Kaden took a deep breath, flipped the coin and raised his head to watch the outcome.

The coin began to swirl on itself rapidly and erratically, making one unable to see on what side it would bounce onto when it landed.

Kaden had already decided inside his head which sides would correspond at what outcome.

And as he witnessed the coin reaching the highest point it could, then slowly began to fall down, Prometheus found himself wishing for one particular side to win.

Lady Sora was right, after all.

Did he want to save Aurora? He certainly did. He craved it even.

But inside his heart and his mind, he wished even more that everything she had done would not be void.

He wished to not change it, for Aurora had died on her own volition. And so returning time would make her sacrifice meaningless.

But most importantly — very selfishly — he wanted to have her all by himself. Inside of himself, so that they could continue to live together without her being trapped inside this part of history. Without him going away and living with the painful question of what would happen to her.

At least, in this way…

'You will be together with me, and that…for eternity and beyond. You will live for me and with me. And I will live for you and with you. For my life is no longer mine, and so my death is no longer mine to decide.'

That was who he had become. The Burdened.

Kaden smiled faintly as the decision finally settled inside his mind but also inside his heart. Once again, tears trickled down from his cheeks.

He had chosen this path, but it didn't mean he didn't wish to see her again. It hurted. It truly did, especially the fact he didn't truly get the opportunity to be transparent with her.

He wondered if he had shown her that he cared about her…that actually he did all of that only because he loved her.

Did she know? Kaden didn't know. But he hoped she did.

For now, he would have to learn to live with the pain without poisoning his soul with it.

At that instant, his mind expanded with sudden comprehension, and Kaden felt like he had taken one crucial step forward in his Intent of Death.

But instead of actively looking at what changed, he focused his eyes on the coin that continued to spin upon itself, stopping just an inch from the ground.

The more it spun, the more the surrounding area began to crack under an immense pressure that descended upon Kaden.

The pressure intensified and increased until space itself shattered into splintered space shards. Not only that, the surrounding time was destroyed by the golden coin which now, Kaden could see what was inscribed on both sides of it despite how fast it was spinning.

On one side it was the perfect copy of Lady Sora with her tooth falling repeatedly nonstop. And on the other side was still Lady Sora, but this time with her face as pristine as ever without the curse on her.

Kaden was kneeling on the ground by a mysterious power pressing on him. A power he, by now, knew all too well. A divinity.

But after all the battles he went through, Kaden was exhausted. It was not only physical. His soul, his mind, his body, his very origin…all of that were at their limit.

He had achieved everything he wanted and so, could have decided to go. But Kaden chose to strain himself just to stay a bit longer, for he knew what would soon happen.

Far away in the distance, Lady Sora was now alone in some remote corner of Asterion, looking at the sky with both hope and guilt and pain.

She kneeled on the ground, her head bowed low until it kissed the very earth.

"Pardon my selfishness, handsome knight. But only a person who has no ill intent toward me. Only a person who wishes me goodness in this world. Only a person who is willing to flip the coin by his own will…"

Tears fell. Teeth pattered beneath.

"…only that person could take away my curse binding me. I beg you, Handsome Knight, let me take back my voice again. That's all I have now for myself. My voice. My True voice."

She choked on her tears, trying to swallow them down but it was far too hard.

"Take away my curse and bear it." She begged, "Free me from it, Kaden."

Lady Sora knew she was being selfish. She was asking someone to bear her curse, for it was something even her chosen goddess couldn't completely dispel.

This was, after all, a curse made by The Witch herself.

She was a Wonder.

Her power was special and unique even to gods.

So she could only transfer it from herself to another. And that would only work with strict conditions which Kaden fulfilled completely.

And that meant he was probably the only one who could save her.

Because inside his heart, Kaden loved Lady Sora and had always wished for her curse to be taken away because of how good she had been to him.

'I am sorry.' Lady Sora sobbed, 'I am truly sorry, Handsome Knight.'

You were the one.

Please don't abandon me.

Please…Honor me.

All the words of Sora managed to reach Kaden perfectly despite the distance.

Lady Sora's words made it sound like Kaden had a choice.

But he didn't.

The divinity behind Lady Sora was imposing the curse on him and that even without his consent. He could feel the curse slithering inside of him, slowly but steadily.

To begin with, Kaden's voice was ordinary compared to Lady Sora's.

So that meant to Kaden, if the curse took hold of him, he would completely lose the ability to talk, and his teeth would fall constantly.

The coin spinned so fast that ethereal flame was produced from it. Unhurriedly, those flames steamed out from the golden coin, coalesced upon themselves, then took the shape of a woman with blindfolded eyes and long hair fluttering behind.

The pressure intensified to a harrowing degree. Kaden sensed some of his bones crack but also felt like he couldn't talk if the woman in front of him decided so.

The blindfolded woman looked at Kaden kneeled on the floor.

"Accept the curse willingly," she intoned, her voice melodious as if she were singing, "Do not make it difficult and I shall give you the way towards The Witch's dungeon to obtain the cure."

Kaden's eyes were crying crimson starry blood at the pressure on him.

He couldn't help but smile at that instant.

It was funny truly, that despite the fact Lady Sora had duped him all this time and was using him in order to save herself and that without his consent…Kaden still wished for her to be cured.

He didn't know why, but maybe because she was the second most person he learned to care and love inside this quest.

Once again, his heart doomed him.

He raised his head with immense difficulty and looked at the goddess in front of him. He managed to bear a crooked smile on his face.

"W-whats your name?" he rasped.

The goddess looked at him intensely without answering. Seconds later, the ethereal flaming woman parted her lips slowly, "Kol' Riku, The Voice of Existence."

Kaden's body creaked and blood poured out from him in cascade as the name of the goddess entered his mind.

The agony was unbearable yet his smile didn't waver and he didn't break eye contact with this divinity.

"I accept Lady Sora's curse." Kaden whispered, his voice hoarse. Immediately, the curse pierced inside his very being and bloomed viciously.

"You are wise, Prometheus. And your name shall be remembered by me." Kol' Riku uttered before flicking her finger toward Kaden.

New informations poured inside his mind. Informations about The Witch and her dwelling.

Next, the golden coin stopped its spin and fell on the ground weakly. The goddess disappeared.

Far in the distance, Sora began to cry tears of joy, her body slowly beginning to transform, regaining her former luster and prestige.

Now that her voice had been let free…

…her second Origin she had gained by creating music would finally be of use once more.

At that, an unfathomable power began to erupt from her. The power of voice. The power of Speech.

A mythical rank origin.

Coming back to Kaden, he felt slowly the curse about to spread inside of him but then he scoffed lightly.

"I am The Slave's Disciple. Nothing shall bind me except I wish to. My Will is absolute and that, even more so inside my own body."

Kaden didn't even need to actively try to dispel the curse.

The curse was the work of a Wonder.

He didn't know yet, but the aspects of two Wonders were inside of him.

So the moment the curse attempted to corrupt his very being, it was intercepted by the two wondrous aspects and transformed into…

[You have gained a trait from The Witch.]

[Trait: Voice of Curse — Your voice can curse other beings to lose their voice, if your Will is high enough. Only once a month.]

Finally, Kaden smiled weakly.

He raised his right hand, palm facing the sky, and produced two balls of crimson-gold fire.

Inside one of the balls, he put the knowledge of where the Seed of The Forest was situated, how to obtain it and finally…a thank you.

In the second ball of fire he put a wisp of his own fire's power and a thank you.

He looked at them for a brief moment, then the two balls of fire shot towards the horizon in the distance and went directly to the hands of Vert Prometheus Emerald and Estelle Prometheus FireBorn.

Kaden closed next his eyes, smiling faintly. He was still kneeling and his head was hung low.

"I have done everything I could," he murmured, "I helped the ones I could help and kept my words to them."

"I have thanked them for bleeding for me, and gave them what I believe would be useful to them."

"I have failed some of them," his voice shook a little, "but I shall live with that burden with me."

He paused, then slowly,

"I truly have done my best. I did. I truly did. Right?"

'You have, Kaden. You have done your best.'

[You have done your best, Host.]

{You have done your best, Prometheus.}

"Am I done now? Can I go?"

'Yes, Kaden.'

[Yes, Host.]

{Yes, Prometheus.}

He smiled slowly, then while in the distance the voice of someone singing could be heard all over the world. Added to that, the shouts of two women could be heard thanking him and crying for him.

'Then take me away.'

…Kaden finally finished his Mythic quest to become a grandmaster.

And the last sound he heard before everything turned dark,

"THANK YOU, PROMETHEUS!"

Then darkness.

Kaden exhaled and a notification flared in front of him.

{You have completed your mythical quest, Kaden Warborn.}

The Will paused, then…

{Evaluation: Apotheotic.}

—End of Chapter 352—

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