The sea breeze had grown colder.
Not a single person on the ship's deck moved after Kai's words struck them like a bolt of lightning.
"…I saw Arga before he was born."
Waves slammed against the hull.
WHOOOOMMMM!
Yet the sound seemed distant.
Because the only thing Arga could hear clearly was the thunderous pounding of his own heart.
He stared at Kai as though he were looking at a complete stranger.
"What… do you mean?"
Kai didn't look away.
"I mean exactly what I said."
Arga slowly rose to his feet. His legs were still weak from the energy explosion, but anger kept him standing.
"Stop speaking in riddles."
His voice trembled.
"Who am I?"
Silence pressed down on everyone.
Farhan lowered his gaze to his screen, as though the numbers might somehow save them from this moment.
Lila bit her lip.
Bimo didn't crack a joke.
Dika simply stared ahead, his expression hard.
Sinta stood a few steps away from Arga, worried but unwilling to interrupt.
At last, Kai spoke.
"When Terra Ultima was sealed, the seals fractured part of the world's core into fragments of energy."
He pointed to the MBG Lunchbox in Arga's hand.
"Some of those fragments became seeds of power."
Then Kai shifted his finger toward Arga's chest.
"And one fragment… chose the form of a living being."
Arga froze.
His breath caught in his throat.
"You're lying."
Kai slowly shook his head.
"You were born from a human mother."
He paused.
"You were raised as a human."
"But your soul carries a fragment of the world's core."
Farhan whispered in disbelief.
"That explains why his biological data has always been abnormal…"
Lila stared at Arga, her eyes glistening with tears.
"That explains why all the Cores respond to him…"
Bimo finally spoke, his voice unusually quiet.
"So… is Arga human or not?"
Kai answered without hesitation.
"Both."
That single word shattered everything.
Arga took a step back.
Then another.
His face had gone pale.
Memories flooded his mind—
his childhood.
His wounds.
His laughter.
His fears.
His hopes.
His mother calling his name.
His father teaching him how to ride a bicycle.
His first day of school.
Every memory felt real.
Every memory felt human.
"No."
His voice broke.
"No."
The MBG Lunchbox began to shake violently.
All thirty glowing grains of rice spun wildly inside it.
Golden light leaked through the gaps between his fingers.
Kai took a step forward.
"Arga, listen to me—"
"DON'T!"
An explosion of energy swept across the deck.
BOOOOM!
Everyone was thrown backward.
Bimo crashed into the railing.
Farhan clutched his laptop to his chest.
Lila nearly lost her footing.
Dika grabbed Sinta to keep her from being hurled across the deck.
Arga stood in the middle of a storm of wild golden light.
His eyes were red with emotion.
"All this time…"
He stared at Kai.
"…you knew?"
Kai remained silent.
That was answer enough.
Arga let out a short, bitter laugh.
"All this time, you've looked at me like I was some kind of project."
"That's not true," Kai said quickly.
"Then what is?"
Arga pointed at himself.
"Was all of this just part of your plan? Was my entire life nothing more than a tool for your war?"
Sinta stepped forward.
"Arga…"
But he couldn't hear anyone anymore.
The seawater around the ship began to rise.
The wind spiraled violently.
The countless eyes filling the sky watched without blinking.
"I have a family."
His voice cracked.
"I had a childhood."
He clutched his head.
"I have dreams."
The light radiating from his body grew increasingly unstable.
"Don't tell me all of it was a lie!"
For the first time, Kai raised his voice.
"IT WAS REAL!"
Everyone fell silent.
Kai stared at Arga, emotions surfacing in his eyes that he had never allowed anyone to see before.
"Listen to me."
"Not a single laugh, wound, act of love, or choice you've made was a lie."
"You are not a weapon."
"You are not an experiment."
"You are alive."
Arga trembled.
His eyes glistened with tears.
"Then why do I feel so empty?"
No one could answer him immediately.
It was a question deeper than the war itself.
Heavier than the sky above them.
Arga looked at each of them in turn.
Bimo, who was usually so loud, stood silent.
Farhan held his breath.
Tears slipped down Lila's cheeks.
Dika remained steadfast.
Sinta looked at him with unmistakable worry.
And yet, in that moment—
they all felt impossibly far away.
Arga turned around.
Sinta immediately called after him.
"Arga!"
He leaped from the deck onto a damaged metal platform jutting out from the side of the ship, then ran toward the far end of the wreckage overlooking the sea.
The wind battered his body.
Waves surged beneath him.
"Arga, wait!"
Sinta ran after him.
Bimo started to follow, but Dika caught him by the shoulder.
"Let him go."
At the end of the platform, Arga stopped.
His back was turned to the vast ocean.
His back was turned to his team.
Sinta arrived, breathless, and stopped a few meters behind him.
For several seconds, the only sound between them was the crashing of the waves.
Then Arga spoke.
"If I'm not human…"
His voice was barely audible.
"…why does it hurt so much?"
Sinta swallowed back her tears.
She stepped closer.
"Because you are human."
Arga gave a bitter laugh.
"Kai says I'm a fragment of the world's core."
Sinta came to stand beside him.
"And I'm telling you that you're Arga."
She turned to face him.
"The stubborn boy who always tries to save everyone else, even when he's falling apart himself."
Arga lowered his head.
"But I'm scared."
"Me too."
Sinta answered honestly.
"I'm scared every single day."
She took his hand, its surface webbed with glowing cracks of light.
"The difference is… I don't run away alone."
Arga's hand trembled.
The golden light around his body began to settle.
But then—
the sky suddenly pulsed.
One of the colossal eyes in orbit opened wider.
A cold voice echoed inside both their minds.
"Child of the World…"
The ocean erupted, sending water soaring dozens of meters into the air.
The entire platform shook violently.
Arga and Sinta turned toward the sky.
The voice continued—
"…you have finally awakened."