Hajime Kashimo asked a question utterly at odds with their deadly battle:
"Guyue Qingxiao, since you have a wife, you must know how to treat others, right? How to show them compassion?"
He paused. The vertical eye in his forehead shone with terrifying brightness, yet his voice sank:
"To me, everyone else is unbearably fragile.
The stronger a Sorcerer becomes, the fewer people remain around him.
Is loneliness the price of strength?
Why face death at all? Why fight to the death?"
Qingxiao frowned and actually stood there, thinking seriously for two seconds.
Compassion? Loneliness?
Those words were too convoluted. In all these years, he had never measured himself against such things.
"Why would I care about that?
I do whatever I want. I just follow what I feel inside.
As for loneliness... maybe you haven't met someone who truly understands you.
After all, there's more to a Sorcerer's life than fighting."
As his words fell, the domain went quiet for a moment.
Only the lightning crackled, while the wind swept fragments rustling to the ground.
Hajime Kashimo stood where he was, the vertical eye in his forehead contracting slightly.
Just following your heart...
Then could you be the one who truly understands me... Qingxiao!
Their conversation over, Hajime Kashimo straightened his back.
Cracks covered his entire body, and blue-violet lightning continued spilling out and dissipating, yet his back was straighter than ever.
The hostility in his eyes faded completely, leaving only fighting spirit of the utmost purity and acceptance.
He gripped the Iron Staff in both hands and slowly raised it above his head.
All his remaining vitality and Cursed Energy compressed frantically into the tip of the staff. Blue-violet lightning condensed like liquid metal, its high-frequency vibrations making the surrounding gray mist shudder.
The instant his power reached