Chapter 157: Prayer in the Core of Ash and the Dance of Shadows Under the Wing of Unconsciousness
The purple mist was no longer just a veil; it had become a heavy mountain of silence, suffocating every breath in the courtyard. The black rain continued to wash away the golden blood that flowed like a sacred river from Diyari's mangled body. Rina, in the midst of that devastation, lay unconscious like a lifeless marble statue. Her body was so still it felt as if her soul no longer inhabited that cage, yet the Grandmother, through the "Absolute Knot" spell, ensured that Rina suffered even in her sleep. It must be understood that this gentle girl, whose heart once burned for a wounded bird, was now lost in a black cyclone of sorcery. The one previously seen wielding the blade and looking mercilessly at Diyari's wounds was not the true Rina; she was merely a flesh-and-blood vessel that the Grandmother manipulated like a puppet. Inside, in the depths of her mind, Rina was screaming, wanting to stop her hands, but the magic bound every human emotion like iron chains.
The Grandmother stood on the balcony, her red eyes glowing like unquenchable fires through the mist, her wrinkled hands weaving a new spell called "Memory Solidification." She shouted in a raspy voice full of spite: "Look, you foolish beggar! Look at the girl you thought you could protect with love! Now she is just an empty shell, her soul imprisoned in a darkness to which only I hold the key! Do you think resting in your own blood will save you? No! I will make even the memories remaining in your mind turn into daggers to tear your heart to pieces!" The Grandmother struck her cane with manic force against the ground, and a black wave surged from beneath Rina toward Diyari.
Diyari, leaning back in a corner of the courtyard, felt the wave. Although his body had become a map of scars and the depths of his chest wounds were still seething, he did not fall. He used the "imaginary power" left within him only to prevent the Grandmother's poisonous light from reaching Rina's unconscious form. As blood trickled from the corner of his lips, Diyari raised a trembling hand and created a very faint shield of light. The pain was so intense it felt as if the entire universe were collapsing onto his chest. A man who had abandoned the whole world for one woman was now forced to fight even for a moment of rest.
Meanwhile, in the depths of Rina's mind, another war raged. Rina huddled in a dark, cold corner of the unconscious world. She heard the Grandmother's voice hammering in her head: "You are a killer! You are the one who tore Diyari's heart!" Rina wept bitterly, her imaginary tears burning her soul like fire. The images before her were of her own hands, stained red with Diyari's blood. Rina screamed in that weeping, but her voice did not reach the outside. She wanted to return, to cry out "Diyari, forgive me!", but the Grandmother's spell held her throat like a steel collar. She was not a cruel girl; she was merely a mirror reflecting the Grandmother's hate. Every blow she had delivered was a dagger turning back toward her own heart, but the magic refused to let her wake even for a second.
When the Grandmother saw Diyari still resisting and refusing to let his memories be distorted, she changed the spell to the "Mirror of Lies." Within the courtyard, several phantom images appeared: Rina laughing as Diyari suffered, Rina saying "You will always be ugly." The Grandmother wanted to despair Diyari, to make him believe his love was one-sided. But Diyari only closed his eyes. He knew who the real Rina was. He knew the girl weeping in a corner of her soul was the same Rina who once brought him bread. In a very faint, trembling voice that only Rina's soul could hear, he whispered: "Do not cry... I am here... all these wounds are just signs that I am still alive for you. Do not let the Grandmother turn you into a soulless tool." These words shone like a white light in the darkness of Rina's mind. For a moment, Rina felt a warmth, but the Grandmother immediately tightened the spell.
The courtyard had become a battlefield of wills. The Grandmother, with all her power and magic, could not break the man who no longer had the strength to stand or speak. The pain reached a level where it felt as if the earth itself were perishing in sorrow. Diyari, while resting his body in his own blood, gathered his imaginary power, and a new mark formed at the center of his chest: the mark of "Absolute Sacrifice." This mark caused every bit of pain Rina felt in her unconsciousness to be transferred into Diyari's body. In that moment, Diyari let out a powerful cry that shook every wall of the house. He felt all of Rina's weeping, all the burning of her soul, now coursing through his own veins.
The Grandmother said with a demonic laugh: "Well done, O beggar! So you wish to carry her pain as well? Be my guest! Let us see how much your 'ugly' body can endure!" She poured the "Ocean of Poison" spell into the air. Diyari felt his blood turning into boiling water, but his eyes remained on Rina. Rina, though unconscious, shed a real tear from her left eye. That tear was like a sacred essence born in the midst of all that ruin. When the Grandmother saw that tear, fear struck her. She knew if Rina woke and saw that love, all her spells would vanish like smoke. Therefore, she began preparing a more brutal spell to ensure Rina would never open her eyes.
Amidst all that agony, Diyari only smiled at Rina. That smile was full of the unconditional love the Grandmother could not comprehend. The man everyone considered a "fool" was now performing the greatest act of wisdom in history: protecting a human soul within a manufactured hell. The pain continued, the silence grew heavier, and the Grandmother danced intensely on the balcony, while Diyari's body was becoming fragmented under the weight of all those spells. The courtyard had become a prison with only one hope left: that the golden light in Diyari's heart would not be extinguished. As his breath grew shorter, Diyari prayed in his heart that Rina would not suffer for even one more second. It was a scene where every crystal in the courtyard turned to ash before the weight of the devotion within Diyari's
Written by: Dlin_myth