Cai'er, Is That You?

A phantom Silver-Purple Crescent Moon silently materialized behind her, radiating an aura of destruction and finality.

"Seventh-Tier Moon Demon Secret Art: Moonfall!"

The instant the crescent appeared, it transformed into a streak of Flowing Light, carrying the might to purify and annihilate everything in its path, hurtling toward Valen and all the Undead Demon Race behind him.

Its speed and power were so immense that space itself twisted around it.

"Have you lost your mind?!"

The smug arrogance on Valen's face froze instantly, replaced by boundless terror.

He never dreamed that Yueye possessed such a terrifying Trump Card!

Even more, he never imagined she would go to such lengths for a complete stranger—a traitor—disregarding everything, even the reputation of the entire Moon Demon Race, to strike him down with lethal force!

For a traitor... was it worth it?

Do you even know him?!

That was the last thought before Valen's consciousness faded.

The next instant, silver-purple light engulfed the entire forest clearing.

No screams. No wails.

Wherever the light passed, whether it was the Sixth-Tier Valen or those Fifth-Tier and Fourth-Tier demons, even their souls were instantly vaporized and purified, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

The world fell silent.

"Princess!"

The few surviving Moon Demon Race maidservants stared at the leveled clearing before them, their faces drained of color, bodies trembling.

"Your Highness... how could you do this!"

"Valen was a Count under the Star Demon God! By killing him, the Undead Demon Race will go mad!"

"Our Moon Demon Race... is finished! Lord Agareus will surely confine you!"

"And this traitor... what do we do with him? The matter has blown up so much..."

The maidservants' voices carried sobs, filled with despair.

Yet Yueye paid their cries no heed.

Step by step, she slowly walked toward the center of that devastated land, toward the sole surviving figure.

Xuan Ye knelt there in a daze, staring at the scene beyond imagination, his mind a complete blank.

Then, he felt a soft, warm body gently embrace him.

Just like... Cai'er used to hold him.

A voice, tinged with apology and tenderness, sounded by his ear.

"I'm sorry. I came late."

"But it's alright now."

"Everyone who bullied you is dead."

When she spoke the last sentence, a flame that could not be suppressed flickered in Yueye's violet eyes.

She remembered.

Those demons who had thrown stones at her as a child, calling her a half-breed... they were still alive!

She thought killing Valen would quell the fire in her heart.

But in truth, the one she truly wanted to kill had never been Valen.

She was clearly comforting the young man in her arms.

Yet why did her own heart feel... increasingly unsettled, angry, and resentful!

Xuan Ye's consciousness drifted in boundless darkness. The last shred of clarity allowed him to perceive a soft body embracing him.

Warm. Familiar.

He strained with all his might to open his eyes, but his vision was veiled by a thin film of blood and exhaustion, blurry and indistinct.

All he could see was a pair of violet eyes.

Those eyes were filled with complex emotions he could not understand, but the clearest was a concern so thick it could not dissolve.

In a daze, he overlapped those eyes with another pair from his memory.

"Cai'er... you're here."

That was his final murmur.

As his voice faded, Xuan Ye's consciousness was completely swallowed by darkness. His head lolled to the side, and he fell unconscious.

The body in her arms suddenly grew heavy.

Hearing that unfamiliar name, Yueye's form stiffened for a single instant.

Cai'er?

Who is it?

But this thought merely flickered past, stirring no ripples within her heart.

She did not care.

She simply tightened her arms, pulling the battered young man closer against her chest.

On that peerlessly beautiful face, her silver eyes were fixed on Xuan Ye, yet the depths of her pupils were hollow, as if through him she gazed at some distant phantom.

She pressed her cheek gently against his hair and closed her eyes.

Though she was the one embracing another, her posture seemed to cling greedily to this hard-won warmth.

"It's alright..."

"It's alright..."

She murmured over and over, as if comforting Xuan Ye, or perhaps soothing the self of the past.

Within the deep sea of consciousness.

[Divine Choice completed.]

[Congratulations, Host. Rewards have been generated. Withdraw immediately?]

In the chaos, Xuan Ye's last shred of reason was roused by this voice.

Withdraw?

Where was he now?

Who had saved him?

Was it Cai'er?

If Cai'er had truly brought him back to the Assassin's Sanctuary, how would he explain suddenly acquiring a piece of Glorious Grade Equipment?

One must guard against others.

With his final will, he made a decision in his heart.

"Withdraw all rewards except the Glorious Grade Equipment."

[Command confirmed.]

[Withdrawing rewards...]

After an unknown span of time.

Xuan Ye's eyelids twitched a few times before finally opening slowly.

What met his eyes was not the familiar tent ceiling, but a canopy of gorgeous purple gauze.

By the bedside stood a pair of identical young girls.

Both were exquisitely beautiful, petite in stature, dressed in well-tailored Moon Demon Race uniforms that accentuated their slender figures to perfection.

Though Xuan Ye was not yet old, his body had been tempered by External Spirit Power, making him tall and straight—still a bit shorter than them.

Sensing his awakening, one of the girls spoke first.

"Yue Chen, our clan's 'traitor' has finally woken up."

The sister called Yue Chen immediately turned back and gently scolded.

"Yue Xing, don't speak nonsense."

Then she turned, calmly looking at Xuan Ye on the bed, and gave a slight bow.

"He is Princess Yueye's honored guest, and also our kin."

With that, she stepped forward, her voice polite.

"Kin from the human realm, you need not worry any longer."

"You have already 'come home,' returned to the territory of our Moon Demon Race."

These words sounded gentle.

But to Xuan Ye, they were even more uncomfortable than the sharp-edged remarks of the younger sister, Yue Xing.

Yue Xing's was mere hostility.

Yue Chen, however, hid all her disgust beneath a veneer of courtesy.

Born on the border, where every household struggled to get by, Xuan Ye had long learned to read people to survive.

"Thank you."

Xuan Ye struggled to sit up.

But the two sisters immediately stepped forward, one on each side, to help him.

"Your injuries have not yet healed. Please allow us to assist you in changing clothes."

Xuan Ye's mind had long matured; he was hardly used to being so intimately attended to by two unfamiliar girls, and immediately waved them off.

"No need, I can manage myself."

But fresh from a severe injury, his whole body was weak and limp—how could he resist two skilled demon maidservants?