Justin was the only one still standing—no, fighting would have been giving him far too much credit. He was barely holding on, dodging for his life as Vera attacked him from every angle, never allowing him even a second to recover or reposition, his footing growing sloppier with each passing moment.

It didn’t last.

Within five seconds... both of his feet were sliced clean off. And without his feet, the True Dodger, well...

"W—"

The sound barely left his mouth before Vera’s blade came down again, splitting his head in half without pause or hesitation, ending him as abruptly as the struggle itself.

With Justin gone, Vanon, who still had Mark’s neck locked firmly in his grip, tightened his hold and snapped it in one clean motion. Like Vera, there was no hesitation in it, no thought given—just an unceremonious execution.

And with that, Toronto’s Emperor was dead.

The Black Crystal began to emerge from Mark’s corpse, pushing its way out slowly.

Vanon released the body without care, letting it fall to the ground before extending his hand to the side. His weapon, which was resting near the Leak, trembled at the gesture—and with a whistle, it yanked itself from the ground and flew right toward Vanon’s hand. And with the momentum, Vanon turned toward the Crystal and brought the blade down, slicing it cleanly in half.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then the light came.

There was no spark, no buildup—just a sudden, overwhelming brightness that swallowed everything in an instant, and when it faded, Toronto was simply... gone.

"What..."

Adam, who had been watching the entire fight through drone footage, found himself forgetting to breathe, his eyes still fixed on the space where the city had once stood.

"That’s everything the IBAA managed to capture," Beatrice said as she pulled the screen away from him. "But considering they captured everything, we have enough to know what we need about these aliens."

Only then did he inhale.

"...Are they the Emperor’s race?"

"We can’t be sure yet," Beatrice replied, shaking her head slightly. "But the possibility of them being in the same race is extremely high. The similarities are too strong to ignore."

"Th—"

"There’s another city," she continued, cutting Adam off before he could say another word. "Bangkok."

"Oh..."

"They weren’t able to evacuate."

"Oh."

Adam’s shoulders sagged further, but the exhaustion on his face didn’t deepen—it just... vanished entirely, replaced by something quieter, heavier, as he slowly lifted his gaze back to Beatrice.

And when he noticed her weird expression, his breath sank. "There’s... another?"

"No."

"Then why—"

"We’ve received reports that the aliens were speaking the local language," Beatrice said, her attention already back on the tablet as she reviewed the incoming data.

"What...?" Adam looked around at the others, but they were just as shaken as he was.

"Yes."

"Do we have footage to confirm that?"

"No. The moment they exited the Leak, all communications were cut. The drones dropped as well—possibly some form of EMP," she said, scrolling through the report. "If all of this is accurate, then they’re more advanced than we are."

Adam didn’t respond this time. And with his silence, it was as if something in the room had shifted all at once, the noise draining out of it in an instant, leaving behind a silence that settled over everyone present.

Even the IBAA staff, who had been working to clear the aftermath of Adam’s rampage, found themselves trailing, then stopping entirely, their attention drawn to the conversation as the ruined remains of the surrounding buildings echoed every word.

For a moment, they had allowed themselves to believe that the rest of the Leaks would end like this—an overwhelming victory for humanity. But of course, that had never been the case. Humanity, and all the other races involved in this Game... were all bound to be losers.

They stood there, unmoving, as stagnant as the death beneath their feet, unaware that they might already be stepping over their future.

All of them felt it, the dread.

All of them—except Adam, who was the one to finally break the silence.

"We’ll have enough time to mourn," he said, his shoulders straightening up with the rest of his body. He glanced at Katherine first. She returned his gaze, seemingly exhausted at him first, but then sighed and nodded as she understood Adam wasn’t going to rest at all.

"Beatrice." He turned toward her. "How many... Survivor Leaks are still open?"

Beatrice only blinked at him at first, then nodded. "Unconfirmed, but there are... a lot."

"Okay." Adam gulped before letting out a heavy breath. "I need you to continue coordinating with the IBAA and find out what areas need help—I’ll handle the farthest ones with Carmen’s help."

"Huh? Excuse me? The fuck?" Carmen, who was just quietly standing on the side, widened her eyes at her name suddenly being called. "Who told you I’ll help you? You do fucking know I’m not even from this country, right? You—"

"Done." Beatrice finished planning a trajectory for Adam before Carmen could finish. She tapped her tablet a few times, then showed the route to Adam. "This path had been traced through AI. I don’t know their survivability—but if you get there as fast as possible, and clear each Leak as fast as possible, then you can save a lot of people."

"So, the usual?" Adam nodded, turning his attention back to Carmen.

"You think I’m your fucking dog, you puto?! I’m not—"

"The first one is in Mexico. Mexico City," Beatrice lowered the tablet at Carmen’s eye level, showing her the path, and three of the first Leaks on the path were actually in Mexico.

"The fuck! What the fuck are we waiting for, you fucking midget?!" Carmen pressed a finger on Adam’s nose, squishing it. "Grab on! We—"

"Wait."

And before Carmen’s wings could sprout from her back, Katherine, who’d been watching the situation, or rather Adam, interrupted them. Carmen was about to scream at her, but then realized it was her.

"Wh—Just... just don’t take too long." Carmen crossed her arms, her face almost blushing as she looked at Katherine’s face.

Harvey noticed this, and he slowly slid closer to her. "Don’t... tell me you’re a fucking superfan?"

"F-fuck you! And of course, I’m a fucking superfan! Didn’t you watch True Light when she played a fucking princess vampire? She..."

And while the conversation between the two was spiraling into nonsense, Katherine pulled Adam away, dragging him to the corner, hidden from the side of a large debris away from prying eyes.

"Is... something wrong?" Adam asked. "I think I’m fine now. I should be the one asking you if you’re fine since... I accidentally pushed you earlier."

"Let’s not talk about that. I just need to confirm it—the ability you gained from the Game when you turned into a Hero. Is it something that’s making you stronger at an insane speed?" she asked. "And... did you just grow a lot stronger during this battle since you couldn’t control your strength? It’s fine if you don’t really tell me, I’ll under—"

"Yes," Adam once again answered her without any hesitation. "I trust you, Katherine—and I don’t think it’ll be a secret for long, anyway. I’m... basically still leveling up."

"Leveling—you mean like a Creep?!" Katherine raised her voice, only for her to clamp her mouth when she realized what she had just done. "You’re leveling up? As in... you still have access to your Status Window and putting points in it?"

"Yes. It—"

"Ssh!" This time, she clamped Adam’s mouth tight. "No. You should try to keep that a secret as much as possible, Adam. I... don’t think you understand just how... abnormal your ability is. As in... you can just keep putting points? Is there no limit?"

"...I don’t think—"

"Ssh!" Katherine leaned closer, pressing her palm tighter. "Okay, let’s... not—wait. Let’s just not talk about this and get to the reason why I pulled you here in the first place."

Katherine took several steps back. Adam was confused as to what was happening at first, but then her hands began to glow. And soon enough, the light dancing from her arm began to swirl and fly to the side, forming into a giant shield of light.

"It would be dangerous for you to go as you are now," she said. "This will just take a couple of seconds—we need to recalibrate your senses so that you wouldn’t accidentally... put too much strength."

"I... see," Adam whispered, once again remembering how Katherine flew off earlier from his touch. "What do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to punch the shield as strongly as you possibly can." Katherine carefully stepped to the side, gesturing to Adam to come forward. "Do that several times, just to get a feel for how strong you are now."

"That sounds simple enough." Adam nodded, stepping forward. "Katherine, can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"After all of this is over... do you want to live together?"