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The feeling of a sword piercing his heart returned to him as he remembered the time he spent working under Lilith. It took him countless years to realize that the person, who he thought of as the sole person to care about him, was breaking him.

"Did I break you, or did I break your shell?" 

Lilith whispered in his ear as the scenery seemed to freeze. Lex\'s face was full of sadness, Yuxi looked around them warily, and the dwarves were shouting at them. Everything was frozen in space.

Lilith took small steps away from him before turning to face him. Her face was a blur as if Nikolai\'s mind refused to see her again. However, he could tell that she was grinning. 

"Did I change you, or did I simply reveal what you truly are?" 

"I\'m not like you," Nikolai gritted his teeth. "I don\'t enjoy breaking people, nor do I seek their misery." 

"But you do, dear, you do. Why do you think I chose you?" She walked closer to him and stood a few steps away. "You don\'t want to be the only paranoid, broken, and miserable one. That\'s why you became a carrier of suffering, to make sure that others are just like you."

"I am..." 

"A nobody unless you are with me," she continued her sentence with a grin, and Nikolai felt himself shrink. The world was getting vast, and he was turning small, unable to keep up. "That\'s why you will seek me, not for revenge, but to be more than just a nobody." 

"I will indeed find you, but it will be to kill you. No, to make you suffer. I will have my revenge for what you did," Nikolai said, almost shouting, but the lump in his throat prevented him from doing so. 

"I see," Lilith grinned and took a step back. "This revenge of yours is your only way to prove that you are more than a nobody." 

"Shut up!" 

His rage tore down his fear and the illusion of her existence. Nikolai\'s roar made the shouting of the dwarves cease, and the darkness in his voice made the crowd fearful. 

Nikolai snapped out of it and held his forehead. Fatigue and pain flooded through his body like a wave, making him suddenly dizzy. Yuxi stood beside him, looking worried as she tried to stabilize him. 

\'Weren\'t you the one threatening me a few days ago?\' Nikolai glared at her and slapped away her reaching hand. He turned to Lex and the dwarves, whose relationship was beyond saving now. 

Even if they forgive her, they would demand the inheritance, which Lex would believe to be the only reason they forgave her. \'She\'s better off without them.\' 

Lex would prove herself one of the greatest mechanics in the apocalypse and environment, which renders people hopeless and stagger their growth. 

"Are you done shouting at each other?" Nikolai\'s eyelids felt heavy, and dark circles appeared beneath his crimson red eyes. The dwarves and the gun master seemed taken aback by the coldness of his voice, and he didn\'t wait for their response. "She has the inheritance now. The only to get it is by killing her. What is your choice, dwarves?" 

Nikolai\'s words fell with a heavy impact on the dwarves, who fell into hesitation after being faced with such a choice. His words were correct. They can get the inheritance by killing Lex. 

"Do you see their expressions?" Nikolai turned toward Lex. He didn\'t want to break her belief about people, but this was the reality. "I\'m leaving the choice to you." 

As he said so, Nikolai spread his arms, and the darkness revealed his ship, Alias. He jumped on its deck in front of the dwarves, who aimed their guns at the vessel. 

"Choose, Gunmaster!" Nikolai shouted. "You are either coming with me or staying with these dwarves!" 

"Do you think you can run away?" Herlem fired his gun without waiting for Lex\'s answer. A fireball struck the hull of the ship, but the darkness worked to negate it. "No damage?" The dwarf muttered in shock. 

\'I have revealed too much, and I\'ve gone out of my way for too long,\' Nikolai realized that he was wasting his time here. He needed to get to the Legendary Skill as soon as possible and attempt Val\'s Selection.

"This is the last time I\'m asking you, Lex," Nikolai glared at her. "Are you coming with me, or are you staying?" 

The dwarves wanted to shoot again, but Master Dwarf raised his hand. He gave a complicated sigh as he looked at Lex. There were regret, fear, and determination. 

"I\'ve raised you like my own daughter, but I couldn\'t shield you from the hate we had toward humans. The debt I had toward your father should be fulfilled by now, and I\'m leaving the choice to you. Whatever you decided, it shall be," 

"Are you insane?!" Herlem roared before his head exploded. The headless body fell on the ground under the fearful eyes of the crowd. 

Master Dwarf lowered his gun with a bloodlust aura that threatened to suffocate the crowd. Nikolai\'s eyes squinted as he realized that this old dwarf was more than appeared to the eye. 

"You killed him?" One of the dwarves backed away. 

"His mind has been corrupted, and he dared to disrespect me. I\'ll kill any of you who question my decision," Master Dwarf lowered his gun and turned toward Lex. "Choose, child." 

Lex looked at the old dwarf with tears pooling in her eyes. She turned to look at the headless body of Herlem, who was possessed not long ago. 

Nikolai knew the look she had on her face. She realized that staying with the dwarf would simply tear them apart. After a shake of her head, the Gunmaster jumped on the ship. 

"Farewell, father," Lex bit her lower lip as tears spilled down her eyes. "I\'ll never forget the kindness you showed me. Let\'s go, devil." 

Then, Alias flew away from the crowd, taking away their dreams and hopes of immortality. 

*** 

"And Lex decided to come with us?" Sergio muttered with a daze as he held his head. "I slept through a dungeon dive, a battle against a crazy soul, and an emotional farewell? Did anyone record the show?" 

"Shut up. I want to sleep." Nikolai slept on the bed beside him. "I knew the mute would find a way into the ship without me realizing."

"I\'m amazed that you aren\'t trying to kill her again because she sneaked in," the blonde alchemist glanced at the archer and then back at Nikolai. "Is it true that you ruined the relationship between Lex and the dwarves?" 

"It is," his arm shielded his eyes from the crowd as he replied. Sergio looked at him silently before nodding.

"Do you regret it?" Sergio stood up as he took off his bandages. This time, Nikolai removed his arms and looked at his friend. 

"No," Nikolai replied, and he could feel the mute archer glare at him. Why was this group so full of morals while he was not?

"Do you know something we don\'t?" Sergio asked, and Nikolai nodded after a brief silence. "Then I believe in you," 

The trust Sergio placed in him made Nikolai panic because he could never return such feelings. The truth was that as much as he liked Sergio and trusted him, he didn\'t want to stay with him. 

Nikolai stood up and climbed out of the room, leaving the two alone. He found the Gunmaster sitting on the railings of the ship, gazing at the stars. 

"I\'m sorry," Nikolai stood behind her and watched her shoulders flinch. "I believe that you are better off without them, but I shouldn\'t have tried to break you like that."

"Why do you talk as if you know everything?" Lex said with a tired voice, and Nikolai couldn\'t see her face. "It makes me sick," she didn\'t hold back. "You make me sick." 

"We\'ll walk away from each other when this journey is over," he said as he pocketed his hands. "I\'ll only visit you once in a while for the Abyssal Art." 

"That would be for the better," Lex nodded and turned toward him. Her eyes were red as she continued. "I don\'t want you to rob me of more things," she said with a scowl. 

"I don\'t want to rob anyone too," he lowered his head to meet her eyes. "That\'s why I want you to take care of Sergio. He\'s a fool, a helpless romantic who can only see the good in people." 

"And what about you?" Lex was confused. "I thought you wanted to be with your friend." 

"The only one I trust and care about is Sergio. However, I\'m too broken, and I don\'t want to break him." Nikolai shook his head. He no longer needed to use A Wise Choice. Lilith\'s ghost gave him his answer. 

"You are leaving him?" Lex asked, and Nikolai nodded. "And are you going to change?" Her eyes held expectations, and Nikolai turned to look at the starry night. 

"No," he could sense the disappointment Lex felt. "I need to be as I am because that\'s the only way I can survive and get stronger."

"Get stronger for what?" Lex\'s voice was full of indignation, and she jumped off the railings. She grabbed his collar and looked him in the eyes. "What is it that you fear that you need to be like this?" 

Nikolai met her gaze, and he knew it instantly. Lex was a good person, one of the few. Even after what he did, she cared about him. However, the world doesn\'t need good people. It needs powerful ones. 

"What is so important that you are leaving the person you trust the most for? Tell me," Lex asked again, tightening her fist around his collar. 

"A darker era,"