—–

Anna continued crying, her tears streaming endlessly as she clung tightly to Song.

“Song…! I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…! Aaahhh…!”

“Y-You didn’t do anything. This isn’t your fault…!”

“I promised you all that this would work, that we would reclaim Bestia, but I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t save everyone…! I-I…! I didn’t want this…! I didn’t want this!”

“I know, Anna… Me neither. Calm down, sister…”

Song hugged her tightly, letting her sob into his shoulder. He was now taller than her, as if their roles had reversed and he had become the big brother there to comfort her.

“We don’t have time to mourn…”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“Please… breathe in and out… okay?”

“Ahhh… Uh-huh…”

Anna nodded timidly, still crying and trembling.

She was surprised at how quickly Song had accepted things, despite having spent so little time by his father’s side.

Perhaps when the Original Song and the Song born from the Records merged, he had gained not only physical maturity but emotional maturity as well.

And as he had just said, they had no time to mourn. The world remained in peril, and an immensely powerful demon was still fighting nearby.

They truly could not waste any time.

“Dad wouldn’t have scorned us if he saw us crying like this… Don’t you think so?”

“Y-Yeah… He… he would have done that…”

Suddenly, Anna’s armor transformed back into Fang Shuan, who enveloped her in a hug from behind.

“F-Fang Shuan?”

“Young lady… please don’t cry anymore…”

“I-I…”

“I know the pain and agony of losing those you love dearly… I lost everything myself.”

“…”

“But even then, it doesn’t mean the world has ended. Our lives continue.”

“But…”

“I may not have known him for long, but I knew the Heavenly Demon was a tenacious man with incredible conviction and willpower.”

“You’re… right…”

“He wouldn’t want to see you crying for him like this. I know that very well.”

“Ah…”

“We will mourn him, and we will cry together once this is over. But right now, please… Do not fall into despair. Do not let that monster, that otherworldly demon, hurt you like this. Don’t let him manipulate you.”

“Demon…?”

Anna glanced at Lucifer and realized what this was all about.

The demon glared at her with a delighted smile. He was clearly enjoying the sight of her tears and her descent into despair.

“Heheheh~ How does it feel to have YOUR pet killed now? Is it similar to the pain I felt when you killed my cute snake? Maybe I should kill your other pets too… I want to see you fall into despair!”

Anna’s eyes widened.

She fell silent as she watched the demon fight.

“Anna! Don’t listen to him!”

The Heavenly Empress roared as she clashed against the monster, riddling his body with countless holes using giant spears of gold.

Anna realized this was indeed her fault.

That monster was taking revenge on her.

If she had not come here, if she had not done everything she did, if she had not lured these monsters here, none of this would have happened.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Anna, it’s not your fault!” Song cried.

“But he… he came for me…” Anna muttered.

“He did, but this isn’t related to you…!” Fang Shuan tried to convince her.

“I…”

Anna stared at her hands. Though they were clean, she imagined them stained with the blood and black feathers of her beloved master.

Of her adoptive father.

“I caused this…”

The world grew darker and darker. Anna began slipping once more into despair.

Her Aura became unstable, and Song and Fang Shuan were suddenly pushed away by something powerful.

RUMBLE!

“Ugh?!”

“Agh!”

As they fell into the water and quickly swam back to the surface, they saw Anna’s lightless eyes as she began crying blood.

Her Aura sprouted monstrous black and red tentacles, crimson and white eyes, and massive maws everywhere. Her tears of blood stained the seas, turning them red.

“W-What am I seeing?!” Fang Shuan gasped in disbelief. “Y-Young lady! Calm down! YOUNG LADY, DON’T LET DESPAIR CONSUME YOU!”

“Anna!!!” Song roared.

The two unleashed their divine auras and pushed through the darkness and blood-red energy surging endlessly from Anna.

The space around her warped and twisted, shattering apart. The countless eyes seemed to weaken anyone who looked at them.

“T-This presence…!” Fang Shuan muttered. “Why… Why does it feel so similar to THEM?!”

The old cultivator’s metallic eyes widened as he realized something else dwelled within Anna. He did not know whether it was completely separate from her or born from her.

“What’s wrong with Anna? What is going on with her?!” Song asked. “S-She’s… like… Ah?!”

And then, out of nowhere, a message appeared.

[The {####### ######} cries in endless agony and despair.]

[Her tears and her agony embody the Pain of the World.]

[Her {Story} is being twisted.]

[The Effect of the {Boundary of the Fourth Wall} is shaking!]

“̵̹͎̦̏͝ͅÅ̷̛̳̈̄̈̉͐̄͊̈́̾̕͘͠A̴̡̡̢͎̩͐̾̆̀͊̆̇́̑̔̀͘͝͠͝ͅͅȦ̴͓̻̬A̸͙̎̉̈́̈̈́́̿͝͠ͅA̴̛̳͚̦̿̄̄͗̂̎́̑̊̀͗͘̕Ḩ̸͙̠̫̬̪̲͎̦͓̪̆͆̊̐̎͗͆̇́H̸̻̘̘̱̟̮͍̖́͐̈́͠H̶̜͔͈͇̭̤̔̂̒͠H̴̬̗̰̱̯̖͍̔̌ͅȞ̸͕̼͕͇̲͇͇̪͇H̴̹̙̖̫̫̺̾̉̂͂͐͂̌͊́͛̆̔̿̑!̸̡̼̪̭̺̮̦̦̂̈̆!̵̨̨͓̗͉̯̪̳͖̺̣͇̰̭̓͌ͅ!̶̞̘̦̪̮̹̩̮͕̦͚̀̊̄̈́͘ͅ”̴̩͍̦̲͙͎̫̉̄̈͊̃́̐́

Then they heard it: Anna’s agonizing scream, an endless anguish that spread through the world and the cosmos beyond. Everything.

Crack, crack…!

CRAAASH!

Giant cracks spread across the skies as space shattered. The Heavenly Empress and Lucifer glanced at the scene in disbelief.

“Anna?!”

“Oh? Would you look at that! Heheheh…! Wakey wakey, my princess of agony.”

Fang Shuan and Song groaned in pain, but they continued moving forward, their auras overflowing from their bodies.

They had been growing stronger this entire time. They could not let this stop them.

“Anna! Stop this!”

Song’s aura manifested with the power of Darkness and Light seamlessly combined. The Heavens and the Earth became one within him.

His aura pierced through the space-warping force that Anna exuded in her despair and self-blame over her beloved father’s death, tearing through it with sheer force.

“Song! Let me help!”

Fang Shuan quickly transformed into golden armor and wrapped around Song. The two combined their powers and reached her.

“ANNA!”

They hugged her as they gazed at her face. Her eyes had turned deep red, and she was constantly crying blood.

She seemed to have fallen unconscious.

“Please, Anna, come back!”

Fang Shuan and Song infused their auras into her body, fighting back whatever malicious force was trying to exploit her fragile mental state.

Was it even a “being,” or simply a part of her own being that had been hiding inside her all this time?

To Anna, the world suddenly turned black and red.

She felt herself drifting through an endless ocean of blood and darkness, yet she felt no confusion.

If anything, she could not feel anything at all.

“It’s my fault…”

“I might as well have not come…”

“I provoked this… It’s my fault that he died.”

“He’s gone… forever… I cannot bring him back…”

“I can’t stop crying…”

All of her intelligence, her cunning mind, everything shattered. All her bravado lay in ruins. The shell she had built around her fragile heart to appear strong had crumbled into pieces.

“This isn’t like you, Anna…”

“Eh?”

She looked into the distance and noticed a small golden centipede made of light and stars.

“S-Sepa…”

“We know what happened, but that doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly abandon everything and cry until you destroy the world, right?”

Then a golden cat appeared, sitting above the emptiness with a crown of gold and a red mirror resembling the sun above her head.

“Bastet…?”

The two Constellations descended and began to reprimand her.

“Don’t be selfish!” Sepa said angrily.

“You’re making this all your problem now? When so many people are suffering right now?!” Bastet added.

“Ah? I didn’t…! I-I…!” Anna muttered through her tears. “I…”

Sepa and Bastet exchanged glances, realizing that tough love might not work well right now.

Anna was far more fragile than usual, hesitant and afraid.

This was the real Anna inside her; unlike the strong persona she had built to survive this terrifying universe.

Just a scared girl who wished her peaceful daily life could return one day.

“Come here…”

“There, it’s alright…”

Sepa and Bastet hugged her, surrounding Anna with their warmth and love.

“It’s going to be okay…”

“The world needs you, Anna… We need you.”

“But what if I’m not enough? What if I keep losing more and more people? I-I…”

“We will try our hardest so that doesn’t happen anymore…”

“But you have to accept that not everything will ever go your way.”

“That’s why you have to persevere and keep moving forward, no matter what.”

“…”

Anna cuddled between the two Constellations as a soft pink light began to emerge from her heart.

“You have to keep going, Anna…”

“You’re not alone, alright?”

Anna slowly stood up. Sepa and Bastet noticed she now looked much younger, like a girl no older than ten.

“Really?”

They nodded.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

The two Constellations gently pulled Anna out of the hell she had created within her own soul and mind.

The pink light in her heart continued shining brightly, spreading pink flames across her body.

“Anna! Please wake up, Anna!”

“Young Lady!”

As Song and Fang Shuan called out to her, the darkness and blood-red energy around Anna suddenly dissipated. The world around her returned to normal.

[The {####### ######} has fallen into slumber.]

[The {Heavenly Princess of Boundless Love} has woken up.]

—–

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep