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“I’ll become whatever nightmare I have to be,” I saywith absolute certainty. “Because without her, I’m nothing.”

I don’t wait for him to reply.

Instead, I focus on Frostbite, connecting to my sword on a level deeper than the physical. This blade was forged for precision, but it’s always known my heart. It’s been with me since childhood—it knows me better than anyone, except Sapphire herself.

It was there when I was trained to be cold and unfeeling. It was there when I met Ghost. It was there when I met Sapphire at the Maple Pig, when I saved her in the forest, and when I helped her through the trials.

It knows who I am. Not just who I was trained to be—but who Iam.And I can’t let this shadow version of myself win. If he does, and if I fall into the magma below, I’ll be forced to leave her. That would break her, and I won’t let her break. I know what it feels like to be broken, and I’ll never let that happen to my Starlight.

Annihilation,the word echoes in my mind.Destroy him. Not for myself, but forher.

Silver-blue light emanates from my blade’s edge, brighter and clearer than the shadowy glow of the Lonely King’s corrupted sword. The air around me sharpens, temperature dropping—not with the brutal cold of winter, but with the precise chill of deliberate focus.

The ice around my legs begins to crack. And then,with a final surge of will, I shatter it completely, shards exploding outward as I free myself from the Lonely King’s burning ice.

“Impossible,” he breathes, his eyes wide. “You can’t?—“

I rush forward, moving with a speed and grace that surprises even me. My attack isn’t calculated or cold—it’s driven by passion, by purpose, by everything my father tried to train out of me, and by everything Sapphire has turned me into.

He raises his corrupted blade to block, but Frostbite slashes through it, shattering it in a spray of darkness and frost. And before he can recover, I scream with everything left in me and drive my sword into his chest.

Steam erupts from the wound, and lava sparks hiss around us as frost and fire collide.

For once, the Lonely King is silent. He just stares at me, shock evident in those silver eyes so frighteningly similar to my own as I twist the blade, cracks spreading across his body.

“Die,” I growl the same word I did to the fiery monster guarding the crater.

And then, with a final wrench, I pull Frostbite free.

The Lonely King doesn’t speak, doesn’t plead. He simply shatters, fragmenting into ice and shadow that evaporate in the volcanic heat.

My entire body is numb as I lower Frostbite.

Across the chamber, I see Sapphire standing alone onher platform, bloodied but victorious. Her shadow self is gone, and relief floods through me at the sight of her unharmed.

She gives me a small smile, and I know she feels as connected in this moment as I do. And even though I don’t know what I’ve become, she’s still looking at me like she sees the man I used to be. Like she still believes he exists—somewhere beneath the ice, the blood, and the frozen silence.

Maybe that’s the most dangerous thing of all. Because I will do anything to keep her looking at me that way. No hesitation, and no regret. I’ll stop time again, freeze the universe mid-breath, and erase anything that tries to take her from me. And I won’t flinch while doing it. Because like I said to the Lonely King, she’s the only thing that matters anymore.

Not the court. Not the war. Not even the man I used to be.

Just her. My Starlight. My beginning and my end. The other half of my soul. And if loving her turns me into the monster I’ve spent my whole life fighting against, then so be it. As long as she’s mine, I’ll become whatever the world fears most, just to keep her next to me.

But while Sapphire and I have beaten our shadow selves, Thalia is on her knees on her platform, continuing to fight the corrupted version of Maeris. Her watermagic explodes in chaotic bursts, waves crashing against stone and steam hissing into the volcanic air.

“You’re not him!” she screams. “You’ll never be him!”

Shadow Maeris moves with grace, dodging Thalia’s wild attacks. His expression remains blank, but there’s something cruel in his eyes that the real Maeris never possessed.

“You couldn’t save me,” he says, his voice an empty echo of the man she loved. “You never could.”

Thalia’s magic falters, water droplets hanging in the air around her. “Maeris...”

“All your strength, all your centuries of battle,” Shadow Maeris continues, circling her like a predator. “And when it mattered most, you failed.”

I grip Frostbite’s hilt tighter, helpless to intervene. This is Thalia’s battle, not mine. And the truth is… I have zero desire to intervene. Not when it would mean putting myself at risk. Because I won’t risk myself for anyone buther.Not anymore. Not again. Never again.

“I love you,” Thalia whispers to Shadow Maeris, her voice so pained that I’m taken back to the Tides, when Sapphire was motionless in my arms, and I thought she was gone forever. I can still feel the terrifying emptiness, the numbing horror of a world stripped of her warmth, and the realization that without her, nothing mattered.