"Freedom? Heh heh heh..." Keomi gave up resisting in the flames, letting Elsie's sword cut his body in half.
He put his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.
Wait a minute? Blue eyes!?
"Your eyes..."
"earthquake!"
The slight tremor had no effect whatsoever. What was Keomi doing? Earthquakes were meant to turn the extraordinary into the ordinary, unless they were charged up to a certain extent.
But right now, his earthquake only caused a slight tremor; it's not enough to...
"You're...laughing?" El looked at Keomi, who was gradually being engulfed by flames. He was laughing! He was laughing!!!
【Elsie...】
"..."
"Boom—" A sound came from the distant mountains.
This is the North.
"..."
An avalanche has occurred.
Elsie dropped her sword on the ground, gazed at the distant, swirling snowflakes, forced a smile, nodded, and said helplessly…
"Um."
...
...
The heavy snow destroyed everything, including the cozy little house, and her and him...
...
After a long silence, a slender hand emerged from beneath the snow.
The midday sun shone on Elsie's face as she breathed heavily, feeling the thrill of forcibly activating the magical barrier during the earthquake.
She won? Once again...
But it wasn't so pleasant...
"Cough cough... Ugh..." Elsie touched her chest, still finding the power of the avalanche somewhat unbearable.
Although the activation of the magic barrier saved her from fatal harm, the barrier, weakened by the earthquake, was no match for it and shattered instantly.
She was dizzy from the impact of the avalanche.
Now...it seems a bit...
"..." El thought of the red stain on the snow. She touched the corner of her mouth. The blood was sweet and fishy, with a rusty taste.
Moreover, it felt like a stone was pressing on my chest, which was extremely uncomfortable and even made it difficult to breathe.
Okay, now, take a few steps?
Elsie tried to stand up, but her trembling calf muscles quickly brought her back to reality.
"thump--"
She collapsed helplessly onto the snow.
Blood kept flowing from his mouth, and his face gradually turned pale.
The magic barrier remained open, otherwise the cold would have taken her life at any moment.
No! Not yet! I can't fall here!
She forced herself to stand up and continued walking forward with sheer willpower.
If someone could talk to her at this moment and help her focus her mind, that would be wonderful.
[...]
Elsie, are you alright?
“…cough…” Elsie stopped after a violent cough, took a few deep breaths, and swayed unsteadily.
But then I thought about everything that had happened before.
Thinking of the cave where the story began...
If she had died there, perhaps so much tragedy wouldn't have happened?
If she had stopped Kyryat back then, perhaps that mercenary group would have survived?
If she hadn't gone to Locke City, but instead chose to stay with Alcardo, then... that would have been a good ending, wouldn't it?
Windsor... Dean Xinglan... General Bergop... the family... the family...
Elsie's upper and lower eyelids struggled, her eyes lost their light, and her body continued to move forward slowly.
[...]
She seems to have always lived a lonely life.
Only three years old? Only... three years old?
She is neither a useless protagonist who can make a three-year promise, nor an invincible person who dominates the ages.
In this world that has been ruined, how can we find a way out?
She has no choice but to move forward, right?
One step...and another...
Memories of the past, bit by bit, vanished into thin air in the very end.
But!
She doesn't want to!
Does all this beauty inevitably come to an end after my arrival?
So, what is the meaning of her existence?
Witness this tragedy?
Or... a reversal that seeks a final outcome... akin to charity?
【Elsie.】
“Soul… Soul Abyss…” Elsie’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
Is what she wants really in the Abyss of Souls?
In this state, can she really reach the Soul Abyss?
Is it really... worth it?
It seems that my journey to this point has truly been like that of a caged bird...
A redemption.
【Elsie.】
Are you already getting bored with this journey?
"..." Elsie's body passed through the pop-up window and continued forward, taking small steps.
Exhausted, she had to stop to catch her breath several times. She clutched her chest, blood seeping out and quickly staining her clothes red.
She tried to heal her injuries, but the power from her bloodline seemed to have lost its effectiveness in the North, and she was even finding it increasingly difficult to control her magic.
If there's anything that can do this, it's probably the Soul Abyss.
Elsie, I'm so sorry to have accompanied you on this journey.
I'm sorry, you clearly had better options, but I just couldn't accept them.
You must understand, I have witnessed far too much.
【Soul Abyss... I've met you again.】
Elsie's eyes slowly closed, and she finally exhausted her last strength and collapsed into the snow, her magic barrier shattering.
The cold wind instantly froze her!
She finally met her end.
The end for the living, the beginning for the dead.
This is probably the best evaluation I can give to Soul Abyss.
...
I don't think it's time for the story to end yet, what do you think, Elsie?
"!"
Elsie opened her eyes to a starry night and a snowy landscape, but the cold was gone.
The earth beneath him was riddled with countless cracks, and something like a ghost was crawling in and out of beneath them.
She could see some skeletons kneeling beside the crack, staring blankly at the eerie light shining from below.
From afar came the sound of hooves, and a skeleton riding a skeletal horse arrived in front of Elsie.
“Nameless?” Elsie exclaimed.
“Long time no see, Elsie.” The nameless man nodded. “We’ve finally met.”
"The meeting of two kings."
Elsie, kneeling on the ground, had no light in her eyes; she seemed to be waiting for something.
After all, the impact of this death was still too great on her.
“This is the realm of the dead, the final resting place,” the nameless man sighed. “In the years that have waited for you, the other two kings have also died.”
"Reincarnation is no longer possible, only you remain, Elsie."
The nameless man dismounted, reached out his bone claws to help Elsie up, patted the snow off her body, and said this.
“Elsie, the Abyss was once the possession of the Dark Mother Goddess, who was an existence on par with the Tree of Life.” He opened his arms and looked up at the starry sky.
"The Dark Mother Goddess occupies the Soul Abyss and uses it to travel between planes, existing between the real and the unreal. She is the ultimate in space, and this is also the reason for her power."
"It took me several epochs to kill Him..."
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