Volume 9: Fate of Destiny Chapter 16 You who will dominate the sky in the future must be firm enough and must not have weaknesses
"What’s wrong with you?"
Mason had just finished checking the area where the cosmic tuning fork was located. The moment he returned to Osborne Tower and opened the door of his office, he saw a distraught Ciri sitting barefoot in his chair.
He rarely saw Ciri in such an embarrassed state, so he walked forward quickly and saw that the hunter's eyes were red.
There were still traces of wet water on her hair, and she was only wearing a nightgown without even any underwear... Well, okay, this was not the time to focus on that.
After seeing Mason appear, Ciri couldn't stop her tears from flowing.
She once thought that she would never cry again, but it turned out that such strong emotional fluctuations are often not restricted by one's own thoughts. If you don't cry, it only means that you are not sad enough.
"Don't cry, what happened?"
Seeing Ciri like this, Mason's heart sank. He pulled Ciri up from the chair, took out a handkerchief to help her wipe her wet silver hair, and took off his coat and put it on her shoulders.
"He caught them..."
Ciri lay in Mason's arms and said in a hoarse voice:
“I thought they were dead… No, they didn’t get such a merciful death… It was a conspiracy… A conspiracy for seventeen years… Old A and Mephisto teamed up.
This is not just a trap he has set for you, the devil is involved as well.
Don't go!
Don’t go.”
Although Ciri's words were confusing, Mason quickly understood. He stared at Ciri and asked seriously:
"You mean, Sir Geralt and Lady Yennefer didn't die in exile seventeen years ago? No, their bodies couldn't have survived in the shattered star core, so it must be their souls, right?
The devil's best trick.
Mephisto hid your parents' souls and gave them to Old A as bait to lure you in? He used you, who was bound to die, to lure me into the death trap prepared for me? "
"Um."
Ciri sniffed and lowered her head.
This was the first time in seventeen years that she felt so upset.
Mason let out a long breath, reached out and patted Ciri's head, and said with relief:
"Not bad. At least you remember to say hello to me before taking any action instead of just running over on your own."
"Aren't you angry?"
Hearing this, Ciri looked up at Mason in surprise and said:
"You know I can't just sit there and watch my parents' souls being disposed of by Old A. I must go, but... I don't know what to do. I've been thinking about how to break the impasse, but I can't think of a solution.
I know you can't give up on me.
But it’s a trap.”
"Look at it from a bright perspective. This means I'll finally get a chance to meet the most legendary demon hunter and witch."
Mason put his arm around Ciri's waist, lowered his head and squinted his eyes and said to him:
"They were the idols of the previous Mr. K. As the current Mr. K, I am also very interested in those legendary stories. I have always wanted to see how heroic and handsome the protagonists in those stories are."
"You might be disappointed. My father is a rather dull man."
When Ciri saw Mason's smile, the pressure in her heart suddenly dissipated a lot. With tears in her eyes, she pouted and said:
"But shouldn't you be worried? In this situation where if things go wrong we'll be separated by life and death, and you might very well die because of me.
Your career, your ideals, everything you have will fall apart because of me, a woman who is not worthy of your love.
Why are you still laughing?"
"Because if I said I expected all this, would you be offended?"
Mason lowered his head, and as Ciri stood on tiptoe, their lips touched, like warm fingers soothing anxiety, or like cuddling each other on a winter night.
Today, Ciri seemed to have returned to the swordsman's ward, active and enthusiastic, and seemed to be completing the last thing on her bucket list before facing death.
After a long moment of parting lips, Mason looked at the pair of unique cat-like eyes in front of him and explained:
"When Old A sent that message, I knew he must have one or more backup plans. He would not expect my brain to fail and I would fall into the trap he prepared for me without any preparation.
He had no intention of hooking me with this text message from the beginning.
The two key points that I was most worried about were the first sequence and you. It turned out that Old A grasped the key points. Remember that in the second text message he sent me, he had suppressed the matter of the first sequence?
That’s another threat.”
The captain sighed, put his arm around Ciri's waist and walked with her to the French window of the office , looking at the surging sea water in the distance and the warm sunlight projected from the sky.
The Forbidden Forest Island looked a little larger than it was two days ago, fully proving that the soul of the forest seemed to have sensed the hidden hope and began to grow vigorously.
Mason looked at the scene before him and said:
"You are the second threat he has given me. I have imagined how he would threaten you, but I really didn't expect that this trick has been hidden for seventeen years.
From this point of view, Mr. A really impressed me.
But thinking about it the other way around, his alliance with Mephisto doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s like the relationship between a toilet and a fly.”
Ciri didn't answer.
She just quietly put on Mason's coat, rested her head on Mason's shoulder, and listened quietly to the partner in her heart talking about his ideas and plans.
It was not until this moment that Ciri truly realized that she had inadvertently built a solid iron wall that could protect and support herself in any situation.
It seems that any wind and rain can be hidden in Mason's shadow without worrying.
This feeling is not bad... No, this feeling is great. It makes people want to indulge in it, let themselves be wrapped in tenderness, drown in this reassuring touch and never wake up from the cruel reality.
"Now that they have united, I don't have to spend time worrying about how to prioritize this confrontation. Since the two enemies have united to bury me and my ideals with a despicable assassination, we can simply take this opportunity to defeat their evil alliance together.
This may be difficult, but it is not impossible, and in fact I have always had such a plan.”
Mason's eyes turned cold.
He said:
"Both sides advance at the same time, and let them welcome their demise while waiting for my death! This is the day of their chosen position, so let it be as they wish.
Shirley..."
"Um?"
The hunter snorted, and then heard Mason say to her:
"Maybe it's time to solve the problem you've been worrying about."
Ciri shuddered.
She understood what Mason meant, so she sighed and said:
"So, tomorrow night is the day I die. This is really not surprising, but I am not as desperate or painful as I imagined, and I don't find it hard to accept.
Maybe I’ve accepted my fate.”
"You will die, but then you will be resurrected as a new, beautiful, pure you."
Mason took a step back and pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it in front of Ciri, revealing a ring that looked exactly like the wedding rings on Harley and Quinn's fingers.
There is only a slight difference in the details. The ring face of this ring is polished into the shape of a wolf's head, which looks beautiful and mysterious.
The captain said apologetically:
“I have given a promise to my little loves, and to pass it on to you would be disrespectful to both of you.
I can no longer promise you a marriage, but I think we can spend this destined long life as lovers... If Hei Qi heard what I said now, he would definitely send down a thunderbolt to smash my head.
But that's the way it is.
I chose to be a bad man.
It's not that I want to do this, it's just that I met a soul that can't let me love purely anymore."
“I never expected anything like that.”
Ciri was calmer than expected.
She looked at the ring in front of her, and she didn't even need Mason to put it on her. Instead, she took the ring and put it on her finger like a crown snatched from a king, and said:
"For a demon hunter, a stable life is unimaginable. My parents never got engaged until they died, but that didn't stop their sincere love from becoming a model of mutual torture.
Did you know?
They were bound together by a genie curse, and there was a time in their lives when they were madly trying to break the curse and set each other free.
From character, identity, status to pursuits, they are completely unworthy in every aspect of life, and they themselves think so and it is just a bad fate.
They wanted to give each other relief as the end of a tumultuous relationship.
And then they did it.
They found a powerful aggregation of supernatural forces in that destroyed world and asked the Nadi spirit to end their cursed relationship.
They finally got their lives back, but guess what?"
Ciri smiled and said to Mason:
“On the night when the supernatural partner contract ended, they finally realized in their hearts that they were meant to be together, not because of the contract, nor because of a simple physical relationship.
That's love!
In the process of constantly torturing each other, hating each other, quarreling and getting back together, they have been connected by fate, just like us.
So-called marriage, is it still important in the face of such a relationship?
Leave the stable and neurotic parts of your personality to Harley and Quinn, they need it more than I do, and if I can ever come back from the dead and be with you again, then the rest of you will be mine."
"Well, even so, I feel like you three women will strangle me to death in bed one night and then split me into three parts and take me away."
Mason shrugged. He said:
"But this is also a romantic way to die, right? Why don't you ask me how I plan to help you accomplish the miracle of resurrection?"
"No, I don't care at all, even though I thought I would, but I don't."
Ciri reached out and peeled off the coat that Mason had tied around her. She looked at Mason, put her ring-wearing hand on his shoulder, and pulled his head towards her firmly and unyieldingly.
She said:
"I know you can definitely do it, I believe in you! Even if you can't, please let me leave this not-so-beautiful world in a beautiful lie, and let me live forever in your memory in romance...
The bride and groom have exchanged rings and now it's time to complete the final part of the wedding.
What are you waiting for?
Do you want me to take the initiative throughout the process? Well...it's not impossible."
"Shh!"
Mason stretched out his finger and pressed it against Ciri's pouting lips.
He squinted his eyes and revealed a provocative smile on his face, then waved his fingers to lift the coat on the ground and cover the hunter's shoulders again.
He leaned over and whispered in Ciri's ear:
"Save this for when you truly belong to me. You are now one with Mephisto. Can you understand? I always feel that when I am closer to you, I will do something unacceptable with that disgusting old devil.
Be patient.
If you're expecting our story to be as classic as your parents' tear-jerking, terrifying, mutually tormenting love story, be patient.
And we have no time to waste, my Lord Hunter.
We need to discuss the plan carefully before we take action, about how to keep me alive and allow you to successfully rescue your parents before you die.
I guess Mr. A would never have thought of this.”
Mason kissed Ciri's smooth forehead and said:
"He could never have imagined that we would respond to his malice with death. From this point of view, when he used despicable means to bully you, his failure was already doomed.
If you have decided to die, then Liana and old Shazam, whose fate is linked to yours, must also get a guarantee... What I mean is, you may have to serve as a test subject for Mason Manufacturing's self-developed drugs.
But don't worry, you have a special status, so I will prepare an 'insurance' for you.
But considering that we have already expressed our feelings to each other, can I write my name as the beneficiary of this insurance? "
"That's a really bad joke of yours!"
…
Ciri returned to Star Castle an hour later. She came back alone, but compared to the loneliness and despair when she left, her mood on return was undoubtedly much better.
Although the problem was not truly solved, the pressure of being able to share it with others undoubtedly could no longer shake her will.
Not to mention the promises and agreements we receive, which are like the embers of a fire in the long night, warming our hearts when we are walking alone in the darkness.
But the Master Hunter is the Master Hunter after all. After witnessing her parents entering star core exile and facing death in order to uphold the morality in their hearts, she is no longer willing to hand her life over to others. Although she has Mason's promise, she still hopes to complete this last step by herself.
After returning to Star Castle, Ciri came to the heavily guarded Shadow City alone. She walked on the road surrounded by countless candles, and the flickering light stretched her shadow extremely long.
"What are you going to do?"
Old Shazam, who was still guarding the sea of candles, sensed the presence of someone behind him, and he said:
"You shouldn't have come here, Ciri. Mason told me not to move any of the candles here, especially you."
"I will not interfere with other people's lives, wizard."
The hunter said softly:
"I am only here to take the candle that belongs to me. I will be travelling far away and may never come back. I feel I am qualified to take away the last thing that belongs to me in this castle."
"Has the situation come to this?"
Old Shazam seemed to understand, and he said with a sad face:
"It seems that you have made up your mind. Compared with your decisiveness, I, a wizard who has lived for nine thousand years, am still afraid of death."
"Who wants to die when they can live? I only bring it with me in case of an emergency."
Ciri complained, jumped over the old wizard, and jumped out from under the dazzling crystal chandelier, taking down one of the three candles at the highest point.
The one that belonged to her was still burning with a silver flame, shining brightly in Ciri's hand.
There was nothing magical about the candle and the flame. Perhaps it had no other use except to illuminate the darkness. Even if you squeezed it hard, it would leave fingerprints.
It seems to symbolize the fragility of life and the impermanence of life.
"Be careful when you carry it."
Old Shazam advised:
"If that thing is blown away by the wind, you will be finished. Mephisto could have made them indestructible, but he chose to use the most ordinary materials to make these things that can control life.
This may be his bad taste, but it also proves that we are not as strong as we think.
Every soul may be fragile and needs to be gently protected by a pair of hands. "
"I got it just to put it out. It doesn't matter if it's blown out by the wind or by a person. It's just death. If you're not afraid of it, then it's not worth being afraid of."
Ciri looked at the burning candle in her hand. Under the flickering light, the ring on her finger also sparkled with a different brilliance, illuminating her eyes and outline.
She waved goodbye gracefully without looking back, and said:
"My heart has been filled with tenderness and light, leaving no room for fear and darkness. Good luck, old man. I hope you can be like me when facing death."
"Tsk, just go if you want to. Why do you have to stuff me with dog food when you say goodbye?"
The wizard watched the hunter leave Shadow City, curled his lips, took out a cigarette, and lit it casually on a candle next to him.
He complained:
“This terrible era is so unfriendly to singles. Maybe I should pray that it will be destroyed in the next second... Well, I’m a wizard who controls the spirit of words. Forget it, just pretend that I didn’t pray.
There are still so many people who haven’t lived long enough, please don’t show up…”
