In the endless darkness, [\s]the dead Celestial's consciousness awakened.

In the beginning, the new consciousness was like the birth of the world:[\s]

just a spot of light in the universe.

『Its』power was still limited. [\s] It could neither receive signals from the senses, nor send them to the nerves.

In that chaos, the weak consciousness followed its ancient instincts.[\s]

Blindly but firmly, it awakened and started growing.

It has not realized its own death yet.[\s]

The girl refused to acknowledge her own death.

Judging by common sense, the immortal Celestial was indeed dead.

Her right leg had been cut off from the ankle down. Her hands were crippled. All her internal organs were destroyed.

Her chest had taken more than a dozen blows.

However, the deadliest wound was on her head.

It was wounded by a sword.

The sword struck her forehead,

destroyed her brain and passed through to the back of her head. If it were for any other person, they would have died with just one of those injuries.

But the「Celestial」wasn't ordinary.

The Celestial is an immortal being that never died.

Her body wouldn't die even after thousands of years,[\s]

neither would her soul, even after tens of thousands of years.[\s]

She completely overthrew the laws of nature,[\s]

she was the one and only Celestial of Shenzhou.

This was the very essence of the body that was now lying still in the stone chamber.

And so,

starting from each braincell,[\s]

the Celestial's mind and body began a long period of repair and reconstruction.

Drawing on every breath from her surroundings,

patching up the torn skin,

healing the broken bones,

tying up the crumbling muscles,

repairing the damaged organs…

Gradually, the Celestial's 『consciousness』started perceiving its surroundings.

She saw the line of light and shadow going from east to west and from west to east through the little window of the chamber.

She could smell the odor of the withering plants mixing with rotting insects.

She heard the sound of falling leaves, welcoming the autumn, and the snow-covered branches swaying.

Then, she felt pain,[\s] numbness,[\s] swelling,[\s] itching…[\s] every part of her body was screaming.[\s]

An endless torment took her over…

…an endless recovery,[\s] an endless pain.

The Celestial remained silent.

「 Who am I ? 」

Her mind was still confused. [\s]

She remembered some things but forgot more and more.

「 Where is this ? 」

With just fragments in her memory, she couldn't put together the answer she seeked.

「 … wh- ? 」

Suddenly[\s]

thinking of that made long abandoned emotions swell up in her chest.

Seven…

The Seven people closest to her.

The Seven Swords that stayed by her side for the longest time.

Seven people that conspired, lured her to doom.[\s]

Seven Swords that trapped her and killed her.

「 … Why ? 」

Many emotions swelled up endlessly:[\s]

anger,[\s]

doubt,[\s]

resentment,[\s]

fury,[\s]

and sadness, at the end.

「 …why? 」

There was no answer, only the desire to find one.

…the Celestial decided to wait.

She has protected this land for countless years.[\s]

Time didn't matter for her anymore.

She would keep waiting until her body and mind are fully healed,[\s]

then she would find those Seven[\s]

and ask them why they killed her.

A strong desire was branded deep into her consciousness,[\s]

urging her,[\s]

pushing her,[\s]

changing her.[\s]

The wait became a habit[\s]

and the pain became natural.

And then…

Pain[\s]

Endless recovery and endless pain.

The Celestial remained silent.

She had been enduring this for a long time,

she could still endure it.