Chapter 1189

Bucciarati's words seemed to have a kind of magic, making Fugo always unconsciously see phantoms of the past.

At that time, Naranjia, being small and picky, was teased by Arabaki, and he himself often had a temper that was easily angered. The afternoon sun in Naples always exuded an irritating heat…… yet it made him feel terribly nostalgic.

"Fugo……?"

Trish waved her hand in front of him, and Fugo only then realized he had just spaced out.

"It's a pity that now we can't even grasp a knife and fork." Arabaki lowered his head to look at his own hands, "This is…… some kind of Stand ability? Making the souls of the dead reappear?"

After learning that Giorno and the others had successfully defeated the boss, Arabaki's eyes flashed with a hint of relief, but when he turned his head to see Bucciarati and Naranjia also appearing in the form of "souls" like him, he let out a heavy sigh.

"No, this is not a Stand ability, but——" Giorno raised his hand and pointed to the sky.

"What is that?"

"The heavens, they have brought many unbelievable miracles; I think your "resurrection" this time is also related to it."

"I see, although there are still many things we don't understand, it seems there's no need to figure them out." Bucciarati noticed that the light on his body had faded a bit compared to just before, "…When the light completely dims, we will also disappear along with it."

"Bucciarati……"

Bucciarati raised his hand: "No need to be sentimental, Giorno; I had already foreseen my own fate long ago. Moreover, you have already achieved your dream…… that's good enough."

——

"'…Two of you. I'm setting off.'"

Xing looked worriedly at the eggshell on the dead dragon's skull: "We… we won't have to drill into the egg, will we…?"

Xiedie glanced sideways at it: "Although it looks a bit scary now, actually… we just need to…"

Xiedie was speaking when suddenly Xing felt his head swell with dizziness, and everything before his eyes became blurry.

"(What… what's happening……)"

Mimi worriedly stepped forward: "…Companion… what… happened…?!"

"'We can't…'"

"'My lord…' Xiedie examined Xing thoroughly, 'It seems the time is near. If we don't set out soon, I fear… her soul will return to Senatos's embrace before mine.'"

"'How… how, what do we do? Can we still try to save her?'"

"'Don't worry, I promised: I will act on your behalf to ask Senatos for the right to walk the earth. Mimi, you look after my lord as best you can here, and wait for me to return. All right?'"

"'No problem! I'm best at caring for others.' Mimi said seriously, 'Go on, little butterfly. You also remember… don't leave yourself with regrets.'"

"'My lord… wait for me.'"

"……"

"'In the end… you still came back here.'"

Xiedie opened her eyes and found herself in an endless sea of flowers.

"'The underworld… truly is as the legends say, a sea of flowers.'"

"'Yes.'"

The girl sitting in the wheelchair beside her softly replied, "Just like… the flower field we used to tend."

——

Absolute Zone Zero.

"Sure enough, it's Boluxia! Nachixia's guess has been completely proven."

Ling was extremely excited; if before Nachixia's ideas were merely speculation, this time it is indisputable proof.

Moreover, from Boluxia's tone of speech, she differs from Sesis and Gnaeus; she still remembers what happened in the previous reincarnation.

"But Ling, this time it amounts to letting Xiedie kill Boluxia and extract the fire seed from her body." Zhe said solemnly, "This is making these sisters kill each other again."

"Ugh… I really don't like these sibling scenes where, even though the bond is deep, they're forced to turn against each other and fight."

After all, she also has an older brother; touching on this subject a little, she knows how cruel it is. The scene where she and Zhigengniao siblings clashed last Xingqiri is still vivid in her mind……

No choice, if we want to complete the Fire Pursuit Journey, we must kill Boluxia. Since Xiadie no longer wishes to recreate a world without death, taking over the Titan's divine post is the only way.

——

"Is it you… Boluxia?"

The girl in the wheelchair lifted her head: "Do you still remember me?"

Xiadie shook her head and said: "... I don't have that memory; I only saw your silhouette in an experiment."

"That's right." The girl switched to a more relaxed tone: "Then, just call me Senatos. It's easier that way."

"..."

"However, since you know this name, it means you already know everything about Senatos, right?"

"Hmm…" Xiadie looked up at the broken moon above the Underworld: "I…came to reforge the life-and-death order of Wengfalosi."

"Do you know? My sister is someone who is understanding and somewhat sensitive. Whenever she has something on her mind but can't speak it out, she avoids others' gazes and looks into the distance…" Boluxia chuckled: "... Just like now."

Xiadie startled, then slowly turned her head: "Can you tell me? What exactly did Boluxia do during the previous Recreation of the World…?"

"Well, where should I start? Let's just begin from the beginning…" Boluxia said calmly: "In the distant past, there was a pair of devoted twins. According to prophecy, they were chosen to succeed as the god of death. But fate played tricks; as the price of becoming gods… we had to take the lives of our closest kin with our own hands."

Xiadie slowly closed her eyes: "This trial…is also recorded in that memory."

"Then you should know: it was my sister who voluntarily gave up her life to send me onto the throne of the Death Demigod. But… I cannot accept all this. For a future she could never witness, we had to kill each other… This is utterly unfair."

"So, when weaving the laws of the new world, I…broke the boundary between life and death. I shaped her soul into form, and, taking the likeness of the giant dragon Bolukesi, I bore her upstream in the Underworld River, sending her back to the mortal realm."

Saying this, Boluxia shook her head regretfully: "It's a pity fate was already sealed…in my futile attempts, it came to pass in an unexpected form."

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are an unbreakable natural law; they were written together with the birth of Death. When the living pass away, their souls will meet Senatos, who decides where they go…… If the Death God raises the left hand, the soul is granted death, enters the Underworld, and awaits rebirth; if the right hand is raised, the soul is rejected by the Underworld, returns to the mortal realm, and continues onward on the earth."

Xiadie suddenly understood: "So…the Ashen Hand can only carry out judgment, and cannot perform an embrace."

Boluxia continued: "That's right. Just as Death was originally a single pair of palms, when we reached the mortal realm they split into two, and we can no longer touch each other…… Senatos's life-half, the immortal who 'grants death'… this is the curse I have imposed on you."