The murals on the dome began to undergo a strange transformation. The faceless figures in the paintings seemed to come alive, walking and moving across the surface.
A milky-white apparatus descended from the yin-yang symbol above, spiraling down toward Leon and converging in a tangled mass.
A cacophony of chanting filled the air, as if the figures in the mural were real souls, murmuring and whispering in unison.
The entire space began to flicker between light and darkness, and Ning Yu's heart was gripped by a powerful, growing unease.
At the same time, the container holding Ning Xuan's last head was suddenly transported to a corner of the hall, locked inside a glass case.
Her eyelids trembled faintly within the container, and then she opened her eyes again.
Her gaze, initially dazed, quickly focused, and she looked around with urgency, spotting Ning Yu in the distance.
"Sister!!"
She tried to shout, but her voice was muffled by the glass case.
"That's her last clone," Leon said, his back turned to Ning Yu as he grasped the white apparatus spiraling down from above. Its golden engravings matched the swirling patterns on his white robe.
The apparatus extended like a tree branch, with a hollow slot at its base.
"You have two choices now," Leon said, placing his hand into the slot. Instantly, a golden barrier beneath his feet expanded, filling the entire space.
"First, you can stop me now."
Within the concentric golden rings of the barrier, intricate characters began to materialize, as if written by an invisible brush, slowly filling the empty spaces.
The innermost circle, closest to Leon, had the shortest radius, so it was completed in the blink of an eye, vanishing into nothingness.
At this rate, the barrier would soon be fully inscribed.
"Second, you can save your poor 'sister.'"
Around Ning Xuan's container, mechanical probes suddenly rose from the ground, their tips glowing as they gathered destructive beams of energy.
Not only that, but a massive panel began to descend from above, slowly pressing down toward Ning Xuan's head.
Around these devices, mutated cyborg zombies crawled out from the ground, forming a barricade.
"Go on, make your choice. Though I already know your answer."
Leon turned his head, looking at Ning Yu with pity in his eyes.
His own eyes now swirled with the yin-yang symbol, allowing him to see the gray mist within Ning Yu's body.
That was the key he had been seeking all along—the key to the origin, the end of his long pursuit.
Everything was finally going according to his plan. Years of effort, countless sacrifices, even the betrayal and murder of his closest friend, and the creation of a cataclysm that devastated humanity—all for the sake of answering that one question, just like countless predecessors before him.
The ritual had already begun, and the key had arrived at the scene.
He should have been more cautious, should not have given Ning Yu any chance at all. But he couldn't suppress his curiosity about "humans."
That primal impulse was impossible to resist. He couldn't help but want to observe humanity.
He wanted to see what Ning Yu would do, faced with a choice between a worthless, artificial sister and the chance to end everything.
What choice would she make?
Leon turned his back to Ning Yu, fully focused on inscribing the final patterns of the ritual.
But he could barely contain the joy on his face. The thrill of gambling at the final moment was exhilarating.
It almost made him forget how desperately he had sought the origin.
Only now did he remember—his origin was [pleasure].
This pleasure could only come from his love for the abstract concept of humanity and his hatred for individual humans.
He knew what Ning Yu would choose because he understood humans too well.
"Argh!!"
"Ugh!"
The agonized cries of the mutated zombies echoed behind him, and Leon's lips curled into a smile once more. He was utterly satisfied, basking in his pleasure.
When faced with the choice between illusion and reality, humans would rather cling to false emotions to deceive themselves. That was why he found them so pitiful.
"Sister, don't worry about me! If you keep going, you'll..."
Trapped in the container, Ning Xuan watched as Ning Yu slaughtered the zombies and rushed toward her without hesitation. Her voice was filled with sorrow.
But seeing the determination on Ning Yu's face, she felt as if her nonexistent soul was trembling.
She was nothing but a cold, mechanical imitation, her emotions mere constructs, pitiful fakes.
Yet, in this moment, she felt a profound stirring, a proof of life, a trace of her existence.
She opened her mouth to say more, but her lips only quivered.
She wanted to cry like a living person, but she couldn't.
"I'm just a worthless imitation. Why does Sister still want to save me..."
She closed her eyes in pain, feeling as if she had harmed Ning Yu yet again, over and over.
The nightmares she had once experienced resurfaced—dreams of countless heads, and dreams of failing to protect her sister despite giving everything.
"Sister, you should kill Leon now!!"
She tried to stop Ning Yu, even as she continued to deny herself:
"To die for Sister is my honor. Let this worthless fake serve one last purpose."
Suddenly, Ning Yu's voice reached her from outside.
"I told you," Ning Yu said, unable to hear Ning Xuan's words but understanding them through lip-reading.
"I will save you."
With a few swift strikes, she destroyed the energy-gathering probes, causing the now-aimless beams to scatter harmlessly onto the floor.
Now, only the massive steel panel descending from above remained.
Ning Yu stood before Ning Xuan, never hesitating for even a second.
As the panel was about to crush them, she thrust Blood Kite into the ground, halting its descent. Though it still pressed down slowly, the blade held firm, bending slightly under the weight but refusing to break.
Ning Xuan shook her head, pleading with Ning Yu to abandon her in this final moment.
But Ning Yu shattered the glass container, pulling Ning Xuan out and cradling her in her arms, her hands now bloodied from the broken glass.
"Sister..."
Ning Xuan looked at Ning Yu with sorrowful eyes. Behind them, Leon was nearly finished inscribing the final runes of the ritual.
Ning Yu smiled gently at her, just as she had when they first met, just as Ning Xuan remembered from her fabricated memories.
"You are no longer a meaningless tool. You are a real person—my sister."