"I... I..." Lin Ye trembled, unable to speak.
Seeing Lin Ye's anguish, Ace forced down his own reluctance to part.
"Lin Ye, you're the universe's hope."
"You can't abandon your mission just for me."
"Promise me that when I lose control..."
"You'll kill me without hesitation."
"This is my last... and most important request."
Smoke still hung over the battlefield.
"No! I'll never kill you!"
Lin Ye flatly rejected Ace's request.
"There has to be another way!"
"The Star Guardians are so powerful. They must know how to fix this!"
He helped the trembling Ace up, an unyielding resolve burning in his eyes.
"Come on, let's find them!"
"Right now!"
Warmth welled in Ace's heart as he looked at Lin Ye's determined expression.
But it also deepened his pain.
"Lin Ye... you don't understand," he said weakly.
"The corruption of Void Energy is irreversible."
"Even the Star Guardians are powerless against it."
"If there were a way, they would have told me already."
Lin Ye shook his head, refusing to accept that reality.
"I don't believe it!"
"There must be some way we don't know about!"
"The Guardians of other constellations, or some more ancient power!"
He dragged Ace along as he flew into the Void.
He tried to find some trace of the Star Guardians.
But the Void Energy's corruption spread faster than he could have imagined.
The black-purple markings on Ace's body were spreading rapidly.
Now even his cheeks were completely covered in Void Runes.
They looked like a terrifying mask.
"Lin Ye... stop," Ace said with a bitter smile.
"It's too late."
He felt the other consciousness inside him growing stronger.
That consciousness was filled with a thirst for slaughter.
It was frantically eating away at his reason.
"I can feel that thing calling to me."
"Telling