The cave's atmosphere grew heavier as Tianyi and Zhi Yue ventured further into its heart. The molten rivers surrounding them cast a sinister red glow, their flickering light reflecting off jagged rock formations like demonic specters. The air, already stifling, seemed to thrum with an ancient energy.
Then they saw it—a massive skeleton sprawled across the cavern floor. Its sheer size was awe-inspiring, its bones bleached by time yet emanating an unshakable presence. The skull alone was larger than a house, its fangs still menacing despite the passage of centuries.
"This…" Tianyi began, his voice trailing off as he stepped closer.
Zhi Yue raised an eyebrow. "What, never seen the remains of a 3500-year-old snake demon? Must have been quite the charmer back in its day."
Tianyi ignored the remark, his eyes fixed on the skeleton. "A guardian of this caliber… It must have been among the most powerful of its kind."
Zhi Yue crossed his arms, leaning casually against a rock. "Well, it's not exactly charming anyone now, is it? Looks like it couldn't charm its way out of dying."
"Do you always have to mock everything?" Tianyi shot back, annoyed.
"Not everything," Zhi Yue replied with a smirk. "Just you."
As they approached the skeletal remains, an eerie stillness settled over the cavern. Without warning, a faint glow ignited in the snake's empty eye sockets. Before they could react, a brilliant ray of light shot out, striking both Tianyi and Zhi Yue in the middle of their foreheads.
As Tianyi and Zhi Yue emerged into the illusory memory, they were immediately overwhelmed by the sheer scale of destruction unfolding around them. The battlefield stretched endlessly, a scarred expanse of jagged terrain. Fires raged across broken earth, and the sky above was a swirling tempest of blood-red and ash-gray clouds.
The clash of immortals and demons was deafening. Blades of light and shadow collided with a fury that shook the heavens themselves. Screams of agony, the roar of beasts, and the shattering of enchanted barriers filled the air.
"This…" Tianyi murmured, his voice trembling. "This is the final battle."
Zhi Yue stood silent beside him, his expression grim. "The Day of Ruin," he said quietly. "The war that ended in blood and ash."
They watched as thousands of demons surged forward, their forms monstrous yet strangely coordinated, as if bound by an unyielding resolve. Opposite them, the immortals stood in gleaming ranks, their weapons glowing with divine light. Each charge from the demons was met with an unrelenting counterattack, and both sides fell in droves.
The Demon Lord towered over his forces, his presence a dark, oppressive force that seemed to anchor his troops' morale. His black armor shimmered like obsidian, and his crimson eyes burned with defiance. Wielding a massive halberd wreathed in dark flames, he cut through lines of immortals with devastating precision.
"Hold the line!" the Demon Lord roared, his voice carrying above the chaos. "We fight for our people, for our honor!"
Tianyi's breath hitched as he watched the Demon Lord. Despite his overwhelming power, the strain was visible in his movements. Each swing of his halberd left him staggering slightly, his once-unassailable aura flickering.
"Even he couldn't escape the toll of this battle," Tianyi whispered.
Zhi Yue clenched his fists. "And yet he stood, even when hope was gone. He stood."
The tide of battle shifted abruptly as a deafening crack split the air. From the immortal ranks, a massive, glowing contraption began to emerge. It was unlike anything Tianyi or Zhi Yue had ever seen—a colossal, rotating device of jagged black metal and radiant gold runes, its core pulsating with a sickly crimson light.
"The Abyssal Wail," Zhi Yue said, his voice barely audible over the growing hum of the weapon. "The weapon of ultimate destruction."
Tianyi's knees weakened. He had heard of this weapon in fragmented stories—a cursed relic capable of unimaginable devastation. Its power came at an unspeakable cost: the lives of a thousand immortals sacrificed to fuel its activation.
The ground trembled as the Abyssal Wail began to charge, drawing energy from the life force of those near it. Immortal soldiers screamed as their bodies crumbled to ash, their essence siphoned into the weapon's core. Even the demons faltered, their advance slowing as they sensed the weapon's malevolence.
A voice thundered from the immortal ranks: "For the survival of the heavens, the price must be paid!"
Tianyi's heart raced as the Abyssal Wail unleashed its wrath. A beam of crimson and gold erupted from the device, a searing torrent of energy that obliterated everything in its path.
The beam carved through the battlefield, consuming demons and immortals alike. Entire legions were vaporized in an instant, their screams lost in the deafening roar of the weapon. The earth split beneath its power, molten rock spewing forth as if the weapon had torn into the planet's very core.
"No…" Tianyi whispered, watching the carnage.
Suddenly, the battlefield dissolved, replaced by a quiet corner of the immortal realm. Two celestial guards, their armor bloodstained, whispered to each other in hushed tones.
"Did you hear about Tianyi's plan?" one said, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes," the other replied. "I never thought he'd resort to the Xuanjian Annihilator. A weapon that sacrifices a thousand lives just to activate… How could he condone this?"
Tianyi's heart froze as he heard his name. "No…"
Zhi Yue's gaze flickered to him, his expression unreadable.
The guards continued, oblivious to their observers. "He was always honorable, always just. To think he would—"
The image shifted again. The snake demon, alive in this vision, overheard the conversation and rushed to warn the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord, proud and resolute, declared, "We will fight with honor, no matter their plans. Prepare the army. We fight for our people."
Again, back in the battlefield.
Amid the chaos, the snake demon surged forward, its massive form weaving through the battlefield. With its final breaths, it shielded a group of demons, coiling its massive body to absorb the devastating blast. Its scales blackened and cracked under the force, and its anguished roar echoed across the battlefield.
Tianyi's eyes widened as he saw the figure wielding Yanxin—a blade of pure light, unmistakably his own. The figure drove the blade into the snake demon's heart, the weapon pulsing with a cold, merciless glow.
"That…that can't be me," Tianyi stammered, his voice breaking. "I would never…"
The figure's face remained obscured, shrouded in shadow and light, but the resemblance was undeniable.
"Whether it's you or not," Zhi Yue said darkly, "this is what they'll remember. A celestial wielding Yanxin, striking the final blow."
As the Abyssal Wail's energy faded, the battlefield was eerily silent. The once-proud armies of both immortals and demons lay in ruins, their bodies scattered like broken dolls. The Demon Lord, his armor shattered and his body riddled with wounds, stood over his remaining forces, his eyes dull with exhaustion.
"We cannot win this," he murmured, his voice heavy with sorrow. "But we will not be forgotten."
With his last reserves of strength, he summoned a portal, ushering his surviving soldiers to safety. His final act was one of defiance, a refusal to let his people be erased.
The illusion began to crumble, the battlefield fading into darkness.