It was impossible to tell who first let out that choked, tentative cry.
Immediately afterward, a deafening roar of joy, heart-wrenching sobs, and incredulous cheers erupted like a tsunami, completely overwhelming the entire nation of Natlan!
The pent-up grief, despair, and terror that had been suppressed for far too long now erupted in a violent, volcanic explosion of uncontrollable euphoria!
The entire Stadium of the Sacred Flame instantly became a boiling sea of jubilation!
"They're alive! They're alive!"
A young warrior leaped to his feet, frantically pointing at several comrades nearby who had just dazedly sat up from the ground, still clad in tattered armor. His voice cracked with overwhelming excitement, tears and snot streaking his face, but he couldn't care less.
"Father—!!!"
A girl let out a soul-rending cry, no longer one of grief but one of overwhelming shock at having what she had lost returned to her. Like a cannonball, she hurtled through the crowd, slamming into the arms of a middle-aged warrior who had just been resurrected and hadn't yet grasped the situation. The sheer force of the impact nearly toppled both of them.
The warrior instinctively hugged his daughter, the bewilderment on his face swiftly replaced by incredulous joy and profound sorrow. Father and daughter wept in each other's arms, their sobs filled with a newborn joy.
Similar scenes played out in every corner:
Husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers, comrades...
People wept, laughed hysterically, embraced wildly, and pounded each other's chests, repeatedly confirming the unbelievable reality before their eyes.
The resurrected warriors, initially dazed and shocked, were soon swept up by the tidal wave of euphoria around them and quickly joined the frenzied celebration.
Some knelt on the ground, frantically kissing the once-barren earth that had regained its fertility and warmth, weeping uncontrollably.
Others threw their heads back and roared skyward, venting all their emotions in deafening bellows.
Most simply babbled incoherently, repeating phrases like "Alive!" and "Thank God!" as they embraced every person they could reach, whether friend or stranger.
Chasca sprinted to her sister's location. The area wasn't just where her sister had fallen; it was also the resting place of many other fallen warriors, surrounded by piles of fresh flowers, their bodies yet to be processed.
Chasca pushed through the crowd and rushed forward, finding Chuychu standing in the same spot, scratching her head in confusion.
"Chuychu!"
Chasca surged forward and pulled Chuychu into a tight embrace, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"Sister? I thought I was... What's going on?"
Chasca didn't answer. She simply held her sister tightly, savoring this moment of being reunited with someone she had lost.
Mavuika stood on the high platform, watching the unrestrained yet life-affirming torrent of joy below. She saw the figures embracing and weeping, the earth bursting back to life. Her clenched fist slowly relaxed, and a relieved smile, tinged with profound emotion, finally broke through her ever-maintained composure, a glint of tears even appearing in the corner of her eye.
She took a deep breath, the air now free of the stench of blood and burning, instead filled with the fresh, hopeful scent of newly sprouted vegetation.
Even The Captain, hovering high above, descended slowly. He silently observed the crowd completely immersed in their euphoric celebration, the resurrected lives, and stood with his arms crossed. Not even his icy mask could fully shield him from the impact of this miracle of life.
-
It wasn't just the Natlanians; countless Fatui Soldiers who had perished in battle were also resurrected.
Cheers, sobs, roars, and wild laughter... an indescribable, earth-shattering wave of sound surged skyward, reverberating across the land as if proclaiming Natlan's rebirth to the entire world!
This was no mere celebration; it was a primal, frenzied paean to life itself, erupting from the depths of their souls!
Lumine was being tightly squeezed around the neck by Paimon, who sobbed hysterically above her head, chanting, "They're alive! They're all alive! Waaaaaah!"
Lumine's heart hammered in her chest, nearly bursting free from its restraints.
The sacred light sweeping across Natlan, resurrecting the dead, instantly ignited a nearly impossible hope within her!
Without a moment's hesitation, her figure vanished from the thunderous Arena, hurtling into the tranquil realm of the Serenitea Pot.
She stumbled to the bedside, her gaze locked on Chu Xi's peaceful but lifeless face.
No change.
Not a single flicker of change.
That warm, boundless light—a light capable of resurrecting the dead—seemed to have completely forgotten this corner, or perhaps... deliberately avoided her.
The immense hope that had surged within Lumine was instantly extinguished, as if doused with icy water, leaving behind only a more piercing cold and emptiness.
"No... it can't be... it must be this place blocking the light..."
Lumine's voice trembled, driven by an almost fanatical refusal to accept defeat.
Carefully, almost reverently, she lifted Chu Xi's cold, rigid body into her arms and rushed back out of the Serenitea Pot, returning to the riotously joyful world bathed in endless golden light.
Gently, she laid Chu Xi flat in the area where the Sacred Flame's radiance burned brightest, allowing the warm light to fully envelop her.
Lumine knelt beside her, her hands clasped tightly against her chest, her nails digging into her flesh. Her eyes remained fixed, unblinking, as she desperately prayed and pleaded inwardly.
One second... two seconds...
Ten seconds... half a minute...
Around them, the deafening roar of jubilant cheers filled the air—the emotional cries of people embracing and weeping in relief, the cacophony of life's miracles unfolding endlessly.
Only before her, there was deathly silence.
Chu Xi lay still, golden light flowing over her pale skin and brushing past her tightly closed eyelashes, as if passing through mere emptiness, leaving no trace.
She wasn't breathing, her heart wasn't beating, and there wasn't the slightest sign of awakening, creating the most cruel and glaring contrast to the seething vitality around her.
The light in Lumine's eyes dimmed bit by bit, until it finally extinguished completely.
Her taut body suddenly lost all strength, collapsing heavily and gracelessly onto the ground, sending up a faint cloud of dust.
"...Hah..."
A soft, broken, self-mocking laugh escaped her pale lips, filled with bottomless bitterness and despair. "I should have known... I should have realized..."
She raised her head, gazing at the still-brilliant light with empty, numb eyes.
"The Ode of Resurrection... it purifies the Abyss and summons the Heroic Spirits who fell in the Natlan war... But Chu Xi... Chu Xi, she..."
Her voice choked, a profound sorrow gripping her throat. After a long pause, she whispered hoarsely with all her remaining strength:
"...Her very essence is Forbidden Knowledge itself..."
The source that had created her and ultimately destroyed her—an existence diametrically opposed to the vibrant, purifying light that permeates this world.
How could this Ode of Resurrection, born from Natlanian faith and vitality, possibly awaken a fragmented soul forged from "nothingness" and "the Forbidden"?
Hope shattered completely, revealing the cold, immutable reality beneath.
Lumine sat motionless, gazing at her sleeping Trusted Friend. The surrounding revelry and cheers faded into a distant, blurry background noise, as if an entire world separated her from them.