Chapter 276: No Ifs
The moment the Blood Gold Stone shattered, time around Anno stopped, and everyone was frozen in place.
The repulsive energy covered Sitar's abilities, and only Brightman, wearing a special mech, was able to use them.
Anno's eyes reflected Brightman's figure as he ran towards her.
"I'll take you away."
Brightman grabbed Anno's hand and used his time-space abilities.
He wanted to take her to another world, where she would no longer be bound by these people.
There will be no more people or things that will hurt her; it will only be the two of them.
Just as Brightman opened the time tunnel, a long sword flew towards him. He dodged to the side, and Anno's hand slipped from his grasp.
Sitar pulled Anno into his arms, while Caesar and the others shielded them behind him.
Under the immense energy pressure of the asteroid breaking apart, Brightman's powers could only be used for a short time.
Brightman glared at Sital with a sharp look, a rare expression of anger on his face.
At this point, because the asteroid's collapse had already formed a natural wormhole, Brightman's spacetime tunnel was also torn into countless spacetime rifts by the asteroid's chaotic energy, and could not be closed.
The immense gravity was pulling them downwards relentlessly, and if they didn't find a way to escape this area soon, they would be sucked into a spacetime rift.
Anno could only watch helplessly as her core fragment was sucked into the spacetime rift.
"Protect Anunu!"
Sitar handed Anno over to Caesar, then used primal energy to create a static energy field around them, trapping some of the core fragments within it, and retrieved the core fragments one by one.
A gust of wind blew towards Anno and the others, instantly engulfing them in the hurricane. It was Brightman who used his wind-based superpower on them.
Caesar held Anno tightly, refusing to let go no matter what.
A huge rock flew towards them, and Caesar held Anno in his arms, catching the rock with his body.
It was an incredibly hard piece of ore, spinning rapidly in the hurricane, sending Caesar and Anno flying a distance. Caesar held Anno tightly, and Anno heard the sound of Caesar's bones breaking.
At this moment, their internal organs felt as if they were about to burst from the pressure of the chaotic energy around them. Anno had already lost too much of his original energy, and his head was dizzy, making it impossible for him to concentrate on using his energy against them.
She couldn't hear the sounds around her clearly; all she felt was noise.
Suddenly, her body plummeted downwards. She vaguely heard Caesar say something in her ear, and then she was pulled out of Caesar's embrace.
The scene before her eyes became increasingly blurry, and she could no longer see anything clearly.
The only thing she could clearly feel was the core emptiness within her body, which she felt was growing larger and larger... almost swallowing her whole.
Everyone was separated by the chaotic spacetime turbulence, and even Brightman could not resist this gravitational force that could tear everything apart.
Seeing Anno about to fall into the dark space, a look of panic appeared on Brightman's face.
Sitar and the others were desperately heading towards Anno, calling out to her with all their might.
But Anno couldn't hear anything. Her body's self-preservation mechanism provided her core with enormous energy to resist the force that was pulling her toward the spacetime rift.
Her body emitted a faint light due to the rapid depletion of her primal energy, like a candle in the night illuminating the surrounding darkness. This sight terrified Sitar and the others, who desperately tried to get to her side.
She is in the middle of a time rift. If she falls to the critical point, she will be torn apart by the spacetime turbulence!
Just now, she and Caesar were both pulled down. Caesar threw her up forcefully and they disappeared into the spacetime rift, but Anno still couldn't escape the gravity of the spacetime rift.
Chaotic energy, immense gravity, and constantly colliding and exploding rocks and robots formed a thick barrier that isolated them, tearing and pounding against their bodies.
"Anunu!"
"Your Highness!"
"......."
Brightman was above the eye of the hurricane, and he could see Anunu's core shimmering in her chest, cracked in an attempt to resist the immense gravitational pull.
Once her core shatters, it will no longer be able to protect her from the gravitational pull of the spacetime rift.
Brightman's eyelashes trembled, concealing a hint of sadness in his eyes.
He always... falls just short of the final step...
He sighed and plummeted toward Anno, as if heading into a dream from which he would never awaken.
The specially designed mech provided him with enough power to penetrate the chaotic energy turbulence and reach Anno.
However, if they were to fall within the area where Anno was located, even if his mech had sufficient power, it would be unable to take them away from the critical point of the spacetime rift.
He landed next to Anno and quickly manipulated the mecha a few times. His mecha detached from his body and assembled into a regular polygonal object. Then, the mecha split into several pieces and flew around in an orderly manner, connecting to form a protective shield that enveloped them.
However, this protective shield won't last long; it will eventually be torn apart by gravity.
Brightman reached out and pulled Anno into his arms.
He had wanted to take her away at this time; there was no better opportunity than now. He wanted to take a gamble, but in the end, things didn't go as planned.
As Brightman gazed at the face etched in his memory, an unprecedented surge of emotion welled up within him. At this moment, he had so much he wanted to say to her.
He regretted that he was not good with words in front of Anunu.
During the few times I spent with her, I was never able to have a proper conversation with her.
I couldn't smile at her, I couldn't comfort her.
Because no one has ever given him true love, he doesn't understand it and can't learn how.
“Anunu…”
As Brightman spoke, his voice involuntarily choked up.
In his memory, he had never cried before, but at this moment his eyes were moist. Looking at Anunu, he felt wronged and sad.
This emotion was unfamiliar to him.
He no longer had time to think or to fully experience this emotion.
“Anunu, I don’t envy Sitar or your family. I envy Karina and Starfire.”
Brightman knew Anunu couldn't hear him, but he still spoke his mind to her.
Perhaps it was because she couldn't hear that he was able to speak.
“They are enhanced beings just like me, and they all possess your core fragments, but why do you like them but not me, even just a little bit?”
"If I could, I would also like to be adopted by an ordinary family. One day, when you appear in front of me in search of the core fragment, we will no longer be enemies. You are so soft-hearted, you will definitely not resist my contact anymore, right?"
Brightman placed his hand on Annunu's cheek as if cradling a priceless treasure, his voice no longer flat and emotionless, "I'm sorry, Annunu... If only I had met you sooner, if only I had taken control of everything sooner..."
At this point, Brightman stopped talking.
He knew he couldn't control it, and there were no "what ifs".
Even before he was born, his fate was already in the hands of others; everything he possessed was not his own.
His abilities, his rights, and even himself are not his own.
All he had left were those dreams that he had turned into memories; these were the only solace in his short life.
He focused his gaze on the spacetime rifts, where fragments of Anunu's core had scattered across different dimensions.
“Anunu, if you can, when you go to search for these core fragments, take a look and see if there is a Brightman in so many timelines who is different from me.”
We have different lives, yet we still met. You smile at me, and I ask you which flavor of ice cream tastes better.
"You are...Bryman?"
Anno's core was nearing its limit; she could neither hear nor see clearly. She felt someone embrace her, but the embrace was unfamiliar.
She reached out and touched the person's cheek, her fingertips feeling slightly damp.
Brightman's long eyelashes trembled at her fingertips, and he took her hand in his, placing a kiss on the back of her hand.
It's good that you know it's me.
Brightman gave Anno a final tight hug, then threw her upwards with force.
He concentrated his energy and then released it, stabilizing the torn space.
Cracks began to appear on his body. He seemed to feel no pain and looked up.
Without the pull of gravity, Anunu was propelled upwards by the inertia he had thrown out. The chaotic energy produced an extremely bright light, and her figure sank into this light, and also into his dream.
Cracks began to appear in the protective shield formed by the mecha, and soon after, a crisp cracking sound rang out.
Brightman watched Anunu's figure disappear into the halo of light, then slowly closed his eyes.
Anunu, I met you in my dreams.
You must have been waiting a long time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com