Watching the vitality of Wolf King Lan fading, Dawn lowered her head solemnly.
She stood back to give him a full view of the Starlit Sky above.
Even without Immersion, she could sense the satisfaction in Lan's eyes, but also an underlying confusion.
Listening to the final ramblings of this dying man, Dawn decided to entertain his thoughts.
'When the first man of the East was born, when the first star was born, his 'Kin' took their first steps...'
Quietly pondering about his words, Dawn reminisced about the story her father had told her. The creation of the first star.
'What my father told me, what the story claims, the East is where 'Direction' was born.'
"Why do you speak such words, Lan?"
"...?"
Lan did not turn his head, but a weak voice split from between his lips.
"I..."
"..."
"I am merely... recalling my past..."
Saying so, the faint rising of Wolf King Lan's chest began to soften as his breathing went quiet.
"I am merely glad... that I could defeat that man."
"My kin are avenged... but... such achievement cost my life..."
"So... I wonder... what was the point?"
"Even if I am satisfied, I will die here."
"I have avenged my kin... but now I lie here... on this deathbed of soil..."
"Is this what awaits us...?"
"Soil's embrace."
"Following our Way."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The sound of his voice was quiet; it dispersed through the air like a resounding plea, a faint echo which wanes into the air.
As the last of his breath spills from his mouth, he does not draw in another breath.
Wolf King Lan died while speaking his last desires.
Dawn looked down at his corpse and quietly spoke to the silent air.
"Rest well, Lan..."
She spared him short praise as she turned around.
Looking towards Iron Mountain Settlement, which was partially engulfed in fire, she contemplated the situation in her head.
'The Settlement should be overcoming this ambush... Only the Settlement Lord should be left.'
'I had slaughtered that construct-conjuring man. Myriad-Weapon Tyrant was his name? There was also that Toxin-Guan King. That fire-wielding man died, too, and Wolf King Lan killed Life Taming Monarch.'
'Heart Tethering Maiden should have joined Senior Silver in battling the Settlement Lord.'
Breathing out turbid air, the warm hue of the Settlement's fire flickered in Dawn's eyes.
'The Settlement is a lost cause, although we have defeated the ambushing party, who can tell that another won't attack us?'
'Looking at the situation, there are likely few survivors of the Settlement, and Lan has died. Senior Silver and the Maiden are injured, only I remain mostly unscathed.'
'Should another Demonic Cultivator attack, or should the third tide attack, we would not survive.'
With such bleak prospects for the Settlement, there was no fighting chance for Dawn, Silver Extreme, and Heart Tethering Maiden.
For the three of them could not surmount the third tide.
What worried Dawn most was the attack of another Demonic Cultivator with similar strength to Life Taming monarch.
Although rare, this world was massive; there is no doubt that a large number of State Cultivators reside in the Western region alone.
Dawn took a step forward to leave, but stopped herself as she turned around, looking at Wolf King Lan's corpse.
...
Having torn a large hole in the ground, Dawn placed Lan's body as well as the wolf's corpse into the pit.
She buried the two figures in the soil.
It was something Edifice had done to her fallen comrades, and Dawn wished to express her gratitude, even if the recipient could not requite it.
Before she left, Dawn spoke to the quiet air, looking towards the sky. Although it was without an audience, her voice was resolute.
"You wished to know if he had true agency over our lives, because we find ourselves embracing the same end."
"If I had known sooner, I would have told you my thoughts on the matter. Maybe then, you would have died more peacefully?"
"But, to yield to what you believe, such superficial understanding of Direction, that is where your fault lies."
"To think that Direction is so short-lived, that Direction leads all to the same end, is merely a low worldview. Death is not the same for all, nor is everyone's end the same."
"My worldview is higher than most, and I will not fear death as my end, nor will I seek death as my end. I will carry myself true, follow my Way and reach those insurmountable heights."
Looking down at the patted ground, Dawn spoke the last of her thoughts.
"You questioned whether we have true agency. I do not know what caused you to have such a purview, for death is just another 'thing' to overcome."
"We find Direction in our lives, and death is merely an obstruction. While you could not overcome it, do not think that your end is insignificant because you are dead. Death was not your 'end', for you died partially satisfied. You achieved your goals."
"Wolf King Lan, your life was not without freedom, for death was not enforced upon you. Your Way was not stripped from you, and you have achieved what your desired."
Dawn turned away.
Whether it be the terrible prospects of the situation or the dilemmas which plague one's heart, Dawn steeled her resolve.
She would not be overcome, not by circumstance, or any suchlike.
Wolf King Lan saw life as meaningless, for it is destined to end in death. Although he was satisfied with achieving his lifelong goal, he was still met with death.
If one has true agency, true freedom, true control over their life, how could they all meet the same end.
Dawn saw it as a mere obstacle. Should she achieve her goal, her Way, whether satisfied or unsatisfied, it will not end with her death.
'That is what you said, right, Father? Not to find my end in death... I will walk to the sky, and whether I succeed or fail, I will continue to live.'
'Should anything obstruct me, whether it be life or death, it won't be my end. I won't succumb.'
'I will continue to live. I will continue to defy.'