Chapter 674: Let's Have a Go

Heimu muttered to herself, then raised her right hand and waved it casually.

The black metal railing before her silently shattered as she waved her hand.

From top to bottom, it turned inch by inch into fine specks of light that drifted outward to both sides.

The specks floated past her hair tips, circled half a turn around her, then gathered at her feet.

The black floor at the platform's edge seemed to come alive, spreading forward, descending step by step, automatically forming a staircase beneath her feet.

Each step's surface was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the faint lights in the void that came from nowhere.

Downward along the steps lay the massive ice block that sealed Bai E.

Heimu turned her hand behind her and took the first step.

The heel of her high‑heeled shoe landed on the first step, producing a crisp sound that echoed far into the void.

She descended the second and third steps at an unhurried, even leisurely pace, as if strolling rather than approaching an existence that had been sealed in ice and reincarnated countless millions of times.

As she walked down step by step, the surrounding environment began to change.

The ice changed first.

On the surface of the huge ice mass, the fissures that held dim light began to emit faint sounds—crack, crack—like the ice bearing pressure rising from within.

The edges of the cracks softened, no longer sharp crystal faces, but a thin sheen of water light.

Droplets seeped from the fissures, at first one or two, then increasingly many, flowing down the ice and tracing fine water trails in the void.

The ice was melting.

From the inside outward.

More droplets seeped from the cracks, and the dim light sealed deep within surged out with the water, turning the water trails into flowing Light Bands.

The gray‑blue ice became transparent from its edges, as if someone had lit a lamp deep within the block.

Heimu kept walking down, her steps maintaining the same rhythm.

The second change was the sky.

The void originally had no sky; overhead was pure darkness like all around, nothing at all.

But now, looking up from Heimu's position, that darkness began to lose its color.

From pure black it faded to deep gray, then to a murky hue that was hard to define as gray or dark yellow.

Then, deep within that murk, a halo appeared.

Dull yellow.

Like a planet's twilight, or the ember glow after a great fire has gone out.

The halo's edge was indistinct, but its center grew brighter, tinting the whole void with a warm‑toned base color.

The third change was the person inside the ice.

Bai E—Shen E— that shattered body inside the melting ice began to move.

Some force was repairing him.

The scorching marks receded from the edges toward the center, revealing fresh luster beneath.

On the husk, the damaged parts emitted a faint violet glow from deep within; where the light passed, cracks closed and fragments returned to place, as if an invisible hand were stitching him together stitch by stitch.

Gray‑white hair drifted slowly in the water, strands floating gently with the meltwater, parting from the forehead to reveal a face being repaired.

Heimu reached the final step and halted.

The black platform beneath her had extended to the ice's front, only ten steps away from the melting giant ice.

Meltwater streamed down the ice, converging in the void into glowing streams that wound around Heimu's feet and flowed into the darkness behind her.

The water light reflected on her violet‑black skirt, casting a blend of dull yellow and gray‑blue shadows.

She stood there, hand behind her back, looking ahead.

The person at the ice's core opened his eyes.

Purple.

Where pupils should be were two burning lights, with no focus, no emotion, not even anything that could be called "consciousness."

The area around the eye sockets was riddled with fine cracks that spread from his eye corners outward, crawling over the temples and extending to the jaw, like shattered porcelain barely glued back together.

Those eyes looked at Heimu.

Then he raised the great sword in his hand.

The motion was without a hint of hesitation.

The sword's blade still bore cracks, and the edge still had a notch, but when he lifted it, those damaged parts simultaneously glowed with violet light.

Light seeped from the cracks and surged from the notch, weaving a dazzling pattern across the blade.

The shattered great sword in his hand looked more like a weapon than when it was whole.

The tip pointed at Heimu.

Ten steps away, violet light shone like a spear.

Heimu stared at the sword tip, at those unfocused violet eyes.

Then she smiled.

"Come, let's have a go."

Her tone was so breezy it seemed less like confronting a broken divine deity with a great sword and more like telling an opponent at a card table, "Deal a hand."

The trailing note rose slightly, carrying a joy that had been suppressed for too long finally finding an outlet.

"Even though it's useless, but—anyway, let's have a go."

Heimu lifted her right hand, spread her five fingers, and stretched them to her side.

The violet‑black specks in the void seemed to hear the summons, rushing from all directions and coalescing in her palm.

The specks elongated into lines, the lines wove into a framework, the framework filled with substance, and a Magic Staff appeared in her hand, extending upward from her palm to a point half a head taller than she was; its tail rested lightly on the ground, emitting a dull thud.

Heimu raised the Magic Staff to their eyes, flipped it over to look, then turned it the other way to look again.

The staff shaft was deep purple, its surface covered with fine veins like the pattern of some vine, spiraling from the tail to the head.

The head was set with a violet‑black gem, within which light drifted slowly, like a half‑open eye.

"In the style of the Black Tower."

Heimu muttered to themselves, running a finger along the shaft as if testing its feel.

The vein pattern warmed slightly under Heimu's fingertip, as if responding to the touch.

Then Heimu suddenly paused.

"Eh, as soon as Black Tower is mentioned I remember—"

Heimu dropped the Magic Staff onto the ground; the tail struck the black platform surface, producing a sound deeper and more muffled than before.

Heimu tilted their head; gray‑white hair slipped down from behind the ears, hanging at the cheek, and a hint of vexation rose in Heimu's violet‑black eyes.

"I still have a promise with the Black Tower, to go to the Space Station for a spin."

Heimu sighed.

"But it'll probably take a while."

Heimu lifted the Magic Staff again, twirled it in hand, and the violet‑black gem at its head traced an arced light trail in the air.

Then Heimu looked up at the figure ahead holding a great sword; the vexation in their eyes vanished, replaced by a faint anticipation.

"I hope my Black Tower Sister can wait."

In response was Bai E's great sword.

The damaged deity moved.

There was no warning, no opening move, not even the ice beneath his feet cracked from his exertion; he simply vanished from his spot and, in the same instant, appeared before Heimu.

A violet great sword descended from above, its blade's cracks flashing dazzling light as it swung, as if tearing a hole through the void itself.

Heimu lifted it casually.

The Magic Staff swung across, its shaft bracing the falling great sword.

At the point where blade met shaft came a crisp metallic clang—ding, sharp enough to pierce a person's eardrum.

Then the sound faded.