Kojiro wasn't wrong.

Lawkey knew this very well by now.

His entire life so far had proven that to him.

The neverending cycle of him getting close to people, only for them to end up dying and leaving him alone again.

The ones he knew before the Phantom Rogues, the Phantom Rogues themselves including Jay and Sasaki, the Obsidian Butterfly… Even Munisai, Jun, Taiga and the rest in the Kage Clan were put in grave danger multiple times because of him and barely survived.

And now, just when he got to know them, both Riana and Sana were gone.

All Lawkey could do now is grit his teeth and clench his fist tightly.

There was nothing he could say to Kojiro in response.

He couldn't argue against what was said.

After all, Kojiro wasn't wrong.

"..." Having received no response, the cloaked Hyking glanced at Lawkey for a moment then turned away from the edge of the cliff. "Well, at the very least you had the decency of leaving the Kage Clan on your own before you caused their deaths too."

"That's not what I did…" Lawkey said hesitantly. "I'm after the Leviathan…"

"Well, that much is obvious, but you won't find anything here."

Lawkey knew seeking the Leviathan six years after it appeared wasn't going to be easy. Based on the information he could gather and what Munisai gave him, it seemed the Leviathan hadn't been sighted again ever since it appeared six years ago.

Six years ago, due to sightings of it having swam into the waters that split the continent in two, many believe the endangered beast was still on Tartarus. However, no one knew where it disappeared to after that or where its current whereabouts were.

After all, it was a tricky beast that can survive both on land and in the sea.

Nevertheless, Lawkey was determined to seek it out and keep his promise.

That was his responsibility.

Just like, in this very moment, he had another responsibility to uphold too.

And to do that, he needed to try and approach things differently…

"..." Lawkey raised his head and looked Kojiro in the eye, the swordsman's usual grin began to form on his lips. "Why did you really come here, Kojiro? You don't want a duel, and you don't ask questions. Did you miss me so much that you just came to talk and reminisce?"

Kojiro raised one eyebrow slightly at the sudden shift in tone, but he as well, quickly recovered.

"You're acting all tough, but you can barely stand, let alone use your Sign." Kojiro narrowed his blood-red eyes suddenly and aimed them at the one in front of him. "You do know I could just take control of you very easily now, right? Hmm, should I?"

"Maybe you could, but it won't be easy…" Lawkey paused. "Besides, I don't think that's what you really want, right? It would have been easier for you to just help that priest kill me if that's what you really wanted."

"Hah." Kojiro scoffed as he relaxed his eyes again. "Easy is for the weak, right? That's what you and Sensei used to say? I don't want anything here, I was simply curious to see if you became strong enough to make things interesting next time we duel."

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Lawkey didn't remember ever exchanging those words with Munisai in front of Kojiro, but he figured that the specialty of the Hyking's Sign most likely allowed him to spy or listen in on conversations through shadows too.

"You…" Lawkey came to a conclusion he found difficult to utter out loud. "What you really want is to just go back to the clan, don't you?"

"Don't utter such nonsense." Kojiro immediately shot back. "I have no reason to go back there. My family is dead and everyone else would just see me as the Hyking I am, unlike you."

"If that was true, why are you still calling the old man Sensei?"

"..."

"What about the others? Yasuto, Zenga, Mai and Emi?" Lawkey stopped for a moment, then asked without faltering. "What about Jun?"

For a moment, Kojiro stood still, both eyes now hidden behind his light brown hair. Although he managed to hold back from changing his facial muscles, he couldn't stop himself from clenching a tight fist at his side.

Then suddenly, he let go of the fist as he released a long sigh.

"What about them? What about Jun?" He asked, revealing his left eye again. "I'm not a kid anymore, I'm over all that. Why should I care about some childhood friends that never really knew me in the first place? About a teacher who only taught the facade of a student role I played?"

"... They still care about the Kojiro they remembered, whether it was the true you or not." Lawkey took a step forward, slowly closing the distance between them. "They want to help you, to know who you really are. You can still go back and make things right."

"..."

"Go back, Kojiro. They're waiting for you-"

"Stop!"

"!"

The Hykings' shout brought Lawkey to an instinctive halt. It was just the simple command, but the shadows and blood emanating in a spiral around the cloak that made the swordsman wary.

"Go back? Say I do that, then what?" Kojiro furrowed his brow. "They'll lock me away, torture me for information for what I did back then. And just when they've had enough, they'll kill me to ensure the Hykings Curse doesn't affect them."

"The others and the old man wouldn't let that happen! Nor the Shadow Queen!" Lawkey tried to argue.

"Bullshit! Now that the secret's out about me, they are forced to do things as they have always done. You think I'm the first mistake to be born in the clan? The first Hyking? Get real."

"Things have changed now!"

"Enough! You're just lying to yourself!" Kojiro interrupted again. "Just like you did here. You promised to help them, to fight for them, to save them… All you did was make things worse. The Coin Masters will just come here now and enslave all the merfolk, or worse, turn them to golden statues and sell them."

"..."

"Your actions here arguably made things far worse on this clan than saving it, and you know exactly why that is."

Lawkey grew silent for a moment. Again, Kojiro wasn't wrong.

I wanted to properly talk things through, but once again, I can't seem to be able to reach him…

"I'm done here." Kojiro turned his back, then looked back over his shoulders one last time. "We'll meet again for our duel, I'm sure of it. If you want to lecture me and tell me what to do like you're my brother, try doing it after you've bested me next time."

"..." Lawkey watched as the Hyking slowly sank back into his shadow, then aimed his blade forward and left him with a few parting words. "Yeah, I'll beat some sense into you next time."

For the old man and Jun.

For Sasaki.

"Heh, not with your current strength you won't. You're still far too weak."

With that, Kojiro was completely submerged and out of sight, leaving Lawkey alone on the cliff under the pouring rain.

As much as Lawkey wanted to take a breather and think about the encounter he just had, he didn't forget what he still needed to do on this island.

I need to go help-

"?!"

Suddenly, the rain completely stopped in an instant.

In the distance, Lawkey could see a gigantic, but magical wave descending down on Sweet Scylla.

"What… is that?!" He questioned with wide eyes.

He had never seen a wave that size before, especially not one that looked straight out of a picture book drawn by the most talented artist.

He took a step forward, and then another, quickly forcing his body to run through the destroyed golden cathedral.

He jumped and sidestepped whatever rummage or debris stood in his way.

For some odd reason, there was a tightness in his chest he couldn't explain.

He felt it as soon as he saw the wave, and he only knew one thing.

It was calling to him, he wanted, nay, needed to go towards it as fast as his feet would carry him.

"Agh!"

In his hurry, he stumbled and fell face first on the ground.

His body screamed at him, demanding sleep, demanding rest.

And for a moment, he almost gave into it.

"Hngh!"

But he couldn't, the feeling inside him wouldn't let him.

No matter what, Lawkey needed to confirm his suspicions, so he got up again with gritted teeth.

He sheathed his sword and ran once more towards the previous entrance of the golden cathedral. Beyond that was the way back to the central square where he guessed the magical wave was descending.

This feeling… it's almost like when I sense {her}... but for some reason…

"!"

Just as Lawkey was coming to a conclusion, he heard sudden battle cries coming from the central square.

He finally made it to the previous entrance of the golden cathedral and hurried beyond it. Following the path in front of him would lead him back to the central square.

"!?"

However, as soon as he did, a sudden burst of water descended upon him, blocking all his senses in an instant.

The moment he felt safe enough to open his eyes again, he realized he was in the gigantic wave far above the island.

When he looked forward, he quickly saw the most magical figure looking back at him.

"Riana…?"

"Should I be glad you could recognize me in this form?"

The turquoise-haired siren, nay, Nimue, giggled as she phased closer through the water and tightly embraced Lawkey.

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