[Master! Now is not the time to be happy! Look at Celeste! She’s completely gone dark! She’s lost all reason and abandoned her family ties! The situation is extremely dangerous! Before she realizes you’ve ‘resurrected,’ we need to get out of here immediately!]
After a brief moment of ecstatic joy, Ruby immediately recognized the greatest crisis at hand.
She hurriedly flew to Aiden’s ear, anxiously pointing with her small hand toward the dark blue figure still wildly beating the corpse in the distance, her words rushing out in a rapid flurry.
Only then did Aiden look in the direction Ruby indicated.
Sure enough, he saw Celeste, who originally had pure ice-blue long hair, now with her hair color changed to a dark blue, as if tainted by the Abyss.
She had lost that crystal-clear brilliance she once possessed.
Black lightning crackled ominously around her, and her once-pure magical flow had become turbid and filthy, as if polluted by dense black mist, radiating a terrifying aura of evil.
“That’s Celeste?”
Aiden was stunned by the sight, a complex swirl of emotions rising within him.
Was it all because of him that Celeste had gone dark?
“There’s no time to think about that now. Master, you can’t die! If you die, the mission ends. As the saying goes, ‘While the green mountains remain, there will be firewood to burn.’”
Ruby was too anxious to care about Aiden’s thoughts, continuing her urgent persuasion.
“Though Celeste has gone dark now, she hasn’t reached the level where she could destroy the world yet.”
“Even if the Academy ends up dealing with her afterward, it would only increase the Quarter World Collapse Probability. We still have a chance to salvage other objectives! But if you, Master, get killed here by darkened Celeste, then it’s game over. There won’t be a single hope left!”
“I came to this world precisely to stop Celeste from going dark,” Aiden said after a brief silence, his voice heavy with guilt. “Yet every time she edges toward darkness, it seems to be because of me…”
But then he resolutely shook his head.
Propping himself up with his hands, he staggered slightly but stood firm, eyes fixed on the slender figure enveloped in a storm in the distance.
His voice carried unwavering determination.
“How can I give up on her and run away just because it’s dangerous?”
With that, ignoring Ruby’s anxious cries and pleas behind him, he took firm, steady steps toward Celeste, who was at the center of the swirling magic.
As Aiden approached, the storm around Celeste intensified suddenly.
Dark blue ice shards, sharp as tiny blades, whipped violently through the gale, slicing the air with a piercing whistle.
The storm was like a reflection of Celeste’s inner torment and despair, instinctively rejecting all who approached, determined to freeze and shred anything that dared come near.
Amid the raging blizzard, Aiden’s progress was painfully slow.
The storm was so fierce that he had to concentrate all his mental energy on maintaining his balance.
Each step felt like sinking deep into the snow, his body leaning forward to resist the gale that threatened to blow him away.
Yet still, he pushed forward, battling the biting cold and swirling snow, inching ever closer to Celeste at the storm’s heart.
At that moment, Celeste seemed to faintly sense someone approaching.
She stopped the meaningless rampage against Rufus’s now unrecognizable corpse, her movements stiff as she slowly turned around.
The girl’s eyes were dull and lifeless, as if covered by a thick layer of icy dust.
Her gaze on Aiden held no trace of past dependence, shyness, or any emotion—only a chilling emptiness, like a stranger intruding on her solitude.
“Celeste! It’s me! I’m Aiden! Look, I’m fine! I’m still alive! Please stop! I’m here!”
Aiden shouted against the wind, trying to awaken her.
However, his cries seemed to have no effect on Celeste’s current state.
The moment his voice emerged, it was swallowed by the howling blizzard, unable to reach her ears, let alone stir her heart frozen by darkness.
As Aiden continued forward, the small, rapidly spinning dark blue ice shards around him began mercilessly scraping his body.
His Uniform was soon torn to shreds, and numerous fine wounds appeared on his exposed skin.
The fresh blood instantly froze upon contact with the extreme cold, crystallizing into red ice across his clothes and skin.
The storm’s extreme cold and the constant physical exertion started to blur Aiden’s consciousness.
His body stiffened, each step feeling like trudging through a swamp.
Frost covered his hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.
Aiden took out an Elemental Flask and painfully drank a mouthful.
Warm energy coursed through him, temporarily dispelling some cold and restoring much of his strength.
He drew in a deep breath of the freezing air, then continued forward with difficulty, shouting Celeste’s name relentlessly.
At first, Aiden’s calls seemed to elicit a faint reaction from Celeste.
Her hollow eyes gazed at him for a long while, refraining from attacking immediately, as if trying to recognize something, or perhaps merely pausing.
But the constant calling ultimately failed to penetrate that thick wall around her heart.
Celeste’s face remained expressionless.
Eventually, she slowly raised one arm mechanically.
“Whoosh!”
Following her motion, six slender, sharp ice spears, crystal-like and silent, appeared around her, their tips all pointed toward Aiden.
As her pale hand gently dropped, these ice spears, like obedient soldiers, shot toward Aiden with a piercing rush.
“Puk, puk, puk…”
The spears didn’t aim for Aiden’s vital points but instead grazed his limbs with surgical precision, leaving deeper cuts that immediately bled before freezing solid in the cold.
These attacks felt more like warnings, or an instinctive rejection, merely trying to prevent the young man from approaching the storm’s center and herself.
Ruby fluttered anxiously around Aiden, like an ant on a hot pan, her voice trembling as she pleaded.
“Master! Give up! You really can’t go any further! Keep going like this and you’ll die! ‘Famed Blade Siming’ has a one-day cooldown. You don’t have any means left to save yourself! You’ll be killed!”
Despite the growing wounds and his faltering steps from blood loss and cold, Aiden shook his head firmly.
“I won’t give up on Celeste… She’s done nothing wrong. She shouldn’t… shouldn’t have to pay this price and become like this because of me…”
He wiped the frost from his eyes, locking his gaze through the raging snowstorm on the cold, statue-like girl at the center.
Though weak, his voice carried unshakable resolve.
Ruby saw how determined Aiden was and knew further persuasion was useless.
Her small face showed worry and helplessness before she finally sighed, as if making a choice.
“Since this is your decision, Master… Ruby chooses to support you!”
With that, Ruby flew ahead of Aiden, snapping her fingers crisply.
Immediately, a clear, rhythmic melody sounded out of thin air, like a soothing spring, surrounding Aiden.
Then, a small circular stage emitting a soft glow appeared, hovering in midair beneath Ruby’s feet.
She lightly landed on the platform and began to dance gracefully to the rhythm.
This dance was completely different from the meaningless one Aiden had seen before on the Throne of the Gods.
The movements seemed imbued with an inspiring power.
As Ruby danced, ribbons of warm, pure milky-white light emanated from the stage, gently wrapping around Aiden’s body.
Aiden immediately felt the tiny wounds from the ice spears tingle as they healed visibly.
The biting cold receded significantly, and his stiff, frozen body regained mobility, allowing him to move much more freely.
“Ruby, this is…?”
“This is the effect of Life of Ruby. The dance can dispel some Negative Status, heal minor wounds, and even provide a small boost… but…”
Ruby continued her elegant dance while distractedly replying.
“It can’t heal fatal injuries! So Master, don’t get careless just because you feel better! You’re still in danger!”
Feeling the relief from his healing wounds and the fading chill, a faint smile appeared at Aiden’s lips.
“Ruby, you’ve really helped a lot this time.”
With Ruby’s healing dance boosting him, Aiden’s pace quickened significantly.
Braving the still fierce but somewhat weakened blizzard, he marched steadily forward, finally reaching just a step away from Celeste.
“Celeste… wake up. I’m here… See, I’m right here. I’m okay.”
Aiden stopped and looked into Celeste’s empty, dark blue eyes, slowly reaching out his hand.
Facing the battered yet resolute Aiden, Celeste’s ice-covered, expressionless face betrayed no ripple.
Yet from her hollow eyes, two streams of murky tears mixed with black magic trickled down uncontrollably.
At that moment, the girl also slowly and stiffly raised one hand, moving it closer to Aiden’s outstretched one.
Aiden’s heart leapt with hope, a spark of light suddenly igniting.
It seemed Celeste had not fully gone dark.
She could still hear his voice, and deep inside, some shred of reason remained.
But in the next second, Aiden’s expression froze.
Because the hand Celeste raised was not to grasp his but instead lifted high above her head.
A massive, elongated ice spear, radiating extreme cold and deathly aura, rapidly formed above her.
Its sharp tip aimed precisely at Aiden’s heart.
Without hesitation, the lethal ice spear sliced through the air with a shrieking scream, like the scythe of death, shooting straight at Aiden’s heart.