My Instant Death Doomed Firefly to a Lifetime of Regret

The azure twin blades carved ferocious arcs through the air, slicing apart the skittering insects that sought to ambush Anming. The silver warframe shimmered, its long cyan cape blazing like starlight.

Inside the armored suit, Liufei gasped for breath, crimson patterns crawling up her neck and across her face. The Flame of Life at her chest flickered weakly—a candle on the verge of snuffing out. Operating the Emberblade Knight at full power had scorched away nearly all her vitality. The cyan flames now devouring her were the final embers of her existence.

The Monarch Worm's scythe-like appendage descended, cleaving heaven and earth. Even the void itself seemed to dissolve under its edge, spatial collapses and chaotic gravitational storms devouring the sky. Yet Firefly did not retreat. Her resolute gaze swept past Anming as her twin blades traced two streaks of cyan light through the darkness—meteors ascending to challenge the cosmic horror.

Moths throw themselves into flames not out of folly, but because some things outshine life itself.

Now Firefly understood.

The glow of a firefly in its final moment could outshine the stars. Her cyan radiance coalesced into a blazing cross streaking toward the leviathan looming in the heavens.

Anming reacted instantly, hand snapping out to grab at Liufei's retreating figure—only to freeze as Taiziyuros' curse coiled tighter around his life force.

"Firefly—!"

Clutching the shattered hilt of his greatsword, Anming rose from the flames like a blood-drenched revenant.

Burn.

If his blood wasn't enough—

Burn his life. Burn his soul. Burn everything!

[SYMBIOSIS: 400%]

"You want to devour me? TRY HARDER!"

[SYMBIOSIS: 700%]

To hell with Propagation! A dead Path has no right to bar his way!

[SYMBIOSIS: 900%]

Violet flames drowned under crimson inferno as Anming roared toward the deific insect. Even a god would fall before his wrath!

Firefly didn't pause. She'd rather die before Anming's eyes than endure solitude again.

Twin comets—cyan and crimson—streaked through the bleeding sky. In this moment, their hearts resonated as one.

The azure blades flashed. Firefly channeled her disintegrating body into the strike, meeting the falling scythe-head-on.

CRACK!

The warframe's armor shattered under cosmic pressure. Blood trickled from Liufei's lips as trembling blades threatened to buckle. Yet through the agony—

Burn. Burn it all!

"Firefly!"

Anming's burning heel smashed through the scythe's edge, interrupting the Monarch's assault.

But in that heartbeat, chitinous wings unfolded. Three blade-like appendages materialized—a fatal feint hidden behind the Monarch's "slow" initial strike.

Yet the undodgeable attack never landed.

A familiar silhouette interposed itself.

Time fractured.

Firefly's torso erupted in a spray of crimson as the wing-blade impaled her, the impact slamming both lovers into the earth.

"Firefly… Firefly!!" Anming coughed blood, cradling her broken form. The gaping wound consumed her torso—the last flicker of her Flame guttering out.

Shards of her warframe littered the crater. Her right hand still clutched the cracked transformation device, now useless.

"Anming…"

"Don't go. Don't leave me."

She released the device to grip his hand, pale lips curving. "You once said… fireflies glow to prove they existed. But I think… it's to find you."

"Don't look so sad. I've been… so happy."

"Meeting you… was my greatest blessing."

Tears traced her smile. So much left undone—no wedding vows exchanged, no lifetime of shared dawns.

Anming clasped her hand. Beneath blood-caked eyes, golden light kindled.

This world is cruel.

Yet something endures.

Survive.

His mother's loving gaze at his birth—a blessing etched in warmth.

Survive.

His father's final act—a life traded for hope.

Pain and joy intertwined—a human curse.

And perhaps… a blessing.

As Anming embraced Liufei, wind screamed across the lifeless plain. The world bent to the golden fire in his eyes.

If existence denied her life, he would command existence—

"SURVIVE."

The deathblow reversed. Golden radiance sutured flesh, reigniting her Flame.

In the abyss, a voice called.

Why live?

To meet him again.

Firefly seized Anming's hand, clawing back from oblivion.

"I'll end this."

He caressed her hair, masking his dread.

"Use my blades," she whispered, nodding to the cracked azure swords. "You promised… to stay."

"Break that vow," she trembled, tears falling, "and I'll never forgive you!"

[SYMBIOSIS CRITICAL: 1000%]

Golden wings erupted as Anming rose, twin azure blades blazing. Above, the Monarch Worm shrieked—a god meeting its executioner.