Chapter 352: Chapter 352: The First Calamity (6)

Hearing those words, Goldie’s light surged brighter.

Then it accelerated, wings flaring as it tore through the final layers of darkness.

SPLASH!

The black sea of darkness could sense the approaching intruder as it fought back viciously.

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

Hundreds of shadowy claws raked across Goldie’s golden form, tearing away chunks of its radiant body.

Cracks of void spread across its chest, arms, and face as golden fragments broke off and drifted upward like dying embers, still glowing even as they dissolved into nothingness.

Yet Goldie never stopped.

{…I know it hurts…}

The soft feminine voice whispered gently in the crushing void.

{…But he has endured far worse… because of this.}

The colossal core now loomed before it as it look monstrous, alive, and aware.

Countless screaming faces bubbled across its surface, eyes wide with hatred and terror as they locked onto the golden figure.

Mouths opened in silent howls, unleashing fresh waves of corruption that crashed against Goldie’s broken body.

Goldie raised its remaining arm.

Half of its radiant face had already crumbled away, leaving only one gentle, childlike eye of pure light staring at the heart of all evil.

It pressed its cracked palm against the pulsating surface.

The moment contact was made, the black heart recoiled violently.

A surge of abyssal power exploded outward, trying to devour the intruder whole.

The force was so overwhelming that Goldie’s legs shattered completely.

Its lower body dissolved into golden dust that scattered into the void, leaving only its cracked torso and head floating before the monstrous core.

Sharp and endless pain that seem to come from it origin flooded its fading consciousness.

But Goldie did not scream.

Instead, it smiled.

…A small, gentle, heartbreaking smile.

Golden runes began to bloom across the surface of the black heart like flowers of light.

Each rune carried a precious memory of it…

The first time Li Feng had named it “Goldie.”

The quiet nights when it stood guard while he slept.

The clumsy way he tried to fix its broken wooden arm with tape and string.

The first time he praised it.

The first gift it received.

The beautiful flowers it learned about.

Every small, ordinary moment that had made a simple wooden puppet feel… alive.

And then the runes ignited as golden light… of pure, holy, and unbearably bright burst forth from within the core itself.

The black heart shrieked.

It thrashed wildly, trying to tear Goldie away, but the golden figure clung on with what little remained of its body.

Its single remaining arm melted away, yet the runes only burned hotter.

Crack…

Crack…

Crack…

More and more of Goldie’s form began to disintegrated.

Its torso cracked open like fragile porcelain.

Its last golden eye slowly dimmed.

But even as its body turned to sparkling motes, Goldie poured every last drop of its existence into the self-destruction formation.

The colossal heart began to fracture from the inside.

Huge chunks of corruption broke off and burned away instantly in the golden inferno as the chains of abyssal energy snapped one by one.

The endless black sea above started collapsing in on itself, its source of power rapidly vanishing.

{…You have done wonderfully.}

The voice was now barely a thread, fading like the final notes of a lullaby.

{…Now, with the most troublesome of those “segments” gone, he will… have a better chance… in the war.}

Goldie’s final silhouette which was now little more than a flickering outline of light remained pressed against the dying heart as one last soft whisper echoed through the void…

{…Live well… Li Feng…}

{…This one… will always… watch over you… from the light…}

The last mote of golden radiance flared with overwhelming brilliance.

Then—

A silent, absolute silent detonation.

BOOOOMMMM!!!

The golden light consumed the black heart completely, erasing it from existence in a single, purifying blaze.

The void itself trembled.

Every trace of the black sea… every drop, every tendril, every fragment of corruption was burned away in an instant.

Above, on the surface of the world, the darkness vanished as if it had never been there.

The sky cleared, and the earth began to heal.

But deep below, in the now-empty abyss, nothing remained of Goldie.

No body… and no light.

…Only a cracked core that emitted a faint, warm afterglow… slowly fading into peaceful nothingness.

A wooden puppet had chosen to burn its entire soul to ash… just so its master could see one more sunrise and pave the way for a brighter future.

…Even if it would never be there to witness what came after.

And in that final, selfless act of love, Goldie found its truest form—

Not as a tool and not as a guardian.

…But as family, forever.

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On the surface,

Li Feng felt the exact moment the connection severed.

The gentle golden suppression disappeared, and the world grew eerily quiet.

“…Eh?”

He looked dumbfounded as he stared at the beautiful sunrise scenery of the secret realm.

The sky had cleared completely, painting everything in soft golden light.

His eyes then fell on the small core that had flown out from the crack and now lay on the grass beside him.

It was… the Gold Source, the core he had first obtained from the Gacha in its original form.

But now, instead of its beautiful golden brilliance, it was translucent and covered in fine cracks.

There was only faint traces of golden light flickered inside, growing dimmer and dimmer with each passing second.

Li Feng was still frozen in shock at the sudden change of everything.

His lips moved, but no sound came out.

…Unseen by anyone, the last remnant of light inside the Gold Source gently flew toward him… releasing wave after wave of fortune and blessing.

A final gesture.

And… its true and last duty of the Divine Authority of Gold.

With that, the last light completely disappeared from the core under Li Feng disbelief gaze.

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[Here an illustration of the Gold Source’s final moment:]

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Then, far away in a place that existed between existence and nothingness…

“…”

Goldie, in its wooden puppet form, looked around in confusion at the familiar scenery.

It clearly remembered the searing pain, the golden light, the final detonation… the moment its entire being had burned away to destroy the black heart.

Yet here it was, standing in front of the old and familiar small residence of it master in the outer sect… the very place where Goldie had first opened its eyes.

Before it could process anything, that soft, familiar feminine voice spoke again but it was clearer and warmer than ever before, no longer like a distant echo.

“That was a brilliant display, little one.”

Goldie slowly turned its head upward.

There, sitting gracefully on the old roof, was a woman.

Her long, flowing golden-blonde hair cascaded like sunlight, adorned with delicate star-shaped ornaments that shimmered with faint golden motes.

She wore an elegant golden dress that seemed woven from light itself.

Her posture was relaxed yet regal, one hand resting lightly on her cheek as she observed the wooden puppet.

Her golden eyes gazed down at Goldie with a distant, almost emotionless look… but a hint of pride appeared in those beautiful eyes.

“And to think… he named you Goldie.”

A faint, gentle smile touched her lips.

“How very unlike of him….”

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[Here an illustration of that mystery woman:]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep