Finally, Liuke and Elysia finished their dinner.
During the entire meal, a heavy, suffocating silence had hung between them.
Neither spoke a word.
The air itself seemed to thicken with an unknown, mounting tension.
The waiter arrived, cleared the plates, and disappeared into the shadows of the restaurant.
Then, Elysia stood up and moved her chair.
She sat right next to Liuke—so close that he could feel a faint, unnatural chill radiating from her skin.
"Elysia... you wanted to—" Liuke started.
"Yes," she interrupted. "I'm going to tell you the important thing now."
"Get ready to listen, Liuke."
Liuke's breath hitched.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
It felt as if his entire life—every battle, every burn, every lonely night—had been leading up to this single second.
"Liuke, from the very moment I spoke to you, I saw something," Elysia began.
"Something you might not have noticed yourself, but I did. Light."
"A light as bright as the sun itself."
She paused, her eyes shimmering with a strange, predatory intensity.
"Most people who use Solar Energy are just a single drop in the ocean..."
"But inside you, that light is the entire ocean itself."
She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a hypnotic, silky whisper.
"But... despite all that power, I never expected someone to be as kind as you."
"Power usually consumes people. It turns them cold."
"But you don't even understand your own strength. You only use it for others."
She reached out, her gaze locking onto his.
"The truth is... I've fallen deeply in love with you, Liuke."
"I never thought I'd feel this way for a man I just happened to eat sushi with."
"Maybe that's what makes it so unforgettable."
Liuke had waited an eternity to hear those words.
As they hit him, his face lit up with a joy he had never known.
His mind felt like it was 'glitching' as he tried to process the reality of his dream coming true.
Inside, he was exploding with pure happiness.
"D-Did you really just say that?" Liuke stammered.
"Actually... I wanted to say the same thing to you. I just... I couldn't find the courage."
"Then say it now, Liuke. Don't hide it anymore."
"I—I... I love you too, Elysia. More than anything."
Awkwardly, desperately, Liuke finally let out his proposal.
Slowly, their faces drew closer. Their breaths mingled.
Their lips finally met in a deep, lingering kiss.
Liuke placed his hand on her shoulder, holding on as if she were the only thing keeping him grounded.
But as they pulled apart, the warmth didn't stay.
A terrifying, biting cold began to spread through Liuke's mouth.
It froze his tongue and seized his throat in an instant.
"Just as I thought, Liuke," Elysia said, her voice devoid of warmth.
"Today is the best day of my life."
Liuke felt incredible for a split second, but as he tried to speak, his words were choked by frost.
"But Liuke... I'm sorry. I couldn't be as kind as you."
"You see... the power consumed me a long time ago."
Liuke's eyes widened. He didn't understand.
Inside him, his throat and tongue were turning into solid ice.
"Ely—Elysia..." he tried to gasp, but no sound came out.
"Forgive me, Liuke. Truly, what is about to happen to you is wrong."
Suddenly, the realization hit him like a physical blow.
Something was horribly wrong.
Liuke tried to summon his Solar Energy, forcing it into his remaining left hand to strike back.
But nothing happened.
"I've neutralized your Solar Energy for a while," Elysia said calmly.
"I don't want a fight all the way home."
Liuke's throat was now completely frozen.
He watched, paralyzed, as Elysia began to change.
Her skin turned a pale, ghostly silver-gray, shimmering like a dead star.
Her hair grew long, turning into a deep blue-black with silver streaks that flowed like frozen midnight.
Her eyes transformed into ice-silver crescents—sharp and lethal.
Her outfit crystallized into sleek, frost-textured armor.
Her fingertips turned into translucent ice formations, capable of freezing anything they touched.
Liuke looked around in a daze.
The entire restaurant had turned into a graveyard of ice.
Every person—the diners, the staff—was frozen solid.
Elysia casually flicked a crystal from her hand, hitting a frozen man nearby.
He shattered into a thousand bloody shards before Liuke's very eyes.
The ground began to tremble. A violent tremor shook the entire hotel.
Suddenly, the ceiling exploded in a shower of debris.
From the hole in the roof, the same Ice Monster Liuke thought he had destroyed—Lunara—descended.
It didn't attack. It didn't roar.
It simply grabbed Liuke by the throat and delivered a bone-shattering punch to his gut.
Darkness swarmed his vision.
"Let's go, Lunara," Elysia commanded.
"Yes, Master. I am ready. Please, mount my back quickly."
Elysia stepped onto the beast, holding the unconscious Liuke like a trophy.
"Master, I have eliminated the one who was following this boy," Lunara added.
"I don't care," Elysia replied. "Our mission is complete."
"We have secured a Solar Source. I hope the Queen will be pleased."
With a powerful leap, they soared into the night sky.
They left the Solar Empire behind, flying toward the other side of the world.
Toward a place of eternal darkness and absolute zero.
The place they call... The Eternal Freeze.