After the people had drained Aru's blood and placed it on the high altar, they once again lit the bonfire beneath the altar.
The massive wooden post, along with the dying Aru tied to it, was set ablaze.
Within the flames, though Aru's body had lost most of its sensation, the searing heat still made his life a living hell.
He endured immense suffering.
But the villagers were overjoyed.
Because this ritual had gone smoothly, without any major mistakes.
This time, the guardian deity should be satisfied, right?
The people thought as they surrounded the altar, kneeling and praying to the guardian deity.
But just as the ritual was completed, as Aru was burned to death by the flames and the villagers knelt, countless bolts of lightning began to gather in the mist-shrouded sky and strike the ground.
Seeing this, the villagers panicked.
"What's happening?"
"We have already offered Aru as a sacrifice. Why is this destruction still coming?"
"Have we done something wrong again?"
"Guardian deity, we have offered Aru to you, and he willingly sacrificed himself. Why do you still punish us?"
"What did we do wrong?"
"I know! Was there some mistake in the ritual details?"
"How unwilling we are! If we had another chance, we would perform the sacrifice even more carefully!"
Amid the villagers' cries of unwillingness, the people of Tsurumi, who had been "resurrected" by the Ley Lines, were once again destroyed by the lightning formed by those same Ley Lines.
This sacrifice had failed once more.
It had not satisfied Kapatcir. It had not dispelled the resentment she had left on Tsurumi Island.
The cycle continued.
When everything was destroyed, under the influence of Kapatcir's resentment, the power of Tsurumi's Ley Lines once again surfaced, radiating endless life energy.
These forces once again replicated the former appearance of Tsurumi Island.
Under the influence of the Ley Lines, the world destroyed by lightning slowly recovered to its pre-destruction state, as if nothing had ever happened.
The village houses were restored.
The dead villagers "revived."
The crops in the fields took root and sprouted once more.
The world once again appeared full of life.
These villagers, "resurrected from death" once more, opened their eyes to the familiar sight of Tsurumi Island. Their eyes were filled with shock.
They had "not" died!
They had "revived" again!
In an instant, all the people knelt to the ground.
They cried out to the guardian deity, thanking her for her mercy.
It must be the guardian deity giving them another chance to hold a perfect sacrifice. Thank you, guardian deity, for your understanding!
This time, they must seize the opportunity.
"Long live the guardian deity—"
"Thank you, guardian deity—"
"We will not fail the guardian deity's expectations. This time, we will hold a perfect sacrifice!"
"There will absolutely be no more mistakes."
"Aru, we have another chance!"
"Aru, we're sorry for making you suffer."
"Aru, for the future of the entire tribe, we hope you can understand. Only by holding a perfect sacrifice can we earn the guardian deity's forgiveness!"
"Aru, you are a good child. You won't refuse, will you?"
"Three days from now, we will hold the sacrifice!"
"This time, there must be no mistakes!"
Amid the people's cries, the next sacrifice was confirmed to take place in three days.
The sacrifice would still be Aru.
In those three days, they would prepare enough firewood to burn Aru's body after the sacrifice.
They would build a proper altar to satisfy the guardian deity.
But they did not know that once Aru was sacrificed, the entire island would once again be destroyed by Kapatcir's resentment, and the Ley Lines would resurrect everything once more.
Destruction after destruction.
Resurrection after resurrection.
The cycle would never end.
They did not know that what Kapatcir had wanted all along was not Aru's blood.
It was Aru's song.
What a tragedy.
The villagers never realized that the guardian deity did not need sacrifices at all—only a song.
Though Kapatcir herself was dead, the cycle continued.
Aru's suffering would not stop.
At this point, the story of the fourteenth life had come to an end.
If one day you have the chance to travel to Inazuma, do not forget to visit that remote island called Tsurumi.
Please patiently cross the mist.
Find the boy named Aru. Find those stubborn villagers.
Please tell them that Kapatcir never needed a sacrifice—only Aru's purest song.
Please help Aru end this cycle of being sacrificed.
Please help Aru fulfill his promise to Kapatcir.
Come to the fields blooming with flowers.
Sing a beautiful song.
Dispel Kapatcir's resentment.
End Aru's painful cycle.
Let the long-dead Aru, and those long-dead villagers, find peace in this sinful cycle.
...
At Wangshu Inn in Liyue, Li Mo finished the story of the fourteenth life in his characteristic, sorrowful storyteller's tone.
After telling this life, even Li Mo himself could not help but sigh.
Not for the Thunderbird of that reincarnation.
But for Aru, who had been sacrificed.
And for himself, trapped in endless reincarnation.
Under the influence of the Thunderbird and Tsurumi's Ley Lines, Aru had endured cycle after cycle of suffering.
And wasn't he himself, under the system's influence, enduring a hundred lives of tragedy?
Thinking this way, he and Aru seemed no different.
He was done.
The damned system had cut him again.
But thankfully, ninety-nine lives had already passed.
Only this hundredth life remained.
As long as he completed the storytelling mission of this life, he could fulfill all his wishes.
As Li Mo sighed repeatedly, below the stage, the audience was completely stunned by this ending.
They had thought this life would end with the Thunderbird's death.
But they never expected Kapatcir's resentment to be so powerful.
Not only could it affect Seirai Island, but it could also influence Tsurumi's Ley Lines, forcing Aru and the villagers into endless cycles of reincarnation.
Which meant that Aru and those villagers on Tsurumi Island were still repeating the cycle, even now.
After a thousand years, had those villagers still not realized that sacrificing Aru was wrong?
And once again, it was Lady Raiden Ei who had killed her brother's reincarnation?