his mind. That tired smile. Those final words.
"See you later."
Not goodbye.
Later.
Kevin's fingers tightened on the ring.
If I save Amphoreus. If I give them a future there.
Then I'll see her again. See all of them again.
Her smile. Her voice.
His hand dropped.
And then he saw him.
Standing right there on the viewing platform. Not a reflection. Not a memory.
Himself.
Younger. Bloodied. Armor scorched and cracked. A weapon held loosely in one hand, ash drifting around him like snow. The ruins of Aionios visible behind him broken towers, silent streets, the shadow of the Endless Hollow looming in the distance.
The Kevin who had fought for everyone else. Who had carried their dreams without asking for anything in return. Who had stood as the last warrior because someone had to.
The one who had never been selfish. Never wanted anything except for the war to end.
That Kevin stood before him, gray eyes meeting gray eyes.
"Is this why you kept fighting?"
The question hung in the air, spoken aloud yet silent.
"To see her again? To give yourself something after all this time?"
Kevin stared at his past self.
"Yes."
The admission settled in his chest like a stone.
"I'm doing this for them. But I'm also doing it for me."
"I want to see her smile again. Want to hear her voice. Want those words 'see you later'—to mean something."
"Just once, I want something for myself."
His past self didn't judge. Didn't accuse. Just watched with those same gray eyes, carrying the same weight.
"Is that wrong?"
Kevin closed his eyes.
"Maybe."
"But I don't care."
When he opened them again, his past self was gone. Just the empty viewing platform, the artificial sky, the sounds of the Luofu continuing around him.
The one who had walked away from salvation. Who had stopped being the hero the moment he'd decided to want something.
For centuries, I carried everyone's dreams. Fought their battles. Honored their sacrifices.
I never asked for anything.
But this...
Kevin turned away from the viewing platform.
This is mine.
Selfish. Personal. Wrong, maybe.
But mine.
Four futures to prevent. Four catastrophes waiting to unfold.
The Xianzhou and Jingliu handled, one way or another.
Three more remained.
And Amphoreus was waiting.
See you later, Mei.
I'll make sure those words come true.
Even if it means I'm not the hero anymore.
Even if it means stepping off the path I was meant to walk.
Just this once, I'm choosing something for myself.
Kevin started walking, his footsteps steady and sure.
The souls within the rings watched silently.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Dreaming of a future he would give them no matter the cost.