CHAPTER 1038: SECTION 660: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE_2

"Mars... are you watching the live stream?" The Cat Girl looked at the camera and spoke.

Ails turned his head to look at Malin, giving a thumbs up.

Malin smiled and stood up. A teleportation portal was taking shape before him, and in the live stream footage, another teleportation portal was appearing behind the host.

Malin extended his hand, waiting for Mars’s response. The child hesitated, wavering under the gaze of his ancestor, until the Cat Girl on the screen moved her hand away from her mouth. Her gaze toward the portal carried a piercing question that struck deep into Mars’s heart.

"Is that you, Mars? Please come back, won’t you? I don’t want to live alone; it’s so hard, so lonely... Come back, please, come back to keep me company. Don’t we, the Pantheon clan, deserve to live in this world, licking our wounds together and somehow carrying on?"

To be honest, Malin felt moved. The young woman before him truly loved Mars, and every word and action of hers carried the sincerest emotions.

Thus, Malin once again looked at Mars. This time, the child who had been sulking swelled with courage, standing up bravely. With wounds and encrusted blood, the child staggered toward the teleportation portal and finally stepped through.

Malin sat back down and watched as Mars emerged from the portal on the screen. He saw the Cat Girl scream with joy and fling herself into Mars’s arms, saw them embrace tightly and sob with happiness.

"So even someone like me, can be loved by someone like you, Nirvana," Mars sighed in this way.

"Of course, because I’ll lick your wounds. We are the most attuned partners, Mars." The girl before him responded and then truly began licking the injuries on her outstretched wrist.

As she licked, Malin could see the wounds closing. Was this a Transcendent ability?

With such thoughts, Malin blessed these two young souls in his heart.

And on the television, Malin saw the host wrestling with a viewer who had tried to rush forward and separate the couple. The middle-aged man who moments ago had looked at the girl with bewilderment and surprise now acted as a guardian, protecting the two children like a sentinel. He even pressed down the taller aggressor to the ground.

· Sir, why don’t you want to cross over?

"Why would I intrude so senselessly into this child’s life? Isn’t it true that the most beautiful moments exclude us old immortals?"

Malin chuckled, then pointed toward Ails: "Ails, what are you trying to do by being here?"

· Ah, you’ve caught me. You are not the same Malin I am familiar with. He naturally believed that my presence here was solely to aid this world.

Ails paused in his reflection and looked at Malin.

· Sir from another timeline, I want to offer myself as the new sacrifice, place myself on Fate’s altar... because only this way can the world have more time to prepare, to face the second great cataclysm and the second invasion.

"Why are you doing this?" Malin asked with a touch of curiosity.

Ails, you’re not like you at all; you’re supposed to be a Lich.

As if understanding Malin’s unspoken thoughts, Ails sat down, staring at him.

· I believe I’ve told you my origins. I was born in a kingdom long forgotten, the child of a farmer. I herded sheep since childhood, later discovered to possess the talent of a Mage, and was admitted into the academy. That was when I learned this world was far larger than just the lord, the father, the mother, the brothers, sisters, and my sheep.

The world was vast, and my strength was feeble. I couldn’t protect the girl I cherished, nor could I even be there for her in her final moments... All I saw of her was her pitiful, exposed figure.

· I killed the man who caused harm to her and me alike. I became a fugitive, an outcast. Had I not encountered you, sir, I would never have believed that someone would sacrifice themselves to save the world for a reason I deemed trivial.

· I wandered in confusion and despair, unsure why I remained in this magic-fading world... until I saw Mars, the child who tore with shards of glass—shredding the arteries in his hand—solely to prove his sacrifice to his ancestor, so that he might save the world.

· Sir, did you know? In that very moment, my frozen soul seemed to burst into flames. After two millennia, I once again witnessed great sacrifice. You once said, humanity’s anthem is the anthem of courage. In that second, I truly understood.

· So, tell that child—this new sacrifice does not fall to him, for I shall ignite my soul. I will illuminate the cosmos, even if only for a few scarce centuries. I want this brief stretch of existence... to hold meaning.

· Blinded by hate for so long, today I recollected the smile of that girl.

· She genuinely... remains alive in my memory, for a very, very long time.

The Lich chuckled softly, lifting his skull.

· But I have already forgotten her face; I only remember her existence. I have lived too long, long enough to forget her features. In my life I have admitted more than once—I am indeed a pathetic and miserable creature, a stray dog without a homeland... But your descendant has lit my path. Even a monster like me can live my final journey as a real person.

"Ails... You will die."

· Sir, I’ve already died once. Do you think I would fear, or cower at the thought of dying one more time?

Facing the Lich’s rhetorical question, Malin finally stood up. He approached and extended his hand: "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Malin, Malin Gaiate."

"Hello, Sir Malin. I am Ails, your humble servant." The Lich lifted Malin’s hand, pressing his forehead against the back of Malin’s palm.

"Ails, I swear to you, in my timeline, I will find a better way... If sacrifice is necessary, once will suffice."

· I appreciate your wisdom, sir. You will not disappoint your Ails. I envy him greatly—perhaps he... will serve you much longer. Maybe he... could even follow your progeny. Even if the rules forbid praising your sacrifice... at least we Ails... have been redeemed...

Ails began to disintegrate, sacrificing himself. Malin extended his hand to touch the Lich’s skull.

"Goodnight, Ails."

Ails’s Soul Fire gradually extinguished, but Malin could clearly hear his chant.

· May ideals endure in our hearts, may hope guide the road ahead, may wisdom illuminate the path... Goodnight, sir. Serving you is the greatest honor this humble life has ever known.

"Meeting you has also been my honor. Goodnight, Ails."

Malin watched the Lich crumble into ash, watched this small Semi-Plane fracture and collapse. Eventually, Malin fell to the ground.

In the next moment, Malin rose from the deck, gazing at the sky. The eastern edge had just begun to glow faintly; the sun had yet to breach the horizon.

Malin stood and walked toward the prow.

He had witnessed the joy and sorrow of another timeline, witnessed humanity’s anthem, and witnessed a Lich reclaim his humanity.

Malin ascended the prow.

To his left, the sun gathered its energy, preparing to leap above the horizon.

To his right, the last traces of night’s chill faded as star maps dissolved away.

I, Malin, vow to myself.

I will find the means to end this bitter path; I will find the means to end this bitter path.

I shall end this bitter path; I shall end this suffering.

All the wise ones on this planet, lend me your strength.

Let us together end this destruction; let us together bring closure to it.

... May ideals endure in our hearts, may hope guide the road ahead, may wisdom illuminate the path.