Hearing Morax's words, Raiden Ei was instantly plunged into despair.
The light faded from her eyes as she clutched Raiden Makoto tightly, crying soundlessly.
In this moment, the shadow warrior who had devoted herself to martial pursuit had lost the one person she most wished to protect.
"I'm sorry, Ei."
"Cough… I seem… unable to… cough… accompany you to the very end…"
Raiden Makoto coughed up blood continuously as she spoke in broken fragments.
"No, no, don't… don't leave me…"
Raiden Ei kept shaking her head, holding her even tighter.
Not far away, after evading Raiden Ei's Musou no Hitotachi, the Abyss Lord stood atop a Ruin Colossus.
Gazing at Raiden Ei's sorrowful state, he seemed immensely pleased, laughing.
"Hehehe, what a beautiful sight!!"
"Ah~ it truly intoxicates my soul!"
The Abyss Lord moaned as if savoring Raiden Ei's grief itself.
"You are the Abyss Lord."
At that moment, Phanes arrived not far from him and spoke indifferently.
He did not care about Raiden Makoto's death.
If her death could force the Abyss Lord into revealing himself, then she had died a worthy death.
"Hehehe, what a nauseating display of arrogance, Phanes!"
The Abyss Lord laughed hoarsely before continuing in a regretful tone:
"What a pity. If I were at my full strength, I would surely battle you to the end."
"Hmph. Do you think you can escape?"
Phanes snorted coldly, and four shadows of Sustainers appeared around him.
"Hahahaha! Phanes, you know you cannot kill me!"
"If you truly could, you wouldn't have waited until now!"
The Abyss Lord laughed darkly and wildly.
"If that damned Wood Spirit Immortal Lord hadn't destroyed the foundation I built over ten thousand years, do you think you and your Seven Archons could have stopped me?!"
The Wood Spirit Immortal Lord?!
Hearing the Abyss Lord's words, the gods below all lifted their heads.
Killing intent flickered in Morax's eyes.
So Jiang Yan's two-thousand-year disappearance had been to destroy your ten-thousand-year foundation!
And he had even fallen into slumber because of it.
"Heh heh heh, no need to look at me like that, everyone."
Sensing the gazes directed at him, the Abyss Lord spoke hoarsely.
"The Wood Spirit Immortal Lord, hm? In the end, he suffered the Abyss's corrosion to the fullest, yet still failed to kill me!"
"How tragic!"
"How laughable!"
"Hiss… why hasn't he appeared yet?"
"Ah… could it be that he's unable to appear?"
At that instant, Morax could no longer suppress the killing intent in his heart and shot into the sky.
Following closely behind him was the equally enraged Barbatos.
The power of raging winds howled, transforming into blades from all directions that slashed toward the Abyss Lord.
Above the heavens, countless stone spears suddenly materialized. Behind them loomed a heavenly star that blotted out the sky, like a small asteroid descending!
"Hehehe, what terrifying attacks."
The Abyss Lord chuckled. Immediately, black mist surged around him.
The Ruin Colossus beneath him was suddenly engulfed by the black mist, forming a suit of pitch-black armor.
Then the Ruin Colossus threw a punch. Surging black fog burst forth, shattering the sky full of stone spears.
Next, light gathered in the Colossus's single eye, and a beam instantly blasted Barbatos and Morax backward.
"So powerful!"
Barbatos's expression changed.
After being clad in the black armor, the Ruin Colossus's combat strength had increased by more than an entire tier.
"Hahahaha! I really must thank these ant-like humans!"
The Abyss Lord grinned savagely as the black mist around him continued to surge.
Nearly all the Ruin Colossi, Ruin Graders, and Ruin Guards were covered in black armor.
At this moment, these Khaenri'ahn machines had become the Abyss Lord's weapons.
"You seek death!!"
Phanes roared in fury. Vast divine power surged as the four shadows around him manifested, each unleashing its authority.
"Hmph. Compared to that Wood Spirit Immortal Lord, your authority is truly weak!"
The Abyss Lord snorted coldly, commanding the Ruin Colossi under his control to clash with Phanes.
In an instant, the earth shattered and space itself roared.
The once-prosperous nation of Khaenri'ah had become a battlefield of gods, filled everywhere with scorched earth and black smoke.
At the same time, the surrounding Khaenri'ahn machines launched attacks against the Seven Archons.
The entire battlefield rang with the sounds of relentless combat.
Only Raiden Ei remained kneeling on the ground, holding Raiden Makoto in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't… don't leave me…"
The light had vanished from Raiden Ei's eyes as she kept murmuring those words, feeling the life in her arms steadily fading.
Raiden Makoto parted her lips, wanting to offer words of comfort, yet she could not utter a single sound.
At this moment, she did not even have the strength to speak.
Suddenly, she thought of that silver-haired, sharp-eared figure.
She remembered their first meeting—his overbearing demeanor.
Perhaps from that very moment, Jiang Yan's figure had already been deeply engraved in her heart.
Unfortunately, he already belonged to another…
Recalling his intimate appearance with the blue-haired girl named Ganyu, Raiden Makoto felt an unexpected pang of pain and bitterness in her heart.
If he were here, seeing her like this… would he feel heartache? Even just a little?
If only you were here…
Jiang Yan…
At this moment, Raiden Makoto seemed to understand many things.
She finally began to face her feelings for Jiang Yan.
Perhaps only when standing at the brink of death could she truly muster the courage to confront the emotions she had long avoided.
But it was too late.
She was already certain to die.
The Abyss's corrosion had permeated her organs. The gaping hole in her chest was constantly devouring her remaining vitality.
If only… she could have expressed her feelings to you sooner…
With lingering regret, Raiden Makoto slowly closed her eyes. Her breathing grew fainter and fainter.
On the battlefield—
The Abyss Lord was struck by Phanes for several exchanges, his body dispersing.
But in the blink of an eye, he reappeared atop another Ruin Colossus.
"Hehehe, I told you—you cannot kill me!!"
The Abyss Lord laughed arrogantly. The surrounding Khaenri'ahn machines had all been set to automatic attack, the black mist manipulating the humans inside who controlled the machines, continuously launching assaults at the gods around them.
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