Chapter 128: The Broken Mirror of Love and the White Wings of Estrangement
The Philosophy of the Price:
The morning that was supposed to bring the end of the war instead birthed a new catastrophe within the heart of the home. In that micro-second where time stood still and Diari utilized all his strength and the power of the tiny angel to pull Rina from the clutches of death, the universe demanded an exorbitant price. This time, the tax was not levied on Diari's body, but settled within "Rina's Soul."
The Moment of Return and the Angel's Radiance:
After Diari's maddened scream shook the cosmos, Rina's cold body began to transform. The deep wounds on her womb and forehead vanished as if they had never existed. From behind her shoulders, two massive, white wings—bright as moonlight—unfurled. Rina rose amidst the blood and ash, but her silver eyes were like a starless sky.
Diari, with blood seeping from his every vein and on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, felt his heart race at the sight of her. Sobbing with relief, he rushed to her side.
Diari (with a voice trembling and full of devotion): "Rina! My soul! Thank God you've returned... I felt the world had ended. Look at me... it's me, your Diari. Look, our baby is safe, and you are fine."
Diari reached out to kiss Rina's face, but she looked at him with a gaze that was both strange and terrifying. The white wings on her back flared slightly, as if in self-defense. Rina looked at Diari with a coldness that felt like ice.
Rina (with a voice hauntingly hollow and emotionless): "Who are you? Why have you come so close? Why is this place like this? Why is there blood everywhere?"
Diari's Shock and the Shattering of the Soul:
Diari froze as if a bullet had been fired through his heart. His hands remained suspended in mid-air. He searched Rina's eyes but found nothing—no trace of that immense love, no hint of her past whims, not even a spark of hatred. There was only "Estrangement."
Diari: "Rina... don't joke. Please, not now! It's me, Diari! The one who ruined the world for you. The one whose eyes turned crimson for you. Rina, we have a child now... look at this infant on my shoulder, this belongs to us!"
Rina (looking suspiciously at the angelic infant and then back at Diari): "I have no memory of you. I do not know my own name, nor do I recognize yours. I only feel my body is filled with a foreign power. Stay away from me... you smell of blood. You are a terrifying man."
At that moment, Lina, bloodied in the corner of the courtyard, began to laugh—a laugh saturated with spite and vengeance.
Lina: "Hahaha! Diari... do you see? Your power brought Rina back, but it killed your 'Love'! She is an angel now, and angels have no hearts for a demon like you! She has forgotten you... to her, you are nothing but a bloody killer!"
A New Madness:
Diari's vision turned pitch black. He had endured every war and every agony just to hear Rina call him "My Diari" one more time, but now she called him "The Terrifying Man." He felt that all his sacrifices had been rendered meaningless.
Diari (screaming toward the heavens): "Why? Why did she forget who I am? Why, God? I laid waste to the world so she could live, not so she could look at me like a stranger!"
Diari turned back toward Lina. All his sorrow transmuted into absolute rage. He moved toward her not as a warrior, but as a merciless beast. He no longer cared to see anything left alive.
Cold Vengeance and Lina's Agony:
Diari seized Lina by the throat and lifted her. She began to suffocate, but Diari did not want her to die quickly.
Diari: "You... you are the reason Rina forgot our love! You shall taste every second of this silence through agony!"
He began using his power to fracture Lina's body from the inside. Lina screamed, but Rina, with her white wings, stood silently watching as if observing a distant play. She felt no pity for Lina, but she felt nothing for Diari either.
Rina (said coldly): "Why do you torture her so? Is this how you always are? Merciless and full of hate?"
Diari stopped. He looked at Rina. Those words pierced his soul like an arrow. He was only this monstrous for her—only to protect her. But Rina now looked at him like he was a common executioner.
Diari (with a broken voice): "I am doing this for you... Rina. If I had known your return would cost this much, I would never have let that child transform my power. I want 'My Rina' back, not this cold, unfeeling queen standing before me."
Diari tossed Lina aside and sat alone in the center of the courtyard. The tiny angel on his shoulder began to cry, its tears shimmering like diamonds. Rina walked toward the bodies of Mother Elara and the wounded; she touched them, healing them with her white magic, yet she did not even cast a glance toward Diari.
That night was not a night of victory. It was the night of the destruction of the greatest love in history. Rina returned, but Diari remained "Alone."
Written by: Dlin_myth