[In the Video.]
Van's words, while shocking everyone's hearts, also shattered the fantasy in Fu Hua's heart.
Looking at Van's back, Fu Hua struggled to raise her head,
"Why... why are you doing this? You clearly care so much about them..."
Fu Hua's words made Van pause in his steps.
Although his expression couldn't be seen under the cloak, everyone still felt the struggle in Van's heart.
"Some things can't be solved just by following emotions." After saying this, Van no longer hesitated.
He turned and walked toward the unconscious Kiana, and purple light once again surged from his palm.
Fu Hua, lying on the ground, wanted to stop him, but realized she could no longer move.
Just as Fu Hua fell into despair, she suddenly felt the surrounding temperature plummet. Immediately after, a wave of cold rapidly spread.
The ground, the railings, even the dust floating in the air, all were instantly frozen into dazzling ice crystals.
The entire rooftop seemed to have been pressed with a pause button, turning into an icy prison isolated from the world.
———
[This scene… don't tell me…]
[That man is coming!]
[Truly, the wheel of fortune turns, who would've thought that Kevin, who was an enemy before, would now choose to protect Kiana?]
[Because Kevin promised Mei, after all~]
———
[Back to the Video.]
The abnormality around made Van stop his movements. He slowly looked up, only to see Kevin had somehow already arrived and was standing at the edge of the rooftop.
"Stop now." Kevin's cold voice rang out, like an eternal glacier. "I don't wish to fight you."
However, what responded to him was Van's indifferent voice. "What if I refuse?"
Just a few simple words made the air freeze.
"Then we'll have no choice but to fight."
Before Kevin's words had even fully fallen, the surrounding temperature plummeted again, and countless ice crystals condensed in the air.
Van's eyes narrowed, and suddenly, a fierce wind rose around him, instantly reducing the surrounding ice pillars to powder.
At the same moment, the wild airflow blew his cloak away, revealing his surprisingly black hair.
———
[Van's hair… when did it turn black?]
[This scene feels familiar…]
[I remember now! Isn't this the silhouette from the end of the Jiuyou arc?]
[Damn! Now that you mention it, I feel it too!]
[Alright alright, so MiHoyo, you laid the foreshadowing back then, huh!]
———
[Back to the Video.]
On Kevin's eternally unchanging face, a rare hint of seriousness finally appeared.
He slowly raised his right hand, and the 7th Divine Key, Judgment of the Heavenly Fire appeared in his hand.
"Hua, take her and go." Kevin said without even turning his head to Fu Hua.
Having regained some strength, Fu Hua barely stood up, slowly walked to the unconscious Kiana, and picked her up.
"Kevin… be careful."
After saying that, Fu Hua gave Van a deep look, and finally turned to leave.
For everything the two did, Van did not stop them, only quietly watching them go.
Fu Hua's figure disappeared into the horizon, and only the two of them remained on the rooftop.
At this moment, Van revealed a reminiscent smile, "Kevin, how many tens of thousands of years has it been since we last crossed swords? I wonder, after these millennia of slumber, do you still have the strength to fight me?"
Hearing this, Kevin's tense expression suddenly relaxed slightly, with an almost imperceptible sense of relief flashing in his eyes.
The hand holding his sword loosened a bit, and the corner of his mouth actually revealed a faint smile.
———
[In the Real World.]
After seeing this scene, Van helplessly shook his head and sighed inwardly, "So it really was a single flaw among hundreds of careful preparations, my memory core exposed itself from the very start."
'No wonder Kevin saw through the memory core's identity.'
After all, aside from this time, he, Kevin, and Su had already once fought a great battle at the end of the 5th era due to conflicting ideals.
That time was actually their first real clash in this timeline.
Thinking of this, Van finally understood why Kevin's attitude toward him had been so strange during this event.
"Who would've thought, even you, Kevin Kaslana with your thick brows and big eyes, started acting with me too, huh..."
Just thinking about how in the future, Kevin pretended to know nothing on the surface but secretly watched the drama unfold, made Van feel extremely awkward.
———
[Back to the video.]
In the scene, Kevin pointed his sword at Van, flames dancing on the Judgment of the Heavenly Fire.
"You can try."
Van lightly smiled and shook his head. With a grasp of his right hand in the air, a long sword radiating purple light formed in his palm.
The two faced each other. One was as sharp as thunder and lightning, full of exposed killing intent. The other was like a mixture of fire and ice, gentle like a clear breeze and bright moon.
At some unknown moment, the previously cleared sky over Changkong City became covered in clouds again.
The ever-rising aura of the two stirred the clouds into a massive vortex.
"Then let me see, after tens of thousands of years, is your sword still as sharp as back then!"
With that, Van twirled his sword and charged toward Kevin.
Kevin gave no reply, only held the Judgment of the Heavenly Fire across his chest, unmoving like a mountain.
Amid the blinding flash of their clash, those dreaded words once again appeared on the screen.
[To be continued...]
But unlike before, this time Ai-chan's cliffhanger didn't make the viewers curse.
Because, all their attention was caught by the [Next Episode Preview] at the end of the video.
Accompanied by an unknown BGM, the preview officially began.
In the deep blue Sea of Memories, a girl floated there. The camera then zoomed in, revealing a delicate face resembling Van's.
As if sensing something, the girl's eyelashes trembled slightly.
When the girl began to awaken, water droplets at the seabed, seemingly controlled by an unknown force, began to rise against gravity.
Then, the screen started to flash quickly.
From Durandal's confused gaze, to Kevin's deep and serious expression. From the devastated headquarters of Schicksal, to a mysterious, ruined space. Finally, it froze on a cliff wrapped in a blood-red tornado.
Kiana looked at the person in the center of the crimson storm and asked in shock, "Who... are you?"
Hearing that, the girl turned slightly, revealing a sickly smile.
"What? Don't recognize me, Kiana? Come now~ Let's make this world into what we want it to be!"
The screen then turned black, and the girl's crazed voice echoed, "I will rewrite everything!"
With that, the preview ended, leaving countless viewers overwhelmed with emotion.
[This girl looks like the one who appeared in Otto's lab before, right?]
[But from the state of Schicksal HQ, it seems Otto's plan failed?]
[Good! Let it fail!]
[That damn Otto, trying to create gods, why not have one descend first and smite him!]
[Yeah, it failed, but the consequences seem pretty out of control...]
———
"Phew, finally over."
Looking at the now-black screen, Van let out a long sigh of relief.
Thankfully, this episode mostly focused on Raiden Mei and Kiana's story.
As for himself? At most, just a side character.
Recalling the story ahead, Van once again felt hopeful about his future.
Next, he just had to deal with Fu Hua and Mobius, and there shouldn't be any other issues.
'So... Hold steady, don't throw! Watch me turn the tables with a sliver of HP!'
Yet Van didn't know, after tonight, his tangled fate line would soon be dyed with thunder's light.
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