Natural Disasters, The End

But in the next moment, there was a crisp snapping sound! The straight blade was broken by his skull!

Su Ze's formidable laws erupted once again!

He slammed the stunned withered monster to the ground!

His fists rained down like a storm, each strike as heavy as thunder!

The laws combined with the crushing force of his fists.

Blood splattered as Su Ze mechanically repeated the motion.

The withered monster's head was smashed into a bloody pulp, lifeless, and streams of laws flowed out of its body, absorbed by Su Ze!

After what felt like an eternity, his movements finally stopped.

In the chaotic battlefield, no one noticed this madman.

The teachers and students were too busy dealing with the endless horde of monsters.

Su Ze collapsed in a pool of blood, the broken blade embedded in his forehead, almost flush with his skin, nearly invisible unless closely examined. His pupils were dilated, and he fell unconscious.

Suddenly.

Everyone noticed that the enormous vine had stopped releasing monsters.

It began to writhe, its roots coiling around and devouring the corpses of humans and monsters alike!

Then it started to retract, pulling back into the sky!

Everyone was stunned.

After what felt like an eternity, a ray of sunlight broke through the gaps in the sky-obscuring vines, bathing the scarred earth below.

"We won... we won!" a roar erupted.

Followed by a tidal wave of cheers that swept across the land!

...

Li Zhenlong leaned on the railing, watching the retreating vines in the distance. His furrowed brows finally relaxed, "We won..."

But the celebration didn't last long.

From centuries ago to now, Blue Star had endured countless calamities. They had grown accustomed to celebrating survival with cheers for the living defenders, followed by silence to honor the fallen.

The cheers gradually faded, and a mutual silence fell over the crowd.

It had been snowing not long ago, but now the weather felt like autumn.

The sunlight returning to Blue Star gave everyone a surreal sense of having survived an apocalypse.

The wilderness was lush with vibrant plants and trees, while countless cities lay in ruins, teetering on the edge of collapse.

The air-raid shelters opened, and millions of people poured out.

"We survived... we survived..."

Some wept openly, looking up at the sky.

"Thank you! Thank you!" others cried, embracing their protectors with tears streaming down their faces.

"Auntie! Auntie, please! You're getting snot all over me!" Shen Qingsheng, covered in wounds, grimaced in pain and panic as he tried to pull his leg free, "Don't kiss me! Don't get so emotional! Don't kiss me!"

Amid the sea of people, some rushed to their homes, now destroyed in the war, while others clutched their children and wept.

The scene was varied.

But most were lost, staring blankly at the blood-soaked, scarred land, unsure of where to go.

Among them was a particularly lost girl with striking wine-red hair. The sunlight filtering through the retreating vines illuminated her beautiful shrine maiden attire.

Her fingers intertwined tightly as she stood on the pockmarked, barren earth, anxiously waiting minute after minute, but the figure she longed for never appeared.

The sea of people stretched endlessly before her, and she nervously scanned the crowd, searching for something.

Time flowed like water, and Situ Jiajia stayed by her side, protecting her from being trampled by the surging crowd.

"Hey! Don't run off! It's dangerous!" Situ Jiajia suddenly shouted in alarm.

The little shrine maiden, having waited too long, dashed into the crowd!

Uesugi Akizuki's tears streamed down her face, a mix of intuition and confusion, like a helpless, lost puppy abandoned in an unfamiliar, sprawling city.

No matter where she felt Su Ze might be, she ran there only to find no trace of him.

Indeed, how could there be such a thing as a psychic connection?

It was nothing more than a lie boys told to deceive little girls.

After searching for what felt like an eternity, the little shrine maiden suddenly collapsed to the ground, crying uncontrollably, her hands clawing helplessly at the air as if trying to grasp something.

Overwhelmed by fear, helplessness, and confusion, she instinctively reached out for Su Ze's hand.

Su Ze's hand was the most secure thing she had ever held. If she could just hold it, even the end of the world wouldn't scare her.

Su Ze was the most perfect gift she had ever received in her life... yes, a gift.

He had appeared in her life like a surprise, seemingly ordinary at first, but upon opening, it radiated brilliance, like a warm sun shining on her face.

He was a gift from the heavens, compensation for the over a decade she had spent living in darkness.

But how could Uesugi Akizuki ever hold Su Ze's hand again?

Her head began to spin, and the illusion she so desperately craved crumbled before her eyes.

Like a bubble, it shattered at the slightest touch, scattering into a kaleidoscope of colorful fragments. The pieces came together to form a person—a silver-haired boy with a gentle smile, offering his hand to her.

She carefully reached out to the fragments, trying to piece them together, but how could she ever touch an illusion?

Her countless prayers had failed to bring the boy back to her side.

Su Ze... had not kept his promise to return to her after the calamity.

Soon, the little shrine maiden could no longer cry.

Situ Jiajia realized something was wrong and began to panic!

Uesugi Akizuki's face grew increasingly pale, her amber eyes empty and lifeless.

Her lips parted slightly, her throat seemingly blocked by something. The pitiful little shrine maiden stopped crying—she couldn't cry anymore—but tears continued to stream down her cheeks, dripping onto her beautiful red dress.

In the sunlight, her tears sparkled like crystal-clear dewdrops from a mountain spring.

But this was no time to appreciate the beauty of despair.

Uesugi Akizuki's condition was that of someone on the verge of shock from overwhelming grief.

"Deep breaths! Deep breaths!" Situ Jiajia knew that the impact of Su Ze's death was far too much for a simple girl like Uesugi Akizuki to bear.

But her words were useless.

Uesugi Akizuki could no longer hear her. The buzzing in her ears drowned out the noise of the world, and her vision grew blurry, soon covered by a faint red haze.

Drip, drip...

Situ Jiajia was speechless with shock.

Hot, rolling tears of blood fell from the little shrine maiden's eyes, splattering onto her white sleeves.

The crimson streaks marred her pure, innocent, and pitiful face.

On her white shrine maiden robes, the blood bloomed like dazzling, radiant flowers...

...

Time passed.

Yu Province.

Orange leaves danced in the wind, ripples spread across the river, and the scarred streets were being repaired.

After the calamity, the skyscrapers were slowly being rebuilt.

"What a lovely place."

A tall, upright man strolled along a muddy path, admiring the fallen leaves on either side, a coat draped over his shoulders, exuding charm.

"Damn it!"

Suddenly, his foot slipped, and with a thud, the seemingly composed and dashing man fell face-first into the muddy road.

He quickly got up, glancing around to make sure no one had seen him, and then breathed a sigh of relief. Spotting the shimmering light through the trees, he realized it was a creek.

He jogged through the woods to the creek to wash off the mud.