NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 431: The Loser
"Don't bother. When your consciousness entered my domain, your connection to the outside world was severed. She can't hear you."
"You can't hurt her!" Even as her very essence threatened to dissipate, Fu Hua struggled to her feet, clutching at Senti's clothes.
She squeezed every last drop of consciousness energy from her near-depleted reserves, hoping to muster enough strength to hold Senti back, even for a fraction of a second.
But Senti merely flicked her wrist, sending Fu Hua sprawling.
Looking down at the frantic Fu Hua, Senti's expression remained unchanged. She even felt a flicker of amusement.
She had known nothing but setbacks since her birth. Seeing Fu Hua groveling at her feet should have brought her immense satisfaction.
But it didn't. All she felt was a deep sadness.
"You know, you actually had a chance. But now…"
"You don't."
Senti grabbed Fu Hua's throat, lifting her off the ground, her voice laced with disgust.
"And it's all thanks to you. If you hadn't interfered, I would have had to go through more trouble. But now, you've not only ruined yourself, but you've also destroyed Kiana's last hope."
Senti's words drained the color from Fu Hua's face. Even after tens of thousands of years without aging, in Senti's eyes, she looked like a frail old woman, devoid of her former brilliance.
Disgust twisting her features, Senti tossed Fu Hua aside like garbage, refusing to look at her.
Having inherited Fu Hua's memories, Senti knew her past better than anyone. She knew the depths of Fu Hua's regret, the extent of her pain.
And that was precisely why she looked down on Fu Hua, why she wanted to replace her.
She was tired of Fu Hua's failures. She hated her own powerlessness. She wanted to change things her own way.
But she had been met with rejection. No one acknowledged her as Fu Hua. They all believed she wasn't worthy, unworthy of becoming that failure who had lived for millennia.
So she had given up. She had chosen to embrace the Herrscher. She wanted to see what made the real Fu Hua so special.
But what she saw was a self-righteous fool, a Fu Hua destined to repeat the same mistakes, a broken relic of the past.
"Why?! Why am I even worse than a failure?!"
Resentment festered within her. Senti clenched her fists. At that moment, Kiana entered the Taixu Sword God's attack range, seemingly oblivious to the impending danger.
"Yes, it's over. It's my turn to say those words."
An infinite sword intent exploded outwards. The fallen Fenghuang Down rose into the air once more, diving like a meteor.
Against the Taixu Sword God, there was no escape.
This time, there was no Fu Hua to intervene.
The burning purple phoenix screeched, piercing the white space Fu Hua had desperately created. The fragile barrier shattered, and Kiana was swallowed by the devastating flames.
"Kiana!" Fu Hua screamed in despair, unable to even stand, forced to watch as Kiana was consumed by the Taixu Sword God.
Crack.
Fu Hua's mindscape shattered like glass, reflecting her despair. The memories she had severed with the Fenghuang Down flooded back, tormenting her like vengeful spirits, mocking her past.
But even millennia of sorrow couldn't compare to the agonizing pain she felt now.
A single tear fell amidst the dust of the shattered Mount Taixu.
Fu Hua, who had long since lost the ability to cry, felt the crushing weight of despair once more.
Senti turned away silently. She didn't know what she was feeling, didn't know whether to be happy or sad. She rubbed her own tear-filled eyes, fighting back the tears.
Fu Hua.
It was a name shared by two.
But Senti didn't have time to dwell on it. She suddenly realized that her finishing blow hadn't landed as cleanly as she'd expected.
It was… stuck?
"Taixu Sword God… Divine Essence!"
A familiar voice echoed in her ears.
"Impossible!"
Amidst the flames of the descending phoenix, a golden star flickered to life. In an instant, starlight transformed into flames, flames different from the chaotic purple—flames that would never be extinguished.
"[Flamescion]… Unsheath!"
The scattered flames converged like returning birds. The opposing forces of the Taixu Sword God and the [Flamescion] merged, transforming into a golden longsword.
Amidst the destructive flames of the phoenix, the white-haired girl stood upon the earth, raising her sword towards the sky.
Silence.
Then, a mournful cry.
The Fenghuang Down shrieked as a longsword pierced straight through it. Even the immortal phoenix was now as vulnerable as a chick, unable to resist the all-severing blade.
BOOM!
The sky rained fire, and this time, the phoenix would not rise again.
"No! I won't lose!"
Senti's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't notice the dark aura of destruction emanating from her, coiling around her neck like a venomous snake.
She widened her crimson eyes, invoking the Taixu Sword God once more. To her surprise, the technique, which should have been unusable, responded. But the purple star at her forehead had turned pitch black.
"Why won't you just stay down?! You… loser!!!"
Her voice was hoarse with rage. The shattered sword intent coalesced once more, forming a final, broken Taixu Sword God.
The two sword gods collided, the formless shockwave ripping through the mindscape, leaving jagged fissures.
"I'm… not a loser."
Kiana's calm voice, though not as loud as Senti's roar, pierced through her last vestiges of pride.
Senti trembled as she looked at the white-haired girl before her. For a moment, she saw another Kiana, standing before her in the stormy night.
Yes.
Kiana was never the loser.
The true loser had always been her.
Senti's Taixu Sword God crumbled, pierced by Kiana's [Flamescion].
Senti closed her eyes, accepting the white light that consumed her.
It was a pity. She couldn't go back.
.....
"Is it over?"
"No, not yet." Looking at the Herrscher of Sentience falling from the sky, the tension returned to Kiana's features.
Waves of chaotic, destructive darkness pulsed from Senti's body, staining the sky like ink.
"The Honkai… has descended itself."