Chapter 85, Chapter 21: The Magical Maid
Time flies backward.
In a daze, she saw countless symbols and numbers that she couldn't understand.
They kept breaking down and rebuilding, until finally, they stopped on the day Violet died.
Inside the temple, the priest, who was praying intently, suddenly opened his eyes. The sharp glint in his eyes was something the priest never showed before.
Ryuya clutched his collar, bent over, and gasped for breath.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
So that's really how it is...
Her priest, because of her... will never come back...
Do you know what that is?
A gentle voice sounded in her ear. Liu Ye bit her lip and looked at the woman who had appeared beside her at some point.
She is not Violet.
Violet is simple and kind, with a pure and sincere heart.
That's why she gained the high regard and trust of the priest.
But the woman in front of him had the same face as Violet, and her gentle nature was evident in her bones.
But hidden beneath her gentleness was a heart even colder and harder than hers.
Are you here to correct a mistake as well?
Yu Wanwan smiled and shook her head.
No!
Liu Ye was taken aback, but Yu Wanwan ignored her and flicked out another wisp of green light from her fingertip, which flew into her brow.
"I told you, I'll show you the truth about this world."
Ryūya instinctively resisted knowing the so-called truth she spoke of.
But she couldn't stop the green light from penetrating.
When she opened her eyes again, the world was completely different from what she remembered.
Every flower, every leaf, every blade of grass, every tree, and even people and animals lost their original forms and turned into numerical symbols that she couldn't understand.
Including herself.
The only one who hasn't changed is Yu Wanwan.
No, there are still changes.
She removed Violet's face, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty.
So clear.
Her eyebrows were slightly curved, and a smiling voice rang in her ears.
"These are called data."
"data?"
Ryuya's eyes were glazed over, filled with confusion.
With a flick of her finger, Yu Wanwan's image of "Xu Qingzhou" transformed into a string of data and flew into her palm.
With a flick of her wrist, the data unfolded before her.
Liu Ye suddenly gripped the hem of her clothes tightly.
What was presented to her was a book.
A book... filled with stories of this world.
Her experiences and the priest she deeply loved occupy only a small part of this book.
What followed was a long and detailed account of the life of the man who came at the priest's request to correct his mistakes, a life full of ups and downs.
After finishing the book, Ryuya suddenly found herself back in the forest.
All those illusory data receded, and what appeared before her eyes were familiar faces once again.
Under the tree, Xu Qingzhou was still kneeling on the ground, trembling with pain, but her eyes were filled with worry and concern as she looked at the woman in front of her.
Looking at that familiar face.
She remembered when she was ten years old, when she first entered the temple, and when Aetherel pinned the holy emblem on her fingertips, he inadvertently touched the warmth of her fingertips.
I remember the gentle blessing he gave me on my twentieth birthday.
Thinking back to each... I never really looked into her eyes.
"So... even 'him' was a fake?"
Liu Ye suddenly chuckled softly, her blood-stained fingers touching her heart, but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
"Then what about the love I bury deep in my heart... my faith...?"
Yu Wanwan smiled with pity, but her words were cold and cruel to the extreme.
"Of course, it's because you're pitiful."
Daoguo couldn't bear to look at it anymore.
Wanwan's move was really ruthless.
They actually showed her the priest's death first, causing her immense pain.
Then, at her most painful moment, he delivered the fatal blow, smilingly telling her that it was all a lie.
Whether it's you or your priest, your purpose in existence is to welcome the true male protagonist!
It completely destroyed her faith.
If she had simply let Ryūya know from the beginning that this world was a fabrication, she wouldn't have achieved the same effect.
Blood and tears welled up in Liu Ye's eyes.
"And what about you?"
She stared intently at her, not wanting to miss a single expression on her face.
"Then what are you?"
She doesn't exist in that book at all.
According to the plot of that book, even if Vera is rescued alive, she will become a cripple!
He spent the rest of his life peacefully in a small mountain village.
Even if her crime is discovered, she won't notice anything amiss because the man's disguise is so flawless, even the scent of the elements is exactly the same as the priest's.
The priest remained holy and inviolable in her heart. There were no women around him, so her faith would not collapse, and none of the subsequent events would have occurred.
"I?"
Yu Wanwan's smile deepened.
"Of course I am an existence that even the gods you speak of cannot shackle."
"Cough cough cough..."
Liu Ye suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Looking at the gentle yet indifferent Yu Wanwan, she suddenly smiled.
"So... even if it's fake, it's still real, right?"
Yu Wanwan's smile faded slightly.
The next instant, Ryuya drew a silver dagger, which was almost identical to the one the priest had used to stab himself in the heart in the scene.
Ryuya touched the sacred patterns on the dagger with nostalgia.
"This was given to me by the High Priest himself on the day I became the Holy Maiden of Light."
To celebrate her success in passing the test, the priest went to the ocean, found silver sand, and personally forged two daggers.
He gave one to her and kept the other for himself, intending to give it to any new saintess or saints who might appear later.
Unfortunately, she won't let that happen.
Over the years, due to her interference, the temple has always had only one holy maiden.
The priest himself kept the dagger, but he never had the chance to give it away.
He raised the dagger and plunged it into his heart.
Yu Wanwan narrowed her eyes and took a step back to avoid the splatter of blood.
Bright red blood flowed out, and Liu Ye's body fell from the treetop, crashing to the ground and startling a leaf.
She looked at Xu Qingzhou, and through his face, she seemed to see that warm and holy person again, with a relieved smile on his lips.
"My sins do not need to be atoned by him..."
"If... there really are gods beyond gods, then... cough cough cough..."
Liu Ye twitched her finger, reaching towards Xu Qingzhou's direction.
“I, Luminous Serah, offer up a soul that may not even exist as a sacrifice… cough cough cough… to… to bring back the High Priest… cough cough…”
Even if it's a fake world.
She also wanted her beloved priest to come back.
Two more tears of blood slid down her cheeks. In the end, Ryuya was unable to touch the priest's robes and closed her eyes forever.
Yu Wanwan stood there, stunned, staring blankly at Liu Ye, who had stopped breathing.
Guoguo, I don't understand.
【ah? 】
Why would she do this even though she knew that what she experienced was just a fictional scenario?
[...]
Daoguo remained silent.
She doesn't understand, but does it?
It's just a fruit without a heart!
Perhaps it's because of love?
However, this love is also a fictional creation, pre-set by the author.
[...]
Daoguo didn't know how to answer.
That means she didn't break character; everything is still going according to the author's plan!
Yu Wanwan tilted her head.
I just don't think it's like that.
At the moment of Ryūya's death, she clearly sensed a fleeting aura of divine soul emanating from her.
It is not a fictional soul, but a real divine soul.
Although it is very faint, so faint that it is fleeting and easily overlooked.
But she couldn't be wrong.
This means that, in the final moments, she actually became aware of her own consciousness.
Daoguo was afraid she would ask him another question he couldn't answer, so he quickly changed the subject.
Compared to this, it seems Erebus is about to run away.
Yu Wanwan's attention was indeed drawn away, and she turned her head to look at Erebus.
Where are you going?
Erebus's back stiffened. He straightened his already neat robes before turning around gracefully.
"Your Excellency, I see you have other matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you any longer!"
Yu Wanwan chuckled and landed lightly on the ground.
She glanced at Xu Qingzhou.
Without Ryuya, his complexion improved considerably, but the lingering pain from the attack on his "soul" did not subside so easily.
She bent down and helped Xu Qingzhou up, leaning against him subtly while quietly absorbing his luck.
"What are you planning to do with all this fuss? To rule the world?"
Xu Qingzhou was actually unaware of what had just happened.
The pain that penetrated to the very core of his being made him unable to hear or see clearly.
He didn't see what happened as clearly as Erebus did.
But he was very considerate. He skillfully put his arm around her waist so she could lean against him more comfortably, quietly serving as a human-shaped cushion, without asking any questions.
Erebus quickly shook his head politely and urgently.
"Oh! Your Excellency, you misunderstand! I never thought that way!"
Yu Wanwan crossed her arms, hiding her trembling fingertips in the crook of her arms, her eyebrows slightly raised.
"oh?"
Erebus offered a helpless explanation.
"As you can see, the dark element is too scarce on the continent of Esos now. If this continues, I'm afraid dark mages will disappear from Esos forever."
Yu Wanwan remained silent.
Erebus didn't mind and continued speaking at a leisurely pace.
"Your Excellency, I only wish for my god to descend upon Essos once more, and for darkness to return!"
"..."
Yu Wanwan looked at Erebus with a strange expression.
Surprisingly, this leader of the dark magicians is quite enlightened and ambitious.
"You want the God of Darkness to return?"
Erebus nodded calmly and quickly.
"You should have said so earlier!"
I thought he was going to cause trouble for her by disrupting the world timeline!
Yu Wanwan raised her eyes.
A gentle ripple of emerald light shimmered in her eyes, her tender gaze seemingly able to pierce through the clouds and gaze straight into the divine realm above the heavens.
"Hey, stop playing dead! If you don't come down now, I'm coming up!"
Erebus was stunned, and Xu Qingzhou also glanced down at her.
The realm of the gods.
A gentle voice pierced through the clouds, resounding across the sky and spreading in all directions.
Erebus jolted awake, not fully conscious, and instinctively sat up straight.
"Who? Who is threatening me?!"
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