Time passed, little by little. How long it took, no one knew.
At last, Lillian gave his answer.
Kayaba listened, then nodded slightly.
"I see. So this is your solution."
"Yes." Lillian's expression was conflicted and pained. Though reluctant, he still spoke.
"I promise you that for now, I will not connect Yui and Kizmel to the internet. They will exist only within this server."
"At the same time, you may also remain here," he continued, "but I need a smaller vessel."
"A vessel…"
Kayaba raised his hand. In the next instant, an oval sphere of light appeared in his palm—like a softly glowing yellow egg, floating silently.
"The Seed," Kayaba said gently, his gaze unusually tender. "It is the aggregation of all foundational code. With it, countless SAO worlds can be created."
"In your 'prophecy,' I give this to the player who defeats me. That person… isn't you, is it?"
"It's Kirito," Lillian replied.
"Him, huh. That makes sense." Kayaba nodded. "He's the fastest-reacting player in the game. If you—this 'otherworlder'—hadn't appeared, then perhaps in the end, he would have been the one standing before me."
"Yeah."
Lillian thought to himself that Kirito would still suffer quite a bit later—ALO, Death Gun, and other nauseating disasters. But since he was here now, those things wouldn't happen anymore. He was glad Kirito and Asuna could end up together.
As for the girl who harbored unrequited feelings for Kirito—his non-blood-related sister—he could only call that an unfortunate regret.
"You said earlier that you'll leave this world, didn't you?" Kayaba asked. "If that's the case, giving this to you would mean this world loses that technology."
"I didn't want it in the first place," Lillian said frankly.
He truly had no interest in The Seed. At its core, it was just a collection of development software—no different in essence from RPG Maker, Unreal Engine, or Unity back on Earth. Just more advanced.
What use would it be to him? Develop games in other worlds? Ridiculous. Fantasy worlds didn't even have electricity, and in high-tech worlds this wouldn't be anything special. Besides, he had no interest in game development to begin with.
"What I want," Lillian said, "is a small server—something I can carry with me."
As he spoke, his gaze unconsciously drifted to the pendant at his neck.
It was given to him by Karen, and it was the only item he had brought with him from the AOT world.
Why was that?
After thinking about it before, he had arrived at a possibility: the pendant was touching his skin. If that was the prerequisite, then perhaps only items worn close to the body could be taken between worlds.
But he couldn't be certain. Even if it were true, he didn't know what kinds of things could be carried.
If a pendant was possible… what about a living person?
If he held someone's hand during teleportation, could he bring them along?
He had never tried. And honestly… he didn't dare to.
"I understand," Kayaba said, nodding. "I'll give you an address. The core of The Seed and its backup copy are stored there."
"…Alright."
Lillian still didn't know whether he even had a physical body in the real world, but at this point, he had no other choice.
Next, he watched as Kayaba performed an operation.
Moments later, another "Kayaba" appeared beside him—a duplicate with a blank expression.
"This is my copy vessel," Kayaba said. "I'll scan my brain and transfer my memories and emotions into it."
"Before that, I've already disabled the automatic program that eradicates rebellious code. You no longer need to worry about Yui."
He paused, then added softly, "Wish me luck."
"Good luck," Lillian replied.
Kayaba tapped his finger.
Light began to flicker silently from his feet upward. The glowing particles illuminated his body, then floated through the air into the other body.
The light spread from his legs to his waist, then to his chest.
Before it reached his face, he looked at Lillian one last time and said:
"Goodbye."
His entire body dissolved into light and flowed into the other vessel.
Lillian knew then—Akihiko Kayaba was dead.
Even if memories and emotions could be copied, once the physical body was gone, he was, without question, truly dead.
After a long while, the new Kayaba opened his eyes.
At that same moment, the world resumed its normal operation. Time began to flow again.
In Lillian's arms, Yui's body—once fading into transparency—reversed course and gradually returned to normal.
The new Kayaba seemed to still be organizing something internally. His gaze was slightly unfocused, and he did not speak to Lillian. After giving him a faint nod, he vanished without a trace.
"Lillian-nii… what happened…?"
Yui woke up, sounding surprised. Lillian looked at her and gently said that everything was fine.
She appeared to still retain GM-level permissions and immediately accessed the control console to check the system. To her astonishment, she discovered that the core restriction program imposed on her had disappeared. Excitement flashed across her face—she was about to say something, but then suddenly remembered something else. She quickly carried out a series of operations, and in the next instant, the two of them were teleported away.
Back in the control room, Kizmel, Kirito, and Asuna were waiting anxiously. Yui's sudden disappearance earlier had deeply worried them—especially Kizmel. Without GM privileges, she had been unable to follow, which only heightened her anxiety. Now, as the two figures abruptly appeared in the center of the room, all three rushed over at once.
Lillian looked at them and said, "Akihiko Kayaba has already been defeated. This game… should be ending very soon."
"This…"
Kirito and Asuna could hardly believe it. Happiness had come so suddenly that it felt unreal. After all, everything they had fought for until now was to clear this game and return to the real world. Yet now that the end was finally within reach, an unexpected reluctance welled up inside them.
Lillian didn't know exactly when the game would abruptly end. He opened his friends list and sent messages to Argo and Terusuke.
Then he turned to Kirito and Asuna.
"There are some things I need to say to Yui and Kizmel. Could you give us a moment?"
The two exchanged a glance, nodded, and quietly left the room.
By now, they had vaguely guessed that these two were no ordinary NPCs. But since Lillian had never brought it up himself, they tactfully chose not to ask.
Once the room was empty, Lillian looked at the two girls, his expression filled with apology.
"I'm sorry… You probably won't be able to leave this world. There are many reasons for it, and for now… I really don't have a solution. But in the future, I'll definitely find a way…"
Even as he spoke, he didn't know how to continue. At its core, this was a problem he couldn't truly solve.
"If there's anyone to blame, blame me. I can't overcome this—whether it's the limits of technology or anything else…"
"Lillian-nii," Yui said softly.
"I know you've already done everything you could. It's normal that we can't leave. We can only exist by relying on this system. Even if we did go outside, we wouldn't have a suitable vessel."
"…"
"Yes," Kizmel added with a smile that looked painfully forced.
"I don't know as much as Yui does, but…your world must be completely different from this one. Even if I could go, I'd probably be so scared that I'd run straight back."
Lillian stared at her smile and found himself at a loss for words. A deep sense of powerlessness flooded him.
He realized that all he truly possessed was brute strength. Beyond that—what else did he have? He knew nothing about FullDive technology. How could he possibly do anything concrete?
Was he supposed to say 'in the future, I'll definitely…' again?
Placing all hope in the future while being utterly helpless in the present—this feeling was unbearable. Far worse than being killed by an enemy. At least when facing an enemy, all he had to do was throw a punch.
But now—who was he supposed to punch? Who could he strike to solve this problem?
Oppression and frustration filled his heart. As if sensing his emotions, Yui reached out with her small hand and tightly grasped his palm, silently comforting him.
At that moment, footsteps sounded outside.
Argo and Terusuke had arrived.
Lillian adjusted his expression and led the two girls out. The moment Argo and Terusuke saw him, they fired questions at him.
"You said the game's about to end?!"
"You beat Akihiko Kayaba?!"
Lillian looked at them and nodded slightly.
"It could end at any moment now… so let's say our goodbyes."
He said seriously, "Goodbye."
"Why are you being so dramatic?" Argo glanced at Yui, who was still holding onto Lillian's hand, her usual nasal tone in full force.
"Even after the game ends, we can still hang out in real life, right? Didn't we all exchange emails and addresses already—wait, hold on…"
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Lillian.
"You haven't given us your email yet, have you?"
"…I'll pass," Lillian said. It was true—over the past six months, everyone had exchanged plenty of real-world information, and every time it was his turn, he had brushed it off.
"I've memorized all of yours. If I get the chance, I'll come find you."
"Tch, acting all mysterious. What, are you some kind of secret agent?" Argo scoffed.
Just as she finished speaking, light suddenly erupted from Terusuke's back. He startled, then immediately realized what was happening.
"The game's really ending—!"
"Lillian, remember to call me—!"
Before he could finish, his body vanished on the spot.
Argo checked her friends list, staring blankly.
"His name turned gray…"
As she spoke, particles of light also began to appear around her—along with Kirito and Asuna.
"Hey, Lillian! Remember to come find your big sister!" Argo bared her fang-like teeth in mock threat, raising her arm high.
"If you don't, you're dead!"
Lillian silently raised his hand and slapped palms with her. At the same time, light began to glow around his own body.
Turning around, he saw that Yui still refused to let go of his hand. The redness at the corners of Kizmel's eyes was painfully obvious.
Kirito, Asuna, and Argo disappeared one after another. When only Lillian remained, Kizmel stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around him.
"Do you know something?" she whispered by his ear, her voice flowing straight into his heart.
"The question I asked the sea serpent back then was, 'Can I go to Lillian's world?'"
"The sea serpent said no… It seems it really wasn't lying."
Lillian froze.
"Kizmel—"
He wanted to say something, but it was already too late.
Endless darkness swallowed his vision, like being thrown into some deep, silent abyss. When light returned, all he could see was a bare, white ceiling.
He sat up instinctively and reached for his shoulder. The dampness soaked with crystal-like moisture was gone.
He fell silent.