Chapter 47: I Won’t Leave

The system’s voice faded. 

Zhe Zilin’s hand remained suspended in midair for a long time in complete silence.

Ailia’s death had not yet allowed him to regain his composure when Osha, beside him, spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed heavily onto the ground.

Her body had been completely drained of strength. 

She clearly wanted to lie down without letting her face touch the dirt, yet her trembling arms could no longer support her. 

Her cheek pressed against the scorched black soil.

The girl who always claimed beauty was useless had been lying to herself the entire time. 

She possessed a face as lovely as an angel’s. 

She loved beauty more than anyone, and she cherished her own beauty more than anyone.

She had only ever wanted every single glance Zhe Zilin cast upon her to find her beautiful.

But now she felt utterly wretched. 

The girl who had always been so strong inside, so determined to destroy everything if necessary, began to cry like a broken dam. 

Her body convulsed with choked sobs.

Zhe Zilin forced himself upright and hurried to Osha’s side. 

He gathered her into his arms and gently wiped the dirt from her face with his hand.

Yet tears and soil had already mixed together, clinging stubbornly to her skin.

“I’m not beautiful anymore, Ed… I’m not beautiful anymore… wuwu…”

Osha nestled against Zhe Zilin’s chest. In this moment she was neither a high-born princess nor a lofty divine envoy.

She was only a fragile girl who did not want the person she loved to see her in such a miserable state.

“Don’t despise me, Ed… I’m not beautiful anymore.”

Zhe Zilin rolled up his sleeve and carefully wiped her face, doing his best to remove every last bit of dirt.

“You are. You’re beautiful, Osha.”

How could he ever despise her? Osha had become like this because of him.

“It’s all right. Everything will be all right. There’s no more dirt on your face.”

Osha’s chest was still convulsing. With the last of her strength she clutched the corner of Zhe Zilin’s clothes.

“Did you really betray me, Ed? Why did you leave? Why?”

Zhe Zilin shook his head. His voice was very soft.

“I never betrayed you, Osha. I truly lost my memories. But one thing I can say with certainty—I never betrayed you.”

“Believe me.”

He looked into her eyes, which were filled with hot tears.

“Really? Then why did you block that woman for her?”

“Because Ailia was innocent. Between the three of us there was only an unresolved conflict.”

Osha had personally witnessed Ailia sacrifice her life and offer herself up to save Zhe Zilin.

She had seen the eyes Ailia wore in the moment before she vanished.

“She could sacrifice herself… so why did she make you lose your memories? Why did she hurt you?”

Zhe Zilin fell silent. He did not know the answer either. Ailia had still been hiding something.

“Perhaps that is where the conflict between the three of us began.”

Osha still wanted to say more, but blood choked her throat. A thin line of crimson trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“I’m going to die, Ed… I don’t want to die. I want to stay with you.”

Zhe Zilin gently wiped the blood from the corner of her lips with his fingers, making sure her face remained completely clean.

“We will stay together. We will…”

He could feel the temperature of Osha’s body fading little by little, so he tightened his grip on her hand even more.

“I don’t want to be separated from you again… I don’t…”

She murmured, her breath so weak it was almost discontinuous.

As the divine envoy of the King of Hell, Osha was afraid in the face of death.

She was not afraid of dying. She was afraid that after death she would never see Ed again.

There would be no one left to make her obsessive. No one left for her to rush toward. No one left who was the light she wanted to possess no matter the cost.

Osha suddenly forced out a pale smile. Tears kept rolling down, washing over her already clean cheeks and leaving faint water trails.

“I want to go with you to see the larks of the Eastern Plains… I want to go tide-picking with you on the nights of South Island… I want to go so many places with you. I want to stay by your side forever and ever.”

She spoke in broken fragments. Every single word drained the last of her strength. 

The metallic sweetness in her chest kept surging upward, yet she stubbornly held it back, refusing to spit out even one more drop of blood.

“Mm. We will definitely go see them. We definitely will.”

Zhe Zilin answered in a low voice, his tone carrying a hoarseness he could not hide.

“The only things you’ll be seeing are the lonely ghosts of hell. There’s no beautiful scenery there.”

Behind them, the Ice Demon rode forward at a leisurely pace on horseback.

He finally stopped more than ten meters away from Zhe Zilin, remaining seated on his horse as a wicked smile spread across his face.

“Making both a witch and Lucifer’s divine envoy willingly die for you… what impressive skill.”

Zhe Zilin did not raise his head. He only continued to gently soothe Osha, his voice extremely tender.

“Hold on a little longer. This is not our ending.”

With one arm he supported Osha’s arm, with the other he lifted her knees, and carried her in his embrace.

The girl buried her head against Zhe Zilin’s chest and quietly listened to the beating of his heart.

“My stomach hurts so much, Ed.”

Zhe Zilin remembered that Osha had also eaten the Ice Demon’s flesh and blood. 

Perhaps the magic she originally possessed had suppressed the poison. Now that she had lost everything, the toxin was beginning to act.

“It will stop hurting very soon.”

He carried Osha step by step toward the sea of fire.

The Ice Demon watched from the side and sneered, “How truly touching.”

“What a pity. Infatuation is the most useless thing of all, and gentleness harms people the most.”

“In the end, my Ice Demon race will be the final victor. Lucifer’s divine envoy, the World-Ender Witch—both of them will become nothing more than stepping stones for my race’s slaughter as we head south.”

The Ice Demon leaned forward slightly. His tone carried the utmost mockery, every word cutting straight to the heart. “I really ought to thank you.”

Zhe Zilin turned his head halfway and looked at the Ice Demon. Killing intent and cold indifference filled his eyes, yet in an instant both transformed into unshakable resolve.

“This is not my ending, nor is it yours. You want to talk about victory and defeat?”

“I will not lose.”

In Zhe Zilin’s arms, Osha asked in a final, extremely weak voice, “Are you going to die with me, Ed?”

The corners of her mouth lifted wearily as she forced out a smile.

In this moment, only he knew that everything would be rewound. Osha only knew that she might die alone.

Zhe Zilin nodded. “I will not leave you.”

Osha closed her eyes and smiled in happiness. The faint breath she had stubbornly held onto until the very end finally ceased completely.

[Main Character of the Northern Territory “Osha” has died]

[Evaluating… the value of this character]

[She promised to see the world with you, promised to stay with you for a lifetime, yet you left her. Still, she does not blame you]

[She only wanted to be with you—whether alive or dead, as long as she was with you]

Zhe Zilin wiped away Osha’s tears one last time. Without looking back, he walked into the sea of fire.

The fierce flames mercilessly burned every inch of his skin. 

The unbearable agony that would make any ordinary person scream failed to draw even a single cry from him.

Quietly, more peacefully than any previous death, he waited for the reload.