Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 720 Departure

"Where? What's wrong?"

The voice, trembling with a last shred of desperation, stared intently at Tang Zijun's face, which was covered by a crystal mask.

"Don't tell me... it really has something to do with that damned 'promise' Poseidon mentioned."

Tang Zijun remained silent.

That silent silence, in Shiyao's eyes, was tantamount to the cruelest acquiescence.

Shi Yao stared blankly at him, at the man standing amidst the shattered light and shadow, clad in crystal and dark gold armor, seemingly bearing the weight of the entire universe.

An utterly absurd laugh welled up uncontrollably from her throat, turning into a few short, mournful gasps.

6

Ha ha..."

She knew this feeling all too well.

Just like a long, long time ago, when she chose to become a traitor, bearing the incomprehension and resentment of her companions, guarding that heavy secret alone in the shadows... that suffocating feeling of being isolated, yet having to grit her teeth and move forward.

Although she had chosen the wrong target, she was acutely aware of the suffocating feeling she was experiencing.

"Tang Zijun..." Shi Yao clenched her fists. "I can see that you've gotten used to it, used to keeping everything inside, used to being a damned Wallfacer."

"She almost growled."

"Your identity as a Kamen Rider, your identity as a Greedy One, were almost always exposed when you were forced into a corner, when you had no way out. This is your personality; silence and burdens are ingrained in your bones."

"Because you're afraid. You're afraid your friends will worry about you when they know the truth, and you're afraid your family will lose sleep and appetite when they know the truth. So you'd rather shoulder everything alone, shoulder this damn, heavy world that can crush even God."

She pointed at Tang Zijun, her fingertips trembling slightly with excitement.

"But have you ever thought about how desperate your friends, your family, everyone who cares about you will be when you choose to sacrifice yourself in silence, when you embark on that road of no return? They won't even know why you died, why you disappeared!"

Tang Zijun listened silently.

Beneath the crystal mask, his gaze was calm and unwavering, as if the tearful accusations were merely a gentle breeze brushing against a rock.

He slowly and calmly turned his head, the crimson light shining through his visor as he looked at Shiyao.

"If I told you..." His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion, only a knowing calm. "...they'll start worrying about me from this moment on, every single second."

"The agony of waiting for an unknown fate...is more painful than not knowing the truth."

"At least, at least let them know what happened!" Shi Yao looked at Tang Zijun. "This 'nightmare' isn't just your problem; it's a disaster for the whole world. Why should you bear the most desperate part alone?!"

"Because of this..." Tang Zijun interrupted her, her voice suddenly becoming resolute and unwavering. "...Only I can do it, and it must be me who does it."

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the dome of the inverted world, casting it into the endless, dark void filled with unknown threats.

"Perhaps... just perhaps..." His voice carried a rare, almost self-mocking, elusive quality. "Magical girls, remnants of ancient gods... I've thought about it more than once..."

"What if...there was never a person like me, Tang Zijun...in this world?"

He seemed to be asking Shiyao, or perhaps the silent universe.

"Perhaps... the magical girls will undergo more trials, learning to unite in the face of true crisis—my sister, Qin Nan, Zhi Xin... and you..."

Tang Zijun's gaze briefly fell on Shi Yao's face.

"...You will learn magic in a different way, starting from the very basics, fighting against evil, and writing your own story, perhaps one that is even purer."

"You might even... like true heroes, investigate step by step to uncover the existence of the wasteland and the dream world, and ultimately... use the miraculous power bestowed upon you by the real world to eliminate those Great Old Ones who entrenched themselves... just as heroes in all legends eventually do."

His words painted a picture of a future that was fraught with challenges but also full of possibilities, without his involvement.

"but..."

Tang Zijun's voice suddenly dropped, like a heavy iron hammer falling, shattering all the illusory possibilities.

"...I can't wait any longer."

"Did you know that this place is not only a transit point between different dimensions, but also the only sanctuary and barrier for the real world?"

"Once the nightmare completely breaches the defenses of the dream world and descends upon reality..."

"The only, last barrier to resistance in the real world... is the inverted world."

"If...if the high-ranking officials of the Greedy Ones were still alive...if the God of Mirror Devouring Greed could awaken more reasonably and break the seal...if the Reverse World still retained its complete defensive force composed of top-tier negative energy beings..."

"Perhaps...they can still resist the erosion of nightmares by utilizing the characteristics of the Reversed World...and buy something for this world..."

A little struggle... even a moment to turn the tide.

Tang Zijun slowly lowered his head, his pale face reflected in the crystal mask. His voice carried a chilling, almost cruel self-revelation.

"but..."

"I ruined all of this."

"It was I... who personally killed those high-ranking officials and purged the top forces of the Reversal World."

"It was I... who devoured the God of Mirror Devouring Greed and removed one of the most crucial pillars of the Reverse World."

"It was I... who, while cleansing away the filth,"... also utterly destroyed the last, and most solid, barrier in the face of nightmares in the real world.

He took a step forward, and the oppressive force of the ultimate form of greed surged forth like a tangible tide.

"so..."

"To save the world..."

"I need to fix the defense vulnerabilities I created myself..."

"I must close that door that I myself opened, the door that led to ultimate destruction... once again..."

,"this..."

Tang Zijun slowly raised her head.

"...It is my responsibility, Tang Zijun's responsibility, which I cannot shirk and no one can take my place in."

Shi Yao was completely stunned.

Tang Zijun's series of cold and cruel confessions struck her consciousness like a heavy hammer, making her dizzy.

"If I don't come back..." Tang Zijun's voice rang out again, calm as if stating a given fact, yet carrying an undeniable resolve. "...The God of the Era will find a way to... transfer Earth to a pocket universe in the wasteland world."

"Hey!!" Shi Yao snapped out of her shock as if doused with cold water, her voice sharp with panic and anger. "Don't suddenly say something like a deathbed farewell, you bastard!"

She took a sudden step forward, a resolute glint in her eyes. "No, it's too dangerous. I'll go with you; the more people there are..."

"No." Tang Zijun interrupted her decisively, offering no explanation, only an unquestionable refusal.

He didn't even look into Shiyao's eyes again.

He simply...snap his fingers lightly, almost gracefully.

The sound was crisp and clear, yet in the deathly silence where fragmented light and shadow intertwined with flowing moonlight, it was like a pebble thrown into a lake, rippling out an invisible circle.

"Awooo—!!!"

A desolate, proud wolf howl, seemingly transcending countless boundaries of time and space, suddenly shattered the silence of the reversed world. The howl did not come from afar, but from... the solidified fragment of the sun beneath their feet, no, from a deeper reflection.

Whoosh—

Like a shattered mirror! A beam of light, a blend of deep blue and dark gold, suddenly pierced through the reflection of the sun fragment.

Immediately afterwards, a colossal, ferocious steel behemoth—Langya—covered in streamlined metal armor and with its engine section burning with a ghostly blue core flame, roared as it sped out of the abyss of its reflection.

It didn't stir up air currents, but rather fragments of shattered light and swirling liquid moonlight. The motorcycle, steady and imposing, with an aura identical to its owner's, came to a precise stop in front of Tang Zijun. The engine roared low, like the low growl of a wild beast suppressing its boundless power.

Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Zijun flipped himself up, his movements fluid and decisive. The crystal armor in its ultimate greed form perfectly matched the cold metal of Langya, as if they had become one.

He sat steadily on the motorcycle, turned his head again, and looked at Shiyao.

Beneath the crystal mask, the crimson light pierced through the short distance between the two, leaving a deep imprint on Shiyao's eyes.

"Before I get back..."

"Take good care of Xin'er..."

'

"With Qin Nan."

The moment the words left her mouth, Tang Zijun suddenly twisted the handlebars.

boom-!!

The long-suppressed engine of Langya, like a primordial beast awakened, erupted with a deafening roar that seemed to tear apart the core of the entire reversed world.

The eerie blue tail flames stretched out instantly, like a burning galaxy. The shattered fragments of the sun trembled amidst the roar, and the flowing moonlight was swept up and torn apart by the violent airflow.

Without the slightest pause.

Langya, carrying its knight, transformed into a stream of destructive light that tore through time and space, a mixture of crystal splendor and abyssal darkness, and sped relentlessly toward the absolute nothingness of the darkness that symbolized the path to annihilation.

Shiyao instinctively reached out her hand, futilely trying to grasp the afterimage and fleeting light left by that resolute figure's back.

But her fingertips only brushed against a chilling, ethereal coldness, and the lingering traces of the violent air currents...

The scorching heat of the Langya engine.

That streak of light, like an arrow destined for destruction, plunged fiercely and completely into that all-consuming absolute darkness.

The light disappeared.

The engine noise stopped abruptly.

It was as if everything was swallowed up by that darkness in an instant.