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

She will never be satisfied.

Those who are left with only ashes will never be satisfied.

She will not stop, she will never stop again.

She wants to burn everything in this world, and in the pure white light, at the end of the hourglass, to meet the one she loves.

The hourglass broke! The hourglass broke! The hourglass broke!!

When the sand runs dry, what will she have left? She will have only the ashes of the letter beneath the statue of the wind god, only a promise that will never come, only an empty glass shell without sand, and the surface of that shell will be broken beyond repair.

Just like her.

The woman completely lost control.

Just like it was five hundred years ago.

An unexpected change occurred: the flames that had died out, the magic that had died out, began to reignite deep within the ashes.

The firewood represents endless hatred, and beneath the pile of gloomy and dark emotions, a sinister bonfire rises.

In the black flames, moths fluttered in the flowing fire, and red lotus moths rose from the heart, fluttering in the air. The sea of ​​fire swelled, and in an instant, the sea of ​​fire overwhelmed the storm, soaring into the sky, and the flames licked the dark sky of Inazuma.

The lady stood amidst the red lotus moths, draped in crimson flames, as if wearing the sun's crown.

This is the true authority of the Fire Witch.

When she completely loses control, a raging inferno will rise, burning everything in the world, or perhaps even herself, until she is completely consumed by flames. Her flames are inexhaustible, for the fuel for the flames is her own heart.

She had most of her magic power drained by Qingnuoyan, but her flame would not go out, because she no longer ignited it with magic power, but with her heart!

As the storm of blades shattered, the situation began to turn.

The terrifying heat distorted the air; with each breath, what was inhaled was no longer air, but a fluid of flames, steaming through the throat and lungs, scorching black marks.

The red lotus moth was even more troublesome; with each flap of its wings, it would unleash strange flames that Ying could neither shatter nor kill the moths that flew towards the flames.

Her breathing became increasingly labored and rapid, and her once continuous slashes became dull and stagnant.

The sound of the wind gradually began to subside.

But the fire had only just begun to spread.

The woman's dark purple eyes were filled with madness as she wantonly burned everything in her path. She walked on the castle tower as if she had walked on the scorched earth of Mondstadt five hundred years ago.

Burn everything.

She lost control, but unlike the time she lost control five hundred years ago, she was not aimless or wandering aimlessly. The lady knew clearly where she was headed.

Because she heard the sound of the hourglass, but she also heard the sound of a heartbeat.

That soul.

That heart belonged to Rustan.

Be with her.

It was as if, in Mondstadt, when she was at her loneliest and most helpless, that heart saved her in the storm and helped her ignite the desolate sea of ​​fire.

So the lady knew, from that moment on, that their hearts would eventually be one.

Just like right now.

The heart was beating steadily and powerfully, and with that rhythm, the woman walked step by step toward her destination. She knew that Rustan was watching her, watching their shared pure white dream.

At the very end of that journey, there is the radiance of a new world, the hourglass has completed a full cycle, and Rustan smiles at her, saying:

—"Dear Ms. Rosalyn, hello."

She finally cornered Ying, and although the latter struggled to hold on, the witch's flames would not be extinguished.

In the hottest lava, no wind will blow; flames are the graveyard of the wind.

Ying gasped for breath, forced back step by step by the sea of ​​fire, but she could not retreat any further, for behind her lay the unconscious Qing Nuoyan. If she moved backward, the Red Lotus Moth would devour Qing Nuoyan.

She couldn't back down; she had to stand in front of Qing Nuoyan.

General Raiden stood indifferently atop the castle tower, calmly observing everything unfolding before her. A duel before the emperor was a duel before the emperor; she mechanically and plainly followed all the rules without offering any assistance.

General Raiden was aware of what Kiyono Iwa had done, but she did not stop it because it did not violate the rules of the duel before the emperor. For a puppet, the rules are everything. Similarly, she would not care if Kiyono Iwa died for it.

The general knew that the outcome of the duel before the emperor was already decided.

Ying stubbornly stood in front of Qing Nuoyan, slaying one fire moth after another, no longer dodging. The consequence of this was that her physical strength was being depleted more and more. Each swing of her sword was heavier and weaker than the last, and the fire moths that missed her swarmed onto her body, burning her.

More and more moths pierced through her sword and landed on her body, slowly burning her in the sea of ​​fire.

pain.

Unparalleled pain.

Despite this, she did not back down. She was engulfed in flames, but not a single moth landed on Qingnuoyan.

Just as Ying said, this time she would protect him.

Ying gritted her teeth, trying her best to endure the burning sensation. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, and the air she inhaled ignited her lungs. She could no longer breathe and was too exhausted to wield her sword.

Stubborn madness had corrupted the woman's eyes; she could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, only seeing a pure white dawn. But it was not dawn; it was a sea of ​​fire that burned everything. She listened to the rhythm of her heart and walked forward.

Burn away the fire, then burn away the Qingnuo Rock, burn away the collapsing kingdom, seize the heart of the Rock God, seize the heart of the Naruto God... burn away the entire old world, and the pure white future unfolds before her like a scroll, already within reach.

The sand grains fell to the bottom of the pot, or scattered in the air. She walked through the sand, and time, which had been stagnant for five hundred years, began to flow again.

"Burn to ashes."

she said.

"Burn to ashes!"

A twisted smile spread across the woman's lips, and the red lotus moths swarmed out, their inner flames reaching their peak. The moths stirred up a raging inferno, hurtling towards the firefly, which was now beyond their resistance.

Ying could no longer wield her sword, and in the next instant, the fire butterfly would pounce on her and burn her to ashes.

The red maple leaves flutter in the breeze, so beautiful.

In that final moment, amidst the fluttering fireflies, Ying embraced Qing Nuoyan, shielding him behind her. In the flames that threatened to burn the old world to ashes, they held each other tightly, their cheeks pressed together, embracing like lovers.

Until the very last moment, Ying continued to protect Qingnuo Rock.

—The same applies to Qingnuo Rock.

The woman discovered that her heartbeat had stopped.

The fire butterfly also stopped in mid-air.

We can't move forward even half a step.

Her eyes, which had been consumed by madness, were now stunned. Her pupils dilated and her madness was slowly fading—she couldn't believe what was happening before her.

Because right before Ying's eyes, the one that stood between them, blocking the fire butterflies and moths, hovering and shimmering with a gentle light, was clearly visible:

—It's that heart.

Rustam's heart.

Just like last time, in Mondstadt, protecting the lady, that heart still guards, like a knight.

But unlike last time, the knight was no longer guarding a lady—it was no longer her.

blank.

Only blank space remained.

A long, long period of emotional emptiness.

My thoughts seemed to freeze.

"Eh...?" she murmured softly. "Eh."

Right in front of her—

That heart protected Ying, shielding her from the ravages of the inferno, just as Ying guarded Qingnuo Rock. In the flames that consumed the old world, they embraced each other, protected each other, and seemed to redeem each other.

The woman swayed, took a half step back, then a full step back. She had been walking forward step by step, but now she was pushing backward step by step, as if she were fleeing.

She had nowhere left to retreat, as if her support had been removed, leaving her unsteady on her feet, her eyes filled with emptiness.

The heartbeat that once brought her joy was not for her, never had been.

The wind had long since perished in the fiercest flames, leaving only a faint, lingering whisper. But that whisper no longer belonged to her; the wind would never sing for her again.

The sand in the hourglass had long since run out.

The woman felt disoriented. She heard a sound, the sound of something going out. She swayed and finally understood what it was.

That endless flame, which was meant to consume the world, is slowly dying out.

—Because we lost our firewood.

What began to die out... was not the flame, but her heart.

.

P.S.: Whew, time for bed!

After thinking about it, I'll choose to have both endings.

Chapter 135 Only Tears

The sky was overcast, with distant rumbles of thunder.

Lei Yingdian heard that rumbling, deep thunder again, echoing above the thick clouds.

Unlike last time, this time the distance was so close that lightning poured down from the gaps in the clouds in the leaden sky, and the entire consciousness space flickered under the light of the lightning.

So close.

—It seemed to be right at the door.

But she couldn't get out.

She didn't know what she was expecting. Just as the general had said, the thunder that swept across the sky was gone in an instant and would never return, leaving only an echo. She listened to the faint echo above the clouds, but for some reason, she felt a flutter in her heart.

In the vastness of time, she had already given up.

The wind began to stir, the bleak autumn wind filled the attic, the autumn leaves falling from the pure land murmured hoarsely, and the Thunder Movie stood on the vast and boundless land, swinging its blade at the fleeting illusions of life again and again.