Warm warmth landed on the top of her head, carrying a weight of immense reassurance, like a gentle breeze sweeping across golden wheat fields.
"Still a child, isn't it, Sui? What if I'm not here anymore, and you get bullied?"
Seimei gently rubbed the swirl of the girl's black hair. The girl, who had been hugging his waist, pulled back slightly, tilted her head up, and puffed out her cheeks in protest, "I'm not a child. Even if you count according to the growth age of a demon, I'm already grown up. Besides, everyone and I will protect Lord Seimei, you won't die!"
Seimei looked at her with a gentle smile, "I know Sui is very capable, but human lifespans are at most a hundred years. Even I cannot stay by your side forever."
The girl seemed stumped and said hesitantly, "But... can't you become a god? If you become a god, you can be here forever, right?"
Seimei shook his head. His deep blue eyes, as vast as the ocean, looked at her with their usual gentleness and calmness. He stated without a trace of self-deprecation, "I cannot become a god. Have you forgotten, Sui, my soul is no longer whole, but split into two like the Yin-Yang fish, black and white. Black Seimei resides in the underworld, and I remain on this shore."
The girl's pupils constricted, and her hands, clutching Seimei's clothes, tightened slightly, creating deep creases.
Seimei's words were like the final blow that shattered her shackles.
Countless dark memories, once confined deep within her memory palace, burst forth from their sealed gates, filling in the blanks of her fragmented recollections.
These were the smudges of dark ink that bled into the myriad of vibrant and colorful memory scrolls since her birth.
"Have you remembered everything, Sui?"
Seimei once again uttered the girl's true name, etched into her very soul.
She was Menreiki, and also Tang Sui, who had reincarnated onto the Douluo Continent. Her lips parted slightly, and crystalline, icy tears welled up in her eyes, tracing paths down her delicate, fair cheeks.
"Why... Lord Seimei?"
She remembered.
The memories she had deliberately forgotten.
Seimei, the great Onmyoji of Heian-kyo, skilled in divination, had foreseen his own eventual demise before the arrival of the evil serpent Yamata no Orochi.
But...
Seimei sighed and used his slender fingertips to wipe away the icy tears from Tang Sui's cheeks. "I foresaw all the sorrow, yet if I were to choose again, I would still go. Because behind me, there is not only Heian-kyo, but also all of you whom I wish to protect. Everyone has given so much, sacrificed so much, how could I falter?"
—But you still died!
An incomplete soul, unable to reincarnate, unable to achieve divinity through merit, could only dissipate into the heavens and earth.
Such a gentle and great person, to end up like this, how could she accept it?
Tang Sui's mouth opened, a thousand words wanting to spill out, but upon meeting those always calm and resigned eyes, they got stuck in her throat, unable to utter a single one.
Seimei stood up straight, his handsome and elegant face, just as in life, wore a gentle smile as he said to Tang Sui,
"Actually, I am very happy to have witnessed your growth along the way."
"Finally, allow me, as an unqualified 'father,' to send you out of this 'cage' that has bound you for thousands of years."
"Sui, you can now fly freely and independently."
"Your future should lie in a broader world."
Seimei extended his hand to Tang Sui, like a gentle, attentive elder guiding a toddler, taking her hand and leading her towards the sole exit of this vast courtyard.
"ROAR—!!!"
A deafening beastly roar, like a vent of pent-up fury, echoed throughout the entire Laimapingyuan.
Blood stained everyone's robes. The war drums that had been beating in their ears had long since fallen silent amidst this terrifying battle of gods. The dull sound of retreat horns lingered on the wind-swept battlefield.
The Ten-Headed Sun Serpent, with six of its heads severed, had gaping wounds where its necks had been. Foul-smelling, scalding blood continuously gushed out, making a sizzling sound as it dripped onto the ground.
One of its remaining snake heads, drenched in blood, tilted upwards, vigorously chewing on the "food" in its mouth. It truly hated to the point of consuming its flesh and blood. Even as its teeth and the skin around its mouth were continuously corroded by the purplish-black evil energy emanating from the Rakshasa God, Shang Yang did not stop chewing.
Bite by bite, it crushed the Rakshasa God, which was already barely humanoid, destroying and devouring it along with its divine persona!
"......"
Throughout Laimapingyuan, neither the people of the Spirit Hall Empire who had retreated to Jialing Pass, nor the Heavenly Dou army, who should have been joyous, could manage a smile. A pervasive sense of dread hung in the air.
Such a powerful being, a god, had met such a brutal and undignified death.
Even more terrifying was the fact that the great demon that had slain a god did not seem to have reached its limit.
Although its astonishing regenerative ability of severed heads had been significantly diminished, no one dared to underestimate this demon that had killed a god.
—Could they truly win?
At this moment, even the Golden Crocodile Douluo, whose cultivation had reached level 98, felt a tremor in his heart as he looked at the blood-drenched primordial behemoth.
Could they hold out until their young lord became a god?
Golden Crocodile Douluo did not know, and neither did anyone else.
The demise of the Rakshasa God only halted the spread of the evil energy; it did not make it disappear.
The black-armored knights, who had sacrificed their lives to cover the retreat and managed to maintain their sanity despite being exposed to the evil energy, slowly stopped their rescue efforts or formation-holding movements, their gazes fixed like automatons towards the center of the battlefield.
Their only acknowledged king lay dormant there.
......
As she neared the courtyard gate, Tang Sui lowered her head and abruptly stopped.
Seimei, unable to pull her along, was slightly taken aback. "Sui?"
"No, Lord Seimei."
Tang Sui looked up, her clear blue eyes showing glimmers of black and red light.
"You were never my shackles; you were the goal I yearned for my entire life."
A violent gust of wind suddenly erupted. The tranquil and serene courtyard, along with all tangible objects besides themselves, vanished. Seimei's vision was instantly engulfed, and the hand holding hers suddenly felt empty.
"Sui!"
The oncoming gale was stained with a murky and ominous black-red hue, like mist, washing over his elegant face.
"I'm sorry, Lord Seimei."
The black-red demonic energy surged like a vast, boundless tide, forming several thick chains that stretched between heaven and earth.
The calm expression on Seimei's face cracked, and he looked at Tang Sui with heartache. "Don't do this, Sui, you are only one step away from becoming a god!"
"No, Lord Seimei."
Tang Sui allowed the negative and dark energy to permeate her soul as immense demonic energy flowed from her.
"I cannot become a true god."
Intertwined with a deeper Dao intent and the chaotic rules of another world, it exploded as it reached its critical point.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
The磅礴 power dispersed, and a terrifying storm, capable of easily shredding all things, instantly swept through the entire space.
Yet, such an energy storm, filled with violent and destructive power, as it neared Seimei, gently shielded him, just as the legendary Onmyoji had countless times protected her from danger in times of crisis. This time, it was Tang Sui's turn to protect him, blocking all harm, leaving only her clear and firm voice echoing in his ears—
"If a true god needs to cast aside all attachments, then I would rather not become a god."
The moment her words fell, as if a rewind button had been pressed, the converged power returned entirely to the slender flesh and blood figure at the center of the storm.
"I will become a god, but only my own god, not a puppet of fate or the laws of the Great Dao!"
"BOOM—!!!"
A surge of immense energy exploded from Tang Sui, who lay lifeless in the arms of Tang San, his expression numb and his aura despairing. It sent everyone gathered around her now-cooled corpse flying back, caught completely off guard.
—Author's Notes—
I've checked recent comments, and some little darlings have misunderstood. Sui right now is the SP Empty Form Menreiki. The moment her demonic bloodline fully awakened, she became Empty Form Menreiki.
Now, Empty Form Menreiki is preparing to don her Golden Legend skin!