The Stygian Beach was a place of utter, pale silence. All the souls here would slowly walk toward the River of the Dead on the opposite side. There, their souls would be slowly crushed and pulverized before being reintegrated into the surging tide, until they eventually became the next person.
A man sat there, playing the violin. His expression looked gentle, yet carried a hint of faint sadness.
“We meet again, Mr. Roland.” Li Yue slowly walked out from the tides of the River of the Dead. She brushed past the wandering souls, her expression holding a complex emotion that even she could not quite understand.
“You...” Roland set down his violin. His body looked somewhat fractured, with dust constantly drifting away from his form. “It has only been a year...”
“I am still alive,” Li Yue said calmly. She sat down beside Roland and gazed at the deathly silent world, remaining speechless for a moment.
“For a living person to reach the Underworld, you must have become a very powerful magic user.”
“Merely a demigod.”
“I am afraid no one else in this world would dare call themselves that. You truly have become very strong.” Roland smiled. “So, which deity is it?”
“The God of Death.” Li Yue paused. “I have merely... reclaimed my own power, nothing more.”
“When I was a student, the professors said the books described the God of Death as a cruel and cold deity.”
“And now, am I indeed a cruel and cold magic user?”
“How are you cruel?”
“...” Li Yue opened her mouth, but she didn't know where to begin.
“Let’s not talk about that.” Roland smiled. “Did you find the person you were looking for?”
“I found her...” Li Yue thought for a moment, yet again not knowing how to explain. She remained silent, waiting for Roland to ask the next question. Pale black fragments drifted in the wind, looking like charred, withered leaves.
“Are you happy now?” Roland suddenly asked. He looked at Li Yue’s somewhat stunned yet cold face, trying to reconcile it with the slightly clumsy and cute girl in his memory.
“...” Li Yue pondered. Suddenly, a sense of urgency gripped her. She had to go back. She couldn't let the people from the academy—especially Clo—slay those “Kings” and be stained by their corrupted blood.
“You didn't seem surprised when you saw me.”
“One often sees people with strong obsessions on the Stygian Beach. You must have encountered some over the past year as well.” Li Yue explained calmly. She was the being who had stayed here the longest; over tens of thousands of years, she had seen countless humans here.
“Obsessions...” Roland chewed on the word. “The world’s largest prison is the human mind; if you cannot escape your own obsessions, you remain a prisoner wherever you go.”
“And who are you waiting for?”
“I am looking for someone—someone who has perhaps been waiting for me for over a decade.” Roland smiled and did not elaborate. Li Yue could roughly guess it was the female demon hunter who had died during the Blood Moon.
“I’m afraid... I cannot help.” Li Yue looked toward the nearby River of the Dead. Amidst the vast stretches of broken souls, she could see no “truth.”
“It’s fine. Perhaps one day, I will walk into that ocean of nothingness on my own.” Roland continued to smile faintly. Perhaps there would be no result until he gave up, or perhaps it would happen next time. Maybe somewhere, everyone was still waiting for him—just like the countless times he had returned to that small villa exhausted, only to see the smiles of all his teammates.
“I must go. Someone is waiting for me outside.” Li Yue stood up and walked slowly toward the River of the Dead. “Goodbye, Mr. Roland.”
“Hmm... I was going to say ‘farewell.’ By the way, are you still listening to the music I wrote?”
“I am.”
“Then, see you in a bit.” Roland waved with a smile. He set his bow to the violin and played that melody Li Yue could never forget. Amidst this sorrowful music, Li Yue began to walk against the current within the surging River of the Dead.
“After the souls of the living die, they pour into the Underworld from the boundary of life and death. If I follow the river, I can return.” Li Yue’s figure moved rapidly through the orchid-colored water. A scarlet blood shadow pierced through the orchid-colored cage, rushing toward the darkness that represented either freedom or liberation.
This time, there was no guidance from fate. The Underworld was as it always was, without a single crack. Aside from going against the River of the Dead, she had no other way.
What was the price? In truth, it was both great and small. Previously, it had been the reshaping of her physical body, but this time, the subject was her soul.
Li Yue slowly reached her hand forward. Countless pitch-black hands also reached out toward her, but not a single one intended to pull her out of this void of death.
She looked into the far distance. She knew there was still a long way to go before reaching the other side, so she continued to struggle, being pushed back repeatedly until she returned to the years of the past.
Her resilient soul was torn into small pieces during the struggle, but she was an immortal goddess. Even so, she could still miraculously return to life from death.
Everything was passing away. All the beauty within past pain was now flowing away along with that suffering. Only her empty self remained, drifting alongside the dead souls. For a moment, Li Yue could not distinguish which side was truly the deceased.
A flash of grayish-white passed by. In the disc of her life, she watched with her own eyes as Li Yue traveled from the very beginning all the way to the present—this very moment. It seemed to be what people commonly called revolving lantern phantoms, yet she seemed to be moving in reverse, so what she saw here was a chronological order.
So, had Li Yue truly passed away? It did not know. This was also why it had been unwilling to go against the River of the Dead from the start.
She stood barefoot on a patch of lush green grass. Her eyes were empty. The sound of melodious music drifted from the distance. Li Yue looked down at herself; she was wearing the divine raiment she had once worn, standing in an unfamiliar place.
“Lobilance’s concert is about to start. Let’s hurry inside.” A man and a woman passed by Li Yue. She looked at her surroundings somewhat blankly. Following the flow of the crowd, she moved toward the central building along with the people.
Occasionally, people cast surprised glances at her, but she was already used to it.
She stood slightly on her tiptoes, trying to see every aspect of what she wanted to see from behind this bustling crowd.
Where was this?
Rate on N.U.
