Bianka's steps slowed to a halt. She let out a long breath, then reached out with a steady hand and placed it on the cultivation pod.
She didn't know what this thing was, exactly, but her intuition told her it held the power she needed.
CRACK!
She smashed the pod's glass shell with a single, decisive blow and reached in to catch the irregular blue crystal.
The instant she touched it, a piercing pain shot up her hand, as if something was drilling into her body.
A surge of palpable energy, wild and cold, erupted from the crystal. It repelled everything around it, and in turn, was repelled by everything.
Forcing down the instinct to throw it away, Bianka gritted her teeth. Her grip on the core tightened as she slowly pressed it against her chest.
She needed this power!
Rita... needed this power!
The moment the core touched her chest, she felt as if she had returned to that frozen battlefield. Wind, snow, and ice shards assaulted her head-on. A furious gale threatened to blow her away, while a bone-chilling cold sought to bury her.
She raised an arm to shield herself from the blizzard, forcing her legs to move forward.
A shard of ice slammed into her shoulder, making her senses blur for an instant.
[Arrogant, conceited, overconfident... You have too many flaws. You cannot become "Durandal." You are not worthy of the title.]
Bianka stumbled back two steps but quickly regained her footing.
"I know I have a lot of flaws..." she gasped, clutching the wound on her shoulder. "And I know there are many I can't change... I'm not worthy of that name, I understand all of that now..."
She spoke in a low voice, her feet still pushing forward.
"But right now... they need me. Rita needs me. I have to do something..."
A stone hidden beneath the snow tripped her. She fell face-first into a snowdrift, and the blizzard seized the opportunity, trying to bury her completely during this small moment of weakness.
[You've failed everyone's expectations. You've wasted resources, time, and so much that could have been put to better use. They gave you what you wanted, but you failed to give them what they needed.]
"Then this time—" Bianka roared, violently shaking off the layer of snow. "I will succeed. Just this once, I have to succeed..."
"What they need, what they want... I'll give it all to them this time! Just this once is enough..."
This time, Bianka spoke as if in prayer, her head bowed, but her gaze was turned inward, upon her own heart.
The ground suddenly trembled. A colossal creature crashed down in front of her, sending waves of snow across the plains.
Bianka looked up. A soul-freezing cold blasted toward her from the dark silhouette that stood like a mountain before her.
It looked down on her, as if mocking her foolishness, laughing at her futile struggle.
It casually lifted its leg and kicked the insolent ant dozens of meters away. It didn't even have the desire to kill her.
Bianka tumbled into a snowdrift. She tried to struggle, to stand, to find her footing... but she couldn't. It felt as if every last ounce of strength had been squeezed from her body.
That's right... this isn't the real world. I don't have a powerful body, or that astonishing ability to learn and improve...
A cold wind carrying snow and ice swept past. In the crater, a small girl, no older than six or seven, hugged her knees, trying to preserve her body heat by curling into a ball.
In the world of her mind, she was nothing more than a child. She was even less mature than Li Sushang—naive, innocent, and full of fantasies...
[You are too weak. You don't even have what it takes to wield this power. Your fragile heart cannot face a strong enemy, and your lack of experience makes it impossible to persevere.]
This time, Bianka couldn't immediately refute it.
It's right... I'm too weak... so fragile I could shatter at any moment. I'm not qualified to wield this power, nor am I qualified to help Rita...
But... does that mean she should just give up because she can't do it? Just accept it?
No... It was precisely because she couldn't accept such an ending that she had to act, to strive, to risk everything for that one slim hope!
[What are you truly fighting for?]
"I just want..." Bianka choked back a sob. "To keep seeing this world that I love... I don't know why I love it, or why it deserves to be loved..."
"But someone told me this world is beautiful... and that beauty needs someone to protect it. I want to protect that beauty..."
[Then... what is "beauty"?]
Beauty...
Bianka's body suddenly stopped trembling. Her gaze grew distant for a moment as a series of flashing images flickered past her eyes and lingered.
Beauty is...
Waking up in the morning to find someone has already prepared a glass of warm milk for you... It's when you see them, and even if they're reluctant, they still go along with you, stay by your side...
[Is that all? Is that all you want to protect?]
"..." Bianka fell silent. Finally, a small smile touched her lips.
"No... of course not..." She pushed herself up with one hand, beginning a slow, arduous struggle to rise.
"I want... to see mothers be able to hug their children."
"I want to see people walk freely and safely on the city streets."
"I want people to stand under the real sun, not huddled underground enjoying a fake starry sky!"
"I want this world that deserves to be loved to continue loving every single person! I want to see a world where no one has to suffer! I want to make it so that no one ever has to say—see you never!!"
A flame ignited in Bianka's outstretched palm. It drove back the darkness, weaving itself into a long robe that draped over her.
In that moment, she shone like a brilliant star, anchoring her own unique light in this landscape of snow!
She was not "Durandal." Her name was Bianka! The one and only Bianka!
The flame brought her light and showed her the way.
She looked at her hand. Three vials of serum lay resting in her palm.
Without a moment's hesitation, Bianka plunged the sharp needles into her neck, pushing the entire contents of the Last Stand Serums into her body!
Come on... right now.
It's all or nothing!