Tap-tap-tap!
Urgent footsteps echoed down the corridors of the encampment as a figure raced forward at top speed.
"Stop joking, stop joking…" Robin frantically repeated to herself, desperately trying to deny the news she'd just heard.
She refused to accept it—Sora, dead? That kind of joke wasn't funny!
"There's no way Sora could die. How could he possibly die? Something like that absolutely cannot happen… It can't…"
As Robin sprinted down another corridor, she saw a large gathering of figures clustered outside a medical bay entrance, silent and tense.
"How is he now? What's Sora's condition?" Robin anxiously asked, yet received no immediate reply.
The gathered crowd merely stared quietly at the door at the end of the corridor.
Not wasting a moment, Robin hurried straight toward the entrance.
Sensing her arrival, the automatic doors opened, revealing a frantic scene inside.
Beep… beep… beep…
Alarms from the life-monitoring equipment blared constantly, the flat line clearly displayed on the monitor above.
Robin's heart sank violently, yet she forced herself to remain composed as she squeezed through the crowd, desperate to see clearly.
Inside the medical room, several doctors in protective suits urgently crowded around a bed, working frantically.
On that bed lay Sora. His body was scorched a horrifying black, burned bandages scattered around him. Severe burns covered him, making his face nearly unrecognizable.
"No heartbeat detected, blood pressure unreadable, and the residual heat is so intense we can't even apply medication!" A frustrated doctor shouted angrily, furious at his own helplessness.
Robin's eyes widened in shock, yet she struggled to keep her composure. Approaching one of the doctors, her voice trembled as she asked, "How… How's Sora's condition right now?"
Seeing it was Robin, the doctor wearily removed his mask, his eyes full of exhaustion. "Miss Robin, this patient's condition is very grim. Perhaps you should…"
"Just tell me the truth. I can handle it!"
Hearing this, the doctor sighed deeply. "Currently, every inch of his skin tissue is severely damaged. Internal organs are partially charred. A substantial amount of stellar radiation remains trapped inside his body. It's as if he went for a naked stroll through the interior of a star."
Robin's breathing momentarily stopped.
"He's really…" Robin desperately avoided that word, but after a painful internal struggle, she finally forced it out, "…dead?"
It was the one word she least wanted to hear, the truth she refused to acknowledge.
How could Sora possibly be dead? He had hidden so many secrets—how could he so easily die here?
He could reshape entire planets, could save countless lives within the swarm-infested region.
How could someone like him die here? How could he possibly?
"From a physiological perspective, yes," the doctor said softly.
Robin stumbled backward in disbelief, two shaky steps. Yet another statement from the doctor immediately reignited a flicker of hope.
"However, although clinically dead, his body still behaves strangely." The doctor stared incredulously at the scorched figure lying on the bed. "Despite everything, his body is still continuously absorbing stellar radiation."
Indeed, from the very start until now, Sora's body seemed to be treating itself.
Initially, his blood vessels had been completely cooked through, preventing any medication from being injected. Yet now, several hours later, the vessels had inexplicably restored themselves to something approaching a normal state.
However, with his heart not beating, they had no way to determine the actual state of the blood flow within him.
"What about an artificial heart? Why haven't you installed one yet?!" Robin immediately demanded.
In this era, artificial hearts weren't complicated technology. Quickly installing one in Sora to restore circulation should've been their top priority.
"Miss Robin, please calm down!" The doctor swiftly pulled over a monitoring instrument, pointing out the nearly thousand-degree Celsius temperature emanating from Sora's skin. "At his current body temperature, absolutely no device can operate properly!"
At such extreme heat, even medication instantly evaporated upon injection—an artificial heart stood no chance.
"It's not that we don't want to, but we physically cannot!" The doctor helplessly explained, the frustration clear in his voice.
They desperately wanted to treat him. Sora had saved them all from planetary destruction—he was their savior. How could they not want to save him in return?
Yet, faced with Sora's current condition, they were completely powerless.
Robin listened silently, finally stepping back into the corridor.
When she raised her eyes, she noticed all the Glamoth Iron Cavalry outside wore expressions mirroring hers. Clearly, they'd received similarly devastating news.
These girls cared for Sora perhaps even more deeply than Robin did. Living on a medical world, they'd undoubtedly suggested far more detailed and advanced treatment plans.
Yet in the end, just like Robin, all they could do now was stand silently outside, awaiting news.
What was the meaning of this?
He'd saved so many lives. He'd helped countless others. Shouldn't he deserve a far better ending than this?
Why? Why had it come to this, at this moment of all moments?
You clearly promised me you'd come back alive… You said you'd get plenty of rest afterward…
Now here you were resting, all right—resting so comfortably that you couldn't even be bothered to get up anymore.
"You big lazy idiot… liar… promise-breaking fool!" Robin slowly slid down against the wall, crouching helplessly onto the floor.
For some inexplicable reason, she felt her strength drain completely from her body.
An oppressive silence filled the corridor.
Outside, the pale brilliance of the distant supernova illuminated the scene, casting another layer of gloom upon their hearts.
...
News of Sora's death spread rapidly, soon reaching the ears of those who cared.
Upon hearing Tingyun's report, Jing Yuan frowned in disbelief. "You're saying Mr. Sora's life and death are uncertain right now?"
"According to the medical staff," Tingyun replied regretfully, "even if Sora were capable of self-healing, his chances of survival would be extremely slim."
She continued sorrowfully, "Under that intense stellar radiation, his brain has already been thoroughly cooked. Even if his body repairs itself, he may never regain consciousness."
Such severe heat had reduced even his internal organs to charcoal; naturally, the brain—repository of all his memories—couldn't escape that fate.
Sora had never made any memory backups. With his brain severely damaged, how could any memory possibly remain?
Thus, even if Sora's body did fully regenerate, it would likely be nothing more than an empty, unconscious shell.
"This is troublesome indeed…" Jing Yuan rubbed his brow thoughtfully, frustration clear on his face.
"It truly is," Tingyun agreed. "The whole encampment has sunk into despair."
Most of those in the encampment owed their lives directly to Sora, rescued from the swarm disaster. Although attempts had been made to suppress the news, too many had witnessed it firsthand.
Word of Sora's death had already circulated throughout the camp. No one wanted to believe the truth.
"I see…" Jing Yuan let out a regretful sigh. "I'll inform the others about this personally. You stay over there and closely monitor Sora-san's condition."
Tingyun readily accepted Jing Yuan's instructions.
"How tragic… A benefactor who's saved billions ends up like this," Tingyun murmured quietly after the communication ended. "In this universe, is there truly no reward for good people?"
...
Within the Interastral Peace Corporation, this very same news reached another set of ears.
"What did you say?!" Jade was in disbelief as she listened to her subordinate's report. "Sora…is dead?!"
"Yes," the company employee confirmed solemnly. "We've verified the information multiple times. Sora's vital signs have ceased completely. He's clinically confirmed deceased."
Even after hearing it twice, Jade still struggled to believe it.
She returned to her office, reviewing the reports gathered above her desk.
They detailed, one after another, countless worlds saved by Sora and his red dragon companion. Compared to these heroics, the Corporation's efforts seemed embarrassingly weak.
Though Jade had previously lamented the drop in the company's reputation because of this, deep down she had felt genuine relief. As someone driven by desire, who had seen countless others consumed by ambition, she understood intimately how rare hope and brightness were in the cold void of space.
In a place like the insect-infested disaster region, true hope was practically nonexistent.
Yet there had finally been someone foolish enough to spread his scarce fragments of hope without reservation.
And what did that fool get in the end?
"What kind of universe is this?" Jade sighed wearily, leaning back into her chair.
Was the cosmos really nothing but darkness and cruelty? Did good people always have to face tragic endings?
"What a terribly unfunny joke."
...
At the Intelligentsia Guild, after finishing his lecture, Doctor Ratio received a sudden call.
"Ruan Mei, I never imagined you'd contact me first." Doctor Ratio was genuinely surprised; this member of the Genius Society had rarely ever sought him out before.
"My apologies for interrupting your rest period after teaching."
"It's nothing. Did something happen?"
Ruan Mei quickly relayed the news she'd received.
Silence briefly settled over the Intelligentsia Guild.
Finally, after a moment, Ratio responded calmly, "So that's how it is."
The fool's ultimate fate turned out to be this fitting…
Previously, Ratio had wondered what someone as foolish yet powerful as Sora would do upon hitting a wall.
Now, he had his answer: Sora would repeatedly slam himself against the wall, again and again, until either the wall shattered or he himself died. Clearly, the final outcome had been decided.
What an end fitting the title of 'fool.'
Ratio quietly reflected for a moment before regaining his composure.
"Surely you didn't contact me merely to share this news?" Ratio asked, puzzled by Ruan Mei's outreach.
"The Interastral Peace Corporation invited you to another gathering. They couldn't reach you directly, so they asked me…"
"No thanks," Ratio flatly rejected the invitation. "If I were going to attend something like that, I'd rather attend that fool's funeral."
At least there he could witness what kind of form this fool would take as he exited this galaxy forever.
With that, Ratio hung up abruptly and stood alone, gazing silently upward.
Starlight filled the night sky, countless stars scattered across endless darkness.
"Pity," he muttered softly, "it seems we're missing one more star now."
...
In the infinite expanse of space, an enormous shadow slowly drifted toward the region illuminated by the fading supernova.
This massive silhouette gleamed faintly with an eerie blue radiance. But its massive body wasn't untouched.
A full quarter of its body appeared scorched black, burnt flesh visible beneath its charred carapace.
It was Starcrusher Swarm King, and the burned section on its back was precisely the injury inflicted by Sora during their brutal confrontation.
But this level of injury posed no true danger to it.
Instead, its attention was fully occupied by the fading glow of the supernova ahead.
[So, this is where you fell?]
Before its eyes, that pale brilliance seemed to pulse with silent warnings, urging it not to proceed.
Even in its final moments, the Afterglow Swarm King had tried to warn Starcrusher not to approach.
Yet Starcrusher ignored all warnings, proceeding resolutely.
[Your warnings won't stop me from avenging you.]
It couldn't merely watch as Afterglow met its end and do nothing in return.
Even if it cost its life, it had to avenge its fallen brethren!
[Certain grudges are best settled personally.]
[Come. Let us seek revenge together.]
Saying this, Starcrusher Swarm King opened its massive jaws wide, swallowing the glowing supernova's radiant energy whole, along with countless insect fragments scattered in space.
Slowly, the supernova's brilliance faded entirely from existence, plunging the area once again into total darkness.
Golden patterns began glowing faintly on Starcrusher's abdomen, its burnt flesh gradually knitting itself back together as the energy was absorbed.
Quietly, Starcrusher began to digest everything it had consumed.
Once digestion was complete, its revenge would begin!