Boom—!!
Like two planets colliding violently, the feather blade and the Black Feather King's dark wings erupted with a deafening roar. The shockwave from the explosion sliced through the air like an invisible blade, instantly tearing apart the surrounding frozen atmosphere. The already ruined buildings around them crumbled like sandcastles caught in a hurricane, turning to countless pieces of rubble and dust. The black feathers flying through the air resembled cold, desolate snow before the apocalypse—tragic and hopeless. Night Ling, like a small creature hit by a speeding train, was hurled backward, her fragile body flying like a kite with a broken string, her vision blurring in a sea of red.
However, unbelievably, Li Tuosen remained unharmed, as if he were a rock at the center of the storm, unscathed by the world-shattering explosion.
But deep within, he knew that it wasn’t because of some extraordinary strength. No, it was because the darkness hidden within him had long since ceased to make him simply "human" in the conventional sense.
The fourth black feather, like one born from the abyss of hell, slowly emerged from his back, unfurling like a deathly flower breaking free from its fleshly chains. It was like the slow, terrifying spread of a demon’s wings, bringing an oppressive weight that threatened to suffocate. But at that moment, as if falling into the abyss, his consciousness was suddenly yanked by an invisible, powerful force, dragging him down into a strange, bottomless space that felt like an eternal black hole—
The Abyss of Memories.
“This place… is…?” He gasped for air like a drowning man, as if stepping on the void beneath his feet. Countless broken fragments of records, like floating images, began to slowly appear around him. They were his past words, one after another, frozen lies that time had preserved.
“I… didn’t lie… I swear…”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIktflZfXab
“She… she jumped herself… it had nothing to do with me…”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl44W5pZ37
“I don’t remember… I really don’t remember… What happened that day…”
The words he had once tried to forget rang out like ghosts from hell, echoing eerily in his ears. They pierced into his already battered heart, bringing with them an agonizing, tearing pain.
He collapsed to his knees, as if crushed by an invisible weight, his head throbbing with such intensity that it felt as though it might explode. In desperation, he clutched his skull, letting out a low, beastly growl.
“You said… that when she died, it was the most painful moment of your life…”156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhn7Z9sg3Qm
“But… you couldn’t even remember her name…”
A familiar, soft sound of footsteps echoed behind him, like a ghostly presence.
A girl, dressed in a familiar blue-and-white high school uniform, slowly walked toward him from the depths of his memories. Her light footsteps seemed to float, stepping gently over the piled black feathers beneath her. She lowered her head slightly, but the smile on her lips was twisted and eerie, like a poisonous flower blooming in the darkness.
“Do you remember me, Li Tuosen?”
His eyes, frozen in ice, suddenly shrank as if pierced by a sharp blade. His face turned ashen, like the color of death.
It was her—Yan Xi, the once beautiful girl who had been like a blooming cherry blossom, the one who had leaped from the high tower for him, her life fading like a broken kite.
But now, her face was twisted and grotesque, much like the repulsive feathered ones. Her once clear eyes were now filled with black feather cracks, like spider webs. Her gentle smile was now grotesquely twisted, mocking him for his hypocrisy and cowardice.
“You once told me you would protect me forever, that we would always be together, never separated…” She walked closer, step by step, like a ghost from hell. The black feathers beneath her feet turned into suffocating black mist, tainted by evil forces. “But… you were just afraid of being alone, so you trapped me with those sweet lies, only to watch me fall like a broken doll from the high tower, shattering into pieces…”
“You are the one who truly deserves to be judged by the Feathered Ones, Li Tuosen!”
He staggered backward, like a puppet crushed by invisible forces. The images before him blurred like a mirror smeared with tears. The whispers and roars, like the howls of a thousand evil ghosts, grew louder and more intense, slashing at his consciousness with icy, razor-sharp pain. It was the agonized condemnation of countless feathered souls, an endless darkness trying to devour him whole.
Just as his mind was about to collapse, on the verge of being drowned by the overwhelming guilt…
“Enough!”
It was Night Ling’s voice, as cold and resolute as a sword cutting through the darkness.
She appeared before him, like a redeemer descending from the heavens. With slender hands, she raised the feathered blade, glowing with sacred light, as if slicing through the void. She cleaved the fragile boundary between memory and reality, violently pulling Li Tuosen back from the abyss of nightmares, returning him to the cold, harsh world of reality.
“This is not your battle alone, Li Tuosen,” she said softly, like a weary traveler, her obsidian-like eyes glistening with tears that shimmered like broken stars. “You are not the only one who has lied. But together, we can atone for the sins we’ve committed—together, we can bravely face the nightmare that is the Feather King!”
Li Tuosen, like a drowning man grabbing the last lifeline, clutched Night Ling’s warm, steady hand. The feeling was real, like an anchor fixing his drifting soul back into the world of reality.
Like a warrior reborn from the flames, he stood up sharply. His face, once full of confusion and pain, now bore no trace of hesitation or retreat. Instead, it was filled with the unwavering determination of a warrior, like the burning flames of resolve.
“I accept the judgment of the Feathered Kingdom…”
“But… I will also judge you—the parasites who feed on the pain of the innocent to nourish your twisted souls!”
The Feather King, enraged like a wild beast, roared, shaking the heavens. The countless feathered ones, like a raging tide, surged toward Li Tuosen and Night Ling like crazed demons!
Li Tuosen and Night Ling stood back to back like twin swords, bravely facing the endless darkness of their enemies. The black feathers flew like a blizzard, and their blades gleamed like stars cutting through the night sky. What followed was the stirring beginning of an epic, blood-pumping counterattack!
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