Dual Cultivation: I Summon Villainesses of Mythic Era-Chapter 89: My soul no longer has its place under this sky...
Hundreds of translucent blades, composed of exceptionally dense silver Qi, materialized instantly around him. With a simple gesture of thought, the swords descended on the charging Rakshasas.
The projectiles pierced the masks and chests of the monsters, turning the first row into a pile of decomposing flesh.
Zhi Mei, seeing that he was capable of maintaining such power, no longer tried to dissuade him.
< Arts : Purifying Lotus Bloom >
A giant lotus of blue light materialized above the melee.
The petals detached and launched like divine scythes, decapitating the four-horned Rakshasas in a whirlwind of purity. The impact of her purifying Qi made the creatures’ Khao explode, reducing them to dust before they even reached the ground.
BaiShe observed Zhi Mei from the corner of his eye while directing his illusory swords. He helped her methodically, using his blades to block the Templar’s blind spots and finish off the monsters she wounded.
Every time a Rakshasa managed to bypass the lotus shield, a silver sword surged to pierce its skull.
"Their number is insane!" exclaimed Zhi Mei, pulverizing a group of enemies with a shockwave from her palms.
"Focus on the core of the pack, Miss Mei. I will take care of protecting your flanks."
Zhi Mei felt a strange warmth invade her. Working with BaiShe was of a fluidity she had never known, even with her peers from the Temple. His presence seemed to stabilize her own Qi flow, his tactical vision allowing her to conserve her strength.
She began to feel indebted to this man who, despite his "suffering heart" and his "fragile" cultivation base, continued to fight by her side.
He had already deduced that BaiShe had nothing to do with the Dao Executor, the only reason he was there was because of her.
"Now!" cried Zhi Mei.
< Judgment of the Divine Radiance of the Sidhes >
A massive azure pillar of light burst from her hands, sweeping the clearing in a destructive arc. The sacred heat instantly carbonized the last Rakshasas, leaving behind only trails of violet smoke that quickly dissipated under the effect of purification.
Silence fell over the Petrified Forest. Zhi Mei turned toward BaiShe.
"Thank you, BaiShe,"
"Without your help, this fight would have been much longer."
"The merit belongs to you, Miss Mei," replied BaiShe while slightly inclining his head.
" Your purity is a beacon in this darkness. However, we must not linger. The Khaotique Qi from the capital worries me more and more."
" I had to leave them, but the Dao Executor is more important."
Zhi Mei nodded gravely, unaware that the real danger was not in the capital, but right next to her.
"You are right. Let us go," she concluded, launching herself once more toward the skies, BaiShe following closely behind.
...
Zhi Mei swept over the charnel house before fixing her gaze on the entrance of the cave where she had left her master.
"Lord Huojin... We must join him immediately... " she murmured, a shadow of anxiety darkening her gaze.
At her side, Xuan BaiShe walked calmly.
"Of course, Miss Mei... Let us go see if our dear Executor has finished his... arrangements... " he replied in a honeyed tone.
They entered the cave, but the atmosphere was no longer one of celestial purity. A smell of blood and corrupted energy floated in the air. Upon reaching the edge of the Golden Jade Lake, Zhi Mei let out a heart-wrenching cry.
Slumped against a broken jade pillar, Huojin seemed to be in agony.
His immaculate white hair was stained with purple, and his heterochromatic eyes were veiled by a mist of pain.
In reality, it was not the original Executor, already devoured, but Yi Lan, the Fox of Desire. Thanks to her Immortal Constitution of the 100 Faces, she had copied Huojin’s appearance, scent, and even soul signature so perfectly that even the senses of an Overlord like Zhi Mei were fooled.
"Lord Huojin! By the Dao, what happened!?" cried Zhi Mei while falling to her knees beside the dying man, her hands trembling as she tried to channel her purifying Qi.
The fake Huojin let out a hoarse rattle, blood flowing from the corner of his lips. He turned his gaze toward BaiShe, who observed the scene, hands joined behind his back, in his posture of a nonchalant young scholar.
"Too late... Mei... " the creature articulated with difficulty, each word seeming to cost him unspeakable agony. "He came... The Devourer..."
Zhi Mei froze, her porcelain face paling under the effect of a primitive terror.
"The Devourer? Here? But how is that possible!?"
The "Huojin" of Yi Lan weakly seized Zhi Mei’s wrist, his red-stained fingers marking the saint’s diaphanous skin. He then pointed a trembling finger toward BaiShe, whose expression remained a mask of scholarly impartiality.
"Listen to me well... Mei... The Devourer is far more powerful than what the Temple imagined... Especially you... BaiShe... " continued the fox with masterful cunning. "You possess the wisdom of the Immortal Sage... You must... you must unite with the strength of the Temple to slay this abomination... Promise me... that you will kill the Devourer... Together... "
BaiShe advanced a step, bowing with deference.
"I swear it on the honor of the Xuan family, Lord Executor... This monster will know no rest as long as I breathe... "
Yi Lan, under Huojin’s features, let out one last sigh, a final convulsion shook her substitute body before her eyes went out definitively. The body, deprived of the illusion Qi that Yi Lan maintained, began to disintegrate into golden dust that surrounded BaiShe... His eyes becoming heterochromatic for a few seconds.
" I give you the will of the Dao..."
The silence that followed was heavy with despair.
Zhi Mei remained motionless, her fingers clenched on the rocky ground, her eyes fixed on the void left by the one she considered the savior of the world.
She, the proud Templar, had failed in her sacred mission. Her faith, her vows, her entire existence had just collapsed with the death of the Executor.
"It is over... Everything is over... " she murmured, her voice.
Suddenly, in a fit of madness born from despair, she created a Qi blade.
She directed the tip toward her own throat, her eyes injected with bitter tears. "If I cannot protect the chosen one... then my soul no longer has a place under this sky... "
