They're family.
With those three simple words, Emperor God vanished from my sight. Alone in the endless white-sanded desert, I sat, lost in silent thought.
Every corner of this world appeared vividly in my mind, as if I had once again been granted authority over it.
Perhaps something significant has happened in the Living World.
I muttered to myself. Thinking back, when John Chou arrived, he hadn't said much, but I knew for certain—something had happened in the Living World.
I was deeply troubled. Perhaps it was Emperor God's words that moved me—the one they sought to resurrect was family to all three of them.
Perhaps this was the story Fifth Tribunal Yama told me—the one whose three souls I have seen, a promise forever out of reach. That mother, who was she, to treat her own children so?
Perhaps her children truly caused great harm to the Living World, leaving her with no choice but to seal them away.
The Blackfang members have all returned. As long as they carry the Underworld Token, they can indeed make it back to the Living World. In the memory of how to return, both Yamas made a pact with me.
Life or death, I have to take a gamble. I still have one Underworld Token in my hand. At that moment, I felt a surge of heat at my neck. Startled, I widened my eyes as two streams of energy—one black, one purple—intertwined before me.
Rachel...
I cried out in shock. Gradually, the two streams of energy intertwined, and Rachel Lan stood before me, her expression still cold, her eyes filled with hatred for me.
Do what you believe is right.
Rachel Lan squatted in front of me, cupping my cheeks with both hands.
Ethan Zhang, if you truly wish to see Rachel Lan, then do what you believe is right, no matter what you must face next.
I stared wide-eyed at Rachel Lan as her figure began to collapse, gradually turning into radiant particles and disappearing. I reached out a hand to touch her, but Rachel Lan was already gone.
It all felt like a dream. In the final moment, I seemed to see Rachel Lan's smile.
I stood up and looked into the distance. With a single thought, I instantly arrived at a large courtyard. Surrounded by tall buildings, this place alone appeared dilapidated, with only a few low houses and a classroom built from wooden planks. The sound of reading drifted from inside.
Ethan Zhang.
Miss Susan Zhou.