[Lu Yi: Star Obliterator]
The clouds surrounding the colossal orb of light compressed as it floated even higher.
The tears that were frozen solid on Viel's face started to flow again as the of the surrounding air started to rise.
[Viel… please stop. Releasing this ball of energy will not only kill more than half of this world's population, there is also a 94.69% chance of killing you]
Mr. Voice, who always had a monotonous voice started to speak fluently, as if it was capable of this all along. One could even say that it was refined.
Viel, however, looked like he did not care at all about this drastic change. His expression still remained emotionless as he looked at a certain direction, his hand that was raised was already starting to shake.
"Blue robes… Ling Zhao… young… noble…"
There was only one thing that was cycling in Viel's mind. And that was an image of Ling Zhao slowly slicing Grandpa Ling's head. Repeating over and over in his head. His imagination was running wild as flickers of images flash through his eyes.
Grandpa Ling shouting in pain.
Grandpa Ling crying and begging.
Grandpa Ling being reduced to nothing.
It was not supposed to be like this. He remembered that according to Mr. Voice, his Grandpa Ling still had a lot of time left in the world. Then why?
Did Mr. Voice lie?
Why was everyone lying to him?
And then, once again, the emotions returned to Viel like a waterfall bursting through dry land.
His face twisted as tears started to fall uncontrollably from his eyes.
Then, he screamed.
His shout was loud enough for even the citizens of Taizhou to hear. And to them, it sounded like a shriek. And it was a shriek that the people of Taizhou will always remember as the catalyst that started the New World.
[Viel, stop…]
"No! I am done listening to you, Mr. Voice! You lie! You are all liars!"
Viel's hand that was holding the colossal orb of light shook as he started to slowly point it towards the direction to where he felt Li Zhao was. Mr. Voice's words started to become monotonous again as various messages ringed inside of Viel's mind.
"You lie! You lie! You lie!"
Viel did not want to hear any of it as he shouted on top of his lungs to drown out Mr. Voice's incessant talking.
But then, right before he released the colossal orb of light, he heard something that immediately made him hesitate.
[Currently converting Lu Yi's life force to your HP… Success]
[Lu Yi's life force is below 2%. Deletion of the Excess Soul is imminent]
Instantly, Viel's hand wavered and the colossal ball that he was about to throw instantly diminished in size and was now as small as a watermelon.
Viel could not stop his hand as the ball of light was released following a deafening sound of explosion.
If one were looking from below, they would see a streak of light above the clouds as the ball of light flew towards where Li Zhao was supposed to be in a blinding speed.
What happened to Li Zhao exactly, no one knows yet. And Viel could not care less as he placed all of his attention on the message that he heard from Mr. Voice.
"M-miss…Lu Yi?", Viel's expression turned to that of panic.
[Lu Yi's life force is below 1%. Deletion of the Excess Soul is imminent]
"W-what??...No…no… please…I'm…I'm sorry…"
"W…what do I do…please, Mr. Voice… what do I do, I don't want to lose anyone anymore… please…"
[Commencing deletion of Excess Soul, Lu Yi]
"Noo…No…. NOOOOOO!"
Viel's cries once again reverberated the skies.
And then, as if driven by instinct, he slowly spread his tiny arms wide open as the surrounding area near Viel started to shake.
[Rain: Energy Absorption]
It was a very simple sounding skill. But its effects were very far from simple. But who exactly was Rain? Was it the long-haired man with horns? But Viel had no time to think.
The skies, the clouds, even the empty air somehow started to shake. It looked like the fabric of space itself twisted.
And just like that, as if a violent whirlpool, Viel started to absorb the very essence of the world itself.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Viel did not stop. And slowly, his whole body started to glow. It started from his chest, and slowly crawled its way throughout his entire body.
But still, Viel did not stop.
He continued to absorb his surroundings as a crack started to appear in the space. The crack grew larger until it made a hole as big as a plate.
But still, Viel did not care of what was happening. He continued absorbing.
He did not even notice the hand that was reaching for him from inside the hole.
Yes, there was a hand. One could even hear faint shouting coming from the hole, but it was too low to hear what exactly the voice was saying. The only thing that one can make out of the murmur is,
"Found you"
The hand started to shake as it tried to reach for Viel, desperate to grab him.
But before it could reach Viel…
[Lu Yi's life force is now at 100%]
The glow on Viel's body instantly disappeared as he started to relax and the twisted space returned to its former normality.
And along with the hole, the mysterious hand that was reaching for Viel was now gone.
Viel's started to get drowsy. All the events that have happened to him is finally taking its toll on his young developing mind.
His body started to get heavy and his eyes slowly closed by themselves. And, like a leaf falling from its branch.
Viel started to fall.
The last thing he felt was the wind hitting his face.
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"G-grandpa Ling!"
Viel sat up as if waking up from a bad dream.
"V-viel!? You… you're awake!"
"M…miss Mei… Miss… Violet?"
Viel was confused. He looked around his surroundings as he scanned the unfamiliar room.
"Wh-"
Viel was about to say something before he was interrupted by the two girls suddenly hugging him. The two started to cry as they tried to comfort Viel.
"Viel… I'm sorry…"
"We're here… we're here for you…"
Viel became even more confused, what exactly was happening? Why were two of his friends apologizing and crying?
"You… you can live here with us… You're not alone, Viel…"
And then, Viel finally remembered. It wasn't a bad dream.
His Grandma Ling and Grandpa Ling are both gone now. And then finally…
Finally…
Like a normal child, Viel hugged the two back as he bawled his eyes out. He was finally allowed to mourn like a normal child.
They remained like this for a while, and their cries grew stronger and stronger until it drowned the whole room.
They only stopped when they heard knocking from the door. The door opened and it revealed a gigantic bearded man.
"Ohoho. I see you're finally awake, just in time, boy. Come out when you're done wooing these two girls, we have a surprise for you"
"G-grandpa!"
General Diao went as soon as he came. His laugh echoing through the hallways.
"D-don't mind Grandpa", Diao Mei blushed as she waved her hands all over the place. Violet could only sigh and shake her head.
"A surprise?", Viel wiped his wet eyes as he tilted his head, visibly curious as to what this surprise was.
"Yes. We prepared something for you, it really is good timing that you woke up right at this moment", it was Violet who answered Viel this time, she also gently wiped her tears.
Diao Mei then proceeded to pull Viel from the bed, excited to show him what they prepared.
The two girls excitedly escorted Viel outside of the room. They walked through a long hallway before appearing in a large courtyard.
In the courtyard, there were tables filled with different sorts of food. One table was filled with sweets which immediately caught Viel's eyes.
"Viel, happy birthday!"
The people in the room shouted and clapped their hands. Viel could see Diao Mei's mother and General Diao.
Elder Xing Cai was also here, but she had a very regretful expression on her face as soon as she saw Viel.
"Sorry it's only us, I will call for our other classmates and invite them immediately. We didn't know if you were going to wake up in time for your birthday", Diao Mei gently smiled at Viel.
Initially, they were not going to do anything, as Viel was still unconscious. But her and Violet had already planned everything and thought that it would be a waste not to continue. And thus, they decided to proceed with the surprise party.
So if ever Viel would wake up, this would be their way of letting Viel forget the pain of losing his grandparents.
General Diao was against it at first, saying that Viel was still currently involved in an ongoing investigation. But Diao Mei instantly got mad at him and started shouting at him. General Diao could only shake his head and lament.
Well, if it was just one day, he guessed it would be fine. They would just tell their findings to Viel after this.
There was nothing he could do, after all, kids will be kids.
So they waited in anticipation. Waiting if Viel was going to wake up.
And as if fate heard their calls, Viel did wake up.
Viel was perplexed. Wasn't his birthday still a few days away?
"You have been sleeping for quite a long time", Violet shook her head as she handed him an ornamented bag,
"Happy 5th birthday, Viel"