180 Sleeping Beauty

[POV: Aixin]

“Insecure much?” the strange man asked.

'What if I lose?'

Such thoughts began to bloom from the depths of Aixin's existence. It had once been faint, a passing haze that vanished the moment her staff struck down another foe. Now it lingered. It took root. And Aixin could no longer ignore it.

When had it begun? When Da Wei forced her to her knees with defiant magic? When he resurrected himself, half-alive, sustained by sheer will of faith and borrowed miracles? When he reclaimed his body through persistence and iron-willed belief in who he was?

No. She already knew.

It was when he killed himself, casting that Exalted Renewal spell so recklessly. He burned his Divine Soul in a suicidal blaze just to stop her from getting what she wanted. That was when the thought first took hold of Aixin, corrosive and persistent.

'What if I fail?'

She swung her cross-halberd. Her voice strained as she cast Greater Cleanse again and again, trying to purge the unnatural lethargy coiling through her being. This was no ordinary spell. Da Wei’s magic carried quintessence.

“How is this possible?!”

He didn’t dodge. Her blade cut into him, blood blooming across his chest. She braced for the backlash, but instead of striking her, the reflected damage veered past and tore through the angels behind him. They burst mid-flight in radiant ruin.

Aixin faltered. Her breath grew heavy. Sleep pressed against her mind.

"Divine Word: Rest," said Da Wei. "Divine Word: Rest. Divine Word: Rest."

She tried to retreat. However, the rift she’d opened led only to a sealed sub-dimension. To escape, she needed the Arch Gate.

'I made arrangements just for this escape.'

The man named Shouquan guarded the Arch Gate with zeal. So, he was the first among those she got rid of for the sake of her insurance of a swift escape. With effort, she reactivated the fail-safe and vanished, accelerating toward the gate.

Formations ignited along her legs, and the world spun.

However, her fail-safe failed her. She crashed, stone shattering beneath her. Pain flared through her wrist as Da Wei held her.

“Righteous Challenge,” he said, and a radiant ring formed above her head. “If you try to leave, your stats will decline. So don’t run.”

The angels still swarmed, but they were meaningless now, torn apart the moment they neared him.

“You can do nothing,” said Aixin. “You will never force me out of this vessel. I may not take you to my master, but I can take her. Through her, I will redeem myself.”

"Divine Word: Rest."

Slowly, Aixin was already slipping into sleep.

“No!”

Aixin forced her eyes open, fury blazing gold and red as she surged to her feet, weapon cutting Da Wei.

However, it was futile as Da Wei completely out-muscled her.

A massive hand clamped over her face, fingers digging into her skull. Before she could react, he hurled her into a nearby building. Stone and steel exploded on impact, the structure collapsing inward as if to bury her.

In the blink of an eye, Da Wei appeared above her.

His sword descended in a flashing silver arc, severing her left arm in a single clean stroke. The limb spun away, still clutching her weapon, but she barely had time to react before divine power surged through her. Quintessence bloomed around the stump, and bone, sinew, and flesh regenerated in an instant. Yet Da Wei struck again without hesitation. His sword was a relentless blur that carved through arms and waist alike. Her body came apart in a savage storm of violence, spilling across the shattered stone.

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“Smite him, my feathers!” cried out Aixin.

Her wings burst outward, unleashing a storm of feathers. The barrage tore into Da Wei until he was little more than a blood-soaked frame. And still, he stood. As quickly as she healed, he healed. This was no longer a contest of strength, but endurance.

If he burned out first, Aixin could still tear herself free from his influence and flee.

But each strike shattered that hope.

Da Wei advanced, cutting her down again and again, relentless. Her control over the vessel began to slip.

“You’re going to kill her!” she screamed.

“Joan can take it,” he replied flatly, almost emotionless. “She'll live. If not, then I will do everything in my power to bring her back to life.”

“What are you doing?” she demanded, feeling nervous. "Do you really think this is the answer? What makes you think I can't kill her in a way that you won't be able to bring her back to life!?"

Da Wei's eyes glowed gold, the faint emerald swimming beneath them. "I see."

He pinned her to the ground and, with his free hand, reached into his own chest. Bone cracked. Something came free. It wasn’t flesh. It was a glass heart bearing the mark of the Supreme Being that Aixin served.

“This,” Da Wei said quietly, lifting the glass heart between them, “was the core of the time loop you trapped me in. What was it called again? Ah, yes—The Never-Ending Bond of Regrets. This is your last chance. Leave Joan’s body now… or remain trapped here with it. Forever.”

“No—” Her voice rose, only for her breath to be cut off as Da Wei's foot pressed deeper into her abdomen. The vessel possessed by Aixin strained under the pressure.

“Since you were stalling anyway,” added Da Wei, almost casually, “mind telling me how you did it? The time loop? Or the petrification? That combo was nasty. From my understanding, it was cast by the master you serve.”

Aixin gritted her teeth. Her wings flared, casting radiant shadows as more angels descended. But they never reached him. With a dismissive shrug, they were torn apart mid-flight from the mysterious reflect that Da Wei wielded.

Aixin thrashed beneath him. She had to break free, or she would suffer the most terrible consequences. Her true body lay dormant in the Greater Universe, locked in eternal slumber. If this 'self' were trapped, she would never awaken again.

And that was exactly what Da Wei intended, and for a fleeting instant a thought sparked—abandon the vessel, leave Joan, escape while there was still time—but then she remembered her master’s warmth, his favor, the moment he had smiled upon her, and desire drowned hesitation.

“No,” she whispered. “Not yet.”

She forced herself to stall.

“You’re a pathetic fool,” she spat, her voice sharp with mockery. “You sacrificed your Divine Soul for what? Righteousness? Revenge? Or mere curiosity? Fine, I’ll indulge you!”

A cruel laugh escaped her lips. “The Never-Ending Bond of Regrets is a temporal curse born from divine sorrow. It layers endless misfortune and reverses time itself once specific emotional thresholds are met. When I cast Heavenly Punishment upon you in the Promised Dunes, that was the moment it took root.”

Her eyes gleamed with malice. “As for the petrification? That was the Punishment of the Wicked Who Pretends to Be Good. How poetic. My loyal slave Mao Xian spent years acquiring it, and together we planted it inside that foolish girl, Shan Dian. Mortals are so delightfully fragile.”

She leaned forward, her voice swelling with arrogant pride. “But I am not like them. I am no fragile mortal. I am Aixin, goddess of the divine, eternal flame of the beloved! Beloved by a Being far beyond your comprehension. While you rot here, I will rise again and again. I will not be caged!”

“Spoken like a true loser,” Da Wei said calmly. “Goddess? Not even close.”

Aixin froze as he leaned closer, his voice cold and unwavering. “All that bluster about power is merely drowning out your fear. That towering pride of yours is nothing but sandcastles against the tide. Delusional.”

Without hesitation, he drove the glass heart into her chest. The crystal sank deep beside her own beating heart, sending foreign ripples of force through her body as a cold, binding pulse awakened within.

“I’ve tried every possible escape from this curse,” Da Wei muttered, watching it settle. “This one… should end it for good.”

“You…”

“I understand now,” he said softly, eyes filled with quiet contempt. “You schemed to drag my karma low enough to shatter the system that bestowed me my powers in order to seize my body. A clever plan… but ultimately, not enough.”

Aixin couldn’t breathe as her strength drained and her consciousness slipped, the Hollowed World closing around her like a cage while the link to her true body flickered and faltered, leaving her trapped; the realization burned deeper than any wound, that after everything—her faith, her sacrifices—she was being cast aside by a man who should have died long ago, and as darkness crept into her vision, her final thought was not of her master, but of Da Wei’s tired eyes.

“Close your eyes now, Sleeping Beauty,” murmured Da Wei, his voice softer than it had been throughout the entire battle. There was a weight behind it now, something heavy and human. “I’m sorry… I know this isn’t what you probably wanted. None of this is. You didn’t choose to be dragged into this mess, to be used like this.”

His gaze lingered, not on Aixin, but on the faint presence he knew still lingered beneath. “Joan… if you can hear me, just hold on a little longer. Things will be better. So rest for now. Just… trust me, okay? If not me, trust in Dave.” A quiet breath escaped him, almost breaking. “I’m sorry.”

He raised his hand.

“Divine Word: Rest.”

And Aixin… obeyed.