At the center of the ruined command center… silence fell once again, but it was a completely different kind of silence.
The warm, golden light from the Sword of Memory in Owen's hand had chased away all the shadows and rot, revealing the tragedy of this place clearly for the first time… the wreckage of broken control consoles, the skeletons in uniforms, and the massive cracks in the walls. The light didn't just expose the devastation… it also brought a strange peace to the souls that slept in this place.
The "fear" the "Failure Incarnate" had shown a moment ago, when it had taken a step back… had now transformed into confusion… and from confusion… it had transformed into a crazed "rage"!
Its brilliant red lens trembled violently, staring at the sword in Owen's hand with a tangible hatred. It didn't understand… wouldn't accept… how a creature as fragile and flawed as a human could create such a disgusting light of hope.
[N-No… Not possible!!!]
It shrieked, its voice torn and distorted with a rage and an absolute denial of reality! The sound wave of hatred slammed into everything around it, sending debris flying.
[Hope… is just a lie the weak use to console themselves! In the end, everything must fall! Every life must meet with failure! Just like me! Just like Arcadia!!!]
At the end of its roar, the "Failure Incarnate" shot towards Owen again. Its shadow body shattered into a storm of hundreds of chains of guilt and despair, each one a reflection of the pain that had gnawed at the Sentinel's mind for all eternity.
Owen responded with a strange calmness. His eyes were steady and cold. He no longer saw it as an enemy… but as a sick soul in need of healing.
He swung the Sword of Light to meet them. Every time the blade touched a chain, it didn't cut… but "embraced" and projected a good memory to directly counteract the negative energy.
Schlick!
The first chain, woven from "failure" (the image of Damian, hopeless amidst his debt), shot in… but the moment it touched the blade… Owen's sword flashed brightly! And it projected an image of "pride" (the image of Damian raising a champagne glass and declaring him the new pillar of the house) to clash with it! That chain shrieked as if being cleansed by a holy fire, before dissolving into the light.
Schlick!
The second chain, woven from "shame" (the image of Clara crying painfully in front of the camera), shot in… Owen's sword flashed again! Projecting an image of "love" (the image of Clara smiling happily in his embrace under the moonlight) to cleanse it! That chain melted away like ice under heat…
Seeing that a one-by-one attack was ineffective, the "Failure Incarnate" grew even more crazed! It couldn't bear to see this hope any longer!
[Disappear!!!]
It roared like a mortally wounded beast, before fusing all the remaining chains of terrible memories into one! The darkness in the room was sucked into its body, forming a massive, dark "tsunami of shadows" before him. It was all the Sentinel's despair, guilt, and self-hatred, combined into one, ready to swallow everything and plunge it into the void.
Owen looked up at the giant black wave that was about to consume everything. The air around him turned chillingly cold. He knew a normal slash couldn't resist this immense power of despair.
But instead of retreating… he did the opposite…
He took one step forward, planting his foot on the cold steel floor, before firmly plunging the Sword of Light into the ground before him!
Fwoom!~
The sound of a warm wave of energy resonated. Golden sparks scattered from the sword like shooting stars.
He closed his eyes… ignoring the giant wave of despair that was crashing down, but focusing on all the feelings he had for those he loved… The warmth from Clara's embrace… the trust in Damian's eyes… Rosy's bright smile… the silent loyalty of Jessica and Victoria… the pure desire to protect everyone…
Instantly, the Sword of Light plunged into the ground responded to his heart! It exploded with a brilliant golden energy, forming a massive "Dome of Memories"! The surface of the dome wasn't smooth but shimmered with a thousand precious memories… images of smiles, sounds of laughter, and all his happy moments were spinning on it like a long movie.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The warm, golden dome clashed with the tsunami of shadows! The collision of the two purest emotional energies made the world of memory tremble so violently it was about to shatter! The steel floor beneath Owen's feet shook as if in an earthquake. The surrounding debris floated into the air before being crushed into dust by the invisible pressure.
It was a "cancellation" of two polar opposites…
Owen's golden dome didn't destroy the tsunami of shadows… but was gently "cleansing" the darkness… and at the same time, the tsunami of shadows was "devouring" that light with a ravenous hunger…
Light and darkness… Hope and despair… each ate away at and embraced the other… until finally, both energies dissipated at the same time…
Vwoosh…
Leaving only a perfect silence… and the aftermath of the battle…
The "Failure Incarnate" was heavily damaged. Its shadow body flickered violently like a signal about to be lost… The chains of sorrow that had once bound its body had almost completely dissolved… It sank to its knees, weakened… and for the first time… it showed true "defeat."
On Owen's side, he was also heavily exhausted… The "Sword of Light" in his hand had dimmed to a faint golden spark, like embers about to go out… He stood panting heavily, feeling his power almost completely drained… He knew he only had enough strength for "one final act."
The "Failure Incarnate" tried to gather its last ounce of strength… It released the few remaining chains of guilt… but this time… they moved slowly and weakly… like the final echo of a pain that was about to fade.
And Owen chose not to dodge or parry them at all…
He chose to walk forward and "face" that pain, and to overcome it with his own strong heart…
He stepped forward slowly… walking through the chains that shot at him… Every time a chain touched his body… it didn't create a wound… but it showed him the failures of his past again… the image of Damian… the image of Clara…
But this time… Owen was no longer in pain…
He had "accepted" it…
Those failures were a part of him… they were what had forged him into a better, stronger person… and one who could love others with all his heart… He walked through them as if walking through a thin veil of mist…
Until… he came to a stop before the "Failure Incarnate," which was kneeling, completely spent…
The Sword of Light in his hand shone brightly once more… before he slowly reached out… and "plunged" it into the "core" of the Incarnate, gently and slowly…
The "Failure Incarnate" didn't resist…
It looked up at Owen… and for the first time… Owen saw the superimposed image of the Sentinel's "true face" beneath the distorted shadow… a beautiful but pale face… stained with the tears of acceptance…
The warm, golden light from the sword spread throughout the shadow body from within… not burning… but "cleansing" and "healing" all the wounds of guilt… The cracks on the armor of shadows were slowly filled with the golden light… The final chain that bound it slowly melted away…
The wailing screams stopped… and the once-distorted synthetic voice returned to a trembling but calm human voice… The voice, filled with the sincere thanks of the Sentinel, echoed in Owen's mind…
[Thank you… At last… I can finally rest…]
She slowly looked up at Owen gently… before her body dissolved into millions of pure white motes of light… floating up and disappearing into the darkness… which had now transformed into a beautiful, starry sky…
Owen stood alone amidst the floating motes of light… The Sword of Light in his hand dissipated at the same time… And then… the distorted world of memory began to shake and shatter…
Owen's spirit was about to be "ejected" back into the real world with a recoil so violent he could barely brace himself. It was the feeling of a diver being pulled from the bottom of the ocean to the surface in a single instant!
And then… reality came rushing back…
SZZZZZZZZZZZ!
The whistle of the wind through the ruins… the crackle of twisting metal… and the chilling hum of the energy sword returned, thundering in his ears once more! The excruciating pain from the wound in his side shot through him as if he had been branded with a hot iron. The ache in his back from the impact was still there… and most terrifying of all… was the heat searing the skin on his neck!
Owen opened his eyes and found himself still leaning against the ruined wall…
And the energy sword that was about to plunge into his neck… had "frozen" in mid-air!
The hot tip, so hot the air around it shimmered in waves, was less than an inch from his skin… He could clearly see his own distorted reflection on the blade of death.
He slowly looked up… The Sentinel's single red lens, which had once been filled with a crazed killing program… was now flickering rapidly like a signal about to be lost. The chilling red light was fighting a blue light that flashed from within…
And finally… the red light went out completely…
Replaced by a "bright blue" light that was calm and full of intelligence…
The immense pressure and killing intent that had radiated from her body like a storm vanished in an instant… leaving only a palpable peace and exhaustion…
The Sentinel slowly lowered the sword in her hand… Her movements were no longer fierce and fast… but filled with weariness… like a warrior who had just ended a war that had lasted for a centuries…
She didn't look at Owen…
But slowly looked up at the purple "moon of catastrophe" in the sky for the last time… It was a look filled with sorrow… as if bidding farewell to the world and the duty she could not protect…
And then… the once-broken synthetic voice returned to a graceful and clear human voice… The voice was filled with sincere thanks… and sounded softly in Owen's head…
[Thank you… visitor…]
The moment the voice ended… her armored body began to deteriorate…
It started with the armored gauntlet on her right hand… Small, web-like cracks appeared all over it… before it shattered into a faintly glowing silver dust that was blown away by the wind… The broken half of the energy sword fell to the ground and shattered immediately after…
The deterioration slowly spread up her arm… to the chest plate… and her legs… Every piece that had once made up the great knight now broke off and dissolved into motes of silver light before Owen's eyes…
He watched the scene with a mixture of awe and respect… It was a sight that was both beautiful and sad at the same time… the sight of the true liberation of the last guardian of Arcadia…
And then… as the deterioration reached her upper body… it revealed a "mechanical heart" glowing a soft blue at the position where her heart had once been… A spherical object that shone from within, a faint blue electric current running across its surface… and pulsing with a slow rhythm… like a final breath.
A few seconds later… the last of the silver motes of light had faded with the wind…
Leaving only silence… and the "mechanical heart" that had now fallen onto the wreckage below. It lay motionless amidst the twisted metal, the once-bright blue light now extinguished, leaving only a cold and lifeless sphere.
Owen watched the scene for a moment before kneeling with respect and gently picking up the mechanical heart.
It was cool and smooth in his hand… but when he looked inside, he could still see the complex and beautiful miniature circuit boards, like a small universe… It was a technology hundreds of years ahead of his world.
'This is… her heart, isn't it…' he thought, before the image of a certain young woman flashed in his head… a young woman who was a genius researcher and his queen. 'Technology at this level… maybe… maybe Iris could make use of it…'
That thought made him decide to carefully keep it.
And the moment Owen did so… as if that act had cut the final thread supporting this place…
CRACK!
A strange sound thundered from the sky!
Owen looked up and saw the purple "moon of catastrophe" in the sky… a large crack had now appeared on its surface… and those cracks began to spread across the entire moon like a spiderweb!
And then… the entire dream dimension began to shake violently! The ground beneath his feet split into a deep chasm! The skyscrapers that had once stood tall began to collapse like a house of cards! The entire world was about to come crashing down!
The [Essence of Dreams] in Owen responded to the collapse automatically! It vibrated violently in his soul…
A brilliant golden gate of light tore open before Owen! And the familiar, immense "pull" sucked his body back into the gate automatically! To "protect" its master from the collapse of this dream dimension.
Owen felt like he was being thrown from a violent vortex… His hand still clutched the mechanical heart tightly… and the last thing he saw was the necropolis of the sky, shattering into fragments of light and darkness…
…..
Owen collapsed onto the damp grass… The smell of damp earth and leaves hit his nose with force. The pain from his physical wounds came rushing back… and when he looked up… he found himself back in the forest, filled with a thick veil of mist…
And "Tenzin" was still standing there, waiting for him… in the same position, unmoving… like a stone statue that had been waiting for a long time. His demeanor was no longer as calm as before… The hands that had once been clasped peacefully were now clenched tightly behind his back… and the once-deep eyes were fixed on him with unconcealed worry and anticipation.
When Tenzin saw that Owen had returned safely… his once-tense body instantly relaxed. He let out a long sigh, a sigh filled with true relief. It was the first time Owen had seen this calm monk show his emotions so fully…
"You… have returned," Tenzin's voice was a little hoarse but filled with joy. "I could feel the collapse of the dimension… I was afraid that you…"
He paused for a moment before looking Owen over from head to toe. And then… his eyes widened slightly with surprise.
"Your spirit… it hasn't dimmed at all… On the contrary… it is shining brighter and is stronger than ever before." Tenzin nodded slowly at Owen, his eyes filled with a deep acceptance and pride. "You didn't just 'destroy' the Nightmare Knot… you 'healed' it… You have freed a soul that was imprisoned in a nightmare for a long time… You have done much better than I thought… Guardian."
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