Chapter 96 - Legacy of a Mother

The body of Bao Bei, now devoid of all her eight legs, was slowly emerging from the lake. Her eight eyes were slowly closing in fatigue, and her breathing was getting heavier. Slowly but surely, she was dying.

The life force of Bao Bei was already in decline since Hei was a child. And it wasn’t a decline derived from burning her blood essence and therefore recoverable, even if it was difficult. No, it was instead derived from having consumed the entire lifespan that had been given to her.

As much as she could try, there was no way to escape the chains of time. Sooner or later, everyone would die, no matter how strong they were. No, there was a method. To reach the Divine Rank. But it wasn’t something she could hope to achieve even with another hundred thousand years of life.

However, it didn't matter. She didn't care about living for eternity. The only thing she wanted was to live to see her children grow up and create a family. Playing with her grandchildren and die wrapped in the love of her family.

Still, fate hadn’t been so generous.

Unexpectedly, in her quiet and loving life, her old enemy had reappeared. All the emotions of anger that were sleeping inside her exploded. The mission she didn't want to think about was back in her life.

So she fought. To give a chance to her treasures. A possibility for the future. But to do this, Bao Bei had to consume all the life force she had tried to save over the years.

Assume her true dimensions, use elemental techniques, activate her bloodline, activate both her domains.

Each of these actions was a colossal waste of energy, but together, they had consumed Bao Bei entirely. Now, only her willpower and her desire to see her children for the last time were moving her forward.

Rumble

The water surface began to tremble, and from there came out the body of Bao Bei from which the rest of the spiderweb armor came off. Then, looking around with her eight eyes, the divine spider beast headed for where her children were, landing in front of them.

When they looked at the conditions in which Bao Bei was, Hei and Lian had their eyes flooded with tears while Ye and Xing were emitting heart-rending cries while writhing in pain. None of them dared to accept the reality they had before them. Gaiya was also crying. She could sense the condition of her beloved. Now that she had found her, fate was taking her away again.

"Come."

A brief word came from Bao Bei. Her half-closed eyes were struggling to remain open as she urged those she loved to come closer.

"Mom ... Mom." (Ye)

"Please ..." (Xing)

"Master ..." (Lian)

"Mother, I... why?" (Hei)

"Your Highness…"

Bao Bei, seeing them standing still in pain, began to move slowly with difficulty to approach them. Noticing her movement, the five immediately walked beside her with a pained face.

"Well done, my little ones. Come here. Gaiya, thank you for protecting them."

"Your Highness, I am not worthy of your words. Sniff, sniff, Your Highness, you...?"

"Yes, I'm dying. This body had already reached the limit long ago, but I managed to conserve my strength. But now I have consumed it completely. You too, Gaiya, are about to disappear, right?"

"Your Highness, how...?"

"I know. I read the memories of my little ones now. I know everything you told them, including Hei An and the Heart. Ah, it's typical of him to surprise me and make me worry like that."

"Your Highness, if you have read their memories, then...?!"

Gaiya's voice took on an agitated tone as her body became more and more transparent.

It must be known that when she had brought everyone out of the Secret Dimension and inserted the Secret Dimension within the Heart of the World Tree, at the same time, she had cut the bond that anchored her to this world. But even so, she would have had a long time before she disappeared.

However, as Bao Bei, her consumption of spirit power to protect all those present from the spirit power's undulations from the violent struggle had accelerated the process of decay. She now had just several minutes before she disappeared.

Bao Bei looked Gaiya in the eyes and answered her doubt.

"Yes, I saw what you said to Lian. No, actually, I had known about it for a very long time. The only reason I pretended nothing was because I was afraid of hurting you. Still, doing so maybe I ended up hurting you more. Therefore Gaiya, this time, I will listen seriously to what you feel, and I will give you my answer."

Gaiya, when she heard those words, was astonished. She never imagined that her most intimate feelings, which she had done everything to hide, had been seen through by Bao Bei. As it was to be expected by her Empress, no one except her had noticed that.

Making several deep sighs, Gaiya prepared to reveal what she had never said.

"Your Highness. No. Bao Bei. I love you. I love you since we became friends. At first, it was simple curiosity, but seeing how you tried and how you were striving gave me the strength to continue in my role as Queen of plant divine beasts. I was very unsure of myself, but you became my source of strength, and you were near to me all the time. I never dared to say it so far because I didn't want to ruin the relationship we had between us. I knew perfectly well what you felt for Hei An, so I was afraid that if I told you my feelings, then I would receive a refusal, and I would finish losing you. In the end, I did nothing but lie to my heart and comfort myself in seeing you from afar."

Gaiya's words contained a sadness and a wrenching pain. Strange as it may seem, the pain resulting from unrequited or unrealized love was more painful than a physical injury.

Seeing all the time, the one you loved and not being able to hug him/her, holding him/her, kissing him/her... it was an inexpressible pain. Seeing that person/being fell in love with someone else and for fear of losing him/her, you ended up being satisfied with looking at him/her from afar and savoring those few moments with him/her. And the only alternatives were to get away from your loved one or accept that situation. Or reveal what you felt.

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But to reveal what you feel, especially if you really love that person/being, according to the circumstances, it was more difficult than facing a fight to the death. The fear of not being reciprocated was even greater than facing death.

Yet now, when both she and Bao Bei were at the end of their lives, Gaiya had finally found the courage to confess her love.

Bao Bei smiled to herself and answered, giving her the most sincere answer.

"Thank you for your feelings towards me, but Gaiya, I am in love with Hei An. I have always loved him since the first time I met him, and I will continue to love him even after my death. But even if I don't love you the way you want, I've always considered you one of the most important beings for me. A friend of mine, no, the best friend I could ever hope to find. I'm sorry I made you suffer all this time, and I thank you for staying close to me until the end. Without you, I couldn't have done it."

Gaiya fell to her knees, sobbing heavily. On her face, there was a smile of happiness and relief. Despite Bao Bei’s rejection, she was happier than ever. The weight she had in her heart had finally been removed, and inside her, she could feel the chains blocking her heart being destroyed.

While Gaiya recovered from the whirlwind of her emotions, Bao Bei used her spirit power to take the Heart of the World Tree and made it floating in front of her. Suddenly, a small light emerged and slowly disappeared. Then, she made the Heart floating again, making it fall into Hei's hands.

"In here, I put all the objects I kept in my Dimensional Pocket. From now on, the Heart will belong to you, my son. Go to the Continent and find your father. He will reveal to you the hidden truth of this world and the origin of the real enemy that you will have to face. From now on, you will be the one to lead the family. Protect Lian and your sisters at all costs, understand? "

"Mother... sob... sob... how can I? How can I do all this on my own? How can I go on without you? Without being able to feel your warmth, your voice, or your breath? I can't. I can't. Please don't leave us. Don't leave me, stay here with me."

Upon hearing her son's plea, Bao Bei's eyes filled with tears. Not even she wanted to leave them, but there was no way to prevent it.

"Yes, you can do it. Listen to me, Hei. You are mine, no, our HOPE. The hope to save our species and the whole world. When I took you with me, I didn't know if you were able to do it, and I was reluctant to talk to you about my past. But seeing you grow day after day, I saw something unique in you — a particular light like that of Hei An. No, something even more unique. This is why I know you will be fine, and you will succeed in what your father and I have failed to accomplish. However, on your journey, you will encounter many difficulties. It's up to you now, protect our family, and to do that, I've prepared something for you. "

Bao Bei pulled from her dimensional pocket a two-meter-long dark purple spear that was covered from the head to the end with red veins that resembled a spider's web.

"This is a spear I made for you. It is made with my own exoskeleton combined with my bloodline. I prepared it when you were still a baby as a gift when you would become able to walk alone.

The weapons created by the body of us divine beasts are particular. You will find all the details on the Continent. Just know that you will never have to change weapons again for the rest of your life. With this spear protect your family and save this world, did you understand?"

While Hei received the spear in his hands, Bao Bei moved to Lian and gave her two 5 meter long silk ribbons.

"Lian, I prepared these two for you. They were made with my bloodline. You must know that after donating my blood to Hei and creating his spear, I didn't have much left. Because of this, I didn't give you my bloodline, but luckily you managed to find Gaiya's. However, the little remaining was still sufficient to create these two. As with Hei's spear, you will never have to change weapons again if you want to.

I must ask you to look after my children. I know they will bring you a lot of worries, but stay close to them and make sure they don’t get in trouble."

Lian received the two silk ribbons with her hands outstretched and knelt with her head on the ground while a sapphire veil of tears covered her beautiful blue eyes.

At that point, Bao Bei finally turned to her two little daughters. To the fruits of her love with the one she had loved, she loved and will always love.

"Ye, Xing. As you are divine beasts, unfortunately, I have nothing to give you as weapons. This is why I want you to take one thing - my spirit core."

Hearing the words spirit core, Ye and Xing shook their heads in shock, categorically refusing to obey their mother. How could they take their mother's spirit core?

"Ye, Xing. Listen to me well. You have to take it. Not now, not even in the near future. But there will come a day that your strength will fail, that you will need something to overcome your limitations. Because of that day, I want you to keep my spirit core. With that, I will always be close to you, and eventually, I will become part of you as your strength. Knowing Hei An, I know for sure that in addition to the Blood Essence of the World Tree and the Essence of us Divine Beasts, he has kept his bloodline and his spirit core. I am sure he will be delighted to find that he has two daughters. And he will be proud of how strong you will have become.

Therefore, please, don’t make trouble and protect your big brother. Although he is usually calm, he sometimes gets angry and doesn’t pay attention to his safety. So, in those moments, you must be the one to help him. Be good and listen to his orders. If you need, ask for help. Lian will also be with you, so protect her too."

Ye and Xing listened to their mother's speech with difficulty. The emotions inside the two little spirit beasts were so hard to bear. Since their birth, their world had been revolved around their mother. Whatever experiences they had or the difficulties they encountered, at the end of the day, there was always their mother to console them. But how would they do now that she was gone? That they couldn't stand by her side anymore.

Bao Bei then momentarily closed her eyes and thought about her life.

She recalled when he was a tiny spider and how she met Hei An. About how he took her with him as thanks for saving his life. About how they traveled from region to region, visiting so many incredible places.

She remembered how little by little, she became stronger and stronger until she became a divine beast and her successes in her Elemental Laws.

She remembered how her minuscule world had expanded to a boundless magnitude, and she finished meeting an infinity of living beings. About how her relationship with Hei An had progressed, professing their love in front of their comrades.

She remembered how they went to war together for the future of their species and the difficulties they faced.

She remembered how desperate and empty she felt when she found herself in the Multicolored Leaf Forest. About how surprised and happy she had been when she had found the eggs of Ye and Xing fertilized. Or when she had found Hei.

She recalled the strange family experience that those little ones were giving her. What it was like to be a mother for the first time in her life. About how her treasures grew every day. About how they welcomed Lian into their family, ending up acquiring another daughter.

All the memories of the past and the emotions she had felt so far condensed in her mind. In the end, all she had left was a little wish.

‘I would like to stay with them a little bit more. I don't want to leave them yet. I want to stay by their side until the end. I want to continue to be their mother just a little bit longer. Hei An, please. Take care of them for me. I will wait you on the other side, as I always did. Forever.’

With that desire in mind, Bao Bei looked at her treasures for the last time and breathed her last breath.

The last living divine beast, the Queen of Divine Beasts, the Emperor Beast's Companion, was dead. But she hadn't died as a holder of one of those titles. No, she died as a Mother. The Mother of four beautiful cubs who had given her joy and serenity when she thought that everything was now finished, and it made no sense to live in that unknown world alone, without the warmth of her loved one or the support of her companions.

With her death, Ye, Xing, Lian, and Hei were forever scarred, receiving in their hearts a wound that would never be healed. A wound that would have repercussions in their lives.