120: Chapter 120 Choice in the Light

The second before the elegy anchor activated, the entire ruins of the Light Sphere Mother Star trembled violently.

This dead star field, already completely eroded by the power of Shadow, was now enveloped by a torrent of energy strong enough to tear through space. Gray rock debris tumbled aimlessly in the void. The core of the mother star, once a symbol of the Light Sphere Race's glory and brilliance, was now nothing but a charred and cracked continental plate—the remains of a giant beast with its heart ripped out, floating silently in the cold universe.

The air was thick with the pungent scent of distorted energy, the smell of space being forcibly torn and laws being crudely rewritten. Little Kate stood before the control console of the elegy anchor, her slender fingers clamped tightly onto the start button that glowed with a cold white light. Her knuckles were white from the excessive force, and her entire arm trembled uncontrollably.

She could clearly feel the Light Orb energy within her body surging wildly in resonance with the elegy anchor, like waves whipped up by a gale, washing over her meridians and soul again and again. This power was both warm and violent, carrying the hope of salvation yet hiding the chill of destruction—much like the inescapable fate currently weighing down on everyone.

Not far in front of her, Lin Fan stood alone within the energy-tethering range of the elegy anchor.

His condition had deteriorated to the absolute extreme.

Black patterns, like venomous vines, spread from his neck all the way to his cheeks, chest, and arms. Every line pulsed frantically, emitting a heart-stopping dark aura. That was the power of Shadow, the dark personality split from within him—the source of the nightmare that had entangled, eroded, and threatened everyone since the student's self-combustion at the opening ceremony.

A trace of dark red blood hung from the corner of Lin Fan's mouth, a wound left from when he had previously tanked a hit from Shadow to protect Kate. His breathing was heavy and ragged, each breath feeling like swallowing scalding iron sand. The wound on his chest still throbbed with pain, yet he still stood with a straight back, using his body to firmly shield Kate and Little Kate from Shadow.

His gaze was calm, a calmness that bordered on absolute determination.

Only in the moment his eyes swept over Kate did that hard shell of determination crack slightly, leaking a sliver of panic and reluctance hidden deep in his heart.

He was afraid.

Afraid that if he went now, he would never return.

Afraid he would never again see her scolding him with a frown, never again hear her worried reproaches, and afraid that because of his choice, she would fall into endless self-blame and pain.

But he had no other choice.

From the moment he knew Shadow was his own split dark personality, and that once Shadow fully awakened, the Interstellar Academy, Earth, and even the entire star field would become a desolate dead land devoid of emotion, he had already prepared for the worst.

Hiding things, deceiving, sneaking alone into Shadow's domain to negotiate, even feigning compromise by proposing the absurd condition of handing over Kate... He had done everything that would lead to being misunderstood, hated, and abandoned by the world, all to protect the person he wanted to guard with his life.

And now, it had come to the final step.

The elegy anchor was the only device capable of separating Shadow from Lin Fan's original body.

But the price was—the host and the shadow would perish together.

Shadow had to be completely annihilated, and the host carrying all of Shadow's dark power would also have their soul scattered and completely vanish from this universe during the process of energy purification.

Lin Fan had chosen to be that host.

"Lin Fan... come back!"

Kate's voice was heart-wrenching, breaking the deathly silence over the ruins of the mother star.

She looked just as wretched at this moment. Her silver-white hair was scattered messily over her shoulders, and her originally smooth cheeks were stained with dust and faint bloodstains—injuries left from being blasted away by Shadow's dark energy and hitting the planetary wreckage. The Light Orb energy in her body was completely exhausted. Her eyes, once as brilliant as stars, were now bloodshot. She used the last ounce of her strength to try and rush toward Lin Fan, but was harshly blocked by a black barrier Shadow waved into existence. Her body staggered back uncontrollably once more, nearly falling to the ground.

Little Kate quickly turned to support her, her young voice carrying an irrepressible tremble: "Teacher Kate, don't be impulsive! Going there now will only disrupt Teacher Lin Fan's plan!"

"Plan?" Kate whipped her head around to look at Little Kate, tears finally rolling down uncontrollably. "This isn't a plan at all! He's going to his death!"

She knew Lin Fan too well.

From their first meeting at the Interstellar Academy to fighting side by side time and again; from the establishment of trust to the sudden secrecy and opposition; from him grabbing her wrist and saying, 'You don't understand how strong he is,' to him breaking down and roaring, 'I'm just afraid of seeing you cry'... She knew better than anyone that this man, who seemed taciturn and stubbornly extreme, hid the clumsiest yet heaviest tenderness in his bones.

He never wanted to be some hero, let alone the savior of the world.

He just didn't want her to cry.

He just didn't want her to suffer even a bit of harm.

For this, he was willing to bear all the infamy, endure all the pain, and walk alone into the abyss of eternal damnation.

"Heh..."

A cold and playful chuckle drifted slowly from the heights of the void.

The voice was low and raspy, carrying a soul-piercing pressure. Every syllable was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard against everyone's heart.

Shadow had finally fully revealed himself.

He had no fixed form, appearing only as a mass of rolling, expanding, and contracting pitch-black mist. Within the mist, countless crimson eyes flickered vaguely, each reflecting greed, madness, mockery, and the desire for destruction. He was the dark personality split from Lin Fan, a collection of all negative emotions—a monster woven from fear, anger, despair, and selfishness, and a terrifying existence capable of swallowing the entire star field.

He hovered in mid-air, looking down at the three below like a god looking down at ants.

"What a truly moving drama," Shadow's voice echoed through the star field, filled with undisguised mockery. "Sacrificing for love, selflessness for others... Lin Fan, this hypocritical look of yours truly makes me feel utterly disgusted."

Lin Fan slowly raised his head and looked toward the mass of pitch-black mist, his eyes showing no hint of fear.

"Save your breath," his voice was raspy yet firm. "It's time for everything to end."

"End?" Shadow acted as if he had heard the world's greatest joke, suddenly letting out a deafening burst of wild laughter. The laughter whipped up a violent energy storm, sweeping all the rock debris on the mother star's surface into the sky. "You think that with this broken body of yours, and a mere elegy anchor, you can completely destroy me?"

"Lin Fan, you don't forget—I am you, and you are me."

"We are essentially one, connected by blood and symbiotic in soul!"

"I am the darkness in your heart that you dare not face, the desire you've suppressed for a thousand years, the source of all your pain and fear! To want to destroy me is equivalent to killing yourself with your own hands!"

Shadow's voice became increasingly crazed and violent. The pitch-black mist churned frantically as countless dark tentacles, like venomous snakes, extended from the mist, pointing menacingly at Lin Fan, at Kate, at Little Kate, and at the entire star field.

"You think this is sacrifice? This is stupidity!"

"Once the elegy anchor is activated, your soul will be scattered, while I will only go into temporary dormancy! When the time is ripe, I will return once more. At that time, without your suppression, I will completely devour all emotions and turn the entire universe into a desolate wasteland of silence!"

"The people you protect and the world you guard will ultimately be completely destroyed because of your stupidity!"

Lin Fan's heart constricted sharply.

It wasn't that he hadn't considered this possibility.

But he no longer had any way out.

The Interstellar Academy's core self-destruct sequence was still counting down. Franklin was doing his best to delay time using the virtual world, but system overload had reached its limit. Only less than an hour remained until the final explosion.

The 72-hour countdown, starting from when the Light Sphere Race students drew the Destruction Equation, had been squeezing everyone's nerves second by second. Now, it had finally reached the final moment.

They had no time to look for other ways, no time to hesitate, agonize, or wait for a miracle.

Other than activating the elegy anchor, they had no other choice.

"My mind is made up."

Lin Fan took a deep breath, pushing all the panic, reluctance, and pain deep into his heart, leaving only absolute determination. He slowly closed his eyes and voluntarily released his suppression of the power within him, letting Shadow's dark aura surge wildly through his body, and voluntarily exposed his soul completely within the tethering range of the elegy anchor.

"Little Kate, activate the device."

His voice was soft, yet it carried an unquestionable command.

Little Kate's body shuddered violently.

She bit her lower lip hard until she tasted the metallic tang of blood before she could barely control her near-collapsing emotions. She looked at Lin Fan, the teacher who had always silently protected and tolerated her, never defending himself even when misunderstood; she looked at Teacher Kate's bloodshot eyes, at Shadow roaring frantically in the void, and at the dead ruins of the mother star beneath her feet...

Countless images flashed rapidly through her mind.

The shrill screams left by the self-combusting Light Sphere Race student at the opening ceremony; her blurting out "Your method will only create more pain" when Teacher AKai used the elegy anchor to purify a student only to trigger a backlash; her shouting "People who wallow in the past have no right to save the future" at everyone immersed in painful memories within the mother star's illusion; and the endless struggle that surged in her heart when she discovered the elegy anchor required the sacrifice of a host...

She used to be the child who needed everyone's protection, the impulsive, rebellious youth who always talked back to teachers.

But now, she had to grow up.

She had to make a choice.

Because she was the hope of the Light Sphere Race, a student of the Interstellar Academy, and the only person standing here who could activate the elegy anchor.

"No!!!"

Kate let out a desperate cry. She exhausted her last bit of Light Orb energy, wanting to break through Shadow's dark barrier and pull Lin Fan back from the edge of death, but her power was already depleted. All her struggles were in vain. She could only watch helplessly as Lin Fan's body was bit by bit enveloped by the white light of the elegy anchor, as black patterns spread frantically over him, and as he was about to be completely swallowed.

"Lin Fan—!!!"

This cry was heart-wrenching, echoing through the starry sky.

Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze passing through the white light and the chaotic space to land precisely on Kate.

A very faint, very gentle smile played at the corners of his mouth.

It was the first time he had smiled so easily and with such relief during this period filled with betrayal, conflict, pain, and struggle.

He mouthed three words silently.

—I'm sorry.

—Don't cry.

Kate's heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by an invisible giant hand, hurting so much she couldn't breathe.

Tears blurred her vision, and they blurred Lin Fan's figure.

Just then, Little Kate snapped her eyes shut, two trails of tears sliding from the corners of her eyes. Using all her strength, she pressed the button on the console that would decide everyone's fate.

"Activate—!!!"

A shout unique to youth, tearful yet incredibly firm, rang through the entire dead star field.

Boom—!!!

In an instant, the elegy anchor erupted with world-destroying light!

It was a white light of ultimate purity, devoid of any impurities or malice, yet possessing a terrifying power to purify all darkness and tear apart all evil. The light gushed from the core of the elegy anchor like a surging Milky Way, like the dawn's first light, instantly sweeping through the entire Light Sphere Mother Star and the void, enveloping all darkness, gloom, and despair within it.

Space twisted, folded, and shattered violently in the light, letting out ear-piercing shrieks. The chains of laws snapped inch by inch in the light, then slowly reorganized under the purifying power. Lin Fan was pinned firmly at the very center of the light. The white purifying energy and the black power of Shadow collided and fought frantically within his body; every collision caused him pain as if his soul were being scattered.

His body began to turn transparent, and his soul grew thin. The black patterns receded bit by bit under the wash of white light, only to be reborn again and again under Shadow's frantic counterattack.

"Ah—!!!"

Lin Fan let out a roar of pain, his whole body trembling violently, yet he still didn't retreat in the slightest.

He knew that as long as he held on for one more second, as long as the elegy anchor's purification went one step deeper, Shadow would be completely separated, and everyone could be saved.

"Hahaha—it's useless!!!"

Shadow's wild laughter echoed frantically in the light. His dark power was being constantly swallowed and dismantled by the white light, yet he still showed no fear; instead, he became even more crazed and violent.

"Lin Fan, you think you can win this way? You will die! You will completely vanish! Even if I am separated, you won't survive!"

"Kate! You watch! Watch the person you care about most die before your eyes because of your cowardice and hesitation!"

"Is this the ending you wanted?!"

Shadow's voice was like a venomous sting, stabbing deep into Kate's heart.

She slumped on the ground, her whole body weak. She could only watch helplessly as Lin Fan struggled in pain within the light, as his body became increasingly transparent, and as he was about to vanish completely before her eyes.

That sense of powerlessness and despair made her break down more than any previous battle or crisis.

She hated her incompetence, her weakness, and the fact that despite possessing the most powerful strength of the Light Sphere Race, she couldn't even protect the person she cared about most.

Just as the white light was about to completely swallow Lin Fan, just as Shadow's power was about to be annihilated along with Lin Fan's soul, and just as everyone thought the ending was already set—

A figure, like a meteor piercing the darkness, charged recklessly into the light!

The speed was so fast only a blurred afterimage remained!

"Who?!"

Shadow's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by a roar of fury.

Lin Fan snapped his eyes open, his pupils shrinking. For the first time, his face showed extreme shock and disbelief.

Kate also stopped crying, looking up blankly.

Little Kate stiffened all over, tears instantly freezing on her cheeks as she cried out:

"Teacher AKai—!!!"

The person who charged in was none other than AKai.

The man who, from the beginning of the story, carried paranoia, guilt, and a past he couldn't let go of.

The teacher who had fallen into obsession because of his sister's suicide, who had caused countless pains due to research errors, and who had been repeatedly talked back to and questioned by Little Kate because of his persistence in his own ways.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The man who tried to purify students using the elegy anchor but triggered a backlash, who knelt and wept after seeing the scene of his sister's suicide in the Light Sphere Mother Star's illusion, and who took the initiative to sacrifice himself to activate the elegy anchor.

He had always lived in self-reproach and atonement, always feeling that he owed everyone—he owed his deceased sister, he owed the students he had harmed, and he owed the entire Interstellar Academy.

He thought that for the rest of his life, he could only live on in guilt.

Yet he never expected that in this final moment, he would find his way to atone.

AKai did not hesitate for a second. The moment he rushed into the white light, he thrust out his hands with all his might and shoved Lin Fan hard, pushing him out of the center of the light!

"Pfft—" Lin Fan was shoved away by the immense force, his body flying backward uncontrollably. He landed heavily on the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood, but he was completely free from the elegy anchor's energy core.

As for AKai himself, he stood firmly in the very center of the light. He stood in the position that had originally belonged to Lin Fan, the position destined for death.

"Teacher AKai... what are you doing?!" Kate Ling completely broke down. She tried to rush toward the center of the light like a madwoman, but she was held back tightly by Kate.

"Don't go over there! It's dangerous!" Kate's voice trembled to the extreme. She held the out-of-control Kate Ling tightly, her tears gushing out once again.

Everything happened too fast, so fast that no one could react in time.

The white purifying light instantly enveloped AKai's body. The moment the shadow's dark power realized the host had changed, it let out a roar of fury and frustration. It rushed madly toward AKai, trying to reattach itself to Lin Fan, but the elegy anchor's purification had already started, and the energy chains were locked, unable to be changed.

"No—!!! You lowly human! You are unworthy of being my vessel!!!" The shadow roared crazily. Dark tentacles lashed out wildly at AKai, but they only stirred up ripples of white light.

AKai stood within the light, his body intertwined and wrapped in pure white and pitch-black energy, enduring torture even more intense and painful than what Lin Fan had just experienced.

His face was pale as paper, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his body began to turn transparent bit by bit. Yet, he did not show a single trace of pain.

Instead, he slowly raised his head and looked not far away at Kate Ling, who was tear-stained and filled with disbelief.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a smile that was extremely faint, extremely gentle, and even carried a hint of awkwardness.

That was the tolerance of a teacher for a student, the final relief of an atonement-seeker, and the final tenderness of a man who had always been misunderstood and disliked.

He raised his hand slightly and winked his left eye gently at Kate Ling. Then, in a voice only the two of them could hear, he whispered, "Next time... stop talking back to your teacher."

The sentence was as light as a feather, yet as heavy as a thousand-pound boulder, slamming hard against Kate Ling's heart. It instantly shattered all her strength, all her endurance, and all her pretenses.

"Waa—" Kate Ling could no longer control herself and began to wail. Her cries were heart-wrenching, filled with guilt, regret, reluctance, and despair.

She remembered how she had talked back to him time and again, questioned him time and again, and spoken harshly to him time and again; she remembered how he, despite harboring guilt, still silently protected every student; she remembered the fragile sight of him kneeling and weeping when he saw his sister's suicide in the illusion; she remembered the calm determination when he offered to sacrifice himself...

She had always thought that this teacher was stubborn, extreme, and unreasonable. Only now did she understand what a heavy past was hidden in his heart, what deep tenderness was buried there, and what a firm heart of redemption he possessed.

He was not a monster, not a paranoid, not a scientist who only knew how to create pain. He was an older brother seeking atonement, a teacher who wanted to protect his students, and an elder who used his life to teach her one final lesson.

"Teacher... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Kate Ling cried until her whole body trembled, repeating these words over and over, but she could never get back the man who always kept a straight face but would silently protect her.

AKai looked at the weeping Kate Ling, his eyes showing a touch of relief, a touch of release, and a touch of final reluctance. He slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind, his sister's smiling face when she was alive flashed by, the safe appearance of the students flashed by, the sunlight of the Interstellar Academy flashed by, and the once brilliant radiance of this star region flashed by.

"Sister... Teacher... I did it..." "This time... I finally protected everyone..." The soft whispers dissipated into the light.

The next second. The pure white light exploded completely, reaching its peak!

Boom—!!!

The shadow's dark power crumbled, shattered, and annihilated bit by bit within the purifying light! That pitch-black fog, which had lingered for so long and suffocated everyone, was completely turned into nothingness under the power of the elegy anchor!

The scarlet eyes vanished, the mad roars vanished, the violent tentacles vanished; all the darkness, all the fear, and all the threats were swallowed by the light, leaving nothing behind!

And AKai's body also became transparent little by little in the light, dissipating bit by bit.

His outline became increasingly faint and blurred, until finally, he transformed into a speck of starlight that was extremely faint yet incredibly warm. It drifted gently down from the light, slowly flying toward Kate Ling's palm, landing softly on it, turning into a trace of cool warmth that merged into her skin and into her soul.

That was the final trace he left for this world.

The light slowly receded. The space slowly healed. The void returned to calm.

The shadow had vanished. AKai, too, had vanished.

On the ruins of the entire Light Sphere Mother Star, only heavy breathing and Kate Ling's uncontrollable wailing remained.

Lin Fan struggled to climb up from the ground. The black markings on his body had completely faded, and his soul had become whole and pure again, yet he felt no joy at surviving the ordeal, only endless heaviness and guilt.

It was AKai who had died in his place. It was that man, who had always been misunderstood and isolated, who had used his own life to trade for his survival, and to trade for everyone's chance at life.

He walked over to Kate, looking at her bloodshot eyes and the weeping Kate Ling in her arms. He opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. All the gratitude, all the guilt, and all the emotions were stuck in his throat, turning into a silent heaviness.

Kate gently raised her head and looked at Lin Fan. In her eyes, there was no resentment, no blame, only the exhaustion of surviving the ordeal and deep sorrow. She slowly reached out, gently hugging the scarred man before her, resting her head on his shoulder, her voice weak and trembling.

"He didn't die in your place... he was redeeming himself, and he was also protecting all of us."

"We... must live on well, carrying his share."

Lin Fan hugged her back tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head, his eyes slightly reddened. At this moment, all the concealment, all the misunderstandings, all the opposition, and all the conflicts vanished into thin air. Only the warmth of leaning on each other and the sorrow of losing a companion remained.

Just then, the communicator suddenly let out a series of urgent beeps, breaking the heavy silence on the Mother Star.

Franklin's electronic voice, carrying the relief of surviving the ordeal along with a hint of grievance and complaint, came from the communicator, breaking the sorrowful atmosphere and allowing everyone's tense nerves to finally relax a little.

"Warning! Warning! Franklin AI core temperature overloaded! Emotional simulation module crashed by eighty percent! Logic circuits disordered by ninety percent! I just nearly melted my own motherboard to delay the academy's self-destruct sequence!"

"And you guys! Can you give me a reasonable explanation? Why must humans always engage in this kind of life-and-death sacrifice drama every time you resolve a crisis? My database doesn't even have the parameter 'tragic'! I completely cannot understand it!"

"And can anyone tell me why humans always lose their shoes when running for their lives? Just now, in the virtual world, I saw a student's shoe fly off while running away; this completely contradicts biomechanics! Design flaw! A serious design flaw!"

Franklin's nonstop grumbling, with his unique humor and quirkiness, seemed particularly abrupt in this deathly silent star region, yet it aptly eased the sorrow in everyone's hearts.

Kate Ling lay in Kate's arms, sobbing, but she couldn't help but sniffle, amused by Franklin's grumbling. Tears were still flowing, but her mood had calmed down a little.

Lin Fan and Kate exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of helpless wry smiles in each other's eyes.

This life-and-death crisis that lasted for three days, this 72-hour countdown that had suffocated everyone, had finally, with AKai's sacrifice, completely ended.

The Interstellar Academy's self-destruct sequence had been completely disarmed by Franklin; Earth was safe, the students were safe, and the star region was safe.

The shadow had been eliminated. Everything had returned to peace.

Everyone thought that this nightmare had finally come to a complete end. But they did not know that the true terror had only just begun.

Just as everyone was immersed in the exhaustion and sorrow of surviving the ordeal, a laugh that was extremely faint, extremely cold, and extremely profound suddenly came slowly from the deepest part of the void.

The sound was very soft, so soft it was almost inaudible, yet it pierced through space, pierced through the light, pierced through everyone's defenses, and drilled straight into the depths of everyone's souls.

It was not madness, not fury, not frustration. It was a kind of... composure and mockery, as if the chessboard had long been set and everything was under control.

Lin Fan, Kate, and Kate Ling all stiffened at the same time, the expressions on their faces instantly frozen. The nerves that had just relaxed slightly tightened up again, and a chill, colder and deeper than when facing the shadow, shot instantly from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads!

This voice... it was the shadow! He hadn't disappeared after all!

"Did you think... this was the end?" The shadow's voice drifted over, carrying endless depth and coldness, slowly echoing in the void.

Lin Fan looked up abruptly, staring into the depths of the void, his eyes grave to the extreme: "Who exactly are you? Weren't you purified by the elegy anchor?"

"Purified?" The shadow chuckled softly, the laughter carrying undisguised mockery, "Lin Fan, you are still so naive, so stupid."

"Did you think that I would entrust all my power to this one avatar?"

"Did you think that what the elegy anchor could purify was the real me?"

"You have disappointed me too much."

The shadow's voice slowly faded, each word like a basin of cold water, extinguishing the hope that had just ignited in everyone's hearts.

An avatar? What they had just eliminated was actually just a wisp of the shadow's avatar? Then where was the real shadow? And how powerful was it?

Kate gripped Lin Fan's hand tightly, her fingertips icy, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" The shadow's laughter became even more profound and mysterious, "I am just... temporarily exiting the stage."

"What you shattered was nothing more than a wisp of my avatar, just one pawn in the layout I have been planning for a thousand years."

"The real me has long been lurking in places you cannot see, lurking in the depths of the Interstellar Academy's network, lurking in the emotional crevices of every person, waiting for the most suitable moment to descend again."

"Your struggle today, your sacrifice today, your so-called victory today, in my eyes, are nothing but a boring farce."

"AKai's death, Lin Fan's survival, Kate's pain, Kate Ling's growth... everything was within my calculations."

"Did you think you won?" "No." "You have only successfully completed the first leg that I arranged for you."

"The real game, the real destruction, the real end, has far from begun."

The voice from the depths of the void grew lighter and more distant, yet it carried a sense of inescapable destiny, firmly locking onto everyone's hearts.

Lin Fan, Kate, and Kate Ling stood on the ruins of the Light Sphere Mother Star, looking at the boundless, pitch-black, and cold universe. There was not a shred of joy of victory in their hearts, only a bottomless chill that quietly spread and swept through their entire bodies.

The shadow was not dead. He had only temporarily exited the stage. He was only lying in wait, waiting for the day to make a comeback.

And they, having just ended a life-and-death choice, having just lost an important companion, and having just exhausted all their strength, now had to immediately face a future that was even more terrifying, even more unknown, and even more desperate.

Kate Ling slowly raised her hand, gently grasping the tiny, faint yet warm speck of starlight belonging to AKai in her palm.

Tears still hung on her cheeks, but in the young girl's eyes, there was no longer the impulsiveness and immaturity of the past. Replacing them was a firmness, calmness, and determination that did not match her age.

She knew. From the moment Teacher AKai rushed into the light without hesitation, from the moment he used his life to make a choice for her, some things had changed forever.

She was no longer that child who needed to be protected. She had to shoulder her own responsibilities. She had to carry on with Teacher AKai's hope, Teacher Kate's expectations, and Teacher Lin Fan's trust. She had to keep going until the shadow was completely eliminated and until the day of true peace arrived.

Lin Fan hugged Kate tightly, looking up at the pitch-black starry sky, his eyes firm and sharp. He would no longer run away, no longer hide, and no longer bear everything alone. From now on, he would fight side-by-side with Kate, he would protect Kate Ling, he would protect the Interstellar Academy, and he would protect everyone he cared about.

The shadow wanted to make a comeback. Then they would play along to the very end.

Kate leaned in Lin Fan's arms, feeling his warm embrace, feeling Kate Ling's trembling yet firm body, and a trace of brilliant light flashed in her eyes.

The light of the Light Sphere Race would never be completely swallowed by darkness. Even if the road ahead was full of thorns, and even if the future was full of despair, they would hold the light high, tear through the darkness, and protect to the very end.

In the void, the shadow's last sentence slowly fell, becoming the prologue to a new story. "We—will meet again."

The voice dissipated completely. The starry sky returned to silence. Only the three of them remained standing on the ruins of the Light Sphere Mother Star, facing the cold cosmic wind, looking at the boundless starry sky, waiting for the coming, even more cruel echo of the end.