Varesa, supporting herself against the cold stone wall with one hand, stood up shakily.
She held Bai You horizontally in her arms; that small body was incredibly light, and she leaned against her quietly, no longer reaching out to hook her neck as she usually did.
Just as she regained her footing, she heard a muffled thud of footsteps stopping abruptly and the sound of someone landing outside the woods.
A tall figure pushed aside the broken branches and walked in.
Varesa subconsciously looked up and saw a tall figure dressed in black.
She recognized the attire— the Captain, Capitano First Harbinger of the Fatui.
She was shocked for a moment, but the shock lasted only a moment before being overwhelmed by a deeper and heavier grief.
She didn't care who the Captain was or why he was there.
She simply lowered her head, hugged the person in her arms tighter, and tears fell silently down her cheeks.
" Capitano," Columbina called softly, her voice still hoarse.
Capitano's gaze swept over the chaotic scene, first landing on Columbina, and he asked in a deep voice:
What happened?
"A major battle just took place here; I'm late."
Columbina shook her head, her brows furrowed with unconcealed weariness and self-reproach.
"By the time I arrived, guided by the Kuuvahki, the battle was already over."
"It was Dottore laid an ambush here first. He wanted to take Bai You away and bring her back to the lab for experiments, so the two of them started fighting."
Her voice lowered, "By the time I arrived, it had become like this."
Capitano listened quietly, his jawline tightening beneath his helmet.
"Using colleagues as experiments." He spoke each word clearly, his voice as cold as ice.
"Dottore has completely disregarded the most basic principles of the Fatui."
He rarely lost his temper, but this time, there was a suppressed chill in his tone.
"I will report this matter fully to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa, and she will certainly give a satisfactory result," Capitano said in a deep voice.
After saying that, he slowly walked up to Varesa and squatted down.
"I looked at her."
Varesa loosened her arms in a daze.
Capitano raised his hand, and a wisp of extremely concentrated and powerful energy slowly flowed from his palm into Bai You's body.
However, wherever the power passed, only desolation remained.
It was devoid of any life, like an empty house where no one had left and even the last warmth had dissipated.
He patiently searched the desolate area twice more, but found nothing different.
Finally, he slowly withdrew his hand.
"... completely lifeless." He uttered these four words in a low voice, as if issuing a final, irreversible verdict on the matter.
Varesa swayed, but could no longer cry out loud.
Tears fell one after another onto Bai You's bloodless face.
Capitano stood up and remained silent for a moment.
Then, to everyone's surprise, he solemnly and deeply bowed.
That's not the attitude of a superior towards a subordinate, nor is it the pity of the strong towards the weak.
It was as if a soldier was offering his most solemn apology to another fallen comrade.
"I'm late." He lowered his head, his voice low and heavy.
"It was my fault. I didn't expect Dottore to do this so quickly. If I could have been one step faster... I'm sorry."
As she bowed, Varesa opened her mouth, as if to say something.
But the overwhelming sorrow stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything, finally only managing a series of broken breaths.
She turned her face away, biting her lip tightly, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she held Bai You.
"We... take her back first." Columbina gently supported Varesa's shoulder, looking at Capitano, "The rest is up to you."
"Go ahead." Capitano straightened up, stepped aside to make way, and bowed slightly.
"I will make proper arrangements."
Columbina nodded, and, supporting the dazed Varesa, slowly walked out step by step.
Varesa held Bai You in her arms, her steps slow, her back frail and sorrowful, before she disappeared into the snow.
Capitano was the only one left in the valley.
He stood there, not moving immediately, but his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Something's not right.
He had seen too many people go by, and was all too familiar with the scent of death.
But the feeling Bai You gave him didn't match any of the "death" he knew.
Suddenly, he remembered his heart.
That heart, which has held the souls of countless warriors, can also—not only hold souls, but also detect them.
Capitano closed his eyes and pushed this power to its limit.
An invisible wave emanated from him, spreading silently, sweeping across the frozen earth and the pine forest, illuminating every inch of the remaining traces of his soul.
Soon, he saw Dottore.
To be precise, it was a wisp of a broken soul. That wisp of soul was shattered to the extreme, as if it had been crushed on the spot by some terrifying force.
Capitano's gaze darkened—to injure a person's soul like this, Bai You's final blow must have been the reason for the temporary shattering of the False Sky.
He continued exploring.
But when he went to find the soul of the Bai You--
There was nothing there.
Capitano suddenly opened his eyes.
Dottore's shattered remnant soul still lingers.
Only the Bai You, not a trace of it could be detected.
This doesn't make sense.
Capitano stood in the wind and snow, his expression beneath his helmet revealing a serious doubt for the first time.
Her body is clearly lying here, but her soul is neither in her body nor in this pine forest.
There wasn't even a trace of its former disintegration—it was as clean as her soul, which had never even appeared in this "death."
A dead person, yet their soul is nowhere to be found.
No wonder I felt something was off when I used my power to probe Bai You.
"... Your soul..." Capitano gazed towards the end of the pine forest, in the direction where those figures had long since disappeared.
He spoke in a low voice, his tone heavy with emotion.
" The Doctor's willingness to pay any price, and the power to shatter the False Sky..."
The wind and snow were silent, and no one answered him.