Dotore had always known that the man standing at the pinnacle of Teyvat was her biological father, but she had buried this truth deep within her heart.
One could only imagine how she felt over the years, watching Elsa, the daughter of the Tsaritsa, call Lucas "Daddy" while she, the unnamed older sister, remained silent.
"I'm sorry," Lucas didn't argue, speaking softly. "I truly wasn't a good father."
"But at least you were a competent researcher and ruler," Dotore said, her expression unchanging. "Elsa is still asleep. Don't you… want to see her one last time?"
"No, it would be too cruel for a child," Lucas shook his head, smiling faintly. "Just tell her I've gone to Celestia."
"Elsa is so lucky," Dotore's tone carried a hint of sarcasm. "You've saved even your final act of tenderness for her."
"If you don't mind…" Lucas's eyes held a trace of apology. "You can call me 'Dad' too."
"I refuse. Beyond our biological connection, we have no relationship," Dotore coldly rejected him. "Hurry up. Your remaining life is now measured in minutes, and even that's being generous."
"Let's go."
Lucas's body, now too frail to move, curled up in the arms of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Her body, too, was gradually fading into transparency.
She nodded, leaping into the air. Though she was too weak to wield her former power, carrying a man as light as air was no challenge for her.
"Hold on tight." The Sustainer took one last look at the place that had imprisoned her for over thirty years. Once, she had hated it with every fiber of her being, but now, a faint sense of reluctance stirred within her.
Flight had always been the "privilege" of those with Anemo Visions, but even that was merely using the wind to propel oneself temporarily into the air.
Moreover, even with such abilities, one couldn't fly too high. Those who tried to reach the heavens by various means were either pushed back by an invisible force or vanished without a trace.
Thus, even though Celestia was visible in the sky, no one had ever been able to reach it. Getting close was an impossibility.
But the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles seemed to defy all rules as she carried Lucas toward the Celestia he had longed for.
As they ascended, the temperature dropped, and the air grew thinner.
For the Sustainer, these conditions were still bearable, but for Lucas, whose body was frail and aged, every meter climbed was a new challenge to his flickering life.
"Just a little longer…" the Sustainer whispered. "We're almost… almost there…"
"I'm not dead yet…" Lucas twitched his tall, withered nose, struggling to draw oxygen from the thin air, but he managed a faint smile. "How does it feel… to be going home?"
"This isn't my home," the Sustainer said indifferently. "I've never had a home."
Her condition wasn't much better than Lucas's. Besides her rapidly fading life force, there was another, more troublesome reason—
"Welcome back, Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Scanning indicates your life force is critically low. Please proceed immediately…"
"Warning! Detected unknown lifeform approaching Celestia. Please discard or eliminate it immediately!"
"Second warning! Please discard or eliminate it immediately! Otherwise…"
A voice from nowhere seemed to warn the Sustainer as she approached Celestia.
"Silence!"
The Sustainer shouted toward Celestia with all her remaining strength. "Today, I'm taking him to Celestia, and no one will stop me!"
"Let… let me go…" Lucas gasped weakly. "This is… far enough…"
"You shut up too," the Sustainer glared at the sky, enunciating each word. "And don't you dare die."
"Warning failed. Initiating target elimination."
"Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, you have betrayed your duty."
"Then eliminate me too!" The Sustainer's body suddenly erupted with a brilliant light. "Along with him!"
The specks of light flowing from her body coalesced behind her, forming two translucent wings. With a flap of these wings, her speed increased severalfold, closing the distance to Celestia in an instant.
This arduous journey would have been much easier had she not lost her spatial abilities.
But at that moment, countless bizarre black spears appeared around Celestia, densely packed and forming a deadly barrier in the sky.
Their target was unmistakably the Sustainer and the "unknown lifeform" she carried.
The black spears shot toward the two.
With the Sustainer's strength and the protection of her wings, dodging the spears wouldn't have been difficult. After all, these defensive measures were part of her training.
But dodging would waste precious time.
And the man in her arms had no time left.
To protect Lucas, she had no choice but to use her body to shield him from the spears.
One by one, the black spears pierced her body—one, two… ten, twenty…
Some spears shattered and fell, but most embedded themselves deeply into her.
"Open your eyes…" the Sustainer struggled to speak. "Celestia… is right in front of us."
With those words, she mustered the last of her strength, shaking off the black spears, and carried Lucas onto Celestia.
Her call roused Lucas from the brink of death. He slowly opened his eyes, and before him was the Celestia he had dreamed of for so long.
But his mind, ravaged by age and oxygen deprivation, could barely process what he saw.
His father, his mother, Uncle Tianshu, Chu Yi, Huixin, Ningguang, Yelan… all those who had passed seemed to appear beside him once more.
"Look, everyone… I've reached the top of the world!"
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Author's Note: One more fav waifu..