Chapter 388: I Will Bear Everything; Don’t Cry

Sea City was swallowed by fiery clouds enough to melt the Conceptual Fire of all things, creating a collapsing domain where gravity and space fell into imbalance. Broken chemical bonds extended into endless fireworks, tearing apart the Cocoon of the Heavenly Kingdom that covered Daxia.

In an instant, the vast city block, centered around the stage, collapsed and melted downward infinitely. From the satellite’s perspective, the blazing flowing fire was even more terrifying than the cruciform stars born earlier.

Esther overlooked the entire planet, the collective consciousness of the stars revived through this agent’s “body.” The Intracastral Sea suddenly expanded, transforming into a shell that sheltered the world, absorbing and converting the overflowing energy to prevent this war from blowing the planet apart.

This was wisdom born from the first playthrough—every Calamity God wielded destructive power capable of shattering stars with ease, and their sovereign authority could even cross galaxies.

If not for the stars’ timely collapse, condensing their power to the utmost and forging the Intracastral Sea to protect themselves, Chu Yuanqing in the first playthrough would have faced the dire predicament of accidentally annihilating all humanity while subduing the first Calamity God—Tenno-Gochu.

Yet even so, Levatin initiated liberation mode, delivering a strike preluding [Embers], still severing the [Son of Mankind] into the earth, causing blazing flames to entwine with rose-like blooming magma, unleashing a violent roar.

The flesh of “Chu Wang Shu” crumbled, her elegant and beautiful limbs shattered, and even the Black Tide, reconstructed into Magic Armor, was annihilated within the concepts of apocalypse and fate. She bathed in the scorching torrent, like a fish caught in a tsunami, on the verge of turning into foam at any moment.

The dense seeds in the sunflower’s eyes writhed, their iridescent colors interwoven into breathtaking brilliance.

Lotus, clock, scales, cross…

At that moment, myriad phenomena flickered with the activation of the [Calamity God]’s authority, unleashing time reversal, causal regression, the cycle of life, and material transformation—just enough to erase Levatin’s mythic concept.

The girl restored her original form with each breath. Through the causal link, the embryo of the [Calamity God] named [Tathagata] successfully crossed Levatin’s annular fiery clouds, merging into her being, illuminating the lotus mark at the hem and crown of her Magic Armor, becoming more divine.

Chu Wang Shu would not die.

The sunflower would not either.

No matter the abilities of the [Calamity God], their immortality grew absurdly exaggerated due to the multitude of integrated sovereignties.

It could be said that before fusing with [Tathagata], possessing the form of the [Son of Mankind] and the embryonic sequences of twelve Calamity Gods, as well as the remnants of billions of souls, Chu Wang Shu was already nearly on the scale of a Calamity God.

Now, she advanced toward the mid-tier of the Calamity Gods. After merging with the remaining eleven original Calamity Gods, the Sovereign Lord envisioned by the Disaster group would establish a complete framework, surpassing the despair once faced by this savior, becoming… the most terrifying calamity.

“Dad, you really are a madman.”

Sunflower tilted her head slightly, retracing time; her hand gathered the echoes of history, gazing at the snapshots of the young savior as a father, clumsily caring for the infant girl. She sighed:

“Look, you obviously loved her the most, didn’t you? For seventeen years, you bore the curse of Mother Ocean that made even the Disaster group tremble, yet you never showed a hint of weakness before her.”

“Even at the end, when you knew you were dying, you still cared whether she’d be sad. You hesitated about whether to distance yourself from her—becoming foolish because of love.”

The girl’s eyes brightened as she looked toward the distant shooting star streaking across the sky. A lovely expression graced her face as she tilted her head and asked sincerely,

“Dad, why is it now that you don’t love ‘me’ anymore?”

The only response to Sunflower was the blazing fire.

Chu Yuanqing did not hold back and had no desire to communicate.

As a mother, she naturally worried for her daughter’s safety and wondered whether the other would experience the same pain.

But…

No matter how many plots there were, her daughter chose [Full Power Mode] by her own will and with resolute awareness.

Sunflower would certainly mock Chu Wang Shu’s reason for choosing [Full Power Mode].

To the Disaster group, the miracles and love embodied by magical girls were incomprehensible; otherwise, they would not have deliberately spawned the [Amahl] sequence and propagated the branch called Beast of Love, seeking to better understand intelligent life.

However, in Chu Yuanqing’s eyes, this was genuine proof that her daughter had truly grown up.

Even if it led to the worst outcome, the sincerity and conviction within remained genuine, unblemished, and could not be defiled.

Sunflower had trampled, defiled, and twisted Little Shu’s wishes.

Therefore, she had to affirm, recognize, and respect them.

After all, how could adults mock the dreams of children?

Falling and failing, then rising again—that was an eternal truth.

If Little Shu could not do it, then it was up to herself; as her mother, she had struggled until now for this very moment.

The Earth’s crust, grasslands, towering mountains, basins, alternate spaces, ideal dimensions, the Boundless Universe…

Within just a few breaths, the battlefield had shifted dozens, even hundreds of times due to the interplay of powers, almost letting the entire world witness a momentary glimpse of divine might.

From a farther vantage point, the whole planet was instantly ringed by tens of millions of points of light, hurricanes, blazing fires, and all kinds of strange phenomena, creating an intensely lively scene.

“Chu Wang Shu” was on the run.

From the beginning, the Disaster group had never intended to confront this savior head-on.

First, this opponent was cursed by Mother Ocean; once she unleashed her full power, she could be swallowed by the void at any moment. Thus, delay tactics were the optimal solution.

Secondly…

They simply couldn’t win.

They truly couldn’t win.

Chu Yuanqing had grown weaker.

But to resist Mother Ocean’s erosion for seventeen years proved that after ravaging the Disaster group and enacting the path of salvation, she had pushed the limits defined by the Martial God to a far more unreachable realm.

Even if the thirteen Calamity Gods instantly restored themselves to prime condition, leading all the complex genes to form the most complete Disaster group to confront this savior, all they could do was strive to preserve as many sequences as possible before their opponent was exhausted.

Therefore, their plan was to imitate the Solar Calendar’s method of binding the star core, keeping the battlefield anchored on this planet to prevent being dragged into deep space, limiting this savior’s maximum exertion, and buying time.

The Pure White Witch’s golden eyes were full of calm. She looked upon heaven and earth, controlled the universe, her footsteps spanning galaxies. No matter where Sunflower hid, using cause and effect, fate, time, probability alteration, and various powers to drag its steps, to mask its trail, that returning peak instinct, guided by the Light of the Soul, found the way forward, shattered it, crushed it, and ultimately reduced it to dust.

In three breaths, each passing Planck moment represented an increasing number of deaths among the Sons of Mankind. Even though life endlessly circulated like an Ouroboros, their unnatural immortality was weakened by this brief, extreme accumulation.

This was merely the normal attack stance wielding the Levatin, eternally in the Embers state, fused with mythic concepts.

As for the Martial God Technique without cooldowns, humanity’s blessings, and the powers of the Calamity Gods — they could certainly slay more swiftly, but once used, controlling them was difficult; they could easily trigger planetary upheaval and civilization’s collapse.

The situation had changed.

In the first playthrough, treating this world as a platter and breeding ground, hoping for more possibilities and gains, the Disaster group would have cared more about the planet than Chu Yuanqing, rarely resorting to such threatening methods.

But now, it was themselves who were restrained.

Even so,

Sunflower still sensed “fear.” As part of the Disaster group, its essence was a record, a segment of DNA, a piece of music, like books arranged in a library; it lacked such emotions and did not fear death like intelligent life would.

But the current situation was different.

Chu Wang Shu—this miracle child, fused with the world’s flame, embodying the concepts of stars and humanity, blessed by the Savior and cherished by the Saint, possessing infinite potential—had shown the Disaster group the hope to be forged as one, to reach great harmony of life, and to fulfill their clan’s destiny.

—The Sovereign Lord.

This was a life that could leave a seat at the Sea of Truth, transcend endless possibilities, unveil the veil of nothingness, anchor absolute existence, and leave eternal traces.

If the Disaster group could elevate their essence to approach this standard, they could easily escape their eternal wandering fate, cleanse the filth of chaotic entropy, and become a truly perfect race capable of feeling life’s joy, the universe’s mysteries, and the harmony of truth, ultimately reaching the shore beyond suffering.

In the endless years of existence of the Disaster group, this opportunity was the first of its kind!

This world was special.

The Last Diva, whose soul was pure and flawless, embodying the beauty of ultimate goodness, was no exception.

The Savior, who reversed fate, challenged the Disaster group, twisted endless possibilities, and drew the attention of Mother Ocean, was indeed the most exceptional outlier among the brave.

The union of these three was an irreplaceable blessing from the heavens.

Moreover, the most important cause was that Chu Yuanqing, while altering the world lines and rewriting history, obeyed the ideals and prayers of the masses, sacrificing herself to correct all world lines.

This action not only attracted the gaze of the Sea of Truth but also brought about a specific result.

That was, only her world line was being watched and forcibly isolated by the others.

In other words, through a twist of fate in countless parallel universes, there was only one Chu Wang Shu — a child who should never have been born and certainly should not have survived — who, at the very moment of breathing in the new world, possessed a unique true self and gained a singular status.

If this chance was missed, the Disaster group might never encounter such a miracle again.

This was the only opportunity for the Disaster group, a chance they absolutely could not miss!

The sunflower did not crave power nor transcendence, yet it could not escape the instinctual desire for evolution engraved in the collective consciousness of its kind.

But now, what the other side was gradually severing was precisely the Disaster group’s potential for evolution!

Chu Yuanqing was too resolute, too ruthless. She never hesitated, nor wasted a single moment on rhetoric. As in the past — cold and merciless — she aimed to annihilate every trace of disaster aura within her own daughter’s body, almost to the point of cruelty.

This was absurd.

No matter how much he begged for mercy, no matter how he imitated Chu Wang Shu’s expressions, demeanor, language, and habits to try to arouse paternal love, he was met only with unyielding swords and searing flames.

Were the affections in Chu Wang Shu’s memories all false? Or did Chu Yuanying truly think that killing a daughter was a fair price for protecting the world?

This completely contradicted the Disaster group’s understanding of Chu Yuanqing. In their expectations, an innocent savior who wished to save all could never give up her daughter so resolutely without even a trace of attempt.

Even with the slightest hope, she should have been like a moth drawn to a flame, throwing herself into the Disaster group’s trap, slowly drowning in endless void amid hopes of saving Chu Wang Shu.

Yet the other side’s current actions wholly defied the Disaster group’s conjecture.

The Son of Mankind traversed the cosmos, evading the energy tides of the burning star rings; her delicate and beautiful face was cracked, and her increasingly graceful and flawless body resembled bonded porcelain, constantly shedding dust as it neared death.

That concept born of fate and apocalypse, locked onto her with irrational killing intent, shattered thousands of defensive blessings imitations, and even the sunflowers deep within souls repeatedly fractured, growing weaker.

Fortunately, in the next moment, the true forms of King of Salt and Helldir returned through the Disaster group’s link, like a second-rank boss awakening, fully restoring and thickening their health pools while enhancing multiple attributes and new mechanics.

By now, this perfect vessel had housed four Calamity Gods — four arrays containing the essence of countless civilizations and planets — intertwining and sublimating within Chu Wang Shu’s soul and flesh, producing an incredible chemical reaction that bestowed unparalleled power.

In that instant, the body led by the Son of Mankind was stronger than ever before. She could even sense the powers of the four Calamity Gods beginning to merge, surpassing dimensional limits and stirring greater ripples in the Mother Ocean.

Thus, with a wave of her hand, the burning galaxies transformed into pure white bands; the surging energy tides solidified into a sea of salt; even the irradiated planets instantly petrified into salt, the rapidly escalated entropy triggering an infinitely expanding explosion.

But before the temporarily revived planetary consciousness could muster the strength to soothe this battle’s aftermath — an interference spanning light-years and disrupting ecosystems — Chu Yuanqing cast a downward glance. The lotus in her golden eyes flickered as, wielding the forcibly seized power of Tathagata, she caused all phenomena to reverse in a cyclical loop.

In the next microsecond, deep in cosmic space, the partially freed Martial God Technique unleashed a psychic vision radiating across hundreds of light-years, shattering the entire collapsed universe — now restored to its unsalted state — into mere vacuum dust.

Such scale was the norm in battles against the Calamity Gods.

Once beyond a planet’s surface and freed from stellar protections, the Calamity Gods’ power could effortlessly annihilate planets. Compared to them, the legendary dragons of the Ideal State were but slightly larger ants.

Chu Wang Shu’s body was reborn in flames, while the Disaster group also employed the power of Tathagata to trace back their existence through the concept of reincarnation.

In a breath, Tenno-Gochu and Youmir returned to their stations, half of their prowess radiating even greater authority, cleansing the cosmos with divine string melodies, as if inscribing a cosmic symphony that swept forth ever-growing might.

But before this imposing presence could spread, Levatin, burning with the fires of the end, had already wrapped the Light of the Soul around himself and crashed down, shining brightly across the galaxy, breaking the backbone of the Disaster group.

Too weak.

Even though theoretically, he held greater power than any of the Calamity Gods, compared to this savior, the former Disaster group seemed like outdated relics.

They had only lost once, yet they no longer had the right to compete on the same stage, only able to endure one-sided oppression.

Fortunately, the gaze of Mother Ocean was constantly correcting the ownership of the Disaster group’s powers, and their share was slowly returning with time.

Eventually, there would come a moment when the other side could no longer hold the powers of the thirteen Calamity Gods, allowing this vessel to be filled with the complete Disaster group.

So, time was needed.

Thus, by anchoring on the surface of the planet, the wandering remnants of souls, the Son of Mankind, relying on the power that commands the black tide—the remnants of human souls—crossed the limits of time and space, returning instantly to Daxia and pulling the intensity of the war back to ground level.

But this was not the end. Sunflower raised the corners of her lips, looking at the approaching savior with malice. The golden glow in her eyes faded, and the awareness belonging to the Disaster group briefly slipped away, allowing the pure soul hidden within to regain its dominant position.

The girl’s eyes became a light and soft shade of brown. She stood all alone in the ruins, her youthful face full of confusion, and her mind was a blur of thoughts while a strong pain tore at her nerves.

“Did I… manage to save everyone?”

“Why did the [Full Power Mode] lose control of my body?”

“Is this Sea City? Why is there only broken walls? Where is everyone? Where is the stage?”

Those cruel memories rose up in her heart little by little as questions started to form.

It was all a lie, everything was fake.

Sunflower was the [Calamity God]. She had been deceived, spinning in circles, and there was no such thing as a [Full Power Mode], nor any way to save everyone.

She was not the Last Son of Mankind; she was a born monster, a burden to her parents.

Her foolishness and innocence brought doom to the thirty thousand spectators present, ruined the entire Sea City, destroyed the billions of people in Daxia, and even caused the deaths of her mother, Sister Miyuki, Sister Xie, Sister Little Yu, and Liuli…

Chu Wang Shu looked dazed, tears spilling from her eyes. A deep sadness and regret pierced her heart like a sharp blade. Her spirit felt withered, and her heart was shattered, slowly collapsing under the heavy blow that came from her journey as a magical girl.

The Lantern Gem, hidden and sealed by twelve intertwining sequences, dimmed little by little, flickering, cracking, and racing towards its own destruction.

Chu Wang Shu could not forgive herself. A great sorrow flooded over everything, numbing her feelings. She gazed up at the sky, watching her father, who held Levatin like a shining sun, filled with a fierce intent that made him seem so unfamiliar.

At that moment, the loud rumble of something collapsing suddenly stopped, falling into a frozen silence.

In a daze, dreams and reality blurred together.

“It turns out, I am the one who caused Dad’s death.”

Chu Wang Shu seemed not to hear. She took off the floating crown and grasped the sharp spikes, letting them pierce her skin and bones. Crimson blood dripped steadily, turning into blades that hovered beside her.

Strangely, she felt no pain at all.

This tiny doubt grew larger, just like the blood dripping steadily from above and falling to the ground.

The girl raised her eyes and stared blankly.

High above, the savior, who had never been harmed by the Disaster group, was now like an ordinary mortal, with bright red blood flowing from a mysterious hole in his palm.

The golden light in Chu Yuanqing’s eyes faded, filled with warmth and sparkle. She looked at her suffering daughter, ignoring the scars that appeared at the same time, silently bearing the pain of what had been taken from her. She parted her soft lips and gently promised:

“Little Shu, don’t be afraid.”

“You will be fine, and everyone else will be okay too. Just leave it to me.”

Chu Wang Shu sensed something, and tears welled up in her eyes. She shook her head vigorously, wanting to say something, but was interrupted.

Chu Yuanqing extended her finger and smiled gently.

“Do you remember the game we used to play when we were little? Hide and seek.”

“Little Shu was always very good at hiding. This time is the same. Just hide until Daddy finds you.”

Chu Wang Shu pressed her lips together, stubbornly wiping away her tears.

In that instant, her withered heart blossomed anew, and all the wavering in her soul miraculously ceased. She could not forgive the Sunflower, but even more so, she could not forgive the cowardice of choosing to give up, to escape, and to cry.

So…

She could not give up. She absolutely could not do as they wished.

The little girl looked at her father, understanding the meaning behind his words, and forced out a bright smile as she promised,

“I will hide well.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the intellect and warmth in her eyes faded away. She seemed to curl her consciousness inward, sinking into a deep slumber. No matter how the marks of the Disaster group surged or how the twelve sequences tugged at her, she showed no reaction at all.

The smile on Chu Yuanqing’s lips vanished. She cast her eyes downward and watched her daughter’s sparkling tears fall to the ground, shattering into pieces like an emotionless killing machine. Then, the Levatin in her hand crashed down with a roar.

In the next breath, the Sunflower was buried along with the ruins beneath a sea of fire.

At the cost of bearing her own wounds, Chu Yuanqing took upon herself the pain that her daughter should have borne. Her slender body was burned to ashes and then reborn from them. On her porcelain-white, flawless, delicate face was a calm expression, her eyes holding an unbreakable resolve.

“Crazy, fool, unreasonable. Having lost your [immortality], why do you still kill yourself over and over again for such a ridiculous reason?”

Sunflower questioned while fleeing, utterly incapable of understanding this motive.

In those three breaths, Chu Yuanqing destroyed this flesh-and-blood body millions of times. She chose to shoulder Chu Wang Shu’s pain at such a cost, which was tantamount to killing herself the same number of times.

Even the Disaster group, which did not possess pain sensation, was chilled by this.

Furthermore, as Chu Yuanqing’s enemy, Sunflower knew her abilities more intimately than her friends Charlotte, Chu Wang Shu, and Tang Liuli—including the secret of her [immortality].

This blessing, practically a glitch, had truly vanished since she altered the worldline and entered the revised new era.

In other words, her Light of the Soul could be genuinely extinguished by the mythical concept borne by Levatin if it dimmed even for a moment. It was utterly insane beyond measure.

Chu Yuanqing’s long eyelashes drooped. The molten gold in her eyes mixed with the void-devouring emotionlessness. She gazed at the Sunflower, which had once again absorbed three Calamity Gods, silently counting the remaining time without response.

Such a boring question.

Whether or not she possessed [immortality], what she wanted to do, what she intended to do, and what she was doing would remain unchanged.

Her thoughts drifted away as yet another handful of memories faded into the darkness. The clarity in her eyes thinned further. The Levatin in her hand descended, and the shattered mythic concept burned fiercely. The echoes of the world’s annihilation washed through the galaxy; the final ending gradually approached from the void.