Yan Huan stepped forward, kicked the obstruction blocking the road aside, and walked straight toward the Spiritwater Basin.
Laigushi said, "Your strength is truly astonishing, sir."
As Yan Huan approached, Hysilens's figure appeared once more.
This time, she looked more mature, bearing the exhaustion of weathering countless hardships and a trace of relief at having fulfilled her mission.
Standing before the Spiritwater Basin, now restored to its complete form, she reached out and gently stroked its cold rim, overwhelmed with emotion.
"At last... the Overflowing Chalice has been restored, and the Spear of Heavenly Punishment has stepped out of the Underworld River. The gods... have taken up their duty to resist the Black Tide once more."
"I have finally escaped that endless toil and may now attend that ceremony... promised so long ago..."
"Bearing the wishes of all my departed sisters, I took on a graceful human form, eagerly awaiting... the celebration of all peoples upon the shore, welcoming our sacrifice and arrival."
"My tail fin became legs that could walk upon the earth, my scales became skin, and the foam swirling around me... became a star-spangled skirt..."
Hysilens's voice sank, filled with loss.
"But when I truly set foot upon that land I had yearned for so long... I discovered that there was no rich wine pouring down like rain, nor any poets plucking their harps and singing epics..."
"—There was only silent death, like another Underworld River, quietly flowing across this land."
Watching the scene, Laigushi explained.
"When she finally fulfilled her wish, repaired the holy chalice, and came ashore, she found that the land of feasting she had longed for had already suffered the same fate, completely swallowed by the authority of another god—[Death]..."
"All hopes, all promises... had turned to nothing before cold reality."
Within the