Fuck, We Won

The gray daylight died out completely, leaving nothing beyond the shattered dome but the deep, heavy blue of night.

In an instant, all the noise, anger, agitation, and self-reproach abruptly ceased.

The memories surging up became clear in an instant-the warm glow as they huddled beside the hearth, their promise to watch the aurora together, Clervie willingly going to her death just to help her untangle the knot in her heart, Xingsu fighting to his death just to defeat Crucabena and destroy this furnace that devoured people.

Years of accumulated pain, forbearance, betrayal, and partings, Clervie's and Xingsu's sacrifices, the injustice suffered by countless children whose bones lay buried in the furnace-all became fuel for the rising flames of vengeance.

Was gentleness useless?

At that moment, Peruere finally understood.

Gentleness had never been wrong. What was wrong was this cage that strangled it.

The black curse raced wildly up her arm. The darkness that had once lingered only around her wrist kept expanding, pitch-black veins covering her entire forearm. A dark red fire glimmered beneath her skin, as though an undying ember flame were coursing through her flesh.

Her breathing, previously disordered by impatience, instantly steadied, and her turbulent emotions settled completely. The agitation faded from the violent crimson in her eyes, leaving only clarity, coldness, and absolute resolve.

Amid the rubble, Peruere braced one hand against the ground and slowly rose, her entire being frighteningly still.

Crucabena noticed the transformation in her bearing. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, followed by killing intent. Holding nothing back, she launched her final offensive.

Countless sharp water spears condensed out of thin air, overlapping in impenetrable layers and sealing off the entire area. Bearing an icy killing chill, they pierced down from every direction, seeking to skewer Peruere just as she stood.

But Peruere was faster. Her steps precise and crisp, she moved calmly through the curtain of rain. Every turn and every dodge was perfectly timed. The sharp ice blades all skimmed past her hems and hair, punching through the stone walls behind her and scattering rubble without harming her in the slightest.

Seeing that her ranged barrage was ineffective, Crucabena immediately closed in with her sword.

Her rapier bore the power of water, its path supple and treacherous. Drawing on swordsmanship perfected over decades, she thrust straight at the opening over Peruere's heart, still employing that same flawless style of overcoming strength with softness and turning an opponent's force against them.

But now, offense and defense had reversed!

Now she was the one calmly dismantling attacks and countering with precision.

The instant the rapier was about to touch her clothes, Peruere raised her arm to block, gathering ember flame before it to meet the opposing water sword precisely.

Clang!

Water and fire collided.

The moisture on Crucabena's blade evaporated instantly, its bone-piercing chill melting away entirely. An enormous recoil surged back along the blade. Crucabena, whose fighting style had been steady for years, suddenly felt her wrist go numb and staggered backward.

For the first time, she had fallen decisively behind in a close-quarters exchange.

Before Crucabena could regain her balance, Peruere had already closed in with a lunging thrust.

Her movements were swift and fierce, without a single flourish. Every strike precisely targeted the gaps between her opponent's attacks and defenses.

She raised her arm to block, turned aside to redirect force, then spun into a counter-slash. The entire combination flowed seamlessly, dismantling, breaking, and crushing the supple sword style Crucabena took such pride in.

Crucabena's expression finally darkened. Abandoning all contempt, she unleashed Hydro at full strength to counterattack.

Great torrents surged up from the ground, forming a ring-shaped water prison that tightly sealed the surrounding space, attempting to trap Peruere.

But how could these binding waters suppress the raging flames of vengeance?

The ember flame around her abruptly exploded outward, sending a scorching ring of fire sweeping across the battlefield.

Those seemingly gentle flames carried the power to burn away every shackle. The encroaching water prison rapidly vaporized from its inner walls, steaming and collapsing. The surging waters could not even approach her, burning away completely within moments.

Crucabena was left utterly exposed to attack.

Peruere seized that one opening, flashing before her and raising a hand to clamp precisely around Crucabena's sword wrist. Her grip was steady and exact, cutting off every possible change of attack. Before her opponent could struggle free, she spun and drove a vicious kick into Crucabena's abdomen.

Crucabena's entire body jolted as she was sent flying, losing control in midair before crashing heavily onto the open ground in the center of the hall.

Rubble scattered. Her exquisite robes were covered in dust, a faint trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her lips, and the elegance and composure she had maintained for years shattered completely.

Peruere slowly stepped forward, quietly looking down at the disheveled Crucabena on the ground. After all the life, death, and partings she had endured, only a cold, lucid verdict remained in her eyes:

"'Mother.'"

"You said kindness was useless."

"But it was precisely that kindness and gentleness that woke me from your cage."

As her words fell, a wisp of concentrated ember flame gathered in Peruere's palm.

The cage fell utterly silent, all its sins burned away.

This furnace, built by Crucabena's own hands to tame children through slaughter, ultimately fell to the strength, composure, and undying ember flame she herself had forced into being.

Dusk lay heavy, and the wind and rain were still.

Even the clouds and mist feared the edge of this ember flame and had long since fled, revealing a brilliant starry sky.

A withered Lumidouce Bell stood quietly in a corner, witnessing the conclusion of this sweeping blaze of ember flame.

(The end.)

(...Like hell it is.)

(If I actually stopped writing here, I'd jolt awake in the middle of the night and slap myself twice.)

(The readers would mince me into tiny pieces, too.)

Peruere slowly crouched before Xingsu, holding his icy hand in one of hers while reaching toward his neck with the other to feel for a pulse.

Sadly, there were no signs of life.

"..."

Peruere slowly closed Xingsu's eyes with their star-shaped pupils, then bent her knees and sat on the cold ground beside him.

She leaned forward slightly, carefully extending her arms around Xingsu's cold body and gently drawing him into her embrace.

Her movements were exceedingly light and slow, carrying a gentleness and guilt that feared disturbing the dead, as though she were afraid of hurting this boy who could no longer feel anything.

She held his cool body securely in her arms, letting his head rest gently against her shoulder. All those little moments when they had played together, the sight of him stubbornly resisting and fighting with everything he had, came flooding back.

Her surroundings were utterly silent. All that remained was her slight figure holding a cold corpse.

Dawn had arrived, and the long night was over.

A few tears fell onto Xingsu's clothes,

The stars gradually dimmed as the sun slowly rose.

The ashes burned out, the frost melted, and the furnace toppled.

The boy who had gone to his death would never return.

"Hmm... interesting."

The person hidden in the shadows quietly watched the two embracing in the sunlight, a faint smile curling beneath his mask.

"A shame about that dear colleague of mine, though. I'm afraid it'll be difficult to find so many excellent test subjects again."

The observer in the shadows slowly left.

However, something else seemed to catch his interest.

"Help! Someone, please help me!" After shouting all night, Scott no longer had the hoarse desperation he had started with. Having hung upside down from a tree all night, his brain was severely starved of oxygen.

Tap, tap.

It was the sound of boots striking the ground.

Sensing someone nearby, Scott was like a man clutching at his last lifeline.

"H-help, please, kind stranger, save me..."

Snap! The newcomer snapped his fingers, and the rope broke at the sound.

Scott fell to the ground and rolled several times before scrambling awkwardly to his feet and looking at the newcomer.

A mask, dressed like a researcher... In any case, this was definitely someone I couldn't afford to cross. Scott immediately dropped to his knees and began his performance.

"Thank you for your immense kindness, sir! Even if I, Scott, worked like an ox or a horse for you all my life, I could never repay your kindness! This lowly man could never repay you! \o/\o/\o/\o/"

"Heh, interesting. Then come with me. I guarantee I'll make you worth more than your price."

"Ah... huh?"