V2: Chapter 194: From Now on, Please Continue to Love Me
The setting sun, like blood, cast its afterglow on every inch of the war-torn land, draping this cruel land in a tragic golden glow. The wind, carrying a hint of chill and resilience, weaved through the ruins, whispering tales of past heroism and sacrifice.
Liang Lin tore off the black silk ribbon and slowly opened her eyes.
She saw a corpse lying on the ground.
Doris, pierced by her sword, had a face frozen in disbelief and shock.
Her eyes were wide open, pupils slightly dilated with shock, trying to capture this sudden moment of death, but she could only watch helplessly as the light of life gradually went out. Her lips parted slightly, as if to utter a final cry or question, but the sound was swallowed by the silence of death.
Her body trembled with excruciating pain and the rapid draining of her life force, yet a stubborn refusal kept her limbs in a feeble posture of resistance, though this resistance seemed utterly futile before the overwhelming force of fate.
Blood gushed from the wound, staining her clothes and soaking the ground beneath her, forming a shocking patch of red.
Finally, Doris's eyes, filled with resentment and shock, slowly closed, a trace of unresolved confusion and deep regret remaining on her face.
"Liang... Liang Lin..."
She coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood; the longsword was still embedded in her heart, piercing it completely. An ordinary person would die instantly, but the monster's vitality was immense; she was still clinging to life, not yet completely dead.
Liang Lin warily turned her head away, refusing to look at Doris. She feared that this woman, even in her dying moments, would drag her down with her, to die together.
“Liang... Liang Lin, I’m dying…”
Doris’s voice was weak, as if she had no strength left, but she struggled to make a sound.
“My son, my son knows nothing, everything… it was all my doing, all my mistakes. Please, please don’t hurt him. If I die… our feud will be over…”
After saying this, her body completely relaxed, and she collapsed onto the blood-stained ground.
This woman, proud her whole life, begged her enemy not to harm her son before she died.
This, perhaps, is what a mother is.
Doris fell silent.
Liang Lin slowly turned her head back, looking at the blood-red corpse on the ground. She was completely still; Doris was dead.
Liang Lin stood there, gazing at the lifeless Doris before her. Her figure, stretched long in the afterglow of the setting sun, appeared exceptionally lonely and resolute.
Liang Lin gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.
At that very moment, tears welled up involuntarily in her eyes, slowly sliding down and dripping onto the tip of her sword, mingling with the still-drying blood. The battle had come to a perfect end.
It was tears of joy.
An indescribable joy surged within Liang Lin, a joy more profound and enduring than any victory celebration.
She took a deep breath, letting the joy fill her chest, making even her breathing light.
This victory, like the first rays of dawn breaking through the darkness, illuminated Liang Lin's foggy, confused world. It was not merely the conquest of monsters, of Cthulhu, but the end of a long and arduous internal struggle.
Liang Lin faced her own inner fears, hesitations, self-doubt, and even a profound questioning of the very meaning of the battle itself.
Since being betrayed by the King of the Soteland Empire, realizing she could never defeat monsters as powerful as Liang Di, and learning she lacked the talent to be a magician, the once arrogant and aloof woman who believed herself to be the most powerful person in the empire, was now lost.
She had countless times, in the quiet of the night, fiercely confronted these negative emotions. But it was precisely in these difficult moments that Liang Lin learned to listen to her inner voice, to find clear direction amidst chaos, and to ignite the spark of hope in despair.
"It's good..."
"It's so good....!"
Liang Lin wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her blood-stained hands.
Therefore, when the sword tip pierced Doris's body, when the dawn of victory filled the battlefield, Liang Lin knew that the true meaning of this battle was far more than that.
She had defeated not only the tentacle monster that had once terrified her, but also the self that had once shaken her and left her confused.
She proved her strength, and more importantly, she proved her worth—the worth of a swordsman who could transcend herself and achieve self-transcendence.
“We won. I should go home.”
Liang Lin wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
She didn't pull out the longsword stuck in Doris's chest. It was cursed; the tentacles' regenerative abilities were too powerful. Octaville worried that if she pulled the sword out after the battle, Doris would come back to life. Therefore, she instructed Liang Lin to wait until their people from the Magic Tower had left.
Liang Lin took out a flare gun from her pocket.
A blazing, dazzling light shot into the sky, piercing the tranquil twilight and instantly dispelling the gloom over the Soteland Empire.
The entire sky seemed to be ablaze.
The warriors in the other palaces looked up, their faces filled with amazement and joy. At this moment, all their worries were washed away by this magnificent scene.
"We won!"
"The General won!"
"Hahahaha! General Liang Lin!"
"I knew it! Even as a woman, our Marquis is still the coolest!"
"The Marquis! The Marquis!"
The cheers grew louder and louder.
Liang Di stood there, stunned.
She truly didn't know how she had gotten through that long.
Only one thought occupied her mind: if her sister Liang Lin died, she would immediately plunge the cursed sword into her own chest.
No matter where she went, she would stay with her sister; she didn't want to lose her again.
"Sister Liang Lin..."
"We won..."
Tears streamed down her face.
Liang Di suddenly stood up and ran frantically towards the location of the flare gun.
I'm about to see my Sister Liang Lin.
It would be so good to be able to live with my sister again.
This time, my sister haven't abandoned me this time, secretly leaving alone.
I know my sister still can't bear to leave me.
I want to be with my sister forever.
“Sister Liang Lin!”
Immersed in the joy of victory, Liang Lin's heart skipped a beat when she heard that familiar voice. She turned around and saw a small figure running towards her in the distance.
It was Liang Di…
Sure enough, she was always the first to run towards her.
Liang Lin laughed until tears streamed down her face again. She opened her arms to welcome Liang Di.
Liang Di sniffed, ignoring the tears, letting them fall into the air and then onto the ground.
“Pfft!”
Liang Di threw herself onto Liang Lin, hugging her tightly.
“Sister Liang Lin…”
She murmured softly.
“Sister Liang Lin, we won...”
“Yes, we won.”
Liang Lin hugged her back tightly.
"That's great, Sister Liang Lin, we can still be together in the future."
"You silly girl, we've never been apart, have we?"
(End of Volume 2)
(Volume 3: The Happy Life of a Family of Four [The Difficult Expulsion of Cthulhu], Coming Soon)
Author's Note
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