"Zzz... zzzz..."
The golden vortex created by Leon in the sky suddenly dimmed, and all the moving chains came to a halt as if jammed.
The scabbard of the "Song of the Kite," guarded by Shen Yiyue, floated quietly in the distance.
From there, a world-shaking slash had been unleashed just moments ago.
But that slash was too fast—faster than a blink, faster than an electron could complete a single rotation.
Ning Yu, who had just used the technique "Heart Sword: Iris Flash," stood at the edge of the barrier that was pressing dangerously close. In her hand, the Blood Kite was raised, with a few drops of fresh blood on its blade, which quickly vanished.
"This... how could this be...?"
Leon's body was suddenly spat out by the yin-yang fish and fell to the ground. He vomited a large amount of blood.
He collapsed to his knees, a massive wound visible across his chest and abdomen.
"Unfortunately, all the lines of death revealed your location."
"By destroying you, the core of the ritual is lost."
Ning Yu walked back, looking down at Leon with cold eyes.
His robe was already soaked in his own blood, but he still struggled to get back up.
"You... you truly are both the key... cough..."
"And yet... how can you also be the embodiment of suppression? Isn't that contradictory?"
He seemed unable to comprehend how such opposing forces could coexist within Ning Yu alone.
"It's not contradictory. Just like the yin-yang fish, they are both opposites and unified."
Ning Yu turned away.
"Why chase after something as elusive as the origin? Do you have any idea how much suffering and disaster you've brought to others?"
Ning Yu narrowed her eyes, staring at the dying man.
"...I just... deeply love humanity."
"A world divided like this, if it continues to exist, will inevitably face destruction one day."
"Do you think everyone would be happy if I didn't exist?"
"We are all... cough..."
He spat out another mouthful of blood, his body already beginning to twitch.
"We are all cursed, lonely individuals, trapped in the cage of our own flesh."
"We can never return to that quiet, peaceful beginning. We can never truly understand each other again."
"From now on, we will irreversibly drift further and further apart, until heat death, until the end."
"We wage wars, we oppress each other, we exploit each other, we live in endless cycles of mutual harm."
"Desire controls us. We are never satisfied. We see, we dominate, we conquer, we transform... endlessly."
His eyes were filled with desolation, as if there were many things he couldn't put into words.
"Only by reaching there, where the most original and complete Akashic Records lie, can I restore all the sins we've committed that have separated us."
"When that time comes... when we all return to a single whole, no longer divided..."
"Everything I've done..."
He raised his hand, as if trying to grasp something, but his eyes had already gone completely dark. He collapsed softly.
A large amount of blood spread across his white robe, flowing from his body.
He died like this, staring at the yin-yang fish in the sky.
"What you love is merely an abstract concept of humanity."
Ning Yu spoke quietly, though Leon could no longer hear her.
"But each of us is a living, breathing individual."
"Just like me, in my heart, there is only the happiness that belongs to me and those I care about."
Ning Yu opened her hand, looking at her palm.
"Yes, it's selfish. It's greedy. But we only love the people who are real to us."
"I've long been enchanted by this spiral called everyday life."
Ning Yu no longer looked at Leon's cold corpse on the ground. Instead, she raised her head to gaze at the yin-yang fish, which had stopped rotating.
Now, all that was left was to destroy the ritual that had progressed this far...
Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw the yin-yang fish stutter awkwardly before resuming its motion.
What was going on?!
That feeling of the gray mist energy being drained from her body returned.
White feathers slowly fell from the sky, like drifting snowflakes. Beside the yin-yang fish, Ning Yu saw a familiar figure.
Her ice-blue hair fluttered, gradually turning into a pure gold. A pair of true angelic wings extended from her back.
Her flawless body was wrapped in a perfectly fitting white robe, revealing her snow-white shoulders and collarbone.
Above her head floated a halo made of gears and machinery, and her golden eyes shimmered with a light Ning Yu recognized.
"Lacy?!"
At this moment, Lacy no longer resembled a mechanical doll. Instead, she looked like a living, perfect being, like a pure angel just born.
But she had clearly died in the battle earlier. How could she reappear in this form now?
Yet, seeing those familiar golden eyes, Ning Yu knew this was Lacy's true personality, the one that had been absent since the battle began.
"You destroyed my most perfect spare body."
Lacy seemed to read Ning Yu's thoughts, smiling as she spoke.
Ning Yu finally realized that both she and Leon had likely been used by Lacy.
Lacy had anticipated that Ning Yu would come here, that she would kill Leon, the key to controlling Lacy's power.
When Lacy regained her freedom, it was also the moment she could seize the fruits of the ritual Leon had already set in motion.
Now, she only needed to face a weakened Ning Yu.
But what exactly did she want to do?
"I've waited too long for this moment."
The mechanical angelic halo above her head rotated, her golden eyes filled with hope.
"Thank you for everything you've done. As a reward, let us walk together toward the end of this world."
She took a step forward, her body already entering the yin-yang fish.
An expression of pain crossed her face as her body began to disintegrate within the yin-yang fish. A tremendous power flowed out of her, merging into it.
She was trying to become the new core of the ritual.
"Lacy, are you insane? Do you know what you're doing?"
Ning Yu called out to her from below, leaping into the air with the Blood Kite in hand, charging toward the yin-yang fish.
She couldn't let Lacy continue the ritual. If the world were to be destroyed, everything Ning Yu cherished—her Shen Yiyue—would become nothing more than a fleeting dream.