"...Tra...veler..."
A faint, fragmented voice, as if squeezed out with her last ounce of strength, pierced through the Invisible Barrier and resonated clearly in everyone's ears.
Lumine froze instantly. It was Chu Xi's voice! The familiar voice of Chu Xi!
"...Kill... me..."
The voice was filled with immeasurable agony and desperate pleading.
"...Now... I... can't suppress it... Hurry..."
Chu Xi's body convulsed violently. One hand clawed frantically at her face and neck, leaving deep, bloody scratches, while the other pressed desperately against her chest, as if desperately trying to restrain something within.
Her eyes, locked in pleading desperation, pierced through the barrier, pleading directly at Lumine.
"...Quickly, use... that sword... It's... the key... Use it... to pierce my... heart!"
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
Lumine's body jolted violently, as if struck by an invisible thunderbolt.
The golden eyes trembled violently, reflecting Chu Xi's figure writhing in agony within the barrier and the pleading gaze of her dearest friend.
Kill her?
Kill Chu Xi?
The thought struck Lumine like a venomous curse, instantly shattering her reason.
Her hands shook uncontrollably, nearly losing her grip on the Unrelenting Will.
It's Chu Xi!
The partner who had traveled with her, laughed with her, and faced life and death together!
She had crossed the Star Sea, endured countless hardships, all to find her family and protect her friends—not... not to end the life of her trusted friend with her own hands!
"No... I can't... Chu Xi... I can't..." Lumine shook her head, her voice choked with sobs, tears blurring her vision.
To point her blade at Chu Xi was a pain far greater than being torn apart by a thousand blades.
"...Hurry..."
Chu Xi's voice grew even weaker, yet her urgency intensified, laced with the desperate despair of one on the verge of collapse. "...It... is about to awaken... Please... This... is the only... release..."
Chu Xi's body convulsed violently.
Her hands clawed at her face, tearing off small patches of skin to reveal the deep, abyssal darkness beneath—a sight that sent shivers down one's spine.
"Traveler..." Morax's heavy voice echoed from behind, imbued with unprecedented solemnity and a hint of pity. "...Her suffering is real. The entity within her... harbors no benevolence."
Lumine's heart felt as if it were being roasted over a raging inferno.
On one side lay the blood-soaked pleas of her dearest friend and the specter of even greater calamities to come. On the other, the unbearable agony of taking her friend's life with her own hands. Every choice led to hell.
Just then, the energy around Chu Xi erupted violently again, as if a colder, more terrifying will were about to break free from its restraints.
In Chu Xi's eyes, the last flicker of humanity, like a candle in the wind, rapidly dimmed. In its place, the crimson eyes of IT began to dominate once more.
"...No time left...!"
Chu Xi roared with her last shred of strength, her voice twisted beyond recognition.
At that very moment, perhaps influenced by Chu Xi's final will, or perhaps because the internal energy conflict had reached a critical threshold—
The impossibly sturdy Invisible Barrier flickered a few times, like a Phantom with a faulty connection, and then abruptly vanished!
The barrier was gone.
There was now nothing separating Lumine from the struggling, tormented Chu Xi.
A terrifying wave of Abyss Energy, mingled with Chu Xi's desperate aura, crashed over Lumine.
There was no time for hesitation.
Lumine let out a primal howl, like a wounded beast, tears streaming down her face.
In her golden eyes, a flicker of shattering resolve, forged in the crucible of extreme pain.
She moved.
Her figure transformed into a golden streak of light, wielding Unrelenting Will, and plunged it directly into Chu Xi's chest.
Sensing Lumine's emotions, Unrelenting Will erupted with Elemental Energy in four vibrant colors. The Umbral Scion's once-impenetrable scales were pierced by the blade's overwhelming power!
Realizing its life was threatened, the Umbral Scion began to resist fiercely. However, due to Chu Xi's lingering consciousness, its struggle, though fierce, failed to completely repel Lumine.
-
The Player World.
Chen Xiyao hadn't even recovered from the utterly absurd plot twist of Chu Xi dying by her own hand when Lumine's sword already struck out.
Piercing Chu Xi's chest with the Unrelenting Will proved no easy task. In the game's cutscene, this was conveyed through Lumine's fierce, teeth-gritting expression. For the players, it translated into a frantic clicking frenzy!
As the Unrelenting Will slowly advanced, Chen Xiyao grew frantic and began mashing her mouse.
"What the hell kind of plot is this?!" she exclaimed.
Staring at Chu Xi's face and the sword steadily piercing her chest, Chen Xiyao's expression nearly mirrored Lumine's.
They can't just do this to us!
Originally, even if Lumine had killed Chu Xi, the players could at least feel slightly better knowing they hadn't personally acted. But this forced participation... it was simply too cruel!
-
The Natlan Battlefield.
Pfft—
Through Lumine and the players' combined efforts, the Unrelenting Will finally pierced Chu Xi's chest, reaching her heart.
The sound of the longsword piercing her body rang clearly in Lumine's ears. The crimson that had surged into Chu Xi's eyes slowly receded.
Lumine's arm trembled violently, tears blurring her vision, yet she clenched her jaw, refusing to loosen her grip on the sword hilt.
Chu Xi's body stiffened abruptly, all struggles and spasms ceasing.
The frenzied, retaliatory crimson in her eyes retreated like a rapidly receding tide, replaced by a sudden, profound tranquility—utterly exhausted yet crystal clear.
That gaze, at last, returned to the familiar form Lumine remembered, now veiled by an eternal twilight.
Chu Xi lowered her head to gaze at the blade buried in her chest, then slowly lifted her eyes to meet Lumine's tear-streaked face, just inches away.
A faint yet genuine apology bloomed in her eyes.
"...I'm... sorry..." Her voice was as soft as a sigh, her breath carrying flecks of blood. "...I've... caused... you... so much... trouble..."
She struggled to raise a hand, her fingertips lightly brushing Lumine's tear-drenched cheek in a gentle, lingering gesture, as if to wipe away her tears one last time. But her hand, finally losing strength, fell limply to her side.
Chu Xi clearly remembered everything she had done, as well as the memories of her other self, which had flooded her mind after her head was reattached.
Truly heinous crimes...
"No, I don't blame you! It's all because of that damned Doctor!"
Chu Xi managed a faint smile. "...Thank... you... for... freeing... me..."
Her final words faded into the air, and the last flicker of light in her eyes finally went out.
Her head slowly drooped, coming to rest on Lumine's shoulder, a faint trace of relief lingering at the corner of her lips.
The unsettling, pitch-black energy that had enveloped her, as if deprived of its source, silently dissipated, as if it had never existed.
All that remained was a cold, lifeless body and the eternally slumbering soul of a trusted friend.
Lumine clutched the gradually cooling body in her arms, burying her face deep in the icy hollow of Chu Xi's neck. Her shoulders heaved violently, but she could no longer utter a sound.