Alex felt his stomach drop at the sound of the conviction in Mikhail''s voice.

    He couldn''t imagine what he must be thinking right now…

    Preparing himself for death.

    Alex felt like the ground had been pulled from beneath his feet.

    Everything about this moment, the conversation, the surroundings, hell – even the entire journey he took to get there; it all felt utterly surreal.

    He had been prepared for some sort of final instruction before Mikhail sent him off, or taught him how toplete Virtue''s Edge or something like that, or even a dying wish.

    Maybe a tearful goodbye, or the transfer of something powerful.

    But this?

    He wasn''t prepared in the slightest for this.

    This wasn''t even something he had ever considered from the beginning and now to the end of his journey to find Mikhail''s forge.

    It was almost ironic now that he thought about how naive he had been back then.

    He''d originally thought that he''de across some ancient forge, find some instructions on how to upgrade andplete Virtue''s Edge and then he''d live happily ever after while increasing his power.

    Yet, from the very beginning, Mikhail hadn''t set Alex out on this journey to find just what turned out to be an ordinary, average forge.

    Alex had the forge with him all along…

    …Soulforge.

    Mikhail''s real goal was for Alex to find this ce where he was sealed away, and to carry on his wish to fight back against the System – but most importantly; to use his soul as the final piece of the puzzle to upgrade Virtue''s Edge to its full potential.

    A potential that could one day change the entire course of the universe''s future.

    All sprouting from one, dying old man''s wish.

    A soft breeze passed over the scene in the secluded fragment of space, creating a scene that seemed almost too peaceful.

    The scene was so at odds with what was being asked of him that it made the weight in his chest press even harder.

    Alex stood frozen, staring at the frail old man – the legendary smith, the warrior who rebelled against a tyrannical system.

    The one who had created the very sword he felt so dearly about.

    The one who – in the end – had orchestrated every step of Alex''s rise.

    Mikhail.

    And now, the man wanted to die.

    Not just die, but have his soul be just another ingredient in smithing.

    "This isn''t right…" Alex whispered in a hearse voice.

    Mikhail looked at him with a gaze calmer than the scene itself. "No. It isn''t."

    Alex''s jaw clenched.

    "You''re asking me to… kill you. To use your soul like its a crafting material. How can you expect me to do that!? To suddenly spring such a huge ask of me!?"

    "Because it is the only way," Mikahol continued on in the same, calm tone.

    "You said it yourself! You failed! You were one of the most powerful beings in the universe and yet you still couldn''t win! And now you want me to take your ce like that''s going to change anything!"

    "No." Mikhail''s tone turned firm.

    "I want you to finish what I started."

    He lifted the sword from the grass and held it out before Alex.

    Alex ignored the gesture and continued on with his emotional rant.

    "But why does it have to be this way? There has to be something else, another method, another—"

    "There isn''t."

    The old man didn''t raise his voice, but his tone had cut through Alex''s like a de.

    His stance was clear.

    He wasn''t going to back down on this.

    Not now.

    Not ever.

    "Alex, I created Virtue''s Edge with every drop of knowledge, ever secret I have ever learned. But I made it unfinished because I knew that I couldn''t give it the potential it deserved. Not because Icked time, or resources, or even the ability — but because almost like a sick prank from the System, I had the final, missing piece it required, only I couldn''t use it."

    Mikhail closed his eyes, breathing slowly.

    "It needs my soul. I am the only Universal God left in this universe that hasn''t fallen under the control of the System."

    He opened his eyes again.

    "I told you already. I couldn''t win. I was never meant to. They were all outside of my control. But the one thing I could control, I made sure to grasp with every ounce of strength I had! Iid the foundations for someone who could win! And that''s you, Alex."

    Alex was silent. He felt like he couldn''t breathe.

    "My time is short anyway, Alex. I''m going to die soon regardless. If I''m going to die, I at least want to go out on my own terms, helping a cause I put my whole heart and life into."

    He held the de out further, grabbed Alex''s hand with an iron vice-like grip, before cing the hilt of the sword back into Alex''s possession.

    "And you are the only one who can do that, Alex. Your talent, Soulforge, quite literally lives up to its name. You are the only person in the universe who has the ability to harvest a being''s soul, and forge it, meld it, however you like. You have never, and could never, fulfill its full potential due to the System never allowing you to. For one very sinister reason."

    He coughed, showing Alex just how little time he really did have left, if someone as powerful as a Universal God was having issues as small as problems with his lungs.

    "...The System harvests its energy through our souls after death. With your talent, you are essentially depriving it of all that potential energy. I''m sure you can imagine why the System wouldn''t like that." Mikhail exined further.

    "So," Mikhail spoke. "Do this old man a favour and grant hisst, dying wish, would you."

    Alex looked at the sword in his hands, then back at Mikhail.

    He let out the deepest, most tragic sigh he had ever mustered.

    "I don''t want to do this…" He spoke.

    "But I have to."

    Mikhail smiled.