One day had passed since the nightmare of the Ice Monster incident.
Elysia had finally been discharged from the hospital.
However, instead of going home immediately, she went to find Liuke.
Standing at the reception desk, her voice was small as she asked for his ward.
"Ward number 14," the nurse replied, offering a sympathetic look.
After receiving permission from the doctor, Elysia slowly walked toward the ICU.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
When she finally entered, the sight before her made her heart sink into her chest.
The boy she had talked to just yesterday was almost unrecognizable.
His body looked lifeless, a mere shell of the soldier he once was.
His organs were barely functioning, kept alive only by the rhythmic hum of machines.
Most of his skin had dried and darkened.
It looked as if the very life inside him had been incinerated from within.
For a long moment, Elysia couldn't move. She just stood there, breathing in the sterile air.
Then, she quietly walked toward his bed.
She pulled a chair closer and sat down, the silence of the room ringing in her ears.
Gently, she reached out and held Liuke's left hand in hers.
"Liuke… you didn't have to do all this," she whispered, her voice trembling.
"You didn't have to face everything alone."
Her fingers tightened slightly around his cold hand.
"You should have asked for help. Can't you see… how worried I am about you?"
Her eyes were red and dry. She had been holding back the weight of her tears for too long.
"You don't have to carry everything by yourself, Liuke."
"Your life should matter more than anything else."
Her voice softened into a broken whisper.
"I just want you to get better… that's all I want."
The dam finally broke.
Tears slipped down her cheeks and fell onto Liuke's motionless hand.
"You can't die, Liuke… you have to live."
Despite her desperate plea, Liuke remained lost in the void of unconsciousness.
It was almost cruel.
The connection he had desired most was finally happening… yet fate had stolen his ability to witness it.
After a while, Elysia slowly stood up.
She turned back one last time to look at his face before quietly walking away.
But what no one knew was that inside the prison of his mind, Liuke's world was shifting.
Liuke slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself standing once again in that vast, unforgiving desert.
"K… Why am I here again?" he murmured, his voice echoing in the emptiness.
"I was fighting… for Elysia."
He looked around at the endless dunes of orange sand.
"Is this a dream… or am I already dead?"
Suddenly, the blazing sun above began to fall.
It descended toward the ground with terrifying speed.
Liuke stared at it in shock. "W-Why is the sun coming closer?"
The heat intensified until it was a physical weight.
Then, suddenly—his right arm melted away.
It dissolved into nothingness, as if it had never existed.
Liuke gave a bitter, tired smile.
"Looks like… I can't find peace anywhere."
Accepting his end, he sat down in the burning sand.
His body began to dry and melt under the unbearable solar heat.
But then… someone appeared.
It was the same unknown girl from before.
She walked slowly toward him, her figure draped in a faint, ethereal blue light.
When she reached him, she gently placed her hand on his scorched face.
Liuke lifted his head, his breath catching.
The blazing sun had frozen in mid-air.
The endless desert had transformed into a field of jagged ice.
Snow began to fall, covering the ruins of his world.
The mysterious blue girl stood over him, her hand resting softly on his head.
"I know… I know it's you," Liuke whispered.
"Elysia."
A strange, newfound warmth filled his voice.
"I didn't make a mistake. Saving you… wasn't a mistake."
"I've never felt this alive before."
He looked up at her with a desperate, burning hope.
"You're like a magician, Elysia. You cast some kind of spell on me."
"This heat inside me… it wants to burn me alive forever."
"But you came… to neutralize it. You were meant for me."
His voice trembled as he asked the question buried deepest in his soul.
"Elysia… please tell me. Do you… love me?"
Lost in the moment, Liuke didn't notice the change.
Ice was slowly creeping across his body.
It claimed his legs first, turning them into solid crystal.
Then it moved to his chest, cold and relentless.
Finally, he realized the truth.
His body was being frozen solid from the inside out.
As the ice reached his neck, Liuke screamed in pure horror.
"NOOOO!!!"
The shock was so violent that Liuke snapped back into the real world.
His eyes flew open.
His pulse spiked, sending the machines into a frantic beeping.
Heart racing and sweat pouring down his face, he struggled to draw air.
"K… K… Am… I… alive?"
Doctors and nurses rushed into the room immediately.
They began checking his vitals, their faces masked with surprise.
Everything was the same as before—his broken body, his missing arm.
Except now, Liuke was conscious.
One of the doctors leaned over him.
"Mr. Liuke, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
Liuke struggled to move his dry lips. "E… Ely… Elysia… where… is she?"
"Ms. Elysia has recovered," the doctor answered calmly.
"She was discharged earlier and has already gone home."
Liuke exhaled a weak, shaky breath. "Th… thank you… doctor…"
"However," the doctor added, "she did come to see you before she left."
Liuke closed his eyes for a second. "I… hope… Elysia… is safe…"
Then, suddenly, something caught his eye.
Outside the window of his ICU room, a shadowy figure was standing perfectly still.
Liuke narrowed his eyes, trying to focus through the haze of medication.
But the moment he looked properly—the shadow vanished.
Liuke stared silently at the empty glass.
"…What was that?"