Chapter 1866: Chapter 1864: Paradise Destroyed
As the whole world was about to change, on the Void Glorious Ship, Reiko appeared somewhat uneasy.
"Hey... Lei?"
"What’s wrong, Reiko?"
Sitting in the chair, looking out the window, Lei turned her head and looked at Reiko.
"Can you tell me why you want to go to that... that..."
"Edil Courtyard?"
"Yes, yes, Edil Courtyard."
Reiko stuck out her tongue and then looked at Lei.
"Thinking about it, it’s been such a long time, I’ve never asked why you want to go there."
............
Facing Reiko’s question, Lei was silent for a moment, then began to speak softly.
"Because someone is calling me."
"Calling?"
"That’s right, her name is Xia... she’s my most important friend."
Looking out the window, Lei softly told Reiko about that part of history.
The past that once was.
Back then, the world had already begun to become unstable, and humans needed power. The Holy War Angels were seen as a necessary force. People everywhere captured Holy War Angels, enslaved them, and forced them to form contracts and fight. At that time, Lei also lived in a Holy War Angel village.
However, Lei’s experience was different from other Holy War Angels. She was a Tree of Seven Lights, a legendary existence. Because of this, even in the village of Holy War Angels, Lei was ostracized. It was Xia who gradually opened Lei’s heart again, allowing her to feel the joy of living.
One day, Xia took the children up the mountain, where they met a human hunting team that came to capture Holy War Angels. Xia and Lei were almost captured, but at that moment, another group of humans appeared and killed the human hunters trying to take Xia away, rescuing them.
They were a delegation from Edil Courtyard, led by a young man named Kis. They represented Edil Courtyard, hoping to build a bridge between humans and Holy War Angels, change the current situation, and let both sides coexist harmoniously.
After this, the delegation stayed in the village. At first, people were distant from these humans, but gradually, contact between the two sides began. Not only that, but the young man named Kis also fell in love with Xia, and they became a couple, eventually getting married.
And after that, Xia left with Kis. Before leaving, Xia promised Lei that they would meet again.
And when Lei was fifteen, she did receive an invitation from Edil Courtyard, but...
"At that time, I was attacked and sealed, and when I woke up again, I met you..."
"I see..."
"Knock knock."
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Fang Zheng walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt your romance, but Edil Courtyard seems to have arrived."
"What, really?"
Upon hearing this, Reiko quickly stood up, and Lei looked at Fang Zheng in surprise.
"Little Ding Dong just discovered something."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng stretched out his hand, and soon, a holographic scene appeared before the girls. A floating group of islands in the sky, looking like small islands full of crystals, connected by chains. However, none of the buildings showed any lights, and from the exterior, it seemed abandoned.
"Is this the place?"
"I don’t know, but... I can sense Xia’s voice nearby..."
"So, shall we rest overnight and head out tomorrow, or..."
"I can’t wait any longer!"
"Alright then."
Hearing Lei’s answer, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.
"Then prepare yourself, I’ll go inform Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko Shirai."
Soon, under Fang Zheng’s control, the Void Glorious Ship approached the group of floating islands, then landed on the central island. Radiance flashed, and the next moment, the group appeared on the ground.
"Is this Edil Courtyard?"
Under the white light, the girls curiously gazed around. But all they saw was ruins, which did not appear as the result of natural weathering over time but rather from a battle.
Regardless, this was far from the heavenly place Lei had mentioned.
"Hey... Lei, this..."
Although she had anticipated this, seeing the scene, Reiko was at a loss for words, while Lei stared dumbfounded at the ruins and then suddenly ran inside.
"Wait a minute!"
Seeing Lei run inside, the others hurried to follow, but as soon as Lei stepped into the building, they saw her stumble and fall to the ground.
"Lei, are you okay!"
Reiko quickly came over to help Lei up, but Lei shook her head.
"I’m fine, just tripped."
Hearing Lei’s response, the group looked down and saw at Lei’s feet, a root protruding from the ground. However, judging by its appearance, the root seemed long dried out. The group instinctively followed the direction of the root forward, and then...
"What is that!"
"Yikes!"
Upon seeing the end of the root, Misaka Mikoto gasped, while Kuroko Shirai turned pale, and Reiko tightly held Lei’s hand, her face drained of blood. Only Fang Zheng whistled behind them.
Illuminated by radiance, they clearly saw at the root’s end, something resembling a human bound within it -- or rather, it was a human.
Fang Zheng stepped forward to inspect closely.
"Hmm... mummified..."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached out and fiddled with the corpse in front of him. Indeed, the corpse before them was a mummified one, with no flesh, only skin and bones. Judging by the remaining long hair and pendant, this mummy should have been female.
"Been dead for about two hundred years."
Fang Zheng scanned it with his personal terminal and gave a conclusion.
"So this place has been abandoned for two hundred years?"
"Probably. Anyway, keep moving forward and we’ll find out."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng walked ahead, and Lei hurried to follow. Seeing this, Reiko and the other three exchanged looks, eventually steeling themselves to follow.
However, the deeper they went, the more something seemed amiss. The entire building looked as if torn apart by roots and vines, and as they looked around in the illumination of Magic Radiance, they saw mummified corpses everywhere, which alone was enough to imagine how tragic the situation back then must have been.
"Why are there so many... so many mummies..."
This time, Misaka Mikoto hid behind Fang Zheng, her entire body akin to a cat with its fur bristling.
"Oh, because they are man-made."
"What do you mean by man-made!?"
Misaka Mikoto felt her legs go weak.
"Simply put, something suddenly drained everything from their body except skin and bones dry, like dehydrated preservation, leaving so many mummies."
"What... what could it be!?"
Now Misaka Mikoto was starting to generate electricity, forcing even Kuroko Shirai to back away.
"Not sure. According to Hollywood movie clichés, it’s usually due to some secret experiment gone wrong, unleashing a creature that wipes out the entire base?"
"Experiment? Creature?"
"Hmm... what do you think?"
At this, Fang Zheng made a sign to Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko Shirai, and then pursed his lips towards Lei ahead, the two first responded with a blank look then their expressions changed.
Everyone here died in a gruesome manner, but Lei claimed she heard the voice of the person she was looking for. If it’s not a ghost or spirit, then... only one possibility remains.
Thus, the group walked past the ruined passage and arrived at an indoor plaza, but at this moment, Lei suddenly stopped and looked up at a statue not far ahead.
"Lei?"
Seeing Lei’s gaze, Reiko quickly raised her head to look forward, where they saw a statue of a handsome man in white, holding a longsword, and below the statue, engraved with the name and date (2186—2401).
"Kis..."
"Huh? Is this the Kis you mentioned?"
"Yes."
At this point, Lei was visibly saddened. The lifespan of a Holy War Angel is different from that of a human. She knew this before, but never particularly cared. But now, seeing that the people she knew were long dead, leaving only a statue... Lei was at a loss for words.
Then, will Reiko also die?
"So strange..."
Just then, the others came over, curiously gazing at the statue before them, and Kuroko Shirai furrowed her brow.
"What’s so strange?"
"That man named Kis... Is he human? Can a human live for two hundred years?"
"This... is indeed a bit odd."
Hearing Kuroko Shirai’s inquiry, Saten Reiko was momentarily stunned and then realized something was off. According to the dates on this monument, that person named Kis lived for at least 215 years. However... after all, this world is not their own, and it’s uncertain if people really can live that long here.
But Lei was clearly not paying attention to their conversation. She looked around, and soon Lei discovered a few faint glimmers of light flickering in the passage not far away. That was...
"Snow Crystal! Xia is here!"
Shouting as she ran toward the source of the radiance, Lei was quickly followed by the others. Unlike the previous hallways, this one was completely filled with ever-present vines and roots, and more importantly, on these roots, faint white flowers resembling lilies with translucent, ice-like appearances could be seen.
Finally, at the end of the passage, they saw a figure imprisoned in an iron cage.
It was a woman with long silver-white hair, dressed in worn-out robes, surrounded by flickering snow flowers. At the moment, the woman appeared to be asleep, leaning against the wall with closed eyes.
The scene was so bizarre that even Reiko couldn’t help but stop in her tracks. Yet Lei rushed forward, clinging to the bars as she cried out to the woman in front of her.
"Xia, it’s me. I’ve come to Edil Courtyard because we had an agreement that I would definitely come! Even though it’s so late and you’ve waited so long, I..."
At that moment, as Lei spoke, the woman slowly opened her eyes, looked at Lei, and smiled. Then she opened her mouth and softly called out the girl’s name.
"Lei."
"Xia!"
Upon hearing the woman’s voice, Lei reached out and tightly grasped her hand.
"Wait, let me get you out first... What’s with these vines? Xia, what exactly happened at Edil Courtyard? Why are you locked up here alone?"
Amidst the joy of reunion, Lei finally noticed the pressing concerns.
However...
"Where is Kis?"
At this inquiry, Lei’s movements suddenly froze. In front of her, Xia continued to smile gently at her.
"Lei, do you know where Kis is now?"
"......?"
Hearing Xia’s question, everyone exchanged puzzled looks. From the statue outside, it seemed Kis had been dead for nearly two hundred years, so why... does she seem unaware?
"What are you talking about...?"
"Oh, don’t tell me Lei has forgotten him."
With a gentle smile, Xia continued speaking to Lei, whose face was now pale.
"He was the captain of the Goodwill Delegation, Oercanad’s hero, the Gem Hunter Kis Filgo."
"Gem... Hunter?"
Hearing this title, for some unknown reason, Lei began to tremble, while Xia lowered her head.
"I miss Kis so much. I should be able to help her more... You see..."
As she spoke, Xia raised her hands to display her body. Upon seeing this, Fang Zheng frowned, and the young girls were shocked to silence.
The surface of her pale skin was covered with what appeared to be plant-like erosion marks, along with tiny, bloodstain-like horrifying scars.
"I can not only make flowers bloom more but also become stronger than before, you know?"
"Xia...?"
Lei staggered back, staring in shock at Xia’s body, which no longer resembled a human being but rather a grotesque mixture of machines and plants forcibly inserted into a human form. Yet Xia showed no signs of pain, maintaining her innocent, pure smile.
"Look, Lei, I’m strong, right? Because I worked hard, right?"
"Xia..."
"What’s wrong with you all? You look as if you’ve seen a yokai."
With a light laugh, Xia waved her hand around.
"Oh, this is just because my hair has grown a bit long. Wait a bit, I’ll get out now."
As Xia spoke, the roots that seemed long withered began to move, tearing apart the cage. Then, the girl slowly emerged from it, lifting her head to look at the people behind Lei.
"I didn’t expect you, Lei, to bring me food. That’s wonderful... Thank you; I haven’t eaten in two hundred years, and it’s been troubling me."
"Eh?"
"Whoosh---!"
Before Lei could react, the vines suddenly shot toward Fang Zheng, Mikoto Misaka, and Kuroko Shirai. Faced with the sudden assault, Fang Zheng nonchalantly snapped his fingers, and a burst of flames erupted out of nowhere, incinerating the surrounding vines thoroughly.
At this sight, Xia wasn’t scared but became even more thrilled.
"Amazing! This power is stronger than those I’ve consumed before. If I could acquire this power, then, then I’d surely become more beautiful, and Kis would love me even more!"
As Xia spoke, more vines surfaced from the passage surrounding them. But before the vines could seize their prey, Xia saw the people in front of her vanish in a flash, and in an instant, she lost her target entirely.
When they regained their senses, the group found themselves back in the plaza outside the building.
"Xia..."
With a thud, Lei fell to the ground, trembling, not knowing what to say. The joy of meeting her closest person was utterly replaced by indescribable complex emotions.
"Boom!!"
The ground roared as the ruined debris fully collapsed. Next, the completely transformed Xia emerged from within.
"Hurry, hurry and give them to me; I want to absorb their lives and their strength!"
"Stop it right now!"
Staring at the monster that barely resembled a human, Lei couldn’t help but let out a cry of melancholy.
However...
"Who are you?"
"... Eh?"
At this moment, as Xia looked towards Lei again, the warmth from before was entirely gone. She glared at Lei coldly, as if seeing an enemy.
"You want me to stop? You’re ordering me? Who do you think you are? What right do you have to order me?!"
"Boom---!!"
With Xia’s angry shout, hundreds of roots burst from the ground toward Lei. But just then, Reiko suddenly appeared.
"Face the Hayate!"
A roaring wind wall rose from the ground, blocking the swiftly shooting roots.
"Lei, quickly, let’s synchronize!"
"......"
Hearing Reiko’s words, Lei lifted her head, and after a moment of silence, nodded with determination, grasping the hand that Reiko reached out to her.
In the next moment, the storm raged.
"Let’s go."
Watching the fury of the wind ahead, Fang Zheng turned and walked towards the other side of the ruins. Seeing him turn to leave, Mikoto Misaka and Kuroko Shirai were both taken aback.
"Wait, Mr. Fang Zheng, are you not going to help?"
"This is their battle, and it’s best we don’t intervene. Besides, I have something to do."
"... Something to do?"
"Indeed."
At this point, Fang Zheng snorted coldly.
"This poor lady is just a victim. If we’re going to confront anyone, it should be the mastermind behind all of this, right?"
As he spoke, Fang Zheng lifted his head, glaring coldly towards the high tower on the other side.
