"Mother...?" Qi Zhimu's voice trembled uncontrollably.
Qiu Zhiyan's body stiffened for a moment, her frantic gaze tinged with confusion, as if trying to recognize him.
"...Zhimu?"
Her voice was hoarse, almost inhuman.
"It's me." Qi Zhimu took a step forward: "Mother, you..."
Before he could finish, Qiu Zhiyan suddenly clutched her head and roared.
The mara affliction's erosion of her sanity was intensifying, and her facial features began to twist unnaturally.
The golden woody patterns beneath her skin became increasingly prominent, showing a tendency to break through her flesh and grow.
But even so... even as her consciousness verged on collapse, she remained firmly in place, protecting the ruins behind her.
Only then did Qi Zhimu see a small figure huddled there.
Jingliu.
She was still alive, well-protected.
"Ah—!"
Qiu Zhiyan roared again, swinging her sword at the void.
Her movements were utterly chaotic, a frenzied hacking, as if fighting an invisible enemy.
Qi Zhimu's heart sank to the bottom, gripping the sword in his hand tightly.
On the battlefield, Cloud Knights had only one way to deal with comrades who had fallen to the mara affliction.
Destroy their elixir organ.
But that was his mother, his only kin.
She was the one who taught him swordsmanship.
Before his first battle, she was the one who stayed up all night to impart practical experience and explain the weaknesses of Abominations of Abundance.
After his father and sister died in battle, she was still the one who accompanied him for hundreds of years.
"Mother..." Qi Zhimu choked up.
Qiu Zhiyan suddenly stopped, turning to him.
Her cloudy eyes stared at him for a long, long time.
Then, she made a gesture.
With a trembling sword, she painstakingly pointed at Jingliu behind her, then pointed at Qi Zhimu, and finally—pointed at herself.
Once.
Twice... She was trying to convey a message with her remaining consciousness.
Qi Zhimu closed his eyes helplessly.
Qiu Zhiyan's lips barely managed to curl into a faint smile, showing relief, pleading, and even more worry.
Finally, her face was completely consumed by distortion and pain, letting out an inhuman wail.
The mara affliction's erosion had reached its final stage; the human part would completely disappear.
Qi Zhimu nearly crushed the sword hilt; his arm had never trembled so violently.
Suddenly, Qiu Zhiyan raised the sword in her hand and charged at Qi Zhimu with madness.
He suppressed all emotions, waiting for that moment to arrive—
Pfft!
The muffled sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh quietly echoed.
Both bodies stiffened simultaneously.
Blood spilled from the corner of Qi Zhimu's eye, tracing down his cheek.
Qiu Zhiyan slowly looked up, the madness in her eyes began to recede, gradually revealing a trace of clarity.
"Zhimu... Mother waited for you to return..."
She called out softly, her voice gentle and apologetic.
"Forgive Mother's cowardice and... her cruelty to you..."
She closed her eyes, her body tilting forward.
Qi Zhimu stiffly caught his mother, holding her as he knelt to the ground, his throat feeling choked, unable to utter a single word.
His vision also gradually blurred.
The sky was still blood-red, Rahu's flesh wriggled from afar, accompanied by the roaring engines of starships about to withdraw.
The world seemed to be left with only the weight in his arms and the tearing pain in his chest.
"We, the Cloud Knights, swear to be like clouds obscuring the sky, protecting the Star Skiff..."
Mother, you were not cowardly.
Fighting to the very end for a city and its people, you did not betray the Cloud Knights' oath.
You did not disgrace the Qi Family, nor were you cruel to your child.
You, who once taught me to wield a sword, will not remain on this blood-stained land, nor will you become nourishment for Abominations.
"Mother, Zhimu will take you home."
Jingliu staggered over, her knees bending, splashing blood from the ground. Her small hand grasped Qiu Zhiyan's gradually cooling palm, tears streaming uncontrollably.
A few seconds later, she lost consciousness.
Qi Zhimu noticed that Jingliu's forearm was wrapped with an incredibly familiar silver moon jade pendant... It was the protective jade he had given his mother hundreds of years ago.
Qi Zhimu collected his mother's remains, his face devoid of any emotion.
All sorrow could wait until after the war; now, he had things he must do.
And duties to fulfill.
And people to save.
And Abominations to kill.
No matter if the pain in his chest deepened with every step, he could not stop.
Some wounds would never heal.
Some farewells would never become accustomed to.
Some hatreds would only end with death.
In the starry sky, General Shafen's attack continued, preserving the last evacuation route for the survivors.
Numerous starships, unable to maintain formation and laden with survivors, narrowly escaped the Azure City, which had become a bloody purgatory, under his protection.
Qi Zhimu picked up Jingliu and soared into the sky on his sword... "Every conquest of death is supreme joy. Like them, your flesh and blood are insignificant, but your pain might please me."
Shuhu shrieked, each word spoken from a different head, piecing together a nauseating complete sentence.
"Teng Xiao, what do you plan to kill me with this time? I'm looking forward to it."
Teng Xiao floated in the air, surrounded by a nearly materialized storm of imaginary energy.
His face was no longer filled with anger, only calm.
A terrifying calm.
It was not indifference to everything, but the extreme compression of all anger, grief, and determination.
He glanced at the last starship evacuating Azure City, golden light bursting from his eyes.
"With myself."
These four quiet words cut through all the clamor.
Shuhu's laughter abruptly stopped, thousands of heads frowned simultaneously, eyes narrowing at the same time.
This reaction was unexpected.
Based on past experience, Teng Xiao should have shown that delightful rage, rushing forward recklessly, instead of being so calm.
Vast imaginary energy gathered behind Teng Xiao, condensing into a giant phantom.
The phantom's giant blade ignited with golden flames, striking down from the sky, piercing straight through the earth.
In an instant, the flames incinerated the giant tree that Shuhu had transformed into.
Wherever the golden flames reached, flesh and blood retreated, and Abominations turned to dust.
In a very short time, the flames not only destroyed Shuhu's body.
But also burned the Star Skiff that had become part of Rahu, turning it all into ashes.
Those who had been devoured by Rahu and turned into tormented faces, regained their freedom at the last moment.
They looked at the golden phantom, their eyes reflecting liberation.
"Ah—!"
Teng Xiao let out a roar capable of shattering mountains, the giant golden phantom behind him retracted into his body, and he transformed into a golden meteor—
Boom!
The meteor instantly pierced through Rahu, annihilating it in the boundless cosmic starry sky.
Shuhu seemingly disappeared just like that, as if dead.
But neither Teng Xiao nor Shafen showed any joy on their faces.
Shuhu wouldn't die so easily, but Azure City... was gone.
From the moment Rahu devoured Azure City, even with the Lord of the Hunt Envoy's raging fury, they were forced into a dilemma.
If they immediately annihilated the Evil Star, the remaining survivors in Azure City would die by their hands.
If they didn't annihilate it, countless others would still die.
Someone always had to pay the price, someone always had to make the choice.
The starry sky was utterly silent.
Qi Zhimu watched Shuhu disappear under that attack, his eyes similarly filled with only dead silence.
One day, Shuhu would no longer have a chance to escape.
He swore it.
To achieve this sole aspiration in his life, being all alone, there was nothing he couldn't lose, no price he couldn't pay... I want to add more chapters, but my hands are so cold and numb, and the heated mouse pad I ordered hasn't arrived yet. I envy the North for having heating.
So I might add 0-2 chapters, or maybe none at all...
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