Dancing on the golden ashes-Chapter 246: The Heart That Reforged Fate

It hurt. It hurt like hell.

My vision blurred, and I could feel myself slipping away, the cold grasp of unconsciousness pulling at me as blood gushed from the gaping wound in my chest. Every nerve screamed for me to stop, to push my heart back where it belonged, to restore the life I had just torn from myself. My fingers trembled violently, the warmth of my own blood spilling through them, but I refused to falter.

I held my still-beating heart in both hands, cradling it like fragile glass, and clenched my teeth as the pain continued to burn through me. Even as my strength drained away, my resolve remained firm — stronger than ever before.

"I give up this heart," I muttered, my voice barely louder than a breath. "I give up the traditional path to the Immortal Emperor's realm to achieve my own goal. I give up this heart of mine… for those I love."

My fingers tightened around my heart as if to seal my vow.

"Even if I become a hollow demon — one who destroys everything in the universe — I would still do the same, for eternity to come!"

Suddenly, something stirred inside me.

From within my soul container, the orbs of sin began to spin. Faster and faster, they twisted and turned, swirling wildly as they unleashed a wave of power I had never felt before. The energy slithered through my veins like molten fire, wrapping itself around my heart as if claiming it for its own. I had no control over it, but I didn't need to — I knew what had to be done.

I reached out, calling to the souls of my fallen friends. The souls of my true family.

Thousands of dark orbs emerged from the space within me where they had rested for so long. They surrounded me, hovering like restless fireflies, flickering dimly as if unsure whether to answer my call.

Their voices followed — soft at first, like whispers in the wind.

"Don't do it, Gaon…"

"It's not worth it, big sis… let us go…"

"You've already done enough for us… please… you can't sacrifice yourself for us… we're not worthy, Empress…"

"We'll always be with you, even in death… so turn back."

Their words cut deeper than any blade, each voice a plea filled with fear and love. They didn't want this. They didn't want me to bleed for them — to break myself for something they no longer believed possible.

But I couldn't stop now.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes as I gripped my heart tightly. "I know what I'm doing... I have to do this."

Perhaps if I had another hundred thousand years, I could have found a different path — a way to reach the next realm without this price. Maybe then... maybe then I wouldn't need to give up so much. But I didn't have the luxury of time.

This... this is my only way.

If I wanted to reforge their bodies — to give them back the lives they had lost — then my heart would become the catalyst. It would burn as the fire that sustained them.

Badoom!

The heart in my palms throbbed violently, a powerful pulse surging through my hands like a thunderclap. My entire body shuddered, and deep inside my soul container, something ignited.

A blazing fire roared to life within me, spreading outward like an inferno. The flames engulfed me, scorching my skin, yet somehow... it didn't hurt. Instead, I felt stronger, as though the flames were filling the empty void where my heart had once been. The searing heat spread to the air around me, licking at the earth and sky, burning so fiercely that the charred ground beneath my feet seemed to glow.

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I gasped as an unfamiliar energy — something ancient and powerful — surged from the vast cosmos above. It crashed down upon me like a tidal wave, raw and untamed, yet impossibly pure. It wasn't like soul energy... no, this power felt infinite, as though it belonged to the very universe itself.

So this is the cosmic energy… how beautiful...

A soft smile rose on my face as I watched the dazzling brilliance swirl around me, its colors dancing like endless rivers of stardust. The souls that hovered nearby stirred restlessly, their uneasy whispers filling the air like a faint breeze. Yet despite their growing unrest, I felt no doubt.

This was always my path...

Even if I was wrong, even if this path led me to ruin... I would not regret this choice.

Badoom... Badoom... Badoom...

The heart in my palms pulsed violently, each beat loud and powerful, as if it was trying to speak to me. It throbbed in my grasp, not with panic, but with purpose — like it understood what was to come, as though it had accepted the path I had chosen. It was ready. It agreed. It knew what had to be done.

The flames that surrounded me flared brighter, rushing toward my heart and the restless orbs of my fallen friends. Fire wrapped around everything — burning, consuming — yet instead of turning to ash, they shimmered with a cosmic radiance, as if the flames were forging something new.

I felt my body change.

My veins grew cold, ice settling deep within me. The warmth that once flowed through me — the comforting pulse of my heartbeat — was gone. In its place, a spiraling mass of chaotic energy churned, filling the hollow space where my heart had once been. It radiated the power of my cultivation, constantly feeding my body, keeping me alive... yet I felt so cold.

Not the cold of winter's air or icy winds, but a cold that came from within — a deathly chill that seeped into my bones. It reminded me of the stories I once heard... how the dying often described feeling cold, as if their life was quietly slipping away.

But I wasn't dying.

No... I would live for a long time. But I would no longer be the person I once was. I would no longer be someone with a beating heart. I would be something else — something hollow... something incomplete.

But...

I will live. And I will bring them back.