CHAPTER 104 – Xiao Xi Chooses Her Side
Xiao Xi held Gu Yanzhou's fading form, trembling violently.
He was light, almost insubstantial in her arms, a collection of code clinging to a thread of existence.
Her chaos threads wrapped around him tighter than ever, refusing to let him fall apart, desperately trying to knit his narrative back into coherence.
Her voice cracked with raw pain and desperation.
"No.
You're not leaving.
You heard me.
You're not allowed to leave me."
The First Root laughed, a rasping, cruel sound of triumph that shook the skies.
"SEE? EMOTION MAKES YOU WEAK.
YOU ARE DISTRACTED.
YOU ARE VULNERABLE."
Xiao Xi's head snapped up from Gu's fading form.
Her eyes, once soft with grief, burned with the purest violet fire, channeling the immense, protective love she felt.
"Emotion makes me STRONG.
" Her voice was a low, dangerous growl.
The First Root recoiled slightly, its shadow shifting nervously, sensing the dangerous truth in her assertion.
Xiao Xi rose slowly to her full height, still supporting Gu's body against her, forcing her power to keep him anchored.
Her chaos threads flared, turning into blazing, enormous wings that cast the battlefield in a terrifying, beautiful, violet glow.
She stood between the First Root and every person she loved: Gu, Shen, Ling, and the Root Protagonist who had guarded her.
"You want my place?
You want my world?"
The sky rumbled as her aura expanded, shaking the very boundaries of reality, challenging the cosmos.
"Then come take it.
I am the Root now."
The Root Protagonist stepped immediately beside her, his expression hardening into cold resolve.
"I will fight with you.
We are the Principle of Stability."
Shen and Ling moved to her other side, standing against the shadow with unwavering loyalty.
"You're not doing this alone," Shen said, his golden aura surging to protect Gu.
"You're our Root now.
And we will fight for your world," Ling added softly, her light weaving with Xiao Xi's chaos.
The First Root hissed, its voice thick with mocking fury:
"YOU STAND AGAINST THE BEGINNING OF ALL CHAOS? ,
AGAINST TRUE ENTROPY?"
Xiao Xi lifted Gu gently, carefully, and passed him into Shen's arms, her touch reluctant to let him go.
"Here," she whispered to Shen.
"Protect him for me.
Keep his narrative thread safe."
Gu tried to speak, tried to tell her he loved her one last time—but his voice was gone, his form held together only by the powerful threads she had left him.
She turned back to face the First Root.
Her chaos threads vibrated like a living, intelligent storm, ready to be unleashed.
"No more running."
She pointed directly at the monstrous shadow, her hand unwavering.
"No more rewriting.
This is the end of the line."
Her voice thundered across the fractured world, imbued with the absolute authority of the Core.
"I am the Root now.
And I won't let you destroy my story."
The First Root roared in response, darkness billowing outward like a tidal wave.
"THEN DIE WITH YOUR WORLD, CHILD!"
And then, without waiting for the next blow—
Xiao Xi charged, a violet comet of defiance.