Chapter 416
In her hand, the Mythical Weapon — Laevateinn —that was entwined with the concepts of destruction and destiny and had accompanied her through countless battlefields, was silently crumbling. The power of nothingness was gnawing away at the traces left behind by Chu Yuanqing.
In an instant, the Fiery Sword, which had resided within [Pure White] for 17 years, turned into scattered dust.
The next second, countless cracks covered her porcelain-like skin, and this exquisite and beautiful doll-like person also turned into shattered ashes, scattered into the endless depths of space.
It's over.
The girl lowered her gaze to the shattered crown in her arms. She looked down upon the remains of this Savior, seemingly lamenting the loss of her power, yet also appearing to be influenced by Chu Wangshu's emotions. Her gaze swept over the shattered Lantern Gem that had fallen, and she murmured with a sigh:
"Chu Yuanqing / Chu Yuanqing, we acknowledge that among the 41,972,802 worlds that have traversed the multiverse, you are the most unique existence."
"You defeated the calamities, reversed fate, created a miracle unparalleled in all realms, and even touched the very source of the Mother Sea. Perhaps even [Nothingness] will be reluctant to let you go, embracing you eternally and bestowing upon you the highest praise."
"Your friends, your loved ones, and everything that arose because of you and will end because of you will forget you, but the disaster relief team will not. We will achieve the highest, remember your existence, and share this glory."
Even though Chu Yuanqing's death caused [Void] to permanently destroy three Disaster God sequences, as long as there is this perfect miracle container, with the core records of the calamity horde, it can easily make up for it by destroying thousands more civilizations.
The end of this Savior also means that the swarm has lost its crisis and will have unlimited time to devour this world. They will then have the patience to wander again and build the most perfect framework.
Everything was so perfect.
If... the consciousness deep within Chu Wangshu's soul were to stop frantically devouring the sub-consciousness of the disaster horde and continuing its violent resistance, that would be even better.
A weary sigh from the girl.
The unified consciousness of the disaster horde is a sophisticated intelligence comprised of all the Disaster God. To utilize Chu Wangshu's potential, they must preserve his soul and coexist perfectly with him.
Therefore, if we consider the disaster group as a parliament, then we must give Chu Wangshu a seat as a member of parliament, and she will naturally have the right to make her voice heard.
Normally, thirteen voices would drown her out, but now that there are three fewer, she has more autonomy.
"It's so noisy. Why are you so angry? It's like I killed your Dad. Isn't it better to be with us? Reaching the highest point is an opportunity that can't be found even in countless eons."
"You ask if it's possible to resurrect her after ascending to the highest position? Of course it is, alright, I can't lie to you. Even the Supreme Lord cannot resurrect something embraced by [nothingness]."
"You want me to leave this world? Impossible. Only by consuming the stars can I completely strip away the Magical Girl system, concepts, and possibilities, better helping you grow into a new Disaster God. Hmm—how about the codename [Witch]?"
"You'll surpass us, aren't you satisfied yet? You're so hard to please."
The girl's eyes sometimes reflected scales, sometimes filled with seeds, and sometimes returned to coldness, as the wills of the ten Disaster God and Chu Wangshu intertwined wildly.
That sorrow, like a boiling tsunami threatening to engulf the universe and extinguish the heat of death, was like a sharp blade piercing through the protection of countless powers, churning the consciousness of the afflicted, bringing endless, ceaseless pain that almost made it impossible for Him to breathe.
This is a poison called humanity, which drags the high and mighty gods down from their thrones, as if using the suffering of the mortal world to ignite non-existent emotional mechanisms as the price for eternal possession.
"Blood ties, an emotion beyond comprehension."
Sunflower's consciousness took over her body; she struggled to suppress the girl, her head throbbing, and sneered:
"It's ridiculous that I actually feel sad."
Even if this sentiment cannot destroy or control the disaster group, and may even eventually become as insignificant as dust and be easily driven away, it still foreshadows a reality.
That is, after this person's death, Chu Wangshu's soul, under immense stimulation and emotion, has grown to an unbelievable level, even to the point that it can now be used as Human Concept of Child of Man, to inversely erode the disaster group.
As expected of her daughter, her potential is... terrifyingly excessive.
"Forget it, trying to borrow a great miracle will inevitably come at a price."
"But it doesn't matter, so what if you eat me?"
Chu Wangshu will only become a new disaster group, and will be assimilated by the instincts of the disaster group, continuing to chase after sustenance, destroying more worlds that exist in happiness and beauty, until he ascends to the Supreme Lord.
For disaster victims, who is the main group is never important.
This time, they finally won.
The girl turned away indifferently and headed for the planet. She planned to devour the entire world before Chu Wangshu truly grew up.
But...
In that cold and dim universe, a pure and white ray of light suddenly flashed, and with the blooming of the first ray of light, a chain reaction that shook the universe was completely ignited.
In an instant, billions of rays of light burst forth!
That was Chu Yuanqing's Lantern Gem.
At this moment, the Lantern Gem, shattered beyond repair and scattered into billions of dust particles, uses the universe as its stage and the world as its audience to weave the melody of the [Pure White Aria], allowing a familiar voice to sing softly.
--[Full bloom], [Great Full Bloom], [Sange].
Chu Yuanqing's power as Savior has been exhausted.
But she didn't yet possess the powers of Magical Girl. Before realizing she was about to disappear, she used her remaining consciousness to burn her last remaining bargaining chip, in exchange for a [Pure White Aria] that she could sing in its entirety.
Thus, through magic, miracles responded, and the past, swallowed by nothingness, was once again sung in song. An epic called salvation wrote a brilliant and immortal trajectory in the universe, and even the stars mourned and played an angry concerto.
Both Chu Yuanqing and Chu Yuanqing are dead.
But at this moment, [Pure White Aria], from this person's entire life, used all the miracles of idealism to briefly extract the obsession of saving the world, and that wisp of love belonging to the father, solidifying into a reflection that can only exist for a moment.
How beautiful, and how sacred.
The Pure White Witch was born from nothingness, her flowing hair shimmering in the starlight, her eternally burning eyes lowered, and the illusory Laevateinn condensed once more. Even death could not stop her; she pointed her sword at the scourge and embarked on her final journey.
Volume 1: 390. The Death of Chu Wangshu, by the Awakener.
The girl's pupils trembled as she watched this scene. The poison called humanity was particularly potent at that moment, as if it wanted to teach them cowardice, fear, and the ability to assess situations.
Chu Wangshu was stunned. Through the eyes of the disaster-stricken crowd, she saw her father's "rebirth." She should have been happy, but an even more intense sorrow was like a blade tearing at her illusory nerves, scraping deep into her flesh, and stirring the festering wound.
As a child of the stars, as a Magical Girl, she had already guessed the truth.
In a daze, Chu Yuanqing's gentle whisper lingered in my ear:
"Xiao Shu, don't be afraid."
"You and everyone else will be fine. Just leave it to me."
Yes, from beginning to end, Dad knew his fate. He knew he would die, knew he wouldn't have time to kill the swarm, and even less time to save himself.
So, she made the final preparations.
That is, a reflection, a lingering obsession, a... corpse.
A solitary figure, a savior, steps forward. The Laevateinn in her hand is mottled and broken, like a fragile object pieced together after battle damage. The Lingering Fire dispel the void, leaping passionately with the melody.
The [Pure White Aria] resounds with rousing drumbeats, aided by the World Consciousness, causing the sun and moon to tremble in unison, and filling the entire universe with dazzling starlight. Each rousing drumbeat is accompanied by the explosion of a planet.
The light and heat born from this transformed into a surging ocean, anchored by the law of causality, arriving instantaneously from different light-years, proclaiming the wrath of the stars and the final tribute that this world could offer her...
Brilliant, grand, magnificent, and poignant.
Even if no one knows, the stars will always bear witness.
That melody, more stirring than the Symphony of Destiny and more sorrowful than the Moonlight Sonata, swept across the entire planet in an instant, weaving together the destiny of all humankind, bringing countless words, pouring longing, love, gratitude, prayers, and blessings into Laevateinn, forging it into a star sword of salvation.
At this moment, words fail to describe the breathtaking and dazzling scene before us. The desolate deep space is filled with vibrant colors, and the silent cosmic storm dances with them—red sulfur, green hydrogen, blue oxygen...
The stars seemed to want to give her the best stage, and even the Sea of Stars bloomed on its own initiative. The silent, falling brilliance carried the world's longing for her, briefly transcending the power of time, cause and effect, and destiny, attempting to freeze the steps of the disaster.
There was no dialogue, nor any speech.
The lone figure who saved the world unleashed Martial God Skill.
How incredible that even in death, the soul is extinguished, but the obsession recasts the "corpse," using this last wish to build the final Light of the Soul, and to continue wielding the sword.
The disaster victims never imagined that after that person was swallowed by the "nothingness," another miracle would be born, and with an unwavering determination that transcended life and death, they would once again write a new chapter in saving the world.
Without any hesitation, He wanted to continue his escape.
As long as we repeat the old tactics and wear down this doomed reflection, victory will still belong to the disaster group.
However, the will of the stars locked onto spacetime. As one of the eleven members of the disaster swarm, Chu Wangshu also took action at this critical moment, dismantling the fused protective power without hesitation and remaining there for an extremely brief instant.
Thus, the splendor that emerged from all living beings overwhelmed all directions, wanting to take Him back to the living beings to taste the weakness, sorrow, anger, fear, despair, and regret that belong to flesh and blood.
At this moment, the praise of the stars, the prayers of humanity, and the sole obsession amidst the wreckage, together on the star-sword of salvation, constructed Light of the Soul that illuminates the universe.
Without [nothingness], there are no more mythological concepts, blessings, or powers.
But this sword that saved the world, this sword that saved all living beings, still stripped away a Disaster God sequence, shredding and devouring it, using the entire world as a furnace, illuminating Rainbow Light hotter than the sun, prompting the lone figure to unleash the next sword strike.
This time, the disaster swarm finally had the strength to react. Within the Collective Consciousness, the remaining nine consciousnesses suppressed the disruptive Chu Wangshu. Like a precisely operating machine, they perfectly utilized their remaining powers and withstood the sword strike.
Chu Yuanqing has become weaker.
No, this should be said to be the normal level of power. The person in front of us is just an obsession. The reason why he was able to kill a Disaster God is twofold: first, Chu Wangshu's rebellion, and second... this world has gone mad!
How ridiculous! A group of lambs who used to cower in the Sea of Stars, trembling to avoid being eaten, have gone mad after the hero died. They are willing to leave the sheepfold and risk cutting off their own escape route to support the last vestige of her obsession.
"Foolish! Do you think everyone is like her? Anyone who dares to devour the swarm will be devoured and assimilated by it. No matter how much you eat, you'll only vomit it all up."
Disaster groups inherently possess unsolvable meme-like properties. Apart from special cases like Chu Wangshu, even the Savior of the first playthrough, who bears the power of the thirteen Disaster God, must constantly pay a price in order to avoid being eroded.
Even if the World Consciousness tries to devour the disaster group, it will only be countered by the disaster group finding its extraordinary concepts, invading it in reverse, and ultimately completing a different kind of feeding.
Why do disaster victims feel that Chu Yuanqing deserves to be remembered?
Because the calamity horde is inherently immortal and invincible, before arriving in this world, they had never encountered an individual that could use them as a container to contain themselves.
Now, the solitary figure left behind by Chu Yuanqing no longer possesses the power to strip the Disaster God of his authority. It is the stars that are recreating this power, suppressing and eroding it with their own power.
But even so,
The calamity horde still tries to escape; He has already deciphered the stars' plan. The other side cannot erase the sequence of the Disaster God, but it can erase the will residing within it.
This will, of course, is also undying and can be gradually restored.
But if the remaining Disaster God sequences are all stripped away and their consciousness is worn away, the gap in between is enough for... Chu Wangshu to devour them all!
This is too fast and too early. They can accept being eaten by Chu Wangshu, but that would only happen when they are completely assimilated and being eaten would only give birth to a new calamity group, not now.
The one who has now been devoured and become the Supreme Lord is a single individual named Chu Wangshu; the calamity swarm is equivalent to complete annihilation.
Furthermore, the disaster-stricken population has already witnessed firsthand the miracles performed by that Savior, so how can they assume there won't be any unforeseen events?
Even after weighing the options, and knowing that he might not lose, he still chose to flee.
The voice that illuminates the universe still sings.
--Eliminate the disaster-stricken population and rescue my daughter.
This pure thought sustains the reflection's existence; it will continue until the final note of the [Pure White Aria] fades away.
Thus, the rapid drumbeats and rhythms intensified, and under the most magnificent symphony in human history, this grand, absurd, vast war, like a space opera, unfolded—a war that would determine the fate of all beings.
The stars in the sky gradually revealed scenes from the past.
That was something that had been swallowed up by [nothingness].
It was a memory that someone treasured, like a child cherishing their last candy, but never had the chance to reminisce about until their death...
These fragmented, complete, and continuous scenes, seemingly telling the story of her entire life, are presented in the universe, the Earth-Moon system, the entire planet, flowing rivers and oceans, and street corners. Each scene is unique, precious, and fragile, like a fleeting ephemera or a bursting bubble.
Through the eyes of the disaster-stricken crowd, Chu Wangshu saw all the bubbles, all the memories.
She saw the innocent wishes of her parents, like children making a pact; she saw her young father walking on a dark and desolate road; she saw the Witch dancing among cherry blossoms and dying in a sea of fire; she saw the cowardice, loneliness, sorrow, and resignation to death of the enlightened one.
Dad, you are not alone.
There were Liuli, Yayoi- neechan, and Sister Xie, as well as many other people she didn't know. She saw the warm campfire, the warm city, and the warm world. She also saw that boy who, for all of this, fell down again and again, got up, and chose to fight.
How wondrous! That was a revised Worldline, a story that never existed in this world, yet before she was truly forgotten and completely swallowed by nothingness, it filled every corner of the world, leaving trace after trace, waiting for the seeds of miracles to sprout.
Dad, look, even the stars can't bear to part with you.
Even if you are no longer the protagonist of a shonen manga, and pain and resentment can no longer give you strength, the footprints, bonds, and traces left from the past are still willing to respond to you a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, and countless times.
Chu Wangshu watched and waited, like a painless observer, watching the savior star sword shatter its own body time and time again, stripping away one Disaster God sequence after another amidst the roars of the calamity horde, and watching the memory bubbles that lit up various parts of the universe burst one after another.
As time passed, the melody of the [Pure White Aria] came to an end, the lone figure of salvation collapsed and shattered, and the Star Sword also disintegrated along with it.
Chu Yuanqing succeeded; she expanded her gains once again.
Chu Yuanqing also failed. The genes of [Child of Man], [Herdi], [Nargal], and a massive amount of unsequential Calamity Beasts still formed the skeletal framework of the disaster swarm, supporting Him and enough to suppress Chu Wangshu and slowly reclaim the power usurped by the stars.
Yes, He won.
"This is a victory for the disaster-stricken people..."
Before Sunflower could finish speaking, a cold, hard, iron-like blackness covered her iris.
Chu Wangshu briefly regained her body. The gentleness in her eyes was gone. Her face, modified and optimized by the disaster swarm's genes, was like a god bathed in radiance. Even when gazing at the colorful starry sky, she looked like an emperor about to expand his territory, majestic and awe-inspiring.
The girl gazed at the shattered reflection, a smile as familiar as ever, and whispered goodbye:
Goodbye, Dad.