I Don't Need To Log Out

June could hardly believe what she was seeing.

Arlon had won.

Even though she had trusted he would—trusted that he could—this was the final boss fight. The one everything had built up to. The one that should have been impossible.

Yet here Asef was, kneeling on the cracked ground, bleeding, broken.

It felt... almost too easy.

But June knew better. She hadn't forgotten what Arlon had gone through to stand here. Decades spent alone in the Tower, clawing his way through all to prepare for this very day.

Still, seeing it—seeing Asef, the invincible enemy, so thoroughly defeated—made the reality of their victory feel foreign, almost fragile.

Across the battlefield, Arlon was already moving.

His eyes scanned every inch of the wrecked plains, cautious and sharp. Even though he had won, he wasn't letting down his guard for a second.

He had seen enough tricks. Enough fake defeats. Enough enemies who played dead only to lunge at the first moment of weakness.

He checked Carla's body too, confirming again that she was dead, that she wasn't faking it for a backstab.

She lay sprawled behind Asef, motionless, her Beastman form lifeless in the dirt.

Arlon also double-checked June, scanning her briefly with his mana senses.

It was her.

Not Carla disguised as June.

There couldn't be anything wrong. He had prepared for everything.

So there was no reason not to finish it.

He gripped Void Edge tighter.

When Arlon killed Asef, it would be over. He would return to Keldar's planet, but Asef would be gone from Trion for good.

And now, Arlon knew Asef wasn't even the strongest among Keldars. He could be killed.

It wasn't his problem anymore.

Still, part of him wanted to at least give Asef the truth.

He approached, prepared to speak.

However, before he could open his mouth, he noticed it.

Asef's red eyes shimmered. The light in them pulsed, shining and dimming like dying stars.

Arlon tensed.

At first, he thought another attack was coming—but no. Nothing happened.

Cautiously, Arlon stepped closer.

"Will you listen to me now?" Arlon asked.

Asef lifted his head, slowly. His face was exhausted, but calm.

"There's no need," Asef said hoarsely. "I know what you're going to say."

Arlon frowned. "I don't think you do. You don't know the story behind your mother's death. You don't know how you were used. Hon—"

"Do you take me for a fool?" Asef interrupted, his voice sharper now.

Arlon hesitated.

He hadn't expected that answer.

He had been ready for denial. Rage. Shock.

But Asef... had already accepted it.

"I knew," Asef said quietly. "I knew my brother didn't mean to kill her. I knew the ascended bastards were using me."

He took a shallow breath, blood dripping down from his wounds.

"But it doesn't matter anymore."

Arlon narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"With the hate I bear for him, it's too late. Even if you kill me here, I'll find a way. I'll ascend. I'll chase him, even through worlds."

There was no madness in Asef's voice.

Just... resolution.

Cold. Quiet. Absolute.

Arlon felt a heavy weight in his chest.

There would be no reasoning with him.

He raised Void Edge.

But before he could end it—

Movement.

Fast.

Carla—no, her corpse—jerked upright.

And before either Arlon or June could react, Carla drove a blade through Asef's back.

"NO!" both Arlon and June shouted at once.

Arlon sprinted forward, heart hammering against his ribs.

If a resident of Trion killed Asef, then by Zeno's rules, he would revive—fully healed—right away.

And Arlon knew. In his current state, he couldn't beat Asef at full strength. Not alone.

He thrust Void Edge forward, desperate to strike the final blow himself.

But it was too late.

Or... was it?

Asef's body slumped.

And his blood kept flowing, thick and dark, pooling on the ground.

His body didn't disintegrate. Didn't flicker into particles like a player dying.

It stayed there.

Human.

Mortal.

"What the hell is happening?" Arlon muttered, wide-eyed.

June approached too, her staff raised defensively.

Across from them, Carla—no, not Carla anymore—smiled.

Her body shifted, the disguise unraveling like mist.

When it cleared, both Arlon and June gasped.

Standing there wasn't a Beastman.

It was Birna.

The head of the Magus Council herself.

Behind her, a black rift split open in the air—and another figure emerged from the void.

Charon.

Arlon's hands tightened around Void Edge instinctively.

"What are you doing here?" he barked. "Charon? What the hell are you doing?!"

Charon raised his hands in a slow, almost apologetic gesture.

"Thank you, Arlon," he said. His voice was heavy, tired. "And... I'm sincerely sorry. But I had to be the one to kill him."

Arlon's stomach twisted.

Charon walked calmly toward Asef's body, pulling the knife from his back.

The knife pulsed with strange light.

And something—something vast, something dark—began to flow from Asef into Charon.

"What did you do?" Arlon demanded, taking a step forward. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Boy, I am really sorry. Don't worry, it won't affect you at all."

"What do you mean it won't affect me? I don't care about it. Tell me what happened."

"Sigh... I think I owe you that much." And then, Charon started telling the story.

"Birna isn't a Magus. She is one of the Kri Folks."

Arlon remembered the Kri Folks. They were the shape-shifter race of Trion. They could turn into anything as long as they honed their ability.

"During the war, she hid herself as a Magus. And we two were the strongest Maguses. That is how we met.

Back then, the war was at its peak. And one day, this one called Asef came with an offer. He told us that we could win the war.

But when I did what he said and killed the last human called Silk, I was the one cursed by Kalmer."

Arlon also knew about part of this story that Agema told him.

Charon had killed Silk, the human beside Efsa, causing Efsa to almost kill everyone in Trion.

And that would happen if Kalmer didn't interfere.

Kalmer told Efsa that Charon would be punished, never to ascend. In return, Efsa would ascend and leave Trion alone.

And Efsa accepted the offer.

"So, I was here for the last 1000 years without being able to ascend. Not getting older, but also not getting younger.

Do you know what that is like? I craved for revenge every day!"

Arlon didn't know the answer. If he underwent such a thing, he didn't know what he would do.

"Thankfully, Birna stayed with me, not ascending. And we found a way. With the one inside Asef, I could break this curse."

And Charon's eyes glowed red for a second.

There was no explosion, meaning Charon was already much better at handling it than Asef.

"But I needed to be the one killing Asef. So, I must thank you again. It is not just that I stole the kill from you. I also stole the method."

Then, he showed Arlon the knife.

No, it wasn't a knife. It was more like the blade part of a knife.

There was no handle, and its shape was weird, just like a mineral that came from underground.

Arlon immediately said, "Aensite!"

"You are right."

Aensite was the mineral anti-saviors found about. It could kill a player even though the one killing wasn't a player.

Without it, Charon couldn't kill Asef no matter what.

Arlon started to get enraged.

"When Asef came here, Birna shape-shifted into Carla, a Beastman traitor."

"So, you were behind the killing of Trionians!" Arlon exclaimed.

"Not at all," Birna said. "On the contrary, I was holding him back. Why do you think he didn't attack the first day he came here?"

"Arlon... I am sorry for everything, but we have no bad intentions. I won't even steal your wish.

It is not as good as you think, anyway. After ascending, it doesn't do anything."

This was new information for Arlon. Wasn't EVR, the strongest existence, the one granting it? Why didn't it help the other ascended existences?

"I promise you, the only thing I am taking is the soul. But I can't give it to you. I will pay for it when you also ascend and we meet. Until then, goodbye."

Before Arlon or June could interfere, a void swallowed Birna and Charon.

Arlon knew he couldn't do anything anyway.

Birna and Charon were about to ascend, and Arlon didn't even know what level that required.

Charon had promised that he wouldn't take Arlon's wish. And that was all he could do.

After the duo disappeared, Asef's body lumped on the ground, and a notification came.

[The final boss has been killed! Congratulations! Game Over!]

Arlon stared at the words for a long moment, feeling their weight settle over him.

It was over.

But the real war, he knew, might have only just begun.

---

Aaaaand Cut!

Hi everyone, Author here.

I have a feeling you were not expecting that kind of finale.

There are a lot of things still unanswered. A lot of open ends.

Will Arlon get to make a wish?

If so, what will he wish for?

What about Arlon and June?

What exactly did Arlon promise Syme?

Will we see Mei again?

Why did Arlon receive the Eyes of AKETA and the Void Edge if he barely used them?

Why did he have those dreams?

What happened to Asmond?

What is going to happen to Nyx?

And what was written on that note Arlon found?

You do not have to worry about a thing!

All of these questions, and even more that I didn't write here (or maybe forgot?), will be answered... eventually.

Some will be covered in the side stories I plan to release, and some will be explained in my third book.

In the meantime, you can ask me if a question you have will be answered in a side story. That way, if there is anything I missed out, I will remember.

As for the second book—well, I already explained it in the previous chapter, so please check that if you missed it!

Thank you so much for reading this far. I know this was not the best book out there. I still have a lot to improve.

But I learned a lot while writing this, and I promise my next book, which comes out tomorrow, will be even better!

Once again, thank you for supporting me through this adventure.

I hope we meet again in one of my next books.