"I am waiting for someone," Aji explained to the four individuals sitting around him.

"Who are you waiting for, Aji?" Gayatri asked, her brow furrowing.

Aji offered a gentle, serene smile. "The one who granted me a second chance. The time has come for me to make my choice, and I have fulfilled my mandate to stop Shura, the Demon Lord."

They still could not fully comprehend the deeper meaning behind his words. Perhaps the truth would reveal itself to them in time.

As they watched, a radiant figure clad in white robes materialized nearby, smiling warmly at Aji. Aji rose to his feet, turning to face the luminous entity. Tragically, the four mortals seated around him lacked the spiritual perception to register the presence of the arrival.

"So... what shall your choice be, mortal?"

The guardian was none other than the keeper Aji had encountered at the edge of the world. Back then, the warden had bestowed upon him the sacred Water of Life—an elixir that had restored his youth, granting him a physical vessel capable of immediate, autonomous regeneration.

"In truth, you had already perished, mortal," the white-robed entity said, turning his back to gaze into the forest canopy. "You survived and returned to active parameters solely because the Soul Deep artifact was implanted deep within your core."

Twenty years ago, Aji should have succumbed to the lethal trauma of his duel against Shura. Yet his comrade, Yonan, had thrust the celestial relic into his chest to anchor his life force. Following that, Shura had hurled him into the Mirror World, tasking him with a seemingly impossible pilgrimage: find the edge of the world.

Aji had aged as the decades slipped away, walking across desolate wastes for twenty years while refining his martial parameters without rest. Upon reaching the edge of the world, he had encountered the guardian of the dimension, who offered him the Water of Life—restoring his physical prime and granting him a second life. In essence, Aji had experienced death twice: first during the cataclysmic battle when the Soul Deep artifact anchored his fading spirit, and second through the miraculous rejuvenation of the Water of Life.

"The Water of Life grants eternal existence to those who choose to retain it," the guardian continued, his back still turned toward Aji. "Yet, should you choose to return it to me, you willingly embrace your final rest. I have come to collect your promise now that your sacred duty is complete."

The luminous figure turned slightly. "Choose, mortal: will you embrace eternity, or shall I reclaim the Water of Life from your vessel?"

Aji remained silent for a heartbeat. To him, existence had always been defined by righteousness and purpose. He had dedicated his entire mortal journey to martial mastery, clashing with thousands of evildoers to protect the innocent.

Memories flashed through his mind: the bitter hardships of his pilgrimage alongside Yonan and Ganada, contrasted against the warmth of the past year spent alongside his young comrades in the Sky Squad. Would all of those profound bonds be reduced to mere memories?

"What is happening, Aji?" Gayatri stood up, driven by sudden anxiety as she watched Aji converse with an invisible presence. Though she could not perceive the form of the white-robed entity, she sensed a faint, overwhelmingly pure parameter field radiating nearby—a divine aura too absolute for mortal senses to decode.

"Gayatri," Aji turned his head gently. "Always guide our comrades in the Sky Squad. The time has come for me to depart. My duty is finished, and I must return to my brothers."

Gayatri could not comprehend his words. Stunned and confused, she struggled to process the sudden finality in his tone.

"So... have you arrived at your decision, mortal?" the luminous guardian asked quietly.

"I have. And I thank you for guiding me this far."

"I never aided you; I merely provided what your vessel required for the salvation of the world. You have proven yourself a true hero to your realm."

"You are right. I choose to relinquish eternity. I am a mortal, and a mortal’s journey should end like a mortal's. I have lived out my allotted span under borrowed grace, and now I return the Water of Life."

The luminous guardian smiled softly. While countless mortals throughout history had chased immortality through desperate, taboo methods, the youth standing before him voluntarily surrendered eternal life the moment his duty to protect the world was fulfilled. The guardian recognized that the additional time granted to Aji had been a sacred gift, allowing him to experience the profound joy of fighting alongside new companions.

Every memory Aji had forged within the Sky Squad had been a beautiful, unexpected adventure worth cherishing.

Alicia, sensing the emotional gravity of the moment, stood up and hurried over to Aji's side, resting a trembling hand upon his shoulder.

"Are you... are you leaving us, Aji?" A slight rasp quivered in the voice of the long-haired warrior, half of her hair bound tightly behind her neck.

Aji turned, gazing softly into Alicia’s eyes before shifting his focus to Gayatri standing just behind her. Both women possessed breathtaking beauty. Throughout his long life, Aji had never allowed himself to explore romantic attachments during his youth, consumed entirely by an obsession with martial strength.

"Thank you for everything, Alicia, Gayatri. I truly must depart. It has been an absolute privilege to know and fight alongside both of you. Had our timing been aligned under different stars, I might have allowed myself to love one of you," Aji whispered, a gentle smile gracing his lips as a solitary tear slipped down his cheek.

Gayatri and Alicia felt an acute, crushing ache grip their hearts. Why must he leave? If love was a possibility, why not seize it? They assumed he was merely offering a poetic, philosophical remark.

"But why must you leave, Aji?!" Gayatri cried out, hot tears spilling over her lashes. She had harbored a deep, profound love for Aji since the day they met—a special youth who never flaunted his strength, quietly stepping in to shield her whenever danger threatened.

"Yes... why depart now, when victory is ours?" Alicia echoed, her voice breaking. Truth be told, Alicia loved him just as fiercely, having frequently suffered pangs of jealousy whenever Aji grew too close to Barsha or Gayatri.

Aji stepped backward, gently slipping out from under their reach as he turned his back to them.

"We operate on different horizons, my friends of the Sky Squad. I descended into this world for a singular purpose: to stop Lord Demon Shura. That was my mandate, and now that the task is accomplished, I must return home."

A cool breeze swept across the plain. Gayatri and Alicia struggled to digest his cryptic statement about belonging to a different horizon. What did he mean by that?

"Pass along my warmest regards to Barsha, to Aaman, to Dasatama, to Warrior Jiro, and to every member of the Sky Squad. I shall miss them dearly. Once I step through, I shall leave the dimensional gateway open for your return, while Jonas and Marie may choose to live out their days here in peace."

Still facing away from them, Aji raised his right hand. A shimmering, cobalt-blue spatial portal materialized along his flank, humming with soft, stable dimensional energy.

"Why must you go, Aji?!" Alicia shouted, desperate to close the distance.

"Who in existence are you, truly?" Gayatri asked, a different, more chilling question dawning in her mind.

The luminous guardian raised his hand above Aji’s shoulder. "Your time has expired, mortal. Prepare to cross over."

"Understood. My deepest gratitude, guardian of the boundary."

SPLASH!

A brilliant burst of golden-white light erupted from Aji’s chest. He felt the pure pulse of the Water of Life leaving his vessel. The time had arrived to reunite and share a cup of wine with his fallen brothers.

Turning back to face Alicia and Gayatri one final time, Aji smiled. Slowly, his physical vessel began to dissolve, sparkling mana embers peeling away from his skin and drifting into the air.

Gayatri and Alicia watched in sheer horror as Aji’s frame began to disintegrate particle by particle. Yet the gentle, beautiful smile upon his face remained unchanged.

"I truly must depart! And remember one immutable truth: I am the true Thunder Striker!"

SPLASH!

Aji’s physical vessel dissolved completely, swept away by an ethereal breeze until his silhouette vanished entirely into the void. A cloud of golden, glowing smoke soared upward into the sky like divine incense.

Gayatri and Alicia stood paralyzed, utterly incapable of processing the reality before them.

If Aji’s final words held absolute truth... then Aji Bagaskara was none other than the legendary Saint Thunder Striker—one of the original Three Saints, the Three Legends who had shaken the world twenty years ago!

He had never been a mere "successor" to the Three Legends. He was the legend himself—returned from the abyss to finish the war against the Demon Lord that had begun two decades prior!

The revelation left them breathless.

"Return to your world! Your time within this dimensional boundary is nearly exhausted," Jonas reminded them gently, noting that the cobalt-blue portal Aji had manifested was beginning to flicker and fade.

Still struggling to anchor their thoughts, Alicia and Gayatri offered a solemn farewell to Jonas and Marie. Stepping through the shrinking threshold, they vanished into the spatial rift as the portal imploded behind them, leaving Jonas and Marie alone together within the quiet, eternal expanse of the Mirror World.

"So... where is Aji?" Barsha asked eagerly, rushing forward the moment Alicia and Gayatri stepped out of the spatial rift back in the physical plane.

Noticing the distant, haunted expressions upon both women's faces, Barsha’s heart hammered against her ribs. What truly transpired? She voiced the question that burned in her mind: Did he successfully eliminate the Demon Lord within that hidden dimension?

"Aji is gone," Alicia answered softly.

"What do you mean, gone?" Barsha demanded, her voice rising in panic.

"Aji had to leave. He asked us to pass along his warmest regards to you and every member of the Sky Squad. We must continue pressing forward to uphold justice across the continents," Gayatri explained gently, seeking to comfort Barsha, knowing how deeply the Sky Squad captain had cared for him.

Barsha swayed on her feet, a cold wave of dread washing over her core. If both women spoke of his departure in such a manner... it could only mean Aji had fallen in battle against Lord Demon Shura.

Her knees buckled, and Barsha collapsed to the earth, refusing to accept the reality Gayatri described. He had been forced to face Shura entirely alone...

Turning away, Gayatri left Barsha to process her grief in privacy, stepping across the campground to where Aaman stood supervising the processing and disarmament of the surviving dark operatives who had surrendered to the alliance.

"Aaman... did you know the truth about Aji from the very beginning?" Gayatri asked, her eyes searching his face. The two had grown remarkably close since their first meeting.

Aaman paused, a bittersweet smile touching his lips. He already knew Aji had departed, remembering Aji's prior assertion that his final confrontation with Shura would mark his final day in the mortal realm.

"Were you attempting to confirm whether he was truly the saint known as the Thunder Striker?"

Gayatri caught her breath. Aaman's response confirmed her intuition—he had known all along.

"So... all this time, none of us realized that a living Legend was walking among us?" Gayatri whispered.

Aaman nodded slowly. "Indeed. He cherished every moment spent fighting by our side. Yet he carried a sacred mandate, and the time came for him to rejoin his brothers."

Standing side by side, both grandmasters understood that every pivotal turning point in their campaign had been meticulously orchestrated by Aji, who possessed intimate comprehension of the dark host's movements. He had stepped into the mortal ranks specifically to shield them from Shura’s absolute destruction and save the world from ruin.

Gayatri lifted her gaze toward the afternoon sky. For a brief second, she imagined she saw Aji’s gentle smile shining down upon them through the clouds.

A quiet, serene smile touched her own lips as she gazed upward, hoping against hope that he could see her expression from the void.

Of all the souls she had ever encountered, Aji was the most extraordinary man to ever walk the earth.

Farewell, Legend...