Find a Troubled Girl after leaving the Guild-Chapter 501 - 263: Under the Blue Sky
After the destruction of the Spiritual Level, the grass and wood exterior of the Divine Wood Sentinel, imbued with Pure Magic Material, lost its attributes and was ignited by Farina’s flames, gradually burning into ashes.
Li Ang withdrew the Demon’s Hand, its effectiveness exceeded his expectations, catching him somewhat off guard.
Seeing this, Farina raised an eyebrow.
She had seen the Six-Armed Demon use a piercing attack on Li Ang, and now seeing this trick used by his companion, it felt rather strange.
"Do we not need to intervene?" Zoe asked from not far away.
Li Ang nodded towards his teammates, indicating that preparing them was just a precaution; if it came to a formal confrontation, they could only act as support.
The Divine Wood Sentinel was not completely dead; after its natural body was destroyed, the rune remnants slowly rotated under the control of the Soul Star Core’s power.
It raised an ashen arm towards Diana, then let it fall weakly.
The Moon Concealing Rabbit quietly watched all this, softly sighed, "Is the magic that will ultimately touch the Forbidden Power about to reappear."
The Star Soul of the Creation Tree lowered its head, flapped its wings, and slowly flew towards the Ancient Guard.
Li Ang and his group followed.
Seeing the Star Soul of the Creation Tree arrive, the Light of the Soul of the Divine Wood Sentinel flickered a few times, and the remaining light seemed like moths drawn to a flame, like flickering fireflies wanting to be close, yet trapped within the rune remnants, unable to escape.
Seeing humans approach, the Light of the Soul of the Divine Wood Sentinel emitted a strong light, attempting to ward off these approaching mortals for the Star Soul.
ALulu raised a shield defensively in front of the young girls, preventing any sudden attack it might launch.
However, being already a damaged body, even if it slowly recovered over long years, it could not accumulate much power; after being hit at its core by Li Ang’s Spiritual Piercing, it had no strength to rise again.
Diana clasped her hands to her chest, softly singing the Sound of Wind Chimes, as if a song of weeping.
Zoe relayed what Diana said.
Thank you for everything, the skies here have no one to constrain us anymore, please rest in peace.
The Soul of the Divine Wood Sentinel trembled slightly, then burned fiercely, as if intentionally expending its last strength to burst into brilliance.
"It wants to break free from that thing’s restraints," Farina said, looking at the rune remnants.
Like a blue star, its soul violently pulsed, but was still tightly bound by the rune’s chains.
Diana extended her hand to release the Power of Nature, attempting to unlock it, but her power only merged into the runes without producing the desired effect.
Akuya said, "This Magic Guide program was set from the start, making it so the power akin to the Star Soul cannot be liberated."
Li Ang frowned slightly, stepped forward, and touched the rune remnants.
[Hint: Found Creation Formula [fraction], lock status released, collectable after breaking the constraint]
He expanded the Spiritual Horizon, saw the Spiritual Structure on the Magic Rune Fragment, gently clasped it with the Demon’s Hand, and all the bonds shattered in response.
[Hint: Creation Formula collected, progress at 25%]
The glow of the small runes dissipated into the air, visually disappearing entirely, but was in fact collected by an invisible "system."
The rune remnants turned completely into a pile of waste; the quivering blue soul calmed down, flew out of the remnants, circled around Diana, then ascended to the sky, self-detonating into a mass of pure Natural Magic, dispersing the nearby cloud mist.
As the magic dispersed, the soul within vanished completely.
Everyone looked up at the blue sky, falling into a silent moment.
The dispersing magic transformed into a warm light, slowly drifting over the entire Mengze Island.
The foliage in the treetop sanctuary, previously pulled by the Divine Wood Sentinel, was nourished by this magic, the severed branches sprouted tender leaves anew, regaining their vitality.
Diana stared blankly at the dispersing magic, momentarily forgetting everything, as if reminiscing ancient fragments.
Even Dorothy felt the nurturing influence of this power on natural things; she spread her hands and looked around, whispering, "Was it trying to protect Diana in the end?"
"Perhaps."
It seemed that part of its actions was self-chosen, but Li Ang did not know how much self-will these sentinels retained after being refined into Soul Star Cores by the Deus People, so, such romantic imagination is fine as well.
Zoe gently leaned over and asked, "Where do souls go after they die?"
In fact, nowhere.
Whether on Earth or here on Nebis where Li Ang currently resides, there is no Realm of the Dead; after life ends, the material composing the body decomposes, the controlled magic dissipates, and spirituality disperses back to ordinary spirit, reintegrating into nature.
The perception of the afterlife in both worlds is imaginative.
However, Li Ang felt that saying this directly would spoil the mood, so he patted the little cat’s head and said, "Maybe they go to reincarnation."
"Reincarnation?"
"It means being reborn, becoming a human or an animal, maybe flowers and grasses too, getting a new life."
At her age, an ordinary young girl would have already formed an initial concept of life and death, but this one in many ways was still like a little child, so Li Ang gave her a child’s answer.
And with this explanation, not only Zoe, but even the other three, and even Diana’s somber expression, all eased quite a bit.
The entity from the lakebed was just a brief episode, but it allowed a glimpse into a fragment of the ancient aspect.
Such a sentinel, simply imagining the weight of its suffering is hard to endure, precisely because everyone here is compassionate, so they feel empathetically bittersweet at the departure it long deserved.
