"I don't know if I am the curse or not, all I know is... Anything that threatens my family's safety must be uprooted! Even if it's the Great Mother or Lester Blood." Sunny's voice was strained, heavy with uncompromising conviction.

​"Oh? You also know Lester... So much information from someone who resides in the lower world," Elemental Prism murmured, her expression unreadable. She snapped her fingers, and in an instant, the water in Sunny's blood froze.

​"You?!"

​A spasm of paralyzing, internal cold seized him. Sunny instantly dropped from the sky, smashing heavily onto the dried seabed with a sickening thud.

​Elemental Prism drifted down, landing softly before Sunny, who was groaning, his teeth gritted against the internal agony.

​"What... what did you do?!" he hissed, trying to force his muscles to obey.

​"I controlled the water in your blood and stopped the flow," she explained matter-of-factly. She squatted in front of him, her small form utterly dominant.

​"You are strong, Sunny. I can see that. Your will is stronger than the gods themselves... I guess you aren't a bad choice." She studied him, her previous amusement gone, replaced by profound respect.

​{56,839,393 Mercenaries has been destroyed.}

​Elemental Prism glanced over her shoulder at the Elemental Dragon, which had ceased its siege on the remaining Mercenaries. The beast flew toward them and landed silently behind her, its massive shadow swallowing the sunlight.

​Sunny turned his head with immense difficulty, staring at the terrifying multi-Elemental dragon.

​"I told you, I only follow the strongest. But you proved you are strong, not physically, but mentally," she continued, turning her focus back to Sunny.

"Some people would have broken down or retreated; but you continued. Breaking through one stage to another... Even when you knew with any increase in stage, you still couldn't win, you kept on fighting!" She chuckled softly, a sound of genuine admiration.

​"That will... that fighting spirit. It's precious. Truly, I am impressed." The dragon behind her shimmered, then instantly shattered into its base forms. All the elements floated for a few seconds—water, fire, earth, light, darkness, wind, lightning, poison—then vanished. The battlefield was now empty for the two of them.

​"Now... I want to test your heart. This is your last test, Sunny. Pass it, and show me if I made the right decision." She snapped her fingers one last time, and Sunny's consciousness dissolved into immediate, absolute darkness.

_______

​"AHH!!"

​Sunny jolted upright, clutching his chest, his breath ragged. He blinked, disoriented, as he surveyed the painfully familiar clutter of his small room.

​'My room.'

​His gaze swept over the cheap refrigerator, the small table and solitary chair, the plain door, the only window facing the street, and the worn covers of his single bed. These were the only things in the cramped space he had called home.

​Earth.

​Sunny sprang to his feet, staring at his lean, un-armored human body. He rushed to the window, staring down at the street: people walking, cars moving back and forth, the mundane pulse of a safe, unremarkable city.

​"Was all that really a dream?" he whispered, his heart hammering not from fear, but from profound confusion. He hurried to his laptop, powering it on, and frantically checked the news—no nuclear launch warnings, no alien invasion, no system notification, nothing.

​"What is happening?"

​Knock! Knock! Knock!

​Sunny spun, walked to the door, and opened it. He froze. Standing before him were three people he had grieved, three faces he thought he'd never see again.

​"Mum, Dad, Julie?" he muttered, confusion overriding his control. Julie, his first and only girlfriend who had died suddenly. His parents, killed in an accident years ago. But here they were, holding balloons, a birthday cake, and presents.

​"Why are you staring at us like that?" His mother, a beautiful woman with long black hair, asked with a worried expression.

​"I... I..." He couldn't form a coherent sentence. Without hesitation, he lunged forward and hugged his mother, burying his face in her hair, gripping her as if she might disappear.

​"I missed you so much, Mum!"

​She passed the cake to his father and gently patted Sunny's back. "I'm not going anywhere, dear. We will always be here with you."

His father and Julie stepped inside.

​"Wow, what a mess," his father joked, looking at the unkept bed.

​"I just woke up, Dad," Sunny managed, separating from the hug.

​Julie, the beautiful young lady with a ponytail of blonde hair and striking blue eyes, placed the present on the table, walked to the bed, and began tidying it up. Sunny's eyes were fixed on her, on her alive, vibrant presence.

​'Sunny?!'

A distant, tinny, inaudible voice screamed deep within his mind, like a sound trapped behind thick glass.

​Sunny flinched, snapping his head up and moving his gaze around the room, confusion etching his face.

​"Come on, Son, why are you looking around your room like you're lost?" His mother asked, genuinely concerned.

​Sunny stared at her, forcing a smile, and slowly nodded. He followed her deeper into the room.

​"I'll be back," his father said, stepping out, leaving Sunny alone with the two women.

​Julie finished the bed and walked towards him, her blue eyes shining.

​"I miss you, love!" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

​'Dad! Wake up!!'

Another inaudible voice, desperate and slightly clearer, sounded again.

​"Today is your birthday, and, tonight... I'm planning a good birthday gift for you," Julie whispered in his ear, pulling back to lick her lipstick suggestively.

​Sunny's mind was a battlefield between the perfect, painless reality before him and the distant, screaming warnings. He could only manage a nod.

​"I'm back!"

​His father returned, carrying three folding chairs. "Now! Who's ready for this birthday party?!!" He asked, his smile genuine and full of parental love.

​Sunny was home. He was safe. The war, the System, the monsters, and the responsibility were all gone. All he had to do was embrace the lie, and live happily.

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