The hovercraft hummed quietly.
Its mana engine produced only a faint vibration beneath Kai's feet as it followed the narrow road cutting between the forest.
The desert had long disappeared behind him.
Only scattered mountains remained visible in the distance.
Kai looked back one last time.
Nothing.
Not even Chocomint's hovercraft could be seen anymore.
"...Take care."
He whispered.
Then turned forward again.
The road stretched endlessly.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
Almost enough to forget everything that had happened.
Almost.
---
Hours passed.
The Forest slowly disappeared behind him.
Grasslands replaced trees.
Birds returned.
The smell of soil replaced dry sand.
Everything felt...
Normal.
Kai wasn't.
His hand unconsciously reached into his pocket.
The coin.
Dr. Z's coin.
He rolled it between his fingers.
"...Muscle City."
He quietly repeated the name.
Magic Circuits.
The surgery.
The laboratory.
The memories.
The Memory Node.
The Archive.
Every answer seemed to create two more questions.
He sighed.
"...One thing at a time."
The coin disappeared back into his pocket.
---
The mountain path began climbing upward.
Kai slowed the hovercraft.
The familiar cliffs surrounded him once again.
Then—
He saw it.
The battlefield.
The wind carried silence through the valley.
Kai stopped the hovercraft.
"...This is where..."