The world outside was quiet—too quiet. The battle had ended hours ago, but the silence it left behind was deafening. You stood in the ruins of the old bridge, the one where it all started, where Huntrix had first faced the Saja Boys. The moonlight reflected off the water below, fractured and restless, much like your own thoughts.

You heard footsteps behind you—soft, deliberate. Even without looking, you knew who it was. Mystery Saja. His long lilac-silver hair fell into his face as always, hiding the purple glow of his eyes, his voice soft like he was afraid it would break the night.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he murmured.

You swallowed hard, because you knew he was right. The rules were clear. Huntrix didn’t let demons walk free, and the Saja Boys didn’t forgive hunters. But here he was anyway—just for you.

“I thought…” his voice trailed off, trembling like the edge of a dream. “I thought maybe if I saw you, it would hurt less. But it doesn’t. It’s worse.”

Your heart squeezed painfully. “Why did you come back?”

He tilted his head, the faintest, broken smile tugging at his lips. “Because every day without you feels like an eternity. And I’ve been counting—every minute, every hour—since I had to learn to be someone you don’t know anymore.”

He stepped closer, his fingers brushing yours for just a second before pulling away, as if the contact burned him. “Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of us in a place where this war doesn’t exist? Somewhere quiet, somewhere we could be… normal? I’d give anything. I’d sacrifice everything. But you—” his voice cracked—“you keep chasing the light, somewhere I can’t go.”

The weight of his words hit like a tidal wave. You wanted to tell him you didn’t want the light, not if it meant leaving him behind. You wanted to tell him that no victory, no duty, could fill the hollow his absence carved into you.

But before you could speak, he shook his head, turning away. “It’s an endless night without you. A starless sky. A hell I call home. And all I can do is walk this world alone.”

He started to walk back into the shadows, each step pulling him further from you. The distance felt like a wound that would never heal.

You stood there, breath caught in your throat, the moonlight casting his silhouette in silver until it was gone entirely—leaving you with the echo of his voice and the unbearable ache of knowing you might never see him again.