To put it bluntly, all she could do was deceive people.
By the time she thought of this, she had unknowingly arrived at her doorstep—the clinic.
Since the door had been broken last time and she had not gotten around to repairing it, Chlorine Sodium had simply left the main entrance wide open. After all, she had completely destroyed the local gang.
No gang would rise up and commit evil here again anytime soon.
After all, it would take the shattered gang a long time to stop fighting among themselves and reunite.
However, as she approached the entrance, she discovered Yelena waiting outside.
She was sitting outside and seemed to be chatting with someone else.
Who was it? Chlorine Sodium did not remember having any appointments today. She had hung a sign saying the clinic was closed at the entrance, so no one should have appeared here at this hour.
But when she got a clear look, she realized it was someone familiar.
That rash woman who looked nothing like an adult.
That Elafia woman.
However, the woman who called herself yj seemed to be wearing formal clothes today.
She had always come wearing a tracksuit or ordinary clothes, but this time she was unusually dressed in a blue-and-black uniform, with a very typical office-lady outfit below.
She looked like a corporate white-collar worker.
So what was this woman doing here?
"Ah, you're finally back. I've been waiting so miserably for you."
The Elafia woman noticed her before Yelena did. Although she looked like a rather voluptuous, slightly plump woman, she was surprisingly agile when she suddenly leaped up.
Her entire style had transformed into that of a gag-comedy character. She pounced into the air, and even her eyes had become ><.
Why was this woman's art style so completely wrong???
Ignoring the Elafia woman pouncing at her, Chlorine Sodium simply sidestepped with ease, avoiding the woman's tackle. She walked straight to Yelena and handed the bag to the girl.
"Go inside and eat. Remember to wash your hands."
The girl instructed her, while the Elafia woman was still sprawled on the ground in a pose that made her look like she had ascended to heaven.
Just how weak were you?
"Hey, get up. What do you want with me?"
"Waaah, I need a hug to get up!!!"
The woman actually cried like a little girl, producing the most fake sobs imaginable.
Tsk.
Chlorine Sodium had always felt this woman would be troublesome, but she had never expected her to be this troublesome...
"Then keep lying there. I'm going to eat."
"Waaah!! No! I have something to ask you about!!!"
········································
Late at night, in an alley.
The woman who called herself yj seemed to be the daughter of a wealthy family as well. She said she was very fond of mental magic, and her family happened to need a simple protective enchantment.
That was easy for Chlorine Sodium, but she did not particularly want to go.
Because the clinic was closed today.
However, this Elafia woman was different from other species. Her thought process could not be judged by common sense.
After all, no normal person would pick up a cat after seeing it on the road, pet it all the way, and take it home.
It would be one thing if she had pestered Chlorine Sodium relentlessly. But she even pestered cats relentlessly. That childish behavior was simply too undignified.
What sort of person was Chlorine Sodium?
A busy and dignified person.
In the end, she had no choice. Besides, it was nearby, so Chlorine Sodium accepted the job.
But... something was not right.
This was not the route to the wealthy district. The Elafia in front of her seemed to be leading her farther and farther away.
This was an abandoned section of the old district. There had originally been a factory here, but it had later moved away. The derelict buildings had become holdouts that no one managed or demolished.
"I say... let's end this pointless detour, shall we? I don't think an Elafia family would live in a slum. Or are you..."
"—actually leading me to wherever you need me to go?"
Hearing the gradually chilling tone in Chlorine Sodium's voice, the Elafia woman stopped walking as well.
She stroked the cat in her arms and turned around.
"My, what an impatient girl. But I rather like impatient girls."
Elafia were said to possess an affinity with nature, so the cat rubbed against the girl's arm as if it had found a home.
So what exactly had you come here to do?
"Stop speaking in pointless riddles. My time is limited."
Even so, the Elafia woman showed no displeasure. Instead, she ran her fingers through the cat's fluffy fur and said,
"Did you know? It is said that the Elafia once lived alongside nature. Animals loved the Elafia and treated them like kindred."
"And their Originium Arts exist because of that as well. Animals are very important to them, you know."
However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.
The woman softly recited a line from Augu.
It seemed to be...
Swear upon the earth.
That was the incantation for activating Originium Arts!!
The fur on the cat in her arms instantly stood on end.
But it was useless. Even though the cat sensed its own impending death, it had no chance to struggle.
Just like that... it turned to ash along with the rhythm of the Originium Arts, becoming the price for activating it.
Activating Originium Arts in front of a stranger was no different from drawing a knife in front of one.
It was the most unforgivable provocation and threat!
Chlorine Sodium's eyes suddenly turned golden, and her fist had already shot out, grinding against the air.
"Don't the Elafia believe that nature and they are one? You actually use such malicious Originium Arts?"
The woman merely smiled calmly and said,
"Although we are one, when all is said and done, how could such a lowly thing be mentioned in the same breath as me?"
"Come to think of it, you really are impatient. Have you forgotten..."
"Your new identity was arranged by me, you know. Have you forgotten, my dear? You are so lowly, yet unaware of it yourself, and belong to the same kind of existence as that lowly cat..."
"—Villainess~"
P.S. Major foreshadowing payoff!!!!
Ah, I'm trembling all over as I write this. So wonderful, so wonderful! Miss Eagle is amazing!!!
Fifty-Fourth Section: How Could Fist Techniques Be Such Inconvenient Things!
"Boom!!"
The stone bricks and tiles were swept into the air by the raging gale.
"You really are disobedient, daring to resist your manager."
The manager, the intermediary administrator in this villain game, had a capable subordinate under her command.
It was like a project manager and the team beneath them.
But in this world, a manager's authority was more like a GM's in a game, especially toward a villain like Chlorine Sodium.
It could be said to be absolute suppression.
As for why Chlorine Sodium had not recognized this person, it was because appearance, personality, and even speech patterns and logic were all external traits that could be changed.
A manager who could fabricate an appearance at will based on her mood could not be effectively identified. If she did not reveal her identity, even the villains under her could not recognize her.
And now, the manager seemed to have begun her pathological "performance" once again.
After all, she had always styled herself as fate.
Or rather, the true ruler.
"I'm wondering whether I should make Chlorine-chan strip naked and apologize to me~"
"Hmm, that really is a good suggestion!"
She wore a completely unclouded smile, yet with a light wave of her hand, another gale erupted in the air!
If Chlorine Sodium used the power of collapse to raise a deadly tide, then the manager was using nothing more than pure authority.
It required no expenditure of magic power and had no level restrictions.
As long as she wished, she could directly max out her level without any problem.
Because she was the true GM.
She was an existence completely outside the rules!
As for why she used Elafia power to cloak herself, it was probably for immersion.
There were many types of managers. Some devoted themselves to controlling everything from behind the scenes, appearing and disappearing like a legendary deity. They did not speak like humans or act like humans, and no one could even see what their true bodies looked like.
This one, however, belonged to the type that liked to enter the stage personally. She also liked to...
Make trouble.
Or rather, disasters known as jokes!!
Yes, there was no reason for it. Chlorine Sodium's instinctive attack was simply because the person before her could not be judged by common sense.
Battle was merely everyday life, slaughter was merely a game, and death was nothing more than discarding a body to them.
Beings who had existed for thousands upon thousands of years, boundless and impossible to verify, stood far above everything else.
Humans could not understand ants. Naturally, gods could not understand humans either.
As for managers above demigods...
They were the supreme gods above all gods.
Amid the tornado raised by the girl, countless slender yet incomparably sharp wind blades rushed toward Chlorine Sodium!
Everything in the wind blades' path was destroyed. Even Chlorine Sodium's Herrscher of the Void shield dared not take them head-on.
Chlorine Sodium suddenly dodged.
Inner Style: Flash Step!
The wind blades skimmed past the girl, destroying the entire wall behind her.
Such a huge commotion had erupted, yet the surrounding residential buildings showed no reaction. They were even quieter than before.
Had she cleared out everyone nearby for this "joke"?
"Mm-hm, why do you think?"
The manager seemed to have realized that Chlorine Sodium still had not activated her Herrscher state. Instead, she was using skills she had learned in the Honkai world, darting through the wreckage and ruins like a cat playing with a mouse.
In the face of authority, mere fist techniques could not even cut through the coiling wind.
Chlorine Sodium was doing nothing but fleeing pointlessly.
Before you continue