Draw Your Sword! Fulfilling [Fate] Once More!
Light surged from the Core Flame, intertwining gold and black, enveloping Bai Yuan entirely.
He felt as if an invisible hand had pulled him off the bed and dragged him into that familiar void.
The Core Flame hovered in the void.
The phantom of the number "3" slowly rotated before his eyes, while behind the "3"...
A number is becoming clearer from a blur.
1-3-4.
Bai Yuan stared at the three numbers that were freezing, and his heart skipped a beat.
The 134th time?
Those cycles of reincarnation are like a book with its edges curled up, each page filled with Xiao Bai's struggles and pain.
What were these numbers suddenly showing him?
The point is to let him know how many times Xiao Bai has reincarnated.
The void began to distort.
Points of light surged in from all directions, coalescing into images before his eyes.
It is not static, it is flowing.
It's like someone flipping through a thick photo album at top speed.
Each page was viewed for only a moment, but that moment was enough for Bai Yuan to see the contents clearly.
He saw Xiao Bai standing in the council hall, facing those familiar faces.
That Anaxa, Cipher.
Xiao Bai's lips were moving, as if she were saying something very, very important.
But the expressions on those faces changed from confusion to shock, from shock to anger, and from anger to indifference.
When the 134th cycle reappeared.
Bai Yuan's heart felt as if it had been suddenly gripped by something.
This is neither the first nor the last time, but one of many cycles.
Behind those numbers are Xiao Bai stories of Xiaobai fighting alongside his teammates.
Time and time again, I watched my comrades die for the sake of the Core Flame.
Time and again, he raised his sword to reap the lives of those he once trusted most.
The halo of light on the window frame is still spreading, and the torrent of Remembrance has already surged in overwhelmingly.
In that cycle of reincarnation, Xiao Bai made a decision.
He wanted to tell the Chrysos Heirs the truth.
Since these people were willing to die for their Ideal, since they carried the Core Flame and endured the pain of Divine Blood erosion.
Since they chose to follow the Journey of Flame Chasing without ever asking where it ended.
What right did he have to keep it from them all this time?
So, in the council chamber of Okhema, he stood there and, facing that Anaxa and Cipher, laid out everything.
We are not living in the real world.
The so-called Re-Creation, the so-called Journey of Flame Chasing, the so-called legacy of the Tai Tan.
It's all a pre-programmed script.
In every lifetime I have lived, you will die.
I killed the Tai Tan, collected the Core Flame, and reset the world.
Then I watched as you were reduced to data streams by my sword.
This time, I want to change.
His words fell silent in the council chamber.
After a moment of deathly silence, a volcanic eruption followed.
Cipher immediately pulled out her cat-eye, which was filled with anger and questioning.
Did you travel from the future to the past?
The voice was sharp as a knife, cutting into Xiao Bai's heart piece by piece.
Why weren't you told about this sooner?
My companion stood at the back of the crowd, but his usually calm eyes now seemed to be looking at a stranger.
No, I'm looking at a monster.
No one spoke, but the silence was more suffocating to Xiao Bai than any accusation.
At that Anaxa pushed up her glasses, remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. Her voice was very soft and hoarse, as if she had used up all her strength.
"For the sake of our past teacher-student relationship, turn back now."
Turn back.
Turn back.
Turn back.
Xiao Bai's lips twitched slightly upon hearing those three words.
He recalled those countless cycles of reincarnation.
Despair after despair, starting over again and again.
"The Core Flame... must not be extinguished."
Now, that's how he sees himself too.
He is a demon, a traitor.
He's that madman who would even deceive his own companions for the sake of his so-called savior Ideal.
Cipher's hair fell down from the edge of the hood, covering half of her face.
The Phainon of her lips curled into that familiar, slightly mocking smile, but it had lost its former warmth.
"So that fiery demon was obsessed with becoming a savior?"
She called him a devil.
The girl who followed him through countless reincarnations called him a demon.
Xiao Bai looked at those familiar faces.
Those who once entrusted their backs to each other in the face of life and death are now more indifferent than the last.
They didn't know the truth, and he couldn't blame them.
But he thought at least someone would try to understand, would try to ask "why".
But no.
Not a single word.
"I can't help it."
Xiao Bai reached out, and a longsword burning with golden flames materialized from the void.
His own blood flowed along the blade—golden, fiery blood, blood imbued with the scent of Core Flame.
That was his blood, and also the destiny of everyone in his cycle of reincarnation.
Everyone was stunned.
Xiao Bai raised her head, her gaze sweeping over each of those faces.
The corners of her mouth curved slightly.
The curve was very shallow, very short, almost imperceptible, but he was definitely smiling.
Then he pointed his longsword forward, and golden sword light exploded from its blade.
Enveloping his still bewildered companions in a golden cage.
They were isolated in a separate space, protected by a light shield, but none of them could get out.
I'm sorry.
Xiao Bai's voice wasn't loud, and there was neither anger nor sadness in her tone, only a heartbreaking calmness.
"I'll accept your Core Flame."
"After everything is over, if there's still a chance..."
He didn't finish his sentence; golden flames ignited behind him.
We shut out those voices still chanting "Phainon," "Phainon," "Phainon."
A drop of blood pierced the sword, fulfilling their fate once more.
This time, he is still the devil they speak of.
The image shattered, countless points of light retreated from all directions, and the void returned to darkness.
Bai Yuan suddenly opened his eyes; the Core Flame in his palm was still burning, quiet and warm.
He was panting heavily, his chest heaving, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
The Core Flame in his palm suddenly flared up. The translucent "3" solidified completely.
The edges are no longer blurred, and the color changes from pale to deep and rich, like a branding iron pressing its final mark on the soul.
Bai Yuan looked down at the number, his heart skipped a beat.
The complete form of "three" is no longer in the progressive tense, but in the perfect tense.
The images in my mind keep replaying in my head, I can't stop them.
Xiao Bai begins to question, criticize, and despise those who were once the people he trusted most.
He spoke the truth, but it only created a deeper rift.
He didn't say anything, and those people didn't even know why they died when they turned into specks of light under his sword.
Saying it is wrong, not saying it is wrong.
It's the same every lifetime, over and over again.
Why accuse Xiao Bai of losing his humanity?
Those people accused him of being cold-blooded, ruthless, and deceiving everyone for the sake of his so-called savior Ideal.
But have they ever considered how Xiao Bai got to this point?
Watching his comrades die before his eyes time and time again, watching the Core Flame burn away their lives time and time again...
Watching them struggle in pain and despair,
He could say nothing, do nothing, but could only grip his sword tightly and continue walking forward.
What does he have left?
The pain surged up again, not Xiao Bai's, but his own.
Those scenes weren't like watching a movie; they were like experiencing them over and over again.
Every accusation is like a knife, every cold gaze like an icicle.
Bai Yuan could hear Anaxa's voice when he closed his eyes.
"Turn back."
His most respected teacher pleaded with him to turn back.
But he couldn't turn back.
Cipher called him "a demon engulfed in flames."
Those eyes no longer held the intimacy of the past, only disgust and alienation.
Bai Yuan wanted to ask a question on Xiao Bai's behalf.
"Didn't I do all this to save you?"
But he couldn't bring himself to ask.
Because those countless cycles of reincarnation had already given him the answer.
Explaining it is useless, understanding it is useless.
They will still die, they will still turn into specks of light.
We will become strangers again in the new cycle of reincarnation.
"Difficult, extremely difficult."
Bai Yuan's voice was hoarse, as if he had sand in his mouth.