The museum basement shook violently.
Dust rained down from the stone ceiling.
Explosions from the surface grew louder, each one drawing closer.
The twelve winged hunters had finally launched their attack on the city.
And in the middle of all the chaos—
Arga remained motionless.
One hand pressed against his chest.
His breathing was shallow.
Lila's words kept echoing in his mind.
The Seventh Key is inside you.
Not in the desert.
Not in the ocean.
Not in the heart of the world.
Inside him.
"Move!"
Sinta was already running toward the stairs.
Bimo picked up a steel pipe from the floor.
"If I die, please tell everyone I was handsome."
Dika, still covered in bandages, struggled to his feet.
"Shut up and move."
Farhan dragged his laptop along, coughing as he went.
Lila carried the ancient data tablet.
Kai stopped in front of Arga for a moment.
He studied him silently.
Then spoke in a quiet voice.
"You're allowed to be afraid."
Arga slowly raised his eyes.
Kai continued.
"But the world won't wait for you."
Then he left.
Leaving Arga alone in the trembling stone chamber.
Aboveground—
Hell had already begun.
The city sky was filled with dark silhouettes.
The Winged Hunters swooped between buildings.
Their claws tore through steel.
Screams echoed from every direction.
Fires spread across several city blocks.
Yet the Guardians of Nutrition kept moving forward.
Sinta led from the front.
Her face was pale.
Her hands trembled.
But her voice remained as sharp and commanding as ever.
"Right team, evacuate the civilians!"
"Bimo, secure the eastern route!"
"Dika, hold them at the main intersection!"
No one knew that she was afraid too.
And perhaps it was precisely because she was afraid—
That she made sure everyone else kept moving.
Bimo leaped onto the roof of an overturned bus.
"HEY, UGLY BIRD!"
One of the hunters turned toward him.
Too late.
Bimo slammed a car door into its face.
CRAAASH!
He laughed despite the blood running from his split lip.
"Come on! I'm free!"
Dika stood alone at the intersection.
Three monsters descended at once.
His body was still battered from the previous battle.
One arm was bandaged.
Several ribs were cracked.
But he planted his feet firmly against the asphalt.
And refused to take a single step back.
Farhan accessed the city's emergency network.
Traffic lights switched to evacuation guidance.
Building security systems unlocked emergency exits.
Medical drones were redirected toward the wounded.
His hands trembled over the keyboard.
But his mind remained sharp.
He fought without ever touching an enemy.
Lila ran from one position to another.
Analyzing energy patterns.
Searching for weaknesses.
Shouting instructions over the radio.
"Their left wings are more vulnerable!"
"Don't target the chest core—it reflects attacks!"
"Force them into narrow spaces!"
She was turning chaos into strategy.
Kai stood alone on the rooftop of a nearby building.
His gaze remained fixed on the sky.
Golden light appeared in his palm.
Then vanished.
He was capable of fighting at full strength.
Yet he was holding back.
There was a reason.
An old reason he was not ready to reveal.
And Arga—
Watched everything from the museum entrance.
They fought.
They bled.
They fell.
They got back up.
Without him.
No one stopped fighting just because he was struggling to understand himself.
An explosion rocked the main road.
Bimo was thrown backward into a bus stop.
Sinta fell to the ground while shielding a small child.
Dika dropped to one knee after taking three consecutive hits.
Farhan's nose began to bleed as he stared at his screen.
Lila narrowly avoided being crushed by falling debris.
Yet they kept getting back up.
Again.
And again.
Arga watched with tear-filled eyes.
All this time, he had been asking himself:
Who am I?
Human?
A fragment of a Core?
A key to the world?
A weapon?
Suddenly, those questions seemed so small.
Because right before his eyes—
None of them cared about what he was.
They only needed him to make a choice.
Sinta pushed a little boy behind a wrecked car.
Then she turned and spotted Arga in the distance.
Their eyes met in the middle of the ruined city.
She didn't shout.
She didn't try to force him to move.
She simply spoke softly—
But Arga could read her lips.
You're still you.
Those simple words shattered the last wall inside his chest.
Arga closed his eyes.
He breathed in.
Then out.
His hand tightened around the MBG Lunchbox.
The thirty glowing rice grains began spinning faster.
"I'm not my past."
Golden light began rising from his palm.
"I'm not my origins."
The ground beneath his feet began to crack.
"I am the choices I make."
He opened his eyes.
And the entire city was bathed in golden light.
WHOOMMMMMMMMM!
A wave of energy erupted from Arga's body.
The Winged Hunters in the air were thrown backward.
The clouds split apart.
The flames below were extinguished.
Dust swept away from the streets.
Everyone turned toward him.
Bimo, half-buried beneath the rubble, burst into laughter.
"THERE HE IS! THE MAIN CHARACTER IS BACK!"
Arga surged forward.
He wasn't running.
He was gliding through the air like a streak of light.
He caught a hunter just as it was about to slash Sinta—
Then hurled it into an abandoned building.
BOOOOOOM!
He spun around and intercepted an energy spear aimed at Dika.
Golden cracks spread from his palm as he deflected the attack.
He landed in front of Farhan just as another set of claws descended—
And crushed the attacking hunter with a single punch.
Lila stared in disbelief.
"His energy… it's much more stable now."
From the rooftop, Kai allowed himself a faint smile.
"Finally."
Arga stood in the middle of the street.
His body glowed with golden light.
His eyes were filled with a new determination.
Not because he had finally discovered all the answers.
But because he no longer needed them to keep moving forward.
Sinta walked up beside him.
A wound marked her face.
Dust clung to her hair.
But she remained standing tall.
"Took you long enough."
For the first time that day, Arga let out a small laugh.
"Sorry."
Bimo limped toward them, holding a bent steel rod.
"Now that the reunion is over, can we get back to saving the city?"
They stood together.
A battered team.
Exhausted.
Bleeding.
But still together.
And for the first time since the war began—
The enemy was the one forced to retreat.
Then the sky darkened again.
Every light across the city dimmed at once.
Farhan looked at his screen.
His face went pale.
"Uh…"
Lila snatched the tablet from his hand.
Her eyes widened.
"No…"
Above the cosmic rifts—
Something far larger than the Winged Hunters was slowly descending.
Not a soldier.
Not a general.
Bimo swallowed.
"Something bigger again?"
Kai stared at the sky, his expression hardening.
"No."
He turned toward Arga.
"An executioner."
High above the city—
Two enormous violet eyes opened.
And a cold voice echoed across the entire city.
"The Key has awakened."