Bing Shi's voice wavered, "Then why did you just attack me if I haven't betrayed you?"

"Bing Shi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Xuan Mu continued his whispering, not noticing the cold sweat on the healer's face. "My memories suddenly overwhelmed me—memories of dying then memories of another life with Ziek followed right after. It confused me."

His lips tenderly met her forehead before tracing their way down to her lips. "I love you, Bing Shi. I love you more than you could ever know."

"I love you too!"

Kissing the corners of her mouth, he added, "Would you like to continue our date? I have something special planned for you."

"Boss," The panting healer interrupted, "Miss Bing Shi is no longer alive."

His scream sliced through the air, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Xuan Mu cradled Bing Shi's lifeless form against his chest. "I've been talking to her the whole time! Right, Bing Shi?" Ignoring the disbelief on the healer's face, he said, "Don't stop. Keep healing her."

"Right. Xuan Mu, you'll need to carry on without me, I have to leave now," Bing Shi's voice came as a faint echo, "Wait for me, I'll find you again."

Staring at her fading astral form, Bing Shi willed herself to cry, but no tears came. She reached for him but her hand passed through him. She'd died the moment he had accidentally pushed her away; his power was just too overwhelming.

"What are you saying, Bing Shi?" Desperation contorted Xuan Mu's features. "You can't just leave me." Silence followed. He clutched her lifeless body tighter. "Why are you so quiet? Please, Bing Shi, say something."

His mind raced. Fu Lian's magical water was his last hope. He sprang up and soared out of his spaceship, heading toward Yi Zen's base.

· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·

As he flew, Xuan Mu cradled Bing Shi's lifeless form and continued speaking to her as if she could hear him. "Why is it that every time I carry you like a bride, it's because you're hurt?" His voice trembled, laced with a sad realization.

He tightened his grip on her, his eyes blurring with tears. "Remember how we always said that only death could part us? I'm starting to loathe that thought. It's trying to separate us again."

Sensing an impending danger, Xuan Mu lifted his eyes to meet the furious gaze of Yi Zen.

Up ahead, Yi Zen and an army emerged, a palpable threat looming in the air. From behind them, Fu Lian stepped forward. She conjured a flask of magical water from her space, and it floated toward Xuan Mu.

In a flowing black robe, he uncorked the flask and took a mouthful. Lowering his head so that Bing Shi's features remained hidden, he transferred the liquid through a kiss. When no response came, tears welled in his eyes. Parting her lifeless lips, he kissed her with a fervor, a silent declaration to everyone watching—she was his.

Fu Lian caught Xuan Mu's mocking gaze for a fleeting moment before it returned to Bing Shi. Her heart sank. All along, he had never been interested in her; he was merely toying with her feelings.

Unable to bear the sight, Yi Zen lunged toward Xuan Mu, his voice commanding, "Hand her over."

Xuan Mu broke his passionate kiss and looked up at Yi Zen, unimpressed, "Bing Shi, do you really need another brother? Where do they even keep coming from, hm?" he mumbled softly, his words tinged with irony.

As Yi Zen prepared to forcibly take his little sister away, a towering wall of flames erupted, halting him in his tracks.

Xuan Mu's indifferent expression became hostile, his voice chilling as it emerged from behind the inferno, "You're fortunate I don't keep secrets from my Bing Shi. Otherwise, you'd have been gone the moment you wanted to take her away from me."

The fire pillar grew, impossible to quell. It lit up the sky, visible to everyone. If it continued this way, it would rip a hole through the atmosphere itself!

Trapped within the fiery cage, Xuan Mu threatened Kuro to take him away to meet the HQ. He had no intention of idly waiting for Bing Shi to find her way back to him. If she wouldn't come to him, he'd tear apart the very fabric of the universe to go to her.

· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·

After a month...

Soldiers gazed towards the elevated platform where she used to sit, come rain or shine—always there to accompany them. The woman who once dangled her legs in the air with playful abandon, the person they should've been safeguarding, was nowhere to be seen. 

Wiping away stray tears, they moved on to create their own families. These families would, in time, become the most powerful and influential in the world, passing down teachings to their successors and carrying on the solemn duty of protecting the vulnerable.

After a strategy meeting, Yi Zen glanced to his right, where she would usually sit in quiet contemplation. Rising from his seat, he retreated to his office. A month had passed since the incident, and neither she nor his remains had been found. Collapsing into his chair, he buried his face in his hands, struggling to maintain his composure as his lips trembled.

Knock

Knock

"Come in," he managed to say, his voice hoarse.

The door opened, and Qua Tao entered, taking in the disheveled state of his general. He set a letter on the table. "Miss Bing Shi instructed me to give you this today," he said softly before exiting the room.

With trembling hands, Yi Zen picked up the letter, his heart pounding in the desperate hope that this was just another one of her pranks—that she was alright.

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I could only reach the skies, for you were the wings behind my back.

I could obtain all the glory, for you were the strength beside my side.

PS: Are you by any chance worried about your little sister's whereabouts? I don't want to brag, but I'm probably saving another world from its doom, hehe.

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Upon turning the letter and seeing the photograph of a smiling girl he'd never met before, tears involuntarily trickled down his face.

As he had suspected, his little sister was truly...

....beautiful.

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ARC THREE - END

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╔════ Author's note ═════╗

Uff... What a way to wake up the sleeping beauty, don't you think so?ヽ(*ﾟｰﾟ*)ﾉ

I wanted a bittersweet ending for ARC 3, not bad nor good. Are you satisfied with it? ヾ(･ω･*)ﾉ

It's time to continue our journey in ARC 4.

Yay~ (~‾▿‾)~

Any thoughts on what this ARC would be about?

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