Duality of Shadows-Chapter 986: Strange Ceremony

"I’d rather die than see you die."

Ruri murmured, resting her head on Almia’s chest. To her, Almia was practically more important than her own life. So, there was no way Ruri could actually fight against her.

Almia sighed and, after a few seconds, spoke softly: "It took me a long time, but I finally found all the killers of my family. Huuya, your older sister is begging. Give me this chance to live. I want to get my revenge."

"Okay. If I can use my life in exchange for yours, I’m willing. But... we can never see each other again..." Ruri murmured, willing to die but reluctant to part ways.

Alm and Bruno felt a great pain, knowing she couldn’t escape this. However, they knew Ruri well and understood how to motivate her and get her recognized by the Blade of Devotion. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be in a smooth and painless way...

"I also don’t want to separate from you. I’ve heard that while people work hard on their cultivation, they can become immortal and even revive the dead. When that happens, I’ll bring you back. Then we’ll be able to reunite," Almia spoke calmly.

"Then I’ll wait for you. Older sister, you’re so amazing, so I know you’ll make it," Ruri said. "When that day comes... maybe I..."

She stopped in the middle of the sentence and couldn’t finish. Alm and Bruno snorted, knowing exactly what she was thinking. In their eyes, there was clear romantic tension. Even with the same gender, she still felt a connection to them.

But she was very confused about it, which made the two thank the gods she hadn’t tried anything weird.

***

The next day, the two of them were in the center of an arena. An elder smiled at them. For him, seeing disciples massacre each other was extremely enjoyable.

Additionally, there were dozens of other elders present, all watching Almia with anticipation.

Almia had always been the disciple who stood out the most among her peers. But she had a huge weakness: Huuya. Once Huuya was gone, Almia would have nothing but herself and would truly become a monster.

To them, Huuya had slowed Almia’s cultivation speed. So, they wanted her to remove that burden personally, becoming truly cruel. Once that happened, she should be able to complete the first stage of the sacred Dao.

The two of them were a step away from completing it. However, like them, there were hundreds of other youths. Even after ten thousand years and billions of young ones trained across the planet, none had managed to cross this threshold. That’s why the elders were excited. Almia seemed to be on track to make it.

When she killed and advanced, she would become a treasure for the God and be sent to the capital. All the elders from that place would be greatly rewarded.

They were merely faithful servants of the God, born in the capital and assigned by him to train these youths on a small, wild planet. There were thousands of training centers scattered, and annually, at most, five new geniuses appeared across endless planets. However, these elders, despite living for tens of thousands of years, had never created a figure like Almia.

"Older sister, I’m going to attack now."

Ruri’s expression was calm. Her sword suddenly came out of its sheath, piercing straight through Almia’s heart.

Almia’s sword moved quickly. After blocking Ruri’s sword, her own blade spun and went toward Ruri’s head. This attack was extremely fast and precise.

The elders nodded. Almia had finally accepted the situation and attacked her little sister.

The two swords collided repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, they exchanged thirty blows. Suddenly, Almia’s sword flickered and was surrounded by a black aura, ruthlessly crashing against Ruri.

Ruri smiled sadly. This was the move she had accepted to die yesterday. According to the plan, she swung her sword, knowing she would definitely die now.

"Goodbye..." Ruri murmured and closed her eyes.

...

But the pain she expected didn’t come. When she opened her eyes, she was horrified to see her sword had pierced Almia’s heart.

"Older sister!" Ruri cried. Even the expressions of the elders changed. They were filled with fury.

"How, how?!" Ruri panicked, pressing her hands against Almia’s chest, trying to heal her.

But she soon realized that all of Almia’s meridians had been destroyed along with her heart. No one could save her now.

Suddenly, a trembling hand moved and touched her face. In that instant, Ruri felt her body freeze, and all her emotions were replaced by emptiness.

’... I’m sorry. I deceived you. Please forgive me. I really couldn’t stand you dying right in front of me...’

Almia murmured in Ruri’s mind, as the hand with invasive energy touched her face. On Ruri’s vacant expression, a wicked smile appeared against her own will.

’Forgive my selfishness... Being able to die for you makes me so happy. Huuya, don’t feel bad. I trust that you’ll definitely become an immortal one day. In the future... you’ll be able to bring me back... you... will...’

Her eyes began to close, then her hand fell. Her head also bowed as her life came to an end.

"Hehehe... fool, you let yourself die just for promises and sweet words?" Suddenly, Ruri’s lips moved against her will, and she spoke those cold words.

An elder snorted dryly: "How pathetic, she was enchanted and manipulated. Well... the God preaches that all methods to victory are valid..."

Ruri clutched the corpse, her soul wanting to release a scream of sorrow, but something seemed to stop her from doing so.

"How irritating. That idiot really dared to kill herself? It’s blasphemy against the God. Even if she’s a corpse, I’ll take her, and her body will be used as an example."

One of the elders spoke furiously and grabbed Almia’s head, ready to take her away.

At that moment, Alm and Bruno’s eyes shone as they looked at Ruri. Then they waved.

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"Bastard, let her go!" Suddenly, Ruri exploded in fury.

Alm and Bruno, now back in their spiritual forms, watched the scene and withdrew their control over her, sighing in relief. But the pain in their chests, seeing her suffer so much, was indescribable to both.

Ruri roared and immediately swung her sword at the elder.

*BOOM!*

The sword shattered. At the same time, the elder kicked Ruri in the ribs. She was sent flying several meters away, vomiting blood, feeling as if her ribs had shattered into pieces.

"Bitch! You ruined an unmatched genius!"

The elder was furious and kicked again. Ruri was immediately thrown into the air and crashed against a stone pillar. A large cut appeared on her forehead, and her head almost got crushed.

"Let... let her go..."

Ruri rose, spitting blood. But in her eyes, an unstoppable will flowed. She fought, but with her bones broken, she couldn’t stay standing. She could only watch as the elder dragged Almia’s body by her hair.

She had never felt so much hatred before. But even immersed in this dark sea, she felt strangely calm.

Suddenly...

All the elders felt the space around Ruri twist. It wasn’t Qi, it wasn’t laws, nor the power of the sacred Dao...

*Buzz!*

The world seemed to vibrate with a hum. That elder felt a cold murderous intent surround him. But at that instant, a sense of death also overwhelmed everyone around.

Ruri closed her eyes.

At that moment, Alm and Bruno clearly saw a power from Heaven’s Will circulating around her. The two felt a bit excited; that blade had finally partially recognized Ruri. It was now granting her power.

Ruri opened her eyes. Her eyes now radiated a sharp multicolored light. They were like two pulsing gemstones, but they transmitted a terrifying feeling to anyone who stared at them.

Those beautiful eyes seemed to belong to a demon. All the elders felt their blood run cold.

Ruri stood up. A formless aura erupted from her, waves of furious energy circulating around her.

"... very good... since you’re tired of living, I’ll offer you to my older sister." She grunted cold words, as if she were a goddess of death.

Ruri suddenly disappeared like a ghost. When she reappeared, she was right in front of that elder.

The elder hurriedly raised his weapon to block, but his weapon was cut in half, along with his body. Ruri held an ethereal blade in her hands, which proved to be incomparably sharp.

Alm and Bruno felt the power of that primordial chaos item with satisfaction. It was just a tiny fraction that had been granted to her, but it seemed to have infinite potential and fit perfectly with Ruri.

Before he could make any other move, the ethereal sword had already pierced his head.

"AH!" He let out a miserable scream before disappearing forever from this world.

The other elders were horrified. In truth, it was Huuya who had become a monster. They hurriedly ran, wanting to save that elder, not knowing if he was alive or not.

Ruri held Almia’s corpse in one hand, while she swung her ethereal sword with the other. She smiled wickedly and brutally slashed at those powerful elders.

They were surprised by this, but quickly the surprise turned into fear and despair. With one movement, an elder was split in half. Soon another died, and another...

"Master, save us!" the elder in charge of this group of disciples shouted.

These elders tried to flee quickly, but Ruri seemed possessed by a demon. Still holding Almia, she chased them down.

Alm and Bruno laughed. These idiots had stirred up a hornet’s nest. Now, Ruri wanted to kill everyone for revenge. It was like a hungry lioness among a herd of sheep. With each swing of her sword, she sliced an enemy in half. No one could stop her.

There was some kind of strange energy in that weapon of hers. Other weapons couldn’t block it, let alone the human body. These cultivators were in the early divine realms, but they were slaughtered one by one.

Suddenly, a spear blocked Ruri’s sword. However, it lasted only a second before it shattered.

An old man appeared, attacking by sacrificing his weapon. He then used all of his Qi as a wave to throw Ruri away.

"Master, kill her now!" shouted an elder, while several others hid behind him, terrified.

"Shut up!" The so-called master, who was the commander of the entire place, roared. Then he turned to Ruri. "Calm down, I’m not your enemy."

Ruri got up and looked at him coldly. "Didn’t the God’s rule say that the strong could kill whoever they wanted?"

"Indeed," replied the master, snorting. She seemed to be back in control now, and he felt relieved. Before, she had been literally going crazy, attacking everything that moved.

"You, come here. I want to cut your head off." Ruri pointed her sword at the remaining survivors behind him, her gaze cold and bloodthirsty.

"Master!" screamed the elder in desperation, but the powerful master took a step and disappeared in front of him.

"Smile," said Ruri, with a sinister smile.

"What... what do you want?!" muttered one of the elders, trembling, while several others fell onto the ground in shock.

"I want you to smile first." She spoke dryly.

In the end, they all forced several smiles. Ruri sneered, and when their smiles were as close to natural as possible, she cut their heads off. She took their heads, with the smiles still on their faces.

But she didn’t stop there. She moved around and found other targets. Suddenly, Ruri killed dozens of elders and several other weaker ones, becoming the biggest star in the place. All those who participated in the massacre of her village were eliminated.

Her power was unbelievable, and when the commander of the place mentioned her feats to the outsiders, he was met with mockery. No one could believe that a young woman could accomplish such a thing.

All those she remembered who had done something against her and Almia were killed. As for the master of the place, he completely ignored all of this. He was more than happy to have such a talent by his side and would still receive all the rewards himself; it couldn’t be more perfect.

After the cleanup, Ruri took Almia’s body to the mountains behind, where they used to have fun and talk together. She buried her and offered the smiling heads as an offering.

’What a strange ceremony she learned in this life…’ Bruno murmured, looking at that peculiar tomb, surrounded by smiling heads impaled around it. Every place has its culture, and she learned this among these strange people.

Alm snorted as he analyzed Ruri, who stayed kneeling in front of the tomb for a long time. ’Her Dao Heart was approved. She’s one step away from being fully accepted, passing the test. We just need to give her one final push.’