Genshin Impact, I, a mere mortal, cannot accompany you to the very end.

Your lifespan has been reduced by ten days.

He closed his eyes, placed the food against the edge of the snake-cutting blade, and held it without touching his right index finger.

There were whistling winds, the sound of evaporating snowmelt, the frenzied roars of giant snakes, the mournful cries of birds and beasts, and warnings from the human system—a chaotic and disorderly scene, but none of this was necessary.

Your lifespan has been reduced by twenty days.

He muted the sound.

The slight chill of snowflakes hitting his body, the sudden gust of cold wind—he lost all of that. In the pale world, slowly, he lost even the lines and dots. He lost this old, dying body. Instinct replaced his thinking. The only thing left for him was action: drawing his sword, drawing an arc, slashing out, remnants of heart, blood gushing, sheathing the sword.

Simple and pure.

Kiyono had once contemplated Narukami's "Unthinkable One-Sword," and he also comprehended his own "Unmoving One-Sword."

The body remains still, but the mind moves first.

Your lifespan has been reduced by twenty days.

Your lifespan has been reduced...

Humanity kept resetting his remaining time, but Kiyono could no longer hear it. He had poured his life into this sword, and was about to engulf his remaining body in the Hebi-giri!

"call--"

Suddenly.

It was snowing heavily just a moment ago, but now it's started raining.

The rain was heavy, as if it were pouring down on Bayun Island out of thin air. The sky was a pale color, as if covered with a layer of gray glass.

The drizzling raindrops pattered against Qingye's almost still body, bouncing back into faint white lines. Snow-white flashes rolled through the pale clouds, illuminating the earth in a fleeting moment, pressing down and brightening the entire world, making the snowfields like mirrors and the mountains like silver.

The demonic serpent sensed the danger. Its eyes were filled with a frenzied, bloodthirsty light. It tried to escape, but found itself unable to leave. The sword was still in Qingye's scabbard, and the mortal hadn't moved at all, as if it had been frozen in place. Yet, it felt it couldn't escape.

It was as if it had been struck in another world.

Four hundred years ago, it was this very blade that severed its head.

Since we can't avoid it, let's face it head-on!

Obatos roared, for he was a god, and he had been on the run for four hundred years; he would not hide any longer!

Those mortals are aware of the end of everything, so how could it, as a god, endure such insults any longer!

A torrent of filth gathered from its mouth, and it leaped up, causing the earth to tremble. Crimson-gold metallic scales streaked across the night sky. It opened its upper and lower jaws, and millions of screams wailed from the abyss's gaping maw. It exhausted all its reserves of four hundred years, transforming them into a raging inferno.

It moved first.

This is the moment.

Kiyono moved slowly. He opened his eyes, and his silver-gray pupils saw everything. He heard the whistling wind again, and then he drew his sword!

加%1&<记}號|熠%韭0~&1-7>4|5$９-&4>9#-8天地顿时一白，雪原顿时一颤，雾凇顿时一清，雷霆自意>伶#-義-骑@似#五-<玖=&斯=/啾@疤天而下，一切声巫记|-号$#啾-

...

Kiyono Sara looked at the snow clinging to the eaves of the castle tower, and thought about what Lord Narukami had just said: "Write a letter to him, tell him to die outside and never come back." She began to feel troubled.

She was a straightforward girl, and she would do whatever she was told, but the problem was... she didn't know where her father had gone.

My father went on vacation without even telling her.

She frowned slightly, but a sense of worry began to creep into her heart.

It's so cold today, Father, could you please wear more clothes...? But she shook her head, dismissing the thought.

From ten years ago, she made a decision in her heart to follow His Majesty the Pillar of State for the rest of her life. As a servant, she could not go against the wishes of the head of the family.

She gazed at the snow-covered mountains and rivers in the distance, at the vast night sky, and suddenly paused, lost in thought.

The pupils dilated slightly.

That was a color she would never forget in her life, a color she would follow her whole life. Kiyono Sara thought she would never see it again, but unexpectedly, it appeared in front of her again.

That pure white world.

But strangely, even though she saw it again, she felt a sudden unease in her heart.

Suddenly, she heard slightly hurried footsteps behind her. Thunder General—no, Thunder Movie—she quickly walked to the edge of the balcony and looked in the direction of that color.

"impossible..."

Kiyono Sara heard Kage's lips tremble.

"How did he... end up there?"

-

PS1: Everyone, please be patient, let me be anxious first.

I know what everyone wants to see: the protagonist is destined to die and leave; this is written in my outline.

But he won't die suddenly and abruptly. It would be too meaningless to leave so early. It would be like beheading, a quick snap that would be brief but painless.

It should be a lingering, tender romance, a series of encounters and partings, a process that allows them to rise from despair to hope, only to discover in the end that it was all a lie. It should be like slowly cutting away at their flesh with a knife, bit by bit, like being slowly sliced ​​to death—that's what makes it interesting.

Volume One: Chapter Nineteen: The Liar...The Liar

"how do you say."

Kiyono Raimei rolled a cigarette, carefully spread the tobacco all over it, rolled it up, folded it neatly, lit it with a flint, took a light puff, and slowly exhaled.

The air was thick with mist and haze amidst the heavy snow.

--"how do you say."

The one who asked this question was the man squatting in front of him.

Rather than a man, it was more like a creature beyond the ordinary. He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, but his eyes were vertical, showing a cold and ancient light. These were definitely not eyes that humans could possess.

However, his eyes were somewhat dim, and his eyelids were fogged up.

His eyes, which were once filled with madness and resentment, are now clear.

He was wrapped in thick winter clothes, his hair was messy, and he looked very tired.

The great serpent, Orobas, also known as [Oroku Hajime-no-Mikoto], was the ruler of the ancestors of Fuchishita Palace and the deity worshipped on Haiki Island.

"It happened in the last few days."

Kiyono slowly exhaled another puff of smoke, glancing at the words that appeared in his field of vision from the system.

【Kiyono Thunder】

[Remaining lifespan: 15 days]

He had instinctively thought he could live for another six months, but now he only has fifteen days left. He deserves it.

"What about you?"

"I?"

Orochi was somewhat surprised, seemingly wondering why Kiyono would ask such a question. He blinked his snake-like eyes and said, "I'm leaving soon, but I just want to have one last chat with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"It will be all right."

Kiyono rubbed his index finger against the cigarette. "Why did you attack Bayun Island?"

"In order to seize more land."

The giant snake smiled helplessly: "It's just that we failed."

"Don't lie when you're chatting."

As his cigarette was about to go out, he lit another one. "You removed all the coral from your body to help the people of the abyss leave the land—I don't think you would do anything aggressive."

"In my opinion, your actions are nothing but suicide. Even if I can't stop you, Shadow will kill you, and you know that."

Orochi paused, stunned by Kiyono's words. After a long while, he gave a helpless smile.

"...Yes, I just want to die."

"why?"

"Because we learned things we shouldn't have known, the higher-ups want to exterminate all the people to silence them... So I prayed to the higher-ups to only take the lives of some of the people."

"That group includes you?"

“A ruler should naturally die alongside his people. Only when I die will my people have courage,” Oro said.

"You declared war on Inazuma just so you could die on the battlefield too?"

The thunder in the sky had dissipated, the thick snow fog had been cleared, and after the heavy rain, everything was washed away, leaving the sky clear and clean, with a few golden glints visible on the coastline.

It's getting light.

"Yes, that's right. That's the best ending for me."

Orochi slowly straightened up, the warm sunlight bathing him, making him feel languid. He gazed at the emerging winter sun and said:

"I've been running away my whole life. I even ran away from the Demon God War. I've spent my entire life running away..."

But I don't want to run away anymore, mortal. I'm grateful to you for killing me again after four hundred years. Otherwise, my tainted soul, corrupted by filth, would have endlessly fled and endlessly cursed—that would have been too pathetic.

"To die at the hands of one's nemesis is an honor for a martial artist."

Kiyono stared at the man in front of him, whose upper body was shrouded in a brilliant golden light. His snake-like eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a relieved expression.

Kiyono did not respect him because they were enemies, but Kiyono also did not hate him because it was all over.

How much time do you have left?

"After the sun rises—I will be purified by the Divine Cherry Tree."

"Would you like to have a drink?"

"liquor."

Orochi turned to the side, staring at Kiyono leaning against the rock with slight surprise, and finally asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time, "Are you always smoking and drinking? How have you lived for five hundred years?"

“...Just some sake for keeping warm.” Kiyono Raimei’s eyelids twitched slightly. He took out a small sake sachet from the lining of his kimono, shook it, and found that there was still a little bit left inside.