Within the cathedral—ethereal as a dream, like a fusion of heaven and fairyland—Miss Witch allowed the young man to hold her.
"There, there. Being born and dying are merely the natural order of life, just like the coming of day and night."
She gently patted his back, like a tender wife.
"'A person's life is neither as good nor as bad as one thinks.' Weren't those your own words to me? Whenever you lose something, you always gain something in return."
"That was how I thought sixteen years ago," he finally rasped, his voice raw. "Now I dare not speak of anything with anyone, because the moment I do, I miss everyone."
He wanted to weep, yet he felt his heart was drier than a desert.
"Once, there was always a girl beside me nagging me to stay calm. Whenever I lost my temper, she would knit her brows and grip my sleeve tight."
"Later, my sleeves became light and empty."
Even as he spoke, his hands felt so heavy that it seemed he would never be able to raise them again.
"I am someone who already belongs to the other shore. You are different; you shouldn't cling to this side."
Miss Witch slowly took hold of his sleeves, but this time, it was to push him away.
She no longer allowed him to hold her, simply gazing into his eyes.
"I don't understand..." The black-haired young man shook his head.
"Lankeluosi, playing dumb like that... Ah, well, seeing you awake sets my heart at ease."
Miss Witch looked at him and parted her lips in a faint smile, free of any lingering sorrow. She seemed to have returned to how she was when they first met, her words brimming with vitality once more.
"I know you want to stay here, but sometimes what seems like a brief rest turns into endless stagnation, until all opportunity is lost. Your mission is not yet finished. So, go."
She had once believed that light unseen by her eyes was simply darkness, until one day she realized that the sun was merely a morning star. Even if the other stars vanished, they would still accompany the sun; it was only the most conspicuous among them.
The black-haired youth's hands seemed glued to Miss Witch's shoulders, utterly incapable of letting go.
Not until she shook her head and began stepping backward as if in a dance.
"By the way, to prevent you from falling into an illusion again or having an enemy exploit an opening through mental magic, I need to remind you of something."
Miss Witch clasped her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and looked at him intently.
"Go and fall in love with someone. Otherwise, you won't defeat Third Progenitor Lachiel."
"What are you talking about? And even if you tell me this now, when I wake from this dream, I might forget it all!" he asked, bewildered and agitated.
"Every living soul you meet from now on who is willing to treat you with kindness—you must love them just as you always have," she explained.
"I'm tired, exhausted. I don't want to learn how to love again. Just let me grow old and die alone." He shook his head.
"If you cannot even manage that, you will only repeat the past." Her brows arched, and she pointed at the space between his brows in rare reproof. "Repeating the same history, committing the same mistakes, over and over."
Yet as soon as the words left her mouth, her gaze softened once more.
"Lankeluosi, learn to love again. Only by falling in love can you anchor yourself to this world. Only then will you not walk toward the side of nothingness."
Once one crossed over to nothingness and succumbed to nihilism, one would come to believe that life had no purpose, only process; that everything was void. One would turn purely rational, accept the insignificance and powerlessness of human existence, and perceive the chaos and uncontrollability of destiny. Rather than striking against the void like an egg against stone, one would simply release one's grip on the wheel and plummet into the abyss.
Listening to her words, his parched tears began to flow once more.
Outside the cathedral, the sky was gradually bathed in a pale, delicate pink under the sunset, looking almost like the colors of dawn.
"Then... goodbye, then."
Even as his eyelids drooped desperately, he forced himself to keep them open, smiling to see her off, allowing the tears to blur his reluctant gaze.
The cathedral's floor-to-ceiling glass windows were as calm as the sea, reflecting their figures.
Miss Witch's words, like a boat parting waves across the stormy sea of his heart, resonated unceasingly.
"I will forget everything, fulfill our promise, and end this Blood Moon Cataclysm!"
The wound still ached; his parched throat was far from soothed.
Yet it no longer mattered. Let it all scatter to the winds; that was fine.
At the end of obsession lay nothing, only an expanse of void.
He wiped his tears forcefully, a look of resolute determination surfacing in his eyes, and raised his hand toward her.
She smiled, waving her wrist, slowly dissolving into the sunset.
The young man, too, would vanish into the radiance of dawn.
"If we cannot meet again, then that is fate, so cling no more!" she urged, baring her vulnerability one last time.
"You are completely wrong! The days ahead are long—I will not forget!" he shouted, making no effort to conceal his longing.
Hearing this, the corner of the fading witch's lips parted in momentary surprise before softening into a relieved smile.
"You said you wouldn't forget me."
"I believe that from now on, all my life, every single part of it..."
"...will live within those words."
Those were her final words.
The black-haired youth felt the illusion begin to collapse.
Even so, that gentle voice seemed to linger by his ear:
*Soon, you will sleep. And when you wake, you will become part of a new world.*
*Go. Leave.*
*Go to the place where you belong.*
And so, he returned to the mortal world.
Crimson lightning crackled around the open ground at the center of the Naicalis Demon King's Palace hall, a dark aura expanding continuously, causing the palace's transparent defensive barriers to manifest and crack like an unraveling illusion.
At opposite ends of the royal hall, silver-white and blood-red mana stood in stark opposition. Fall Lord Caliera was still exerting every ounce of her strength to suppress Fourth Progenitor Eduardo.
Tenth Progenitor Ulysses had nearly reached the left side of the gallery, arriving right beside the little wolf girl he intended to seize.
Suddenly.
Ulysses noticed the hand of the Glow Demon seated next to the wolf girl twitch, and he halted his stride slightly.
In that very instant, as if breaking free from some shackle binding him or an endless tribulation of fate, the Glow Demon shattered every restraint. The aura around him surged violently, stepping across the threshold into Tier 8.
"You can still move?" Ulysses raised an eyebrow slightly.
This Glow Demon, who wasn't even a great demon, was no match for him even if he had suddenly broken free from Caliera's binding and reached Tier 8.
"Yeah." The Glow Demon kept his head lowered, tears dripping onto the floor one by one.
"It seems you have no will left to fight?" Ulysses looked at the demon, perplexed.
For a demon to be so grief-stricken yet still manage to break free from the Gentle Land of the Fallen could only mean one thing:
His heart was completely broken.
"In that case, if I take her away, a demon like you shouldn't bother making an enemy of me, right?"
From Ulysses's prior intelligence, this little wolf girl had desperately followed the Glow Demon around, while the demon had treated her with utter disdain, acting as if he wished to shake her off and caring nothing for her life or death.
The Glow Demon did not answer.
He raised his hand. Instantly, space warped into an eclipse-like black orb, sealing Tenth Progenitor Ulysses inside.
"Does a mere Blood Clan Marquis even count as an enemy of mine...?" he muttered.
From beginning to end, he never raised his head.
On the other side of the palace's regency hall, Caliera, who had long noticed the shift, stared in astonishment at the Glow Demon.
When she first saw him awaken, she had worried that, having only just reached Tier 8, he might not be able to handle the Tenth Progenitor. She had never expected him to be a demon specializing in seals.
Moreover, he seemed to possess a specialized solar power that countered the Blood Clan. A Blood Clan Progenitor of the same tier, Ulysses, was not even a match for him!
Soon, the Glow Demon rose to his feet. Fourth Progenitor Eduardo was likewise sealed within a pitch-black interlocking cube, allowing Caliera to finally release the Gentle Land of the Fallen with lingering dread.
"Friend, would you join us? Whatever terms you wish to propose, I will do my best to satisfy them."
The Fall Lord immediately approached the Glow Demon.
Never before had she seen a demon hide his strength so thoroughly. With his assistance, the Demon Realm's odds of victory against the Blood Clan would increase drastically!
The Glow Demon glanced at her, but gave no reply.
Those dark-green eyes were turbid and exhausted.
Nor did he leave.
He sat back down beside the little wolf girl, waiting quietly in place.
He waited until the little wolf girl beside him woke up.
"What happened to you...?" The wolf girl looked around in bewilderment as if waking from a nightmare, scanning the aftermath of the hall.
Having brushed against death multiple times, she realized in short order that she had escaped disaster once again!
And the one who had stepped forward to save her was none other than this cold, heartless Glow Demon beside her.
"I promised you: if you could explain what her last riddle meant, I would teach you until you were capable of defeating the Blood Clan Progenitors," he spoke slowly.
"And then we have nothing more to do with each other! Whether I seek revenge, live, or die, it won't concern you in the slightest!"
Before the Glow Demon could finish, the little wolf girl hurriedly recited the latter half of their agreement in a rush.
Her nervous gaze seemed to tell him that she hadn't forgotten a word of the contract, that she would never overstep, and that she would never break her promise.
Suddenly, the wolf girl lowered her head again.
"B-but the riddle... I might still need a little more time to solve it..." she mumbled, her voice trailing off with guilt, fearful that the Glow Demon might grow angry because she might have misled him.
"Your promise has already been fulfilled. I understand the answer. Now it is my turn to deliver the reward," he replied flatly.
"Eh?" The wolf girl's eyes widened in disbelief.
Then, she drew several sharp breaths, trying to speak, but her chest felt as if it were frozen solid; she couldn't utter a word.
Shortly after, she burst into tears of overwhelming relief.
"Xigelei, your promise is complete," the Glow Demon repeated, his tone firmer by half.
"*Waaah...*"
Within Xigelei's moist, hazy eyes, it was as if all the effort she had poured into chasing hope against all odds had finally been repaid.
After an unknown amount of time, she seemed to cry herself out. Exhausted beyond measure, she gradually closed her eyes to the sound of the Glow Demon's voice, yet she still dared not let go of him, terrified that he would abandon her and leave.
The Glow Demon slowly reached out a tentative hand, as if afraid of damaging a fragile flower. Only after gathering his courage did he stiffly rest his hand on the back of her head.
"Xigelei..."
His voice was barely audible.
"I will protect you. As long as I protect you, I will have one last reason to live."
"Let's go."
He scooped up the little girl and walked toward the gallery outside the regency hall.
Caliera watched the Glow Demon's retreating figure. She wanted to call out, but did not know how to make him stay, and could only turn her head aside.
Under the dim lights, down the long stone corridor of the Naicalis Palace, his figure became a blurry dot receding into the distance.
With that, the contents recorded in Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record came to an end.
In the threshold space between the Shadow World and reality, only the final lines of text that had remained suspended in the starry sky after the Shadow World settlement were left:
[Series Shadow World—Blood Moon Cataclysm: Historical coordinates anchored. Current completion: 3/4.]
[The Blood Moon Cataclysm thus far: Departing from the Polant Empire, traversing the Land of Evernight, arriving at the shadows of the Demon King's Island, writing a chapter of history with one's own footsteps. Dear comrades-in-arms perished before the cold blades of the blood moon; do you still remember? The deep-seated hatred carved into bone and heart, the crimson miasma shrouding the southern realm, flitting past the phantoms of the blood moon... how could the grief endured to this day be easily spoken in words?]
[Before concluding the Series Shadow World, the current challengers will enter the fourth node of "Blood Moon Cataclysm."]
[Mission Objective: Complete the final node.]
As if finishing a movie, Lanqi stretched.
Then, he noticed a faint sniffling beside him.
Turning his head, he saw that Hyperion's eyes were glistening with tears, the rims completely flushed red.
"Hyperion..."
Lanqi himself wasn't particularly moved, but Hyperion looked as though she had been thoroughly immersed in Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her.
"Sorry... I'm fine..."
Hyperion took the handkerchief.
"Sorry... it was so rare for you to bring me along..." she mumbled a moment later.
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to make you cry like this. I thought Caliera's memoirs were all comedies," Lanqi said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
He hadn't expected the Gentle Land of the Fallen to actually fail.
Silence fell between the two for a long while; even the cat had slipped into the shadows.
Lanqi waited until Hyperion's breathing gradually stabilized, looking at her, preparing to say something.
On the crystal-clear skin of her profile, the corners of her eyes remained faintly red.
"Say... if I were gone, would you become like that?" Hyperion asked, noticing Lanqi's gaze and turning to meet his eyes.
"Then I probably wouldn't be around either. The two of us share fortune and misfortune," Lanqi shook his head. "Though... I think I finally understand a bit why you care so much about virtue and merit. If your luck turns bad, you're afraid it'll bring misfortune to me too. Actually, looking back, it feels like I've caused you a lot of trouble, always doing things that freak you out," Lanqi finally said in a low voice.
Hyperion looked at Lanqi in astonishment, the tear marks on her cheeks fading.
It was as if she had never expected to hear Lanqi say such words in her lifetime.
Boss Cat's projector automatically began playing the next piece of footage.
It was the recording of the Shadow World they had left behind at the end of their time in the Polant Empire.
Before the projection, the whimsical and breezy jazz from Chequers Manor began to play. The addition of brass and strings made the melody increasingly cheerful, resembling the grand curtain-call piece of a Broadway show.
"That's not true at all."
She scooted a bit closer to Lanqi.
Then a bit closer still.
Finally, she draped her arm over Lanqi's shoulder, pulling him to her side, leaning against him, the two of them resting on one another.
Chapter 609