Chapter 353: A Golden Back
Miyabi drew in a slow, trembling breath, pulling the tranquil aura radiating from the Stone Stele deep into her lungs. As she exhaled, her posture straightened. The lingering confusion and perplexity that had clouded her eyes vanished like dust swept away by the wind, replaced by a resolve as sharp as the katana gripped in her hand.
She took one step forward, then another. Her boots struck the ethereal ground with measured certainty as she marched toward the colossal blade of ice looming in the distance. The frozen monument bled an aura of ominous temptation, chilling the very air around it.
The moment she willingly stepped beyond the protective golden boundary of the Stone Stele, the dam broke. The cacophony of whispers that had been held at bay instantly found their opening. They surged toward her like a tidal wave of malice, frantically drilling into the deepest recesses of her mind with agonizing intensity.
Slash! Sever all obstacles in your path! the voices shrieked, echoing from every direction.
This is the new law, forged to shatter the old! Another voice layered over it, grating and desperate.
This is a temporary submission! You must kneel now so you may never submit to fate again!
It is a necessary calamity, a third whispered, slithering into her ears. Forged by your own hand to ultimately destroy the true calamities of this world...
Then, a collective, deafening roar:...This is the fate the Hoshimi family cannot escape!
That final decree struck like a poisoned dagger, plunging with surgical precision into the most sensitive, agonizing scar buried within Miyabi's heart. A flash of memory tore through her vision—her mother's exhausted yet fiercely resolute silhouette, surrounded by dusty, blurred fragments of a childhood long gone.
Her footsteps ground to a sudden halt. An irrepressible fury ignited within her crimson eyes, burning away the cold of the mental space. She tilted her head back, staring down the endless expanse of crimson and darkness, glaring directly at the towering blade of ice.
"Fate?" Her voice started as a low tremble before erupting into a furious shout. "Fate again! Is this exactly how you deceived my mother back then?! You manipulated her into becoming a sacrifice on the altar of this so-called 'fate'!?"
The clamorous whispers faltered. Stunned by her sudden, impassioned defiance—a roar laced with immense grief and unyielding rage—the voices sank into a momentary, eerie silence.
When the entity finally spoke again, it was no longer a chaotic chorus. It was a singular, ancient, and impossibly deep composite voice, forged from the amalgamation of countless wills. It connected through the void with condescending indifference.
"Little girl... a mission is not something you can mold to your fleeting whims. The cruelty of reality far exceeds the limits of your fragile imagination." The voice vibrated through her very bones. "We are the pinnacle. The absolute power. Without suffering, without desire, without petty demands... The small sacrifices made in this era are merely the foundation for the future. They ensure that no more meaningless blood is spilled in the ages to come!"
It carried a cold, almost mechanical logic. "Only by accepting our power will you truly possess the capital required to face the Hollows and the impending disasters!"
"Absurd!" Miyabi snapped back, not yielding a single inch. Her voice rang with crystal clarity across the desolate mental expanse. "This barbaric ritual of inheritance should have been buried ages ago! Out there, in the real world, there are already forces capable of ignoring the very rules you established. They can forcibly steal and distort your so-called absolute power!"
She gripped her hilt tighter. "That woman, Sarah—the power of the primordial entity backing her is obvious proof! What is the point of clinging to this cruel, archaic ritual when your laws are already being broken?!"
She raised her free hand, pointing a slender, accusatory finger directly at the massive blade of ice. Her tone was absolute, vibrating with unquestionable determination.
"Listen to me! I refuse to bow to your stagnant rules! If you truly desire strength, if you crave a power that cannot be profaned by outsiders, then discard this pathetic, outdated fatalism! If you are willing to submit to me, to acknowledge my will as your master, then I promise you this—"
Her gaze burned like the fiercest flame, threatening to incinerate the invisible shackles binding her lineage. "I, Hoshimi Miyabi, will personally sever the chains of fate that have cursed the Hoshimi family for generations!"
She took another step forward, her aura flaring. "Become my 'Blade of Evil-Slaying'! Stand with me, and together, I will prove to you that we can become truly unrivaled in this world!"
Her declaration triggered an instantaneous, violent backlash.
The chaotic voices paused for a fraction of a second before erupting into a deafening chorus of mocking, disdainful laughter.
Hahaha—!
Just you?! A naive little girl!
Arrogant! You have no concept of the abyss you are staring into!
How utterly brazen! You are blind to the heights of the heavens and ignorant of the depths of the earth!
Accompanied by their venomous sneers, intense crimson fox-fire erupted across Miyabi's body with a violent whoosh. The ethereal flames licked at her consciousness, scorching her sheer will. The entity sought to drag her kicking and screaming back into the abyss of madness, eager to punish her transgression with excruciating mental agony.
Yet, at the precise moment the fox-fire flared to consume its defiant master, a shift occurred.
Hum...
The Stone Stele standing silently behind Miyabi suddenly emitted a deep, resonant hum. It vibrated through the mental space like the steady, unyielding heartbeat of the earth itself.
A solid, impossibly heavy golden halo rippled outward like a drop of water striking a calm pond. It washed over Miyabi's body, brushing against her with a gentle yet immovable firmness.
The violent crimson fox-fire, which had felt capable of incinerating her very soul, slammed into the golden halo and instantly met its absolute nemesis. With a pathetic sizzle, the raging flames were forcefully and rapidly snuffed out, leaving not even a wisp of smoke in their wake.
"...!?"
The mocking laughter echoing from the blade of ice choked to an abrupt halt.
The ancient, composite voice rumbled once more. This time, the condescending indifference was entirely gone, replaced by a heavy trace of undisguised astonishment.
"Interesting... truly interesting," the voice murmured slowly, as if carefully savoring the residual texture of the golden energy that had just crushed its flames. "What a strange power... It does not originate from Aether, yet it carries a weight that is... fundamentally different..."
The entity fell into a long silence, seemingly weighing the implications of this foreign interference.
Finally, the voice spoke again, carrying the solemn tone of a finalized verdict. "Little girl, we have heard your grand declarations. But our recognition cannot be bought with mere words."
The mental space began to tremble. "Survive. Use your own power to overcome the disaster that is about to descend upon you. Prove your competence. Prove that this defiant path of yours is not merely the delusion of a dying child."
The chill in the air began to recede. "When that time comes... we will reconsider whether to bestow upon you this power that you so desperately wish to control."
As the voice faded into the void, the massive, heaven-reaching blade of ice began to blur. The endless crimson and oppressive darkness surrounding it turned transparent, washing away like a receding tide until it completely dissipated from Miyabi's mental space.
The incessant whispers, shrieks, and roars vanished alongside it, leaving behind a deep silence, as if they had never existed at all.
The entire world seemed drained of sound and color. Only two things remained: the Stone Stele, still radiating its steady, protective golden light, and Miyabi herself, standing beneath its shelter with a slightly dazed expression.
A sudden, crushing wave of exhaustion crashed into her. Her consciousness grew incredibly light, tugged by an invisible force pulling her away from this spiritual battlefield where she had fought against her family's fate.
In the very last second before her mind fully returned to reality, her peripheral vision caught a fleeting, trance-like image.
It was the tall, upright back of a man radiating a faint, divine golden light. He stood quietly beside the Stone Stele, dressed in elegant, archaic attire. Merely looking at his back imparted a deep sense of unshakeable peace and majesty. He felt like a towering mountain—an absolute assurance that as long as he stood there, no storm could ever truly harm her.
That is...
The final thought drifted through Miyabi's fading consciousness before the scene before her was completely swallowed by the comforting darkness.
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