Return of the Legendary Runesmith

They were exhausted.

Dawn was only a short while away, and after everything that had happened throughout the day and everything that followed, it was only natural for fatigue to catch up with them.

Ariana lay quietly atop him, her head resting against his chest while one arm draped lazily across his body. Her half-lidded eyes remained fixed on his face, silently tracing every familiar feature.

"Sometimes..." she murmured, her sleepy voice drawing his gaze downward.

"Sometimes... I feel... there’s a difference between us."

Adrian let out a quiet hum. "What do you mean?"

Ariana gave a slow shake of her head. "It’s... just a feeling. But I keep getting this strong sensation that... you’re standing somewhere far beyond where the rest of us can even see. And yet... you never act like it. You still remain humble... approachable."

A faint crease formed between Adrian’s brows.

"What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?" he asked. "Did I do something?"

She shook her head again.

"No... you didn’t do anything."

Rolling onto her side, she rested a hand against his chest and propped her chin on her knuckles.

Meeting his eyes, she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

"In my eyes, you’re still the same Adrian you’ve always been... but I can’t shake this feeling that the distance between us has been growing little by little. And now..."

Her fingers tightened slightly over his chest.

"...I can’t even see where you stand anymore."

"Does..." Adrian gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his fingers lingering against her cheek. "...does that bother you?"

He made no attempt to deny her words or question why she had suddenly brought it up.

At that moment, all he wanted was to know how she truly felt.

"It doesn’t bother me..." She gently held his hand, lowering her gaze to their intertwined fingers. "...it worries me."

Her thumb slowly traced the back of his hand.

"I’m afraid that... one day, you’ll stand above everyone and everything. You won’t need anyone to survive anymore. Not me... not Bella... not Ruby..."

"A-And I..." Her voice faltered, trembling with emotions she could no longer suppress. "...I dread that day."

Adrian lowered his gaze, falling into silence.

He understood exactly what she meant.

More importantly, he knew this fear hadn’t appeared overnight.

It had been quietly growing inside her for a long time.

Ever since the day he... died, she had noticed changes that most people would never perceive. Only those closest to him could.

He no longer needed sleep.

He never grew tired.

Food had become little more than a necessity he could easily ignore, and the only reason he still drank coffee was because old habits were difficult to abandon.

His strength had risen to an unimaginable level, placing him among the strongest beings in the world, if not the strongest.

None of those changes could be dismissed as coincidence.

Each one was another reminder that he had already stepped onto a path no ordinary person could ever follow.

A path that slowly, yet undeniably, separated him from everyone else.

And what terrified her most was the possibility that, just as he had outgrown everything else he once needed, he might one day outgrow human connection as well.

The reason Adrian didn’t answer immediately wasn’t hesitation.

He simply wanted to give her enough time to steady her emotions before he spoke.

Gently taking her hand, he guided it to his chest.

"Can you feel it?" he asked softly. "My heart... it’s still beating. I’m alive. And after this whole mess is over, it’ll still be beating."

His fingers closed around hers, holding it firmly against his heartbeat.

"And as long as it keeps beating, as long as I’m alive, I’ll need you."

His voice remained calm, yet every word carried unwavering conviction.

"Even if I lose my emotions... even if I no longer need anything else... it still won’t matter."

He looked straight into her eyes.

"Because, Ariana... you’re the reason I’m alive. And that would never change."

Ariana slowly raised her head.

The determination burning within his eyes was impossible to mistake.

It wasn’t something she could deny.

Nor was it something she could ever look away from.

She held his gaze for a long moment before slowly leaning closer, her lips gently meeting his.

They remained that way in quiet silence until Adrian realized she had fallen asleep.

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

Carefully pulling away, he rested her head against his chest and wrapped an arm around her.

His hand moved gently across her back as he stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Her words lingered in his mind.

Not only because this fear had been quietly eating away at her for so long, but because, deep down, he knew she wasn’t wrong.

He had noticed the changes within himself long ago.

He had simply never considered them a problem.

Apparently, the people around him did.

’System...’ he called inwardly. ’Darkness was a being with desires, wasn’t he? I’ve seen fragments of his memories. He craved warmth. He felt hunger. He needed sleep... so why don’t I?’

One by one, the most fundamental needs of a living being were slipping away from him.

It wasn’t that he never felt hunger or physical desire.

Rather, he knew he could suppress them with little effort if he chose to.

If not for the feelings he held for the woman sleeping peacefully in his arms, he was certain even the most breathtaking beauty standing naked before him would fail to stir the slightest reaction.

That realization unsettled him.

Ariana’s fears weren’t born from insecurity.

They were born from the truth.

He was changing.

And the pace of that change was becoming increasingly alarming.

[Host, there are still truths that remain hidden from you.]

[The only reason this system never stopped you to free the fallen deity imprisoned within that place... was because the answer you seek has always been there.]

[Inside that prison.]