33. Xia Ling: Isn't This Ability a Little Stronger Than Last Time? / 34. There's Nothing I Can Do

"That Jackal, we can't let her leave. I need Elysia to take her out for me."

"Why are you being so polite, Little Xia Ling? You can rely on me a little more now, okay?"

"You're welcome... it's just that I don't want to always bother Elysia with this kind of thing..."

As Xia Ling whispered, a pink streak of light swiftly flew out from Xia Ling body and headed into the distance.

During the months she spent accompanying Kiana on her wanderings, Elysia didn't appear in the real world much.

The main reason is that Fu Hua is currently with Kiana, and Xia Ling believes that it is not appropriate for Fu Hua to know about Elysia's existence at this time.

It wasn't because she wanted to keep it from Fu Hua, an honest person, but because if Fu Hua knew about it beforehand, it could have a significant impact on one of her later plans.

However, Elysia would often sneak into the pigeon lodging at night, and over time, Kiana remembered this pink-clad girl.

"The Jackal should be fine with Elysia... Next, it's Kiana's turn..."

Although Fu Hua had already stopped Kiana from using Honkai Energy, the situation on the battlefield was beyond their control, and the two of them couldn't simply ignore such a large Tonatiuh.

Kiana managed to release a space for confinement, temporarily restricting Tonatiuh to his spot. She immediately closed her eyes and tried to suppress the three Herrscher Core that were activating within her body.

No, it should be said that there were only two. Whether it was out of love for this body or for some other reason, Sirin did not take advantage of Kiana's momentary lapse in concentration to cause trouble. Instead, she helped Kiana share a considerable portion of the pressure from the Herrscher of the Void Core.

However, this is far from enough.

Fu Hua's Feather Dust was not a weapon against Honkai. Even if Fu Hua took over the Honkai Energy in Kiana's body, she would not be able to suppress the Herrscher Core's current agitation in a short time.

Moreover, she doesn't have enough feathers left to support her doing this. Even if she manages to control it in the end, Fu Hua's feathers will probably dissipate before Sirin can replenish their energy.

This could be considered a mistake on their part, since no one expected that Jackal would quietly produce a drug that had never appeared in the original work, prematurely triggering the hidden danger within Kiana's body.

Xia Ling still can't figure out where the Jackal got this thing from. All the previous plot changes had a reason, so what about this time?

However, Xia Ling didn't have time to delve into these details at the moment, because if Kiana's problem wasn't resolved quickly, Fu Hua would probably have to burn her feathers.

Since that's the case... I should sort out the mess I made myself.

"Well..."

Xia Ling sighed softly. She regretted not having Flame Willow help her heal her leg injury earlier. Now, she was unable to move around easily and even had difficulty going to Kiana's side.

Fortunately, she doesn't need to go there in person to solve Kiana's problem.

"Kiana, Fu Hua!"

Xia Ling raised her voice slightly. "I'll create an opportunity for you. Seize the chance and suppress the Herrscher Core back in one fell swoop!"

Kiana, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly looked up. As if she had thought of something, her eyes, which had turned completely golden, revealed an uncontrollable panic and pleading. Her voice even carried a hint of crying.

"Sister Xia Ling, please, no! Give me just one more minute, I... I can control the core!"

"Idiot, you're not going to get a minute now..."

A hint of reluctance appeared in Xia Ling's eyes. After all, she hadn't originally intended to inflict such great... pain on Kiana.

"Don't worry, I'll help you solve it, whether it's Tonatiuh or the Herrscher Core... However, next time, you might have to rely on yourself."

Xia Ling glanced at Tonatiuh, who was about to escape, and took out an old-fashioned bell, gently shaking it.

Chapter Thirty-Three Xia Ling: Is this ability a bit stronger than last time?

The Ritual Bell can temporarily grant a "power boost" by sacrificing the five senses. The lost five senses will be restored every seven days.

Among the collections Xia Ling acquired, these are among the few with relatively obvious side effects.

Moreover, the effects are extremely unstable.

In her clones, only Xia Ling herself held this item, which barely achieved a balance between effort and reward.

Xi can use it, but since each sacrifice only allows her to enter the amplification state for ten seconds, this means that apart from the most important senses of touch and sight, Xi can only enhance her senses for a maximum of thirty seconds each time, which is not enough for her to create an "over-standard" painting.

When Xia Ling uses this item, she enters a state similar to the power amplification state of the King's Set, and her ability will be amplified from connection to connection and blockade in a short period of time.

This derived sealing ability is the key that Xia Ling thought of to save Kiana.

However, if we're talking about resolving the immediate crisis, this isn't the only way. For example, the imagery of building a nest or leaving in the Cipher Plate might also solve the current problem.

However, considering that she would be banned in the upcoming storyline, Theresa might soon arrive to "question" her, and she could also take the opportunity to increase Kiana's favorability...

Xia Ling decisively chose this approach, which would have the best entertainment value.

"Ring ring..."

A string of bells hanging on a vine swayed slowly, producing a clear, ringing sound.

Xia Ling chose to sacrifice her sense of taste first.

But what she didn't realize was that at the same time, a pink light quietly flashed in her eyes.

Once again experiencing the feeling of having a clear understanding of her abilities, Xia Ling couldn't help but feel excited.

However, instead of addressing Kiana's problem first, she gently pointed at Tonatiuh was about to break free.

This Honkai Beast, whose combat power was comparable to that of an S-class, froze on the spot. Its body, which had broken free from Kiana's seal through quantumization, turned grayish-white again and returned to its collapsed state.

Xia Ling chose to temporarily seal its quantum properties.

"Such tenacious vitality..."

Xia Ling frowned. She had originally planned to take down the Honkai Beast quickly, but she hadn't expected its vitality to be far beyond ordinary.

Although Xia Ling's abilities have been enhanced, the problem of her low effective output has not been solved. Therefore, Xia Ling has no choice but to temporarily seal it away.

Turning her gaze back to Kiana, Xia Ling activated her full senses and immediately locked her abilities onto the Herrscher Core within Kiana's body.

Unlike the last time when she faced Sirin, when she needed to directly seal the Imaginary Singularity of the core, this time, Xia Ling only needed to calm the restless core.

After all, the last time it was to prevent Sirin from using her powers, while this time it was just to prevent Kiana's body from collapsing.

This spared her the severe backlash she suffered last time when she forcibly sealed the core. Last time, she only dared to endure the backlash because she was sure she wouldn't die within five minutes.

Given her current physical condition, enduring just one backlash would trigger the King's Set and force her to prepare for her funeral.

First, using her abilities, Xia Ling locked down several points within Kiana's body where Honkai Energy was leaking outwards, preventing the Honkai Energy in the core from further eroding Kiana's body. Then, she rang the bell once more.

Unlike the numbness she felt when she lost her sense of taste last time, the immediate sensation of losing her sense of smell was that Xia Ling couldn't perceive the bloody smell that was gradually spreading in her mouth.

Once again drawing upon her abilities, Xia Ling gently grasped the Core of the Herrscher of Death within Kiana's body.

When out of control, this Core of the Herrscher of Death will no longer trigger healing effects; instead, it will continuously release decaying power, causing immense damage to Kiana's body and must be dealt with as a priority.

Unlike the previous time when she was as forceful as sealing off a dam, this time, Xia Ling found that using her ability felt like a completely different experience.

The silk-like power lightly adhered to the core of the Herrscher of Death, gently enveloping it like a finely woven network, smoothing out the power that was escaping from it.

In a daze, Xia Ling suddenly had a strange feeling. Compared to the feeling of her ability being enhanced last time, her ability seemed to have undergone some different changes this time.

Feeling the Core of the Herrscher of Death gradually stabilize, Xia Ling breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that, as she had initially thought, it was just a matter of easing the activation of the core, and she wouldn't have to suffer such a strong backlash as last time.

Ignoring the dizziness in her brain, Xia Ling quickly shook the bell again, trading for the third ten seconds of the ability boost.

This time, she chose to sacrifice her vision without hesitation.

This was the order that Xia Ling had planned long ago. After losing her sight, she could temporarily use Ambriel's Radar Positioning ability to replace it when she had to use her vision. To some extent, she was not very dependent on her vision.

The world before her eyes suddenly plunged into darkness, and as Xia Ling's eyes lost their luster, her ability boost arrived as expected.

Compared to the Core of the Herrscher of Death, the Lightning Herrscher core is not as restless. After all, this core had been dormant in Mei's body for a long time, and for this core, dormancy is its normal state.

Using the same method to "appease" the other core, Xia Ling finally relaxed.

She had also considered taking a gamble by using the Duke Duck Gold Brick if the core was particularly difficult to control and the Ritual Bell could not be completely sealed after five sacrifices.

Unexpectedly, it only took three uses to calm down the two cores.

She seemed to have underestimated the increase in her abilities, or perhaps she wasn't mistaken and her abilities had indeed changed.

Finally... Xia Ling looked at the Herrscher of the Void Core inside Kiana's body.

She could sense that Sirin hadn't taken the opportunity to launch an attack. She didn't know when it started, but Sirin had gradually become less active in the core.

Xia Ling still doesn't understand why this is the case.

She had initially suspected that the system might have malfunctioned again, perhaps sharing all the Alternate History they had uncovered in the roguelike world with Sirin. However, given the system's confident assurances, she temporarily abandoned that suspicion.

After a moment's thought, Xia Ling chose to end the Ritual Bell.

If she were to lose her hearing as well, she would be at a significant disadvantage. The storyline involving a Thousand-Man Herrscher begin in less than a month, and the seeds of the Herrscher's emergence were likely already sown around this time. She didn't want to become the Thousand-Man Herrscher's weak point.

As for Sirin... once this incident is over, she plans to teach Sirin a lesson as well; her own affairs can be dealt with then.

The Ritual Bell disappeared from Xia Ling's hand, and only then did she realize the extent to which her Honkai Energy been depleted.

At the same time, the stabbing pain and dizziness in her head made her unsteady on her feet.

She tried to steady herself on the edge of the lab table, but having lost her sight, she fell straight forward in the darkness.

Chapter Thirty-Four: I Can't Do Anything

In the pitch black, she fell into a warm embrace.

The touch on her cheek was soft and warm; judging from its size, it must have been Kiana who caught her.

Xia Ling awakens a new skill in the darkness: using facial cleanser to determine identities.

Then, she felt drops of moisture constantly dripping onto her ears and cheeks.

"Why..."

"Sister Xia Ling, sob... I'm sorry, Sister Xia Ling..."

"I can't do anything..."

And... soft sobs and... apologies?

Oh no, my hearing has become a bit insensitive too. Did this Ritual Bell steal one of my senses?

Xia Ling found a strange kind of amusement in the darkness, completely unaware that this might be because she was nearing unconsciousness.

Speaking of which, am I still able to keep my eyes open...? My eyes seem to be acting strangely since I lost my sight. Should I close them to avoid Kiana misunderstanding...?

No, if I were to slowly close my eyes in Kiana's arms in this situation, it would definitely make things worse...

Although Xia Ling thought this way, unfortunately, she could no longer control her body.

The increasingly severe dizziness gradually blurred her consciousness, not only due to the depletion of Honkai Energy and the overuse of her abilities, but also due to excessive blood loss.

I'm a little... unable to hold on any longer... I hope Kiana and Theresa don't misunderstand too much...

Before she completely lost consciousness, this was the only thought that crossed Xia Ling's mind.

At this moment, outside...

"Kiana, are you alright? I just sensed something from the top floor down there..."

Theresa, carrying Judah in one hand, arrived late, but it was no wonder. The headquarters of Kamisato Pharmaceuticals was dozens of stories high, and Kiana went from losing control to being calmed down by Xia Ling in less than a minute.

Theresa's gaze passed through the broken door and landed on Kiana.

It fell on her golden eyes, brimming with tears, and on the lifeless body in her arms.

It landed on Xia Ling, whose arm had suddenly fallen limply.

"Thump—"

Theresa dropped Judah to the ground with a dull thud.

"Xia Ling..."

Theresa's eyes suddenly turned red, and the Honkai Beast instincts that she had been unable to suppress due to the excessive release of Vishnu Gene rushed to her brain.

"Principal, calm down, Xia Ling is not dead!"

Suddenly, a red feather appeared on her body.

A sense of clarity instantly spread throughout her body from the top of her head, allowing Theresa, who was on the verge of losing control, to temporarily regain her composure.

Indeed... although Xia Ling appeared to have lost consciousness, one could still sense a faint life force emanating from her.

Theresa walked over quickly, and Kiana looked up, her eyes filled with a helplessness and guilt that Theresa had never seen before.

Theresa sighed, "So, what exactly happened?"

"Let me explain." Fu Hua's phantom appeared in the air. She placed a hand on Xia Ling's head, feeling Xia Ling's physical condition while explaining what had just happened.