The projected face of Dr. Arthur Ronan—the system’s creator and Davin’s biological father—slowly faded from the cave air, leaving a piercing static hum and remnants of white light particles drifting gently among the blue crystals.

Yet, the departure of that projection brought no relief whatsoever. Instead, the space inside the floating temple cave felt even barer, battered by the crushing weight of a truth far heavier than human reason could bear.

Davin remained silent. He pulled his hand away from the now-darkened console terminal, then turned slowly and walked away from the cluster of resistance members still stunned near the campfire. His footsteps felt heavy, as though the strange gravity of Aethelgard had been pulled entirely onto his shoulders.

He kept walking through the cave fissure, emerging toward the edge of the floating island’s cliff that directly faced the boundless open sky.

The fierce night wind blew hard, tossing Davin’s strands of black hair and snapping his coat. Before him, an expanse of floating islands stretched majestically beneath the light of the cosmic golden mist, while millions of stars in the sky twinkled, reminding him once more that every galaxy out there was merely an illusion from the collective consciousness monitoring screen.

Davin raised his right hand before his face.

The Ledger's hourglass symbol on the back of his hand pulsed softly, emitting thin, golden-blue lines of data light creeping across the spaces between his index fingers.

Davin stared intently at his own fingers.

Beneath the symbol’s dim glow, the skin of his hand looked translucent for a split second, revealing strands of binary code and light pixel particles flowing beneath the surface of his flesh before solidifying back into ordinary skin.

A severe existential crisis struck Davin’s chest, shattering the remnants of his mental defense.

With 30% of his permanent memories permanently stripped away by the system's transcendence tax in previous worlds, his true identity as a human had been hollowed out. He could not remember his mother's face. He could not remember his childhood days in the sterile laboratory. What he possessed now were merely vague shadows, implanted false memories, and the pain of every battle he had endured.

Who am I really...? Davin thought, his voice shaking violently inside his head. Am I truly Davin Ronan, a human from the original earth fighting for freedom? Or am I merely a programmed artificial consciousness—a digital doll given the illusion of possessing a soul, grief, and vengeance by the core system created by my own father?

The question spun endlessly, creating a blinding dizziness in his head. If all these worlds were simulations, if everyone he met was merely consciousness echoes trapped in a mass coma... then his very existence was a cruel lie.

He was a walking prison, carrying the key of destruction on his right hand.

"Davin..." a soft yet firm voice broke the silence behind him.

Davin did not turn around. He remained frozen, staring at his palms scattering data particles. "What are you looking for here, Valeri? Are you going to tell me this pain is also part of a computer program?"

Valeri walked closer, then stood beside Davin, gazing at the expanse of floating islands before them. The woman crossed her arms, feeling the chill of the night wind.

"I don't know whether this pain is physically real or merely synaptic impulses inside a comatose brain," Valeri answered honestly, her voice calm without doubt. " لكن I know one thing, Davin. When you leaped into the blazing fire in Neo-Veridia to save your comrade... that choice was made by you. Not by the system. Code can dictate the environment, but conscience belongs to us alone."

Davin turned slowly, looking at Valeri’s profile illuminated by starlight.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because the moment we start doubting our own humanity, that is when the system truly wins," Valeri said, turning to meet Davin’s sharp gaze with eyes full of conviction. "Don't let the system's creator rob you of the remaining soul that—"

Boom!

Before Valeri could finish her sentence, a cataclysmic explosion suddenly shook the entire floating island where the temple stood.

The ground beneath their feet shook violently. Stone debris tore loose from the cliff edge and fell, floating into space. From inside the cave, panicked screams and the sound of energy weapon fire burst out sequentially, shattering the night silence in an instant.

Valeri’s face instantly turned pale. Her eyes widened in shock, realizing the meaning behind the explosion.

Before Davin could ask, the sound of rushed footsteps approached from the cave mouth. A resistance member ran out breathing heavily, clutching a bleeding wound on his shoulder, screaming hysterically amid the chaos:

"Valeri! Davin! We're under attack!" the resistance member shouted in panic, his eyes wide with terror. "There's a traitor among us! The inner defense system has been disabled from the inside!"