Amidst the ruins filled with wreckage, [Autumn], whose body has been mostly devoured, struggles incessantly.
Black blood flowed continuously from the incision, and black threads kept trying to stitch the damaged flesh back together.
But blood still gushed from both cuts, and his Life was rapidly draining away with the blood.
" [Autumn]... Stop clinging to this body, hurry up and get out. If this continues, your Source will die..."
A Xiaohua grew beside him, and [Spring]'s voice, tinged with sobs, reached his ears.
But [Autumn] didn't listen at all and continued to struggle to regain her body.
As the Power of the Source continued to pour in, his already pale body began to crumble under its corrosive influence.
"No--!!!!"
[Autumn] looked up to the sky and roared, running around the ruins like a madman.
"Give me my body! Give me my body! I need to fix my body! I can't let this body die!"
But now, there's no one left alive.
Like a headless fly, he kept crashing into the damaged buildings and structures.
As he continued to collide with the objects, not only did his body begin to break apart, but even the black insects surrounding him began to gradually decrease in number.
Finally, unable to even move, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The taut black lines began to loosen, and the connected chunks of meat broke apart again, looking as if they might fall apart at any moment.
[Autumn] used her head to support herself on the ground, slowly moving again and again, leaving a strange carpet of dark red blood on the ground.
The photograph drifted out from between his pieces of flesh, stained with blood.
[Autumn] paused in her movement, staring at the photograph for a moment in a daze.
It strained, bending over, trying to pick it up with its mouth.
However, his body was already exhausted and he couldn't even complete this simple movement.
The flowing blood gradually covered the photo until [Autumn] could no longer see the person in the photo.
[Autumn] stopped what he was doing, looked at the photo, and tried to wipe it clean, but he couldn't do it because he no longer had hands.
" Ruini..."
His lifeless pupils began to dilate slowly, and tears welled up in his eyes before sliding down his cheeks.
Tears fell onto the photograph, washing away the black blood and revealing that gentle and beautiful face.
In a daze, [Autumn]'s memories were pulled back to more than a hundred years ago, to the time when she was just born.
He had very little recollection of his own background.
All I remember is that after a cataclysmic explosion, I regained consciousness, even though I had no body.
Relying on his Variant instincts, he found the first village he encountered.
Perhaps it was instinct, but his first reaction upon encountering a person was to possess them. Fortunately, he was lucky; in an era before superhumans, his body was already quite good.
He tested his abilities while slaughtering the people of the village.
In less than a night, more than two hundred people were killed, and [Autumn] also gained a basic understanding of his own abilities.
Over the next few days, he went about his business alone without encountering anyone, but his health deteriorated day by day.
Due to its unique abilities, the virus it generates can also infect this physical body.
Just before his body was on the verge of death from illness, he finally encountered humans.
But to my dismay, I encountered a very frail woman!
The woman's first reaction upon meeting [Autumn] was to run up to him while wearing a mask.
"Sir, your illness is too serious! Come inside quickly, I'll treat you!"
At that time, [Autumn] did not understand human language, but [Autumn], who did not intend to possess the other person, could also understand that this woman seemed to be expressing goodwill.
bona fide...
This was the first time [Autumn] had felt this way.
After being brought into the house, the girl forced [Autumn] to lie down, while she busied herself doing something else.
[Autumn] only knew that her health had improved somewhat under the care of this woman.
"Phew... almost done. Here, put your mask on."
"By the way, what's your name?"
"..."
"Gentlemen?"
After trying for a moment, the woman seemed to realize that [Autumn] couldn't speak, so she naturally assumed he was a fool.
"Oh, how pitiful. Here's what I'll do: I'll give you a name."
My name is Ruini...
You... let's call you Ruiqiu. I don't know why, but seeing you reminds me of autumn.
Ruini, Ruiqiu, these are the first words [Autumn] has learned.
In the days that followed, Ruini treated [Autumn] every day, fed him, and provided him with a place to stay.
In my spare time, I also teach him to speak.
Perhaps due to her special talent as one of the [Five Calamities], [Autumn] learned the language in just a few weeks.
He also needed to know that Ruini was a doctor, but because her clinic was in a rather remote location, few people frequented it.
"Couldn't you have opened the shop in a more populated area...?"
"Hmm, that's strange. Why do you always sound like you're about to die when you talk?"
"Sigh, it's all because I don't have money."
[Autumn] remembered this reason, so the next day he went to the surrounding villages and infected all the people there with the plague.
As a result, Ruini's hospital finally became very popular, and she earned more and more money every day.
But [Autumn] noticed that she was smiling less and less.
"Now that we have money... why don't we move to the city...?"
"If I, the only doctor, leave, what will happen to the people in these villages?"
Whenever this question was asked, Ruini would answer with a wry smile.
Humans are so complicated...
From then on, [Autumn] stopped infecting others and started helping Ruini with other things.
They treated patients together, cooked together, and farmed together.
Wheat harvesting is usually done by [Autumn] using a sickle.
[Autumn] actually found these things disgusting and tedious, but whenever he saw Ruini happy, he felt that these disgusting and tedious things weren't so bad after all.
That girl's smile is really beautiful...
But he... is the plague god [Autumn] who brings misfortune to mankind.
Even though he intentionally tried to avoid spreading the virus, Ruini, who had been in close contact with him for a long time, still got infected.
Then their roles were reversed; originally, Ruini was taking care of [Autumn], but now [Autumn] was taking care of her.
"Put on your mask, or I might infect you."
This is a phrase that [Autumn] often hears, and every time she hears it, she obediently puts on a mask.
He was simply afraid of infecting Ruini with his virus.
Ruini's illness worsened Tiantian by Tiantian, and a strange feeling also grew in [Autumn]'s heart.
Once, when [Autumn] was about to go to town to buy medicine, Ruini grabbed his hand.
"Take me with you! I don't feel bad at all today!"
And indeed, that was the case; on that day, Ruini looked as if she were not sick at all.
So the two of them went into the city together.
Once inside the city, Ruini was like a curious child, looking around everywhere, and even bought a lot of desserts that she usually couldn't afford.
While eating, he kept stuffing [Autumn] into his mouth.
"Hey, let's go take a picture! Lots of city people do this, I want to take one with you too!"
[Autumn] doesn't understand. They're just going to buy medicine, why make such a fuss?
"Let's buy the medicine and go home... We're almost out of money..."
"Oh, it's just taking a picture, it won't cost much!"
Then she practically dragged him into a 'photo studio,' but why was everyone inside dressed in wedding gowns and suits?
[Autumn] was stunned as he was put on a suit, Ruini also put on a beautiful wedding dress and took his hand, ready to take pictures.
Upon seeing [Autumn]'s puzzled expression, he chuckled.
"That's how everyone takes photos, just take good pictures!"
What a fraud...
With a click of the camera, Ruini's happy expression was preserved in that black and white photograph.
On her way home after buying the medicine, Ruini looked at the photo and loved it so much that she wanted to memorize it.
" Ruiqiu..."
Ruini suddenly called out, "[Autumn]".
"What's wrong..."
He had just turned his head when he felt something soft kiss his face.
Ruini released her mouth, her face slightly flushed as she looked at him, "You, you're so handsome...!"
After saying that, he jogged away.
So she likes her own face...
That very night, Ruini, who had been full of life, suddenly lay on her bed, barely alive.
Feeling the person on the bed growing weaker and weaker, [Autumn] felt a pang of panic.
He was at a loss, mimicking how Ruini had acted when she first met him, bustling around the pharmacy trying to cure her.
Ruini grasped his hand. "Honestly... I don't know what you'll do without me. Remember, take good care of yourself... Take your medicine when you're sick, and bandage your wounds properly when you get hurt."
Don't end up like me, dying from illness...
At the end of her words, Ruini tucked the photograph into [Autumn]'s arms, and then her hands fell limply to her sides.
He forgot how he spent that night in [Autumn]... He forgot what he felt...
All he remembered was a torrential downpour that followed that night, during which he killed many people in the city.
There was no particular reason; he simply wanted to kill to vent his emotions.
He enjoys watching others become seriously ill and on the verge of death because of his abilities.
He often saw such scenes in Ruini's hospital room.
From then on, he spent every day like this, sneaking into a city and causing the people there to fall seriously ill and die.
If your body is injured or has started to fester, then cut off someone else's body and sew it on.
And that photo that showed him and Ruini was forcibly sewn into his heart.
That way, it will never be lost again...
Never again...
Raindrops fell from the sky, and the dark red blood on the ground slowly faded as the rain washed over it.
Autumn's Life body curled up, desperately protecting the photograph in its arms.
The rain intensified, and the photos flowed down into the sewers with the water.
Just as it was about to fall, it was caught by a hand.
Aidan gazed at the two figures in the photograph and gently wiped away the last trace of blood with her hand.
He walked up to [Autumn]'s body and placed the photograph in his arms.
Goodbye... you lovelorn monster.
Having said that, it spread its wings and left.
In the dim world, only [Autumn]'s body, Source, remained, along with that yellowed photograph.