Mystic Eyes: My Eyes Steal the Laws of Cultivation Chapter 519: Old Memories (2)

Every wound opened upon Azhura’k’s gigantic body seemed to appear within Kyrian as well. The connection between them, established through the touch of the eye, transmitted every sensation, every fragment of suffering.

When one of the women pierced her wings with a golden spear... Kyrian collapsed to his knees within that dream. The pain was so intense that he could barely breathe, barely think.

Even though he was only a spectator. Even though he knew it had all happened long ago. He felt everything.

The pain. The fear. The despair. The loneliness.

Azhura’k continued fighting. For hours. Endless hours. Her golden blood rained upon the mountains, creating rivers of light that shimmered through the darkness. Her roars grew weaker and weaker, her energy more and more depleted.

Even so... she never gave up. Until the very end, until the final moment, she fought. Not for victory, but for freedom.

Until... the man raised a small object.

It was an artifact. Barely larger than the palm of his hand, a golden chain shaped into a perfect circle. The object shone with a light of its own, an energy that seemed to originate from beyond this world.

Kyrian had never seen anything like it. The energy emanating from that artifact was unlike anything he had ever encountered, older, purer.

The moment that object appeared... his heart sank. He did not know what it was, nor did he understand its purpose. But his instincts told him that it signified the end.

The three cultivators formed hand seals simultaneously. Their hands moved in perfect synchronization, every gesture creating waves of energy that spread across the heavens. The air around them glowed with golden light, and reality itself seemed to tremble.

The entire sky turned golden. The radiance spread across the horizon, enveloping everything in a glow that seemed to come from a sun that did not exist.

Then... thousands of gigantic chains emerged from space itself.

Enormous chains. Thick as rivers. Every single link measured dozens of meters across, forged from an energy Kyrian could not identify. They descended from the heavens like a rain of metal, each one gleaming with a golden light that seemed capable of burning away the darkness itself.

They shot toward Azhura’k. They wrapped around her neck, her wings, her legs, her tail, and her entire body. The chains tightened with relentless force, every link locking into the next with deadly precision.

Azhura’k roared in desperation. She tried to shatter the chains with her overwhelming strength, her muscles contracting with enough power to destroy anything else. She tried to flee, launching herself into the sky with every ounce of speed she possessed. She tried to destroy the artifact, unleashing a torrent of golden energy that would have melted mountains.

Nothing worked. The more she resisted, the tighter the chains became. Every movement was met with even greater pressure, every attempt to escape was crushed before it could begin.

Until... they pierced completely into her flesh.

Kyrian’s eyes widened. He felt it. He felt every chain piercing through her skin, every link sinking into her bones. The sensation was horrifying, a violation so profound that it seemed to reach his very soul.

He felt... her freedom disappear.

A different kind of pain was born. It was not physical, but spiritual, and emotional, a pain that went beyond any bodily wound. A creature born to roam the heavens in absolute freedom, an existence connected to the very Heavenly Will, had now been transformed into a slave.

Kyrian clenched his fists. His breathing grew heavy, his eyes burning with tears he had not even realized were falling. Even knowing they were only memories, even knowing that all of it had happened thousands of years ago... his heart ached.

Then... Azhura’k fell.

Her gigantic body crashed into the mountain, the impact creating a crater stretching for kilometers. The chains disappeared into her body, becoming invisible, yet remaining there, always there.

And everything ended.

...

The scenes that followed passed by quickly. Like pages being turned in an ancient book.

Decades. Centuries. Millennia.

Kyrian watched Azhura’k grow. Her body increased in size without end, every passing year adding new layers of muscle and scales. Mountains became small before her, then little hills, then nothing more than grains of sand.

Until... she became the colossal creature he knew. A being so immense that her true form could no longer be comprehended, so vast that her very presence could be felt throughout the world.

But... the larger she became... the heavier the invisible chain she carried seemed to grow.

Kyrian watched cities being built upon her back. Generations of people living, loving, and dying without ever realizing they stood upon an enslaved creature. He watched empires rise and vanish, the dust of time burying everything that had once existed.

He watched countless generations live without ever imagining that they walked upon a creature bound in slavery. People who built their lives upon the suffering of a being that had never asked for such a fate.

She continued walking. Always. Without stopping. Without a choice. Crossing scorching deserts, frozen oceans, towering mountains, and raging storms.

Thousands... upon thousands... of years.

Always obeying. Always carrying. Always suffering.

Her voice... that sorrowful voice... continued to echo.

"...Help me..."

"...Please..."

"...I’m tired..."

Every word seemed to pierce straight through Kyrian’s heart. He understood. That plea was not recent. She had repeated those words... for thousands of years.

Waiting... hoping... that someday, someone would finally hear them.

...

Everything disappeared.

The mountain. The sky. The chains. The memories.

Kyrian slowly opened his eyes.

He was breathing heavily. His chest rose and fell uncontrollably, his lungs burning as though he had been running for hours. He had not even realized when the tears had begun streaming silently down his face.

Before him... the gigantic eye remained motionless.

But now... Kyrian could see it differently. He no longer saw only a colossal creature, an ancient beast whose size defied comprehension.

He saw a prisoner.

Beside him... Gao Ziyue remained silent.

She observed his reaction carefully, her motionless figure standing within the darkness. Like someone who already knew exactly what he was feeling. Like someone who had already gone through the very same experience.

After a few moments, she spoke softly, her gentle voice barely audible within the darkness.

"You saw it?"

Kyrian remained silent for several seconds, trying to regain his composure. Every breath demanded effort, and every beat of his heart echoed inside his ears.

Then... he slowly nodded.

"Yes..." His voice came out hoarse, carrying a weight that had not existed before. The words seemed to struggle to leave his throat.

He turned his gaze back toward Azhura’k. The enormous golden iris continued staring into the void, as though it were still waiting. As though it still believed someone would come.

Kyrian let out a long sigh.

"Now..." He paused briefly, carefully choosing his words.

"...now I understand."

His gaze remained fixed upon that gigantic eye, upon that creature bearing the weight of countless ages.

"I understand why you want to help her."

Gao Ziyue slowly lowered her head, a silent gesture of confirmation.

For the first time since they had met within that domain... she no longer seemed alone.