Place of Obsession
——Ka La!
The magic crystal cannon that was instantly moved to the front to block the attack shattered, but Ruixia also took this opportunity to escape and retreat - but before he could set up his backup weapon, the spikes chased him again like maggots on the tarsal bone, leaving him no time to react.
At that moment, Ruixia had clearly heard the whispers from the god of death.
Did he overestimate the friendship between them?
He felt a little sad unconsciously.
However, running alone to Xi Mu, who might have lost control, was beyond his ability.
It's not like he didn't know how powerful Xi Mu was, and he thought he could wake her up again like before... He acted impulsively, and it was his own fault that he ended up like this.
But... before they could fully experience the joy of surviving the disaster, they had to say goodbye in this way?
Ximu——Will she regain her sanity?
If she wakes up one day, will she remember that she killed the young man who fought alongside her with her own hands?
No, no...this is too cruel. It's better to forget it.
Thinking of the girl hugging him unexpectedly between those towering bookshelves and scratching his shoulders like a kitten, the black-haired boy, whose revolving kaleidoscope had already passed before his eyes, sighed inaudibly and closed his eyes as if resigned to his fate.
Then--
A strong pulling force bound him and pulled him back with a "whoosh", saving him from the fatal situation!
A familiar breath and figure passed before his eyes. Ruixia stared blankly at the blonde girl who was a few years older than him, and asked in surprise: "...Sister, sister? Why are you here?"
"If I weren't here, you would be dead now."
Giving a look of disdain to her lazy brother, the tall girl who looked 80% like Ruixia summoned a long-handled sledgehammer that flashed with lightning, and swung it with great vigor, immediately engaging in a fight with Xi Mu who was chasing her!
Hammers don't have an advantage in speed, but their impact packs a powerful punch. The girl was clearly an expert at this, completely ignoring Ximu's uncanny agility. Her attack and defense flowed effortlessly, perfectly timed, and for a moment, she was evenly matched with Ximu, who was possessed by the holy weapon, without losing the upper hand.
"Sister, she is my friend. Don't hurt her if possible! - Where is mother? Have mother and father come?"
Ruixia was naturally aware of her sister's abilities. A genius like her who practiced both magic and martial arts, even if she was thrown into a pile of dragons, she would be able to fight her way in and out with a laugh.
Therefore, he had no worries about his relatives at this moment. All he had was planning and hoping whether Xi Mu could be saved.
"Hey you brat!"
This silver-haired girl exudes a deadly aura. If she gets scratched, she's dead! And you're telling me not to hurt her! You've only been out for a few days, and you've already learned to turn your elbows outward, right?
Wu Hagi, the elder sister with mixed feelings, cursed her brother in her heart, but she couldn't spare too much energy to argue with him. During the fight, she just kept attracting Ximu's attention to herself. It seemed that her intention was more to delay time than to defeat the opponent.
And at this moment, Xi Mu really didn't think about anything.
She has been like this for a long time.
In the final battle, in order not to miss the opportunity that would never come again, Ximu concentrated all his willpower on the final blow to Mia Rodes.
The moment she confirmed her success, her tense mind suddenly relaxed, and she could not think of anything and remembered nothing.
She seemed to have locked onto a target and was about to take his life.
This was a common occurrence for her. She had done the same thing countless times in the past ten years of her life.
Get the order, take the life.
This is almost the background of her life, her logic of behavior, and the only meaning of her existence in this world.
But... she always felt like she had forgotten something very important.
There was a discordant voice buzzing deep in my heart, but the voice was too faint and too vague to make out what it was calling for.
Hmm…
Why did she feel that it was a calling?
Doubts gradually arose, and the blank and rigid thoughts moved. A small hole suddenly appeared in the disordered chaos - it was like a needle piercing from there, and a dazzling six-colored light was cast from there, which made Ximu squint his eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, what I saw was the familiar altar dome.
She lay on the cold altar, bound tightly by cold chains, staring blankly upwards, as if she had never left here.
She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She thought it was her brother Jie Yan, but when she listened carefully, she found that it did not belong to anyone she knew.
It’s not the mother, it’s not the brother... Could it be that the host of the ceremony was replaced at the last minute?
"Is this your 'place of obsession'?"
A strange female voice suddenly sounded, carrying a clear and comfortable aura that did not belong to the Kelinlet family at all.
This development, which was inconsistent with her memory, finally alarmed Ximu's nerves, which had been stagnant for a long time. She slowly turned her head and saw a black-haired woman with a beautiful bun and a bright look.
There were no signs of wear and tear on her face, but she wasn't very young either, looking about thirty-four or thirty-five.
The man was dressed smartly yet beautifully, with a slender figure. There were many trivial decorations everywhere, but they did not look cumbersome. It seemed that each of them had its own mystery, and he looked like an experienced mechanic.
The most important thing is——
A pair of golden-red eyes were flashing on the woman's beautiful face.
This special look in his eyes made Ximu slightly stunned.
Immediately afterwards, countless memories that were crushed in the darkness came back frantically, rushing towards her head-on like a mechanical train!
His cognition continued to merge under this terrifying impact. The moment he saw himself swinging the blade at the black-haired boy, Ximu jumped up and tried to sit up, but was firmly trapped in place by the extremely dense and thick chains, struggling like a desperate trapped beast!
"Richia! Richia!"
The silver-haired girl struggled helplessly on the altar, and blood began to seep from the friction of her limbs.
"Save him! Please save him!"
In despair and unable to move, Ximu didn't bother to find out the true identity of the strange woman, and could only ask for help from the only person who appeared by his side at the moment.
"I have a sacred artifact that controls 'killing' on me, and it may have taken control of my body now... If all else fails, you can kill me. I can't let Ruixia get hurt by the 'Spike of the End'. Don't let him get close to me!"
Ximu's urgent pleading made the woman look a little surprised.
After hearing the name "The Thorn of the End", the woman raised her eyebrows in sudden realization, and her originally scrutinizing gaze seemed to soften a little.
She reached out her hand, gently pressed it on Ximu's shoulder, and persuaded him, "He will be fine...you should be sure first."
A calming force seeped into Ximu's body through her palm, greatly soothing the girl's shocked and excited mood.
The woman raised her hand to stop Xi Mu from speaking, and even sat down beside her very relaxedly.
"Don't struggle pointlessly. This is your consciousness. The 'origin' and 'end' you perceive are also the turning point of your destiny. Those chains are merely the embodiment of 'restraint'. If you don't make a choice, you won't be able to break free from them."
"What choice?"
Without immediately answering Ximu's question, the woman looked at her calmly with eyes that were almost identical to Ruixia's, with a hint of sigh in her tone.
"Your condition is very poor. It seems your body has been through a lot of overloaded training, leaving it damaged beyond belief for a teenager... The forced severance of your connection with the gods has caused near-irreparable damage to your sea of consciousness."
Ximu had already realized all this, so she didn't react too surprised.
"I know."
When she first met Ruisha, although her body was repaired by the healing scroll, she was unable to use magic at all because her consciousness had been burned by the superior.
Later, after entering the academy, she was able to regain her magic power not because of the effectiveness of Morina's treatment, but because the gods re-established a connection with her through the holy artifact hidden in the dark, and used the power that matched it to fill her cracked and crumbling body and mind.
"Were you offered as a sacrifice to the god of slaughter? Did the ritual fail?"
Ximu thought about the various possible causes and consequences, and finally shook his head.
The ceremony naturally failed at that time.
But the reason for the failure was not that the gods were dissatisfied with her sacrifice, but that the chief priest was going to use this sacrifice to do something... Ximu still didn't know what it was. She only knew that she, the sacrifice that was abandoned halfway, was thrown into the dark river in tatters, and her life and death were left to fate without any explanation.
"So what are you going to do?"
“…What else can I do?”
There was no irony in this statement, but rather a sense of hopeless confusion permeated his entire being.
She had lost control of her body and was now attacking the person she loved most.
Even if he managed to escape, a monster like him who killed wherever he went would soon be attacked by everyone and would have no future at all.
Seeing the desire to live in her eyes was rapidly fading, the woman slapped her arm in dissatisfaction and scolded her, "How can you be so depressed at such a young age! Can't you see why I'm here?"
……ah?
How can I tell this...
He was slapped inexplicably, but he had already vaguely guessed the identity of the person. Facing the face that looked very similar to Ruixia, Ximu could not get angry, but instead looked a little dazed.
A mark flashing with brilliant light unfolded between the woman's eyebrows. Although her face was still approachable, she exuded a sense of majesty. If Ximu was not tied tightly to the altar at this moment, she would probably sit down properly immediately.
"I think you've noticed. Coincidentally, I'm also the agent of a holy weapon... The holy weapon I possess is called the 'Thorn of Return'. It's woven with the blessings of the six righteous gods and naturally possesses the ability to modify laws."
The woman lightly touched Ximu's forehead with her fingertips, and a black mark like a spike slowly emerged, emitting an ominous cold aura.
"I can use the power of the 'Thorn of Origin' to directly remove the 'Thorn of the End' that is possessed by your body. A person can only be chosen by the holy artifact once in their lifetime. After removal, it will form again, and you will be free again, no longer coveted by the gods. But..."
Having said that, she sighed softly.
"Your foundation has been destroyed. Without the fusion and replenishment of the holy artifact, your lifespan will come to an end in a few years."
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