69novels Chapter 21 Why not... let anger... incinerate fate...?
Chapter 21 Why not... let anger... incinerate fate...?
The story of the Golden Descendants has long since ended, but the discussions under the sky have not subsided.
"Are they all like this?" a young Soul Master murmured, his eyes still a little red.
"Is this the inevitable end for everyone?"
"Golden Descendants, no, they should be called Martyrs." The Soul Master beside him sighed.
"But why is it that Nacauslana—having done so much—is the only one who is 'the nameless hero'?"
"Who cares!"
Complaints came from not far away.
"Tell me, what exactly is that canopy projecting?"
"From just now on, it's all been these people's stories. What exactly does this have to do with Bai E?"
The words had barely left his mouth when they drew immediate rebuttals.
"Irrelevant?"
"Don't you understand? Wan Di is his brother who fought alongside him!"
Distant Butterfly, Wind Violet, Sai Fei'er...
These people are all a part of his life!
If we take their stories away.
The man standing here, Bai E, the man known as number one.
What's left?
Is it just an empty shell?
Her voice was more resolute: "They are all burning themselves out for the same goal."
The sky shows us these things so that we can understand why he deserves to stand in that position.
"Exactly!" several young girls nearby chimed in.
"Besides, he's in first place, so what's wrong with giving him more screen time?"
"We will always support Beer!"
"So cute when she was little, and she's still so captivating now that she's grown up."
"Anyway, no one is allowed to speak ill of him."
Just then, the sky began to shift again.
Burning ruins, a shattered sky.
Two figures collided at high speed amidst the ruins, each clash exploding into blinding energy turbulence.
One side is the familiar one to everyone—Bai E;
On the other side was the Fire Thief, clad in dark armor and wearing a ferocious mask.
"It's Bai E!"
"He's fighting that monster!"
The people who were just discussing it were instantly drawn into this life-or-death battle.
Watching Bai E weave through, parry, and counterattack amidst the raging onslaught, everyone's hearts were in their throats.
"Go for it, Bai'er!"
"Become the dawn! Savior!"
Someone shouted it out first, and then the shouts joined together.
Amidst the crowd, a Soul Master stood with bloodshot eyes, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked: "Avenge Wan Di! Bai E! Tear that bastard apart with your bare hands!"
In another corner, several female Soul Masters were already sobbing:
And there's Sai Fei...
She has protected the sun for a thousand years...
Please help her, please help them...
On the battlefield, Baige unleashed a heavy slash, using the momentum to retreat and create distance between himself and the Firewalker.
His blue eyes were fixed on the other person, his voice icy:
"It seems you've succeeded after all, executioner."
The Fire Thief did not answer, but slowly raised the sword in his hand that was burning with pale flames.
Bai E took a deep breath, his grip on his sword tightened, and his deep voice echoed through the silent sky:
"Burning oneself as fuel...to usher in the dawn of the next life..."
His sword trembled, and a hazy gray light flowed from its spine:
"Let's start a fire."
The next instant, the two of them vanished from their spot.
There were no fancy moves, no long, drawn-out fights.
Clang—!!!
An unprecedentedly sharp blast tore apart everyone's eardrums.
At the center of the collision, space itself seemed to be torn open with a pitch-black rift.
A burst of light erupted, engulfing everything.
When their vision returned, everyone saw that the two had switched places and were standing back to back.
"Click...click..."
A slight cracking sound.
A fine crack appeared in the center of the hideous metal mask on the Fire Thief's face.
Immediately afterwards, cracks spread, and the upper part of the mask completely fell off.
"I knew it!"
"The savior is truly amazing! Otherwise, why would he be called the savior?"
"You've knocked off your mask! Let me see what you, you cowardly rat, really look like!"
"Pah! You shameful thing!"
Amid cheers and curses, the Fire Thief slowly raised his hand and touched the exposed lower half of his face.
Then he turned around.
Bai E also turned around at almost the same time.
Without a word, the two charged at each other again!
The blades clashed for the third time, bursting into blinding sparks, and the enormous impact sent both of them sliding backward.
Just then, Bai E seemed to see something incredible, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
"How is that possible..."
The camera, following his trembling gaze, cut to the Fire Thief.
The first thing to appear was a pair of eyes.
It wasn't the murky or insane color one might imagine, but rather a cold, weary, deep blue that seemed to have witnessed countless cycles of reincarnation.
The expression that often flashed in Bai E's eyes was exactly the same.
The camera slowly panned up, revealing the face in its entirety.
A deathly silence reigned above the ruins.
The face revealed beneath the shattered mask.
"Look... doesn't that person look a bit like Bai E?"
"Bullshit!" someone immediately retorted sharply.
"One is a sewer rat that dares not stand in the light, the other is a savior! How are they alike?!"
"But...but look..."
"The eyebrows, the nose, the face—they're exactly the same."
The screen suddenly split in two.
On the left was Bai E, panting heavily, covered in wounds but with still sharp eyes;
On the right is the Fire Thief, whose mask is half destroyed, revealing his true face.
The same short, silver-white hair, the same deep blue eyes.
Every detail screams out the same absurd truth.
"???"
"What's going on...?"
"What...what's going on?!"
The whispers of doubt turned into a panicked commotion.
Suddenly, Bai E appeared before the Fire Thief.
The longsword in his hand, carrying an unyielding and resolute gray light, pierced through the opponent's chest.
The tip of the sword protruded from behind, dripping thick, dark red blood.
The cheers were on the tip of their tongues, but no one could actually shout them out.
Because everyone witnessed an even stranger scene—
The Fire Thief was pierced by the longsword, his body arching backward from the impact, but he was laughing.
The smile was twisted and painful, yet it carried a chilling sense of relief.
He raised his hand, not to push Bai E away, nor to draw his sword, but to tightly grasp Bai E's wrist holding the sword with his own blood-stained hand.
The movement didn't seem like a struggle; it was more like guidance.
An embrace that helps the other person thrust the sword deeper and more thoroughly.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, leaned close to Bai E's ear, and whispered something.
That sentence seems very short.
"Why not... let anger... incinerate fate?"
Immediately afterwards, the Fire-Stealing Walker seemed to use his last bit of strength to utter two indistinct syllables.
"...Caus..."
The sound stopped abruptly.
But enough.
That was clearly the beginning of a name.
One that belongs only to that "savior".
The name of the man they had just been cheering for.