WARNING: OOC
The monster's claws tore through the earth with a deafening roar.
"RUN!"
The terrified screams of her classmates echoed across the mountain as everyone scattered in different directions.
"Ah fuck.....!"
Lin Xi Chen stumbled over a loose stone and fell heavily onto the cold ground. She sprained her ankle, and it became swollen, before she could even lift herself up, the monstrous creature had already appeared before her.
She tried to scramble backward and roll away to dodge the attack, using the gun she had picked up earlier to fire at the monster. But the shots didn't make it flinch; instead, they enraged it. It lunged wildly toward Lin Xi Chen and pounced on her.
Its crimson eyes reflected her frightened face as it slowly raised a claw large enough to crush her entire body.
Her legs refused to move.
I'm... going to die.
The claw descended, but she didn't want to die like that!
"ARGGGG!!!"
A massive surge of adrenaline coursed through Lin Xi Chen's body, granting her unnatural strength; she seized the monster's arm and flung it aside, adding a kick for good measure to send it flying even further away.
BOOOM!!!
A violent shockwave erupted as stone shattered around her. She had likely just shoved the monster onto a landmine, causing it to detonate instantly and kill the creature.
Pain spread throughout her body, and warm blood trickled down her forehead, blurring her vision. She had barely rolled away in time, but the impact had thrown her against a tree.
She gave a helpless laugh, having been injured by flying shrapnel and suffering burns on one arm.
Her ears rang and her breathing grew shallow. More monsters lumbered toward her once more like a fresh baked meat for them to chew on.
She lay on the filthy ground, dying and unable to move; blood gushed ceaselessly from the wound in her abdomen, causing massive blood loss.
Behind her, she heard the cries of her classmates.
"Xi Chen!"
"Help her!"
"No! Don't go back!"
One of them tried to run toward her, but another desperately pulled them away.
She understood.
If they came back... They would all die.
Lin Xi Chen struggled to crawl toward the monster and grabbed its ankle, causing it to topple over and allowing her classmate to run away. Her trembling arms refusing to let go even she becomes weak every second. Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass.
The monster growl in anger and raised its claw against her head.
This time...
There was nowhere left to run.
"...Stinky brother... Qiye....."
For reasons she couldn't explain, the only person who came to mind at that moment was Lin Qiye.
I'm sorry...
Looks like I won't be coming home tonight...
She closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate; she had wanted to see a starry sky as she died, yet instead, she was met with the sight of a monster about to kill her. What could be more agonizing than this?
And then the claws fell....
...
...
...
Silence.
No pain.
No sound.
No fear.
Lin Xi Chen slowly opened her eyes.
The scene before them was no longer that mountain shrouded in thick mist; the scent of damp earth was gone, as was the heavy, grim stench of blood.
The blood on her clothes remained, but the wound no longer hurt.
She floated alone in an endless black void.
There was no earth, no screaming and no nothing, only infinite silence stretching in every direction. But she knew the feeling of being watch and something was watching her from the beginning.
"...Am I dead?"
"No."
The answer echoed through the empty world.
"You stand between one heartbeat... and the next."
That voice echoed through the space, yet when Lin Xi Chen looked around, she saw no one; however, she knew for certain who had answered her—the very same figure they had encountered as a statue in the mountains.
"So..."
The deep voice resonated throughout the endless white.
"You are the child who looked upon my prison."
Lin Xi Chen instinctively lowered her head.
"...Who are you?"
The statue remained silent for a long moment, then came a quiet answer.
"I have been called many names."
"The Morning Star."
"The Bringer of Light."
"The First Rebel."
"...Lucifer."
Her pupils contracted and her heart almost skip a beat. So she have guess right.
It was Lucifer, the one who get sealed in the mountain that they were discovering. The origin of countless stories meant to frighten children.
Yet...
Standing before him now...
She felt something she could not understand, not hatred nor terror. Only an unbearable loneliness through a long time.
Sensing the subtlety in her expression, his voice seemed to soften, carrying a hint of curiosity.
"...Interesting."
"You know my name and what humans call me."
"And yet... You are not looking at me with fear."
Lin Xi Chen remained silent, her fingers twirling together as she felt a bit anxious. After a while, she quietly answered,
"...I am afraid."
Lucifer's voice carried the faintest amusement.
"Then why do you continue looking at me?"
She hesitated.
"...Because....You look lonely."
"H-HUH!? I'M SORRY!!! I... I just wanted an answer to my own selfish question and to prove others wrong...!"
Lin Xi Chen frantically tried to backtrack after accidentally blurting out her true thoughts. She waved her hands and shook her head vigorously, afraid of offending Lucifer. The endless white world fell completely silent again.
For the first time in countless centuries...
Someone had spoken those words to him.
"Lonely..."
He repeated the word as though he had almost forgotten its meaning.
"I stood at the pinnacle of Heaven."
"I fell into the deepest abyss."
"I watched kingdoms rise."
"I watched stars die."
"I watched humanity curse my name for thousands of years."
His voice deepened, leaving Lin Xi Chen unable to tell whether he was angry or confused; she had read the scriptures and knew that Lucifer was defined by his immense pride and rebellion—which was precisely why he had been cast down.
"And now... A fragile human child dares to tell me... that I am lonely?"
Lin Xi Chen lowered her head.
"I have read books about what you do but I don't know if history judged you correctly neither whether you deserve forgiveness."
She clenched her trembling hands... and gazed into the dark void—with a look that was determined, or perhaps foolish—as she spoke her mind.
Either way, she's already dead, so she has no regrets. Maybe one or two times when she hasn't spent enough time with her family.
"But... I think....being alone for that long must have hurt."
Lucifer laughed.
It was a soft laugh, truly pure fond of and interesting in... One that sounded almost unfamiliar, even to himself.
"You pity me."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Pity is looking down on someone. I don't think you're beneath anyone."
"I only think.... you've been carrying everything by yourself for too long."
Another long silence followed.
Finally, Lucifer spoke. "Tell me.... Lin Xi Chen."
"If I placed the weight of my authority upon your shoulders..."
"If the world feared you..."
"If Heaven rejected you..."
"If every person looked upon you as a monster..."
"...would you still protect them?"
The question pierced directly into her heart. She thought of her classmates, the one who decided to leave her behind just to save themselves.
About Qiye, her cousin and her auntie waiting for her at home or the people crying outside either those she couldn't save when they needed it most.
She was afraid.
More afraid than she had ever been.
But even so... She slowly nodded.
"...Yes."
That voice rang out again, filled with curiosity and uncertainty, as if he were truly weighing whether Lin Xi Chen was worthy of receiving his power.
"...Why?"
Her answer came almost as a whisper.
"Because... If everyone with power abandons the people without it... then who will protect them?"
The golden light surrounding the statue suddenly blazed like a newborn sun.
Countless cracks spread across the stone.
The pitch-black space surrounding her suddenly flared with a blinding brilliance, forcing her to shield her eyes. Through the gaps between her fingers, she glimpsed a figure bathed in light, yet behind him lay a sea of red and black flames, and chains bound him fast.
"So this... is your answer."
"Very well, Lin Xi Chen. I shall entrust my Ruin to you."
"Not because you resemble me...but because you are everything I am not."
A drop of tear fell from the space above her before it hardened and sparkled like a crystal with a brilliant halo of light and fell in front of her. Lin Xi Chen reached out and touched it. She felt it was very warm and full of sadness, as if Lucifer's last act of kindness had been bestowed upon her.
As the endless light swallowed her consciousness, Lucifer's final words echoed softly through the white expanse.
"Show me...whether kindness can truly outshine pride."
The world shattered.
Time resumed.
The monster's claw was only inches from her face.
And for the first time...
The Morning Star truly awaken through the hands of a gentle girl who had chosen to protect a world that would one day fear her.