The Desperate Savior Didn't Want to Become Black Calamity Either

At dawn, the sky was only beginning to brighten.

On the training ground, Bai Yuan had already begun his daily required practice.

Dawnmaker spun in his hand, thrusting, circling, and slashing diagonally.

But his mind was not entirely on his swordsmanship.

He was trying something.

The Worldbearing Coreflame floated above his left hand, its golden and black flames twisting together as they flickered.

He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his body.

Deep within him, two forces occupied separate domains, like two slumbering dragons.

One was blazing and warm, carrying the momentum to burn everything away. It was Xiao Bai's power.

The other was cold and heavy, carrying the oppressive weight of an abyss. It was Black Calamity's power.

Bai Yuan drew a deep breath and cautiously guided the two forces toward each other.

Xiao Bai's power flickered slightly, as if answering his summons.

It slowly surged through his meridians, warm and bright, like a golden river.

Delighted, Bai Yuan began guiding Black Calamity's power as well.

The black energy awoke from deep within his dantian, cold and silent as it surged through another meridian.

The two forces met in his chest.

Then Bai Yuan let out a muffled grunt, his body shuddering violently.

The instant gold and black collided, a violent repulsive force exploded from his chest, like two magnets with matching poles being forcibly pressed together.

Xiao Bai's power abruptly recoiled like a startled cat;

Black Calamity's power, meanwhile, became even quieter and colder, like a soundless wall.

Rejection.

Bai Yuan panted heavily, fine beads of sweat forming across his forehead.

He lowered his head to look at the Core Flame in his palm. The intertwined golden and black flames still danced.

But between the gold and black was a distinct, insurmountable boundary.

"Rejection..."

he muttered, frowning deeply.

Why?

Weren't they supposed to have originally been one?

He sat down cross-legged, laid Dawnmaker across his knees, and closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness deep into the Core Flame.

The scenes he had seen in Honkai Star Rail's story emerged in his mind.

At the end of the recreation of the world.

Black Calamity had been killed by Phainon.

That masked swordsman in black, that Flame Reaver who had emerged from countless cycles, had fallen beneath "his own" sword in the end.

He did not resist, struggle, or resent it.

He had simply stood there quietly, waiting for that sword to fall.

All the Core Flame's power, all the memories of the cycles, poured into Phainon's body at that moment.

For a brief moment, he transformed into God Calamity.

That form existed for only an instant, yet it was enough to be remembered by everyone.

The young man bearing the Core Flame stood with twelve halos of laws floating behind him, a longsword blazing with golden fire in his hand. He looked like a god stepped out of myth.

Then, God Calamity chose to try confronting the Iron Tomb and break the cycle!

Then—he couldn't beat it.

God Calamity discovered that his strength was still insufficient, far from sufficient.

And so, a new cycle began.

Bai Yuan's heart sank.

When God Calamity entered the new cycle, he was no longer the "perfect vessel" of that lifetime.

The number of Core Flames had changed from one to hundreds of millions.

All the power, all the memories, all the accumulation from every cycle flooded into his body in the same instant.

His body was overwhelmed, his soul torn apart, and he became the "broken Black Calamity."

No consciousness, no memories, only instinct.

The instincts accumulated over tens of millions of cycles drove him onward.

Hunting Core Flames, killing Tai Tan, becoming the enemy of Phainon in every lifetime.

Until, in one lifetime, he was killed by "himself," and then everything began again.

Bai Yuan opened his eyes and looked down at the Core Flame in his palm, suddenly feeling as though he could barely breathe.

"So hopeless..."

Bai Yuan murmured, his voice slightly hoarse.

"A savior."

He raised his head and looked at the sky.

The dawn was driving away the night, and the horizon had begun to pale.

A new day had begun, but his heart felt heavy, as if a stone were pressing down on it.

A savior?

Was a savior's path nothing but an endless cycle of death and rebirth?

Every lifetime, they believed they could change the ending. Every lifetime ended in failure.

How many cycles had Xiao Bai endured?

And how many had Black Calamity endured?

Did they still remember what they had been like in the beginning?

Did they still remember that golden wheat field?

Did they still remember the smile of that pink-haired girl?

Bai Yuan clenched his fist, and the Core Flame in his palm grew slightly hot.

He took a deep breath, rose to his feet, and gripped Dawnmaker once more.

So what if they rejected each other? So what if they could not merge?

He had plenty of time, and plenty of patience.

Bai Yuan entered the cultivation grounds with his sword in hand and immediately spotted Gu Yuena standing in the center of the field.

She looked no different from yesterday.

The corner of his mouth curled upward as he sauntered over.

"Junior Sister."

He stopped beside her, tilting his head as he looked at her.

"Let me ask you something."

Gu Yuena did not even raise her head.

"Speak."

"Why did you run away yesterday?"

Bai Yuan leaned a little closer, his tone carrying a hint of teasing.

"Did you go cry?"

Gu Yuena's hands paused.

Bai Yuan had already prepared himself for an elemental attack and even took half a step back.

But the explosion he expected never came.

Gu Yuena raised her head. Her violet eyes looked at him, her lips moved, and then she blushed.

The blush spread from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears.

Set against her silver hair, that flush was especially obvious, like peach blossoms glistening with morning dew.

Bai Yuan froze.

Gu Yuena bit her lip and lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"I didn't."

Looking at her rare embarrassment, Bai Yuan suddenly felt a little flustered.

What was wrong with this girl?

She did not retort, flare up, or throw elements at him. She was just standing there quietly, blushing?

Was this really the Silver Dragon King?

He cautiously added another question.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I-I'm not!"

Gu Yuena's voice rose a few notches, but the flush on her face did not fade. Instead, it deepened.

She clenched her fists, her silver hair drifting faintly as the temperature of the surrounding air began to rise.

Bai Yuan suddenly understood.

She was not angry.

She was embarrassed by what he had said.

He had hit the mark, leaving her ashamed and annoyed, yet unable to refute him. So she could only blush.

She had not cried back then.

How could a Dragon King possibly cry?!

Gu Yuena frantically denied it in her heart, but the heat in her face betrayed her.

She clearly remembered that after running out of the cultivation grounds yesterday, tears had welled in her eyes again and again. She had almost failed to hold them back.

It was not because she had lost, nor because she was hurt. It was because she, the dignified Silver Dragon King, had been completely manipulated by a human.

She felt that her peerless wisdom did not seem to work very well in front of this human.

Looking at Gu Yuena's face, red enough to drip blood, a thought suddenly surfaced in Bai Yuan's mind.

Did I actually guess right?

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to ease the atmosphere.

But Gu Yuena spoke first, her voice squeezing through clenched teeth with a sort of gritted "calm."

"I didn't cry."

Bai Yuan nearly laughed when he saw her expression.

Her flushed face, tightly pressed lips, and evasive gaze made her seem like a completely different person from yesterday's icy Silver Dragon King.

"Mm, you didn't. You didn't."

Bai Yuan nodded repeatedly, his face utterly sincere.

"How could Junior Sister possibly cry? Junior Sister is the strongest."

Gu Yuena's face turned even redder.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to salvage her dignity, only to find that her "peerless wisdom" had completely crashed at that moment.

Only one thought kept looping through her mind.

He found out, he found out, he found out...

"Ahem."

A light cough came from the doorway.

Bai Yuan and Gu Yuena turned their heads at the same time.

Leng Yaozhu stood at the entrance, dressed in a dark long gown with her long hair draped over her shoulders. Her arms were folded over her chest as she stared expressionlessly at the two children.

"Teacher."

Bai Yuan and Gu Yuena bowed at the same time.

Leng Yaozhu walked into the cultivation grounds and stopped before them.

"Today's training is canceled."

Bai Yuan was slightly startled.

"Canceled?"

"Yes."

Leng Yaozhu looked at Gu Yuena.

"We're going to the Spirit Ascension Platform to raise Gu Yue's spirit."

She paused, then shifted her gaze to Bai Yuan.

"You're coming too. It will be a good chance to learn about the Spirit Ascension Platform."