A cluster of sparks flew around, drawing yellow-gold trails in the air as Gaius waved a sparkler around. He could see the same sight reflected in Isabelle’s eyes, as she tried writing some words with them, and Gaius smiled. For a moment, he was back on Earth, playing along with the orphans he’d picked up and waving sparklers alongside them.

Come to think of it, were assassinations lucrative? To raise orphans…how much money did I have? And…how did I get them?

“Are you alright? You seemed a little dazed.”

A voice broke his reverie, but before Gaius could take a few steps back, a warm hand had shot out to pull him close. Now that they were an item, this level of intimacy didn’t seem all that embarrassing…even if Gaius could feel her breath on his face.

Time slowed for a moment, and the sparkler in Isabelle’s hand went out. The light illuminating her somewhat-flushed face dimmed, and she immediately took a few steps back to light up a new one.

“This is something from Earth, right?” Isabelle asked, her voice steady.

“Yeah, it is. It’s really nothing compared to the light shows even Soldiers can put on here, but for us, it was a little miracle. When night fell, we could create, even for a mere few seconds, a light brighter than the sun,” Gaius replied. “Of course, in this world, I could do something on a far grander scale, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Isabelle repeated the last bit thoughtfully. “Thank you for showing me this side of you.”

“Whatever that I can remember, I’ll tell you…although I don’t think it’s much.” Gaius lit up another sparkler and waved it around. Letting some of the sparks fall on his skin, he once again wondered an age-long question — why didn’t it hurt when sparks fell on exposed skin?

Also, sticking a few sparklers into the starless sky would be a great idea, and Gaius wondered if he should do that after he truly succeeded Weiwu as the guardian of the Crying Abyss.

Letting a few more sparks fall, he reached out for the other sparklers, his eyes alight. Since he couldn’t recall doing an experiment of this nature back on Earth, he would burn a whole bunch of sparklers together here on Orb, where his powers would definitely guarantee safety.

“What are you doing?” Isabelle asked.

“I’m going to burn a whole bunch of sparklers together,” Gaius replied.

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“You’re a Knight. I’m not even sure what I am now. It’s going to be alright.” Gaius grinned. “Come on, let’s get it set up.”

Taking out every single sparkler, which numbered around thirty, Gaius bound them together with some qi, before letting them float in mid-air. Drawing an ignition sigil — he hadn’t drawn one for a long time, so he took a bit longer for this — he flicked it at the thick bundle of sparklers.

A large column of smoke began to rise, and the sounds of the burning sparklers combined to form a rushing current Gaius would associate with narrow streams. Sparks flew upwards, combining into a geyser of light that threw the area around Gaius into stark relief.

“Wow,” Gaius muttered. “What happens if I were to get like a thousand or so and burn them at once?”

“That’s a very good question,” Isabelle replied. “Do…do you want to find a day to do it?”

“Just the two of us,” Gaius replied. “I don’t want Nakama to try it in the house. And La-Ti…his body might be flammable.”

The two looked at each other, and then laughed. Gaius knew that he was making an excuse to just go out together, something that Isabelle had picked up on immediately. Resting his head on her shoulder, Gaius watched the fountain of life slowly die out.

It was like watching a sun set.

“Even the brightest things eventually fade out, right?” Isabelle muttered. “But if they faded out alone, they wouldn’t be this bright in the first place. Only when together can people burn brightly, even at their final moments.”

“Isabelle, you…”

“Doesn’t it feel great to watch the world’s end together? Or to welcome infinity with someone at your side?” She drew even closer to Gaius, and a floral scent entered his nose. “It’s…romantic, right?”

Gaius laughed. “I’ll never be able to defeat you in a debate, will I?”

He held her hands and looked up at the sky. “Senior. Can you drop by for a moment?”

The air seemed to crackle, and an old man appeared in front of the couple. His wizened state seemed to have intensified in the time that had gone by, and a sense of weakness was radiating off him.

“Hello, Gaius. I hope you’re doing well.” Weiwu’s voice echoed in his head, and from how Isabelle had an interesting expression on her face, in hers too.

“Hi, senior. I wish I could say the same to you, but…” Gaius hung his head. “I’ll just feel perfunctory saying it, however. You don’t look well at all.”

“I’ve been letting seekers of power come into contact with the Crying Abyss in the time I was asleep. Nothing much came from it back then, since almost everyone did it through me, but...”

“But?”

“The birth of Demon Sovereign Asteria has awakened it fully. I have to forcibly contend with it to maintain the old practices.” Weiwu shook his head. “Without an intervener, the world would be a lot more dangerous in years to come. Anyone who seeks a proto-Fief or an advanced variant thereof would be placed in overwhelming danger.”

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Gaius rubbed his nose. He had a feeling that the great god had just mentioned something very, very important. After failing to grasp it after thinking it through once, he tossed it to the back of his mind.

“Anyway,” said the great god, “why did you call me here?”

“Well, lots of things happened, and—”

“And I’ve resolved to follow him no matter where he goes,” Isabelle concluded. “Even if it means guarding the Crying Abyss for all time.”

“Are you insane?” Weiwu asked. “Gaius, did you not tell her what doing so entailed?”

“I’ve tried, believe me.” Gaius made a rueful face. “Do you think I would put her in danger willy-nilly?”

“So…she convinced you. Why am I not surprised?” The great god sighed, and then turned to Isabelle. “Are you sure? Turning you into a being of the Abyss is irreversible. Your Territory, your Fief…all these hallmarks of modern power today shares a complementary distribution with the Abyss’ chaotic will. It is likely that you would not be recognised by others for what you are.”

“I don’t really care about that last bit,” Isabelle replied.

“Are you certain of your choice? There’s no going back.”

Gaius opened his mouth, only for a hand to block his next words. Isabelle looked at him, her eyes ablaze. “I’m certain.”

“Very well. This just will take a second…”

Before his very eyes, Isabelle’s presence began to change. In the past, it was rather negligible, but now…she was like a beacon in Gaius’ eyes. It was as if the two of them were linked together with a bond that transcended space itself, and he turned to the great god, a quizzical expression on his face.

“Well,” said Weiwu, “you two are fated in ways that I cannot exactly fathom. Maybe it’s a remnant will of an ancient god or something.”

He laughed. “Jokes aside, it seems that you two are quite alike. That’s why you feel such a connection with her. In other words, to use the lingo of today, she’s a highly esteemed and valued citizen of your Divine Kingdom. Since she had past exposure in the form of waking me up, she probably acclimatised to my modifications better too.”

“Divine Kingdom?” Gaius asked. “Isn’t that reserved for great gods?”

“You, and Demon Sovereign Asteria, can be considered to be beings that occupy the missing step between Demigods and great gods. That said, even if you cannot project a Divine Kingdom or lower variants, you still have its, uh, administration. Government. That’s what linking you to your lover.”

The great god paused. “What? Do you think I’m an idiot? Only lovers would do something as romantic as facing eternity together.”

“You weren’t listening to us earlier, right?” Gaius asked, suspicious.

“Please. I have a world to protect. And I promised to buy you as much time as possible, right?” Weiwu shook his head. “Alright. I really need to get going. She’ll be alright.”

With a puff, the great god vanished. A few seconds later, Isabelle stirred.

“How do you feel?” Gaius asked.

“I feel a bit lighter,” Isabelle muttered. “And my vows don’t seem to constrain me all that much now; it’s as if I regained my freedom.”

“Freedom?” Gaius blinked. “That was not a word I associated with the Crying Abyss.”

He reached out and held her hand, and a tingling feeling ran down his spine. He could sense the same chaotic will that he exuded back when he fought the Human God’s familiar spirit, only far weaker. Of course, anything was better than that familiar spirit, who was exuding hints of madness, so he didn’t really have much to compare with.

“What a weird feeling,” Isabelle murmured.

“Tell me about it.” Gaius rubbed his nose. “What other changes do you feel?”

“The little Fief I had as a Knight has vanished entirely,” Isabelle said, a hint of sadness at those words. “I was watching its growth over time too…feels like my child’s vanished.”

“Maybe it’s just taken a different form?” Gaius suggested. “Broken down and reforged into this will that surrounds you? I mean, from what I can tell, those Fiefs and whatnot are a result of…of…”

“Of?” Isabelle asked.

“Of coming into contact with the Crying Abyss,” Gaius completed blankly. “What exactly is a Dominion? Or a Fief? Or a Divine Territory? From what Weiwu said, isn’t it a product of coming into contact with the Crying Abyss?”

Isabelle thought through it for a moment. “Yes, that makes sense. But what’s important about it? The way you’re behaving it feels like a big deal.”

“Definitely does feel like a big deal.” Gaius continued to rack his mind. After stewing over it for a few minutes, in which time Isabelle played with his cheeks, he gave up. There wasn’t anything he could think up of, and yet, it felt vitally important to Orb.

Tossing it to the back of his mind, he covered Isabelle’s hands — which were playing with his face — with his own, and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Having fun.”

Gaius considered it for a moment, and then decided to sigh. There wasn’t anything left but a nice long walk home…granted, he hadn’t really predicted that Isabelle would overwhelm him with the arguments he prepared. All of them were nice and logical, so how did he end up being the one persuaded?

Stewing over his defeat, yet overjoyed at the same time…it was perhaps a unique experience that was rarely seen in romance.

No. He didn’t lose to her arguments. After all, they amounted to an absolute negation of his words that were not backed by logic. No. He lost to her feelings.

That thought made him feel a little better.

“Shall we go home?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes, let’s.” He looked at the remains of the sparklers he’d bound together, and then wrapped it up in a bubble of qi. Crushing into a small ball of dust, he released the pressure and let the ash drift into the wind.

“Right,” Gaius thought of something. “Before we leave. There’s one last thing I want to give you.”

He unfastened the Twilight Overseer on his wrist, which had taken the form of a watch. “This is for you.”

“You…”

“With it, you’ll be able to find me, if I abruptly vanish one day.” Gaius smiled, before fastening it on her wrist. “I hadn’t expected to be convinced or anything, or else I would have given you a ring.”

“A ring…”

“Tradition from Earth,” Gaius replied. “Have you heard about it? A marriage proposal.”

“What are you, nobility?” Shaking her head, Isabelle touched the Twilight Overseer and covered it with her hands. Dragging him along, Isabelle led the way home.

On the way, Gaius spotted many, many couples lounging around the place, each of them in their own private world, and an odd thought floated to the forefront of his mind. Now that he and Isabelle were the same…were there going to be any changes back at home?

Were they, for instance, going to move into the same room together?

That thought had probably shown itself on his face, because Isabelle raised an eyebrow. “What are you thinking about?”

“About how our life at home’s going to change,” Gaius replied. “Are you going to move over to my room? Or should I move over to yours? Frankly speaking, my room feels a bit foreign…”

“Why are you so straightforward about this?!”

Gaius looked away. “Well…”

Isabelle forced his face back, and their eyes met. “What happened to all your moral arguments about the differences in age?”

“I recanted them the moment I lost to your insistence,” Gaius replied, keeping his face straight. “More importantly, I don’t really have much worldly possessions. My weapons are always on my combat clothes, not to mention that I have the Formless—”

“You’ve already thought into the future, haven’t you?”

“You were the one who made me see a new future,” Gaius replied. “When you promised to follow me…”

He shook his head. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“We’ll just keep thanking each other, silly. We’ll never see the end of it.”

Sharing a few more glances and some silly smiles, the two linked their hands together, and continued on their way home.