Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 214: One hundred and fifty-eight: Ignition (3)_2

Chapter 214: One hundred and fifty-eight: Ignition (3)_2

The different kind drew closer, and Maya could clearly see its sharp fangs and the excitement in its eyes, which was not much different from her own when she saw roasted meat.

Leopard Girl clenched the short sword in her hand; the metal hilt was somewhat corroded, making it uncomfortable to hold, but at this moment as she counted down to what might be the end of her life, Maya rarely thought of her brother’s name.

Malin.

Yes, that’s right, Malin.

...Just... Malin.

The different kind leapt like a large dog.

Maya shrank back, trying to dodge the pounce and plunge the short sword into its side.

It would definitely not kill the creature, and she herself might die from a second pounce in the very next second... but at least a child of the Gaiate family had fought back.

With this thought, Maya saw herself, saw the figure she had seen in the mirror, herself draped in a black wedding dress, leaping out from a suddenly opened rift and slicing the different kind in two with a sword.

She landed, and the other sword in her hand had already cleaved the front half of the different kind’s body.

Maya watched pieces of its corpse fly over her head; she stood up and stared at herself before her.

At a loss.

"Hello, myself from another timeline," the other she spoke up.

Her voice was husky, nothing like Maya’s lively and crisp voice.

"I? You?" Maya felt incredibly foolish.

The Maya facing her shook her head: "These monsters, you’ve seen them, haven’t you?"

"Yes, two years ago, but everyone said they had all been killed. Their bodies have good materials," Maya quickly replied.

"You and I are different, it seems from the two years you speak of... no, maybe it started even earlier." The Leopard Girl in black veil glanced at her smaller self: "Truly... an enviable difference." She sighed, with red Soul Fire tumbling in her eyes.

"Are you... alone?" Maya asked her larger self, not knowing why, but she felt compelled to ask.

"There are no living people left in the city, I’m not even among the living anymore." Maya nodded, not looking at her smaller self but walking toward the center of the battlefield where a small skeleton lay.

She knelt in front of the skeleton.

"What about Brother?" Maya followed her larger self to the skeleton.

She saw that her larger self did not respond, but reached out to caress the skeleton.

"...Brother is dead?" Maya’s eyes widened.

"He is dead, everyone is dead." Maya turned her head to look at the young version of herself: "You ignited your Spiritual Energy; I did not. I learned to fight with sword and gun, became an assassin of The Great Forest Land, died in the Southern District, and then I became what I am now... an ugly Spirit."

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"Why do you still have your sanity? Everyone says that turning into a Spirit will make you lose it," Maya looked at the larger version of herself with some confusion at her composure.

"I don’t know, all I know is that Faye sister blessed me before she died. She said I would be the last survivor... but I failed her blessing." Lowering her head, she kissed the skull in front of her, then stood up and looked at her smaller self: "Seeing myself still alive is a bit... anyway, I don’t know how to explain it. If Lorrin brother were still here, he would surely laugh at me."

"Lorrin? But brother’s name is Malin," Maya said, her eyes full of wariness, confusion, and incomprehension as she gazed at her larger self.

"...So that’s it." The Soul Fire in Maya’s eyes began to tumble; she looked at herself and, despite the dry face showing no expression, she was rejoicing, she was weeping: "So, so the difference between you and me lies here."

"What do you mean?" Maya looked at herself, not understanding the meaning of her larger self’s words, but she could feel her crying, the sadness from the depths of the soul clearly conveyed to Maya’s heart.

"The fate of my world and the fate of your world started to differ with brother," Maya said, looking at her smaller self. She was about to say something when she felt something approaching from afar. She stood up and saw a man who didn’t seem tall or robust.

She reached out and gently tapped the smaller self’s head.

"What have you done to my sister?" the approaching man asked.

"I let her have a good sleep, brother." Looking at the man before her, Maya wanted to smile, but she sadly realized she was nothing but dry bones, and that a smile was a luxury forever beyond her reach.

The man’s steps halted for a moment, as if he were confirming something, as if he were being cautious. Finally, he mustered a smile: "I’ve seen this world’s... Margen."

"Margen, my poor sheep sister, she was twisted into a monster by a Chaotic Believer..." Maya sighed: "Has she... finally found peace?"

"She has found eternal rest and tranquility, by my own hands," the man replied, stopping in his tracks and looking at Maya: "What’s happening to this world?"

"In my conversation with myself, I learned that the invasion of Chaos began when we were young. The sacrifice in the northern part of Carterburg couldn’t be controlled, which led to a major invasion. The army of Chaos is now moving eastward, and the whole world is ringing its death knell," Maya explained, reaching out to pick up the small skull: "My brother’s name is Lorrin, and you, you are called Malin... You and he have completely different souls. I watched brother’s soul extinguish, and in his final moments, he was still smiling, unable to speak, yet still using his eyes to tell me, ’Run, Maya, the farther from here, the better...’"

Having said that, the Maya in the black wedding dress stood up, holding the skull and looking at Malin: "I... I have let everyone down. Brother sacrificed himself to save many, Clovis distorted herself to give me a chance to escape to the Southern District, Faye sister blessed me before her death, Margen made a sound to let me escape and got caught..." Her dry body changed, flesh regenerated, the Soul Fire was replaced by what are known as eyeballs, and hair grew from reviving follicles: "There was a fleet coming to take survivors away, Jessica sister volunteered to stay behind, she sent our children onto the ship, but she didn’t know I also stayed. I volunteered to trade places with four little children, although they said a second wave of ships would come, but it turned out that there wasn’t enough time, Carterburg’s fall came much faster than expected."

Now restored to a living human form, Maya revealed a smile to the man before her: "I’m envious of myself, envious of her good fortune, envious of the changes in her world, envious of the bright future she’s to have, envious of the happiness on her face when she mentions your name. I envy everything about her, brother."

"Is this the reason you ultimately chose to fall?" the man’s face showed a sad expression.

"Yes. This world is heading towards its doom. Every day I hear the death knell tolling. Our children with brother are doomed to die in this catastrophe... Everything I have protected, loved, and sacrificed for will perish before me... So, I am seeking death." Maya’s mouth grew sharp fangs, her snowy skin began to harden: "Please, brother of another world, Purification... me, before I become even more hideous, kill me, destroy me, purify me."

In the last moments of Maya’s consciousness, she saw a sapling sprout before the man. It grew rapidly, eventually entwining around that brother’s arm.

"I accept your request, my sister... and also." The man smiled, though crying would have been more fitting than such a smile.

"Good night, Maya."

He said so.

"Good night, brother."

In the final moment, Maya smiled, then tossed the skull in her hands towards the man.

Don’t forget to also say good night to yourself.

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