[???]
[What kind of insane thing is this?!]
Inside the prompt box, a special tutorial was clearly written:
[Continuously hold down the E key to drive the world-betraying decree blade [Origin] into Leon's heart. If the key-press interval is too long, Leon's wounds will automatically recover.]
[I'm done!]
[Which dog of a writer did this?! They're not even human!]
Every viewer in the stream sucked in a sharp breath; needless to say how the streamers who had to operate it themselves and countless players felt.
Ah Xian's entire body was shaking.
Part of it was rage, part of it was fear.
When other characters got knifed, it was clean and swift—like Tingyun, neck twisted and gone.
Or Dan Heng, one stab from Blade and instant transformation.
No matter the method, it had nothing to do with player choice; it was all driven by in-game characters.
But now?
Now Leon's plot segment forced every single person to do it themselves.
"Leon saved the Trailblazer so many times, and now we have to end him with our own hands."
"He helped Mei for so many years, gave so much for this world, and in the end Mei has to finish him personally."
"So cruel—whether you put yourself in the protagonist's shoes or Mei's, it's no different from murder that slays the heart."
"And they didn't even spare us players who stan him—what the hell, writers?"
"With this mental state, no therapist in your family could help!"
"Isn't there any other choice in this segment?!"
Unfortunately, no matter how Ah Xian operated, no second option appeared.
If she didn't press E, the prompt box stayed forever.
"Aaaaaargh, I'm so mad!"
Like a criminal walking to the gallows, she steeled her heart, gritted her teeth, and slammed the E key.
Puchi—
The blade tip sank into Leon's chest, but did not pierce through.
The E key flashed regular red light, as if urging the player to hurry and continue until the edge fully transfixed Leon's body.
"Why make it a hold— I'm going insane!"
Ah Xian bit her lip. Her fingers wanted to keep pressing, but her brain refused.
A countdown appeared in the top-right corner.
6,
5,
4…
Down to 0. Only then did Ah Xian force herself to continue, but it was too late.
[Izumo has completely fallen into oblivion, vanishing into the dust of history.]
[Whether the companions of the Astral Express or the mysterious Stellaron Hunters, their futures are no longer related to you.]
[The task to awaken Leon has failed. Your consciousness will forever remain in the past, unable to return to the present.]
The screen went black. Loading bar.
Finally, back to the login screen.
Ah Xian stared blankly, face full of disbelief.
Meaning—
If you don't stab Leon to death, you'll keep getting kicked back to login and loop forever?
Re-entering the game returned her to the moment Leon picked up the blade and placed it in Raiden Bosenmori Mei's hands.
Watching the exact same cutscene again, Ah Xian nearly ground her molars to dust.
"Weren't we here to awaken Leon? Why did it turn out like this… why?! Tell me why?!"
Why is there an even crueler plot twist?
Before this, everyone thought they'd enter Leon's past and find happy, beautiful memories.
Implant those beautiful memories into his empty mind to wake him up.
There were happy and beautiful moments, yes—but they were laced with massive knives.
Like mixing ginger shreds into potato strips and serving it to someone.
One bite and anyone who can't handle ginger gets an instant sour-spicy shock.
Failing and restarting, no longer fresh plot and music, made Ah Xian and countless stans suffer even more.
This time, Ah Xian cast aside hesitation and resolved to end it quickly.
One burst to stab him dead… complete the mission.
But when she mashed the E key, she discovered the blade did not pierce straight through Leon in one go.
Instead, after passing through his heart, the blade slowly sank deeper with each press.
Blood flowed from the wound on Leon's back, dyeing his clothes red; the color was quickly diluted by rainwater.
Raiden Bosenmori Mei's body and arms trembled violently; her pupils shook; her lips moved but no words came out.
Her current state was the state of every single person pressing the key.
[So heartless—not even giving a quick death!]
[You're torturing my Father like this, Mihoyo—you win!]
[No more knives, please—I'm about to cry myself unconscious!]
Yet Leon still had to drive one more knife in.
"Just like this… break the [Fate] blade, and completely sever me… a man who spun lies that deceived the world…"
"…"
Raiden Bosenmori Mei could not speak.
Stelle could not speak either.
If the former went soft, then Izumo's thousand-plus years—nearly ten Amber Eras—of the Divine Harvest Path would all be for nothing.
If the latter went soft, awakening Leon would fail, and she herself would be buried in the past.
Two souls with no connection between past and present, together with countless players who love Leon, endured the same wrenching pain.
Ah Xian's vision had long been blurred by tears; her fingers shook uncontrollably, yet she dared not stop pressing E.
She forced herself—she had to keep pressing.
"So that's what 'as long as one thought remains, one can eternally reincarnate and persist' meant…"
"Knifing him is one thing, but we can't even stop…"
"Once again I deeply understand why Leon refuses to wake up, why he gave up waking."
"Who could endure hundreds of thousands of years repeatedly going through this?"
"Leon never showed a single trace of madness on the Express—I can't imagine how… wuah… it hurts so much!"
EEE!
The blade protruded one-third from his back.
"After [Fate] breaks, the rest… can only be walked by you…"
EEEEEE!
Half the blade protruded.
"From the moment each decree blade was born, the price was already fated—yet you were the exception…"
EEEEEEEE!
Two-thirds… it could advance no further.
"There are no exceptions… there would be no surprises, so I took it upon myself… to make you bear all the karma…"
"Thus, you must be the one to sever [Fate] and forge the final blade. This is the… price I must bear."
Personally driving the blade deeper, listening to Leon's every word, countless players had long covered their mouths, terrified of crying out loud.
But how could covering the mouth stop the tears overflowing from their eyes?
Leon's gaze softened. His body suddenly leaned forward, completing the final step—
The full six-foot blade completely pierced out his back; chest and guard pressed together.
Warm crimson flowed from the wound's edge, merging into the cold water on the ground.
"…"
"Cough… cough cough…"
Leon coughed violently, slowly raising a hand to cover the pair of hands tightly gripping the hilt on his chest.
With his very last strength, he shifted the blade sideways, then lifted a foot and stepped twice to the right—
The sharp edge sliced horizontally, severing flesh and bone.
The final life-gate within his body was cut.
The corners of Leon's mouth slowly curved upward; against the spilling blood, it formed a gentle arc.
Yet before him, the woman who had bottled up her emotions for so long finally exploded completely at this moment.
"…No——!!"
The heart-rending scream—no one could tell whether it was Raiden Bosenmori Mei or Stelle.
But it no longer mattered who it was.
"Don't be sad…"
Leon could no longer steady his body and simply collapsed forward.
Stelle frantically caught his shoulders; together they knelt into the mud, splashing water.
She lowered her head and sobbed hysterically.
She didn't know if the Raiden Bosenmori Mei of the past had been like her now.
She only knew she could no longer keep her emotions stable.
Only the tip of the iceberg of Leon's past had been revealed.
Yet she had already collapsed first, struggling to breathe.
How could this… how could this be allowed…
Leon coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
"They say things don't come in threes, but… I still have a fourth thing I lied to you about…"