The moment the Demon Blade pierced her heart, the Ethereal transformation of Miyabi's mother abruptly stopped.
Fate paused at its most tragic moment.
The red eyes that had been gently gazing at her daughter also dimmed, gradually losing their luster, leaving only emptiness.
Using her last ounce of strength, with the hand that had not yet crystallized into an Ethereal, she trembled and gently stroked the little fox girl's tender cheek one last time.
It was slow, and soft, unwilling to let go of this final second.
Her fingertip brushed past the corner of the little fox girl's eye, wiping away her daughter's tears for the last time.
"Mommy... will always... love you."
Leaving behind her last reluctant words, her arm slowly slid down her daughter's face, and her life completely withered.
Her head drooped, kneeling on the floor, motionless.
The little fox girl's eyes trembled violently.
'Kill!'
'Go and strike!'
'Strike!'
'I am free!'
'Go and strike!'
The Demon Blade 'Tailless' was awakened and nourished by the sacrifice, and its seductive voice echoed.
At the same time, it released a fierce, frosty ice flame, which consumed Miyabi's mother's body and completely enveloped the little fox girl.
"Waaah—"
The little fox girl's pupils trembled violently. Her vision was blurry yet clear, clear yet shattered.
The ice flame danced wildly around her.
Her heart-wrenching cries echoed through the sea of fire.
Her eyes gradually turned crimson like blood.
At this moment, the Demon Blade connected to her brain, and 'Uchiha Ya' took over her thoughts.
The little fox girl's mind was left with only one thought—kill, kill, kill! Strike, strike, strike! Destroy everything in sight.
Mangekyou activated.
The 'blackened' little Ya erupted with hundreds of times her normal combat power. Like a mad demon, her ghostly figure darted towards the surroundings.
One person, one blade, one strike.
None of the Ethereal monsters that rushed into the house could withstand a single strike from her.
The blade sliced across necks, chests, and heads, clean and decisive, leaving no room for escape.
The little fox girl was completely consumed by madness.
Until all the Ethereals in the house were killed.
"!"
She suddenly turned around, her blood-red eyes locked onto Hoshimi Miyabi and the others behind her.
The Demon Blade 'Tailless' had just been unsealed and was still a bit chaotic. It sensed the aura of another 'self'.
Killing intent surged like a tide. She rushed out without hesitation, the tip of her blade aimed straight for Hoshimi Miyabi's throat.
"Waaah, what do we do? That's Boss Ya!"
Soukaku screamed in panic.
Clang—!
At the critical moment, Tsukishiro Yanagi swept out her naginata, barely blocking the strike, and immediately engaged in battle with the little Ya.
Clang, clang, clang!
Blade lights intersected, and figures flew.
"Section Chief, hurry! Go and retrieve the Auntie's body first!"
Tsukishiro Yanagi roared.
Hoshimi Miyabi's body shook as if struck by lightning. After reacting, she stumbled forward, but in the end, she only grasped a wisp of the burning ice flame.
The ice flame was both extremely cold and extremely hot. It dispersed upon contact, and her mother's body didn't even leave ashes behind.
"This!!"
It was over. Everything was over.
A buzzing sound also echoed in everyone's ears.
"All of you, get out of there!"
"Hoshimi Miyabi, especially you, stop provoking her with Tailless!"
"Yanagi, lure the little Ya to a densely populated Ethereal area, then find a chance to withdraw."
Ryuga's voice rang out in the courtyard.
"Understood."
Tsukishiro Yanagi gritted her teeth and responded. She feigned an attack with her naginata, then quickly turned and retreated, leading the little Ya away.
The little Ya followed her like a shadow, chasing her madly.
Tsukishiro Yanagi led her, fighting and retreating all the way, quickly rushing out of the courtyard and heading straight for the area with the densest concentration of Ethereals.
As expected, the Section Chief has a strong will from a young age.
When the surroundings were filled with Ethereals, the little Ya's killing intent found a new outlet.
In the beginning, the Demon Blade 'Tailless' had seduced her.
But now?
When hatred and slaughter intertwined, her will actually suppressed the blade's seduction.
She still remembered that these Ethereals had taken her mother.
Revenge!
Slaughter!
Annihilate them all!
Tsukishiro Yanagi followed from a distance, her gaze complex.
The Section Chief's small figure darted through the sea of fire like a ghost, like an Asura. Wherever the blade light reached, corpses lay scattered.
She escorted her, watching her strike, rush, and strike again, until she rushed out of the Hoshimi family's area and towards the edge of the 'Time Field'.
Until she disappeared into the distorted light and shadow.
After a long while, Tsukishiro Yanagi sighed softly.
She turned and slowly walked back.
The firelight shone on her face, half bright, half shadow.
...
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "Wuwu~ How could this happen? Did 'Time Interlacing' fail? Ya's mother is so great. Elysia always wanted a mother like that. Wuwu, it must succeed."
[Istaroth]: "Elysia, time is not that simple. Even I would not easily tamper with the rules of time."
Jingliu clenched her fist.
She had asked Yi Xuan to open this live stream.
If Ya's mother could be saved, she could also ask Ryuga to save Baiheng.
But it seemed it wasn't that simple.
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "I know, but I still hope Ryuryu succeeds."
[Istaroth]: "Elysia, time has a strong 'causality'. Tampering with time can lead to irreversible consequences."
Looking at the messages in the group chat, Yi Xuan gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
After all, Istaroth is the Aeon of Time, so her words naturally carry the most authority.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault."
"I shouldn't have frozen in place. If I had been a little faster, even for a moment..."
Hoshimi Miyabi lowered her head, her lips tightly pressed.
Ryuga was still maintaining the 'Time Interlacing' state.
Withdrawing and restarting would only increase the burden.
"It has nothing to do with you. I underestimated the Demon Blade."
"The reason I asked you to bring back Miyabi's mother's body the moment the Demon Blade struck and the little Ya went berserk was because my flame could save her if she wasn't completely dead, and clearing the Ethereal corrosion on her is a small matter."
"In this way, a dead person appearing in the future would not disrupt the chain of causality."
"But I didn't expect..."
Ryuga paused. He truly hadn't expected to enter an already predetermined ending.
"The moment the Demon Blade struck and the little Ya went berserk, Miyabi's mother was already dead."
A soft sigh, full of helplessness.
The plan was doomed to fail from the start.
Just like Kallen's 'inevitable death' fate, which was already carved into the Imaginary Tree.
Even if you travel back in time to save her, she will still die unexpectedly in another way. That's why Otto went to such lengths to fight the Tree, just to carve out a future where Kallen could live, even in infinite death.
Ryuga's plan was the same.
To make Hoshimi Miyabi activate the Demon Blade and, without changing the causality, follow the original path to fight her way out of Eridu with the power of one person and one blade, the sacrifice of Miyabi's mother was necessary.
And sacrificing Miyabi's mother meant her instant death.
"If she's dead?"
Hoshimi Miyabi finally looked up, asking hoarsely.
Ryuga closed his eyes and sighed softly: "Then the body would be empty, but the soul would have already changed. The one occupying that body would be another existence."
"..."
Hoshimi Miyabi thought of the giant sparrow.
It was just an ordinary sparrow that was bitten to death by an orange cat. After Ryuga imbued it with the Flame of Creation, it could even speak.
Clearly, the one occupying the sparrow's body was indeed another existence.
She didn't want that.
"..."
Tsukishiro Yanagi and Soukaku looked at each other, their faces pale.
They had never known what the Section Chief's secret mission was.
Even after entering the Hollow, they were still kept in the dark.
Only when it officially started did they realize that it was to resurrect the Section Chief's mother?
A huge shock!
Their emotions were still unsettled.
Belle and Wise in the safe house were also dumbfounded. No wonder Hoshimi Miyabi gave them such a large reward. It was to resurrect her mother?
[Istaroth]: "Mhm, doing this, by intercepting the existence of the deceased from time, can indeed avoid the entanglement of causality. Unfortunately..."
Unfortunately, it's hard to avoid.
To achieve Hoshimi Miyabi's original path, her mother had to die.
"Then what now?"
Yi Xuan frowned, a hint of worry in her eyes.
Her sister, Yi Jiang, should be fine. She didn't die instantly, so there was still a chance to pull her back.
"Now, we have to take a risk."
"Go back to a time before she died and bring her back."
Ryuga's gaze was as firm as iron.
"Won't that change the causality?"
Yi Xuan exclaimed.
"Of course, we have to take a risk."
"Who can fully explain the rules of 'Time'? Fortunately, before setting off, I prepared the 'Space-Time Hijack Z-Type Drive' for emergencies."
"But this time, you can't come with me, to avoid trouble. Only Ya will follow me."
Ryuga didn't explain much.
Because it was hard to explain.
It's like Captain America choosing to stay in the past and live out his life with Carter after returning the gems.
But years later, he appeared by the lake, old and gray-haired, and handed the Vibranium shield to Falcon.
Logically, if he stayed in the past and lived with Carter, he would have created a new, parallel timeline.
And logically, there was still a Captain America frozen in ice while he was living with Carter.
There are also many other logical bugs, such as the elderly Carter meeting the young Captain America before her death.
Trying to explain it will only lead to endless paradoxes.
"Just simply understand it as a 'Time Loop'."
"Now, let's go."
Ryuga flicked his finger, and the time spring rotated backward. Ripples spread out from his palm.
Everyone except Ya and Yi Xuan was swept into the torrent of time, instantly returning to the Hollow's timeline.
"Hold my waist."
"Huh?"
Hoshimi Miyabi's face flushed.
"Never mind."
It was too troublesome to explain. Ryuga took the initiative, wrapping his arm around Ya's waist.
Then, he activated the 'Space-Time Hijack Z-Type Drive'.
The moment it activated, complex runic circuits lit up on its surface. The runic light slowly bloomed, gently enveloping the two of them.
Then, 'Time Interlacing' carefully rewound.
Ryuga stared at the scale, needing to go back just 1 second.
Boom!
Just at this subtle moment, the space suddenly shook, and a 'Bronze-class' Ethereal broke through the air.
It seemed to sense the anomaly in the flow of time and instinctively reached out to Ryuga and Ya, trying to seize something.
Ryuga instinctively looked at it.
In that instant, the time scale shifted by half a notch.
"Uh..."
Ryuga opened his mouth, but it was too late to correct it.
Buzz~
The scene before them disintegrated and reassembled like a bubble. When the vision cleared again, the villa of blood and fire was gone.
Instead, there was a tranquil, picturesque mountain scene.
White walls and red tiles, climbing vines, roses blooming in the courtyard, and a tinkling fountain. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Where is this?"
Hoshimi Miyabi looked around in a daze.
Looking at the familiar yet strange surroundings, a sense of trance washed over her.
Just then, a woman walked gracefully from the garden path.
She wore a wide-brimmed white sun hat, and the thin veil hanging from the brim fluttered in the breeze, but it couldn't hide her stunning beauty.
Dressed in a pure white gown that trailed on the ground, her steps were light, and her temperament was as elegant as an orchid, possessing both the gentleness of a noble lady and the sharpness of a sword.
The woman's eyes held the light of wisdom and the shadow of stubbornness.
"Miss, today is your first formal meeting with the Hoshimi family head. Please be sure to mind your manners."
A small maid chased after her, panting.
"Manners?"
"I don't even know what he looks like, and I've never met him, yet those old fogeys are forcing me to pay a visit. Isn't that the real lack of manners?"
The woman snorted softly, her small fists clenched white.
Even when gritting her teeth, the woman's inherent grace and brilliance could not be concealed.
"Your mom. Should we go for it?"
Ryuga exclaimed. Good heavens, this is the time right before Ya's parents' first meeting?
"..."
Hoshimi Miyabi's body shook as if struck by lightning.
Seeing her mother's face and hearing her voice again, Hoshimi Miyabi instantly froze in place, tears flowing down her cheeks without warning.
"Hey, hey!"
Seeing her standing still, Ryuga quickly nudged her a few times.
Hoshimi Miyabi snapped back: "What?"
"Should we go for it?"
Ryuga asked again.
"Ah, isn't that too dangerous?"
"If we don't, we'll miss the chance. Do you think my 'Time Interlacing' has no burden?"
Ryuga said in a deep voice.
"But the causality is too great."
"Bringing a living Miyabi's mother back to the future is inherently dangerous, as you know."
Ryuga shrugged.
Hoshimi Miyabi fell silent. Could it be the same?
If she had taken her mother away during the night of blood, she would have already been born. Even if the causality changed, it would only change the part where she escaped Old Eridu. The chain of causality, though broken, could still be mended.
But taking her mother to the future before they even met? Her very existence could turn into a paradox.
Would she disappear?
She didn't dare to think about it.
While she was hesitating, the woman noticed the two of them and walked over curiously with light steps.
"Oh? Are you Mr. Hoshimi's sister?"
"Why is the poor little thing crying?"
Saying this, the woman bent down and took out a handkerchief embroidered with plum blossoms from her sleeve, wiping the tears from Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes.
Time seemed to stand still.
This action made Hoshimi Miyabi's tears flow again like a flood.
That night, with fire filling the sky, her mother, in her final moments, still used all her strength to wipe the tears from her eyes.
The same action, the same tenderness.
The rational weighing of consequences collapsed at this moment.
Some things, even if you know they are impossible, must still be done.
Missing it would be regret.
She suddenly turned her head, looked at Ryuga, and nodded heavily.
"Go for it!"
"OK, hold my waist tight."
Then, under the astonished gaze of Miyabi's mother, Hoshimi Miyabi tightly hugged Ryuga's waist.
Ryuga stretched out his arm and, taking the opportunity, wrapped it around Miyabi's mother's waist.
"You, what are you doing?"
"Sorry."
Ryuga chuckled softly.
Before Miyabi's mother could figure out the relationship between these two young people, the next moment, the 'Space-Time Hijack Z-Type Drive' burst out with a dazzling blue light. The runes rotated like a galaxy, and time twisted again.
The surrounding scenery began to blur, and Miyabi's mother only felt a dizzying sensation in her head.
...
Hollow timeline.
Yi Xuan, Orange Fuku, Tsukishiro Yanagi, Soukaku, and Pan Yihu only felt a blur before their eyes.
Although they had been separated for five or six minutes, from their perspective, the moment they returned to the proper timeline, Ryuga appeared with Miyabi's mother and Hoshimi Miyabi.
"..."
Everyone opened their mouths, left only with shock.
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "Oh— it succeeded! Elysia is so happy."
Jingliu also clenched her fist.
The plan to resurrect Baiheng was now ready to be put on the agenda.
[Istaroth]: "It's not over yet. We still need to see if 'causality' has been altered."
[Director Fu]: "It should be fine. The biggest causality is Hoshimi Miyabi, and she's still here, isn't she?"
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "Yes, yes."
[Istaroth]: "Perhaps I worried too much?"
...
Outside Hollow Zero.
On the back of the giant sparrow.
Miyabi's mother stared blankly at the world below, a world of black eggs and black eggs. She couldn't imagine this was the world 20 years later.
"So, you are my daughter?"
"And I am dead."
"You and your son-in-law came back to save me this time?"
Hoshimi Miyabi nodded frantically. After realizing the 'son-in-law' part, her face flushed, and she shook her head wildly.
"So your father really isn't..."
Tsukishiro Yanagi, who was looking at her phone, suddenly looked up, her expression solemn: "Section Chief, Mr. Hoshimi was assassinated by the Praise Society and has... passed away."
To be continued…