Chapter 35: Victory and Defeat
The new Crimson Moon Knight was born the moment the old Crimson Moon Knight left.
A large amount of red star spiritual power was faintly visible at the edge of the silver-white armor. Under the combined treatment of the spiritual crystals and the red light, the wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The influence of drug addiction was now insignificant, and all the thoughts in his mind faded away - only hatred and murderous intent remained.
The girl wore a silver-white helmet with long horns and dazzling red and white armor. Her slender figure, covered in this deadly outfit, exuded an indescribable invisible pressure. Her eyes could no longer see anything else, but she stared silently with her deep black gaze at the figure opposite her who looked exactly like her.
Seraphimir was so shocked by this sudden change that she swallowed and took a step back.
However, the gaze of the silver-armored girl opposite slowly shifted to Ling Shuang beside her.
She suddenly revealed a somewhat coquettish smile and spoke softly.
"Lingshuang, I'll give you a chance. I want revenge now—if you don't help her when I attack her later, I'll give you the chance to stay in Elysien as your true self. How about that?"
Seraphimir's expression suddenly turned grim - her mental attack had no effect on her, unless she had a melee weapon to protect her!
"Ling Shuang! You have to understand, she just wants to use you. Don't forget that you are the person she hates the most now, and I am the one who likes you now. Don't put the cart before the horse!"
Ling Shuang was completely stunned when Beichen said that.
...Will she accept him as long as he is willing to help her get revenge?
Impossible, this is absolutely impossible, because the look in her eyes when she looked at him did not show any forgiveness or tolerance at all, but was full of malice and ridicule.
But even though he knew this in his heart, he was still moved by these words, and he still - still had fantasies about the truth of these words.
If he could really return to her side, then what was the need for Seraphimnil as a substitute to exist?
Ling Shuang, with a conflicted look on her face, listened to Seraphimir's screams and curses, then slowly stepped back a few steps, lowered her head, and left the battlefield.
Beichen shrugged his shoulders and giggled, which was a bit creepy.
"How is it? How does it feel to have someone as someone who hates everything easily take away something important? Doesn't that feel good? Ahhh—it doesn't matter. You won't care, because you 'hate' everything, right?"
“…”
The woman opposite her who looked the same as her just had a ferocious look on her face and could not utter a word in rebuttal.
"Are you starting to feel scared now? ...It's too late," she said, her voice suddenly dropping to half its original depth. "Because everything I just endured, everything Agard endured—everything—will be returned to you a thousandfold."
"Gu!"
Seraphimíl let out a small wail of fear from her throat, then she suddenly seemed to remember something and waved her hand violently:
"'Don't attack me'!"
“Heh… heh heh heh heh!!”
Beichen, however, stared at the other person's distorted face with his head tilted, as if he was looking at a clown.
"You want to order me around like you ordered Agard? Make no mistake. I may be wearing knight armor, but my body is the vessel of a genuine miko. Just maintaining control of Pandora's Box in front of me is exhausting, right? ...And you still want to order me around?"
At the end of his words, Beichen narrowed his eyes.
"...Do you deserve it?"
This sentence was said lightly.
But as soon as these words were spoken, the air began to buzz.
It was as if even the atmosphere around her was dominated by her, stained with bloody murderous aura. She took a step forward, and the air around her began to distort, and the scenery around her also began to sway in her eyes.
"Beichen!!"
"Beichen, calm down!!"
As if noticing something was wrong with Beichen, Heihuo and Sujie shouted anxiously. Heihuo was holding Yagad's body, unable to move, while Sujie quickly walked to her side, hoping to help her recover from her murderous intent.
──Something was wrong. It seemed that hatred had taken away all her rationality.
But Beichen just turned his head to take a look, pulled down Su Jie's collar and kissed him lightly, then let him go and took a few steps back.
"Su Jie, stay away from the battlefield. The task of protecting Yin Yue and those war weapons is now left to you."
“…Beichen──”
Su Jie wanted to try to wake her up again, but he immediately noticed that the figure opposite him had turned into a vengeful devil. She might not come back to her senses until she achieved her goal.
He made a hateful sound and ran towards the direction of Gu Yinyue in the distance.
Beichen turned around again and looked at the new witch who had been forced back to the edge of the platform by her pressure.
Then, the battle begins again.
The duel between positive and negative turned into a duel between negative and negative.
Beichen's figure left a dazzling silver-white afterglow, and pounced on Seraphimir like a hungry lion cub. The red giant sword in his hand drew a 180-degree arc, as if to split the sky and the earth, and chopped down heavily on the opponent!
Seraphimille screamed, and released the red light in her hand lavishly. She barely withstood the thunderous blow amid the harsh collision sound. However, before she could catch her breath, the next blow came fiercely from below!
“Woo—”
The new priestess used her celestial power to float herself into the air, narrowly avoiding the attack. Then she discovered that the new knight opposite, for some reason—perhaps due to lack of experience, insufficient celestial power, or unable to bear the weight of the armor—did not spread his wings behind him to catch up. Instead, he just stood on the ground, facing her with an expressionless face.
"Ha, hahahahaha—let's see how you attack!"
After realizing her advantage, Seraphimir regained her arrogance, stretched out her hand and began to condense the red star cannon, then fired at the figure on the ground.
However, the Star Spirit Cannon was blocked and broken by the red giant sword in the opponent's hand.
Then, the figure on the ground bent its body and prepared to jump.
The witch's face changed again - but before she could think of a countermeasure, the knight opposite her had already taken a few steps, kicked the ground hard, pointed the tip of the giant sword at her, and suddenly jumped up!
Wearing such heavy armor, how could he jump so high?! ── Before the miko could even finish her surprise, the giant sword slashed her shoulder, and she was knocked to the ground with a muffled sound.
“…Damn it!”
Seraphimir, who had landed, wanted to take off again, but was interrupted by the red sword energy swung by Beichen. Now he was retreating angrily and helplessly.
Then, an increasingly strong feeling of unwillingness gradually took shape in her heart.
Why? Why was she always the legitimate one, her position being so severely suppressed, both in terms of status and in Ling Shuang's heart? ——Now even her fighting ability was inferior to hers, and she had been forced into such an embarrassing situation?
No, you can't be so cowardly!
I've replaced her! I've become the new Red Moon Priestess. I'm a star-killer, how can I be forced to retreat by a loser like you?
Seraphimir roared.
A huge red star sword also appeared in her hand, and then she lowered her body and rushed towards Beichen!
The mobile battle turned into close combat, and two red swords of the same size collided, producing dazzling red sparks.
For a moment, the only sounds on the huge platform were the clashing of weapons and the crackling noise of the exploding star power.
On the one hand, he longs to kill for revenge, on the other hand, he longs to kill for destruction;
He sneered as he swung his arms, creating red crescents, and laughed wildly as he raised his giant sword high and split the air around him;
While imbuing the blade with dark hatred, he attacked aggressively, while at the same time, he armed the blade with fervent hatred and launched a desperate counterattack—
Amidst the murderous aura that filled the air, the black combat uniform of the witch and the silver-white armor of the knight were all cut open by the sharp sword energy. The floor of the platform was pressed into small pits by the pressure brought by the collision of the star spirit power. The sword energy one after another brought out the shrill sound of the wind like ghosts crying, making this quiet platform covered with blood look like hell!
The crazy fight continues.
Heihuo came to Sujie carrying Yagad's body - they had moved their companions together for easier protection, but except for Gu Yinyue, the other warriors still seemed to have no intention of waking up completely.
The twins turned their heads and looked anxiously in the direction of Beichen.
Although they wanted to go forward to help several times, they found that the battlefield was shrouded in fierce fog and there was no chance for them to intervene.
Beichen was beginning to lose strength - after all, the armor was too heavy. Although the blade of the giant sword in his hand was made of stellar power, the hilt was not light either. On Seraphimir's side, the stellar power stored in Pandora's Box was beginning to run low, and her offensive gradually became sluggish.
But an almost morbid desire to fight still burned in their eyes.
Hate, hate, hatred is my only mission in this world. Only hatred is the value of my existence and the source of my strength──
Hate, hate, hatred is the only emotion left in my mind at this moment. If hatred can give me more strength, then it doesn’t matter if I hate a little more!
The weapons fell to the ground, the armor dissipated, and the Star Sword returned to nothingness, but the battle was still not over.
The hand-to-hand combat turned into a fight with bare hands.
But if we fight with bare hands, how can I lose?
The knight laughed.
She threw a straight punch with an angry smile, delivered an elbow strike with a sneer, and with a wild laugh, she bent her fingers and clamped them against the opponent's neck. She raised her legs and kicked the opponent's abdomen with a sly smile. She raised her knife high with a hateful smile, and with the determination to chop off the opponent's hand bones, she slashed down mercilessly. After all these attacks were avoided by the frantic dodging and counterattacks, she withdrew her hand, bit the arm that blocked her, and tore off a large piece of flesh with a swish.
The witch covered in scars, with her hair disheveled, waved her limbs and screamed like a shrill ghost;
The knight who had lost his armor lowered his body, arched his back, and even touched the ground lightly with his fingertips like a feline beast preparing to pounce, transforming into a hunting beast.
Then, like a red meteor, it slammed heavily into the enemy opposite, delivering a decisive blow!
clang!!
The witch was hit hard in the abdomen and flew back several meters. When she landed, a crystal stone on her waist was crushed by her weight.
Her image gradually changed.
...turned back into the figure that looked very familiar to Beichen.
The appearance of the impoverished princess in Saiyan Kingdom who had all her memories erased by the medicine she had fed herself.
So that's it──Beichen narrowed his emotionless black eyes.
That's right, Agard once said that a projected personality wouldn't easily merge with another body—unless that body had been stripped of its own consciousness. So, isn't this body, rendered blank by memory loss, the perfect vessel for a projected personality?
Seeing this scene, Ling Shuang's expression suddenly changed.
Beichen stopped the attack and did not continue the pursuit. The witch, who got the chance to escape, immediately crawled to Lingshuang's feet.
"Ling Shuang, save me!"
She stood up with difficulty, threw herself into Ling Shuang's arms, and shook his shoulders.
"Ling Shuang, I am the one who loves you the most! Believe me, kill her and I will give you the best! Don't you want to kill all humans?! I will help────"
The new miko didn't finish her words.
Because Ling Shuang pierced the other person's body with her hands with an expressionless face.
"I've been deceived again. He clearly said—you and Beichen look the same. So you were also transformed using a special spirit crystal? ...Then how can you, who doesn't even look like her, be qualified to be her stand-in?"
He spoke quietly under the wide-eyed gaze of the miko.
"Ling Shuang, you—"
"I can betray even the person I love the most, let alone you?"
The Fallen Dark Seed boy sneered, and conjured up a black spear, stabbing it through the opponent's heart again, and then pulling it out mercilessly!
“Ah ...
The witch let out a final scream, then her body twitched a few times and became motionless.
Seeing this scene, Beichen on the side suddenly chuckled.
The small black cube floated out of the witch's body again. Beichen walked over and stretched out his hand. It immediately seemed as if it had found its real owner and could not wait to merge into Beichen's palm.
"Xiaochen──"
Ling Shuang threw the corpse aside with a tangled and confused smile that seemed to be seeking credit, and took a step closer to her.
"Look, I didn't help her, I helped you kill her—I did it, you—"
"Ahh, I know."
Beichen gave him a charming smile again and did not stop him from approaching.
"I will keep my word. You can stay in Elysien as Lingshuang."
"real!?"
Ling Shuang's expression became ecstatic, he stepped forward and pressed Beichen's shoulders hard.
"I thought you were just joking, Xiaochen, I—"
He wanted to apologize, but was interrupted before he could even say "sorry".
boom!
Beichen placed his hand on his chest and fired the Star Cannon at close range.
Within a few seconds, a big hole was blasted in Ling Shuang's chest.
Ling Shuang spat out a mouthful of blood with a "gulp" sound and staggered back a step - but his expression was not very surprised. He just stared at the grinning face opposite him with sad and painful eyes.
"Of course I'm not joking. I'll let you stay in Elytheon in your true identity. But as a national disgrace, a corpse despised by all."
"Little...Chen..."
Ling Shuang opened and closed his lips with great effort, wanting to tell her "Don't make that expression" - but immediately, he remembered that all the other person's negative emotions seemed to be caused by him.
So he said nothing, but just fell straight back, his pair of red eyes staring blankly at the sky above his head.
Beichen walked up to him, squatted down, and stared mockingly at the dark-blooded boy who was breathing out more than breathing in.
"How pitiful! That Seraphimir, her success and failure are all due to Lingshuang. I wonder what she feels in hell?"
She tilted her head and chuckled.
"What about you, Lingshuang? Do you feel happy after killing the person who loves you the most and then being killed by the person who loves you the most? Go to hell and have a good chat with Seraphimir. You will definitely be happy to see each other, right?"
Ling Shuang did not answer her. His eyes had lost focus, and a black light was emanating from his body, then turned back into a spear broken into two pieces.
"Oh."
Beichen stood up, looked down at the corpse at his feet, and let out a mocking sound from his chest.
“Hahahahahahahaha!!────HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!”
Then, just like Seraphim, she burst into a twisted laugh filled with pleasure.
That laughter was filled with dark joy, but it also carried a suppressed and heavy sadness, heart-wrenching pain, and countless inexplicable guilt and regret.
If Ling Shuang had been killed at the beginning,
If you treat Agard a little better,
If I hadn't succumbed to the addiction to Blood Epiphyllum Dew,
If I could be a little stronger and not be manipulated by Su Mo──
“Haha ...!!!”
As she laughed wildly, a light red liquid flowed from her eye sockets.
But even if she laughed louder and her throat was almost hoarse, she couldn't vent the sadness at all. It still lingered in her heart, trying to block her entire heart.
She just smiled like that, but didn't notice that a large amount of ferocious red star spiritual power was slowly gathering and flowing into her body.
“Beichen! !”
When Gu Yinyue woke up, he only saw the miserable corpse of Yagard. The twins in the distance tried desperately to get close to her, but were pushed away by the vortex of star spiritual power.
...What's going on? Why did Agard die? Is it related to the hallucinations everyone just experienced?
Gu Yinyue's brain started to work rapidly.
What's with that red swirl of star power? Has Pandora's Box been opened again? And what's with Beichen's expression? He looks like a true world-destroying shrine maiden—is it because of Agard?
Gu Yinyue wanted to go forward to check on Yagard's body, but it was obvious that the situation in the distance was even worse, so he just gently stroked Yagard's wide-open eyes with a sad expression.
"I'm sorry, I'll come back and accommodate you later."
He said this softly, then looked around - Longyun and Naraka were still unconscious, while Beichen in the distance was still laughing loudly as he absorbed the star spirit power. The voices of Heihuo and Sujie had been drowned out by the noise created by the star spirit power.
Even the voices of Hei Huo and Su Jie can no longer be heard.
Gu Yinyue frowned.
Then, a picture suddenly flashed through his mind.
And because he remembered this scene, he immediately placed his hand on the hilt of the Killing Moon Sword at his waist - then the next second, he drew the sword, let out a low roar, cut through the vortex of star spiritual power, rushed to Beichen, and then stabbed the blade into her chest, knocking her backwards, and then nailed her to one of the pillars of the platform.
Everything was just like the scene three years ago.
That was the scene when they met, Gou Ming Yin Yue, holding a spear, pinned her to the wall behind him. But this time, he didn't do the same as last time. He just stood opposite her and explained to her quietly.
He also rushed to her, holding the hilt of the knife, hugged her body, and whispered in her ear.
"Remember what I told you? I told you not to worry. If you want to become a 'witch', I will definitely stop you."
As these words were spoken, a light flashed in Beichen's turbid black eyes.
"Come back, Beichen. ...We can overcome any difficulties together."
“Woo—”
She let out a broken sob in Gu Yinyue's arms.
Then she slowly stretched out her hands and hugged Gu Yinyue's tall body tightly.
The Killing Moon Blade was slowly pulled out of her body, and she threw herself into Gu Yinyue's arms, crying loudly.
"Yin Yue, Yagad... Yagad..."
"I know."
Gu Yinyue turned his head and glanced at the corpse lying on the cold ground in the distance.
"Cry, I can cry with you. ...But you can't just leave like this, you still have us here with you."
"……Um."
“…Don’t let him worry.”
"……Um."
"It's good to be back. As long as you're still alive... there's still hope for everything."
"……Um……"
The two embraced each other on the blood-covered platform, while Heihuo and Sujie stood beside them with tired faces.
They all looked up at the dark sky.
A ray of light, with a beautiful golden color, slowly poured down from the rolling black clouds.
Ⅴ Broken Moon Revelation
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