"Mmm…"
Amidst a sensation of intense heat, Shana slowly regained consciousness and opened her eyes.
Her vision was somewhat blurry.
The surrounding air was incredibly dry.
It felt like her body was covered in sand, with grains sticking to her skin.
The sunlight overhead was glaring and scorching. If Shana weren't a Flame Haze, she would surely be suffering from severe dehydration by now.
"A desert?"
Only now did Shana realize where she was.
As her vision gradually cleared, Shana confirmed it.
She was lying in the middle of an endless desert.
Completely naked.
"————!"
Shana suddenly gasped and hastily sat up.
In doing so, Shana discovered something.
Apart from herself, there was another person lying nearby.
Who could it be other than Fang Li?
"————!"
A deep blush instantly spread across Shana's charming face.
"Swoosh————!"
Accompanied by the whistling of the wind, a pitch-black coat appeared in Shana's hands. She quickly draped it over her naked body, barely concealing her exposed form.
It wasn't until this moment that a voice spoke.
"Are you awake?"
This voice was undoubtedly familiar to Shana.
It was the voice of the Magic God that had always accompanied her.
Shana immediately lowered her head and looked at the pendant in front of her.
"Alastor."
"Yeah."
The Magic God of the Crimson World responded briefly and then said, "We managed to escape from Seireiden."
"...Is that so?" Shana couldn't help but look to the side.
Fang Li lay there, his complexion extremely pale, breathing rapidly, appearing in great pain, and he had already fallen into unconsciousness.
Seeing this scene, Shana's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and she involuntarily spoke.
"What happened to him?"
"I don't know," Alastor replied directly. "After being hit by Trigger Happy, you fainted, and I, awakening in response to the power of the Noble Phantasm (Treasure Tool), manifested in this world. Although it was an incomplete manifestation, it was enough to burn down everything in retribution."
"I initially thought Fang Li would surely be consumed by my flames, but unexpectedly, he erupted with a powerful force and, relying on the effects of the Noble Phantasm (Treasure Tool), survived within my flames." Alastor explained, "After that, he managed to escape with you."
Under Alastor's flames, Seireiden had turned into a sea of fire, and most of its Denizens had been annihilated.
While Trinity, a Rank existence, had managed to escape, surviving the catastrophe, it was impossible for them to locate Fang Li and Shana's position amidst such a disaster. Pursuing them was also now impossible.
Therefore, Fang Li and Shana had successfully escaped.
"But I was shot by that gun, wasn't I?" Shana expressed her confusion, saying, "Alastor also successfully manifested, but I seem to be fine."
"It was, after all, only an incomplete manifestation. If you want me to fully manifest, relying solely on the power of that Noble Phantasm (Treasure Tool) is not enough," Alastor said without any complacency. "And you were able to survive precisely because you fully accommodated my existence."
This was also the reason why Fang Li suddenly took out Trigger Happy and fired at Shana.
Fang Li remembered, in the original work that Alastor had evaluated Shana like this.
"This child is inherently noble."
What is a noble person?
An artist whose legacy lasts for generations.
An influential politician.
A courageous and skillful leader.
A renowned musician.
Those who possess such a future, or those who will educate such individuals in the future, are known as noble persons.
And Flame Haze is a human who, at the cost of integrating their past, present, and future existence, serves as a vessel, contracting with the Crimson Lord of the Crimson World.
In other words, the larger the past, present, and future existence of a Flame Haze, the larger their innate talent as a vessel.
Once the Crimson Lord contracted with the Flame Haze awakens, the reason the contracted vessel bursts is that the vessel itself is too small to contain the power of its awakening.
However, Shana, as a noble person, was capable of containing the true Magic God of the Crimson World, the "Flame of Heaven" Alastor, also known as the God of Retribution.
So, even if hit by Trigger Happy, with the awakening of the Magic God within her, Shana would not burst.
Fang Li, remembering this critical detail in the midst of the crisis, took out Trigger Happy, awakened Alastor, and, with Alastor's power, escaped.
Of course, to survive within Alastor's flames, Fang Li exerted all his strength, wearing the Azure's Flame-Resistant Ring and the Light Breath that reduced damage. In the moment of Alastor's manifestation, he forcibly used Stigma once again, just managing to endure and escape the sea of fire with Shana.
If it had been a second or two later at night, the power-depleted Fang Li would have suffered the same fate as the Denizens of the "Bal Masqué," ending up as ashes in the sea of fire.
However, even so, the result of forcefully using Stigma was that Fang Li's soul was thoroughly tortured, akin to what had happened in the world of "God Eater," once again falling into a deep state of unconsciousness.
"This may be the price for him suddenly erupting with such immense power."
Alastor said solemnly, "I'm afraid he used this power once before to contend with Trinity, and later, under the attack of the 'Bal Masqué's' thousand soldiers, he barely managed to escape completely."
Hearing this, even Shana couldn't help but look at the man in front of her once again.
This man, time and time again, never ceased to amaze Shana.
"He is clearly just a human..."
Shana's whisper elicited a rare rebuttal from Alastor.
"From his performance until now, we should understand that this is by no means an ordinary human," Alastor spoke in this way.
"Although there are still many mysteries, undoubtedly, the existence of this human is no less than yours, and may even surpass it."
"The future of this person, I'm afraid, is also that of a noble person."
This was the evaluation of Fang Li by the true Magic God of the Crimson World.
Upon hearing this evaluation, Shana had only one thought.
"So, he's like me?"
For some reason, Shana felt a sense of happiness.
And in this situation, Alastor poured a bucket of cold water.
"Anyway, we must find a place for him to rest. Judging by his appearance, he seems to be enduring immense pain. Continuing to stay in this environment will be detrimental to his recovery."
Shana nodded, picked up Fang Li, unfolded the wings of the Red Lotus, and flew towards the distant horizon.
...
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