The place that she and her sister held in Lord Kanzaki's heart had never come close to the one occupied by Jingliu. To him they had always been loyal subordinates at best, or perhaps friends bound together by a shared tragic past. None of that had stopped him from risking everything for their sake. He had saved them on the battlefield again and again. For years he had poured his heart and strength into treating her crippling leg ailment, never once treating it as a burden.
Lord Kanzaki could not have known that she and her sister had long since stopped fighting for their own lives, or even for the honor of the Xianzhou or the Alliance. Every battle, every step they took forward had become solely for him.
Without him they would have died in the catastrophe that swallowed Cangcheng. Following his will they had walked the path of hunting the immortal emissaries, and they had done so without the slightest regret. When he finally learned the full truth of their devotion, the two sisters had already carved out a quiet, unshakable place deep inside his heart.
But by then their deaths had already become an inevitable outcome.
So Lord Kanzaki had asked them outright: Were they willing to fall into the abyss together with him?
The answer required no thought at all.
To Lord Kanzaki it was an abyss with no possibility of return. To her and her sister it was the only future in which they could continue to stand at his side and fulfill the oath they had sworn so long ago, the oath to fight for him alone.
Even if they became the greatest sinners in the entire history of the Xianzhou, they would not face that darkness alone.
After what felt like an eternity, Kanzaki finally stopped harming himself. The frenzied crimson haze that had clouded his eyes slowly faded, giving way once more to calm clarity.
Hanya approached him slowly, the worry in her gaze impossible to conceal.
"Lord Kanzaki, can even something as powerful as The Self-Actualization Aspect not dilute the influence of the mara?"
"Because of her… I cannot manage it for the time being."
"Jingliu?"
"Yes. To save both you and Xueyi I had to stabilize your consciousnesses so they could resist the negative effects that come with activating The Self-Actualization Aspect."
Kanzaki spoke softly, his voice carrying the quiet weight of everything he had endured.
"But your near-death states left your consciousnesses far too fragile. The only way I could help was to briefly merge my own consciousness with yours."
"With our consciousnesses merged that way, you were able to glimpse fragments of my memories."
The deeper memories that did not belong to this world remained safely shielded by the system. In return he had seen far more inside the sisters' own memories, including the depth of the emotions they held for him.
Although he had sensed the truth before, facing it directly still stirred complex feelings inside him. He discovered many small things he had overlooked in their everyday lives. For example, even if he ordered the sisters to charge straight into a tide of Abominations of Abundance and meet their end there, they would obey without the slightest hesitation or question.
To become someone's entire world, their unshakable faith… the realization sent ripples of complicated emotion through Kanzaki's chest.
Hanya nodded gently. She understood exactly what he meant.
Through the merged consciousness they had already witnessed most of his important memories, from the year 5749 of the Star Calendar when the second Abundance Plague War erupted on the Xianzhou Yuque all the way to the present moment.
It was during that revelation that Hanya had truly come to understand how he had healed her leg ailment years earlier. He had transferred the residual power of Rahu into his own body, then used The Self-Actualization Aspect to suppress and devour it, making that power his own.
The flesh, nutrients, and blessing power of the countless Abominations of Abundance that had fallen by his hand had all been plundered in this manner. If he continued to strengthen himself using The Self-Actualization Aspect with these accumulated powers, the level of Abundance blessing within him would only continue to grow. Once it reached a high enough threshold it should have been able to dilute the corrosive influence of the mara.
But now those plundered powers would need to be redirected toward filling the Heavenly Deficiency that plagued Jingliu.
Thinking of this, Hanya chose not to press the matter any further. Her gaze drifted instead to Kanzaki's solid chest. Inside it beat a heart that had never originally belonged to him, an abundance scourge that had once belonged to the deceased Borisin war leader Ussa.
The lump of minced meat he had handed over to the Ten-Lords Commission was merely a small portion taken from the surface of that heart. Given enough time even that missing piece would regenerate completely. Such was the terrifying nature of an abundance scourge.
Had Ussa not required this organ to command his entire race and maintain his authority, sharing its power with the pack would have created endless trouble for the Xianzhou Alliance. But of course that was impossible. A true dictator could never afford to share such power.
Before rising to become the Borisin war leader, Ussa had been a member of the Eclipsed Moon Hunting Pack. The Eclipsed Moon Hunting Pack consisted of the most battle-hardened predators among their kind. Their founder was said to have devoured the flesh of a god itself, earning the title of God-Devouring Hunter.
The Borisin of this pack received the strongest blessings of lunar madness. When they entered that state they fell into an uncontrollable frenzy. Even some Foxians on the Xianzhou could experience symptoms of lunar madness, making it a mandatory subject in Cloud Knight training. Everyone was intimately familiar with its dangers.
The traditions and characteristics of the Eclipsed Moon Hunting Pack led them to constantly consume the flesh of various races, mutating and evolving their genes in the process. For that reason, when battling members of the Eclipsed Moon Hunting Pack one had to be thorough in clearing the battlefield. The remains of fallen comrades could not be left behind. This was not merely a matter of honor or sentiment. It was an ironclad regulation born of harsh necessity.
In truth it would be a lie for Hanya to claim she felt no worry at all. No one had ever attempted to transplant an abundance scourge from a Borisin's body and assimilate it into their own internal organs using The Self-Actualization Aspect. No one knew what hidden dangers might still lurk within.
"It originated from a Borisin after all, and the blessing level is quite high. Are you certain there won't be any side effects?" Hanya asked, her concern evident in every word.
"Yes. If I'm not careful it's easy to lose myself to bloodlust. That can lead to loss of mental control and eventually trigger mara. When I've killed for too long or in too great a number I even begin to crave the taste of blood."
Speaking of the side effects Kanzaki could not help but frown slightly. Regarding the Abominations of Abundance, every Cloud Knight dreamed of devouring their flesh and drinking their blood. Yet in practice who would actually do such a thing? He had only plundered the Abominations of Abundance by using The Self-Actualization Aspect to seize the nutrients and blessings contained within their flesh. He had never directly consumed them with his own mouth.
"Can The Self-Actualization Aspect eliminate this influence entirely?"
"It should be able to. That particular impulse is not difficult to restrain. As I continue to plunder more Abundance blessings the influence should gradually weaken and fade."
At this Kanzaki studied Hanya's face in silence for a long moment. Slightly puzzled by his intense gaze, Hanya began to feel a touch self-conscious.
"What is it, Lord Kanzaki?"
"Possessing The Self-Actualization Aspect means there is no turning back. It means committing the Ten Unpardonable Sins, sins that neither the Ten-Lords Commission nor the laws of the Xianzhou will ever tolerate. Do you truly not regret falling into this abyss with me?"
"Lord Kanzaki!"
Hearing his words Hanya could not stop herself from biting her lower lip. A powerful surge of emotion rose within her chest, driving her forward. She rose onto her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his in a wordless kiss.
Kanzaki was completely stunned.
Only after a long moment did Hanya seem to realize what she had done. She pulled back in a panic, releasing him and lowering her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
"…Before, you did not respond to my feelings because you were entangled with forbidden matters. But now we are already walking the exact same path."
"My sister's future and my own continue to exist only because of you. No matter what the final outcome may be we accept it with open hearts. We will never regret this decision, not for all eternity."
Gathering her courage she reached out to take his hand, but changed direction midway and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist instead. Even in the cold deep sea of darkness they now inhabited Kanzaki could clearly feel the warmth of the woman in his arms, along with the complete unreserved sincerity of her devotion.
He found himself at a loss for words.
It was precisely because he understood better than anyone the bitterness of walking this path through the abyss that he had never wanted those who loved him to follow him into it. And yet it was also precisely because the person in his arms was someone willing to give everything for him that he had asked that question in the first place.
If one person falling into the abyss could secure their safety and the safety of his disciple, he would not hesitate for even a single second.
"In that case, follow me."
When the war finally came to an end he would create a new future for Jingliu as well.
---
Bonus chapters
200 - Stones
400 - Stones
600 - Stones
And so on, do you best!
Also visit my patreon for advance chapters to all my work!
(patreon.com/LizTL)