The Letter / The Lord's Judgment Is at Hand

Elysia picked out a well-fitting suit for Lin, and the location was in front of a lake, just the two of them.

Lin hugged his knees, listening to Elysia's soft humming, and then...

"Bite..."

The phone rang as if from hell.

Chapter Nineteen Letter

"Is it filling?"

The girl's face was blurry in the darkened room. She moved closer, her eyes seemed to hold stars, and the shimmering light pierced Lin's heart.

"... I can't feel it."

"So how do you usually tell if you've eaten enough?"

"I will eat a fixed amount."

Elysia's smile turned melancholy after Lin's words. Her fingers gently brushed across his face, and a look of sorrow, rarely seen in the past year, appeared on her face.

"... Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"I have a lot to say, but I'd better not, it would make me unhappy."

"It's alright," Lin said calmly. "Just say what you want to say."

Hearing Lin say this, pity flickered in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. Lin didn't need pity, and neither did their relationship.

"I was the one who told Lin to go back, but as the days go by, I'm becoming more and more reluctant to let her go. What kind of harm will you suffer after you go back there? How many more hardships will you have to endure?"

He has lost half of his senses, and he can no longer be considered a normal person. What else will he lose in the future?

Lin Cong told her about the pain he had suffered in the past, just as she never told Lin anything about her past.

But the deep, cracked wounds in Lin's eyes pierced her heart.

"There are people who love you there, right?"

"...yes."

"Then I'm relieved."

She cupped Lin's face in her hands and closed her eyes peacefully.

Today is the wedding day.

Lin stood in the empty room, looking at himself in the mirror, dressed in a suit, looking so unfamiliar that he could hardly recognize himself.

His usually unkempt silver hair was tied into a ponytail, and his slender body occupied two-thirds of the mirror. He slowly inhaled and then exhaled.

Elysia had already gone to the wedding venue. The bride was waiting for the groom, anticipating the exciting moments and the future that was about to unfold. All that remained was for the groom to arrive and for the grand wedding.

Lin pinned the Crystal Flower ornament to her chest, reached for the light switch, and gently pressed it, plunging the house where she had lived with Elysia for more than two years into complete darkness.

Just like before they arrived.

The sun shines brightly outside, as if everything is singing and celebrating. A beam of light falls on the doorway, as if inviting someone.

Lin took a step.

"Bite."

The vibration and soft chirping of his phone in his pocket made him pause in mid-air, unable to put his foot down for a long time.

After a while, once the phone stopped ringing, he stopped and walked outside as if he hadn't heard it.

He hailed a taxi, sat in the back, and gave the driver a destination. The driver was quite impressed when he saw the passenger in the rearview mirror, dressed in a suit and tie.

"Young man, are you going to get married?"

"Um."

"Taking a taxi to get married? Hahaha, you young people are really unrestrained. You're so handsome, your wife must be very beautiful too, right?"

"Um."

"I knew it..."

Once the driver started talking, he became very talkative, which is probably a common habit in this line of work. He also talked about his story of marrying and divorcing the girl he liked. You wouldn't guess that this bearded man had such a sentimental past.

"Anyway, don't hurt the girl. I was so immature back then. What could be more important than the girl you love?"

"Bite--"

The phone rang, its monotone tone irritating and bothersome.

"Hmm? Young man, your phone is ringing, aren't you going to answer it?"

"..."

"It might be the bride calling; she can't wait any longer, can she?"

Lin calmly took out his phone, glanced at it, and then hung up.

A young woman in a gorgeous wedding dress, wearing a headscarf and holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers, strolled along the shore of a crystal-clear lake, a secluded spot they had stumbled upon.

There was no wedding stage setup, no joyful crowd, only a beautiful young woman and her heart.

Elysia hummed a nursery rhyme, inhaling the fragrance of her bouquet. The azure in her eyes resembled the sky. Her naturally unadorned face was lightly made up, adding to her charm.

She walked to the shade of a tree, and with her gloved fingers, opened the photo album placed under the tree, flipping through the memories of the past year once again. Her eyes softened, like a silk scarf tinged with gentleness.

What kind of person is Lin?

Elysia would occasionally think about this question, but she could never come up with a suitable description.

Now, she's got it.

He is like a diamond, without any flaws.

Like diamonds, it is hard, but also fragile; however, people often only see its hardness.

Force yourself to be vulnerable, to accept, to change, until everything that remains becomes the strongest part.

What a clumsy person...

In the distance, a taxi gradually approached.

"Are you sure?"

"I... I'm sure."

The archaeological team leader revealed an expression of ecstatic joy after receiving a flustered reply from his team members.

"Fantastic... fantastic! This is a groundbreaking discovery! Not only does it reveal the existence of Previous Civilization, but also their technology, the messages they left behind, and that enormous unknown energy! We've found far more than that archaeological team from the Mu Continent!"

"But... ever since we started digging, that energy has become extremely unstable, it looks like..."

It's like it's about to burst forth.

"After testing, the energy has no toxicity whatsoever. It only has a certain corrosive effect on metals and the human body. Moreover, the metals we have mined are resistant to corrosion, so there is absolutely no need to worry about it." The archaeological team leader waved his hand dismissively. "Next, we need to consider the speeches for the lectures and press conferences. As for how to utilize these metals and energy, that is not within our scope of consideration."

He pushed aside his teammates and walked towards the excavated tunnel, wanting to admire the magnificent sight once more.

Just then, the walkie-talkie on his waist beeped. "Beep—this is Expedition Team One, reporting that we have discovered a... gem."

"Gemstone? Which kind?" The archaeological team leader's eyes lit up as he picked up the walkie-talkie. "Or is it some completely new substance?"

"No, this isn't matter." The voice on the walkie-talkie hesitated. "It's a high-concentration energy aggregate. After simple analysis, it has the same composition as the energy we discovered before. But... it's astonishing. How could such a massive amount of energy be condensed within such a gemstone?"

"You mean that gem is full of energy?" The archaeological team leader suddenly noticed something was wrong, and his eyes cleared up.

"Yes, and most of the energy we detected earlier seems to have come from this gem. It's...so beautiful." The voice on the walkie-talkie grew lower and lower, while a burst of static appeared, as if the walkie-talkie had been carelessly tossed to the ground.

The archaeological team leader's pupils contracted. "Wait! Don't touch anything..."

"Boom!"

A terrifying explosion and tremor came from beneath the ground where he was, and at the same time, the pit they had dug began to collapse.

Without hesitation, the archaeological team leader ran backward. As he ran, he looked back in terror at the collapsed, dusty ruins. And from within them, a strange figure slowly rose from the ruins, its bright gray pupils tearing through the dust.

He found that word almost from human instinct:

"Monster..."

In response, a figure raised her palm, and a high concentration of energy condensed in her hand.

"Hello... Miss Bride."

The driver rolled down the window and hesitated before speaking to the young woman in the wedding dress, but the words caught in his throat.

The girl simply smiled quietly at him, and under her gaze, he gritted his teeth and picked up a letter from the passenger seat.

"He told me to give you the letter, and... don't wait for him, he asked me to take him to the airport."

"I'm sorry, I'm just a driver. Consider this my apology. I won't charge you. Just deliver the letter and his message."

The girl chuckled silently, reached out, and took the letter, which was adorned with a Crystal Flower.

A pure white wedding dress, caressed by the wind, drifts on the lonely Lake of Love.

"Bang!"

The imagined death and pain did not come. The archaeological team leader opened his eyes in surprise and found that someone had grabbed his arm to avoid the terrifying beam of light.

A person stood in front of him with their back to him, dressed in a clean suit, like a ghost.

Her silver-white hair danced wildly in the gale.

Chapter Twenty: The Lord's Judgment Will Imminent

Lin unbuttoned his sleeve and, with his back to the archaeological team leader, calmly asked, "Can you still run?"

"Ah... I can, I can run..." The archaeological team leader had many years of archaeological experience and had encountered many dangers during the archaeological process. Although his mental fortitude was not the best, he still had the courage to run away.

"Leave here and evacuate everyone."

Lin stared intently at the figure emerging from the smoke and dust. He was now in a difficult position to defend himself with his bare hands, but fortunately, the Herrscher of Reason possessed far less Honkai Energy than other Herrscher, and she had no weapon to reproduce, so her destructive power was extremely limited.

"Bass!"

Sharp blades and beams of light rained down, but Lin did not retreat. Instead, he lowered his body and rushed out.

Seeing the apocalyptic scene, the archaeological team leader finally realized that he might have made a terrible mistake. He scrambled away from the disaster site, grabbed his communicator to evacuate the others, and then frantically dialed the police.

"There's a monster! A monster that looks just like a human! She can fly in the sky, shoot lasers from her hands, and conjure knives! It's true! My team members are still inside!"

"Boom!"

The roar startled him, and as he covered the phone, he remembered the man in the suit.

Who is that person?

"Sizzle!"

Lin grabbed the hilt of the sword that was shooting toward his face and deflected the weapon aimed at his vitals with a single stroke.

Herrscher of Reason's attacks were monotonous. She had not yet adapted to her new body, and her powers were only barely usable. In this monotonous place, she couldn't even come up with more attack methods.

In that case—

The brilliant rainbow colors dispelled the darkness, like the rising sun.

Elysia closed the photo album. There was no disappointment or sadness on her face. She was just like any other girl who smiled at her reflection in the mirror every day.

She opened the envelope and took out the papers inside.

What message will Lin leave for her? An unnecessary apology? The truth he wouldn't dare say normally? A reason as straightforward as a silly goose?

Thinking about its contents, she became more and more expectant. She ran her fingers over the pages, unfolded the folded letter, and began to read its contents.

"——"

Her forced smile froze on her face.