Chapter 207 — The Chase
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 5
She suddenly halted her steps. In that instant, all the radiance on the Celestial Dipper Divine Sword was drawn back within, like a frightened woman quietly hiding herself. The heavy darkness slowly welled up, swallowing her figure and covering it over.
In the darkness, she gazed silently at that lamp of green light. Behind that green glow, what would be waiting for her?
Disappointment—or him?
And if it were him, what then?
She hesitated because of it, faltered because of it. The fervor that filled her heart was like flame, still burning and never extinguished—only deep within that flame there was, unexpectedly, a faint and quiet ache.
She gazed for a long, long while. Then slowly, she shifted her feet and took one step back.
Was it fear? Was it retreat?
In this life, is there still anyone you cannot face?
Cannot—or dare not?
Slowly, a smothering feeling came over her. The darkness leered all around her. Who was ahead? Fate had never smiled, and who could so easily overcome themselves? She had never feared life or death, never feared the passage of time—but who could face the depths of their own heart completely?
In the darkness, all was silent.
She seemed about to step back again.
What sort of pain was it, to see a face one cannot see?
Suddenly, a scorching blast of heat surged up, and from behind that green ghost-light came a tremendous roaring.
Crimson flames, like a hideous murderer, laughed wildly and savagely in this world, their bellowing shaking all things under heaven. The earth beneath her feet and the rock walls around her once again began to quake in swarms; perhaps because she was now so close, the trembling earth shook all the more violently, until one could not begin to imagine what sight lay deep within those flames.
The firelight was reflected from afar, and in the darkness her eyes flashed suddenly bright.
What burned was, perhaps, her own eyes!
Pale blue radiance suddenly flickered again, bursting out from the darkness. Amid the rolling waves of heat, a beautiful figure stood facing the wind, her flowing hair dancing.
BOOM!
The enormous roar and the trembling of the earth were like the thunder god himself, striking dread into mortal hearts. The whole cavern seemed to shudder; countless falling stones rained down around her like fine drizzle. But that figure had already vanished from where she stood.
She flew—through that doomsday scene, through the falling rocks that grew ever more frenzied—she flew, on toward the depths of the flames, toward the brightest place, flying on!
No one knew what lay ahead, but who cared?