The Final Guardian (Part 3)

Hey, have you ever seen light?

It's not the mindless old cliché of "you must believe in the light," but rather the light that pierces the sky and illuminates you when you are deep in darkness.

—The main feature begins—

The weight of the rock is reassuring.

When Luming, who had transformed into Ashvatta, was buried underground by Shigan, she deeply understood the true meaning of those words.

Now, as she rushed underground again, that suffocating feeling that hit her right in the face returned.

The passage created by the light cannon was quickly filled back in with mud from all around. Her escape route had been blocked after she flew in, leaving her with nowhere to retreat but to keep moving forward.

All the magic she had previously refused to use erupted at this moment, carrying her will to shatter the obstacles in her path and fly towards the brightest golden hue in her black and white vision.

"I said, let there be light..."

The powerful light cannons did not stop, and the rock pillars that were thrusting at her from all directions were shattered by the Force Field.

But...

"My Lord! My Lord! Can you please stop casting spells at such a high speed and using advanced magic like basic attacks?!" Xiaoyue, in her staff form, was in agony, even her speech was becoming normal. "Your lamp is almost yellow, watch your energy!"

"I understand." Luming didn't say much, but simply took out a belt from under her skirt.

Set! Magnum!

The agile Fox Knight perfectly dodged the rock pillar's thrusts, simultaneously firing the wrist cannon on his left arm and the gun-shaped weapon in his right hand, breaking through the rocks beneath his feet and the obstacles behind him.

The destructive beam carved out another passageway through the deep soil, and Xing, without turning around, fired a shot that shattered the quietly appearing Poetry Shore Clay Golem.

"Come on, let me give you some motivation, little sister."

"Fox!" Bike! Rider Match!"

With the help of Build, Fox finally descended upon this world in its basic form once again. Its exclusive mount Propeller Vanguard Build through the rocks, and it rode on it to continue its journey into the dark underground world at an undiminished speed, reaching the empty underground space.

Happily, riding the fox that the Propeller Vanguard had transformed into, arrived at a huge cavern. Its orange compound eyes shone brightly in the darkness. A giant stone golem rose from the ground and swung its heavy hammer at him.

"Sigh, I know to move the battlefield to an open area, but your imagination is a bit lacking." Xing helplessly touched his ear, sparks flew from the jet pipe on his calf, and easily dodged the stone golem, which was huge but surprisingly agile. He jumped onto its head along its arm, pulled out the Magnum Buckle, loaded it into the gun handle, and shattered its head with a single shot.

He pretended to blow on the muzzle of the gun, which wasn't smoking, and jumped off the disintegrating stone golem. Looking at the ever-emerging army of stone golems around him, he shrugged helplessly, removed the Ex-Aid Driver, and revealed a white-haired, red-eyed boy inside.

"It's tiring to turn back... Shi'an, when I catch you, I'm going to give you a good spanking."

Upon seeing that the target had turned into a child, Shian, who was secretly controlling the stone golems, was stunned for a moment. The movements of the stone golem army also stopped. Fortunately, she fiddled with the Omnitrix, quickly turned it to her favorite transformation target, and after confirming that she would not make a mistake this time, she controlled the force and slapped it down.

"Frost Boar!"

P. S.: This is a nickname that I gave to each of the transformations.

The black behemoth, radiating a chilling aura, landed on the ground with a thud. Parvati's short legs shuffled across the ground a few times before it suddenly pushed off with its hind legs, standing upright. As the stone golem army looked on in confusion, Parvati's heavy body crashed down, and from its center, a thick layer of ice rapidly spread outwards, with sharp ice pillars rising and falling like waves. With just one flash of light, all the stone golems present were wiped out.

Ouch, my stomach hurts a bit from the fall.

Just as Xing was about to get up, he suddenly felt something strange beneath him, and alarm bells went off in his head. Before he could react, a thick, long stone spike shot out from below him, lifting the ice boar into the air.

The plump ice pig spun 360 degrees at high speed in the air, drawing a beautiful arc. Just as it was about to land, another stone spike popped out, and then the process repeated itself...

"You actually started playing around?!"

Xing, who had been tossed around like a toy by Shi'an, got angry and suddenly slammed her chin down, slapping the Omnitrix on her chest.

"A four-armed Supreme King... cough cough, a four-armed beast!"

Ashvatta makes a dazzling appearance, his powerful claws grabbing a protruding stone pillar from the ground and pulling it out. His blue claws press the ground down, unleashing death lightning to destroy the surrounding protruding stone pillars.

"Roar!!! (Who else?!)"

As soon as Ashvatta roared to the sky, the ground below automatically split open, revealing a deep underground river.

Splash! (Sound of a huge object falling into the water)

Sachi, feeling frustrated, patted the Omnitrix with Ashvatta's little hand. The next second, a huge whale crowded the narrow river channel.

Damn it, it turned out wrong!

Fortunately, the protruding river wall bumped into the Omnitrix on her chest, and she transformed again. The elegant, cute, and cuddly pink fox fell into the water with a "plop".

Swimming ashore, the fox shook its wet fur vigorously, looking utterly dejected. How did such a lovely little girl end up becoming the sixth brother?

The fox transformed back into a young boy, the Stigmata on his right hand lit up, and the young boy became a fully grown young boy.

"So it really can't be like it was back then?"

He tried to transform into his true Blue Adult Form like in the last Build Movie Version, but there was no response. He shrugged helplessly, and a greatsword burning with flames appeared in his hand.

Heavenly Fire—Unsheathed!!!

When this sword falls, all things are equal, and even the user cannot escape the fate of being engulfed in flames... But this sword is not the original, and besides, who is afraid of the side effects of heavenly fire if she is an awakened Kaslana?

The ancient rock strata were mercilessly pierced, and the burning flames formed a fiery passage, continuously burning the earth elementals on the outside that wanted to rush in to fill the gap. Fortunately, riding on Judah, it transformed into a golden shadow and arrived at the exit of the passage in a very short time.

The first thing that catches the eye is a regular octahedron, or rather a cube, yellow crystal that shines brightly in the darkness.

Like the cube known as the "Origin Crystal" held by Haiyi Cang Qiong, this cube belongs to Shian and is also the source of her power.

Without the slightest hesitation or reservation, Xing reached out and took the crystal, which contained immense power, into his hand to admire and play with it.

It wasn't that Shi'an gave up resisting, but rather—

Star of Eden

Fortunately, he had activated the pseudo- Divine Key that Welt Yang had given him but which he rarely used. The gravity field enveloped all the surrounding rocks, and even if Shian wanted to use the earth element to trap him again, it would be to no avail.

Let go of me... humanity...

He vaguely heard a broken voice.

"... Is only a soul that is about to dissipate left?" Xing said softly, sensing Shi'an's weakness.

"You've clearly lived for who knows how many years, yet your personality is no different from a little girl's. You do whatever you want. Have you ever considered how your older sisters feel?"

It's none of your business...

"Hmm, to abandon your physical body and become Mountain God to protect this place, you are truly great. Ah, I don't mean to belittle you, but... can your will really withstand the wear and tear of eternity? Even the hardest rock will crumble sooner or later under the erosion of flowing water."

The cube fell silent. It took the crystal containing the soul of Shian in its hand and shook it. It glanced at the still-burning passage above its head and decided to go out first.

Just then, a familiar "Ouch!" rang out, and the unfortunate little jellyfish, half its body stuck in the nearby rock, cried out, "Sis, could you please be more accurate with the teleportation next time... Hey hey hey! What did you do to Shanshan?!"

Haiyi wanted to pull herself out of the rock first, but when she looked up, she saw Xing holding the cube. The boy, exuding a dangerous aura, set off alarm bells in her heart. Could Shian have been beaten down to just a cube? I'll fight you to the death!

Snap~

A swift, decisive flick to the forehead knocked Haiyi unconscious. Luckily, a quick strike with a knife broke the rock wedging her lower body, freeing the little jellyfish. It seems best to avoid using Stardust for long-distance teleportation next time; if it gets stuck in a wall, it might not pass censorship...

Then, the rest is quite simple.

The first step is to use the Feather Crossing Dust to extract the soul of the Poetry Shore;

The second step is to use the power of the Herrscher of Death, with the origin crystal of the Poetic Shore as the medium, to create a new body;

The third step is to stuff the soul inside.

See, it's very simple, isn't it?

"Simple my foot! Why is this girl so closed off?" Xing almost wrapped Shi An's crystal with Feather Crossing Dust, but still couldn't connect to Shi An's soul.

"I accessed Shian's memories before because of this land. Let's retrieve her will and power that she scattered in this forest first." Xing raised her wrist and turned the watch ring until a graceful fairy figure appeared on it.

"Cloud, Ink, Loyal Heart!"

An unprecedentedly powerful aura emanated from the ground, and the immortal dressed in a blue ancient robe tore through space, emerging from the earth to a height of tens of thousands of miles in the sky.

Taixu Immortal Art: Spatial Transfer.

This is the first time that I have transformed into the Crimson Kite Immortal while maintaining my true self.

With the help of Omntrix's features, I was able to skip the self-suggestion part and take another step closer to "Fleeting Life".

With a light touch of her delicate hand, the immortal unleashed a series of mysterious hand seals, causing specks of light to ignite throughout the forest like starlight, all of which converged into the cube in the immortal's hand.

"So, what's next?"

The immortal whispered, waved her finger in the air, and a dreamlike door appeared. She gently pushed the door open and stepped into a world called "Poetic Shore".

Fairy tales—that was Xing's first impression of the spiritual world of Shi'an.

Birds frolic in the water, elephants soar in the sky, and candy trees and Marshmallon flowers grow on the grass. In short, this is a world that any child should love.

The immortal took a step forward, and the scenery before him changed rapidly. When he landed, he had arrived at the deepest part of the place.

Taixu Immortal Art: Shrink to Inch

The blonde loli sat amidst a large flower, cradling a baby pangolin in her arms. Various animals surrounded her, letting out low growls that signaled danger to the uninvited fairy.

The immortal put his hands behind his back and, under the tense gaze of Shi An, took out a mouthwatering apple.

Poetry Shore: ⊙▽⊙

Lucky: (￣￣)

Shi'an blinked innocently, only to see the immortal snap his fingers, and the animals Shi'an had imagined vanished.

"If you come with me, you'll have an endless supply of apples every day~" She squatted down in front of Shi'an and coaxed her, imitating Rita.

Of course, there really would be an unlimited supply of apples.

Shi An stubbornly shook his head. "I refuse. If I go with you, without my protection, you will wipe out this forest and all the lives living in it!"

"How about we sign a contract? I'll protect this place for you. Just pay the nature conservation association to build a protected area, and then station a few troops here to kill any guys who dare to operate illegally here."

"Humans are all big liars! Don't try to fool me!" Shi'an angrily slapped the apple out of her hand. The bright red apple drew an arc in the air, and the fairy beckoned with her finger to pull it back before it hit the ground.

Click~

The flesh is sweet and juicy, and tastes good.

As Shi'an watched the immortal crunching away on his apple, he involuntarily swallowed.

"Alright, I don't have much time left, and I don't have the patience to waste any more time with you." The immortal put away the apple core, stood up, and looked down at Shi'an. "You have two choices now. First, come back with me willingly; second, I'll spank your ass until it's bruised and battered, and then come back with me."

Shi'an suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, her expression turning terrified. She retreated into a corner, curling up like a cute little hedgehog. "You really are a bad person..."

"Violence sometimes trumps a thousand grand principles; you should understand that."

Fortunately, he got straight to the point, without any hypocrisy about "believing in the possibilities of humanity" or "the goodwill in the world far outweighs the malice." These principles, which his parents and teachers taught him when he was young, were proven to be fallacies by his own experience as he grew up.

"All four of your sisters, except for Chi Yu who I haven't found yet, are in my hands. Are you coming with me or not?" Xing brought up Xingchen and the others.

"Sister Stardust won't let you do whatever you want with her..."

"And what about this jellyfish?"

"Don't hurt Sister Haiyi..." Shi'an's eyes showed wavering.

"Listen up, I personally really like children. Although you're a bit too old, I don't mind trying to resolve issues through communication." Xing ignored Shi'an's murderous glare and took out a lollipop from his sleeve, waving it in front of her.

"You should know where the five of you are going to use your power, so..." Xing forcefully lifted Shian's chin, making her look at him, "You don't want them to be killed because of your absence when we fight Minus, do you?"

Shi'an's rosy face turned deathly pale. She lowered her head in despair, and after a brief internal struggle, she grasped the hand that Xing offered her.

"Yes, good boy~"

See, no matter what methods were used, the result was achieved, right?

This is not some contemptible character portrayal, but a true depiction of happiness.

What? You're saying this will leave a deep psychological scar on Shi'an, which will be detrimental to the future development of the relationship?

You think you can just seduce any female character and get her to have your baby? If you're so great, why don't you just go and be a god?

Come on, it's your turn. How do you plan to persuade Shi'an?

A liquid-like yellow substance flowed out of the Origin Crystal. Fortunately, with the red light warning from the Omnitrix, the transformation of Cloud Ink Dan Xin was deactivated, and he returned to his original boyish appearance.

"Sigh, every time I turn back, it's for you guys. Not only do you eat and drink for free here, but I also have to do all the hard work for you for free... Remember to let me pat your head as compensation when we get back." Xing was very resentful. She pinched the little jellyfish's face, which was still unconscious in her arms, and then continued to work.

"Then, in the name of the Herrscher of Death, with the earth as my witness, I will reshape your old body, heaven and earth... huh?!"

The world before my eyes suddenly blurred, and a dizzying sensation spun in my head. I covered my head and saw that my once fair and delicate hands were now covered with purple lines, proof that they had been eroded by Honkai Energy.

"How could this be?! It should be able to last a while longer!" Fortunately, she couldn't care less about anything else and focused all her energy on activating the power of the Herrscher of Death, causing the purple patterns to expand further.

This isn't like downloading a file from Baidu Cloud that you can pause. My soul has already been extracted; if I don't create a body now, things will get really bad. Please, just hang in there a little longer...

One by one, the five Stigmata extinguished, until only Seele's Stigmata and the already dim Saniate Stigmata on her lower abdomen remained.

Hey, what's going on? Are you risking your life again? Take better care of yourself!

Happiness, Brother Xing, Seele and the other one will do everything we can to help you!

The voices of the two Seele, one black and one white, were transmitted to Luming, who had returned to her original form, through the Bonded Weaponry. The girl gritted her teeth and poured all her power into the Origin Crystal in front of her, completely unaware that the dim Saniate Stigmata on her lower abdomen had quietly lit up with a holy light.

Her hair lost its red and blue color, becoming pure white like snow. Her fierce red eyes also turned a pure blue. The girl's body also matured without her realizing it, completely shedding her virginity and gaining the charm of a mature woman... It seems strange?

Sigfried, who was invited to the St. Freya Academy to be a physical education teacher, suddenly felt great. Theresa, who was working hard, also felt much happier. Shigure Kira was developing Earth diplomacy in the Quantum Sea, became inexplicably excited. Durandal, who discovered the abnormal tremors of the Black Abyss White Flower at the Schicksal Headquarters, was very puzzled.

A gentle breeze carried the fresh scent of the sea as giant vines burst forth from the ground, catching the three people falling from the sky.

Stardust, not daring to open wormholes recklessly, flew up on the back of the Cang Qiong and found Haiyi safe and sound, as well as... the girl who haunted their dreams.

The blonde girl slept peacefully, her expression so calm and serene. The white-haired woman holding her tightly in her arms also had an incredibly sacred and peaceful expression, as if simply gazing at her could bring peace to one's soul.

Under their gaze, the white specks of light dissipated like snowflakes, transforming back into the Luming Lady they knew.

Mystelyn Saniat leaned against a large tree, taking in the entire scene from the shadows. A rare look of astonishment crossed her face. "Not only Kallen Kaslana, but she can even reappear... Sin Kaslana, you truly are an incredible person. I only intended to help you awaken your unawakened Saniate Stigmata, but I never expected..."

She was very frustrated. As the manifestation of the Saniate Stigmata in the real world, after sensing the appearance of a new Saniate Stigmata Awakener, she followed the Stigmata Space to find it, only to find that it was the Herrscher she had met once before.

How did he turn into her? Wasn't he just a cute little boy the last time we saw him? What is Bronya going to do?

Miss Mystelyn began to worry about her niece's happiness, but the most crucial problem at the moment was—

"Leaving aside how he awakened the Saniate Stigmata, the power of this Stigmata is completely incompatible with his own power... No wonder it went dormant again after briefly activating the Stigmata's power. Has his body's self-protection mechanism been suppressing the power of the Saniate Stigmata all along?"

Author's Note—

Phew, I've been lacking enthusiasm for writing these past few days, but finishing this episode should get me out of this predicament.

In the next episode, we warmly welcome Susanna to the team! Due to the changes to the Fog City Holiday instance, this girl was unable to join the Immortal Blades team at Schicksal. As compensation, she will join the Fire-Chasing Squad!

Finally, someone has been chosen as the head of the publicity department for the Fire-Chasing Squad!

Hmm, what are your thoughts on these three chapters? Has anyone's impression of Xing been refreshed?

P. S.: Please ignore any strange wording; it's just the author's side job.

Just a friendly reminder: Shian has appeared, and the final Chi Yu is not far behind. And when the Five-Dimensional Sisters are all gathered... cough cough, the Silly Loli will give out a lot more sweetness, so please enjoy without worry.

Note: Because of the bad impression left on him at their first meeting, Shian didn't like Xing very much, but he was very kind to Luming Lady.

(I don't know if Shi'an is the same person~)

Let me explain why the Saniate Stigmata has not awakened for so long. First, the Stigmata's power was dormant. Second, this is Cecilia's Stigmata. You want Herrscher / Fusion Warrior to Polymerization the Saintess' Blood "Herrscher Killer" Saintess? Are you out of your mind? That would be no less intense than directly activating Divine Blessing Barrier within your body!

(Uh, does this count as insulting myself?)

So, next episode preview—

Next episode, "Anime Series Where the Author Didn't Know How to Name It Due to Its Complex Ingredients": Attack! Heart-pounding Adventure Operation!

Note: This is a name that the Silly Loli came up with because she couldn't think of a suitable title.

Luming's Courtyard has welcomed new guests, and everyone is very happy to welcome them, but turning this place into a zoo is not the behavior of a good child, Shian! Planting it full of apple trees is also not allowed!

One day, when Miss Susanna returned to her room after completing her training, she found a mysterious invitation.

Do you want to become S-Rank Valkyrie?

Do you want to be the center of attention?

I want to see that damn... I mean, that Sin Kaslana who should be admired and adored to death!

Full of anticipation, Susanna embarked on an unknown adventure. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, she eventually achieved her goal.

"Um, Xing, please, how did you convince my parents to let me continue being Valkyrie?"

"It's very simple, because I bought all the properties under your family's name."

"Oh... wait, wait, wait?!"