Bengtie, I'm really not a villain!

Although it was just a dream, Raiden Mei clearly remembered the last time her mother's fingertips touched her cheek.

"Live on, carrying our share..."

And then, in front of her, blood trickled from the corner of Jing Ye's mouth, the knife in his hand already deeply embedded in his abdomen.

"Live on..." Jing Ye's voice grew weaker and weaker. He reached out to touch her face, but his hand fell limply halfway down.

On the ruins of Takamagahara, countless dark red spider lilies sprouted from the ground, slowly lifting up Keiya's corpse.

The petals swept in like a surging tide, carrying an aura of destruction. Those petals were like gentle hands, softly wiping away her tears, yet also bearing the weight of her overwhelming anger and endless sorrow.

Wherever the red spider lily blooms, the surviving demons let out mournful screams. Their bodies are crushed inch by inch by the petals, turning into ashes and dissipating in the wind.

The entire sky was shrouded in a dark red light, as if even the sun was mourning this fierce battle.

The battle ended, but the stench of blood lingered in the air for a long time.

Raiden Mei knelt amidst the pool of blood, embracing Jingye's gradually cooling body, tears silently streaming down her face.

Her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the pain almost making it hard to breathe.

Despite successfully protecting Izumo Province, her heart had already been shattered by the departure of her loved ones.

From then on, she lived like a walking corpse, her soul seemingly forever left on that blood-stained ruin, never to find the vitality and warmth she once had.

Memory and reality overlapped in the crimson glow as she stared blankly at Himeko's blood-stained bandages intertwined with her mother's dying kimono.

Kiana's stubborn gaze and Furibas's final smile shattered into fragments of light under Jingye's oppressive aura, leaving her pupils utterly devoid of emotion.

The overwhelming Haki in the air pressed against her eardrums as if it were a tangible force, but she just mechanically repeated her breathing.

In this world ravaged by collapse, those reunions she once thought were lucky...

The resolute figure of Himeko-sensei, just like in my memory, and Kiana, whose eyes and brows resembled those of Furibas, had all become mere illusions.

The familiar spider lilies grew wildly along the cracks in her combat uniform, and the metal floor touched by the petals developed fine frost patterns, just like her heart, which had long been frozen.

Mei's silver hair danced wildly in the air currents, and every blooming spider lily reflected the tragedies of the past.

As the first flower fully bloomed in her heart, the final scene of Takamagahara appeared in the dark red light.

Chapter 160 Returning to the Beginning

She held Jing Ye, whose body was growing cold, while at that moment, the same shadow loomed over the people in front of her. She merely turned her head slightly, her movements stiff as a puppet on a string.

The vines of the red spider lily wrapped around her neck. She did not struggle, letting these vines, which shone with an eerie light, pull her into a deeper vortex of memories.

The tenderness and hope that I once buried with my own hands have long since rotted away in the torment of countless days and nights.

Now that power has awakened once more, her eyes remain lifeless, her heart is devoid of struggle or hesitation.

They simply wait quietly for fate to decide their fate, like a soulless shell awaiting the arrival of the next storm.

Himeko's blood-stained fingers trembled slightly as she gazed at Raiden Mei, who was suspended in mid-air. The image reflected in her pupils was no longer that of the gentle and considerate student she once was.

The girl before him was surrounded by dark red spider lily vines, her silver hair moved without wind, and her eyes, dyed crimson, seemed to be filled with a thousand-year-old ice, devoid of any warmth.

This unfamiliar atmosphere made Himeko involuntarily think of the soldiers on the battlefield who had lost everything and become completely numb.

Theresa stood on tiptoe, trying to get a better look, but was forced back half a step by the chill that rushed towards her.

Her voice trembled slightly: "Is...is this really Mei?"

The stigmata on her forehead flickered, but could not dispel the unease in her heart.

Mei, who would hand out hot towels to everyone after training and always had a shy smile, is hard to reconcile with the figure in front of me that exudes an aura of death.

Fu Hua's fist tightened slightly, and the Feather Dust stopped trembling in her wrist, replaced by a solemn silence.

She watched as the enormous spider lily on Mei's chest slowly unfurled its petals, each one seemingly formed from congealed blood.

Her thousand years of experience had allowed her to witness countless life-and-death separations, but the indifference she felt from Mei at this moment made her heart tremble.

This kind of bone-chilling coldness can only be experienced by those who have gone through the despair of losing all their loved ones.

Kiana bit her lip. The smile that Raiden Mei used to know was gone, replaced by stiff, mechanical movements.

"How could this be..." Kiana murmured to herself, her voice filled with disbelief.

Where did the Mei we know go?

Jing Ye played with the doll in his hand with great interest, watching the shock and confusion on everyone's faces.

Himeko's knees slammed heavily against the metal floor with a dull thud. The screeching sound of her combat boots scraping against the ground was exceptionally clear in the deathly silence of the training ground.

She looked up at the suspended Raiden Mei, her throat tightening as if Jingye's domineering aura was choking her.

Under the crimson glow, the spider lily vines wrapped around Mei swayed gently, and her silvery-white hair, like solidified frost and snow, danced slowly with the invisible air currents.

When those crimson eyes swept over her blood-stained bandages, they reminded her of a tranquility that transcended life and death, a tranquility that had long since transcended separation.

There was no anger, no sadness in that gaze, only an almost detached indifference, as if the Himeko before him was nothing more than a lifeless shell.

Mei's gaze was like a blade chilled by frost, slicing the hot cocoa they had shared after late-night training sessions and the trust they had built by fighting side by side on the battlefield into pieces.

Himeko recalled those heartwarming moments when Mei would always quietly prepare hot drinks and soothe everyone's fatigue with gentle words.

But at this moment, that gentleness has vanished without a trace, leaving only a chilling coldness.

Kiana staggered forward half a step, only to be frozen in place by Mei's gaze. The girl's fingertips dug deeply into her palms, leaving four bloody marks, yet she felt no pain whatsoever.

In her memory, Mei always looked at her with an indulgent smile, but now it was as if she were gazing at a distant, fading figure.

That gaze was empty and distant, as if it had traversed countless days and nights, landing on a phantom in another time and space.

As those eyes swept across her face, Kiana suddenly remembered the cold tombstones she had touched.

On countless quiet nights, she stood alone before the grave, feeling the chill from her fingertips—the piercing pain of losing her dearest loved ones.

At this moment, Mei probably sees herself as a cold, emotionless being, like a ghost long buried deep in her memory.

Theresa stood on tiptoe, the stigmata on her forehead flickering. She tried to find a familiar trace in Mei's empty eyes, but only saw bottomless darkness.

"What... what exactly did Mei go through?" Her soft voice was filled with heartache and confusion.

Fu Hua's Feather Dust emitted a faint light, but it could not dispel the oppressive atmosphere that enveloped the training ground.

She gazed at the spider lilies swirling around Mei, their dark red petals unfurling in the air currents like countless mournful hands.

Memories flooded her mind like a tide; she recalled the eternally frozen smile in Möbius's laboratory, and Kevin's resolute back as he turned away at the last moment.

I recall the day the end came, the sky was dyed crimson, and the earth crumbled beneath my feet.

The icy chill emanating from Raiden Mei at this moment was exactly the same feeling she had when she stood on desolate ruins in her memory.

It is an indelible emptiness deep in the soul after witnessing the passing of all those cherished.

Fu Hua's fingertips trembled slightly. She knew better than anyone what kind of despair and loneliness was hidden behind this indifference.

She, too, once carried everything alone, wandering through the long years, until she met new companions and felt a glimmer of warmth again.

Jing Ye played with the doll in his hand, a playful smile playing on his lips.

He gently tugged at the silk threads, and the controlled people's bodies swayed uncontrollably, their joints making a teeth-grinding sound.

Himeko gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, her gaze never leaving Mei: "No matter what happens, we will definitely help you..."

Her voice was firm, but it was abruptly cut off by Jing Ye's sudden outburst of domineering aura.

Kiana clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white from the effort. She looked at the enormous spider lily on Mei's chest, the dewdrops on its petals a mixture of blood and tears.

Memories flooded back, and Mei, who used to cheer her on and guide her when she was lost, now seemed like a strange ghost.

"I will not give up!"

Kiana cried out in her heart, but reality cruelly reminded her that they were now nothing more than living targets for Jingye's Iaijutsu practice.

The metal floor groaned under Jing Ye's oppressive aura, and the vines of the spider lily spread along the cracks in the floor, enveloping everyone in a crimson haze.

Fu Hua looked at Raiden Mei and felt a sense of powerlessness for the first time.

She understood that some pain could only be faced by oneself, and now they were struggling to even protect themselves, so how could they possibly save their companions who were trapped in the abyss of suffering?

Raiden Mei's body was surrounded by spider lilies that surged wildly as she stared intently at Himeko, Kiana, and the others who were being controlled by Jingye, her nails digging deep into her palms.

After enduring countless torments, she had already hardened her heart to the point of solid ice, and was prepared to witness her loved ones being tortured by Jing Ye again.

Those familiar faces were contorted, yet they couldn't stir even the slightest ripple in her lifeless eyes, as if everything before her was just another cruel joke played by fate.

However, when the light of the red spider lily suddenly surged and the scarlet halo engulfed the entire training ground, an unexpected darkness suddenly descended upon her.

In the instant consciousness plunged into the abyss, the last remaining image was Jing Ye's amused smile.

Raiden Mei's consciousness floated in the darkness, and in the chaos, memories sliced ​​through her mind like sharp blades.

Those blood-soaked memories, the crimson of the blooming spider lilies, and the images of her loved ones falling were repeatedly burning deep within her consciousness.

Deep in her memory, the figure who had been with her for over a decade—Jing Ye—remained ever-present.

When she opened her eyes again, a bone-chilling coldness crept up her spine and up her neck. The tatami mat felt both strange and familiar; the rough rush weave rubbed against her knees through her thin, furisode-sleeved kimono.

The room was filled with the scent of agarwood, but it couldn't mask a faint, sweet, fishy smell—the distinctive scent of a sleeping potion.

The dim candlelight flickered on the bronze candlestick, casting long shadows of the ink bamboo on the screen, which swayed and twisted on the wall, as if foreshadowing impending misfortune.

These details all reminded her that she was currently in Jing Ye's room, before her first time on the battlefield.

At this time, Jing Ye was her childhood sweetheart with whom she spent every day.

Although Jing Ye had never picked up a knife, as she grew older, she could always sense his power from subtle clues.

The stillness of the rain curtain in the downpour, and the powerful aura revealed in every move, all demonstrated his hidden strength.

Before her first appearance on the battlefield tomorrow, filled with curiosity about the unknown power, Raiden Mei stepped into Keiya's room.

In my memory, he greeted me with a gentle smile, his tenderness in his eyes as always, and the hands that handed me the teacup had distinct knuckles, yet they concealed a deadly malice.

The moment the warm tea touched her lips, a sweet and pungent scent of a sleeping potion filled her nostrils, followed by a dizzying darkness.

Jing Ye's method of administering drugs was precise and ruthless. He controlled the dosage perfectly, leaving his prey teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, powerless to resist yet still aware of the despair.

But at this moment, she woke up ahead of time. Although her limbs were still heavy as lead, her mind was clearer than ever before.

At this moment, the furisode kimono she should have been wearing was now adorned with dark red spider lilies.

Her once violet hair color has been preserved as silver-white, with strands falling to her collarbone and gleaming coldly in the candlelight, like winter frost.

“This is impossible…” A hoarse murmur escaped her throat, her voice sounding particularly abrupt in the silent room.

She struggled to get up, but found her limbs as heavy as lead. As the numbed sensation from the drug gradually returned, she clearly felt the eerie touch of flower petals brushing against her skin.

Those spider lilies seemed to transcend time and space, tightly binding her to this body from the past. Every touch of a petal felt like a reminder of her inescapable destiny.

What made her pupils shrink even more was the long knife she was gripping tightly in her hand.

The spider lilies on the hilt of the sword are so lifelike, they look like flowing blood.

This is clearly the sword from the final battle at Takamagahara—a demon sword forged by Kageya before his death, using the blood of Furibas, his mother, and Himeko as a sacrifice.

She still remembers the vibrations from the blade when she wielded this knife to slay demons, and the mournful cries of the spider lilies blooming on the blade.

It was this sword, surrounded by red spider lilies, that annihilated the remaining demons, restoring peace to the land of Izumo.

The warmth emanating from the hilt seemed to still carry the last warmth of Jing Ye, and the blade trembled slightly, as if responding to her rapid heartbeat.

Fingertips touched the damp tatami mat. Looking down, beside the shattered teacup, tea soup and the juice seeping from flower petals slowly mingled, outlining eerie patterns in the moonlight, echoing the spider lily on the blade.

The paper sliding door suddenly made a slight noise, and Jingye's footsteps approached from afar.

Every step felt like stepping on her heart.

Raiden Mei lowered her eyes to hide the crimson within them, her white hair veiling her profile like a curtain, and the spider lily vines quietly tightened.

The patterns on the hilt of the sword seemed to blend seamlessly with the patterns on her palm. At this moment, she was both an innocent girl curious about her childhood friend's strength before going to the battlefield for the first time, and a battlefield demon who had experienced a life-or-death battle.

Raiden Mei's breathing sounded particularly heavy in the silence as she stared at the tea she had spilled on the tatami mat.

From the collapsed world to the present Izumo Kingdom, the misalignment of time and space is like an absurd farce, as if fate randomly throws her into different gears, letting them mesh in excruciating pain.

She didn't understand why she was traveling through time, just as she could never figure out why she appeared in that world corrupted by Honkai as "another Raiden Mei".

The paper sliding door was slowly pushed open, and the wooden hinges, bearing the marks of time, emitted a soft creaking sound.

Jing Ye's figure was shrouded in the dim light and shadow, still the same figure I remembered.

But when he looked up, those familiar eyes narrowed slightly, the curve at the corners concealing a venomous, menacing danger. Raiden Mei instantly knew...