“What? You’re saying those guys might actually take such a desperate risk and allow Chang'e to descend?” Miketsu looked at Eirin with a look of utter shock.
“Yes... they have a plan to create a Sub-Princess using an eligible moon rabbit, and paired with that... is something called the Moon Feather Princess Project. They actually think they can control Chang'e by placing multiple restrictions on the vessel princess. It's absolute madness!” Eirin’s fists were clenched, her expression grave and burning with a visible fury, as if she wanted nothing more than to punch the architect of this plan.
“Controlling Chang'e by placing restrictions on the vessel... is that... even possible?” Miketsu continued. Based on what she knew of Chang'e, such a plan was simply preposterous.
“According to their own calculations, the plan has a twenty percent success rate. However, in my view, the success rate is zero. No matter how many mortal methods they stack, they cannot control Chang'e. They are playing with fire!” As she spoke, Eirin slammed her fist onto the table.
Listening to Eirin’s words, Miketsu looked toward the distant moon with a heavy heart. Unease began to fester within her. She understood all too well the mindset of the Lunarian high command right now.
“A desperate gamble... no, have they simply abandoned all hope? They would rather drag the entire world down with them than accept defeat...”
Miketsu murmured as she stared out the window at the distant moon. Her intuition told her that an unavoidable, massive calamity was already upon them.
...
Beneath the Lunar Capital, within the Lunar Ruins, at Chang'e’s sacrificial altar.
At the edge of a colossal, deep pit, countless Lunarian researchers were busy within their research facility, working tirelessly on the modification of Reisen.
Powerless, Reisen was sent into various instruments and injected with tube after tube of medicine. These drugs were created using blood samples left behind by the two Moon Princesses in the Lunar Capital. The purpose was to grant Reisen the nature of a Moon Princess, allowing her to become a Sub-Princess capable of hosting Chang'e.
Afterward, Reisen was subjected to layer upon layer of restrictions by countless Lunarian sorcerers. When it was finally over, her entire body was covered in glowing, dense incantations. The continuous agony left her in a daze. By the time she regained her senses, she was being escorted by two members of the Lunar Defense Force onto an iron bridge spanning the giant pit, positioned right at its center.
Standing at the edge of the pit, Great Sage Ao stood quietly, looking across the distance at Reisen in the center of the abyss.
“You will... regret this...” Reisen spoke weakly, looking at the distant Great Sage. Having read her lips, the Great Sage replied slowly.
“I must do this... I have no choice...”
Then, the Great Sage took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Begin!”
As soon as the Great Sage’s voice fell, the two soldiers behind Reisen pushed her directly into the deep pit. Falling, Reisen passed through the massive barrier covering the mouth of the pit and plummeted into the pitch-black abyss.
Falling, falling, falling—constantly falling. The light shining down from the top of the pit gradually dimmed as she descended until pure darkness enveloped her. In that absolute, sightless void, Reisen continued to fall.
Reisen had no idea how long she had been falling or how deep she had gone. In the pure black environment, she had no reference point. At first, there was the whistling of the wind and the biting cold against her skin, but eventually, the sound of the wind vanished, and she could feel nothing at all.
No sight, no sound, no knowledge, no sensation... In this pure darkness, Reisen could not even tell if she was still falling. She even began to feel that the so-called Chang'e didn't exist at all, and that she might have already hit the bottom and died, existing now in a state of death like a lonely spirit, which was why she felt nothing.
Perhaps this result was better. If she died and Lady Chang'e did not revive, the army from the mortal world would completely destroy the lunarians' rule, and thousands of her compatriots would gain their freedom.
Amidst a thousand thoughts, within the extreme darkness, Reisen curled her body, waiting for her consciousness to finally stop, waiting for the end of everything.
Suddenly, Reisen heard a voice. No, she couldn't be sure if she heard it with her ears or if it simply echoed within her mind...
The voice was light and soft, graceful and delicate, like a woman singing or speaking... The moment Reisen heard it, she was instantly captivated. Her entire body couldn't help but relax. She emptied her mind, letting this pleasure overflow within her. She felt she could listen to this voice for eternity.
Light—wisps of silver light appeared around Reisen. These soft lights wrapped around her entire body like gentle gossamer. Under the tender embrace of this light, Reisen felt immense comfort. The myriad pains caused by years of imprisonment, battle, body modification, and implanted restrictions were soothed in an instant, vanishing completely.
Reisen felt as if she were in a cradle. She truly hoped this state could last forever.
The light converged. In front of Reisen, the soft silver light gathered into a humanoid phantom of a woman. The silver phantom of light looked at Reisen, and Reisen looked back blankly. In Reisen’s eyes, the phantom took on a different form.
“Mama...”
Reisen murmured. What appeared in her eyes now was the figure of her mother from her childhood memories, smiling gently. Reisen opened her arms, and the other figure tenderly embraced her.
Reisen embraced the silver phantom, and the phantom embraced her. In a burst of radiance, the silver phantom turned into soft light and seeped into Reisen’s body.
Then, Reisen stopped falling. She stood upright in the darkness and looked upward. Her originally crimson eyes had transformed into a glowing, pure silver.
Within those silver eyes, there was not a single trace of emotion.
...
“What’s happening... why hasn't there been a reaction after so long... could it have failed?”
Standing at the edge of the pit, Ao peered down into the darkness below, his expression betraying a hint of anxiety. Around the edge of the pit, many Lunarian researchers and soldiers watched the depths alongside Ao, tension hanging heavy in everyone's hearts.
Suddenly, from the darkness at the bottom of the pit, a silver light shot forth. Under the dazzling flash, it surged up the pit at extreme speed, shattering the barrier, destroying the iron bridge, and then coming to a halt above the abyss.
“Reisen” floated in mid-air, her face devoid of any emotion. Her silver-white eyes looked down with indifference at the ecstatic Ao.
“Success! We succeeded! Chang'e... Chang'e has manifested within her! She has come out of the seal! And... the restrictions are still on her...”
Ao looked at the moon rabbit girl in mid-air, especially the countless incantations on her body. A fervent look appeared in his eyes. Now... they could finally wield the true purest power!
“Curse-Binding Array... control Chang'e immediately and have Her destroy the invading terrestrial army!”
Ao gave the command loudly. Immediately, the Lunarian sorcerers who had been prepared for a long time around the pit formed a grand array, activating the incantations previously carved onto Reisen’s body. Those incantations flared up instantly... and then, in less than half a second, they were wiped clean.
Ping!
The grand array formed by the Lunarian sorcerers shattered violently. The sorcerers who had just activated the incantations suddenly saw their bodies swell up like round balloons and explode. A mist of blood scattered throughout the entire cavern.
“What... No!!”
Seeing this, Ao’s legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground. Facing the terrified lunarians below, “Reisen” slightly raised her hand and gave a gentle wave.
In that moment, an incredibly dazzling silver light filled the entire cavern. All the lunarians, including Ao, were instantly swallowed by the endless silver-white screen of light. Their consciousnesses were frozen forever in that moment, and that destructive silver light overflowed from the cavern, filling the entire Lunar Ruins.
Within this light, Reisen’s form gradually began to change.
Rate on N.U.
