Fuck It, I'm Taking You Down With Me

Every word pierced Peruere's heart and bored into her mind. The sight of Clervie collapsing before her surged up uncontrollably, and the grief and fury in her heart instantly overwhelmed her reason.

Her emotions churned violently, and her attacks abruptly lost their steady discipline. She recklessly pressed forward with everything she had, leaving countless openings in her swordplay.

A trace of mockery flickered in Crucabena's eyes. The opportunity she had long awaited had finally arrived.

She stopped merely defending. The Hydro around her surged abruptly, and as Peruere's full-force slash missed, leaving a gap before she could muster her strength again, Crucabena gathered all her Hydro power at her sword's tip and thrust it forward. Surging water collided with the flames around Peruere, the extreme temperature difference triggering a violent elemental Vaporize reaction.

Scalding steam and the force of the explosion slammed into Peruere. She lost her balance and crashed into the stone wall like a kite with its string cut. Fragments of stone showered from the thick wall, and the longsword she had gripped so tightly flew from her hand and tumbled across the distant floor.

Crucabena walked slowly through the billowing white mist, looking down at the fallen Peruere with unquestionable authority in her voice. "Do you see? Your anger, your obsession-they crumble before absolute power. Submit to me, and I will erase all your suffering, grant you a new life, and make you a true king!"

Xingsu... Xingsu...

So dizzy. Where... am I? It sounds like someone woke me up fighting...

Wake up...

It feels like there's something important I haven't finished... Right, right, Crucabena. I have to defeat her...

The sounds of fighting... Peruere must be here.

Peruere, wait for me.

Xingsu's eyelids felt as heavy as lead. Only with tremendous effort did he manage to open them a crack, letting in the dazzling blaze of intertwined crimson and icy blue.

Xingsu shakily propped himself up and made out the two figures locked in combat.

Crucabena unsettled Peruere with her words, then slammed the girl into the stone wall with a heavy impact. Her longsword flew from her hand, and she staggered onto one knee, clearly at a complete disadvantage.

Xingsu gritted his teeth and pushed against the ground, trying to rise. The moment he exerted his arms, the wounds torn open in the earlier fight sent piercing agony through him, leaving his limbs weak.

He dug his fingertips into the ground, using it for support as he straightened his aching, weakened back little by little. Cold sweat mingled with tiny beads of blood and rolled ceaselessly down his temples. Every movement left his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"Hah, hah." His breathing rasped like a battered bellows. Xingsu barely managed to straighten his swaying body, his steps faltering and his balance unsteady, nearly falling again.

But his gaze remained fixed on Peruere, who knelt on one knee as Crucabena backed her into a corner. He could spare no thought for his own grave injuries and exhaustion.

Xingsu struggled to bend down and reached for the broken sword that had been knocked from his hand earlier. The moment his fingertips touched the cold hilt, another wave of dizziness struck. His head swam painfully, and the scene before his eyes shook violently.

He forced himself to recover his senses. Peruere still needed him. For everyone's future, he could not fall yet.

Xingsu gripped his weapon tightly and dragged his exhausted body toward the center of the battlefield, stumbling as he went.

"Hmm?" Sensing the footsteps behind her, Crucabena's eyes flashed with surprise. "You can still stand? What a tenacious little insect. Disgusting!"

Xingsu gritted his teeth and held on, his bellows-like gasps nearly tearing his throat apart. He mustered the last shred of strength in his body, raised his sword, and thrust straight ahead. But his movements were already distorted, his strength insubstantial, his speed sluggish, and his techniques scattered and powerless. Repeated overexertion, suffocating internal injuries, and the pain throughout his body had utterly stripped him of his ability to fight. If anything, it was a miracle he could stand at all.

Yet he simply raised his sword numbly, as though trying to fulfill his obsession, his eyes fixed on Crucabena.

Defeat her!

Drive this sword forward!

Face death to seize life!

Clang-!

A violent jolt ran through Xingsu's arm, and the web of his hand split open instantly. The impact drove him back step after step, the searing pain in his chest nearly making him cough up blood on the spot.

Unfortunately, he had been unable to defeat Crucabena even at full strength. How could he possibly succeed so easily now?

Every counterattack, every act of resistance, every desperate, life-risking charge looked laughably feeble to her. The blade he barely managed to swing with all his strength could not even brush the hem of her clothes. Instead, her effortless counters left him utterly battered.

His breathing grew more and more rapid, his heavy pants turning into short, agonized gasps. His vision went black. He had already lost count of how many times he had pushed his body to its limits today.

Perhaps this would be the last.

At the final moment, Crucabena stopped testing him and stopped drawing out the fight.

She sidestepped the boy's faltering slash. Her slender sword flashed coldly and pierced Xingsu's chest in one clean, unhindered stroke.

Perhaps, once she discovered that Peruere had a Vision, Xingsu was no longer qualified to compete with her.

At least there would be no more pain.

A bone-piercing chill instantly swallowed his entire body.

All his struggling, all his gasping, all the agony he had endured came to an abrupt halt.

"I... can't do anything..."

Xingsu froze, and the broken sword in his hand clattered to the ground.

He lowered his head in disbelief, staring at the sharp blade piercing his chest. Warm blood poured wildly down the front of his clothes, soaking them through in an instant.

With what remained of his vision, he looked toward Peruere nearby one last time.

There was no fear, no regret, only a faint smile. His mouth was already filled with blood, and he could no longer utter a word. He could only move his lips, trying to say something.

Peruere understood his lips. He was saying, Keep going.

He had already done all he could.

Blood gushed out. Xingsu's slight body stood rigid for a moment, then toppled backward helplessly and struck the ground hard.

Utterly silent.

The sun had long since set. The sky darkened little by little, the light fading until everything blurred.

Perhaps Fontaine's Hydro Dragon had encountered some trouble. The clouds overhead gradually thickened, obscuring the star-filled sky, and a light rain began to fall.

Another futile act of resistance, another withered corpse.

Nothing more than the most ordinary stroke among the countless tragedies of the House of the Hearth.

Wilted Lumidouce Bells, an obscured starry sky.

Crucabena surveyed her surroundings, seemingly quite satisfied with her work.

"How moving, isn't it? Unfortunately, before absolute power, so-called resistance is merely laughable. Come, Peruere. You may have lost your companions, but you still have me! I can guide you through life, lead you to rule the entire House of the Hearth, and make you a true king!"