The Savior's Light Will Illuminate This World!

Hoo.

When Bai Yuan opened his eyes again, he found that he had turned into a cloud once more.

It was that boundless blue sky.

He drifted hundreds of meters above the ground, looking down at the peaceful village below as darkness slowly devoured it.

Aedes Elysiae. It was here again.

He floated above the village, watching black mist rise from the earth, watching houses collapse one after another, watching people who had once laughed beneath the sun turn into howling monsters one by one.

He wanted to rush down, to wield his sword, to save those people, but he could not move.

He was a cloud. Wherever the wind blew, he drifted.

He had nothing.

Bai Yuan closed his eyes, unwilling to watch those scenes any longer.

Yet those sounds—the screams, the cries, the monsters' incoherent murmurs—

Still pierced his consciousness like countless needles, stabbing into his mind one by one.

Was he meant to feel this pain?

He opened his eyes and looked at the white-haired child below.

Standing alone amid the ruins, sword raised, facing the encroaching darkness.

The child's hands were trembling, but his feet did not retreat a single step.

Xiao Bai.

Did you need to understand the responsibility and burden of a savior for yourself?

Floating in the air, Bai Yuan suddenly recalled those words.

"I will become the savior of this world, the Blazing Sun that will rise at last."

When he had said that back then, it had mostly been the bold bravado of youthful passion and chuunibyou fervor.

Like shouting a slogan and believing himself invincible.

But now, as he watched the village below being swallowed by darkness, watched lives that had once been so vibrant turn into monsters, watched that white-haired child face the collapse of the entire world alone—

He suddenly felt how heavy those words were.

So heavy they made it hard to breathe.

A savior was not made by shouting.

It was someone who bore the burden.

Bearing others' deaths, bearing others' pain, bearing the darkest and heaviest things in the whole world, then walking forward step by step.

They could not turn back, because if they did, they would see all the people they had left behind.

They could not stop, because if they did, even more people would die.

This was the path Phainon had walked.

And this was the path the Core Flame wanted him to see.

Bai Yuan drifted in the air, silent for a long time.

The darkness below grew thicker and thicker, and the white-haired child's figure grew smaller and smaller until he was swallowed by the black mist.

But he knew that child had not died.

He would survive, carrying the Core Flame.

He would pass through countless cycles and become the Blazing Sun that would rise at last.

Bai Yuan took a deep breath.

Though as a cloud, he could not actually breathe in anything.

"I understand."

He spoke to the darkness below, as if speaking to that white-haired child, and also as if speaking to himself.

"I get it. Thank you, Xiao Bai."

The wind rose.

It carried him farther away.

The scene shattered.

Bai Yuan's consciousness was swept along by that force, passing through countless fragments.

Falling from one scene into another, from one memory into the next.

Some of those images were clear, some blurred. Some were as vivid as freshly painted oil paintings, while others had faded yellow like old photographs weathered by time.

Then he saw it.

Golden wheat fields rolled in the breeze like a flowing sea.

The sky was a clear, brilliant blue. A few white clouds drifted lazily overhead, and the sunlight was warm but not harsh.

At the edge of the wheat field sat a white-haired boy and a pink-haired girl.

The wind stirred the boy's hair lightly, while the hem of the girl's skirt swayed gently amid the waves of wheat.

Bai Yuan floated in midair, watching the scene as something deep inside him was softly stirred.

The girl tilted her head, spinning a stalk of wheat between her fingers, a sly smile curling at her lips.

"This is a good card.

His name is—the Savior."

The boy looked a little helpless and a little embarrassed.

He lowered his head, nudging the dirt by his feet with his toe. His voice was quiet, but earnest.

"But I don't want to be some great hero.

Being a little hero who protects the village is enough for me."

The girl did not laugh at him.

She set down the stalk of wheat, turned toward him, and looked at him seriously.

Her eyes sparkled beneath the sunlight like two polished gems.

"Then..."

Her voice was soft, as though afraid of disturbing something.

"Little hero, if one day we have to say goodbye to Aedes Elysiae—

Would you be willing to become the Savior?"

The boy raised his head and looked into her eyes.

The wind stopped.

The wheat no longer swayed.

All the noise in the world fell silent at that moment, leaving only the two of them looking at each other.

Floating above them, Bai Yuan suddenly felt his eyes sting.

He did not know why he wanted to cry.

This memory did not belong to him. It was Xiao Bai's memory.

It was the last peaceful time before that white-haired child became the Savior.

Yet he could feel its weight.

That question had not been asked casually.

And it could not be answered casually.

The boy opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

The scene shattered.

Bai Yuan's consciousness was swept into darkness once more, and he never heard the answer to that question.

But he knew what the answer was.

Because everyone knew what happened afterward.

The white-haired boy became the Savior who bore the Core Flame, became the Blazing Sun that would rise at last, became a tragic hero who walked through countless cycles yet could never truly save anyone.

If one day we have to say goodbye to Aedes Elysiae.

Would you be willing to become the Savior?

Bai Yuan closed his eyes.

He had no answer.

But he knew that, in the end, that boy had said, "I would."

Hoo.

Bai Yuan abruptly opened his eyes.

The ceiling.

He lay on the bed in his room. At some point, the blanket had been kicked aside, and his pillow sat crookedly at the head of the bed.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling window, casting bright patches of light across the floor.

Everything was as usual.

He gasped for air, his chest heaving violently.

Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and the clothes on his back were soaked through.

A dream?

Or... something else?

He slowly sat up and looked down at his hands.

They were still the same hands, clean and unblemished.

But the Core Flame in his palm was faintly hot, as if reminding him—

Everything that had just happened was not a dream.

Bai Yuan closed his eyes and sensed the changes within himself.

It was different.

He could feel that his strength had increased tremendously.

It was not an increase in Soul Power, but something more fundamental—the strength of his body itself.

His muscles had become firmer, his bones tougher, even his breathing deeper and more powerful.

More importantly, the connection between him and the Core Flame had deepened by far more than a single level.

He could clearly feel the Core Flame pulsing within him like a second heart, steady and powerful.

With every beat, a warm current of strength surged from the Core Flame and flowed through his meridians to his limbs.

Bai Yuan opened his eyes and extended his left hand.

The Core Flame appeared in his palm.

Its golden radiance was brighter than ever before.

At the center of that light, the flame that had always burned quietly finally changed.

A tiny, delicate flame flickered softly in the deepest part of the Core Flame.

Bai Yuan stared at that small flame, his heart racing.

Was this... a sign that the Core Flame was beginning to truly awaken?

His gaze shifted to the empty space before the Core Flame.

The "1," which had previously been nothing more than a dim, barely visible mark—

Had become much clearer, as if someone had traced over it again with a pen dipped in gold powder.

Though it was not yet dazzlingly bright, it was already impossible to miss at a glance.

Bai Yuan took a deep breath and slowly clenched his fist, gathering the Core Flame's glow into his palm.

Then, suddenly, a voice rang out in his mind.

It did not come from beside his ear, but appeared directly in the depths of his consciousness.

Ethereal and distant, like a murmur carried across countless stretches of time and space.

"Phainon of Aedes Elysiae offers you his greetings."