The battlefield no longer roared.
What remained was silence thick, suffocating, and cruel.
Sanny knelt in the broken earth, cradling Alex in his arms as if holding her tighter might anchor her soul to the world. Her body was warm, too warm, yet her breathing had become faint, uneven each breath weaker than the last.
"No… no, stay with me," Sanny whispered, his voice cracking. "We won. It's over. You can rest now just don't leave. Please."
Alex's eyelids fluttered. Her vision was dim, fading at the edges, but she smiled when she saw him. A real smile. Soft. Loving.
"Sanny…" she murmured.
He leaned closer immediately, forehead touching hers, hands shaking as he held her face. "I'm here. I'm right here."
Malia sobbed beside them, clutching Alex's arm, unable to speak. Zane stood frozen a few steps away, his Crimson Blue completely gone, eyes red and hollow. Axel had collapsed to one knee, his strength finally giving out not from wounds, but from the weight of what he was about to lose.
Alex lifted her hand weakly.
Sanny caught it instantly, pressing it to his chest. "Don't talk. Save your strength."
She shook her head ever so slightly.
"I don't… have much time," she said softly.
Sanny's breath hitched. "No. No, don't say that."
Her fingers trembled as they brushed his cheek, wiping away blood and tears. "I need you to hear me."
The world seemed to pull away, sound fading, leaving only the two of them.
"I will always love you," Alex whispered.
"My love… Sanny."
His tears fell freely now, splashing onto her face. "I love you too. I love you so much. You're not going anywhere."
She smiled again gentler this time.
"Remember… to live your life," she said, each word costing her more effort than the last.
"Don't… drown in rage… or grief."
Her breathing faltered.
"Find… happiness," she continued faintly. "Even if… I'm not there."
Sanny shook his head violently. "I can't. I won't."
Alex's eyes shimmered as she looked at him one final time.
"I'll always be with you," she whispered.
"Every step."
Her grip loosened.
"Goodbye… my love."
And then
Her chest stopped rising.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then Sanny felt it.
The warmth fading.
The weight changing.
The absence.
"Alex…?" he whispered.
No answer.
A soft breeze passed through the battlefield, carrying with it something unseen something gentle. For just a moment, the air shimmered, and those who were sensitive to energy felt it clearly.
Her soul left her body.
Malia screamed.
A raw, broken sound tore from her throat as she collapsed forward, clutching Alex's lifeless form. Zane staggered back, hands covering his mouth, tears spilling freely now without restraint.
Axel's head dropped.
"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm so sorry…"
Sanny didn't move.
He sat there, holding her, eyes wide and empty, as if his mind refused to accept reality. His Crimson power did not return. There was no rage now.
Only loss.
"I promised I'd protect you," he said quietly.
His voice was hollow.
Broken.
The battlefield mourned with them.
Far from the center of the devastation, deep within the forest,
Lucian ran.
Branches tore at his cloak as he fled, breath ragged, heart pounding. He didn't look back. He didn't need to. Kagetsu was gone and that meant the war was over.
Or so he thought.
A strange pressure tightened around his chest.
Lucian stumbled.
"What…?" he gasped.
A burning symbol ignited over his heart black, jagged, unmistakable.
The contract.
"No,no, wait !" Lucian screamed, panic flooding his voice. "Kagetsu is dead! The contract should be void!"
The mark burned brighter.
Cold understanding struck him.
Kagetsu had never intended his assassins to outlive him.
"If I fall," Kagetsu had once said, smiling,
"you fall with me."
Lucian screamed as his body began to glow from within, cracks of light tearing through his skin. His scream cut short as his form ignited and in a single instant, Lucian was vaporized.
No body.
No blood.
Only ashes scattered by the forest wind.
Back on the battlefield, Sanny finally moved.
He pressed his forehead to Alex's, trembling.
"I'll live," he whispered. "I promise."
Zane knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder not speaking, because there were no words left that could heal this wound.
Axel forced himself to stand, pain screaming through his body. He looked down at Alex, then at Sanny.
"She saved us," he said quietly. "All of us."
The sky above them was clear now.
But none of them felt the light.
Alex was gone.
Kagetsu was erased.
The war had ended but the scars would never fade.
Until Next Time On Sanny Tenom.