Volume Three: Academy's Total Rampage - Black Crystal

A row of bizarre and grotesque monsters stood before me.

"Hunter!"

"Roar!!!"

A ferocious-looking Blood Beast —the first Blood Beast I created—roared in response.

"Blood Eagle!"

"Beep!!!"

The Strange Bird resembled a bird with six parts bird, three parts bat, and one part insect, also let out a cry, and then obediently stayed in place.

"Blood Corpse!"

"Hiss hiss hiss--"

A slender, bloodied humanoid figure screamed, its voice extremely eerie.

"Copper Spotted Snake!"

"Gurgle gurgle gurgle..."

A tentacle, made of bone and flesh, extending from the ground, trembled slightly and emitted a mysterious noise.

So it can make sounds...

Hunter, Blood Eagle, Blood Corpse, Copper Spotted Snake, Chaser, Little Licker, Witch, Tank, Spike Serpent, Jericho, Necromorph... I've named all the bizarre things I can currently create, and I'm having a blast with it.

"And this new one... how about we call it Death Knell, Moon?"

"... Xiao Ye, I think your naming taste is really problematic."

"Ugh, what a buzzkill."

Haoyue observed the Blood Beast with a complicated expression, keeping a distance of nearly ten meters, seemingly unwilling to approach them.

Little Butterfly hid behind Haoyue, covering her face with her hands, only daring to peek at them through her fingers.

"Hey Xiao Ye... is this the only ugly creature you can create? It's practically ruining people's appetites!"

"That's so scary, Mother... QAQ"

"What do you know?!"

I stomped my foot!

"This is true romance! Especially for the hardcore grotesque! Monsters are best when their muscles are exposed, their spines are sticking out, and their limbs are deformed! Look, look—" I picked up Little Licker and pulled out its long tongue. It hummed contentedly, "--So cute, right!"

They haven't even developed the most basic sense of aesthetics! I'm so disappointed!

"There are so many things to complain about, I don't even know where to begin... But hey Xiao Ye, that guy with the long tongue and his head sticking out doesn't seem to be comfortable at all..."

"How could this be! Clearly—"

Snap—bite!

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! You heartless bastard, you deserved to be killed by Li Sanguang!!!"

Kick! Kick! I'm kicking!

Little Licker whimpered pitifully and shrank back. Tch, even if you try to be cute, I won't forgive you.

I scanned the Blood Beast again. The simpler the Blood Beast, the easier it was to manufacture. Blood Eagle and Blood Corpse, for example, I could mass-produce in groups. As for the larger and more sophisticated ones, I could only manufacture them one by one.

And--

"Um, Xiao Ye, your eyes..."

"Eyes? My left eye? It's beautiful, isn't it!"

"..."

"Huh? Your expressions are weird, what's wrong?"

"Xiao Ye, well, how should I put it... although those dark red backgrounds and gold eyes are quite striking, I still feel... something's off about them?"

"I'm afraid to look my mother in the eye at night now, or I'll have nightmares!"

... I'm going to cry.

I was originally thinking of getting an eye mask or something to indulge in a bit of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur)... but it seems this is all I can do.

Concentrate your mind and channel your will into your left eye-

The two of them stared wide-eyed.

"The dark red in the whites of his eyes has faded? Although his pupils are still golden..."

"It can still go away!?"

Isn't that obvious?

"That dark red color is just from blood stasis; it has no practical use, and you can get rid of it easily."

"Then why not change back sooner?"

"Handsome!"

"Handsome my foot!"

... Waaaaah, I'm really crying!

I was even thinking of giving my eyes a name, like "Spirit-Piercing Heaven-Piercing Evil King's Killing Intent Wave Blood Lotus Golden Eyes"... Hmm?

Something seems off?

"Xiao Ye?"

"What's wrong, Mother?"

"No... I... I feel something's strange... Rakshasa True Word..."

Before he could finish speaking, Haoyue's expression immediately changed.

"Wait, wait, don't rush to draw your sword! It's not a berserk attack or anything! The Rakshasa True Word... seems to have resonated with something?"

"Sensation!? Is it that Boundary Breaking Armor?"

"I don't know, the direction is... that way."

I pointed in a direction; if I remember the map correctly, that direction should lead to a peninsula area.

"... Go take a look?"

"I guess I have no choice but to go."

What if that's true?

"Act according to the situation!"

"Um, Mother, what are you going to do...?"

Little Butterfly was a little at a loss.

"Little Butterfly, I'm sorry! I can't play with you anymore! Mommy has something urgent to take care of!"

"Oh..."

"Do you remember which train you took on the way here?"

"Remember."

"Then go home by yourself first! I'm really sorry I can't accompany you, but Little Butterfly is almost a big girl now, I believe you can definitely manage to go home by yourself!"

"Oh well..."

"Mmm, sweetie!"

I kissed her smooth little face, and then, not daring to delay, I ignited my Blood Flame and sped off with Haoyue in the suspicious direction.

Little Butterfly was left behind.

"Actually, what Little Butterfly wanted to say was... Little Butterfly also has a very strange feeling..."

Let's go back to the present, in the library--

Black Wings, exuding an aura of killing intent, occupied half of the already small reading room, where two girls with purple and black hair faced off.

Literature Department who's a homebody and Black Wings Slayer.

"Call..."

Shen Xiaoyue —now in Black Crystal form—gently rotated her neck and moved her wrists, seemingly checking her body's adaptation.

"This 'switch' was a bit rushed, and I'm not in the best shape..."

Personality switching.

Shen Xiaoyue, a literary girl, and Black Crystal, the leader of the Black Crows, are two completely different personalities, yet they are each other's counterparts.

"Si Nan Xiao, I never expected you to expose me in the end."

"Being exposed... that's your own fault," Xiao hugged the thick book tightly, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "You should have already discovered me when you were injured, so why didn't you get rid of me then?"

"Of course I want to get rid of you immediately, but I can see her memories, but she can't see mine. If she finds out that her longtime friend has suddenly died, I'll be in a difficult situation too."

"'She'... does that refer to Shen Xiaoyue?"

"Who else could it be but her?"

Black Crystal gently stroked the feathers of Black Wings with her hand. Whether it was due to confidence in her own strength or disdain for Xiao, she appeared very relaxed and showed no sign of tension.

Just because she wasn't nervous didn't mean the atmosphere wasn't tense; in fact, Xiao, standing in front of her, felt her legs go weak.

"You... or rather, Shen Xiaoyue, what exactly happened?"

"Wow, even in this situation, you're still thinking about others? How kind of you, Si Nan Xiao."

"What do you mean 'other people'... To you, is Shen Xiaoyue 'other people'?"

"Don't compare me to her..."

Black Crystal plucked a feather, held it in front of her eyes, and seemed to be examining it closely.

Sunlight streamed through the reading room window, illuminating her face and turning the edges of her long, jet-black hair and eyelashes golden. Her lips were a deep crimson, contrasting sharply with her pale complexion, and most strikingly, her eyes were as clear as black crystal.

All of this combined is like a nightmare of beauty.

Simply taking off her thick glasses and loosening her braids makes a completely different impression.

This is already at the level of a transformation.

"She's just a weak, useless person who's afraid to face her past. She's unaware of how powerful her abilities are, and she's not very bright. She's a complete and utter weakling."

"... So, Shen Xiaoyue is the dominant personality? You said she 'doesn't face the past'... that means she had a very dark life, and because she couldn't bear it, she developed a mental breakdown... which is where you came into being."

Black Crystal squinted.

"You're very perceptive. You were basically right. If you hadn't seen my true colors, I definitely would have tried to persuade you to join Black Crow."

"What persuasion? You only know how to force people! And why would you, as the alter ego, create such a large criminal organization?"

You ask me, why?

Black Crystal's eyes narrowed even more, as if she were recalling something.

Do you know what it feels like to sleep under a bridge covered with newspapers in the dead of winter?

"... ha?"

What is this guy saying?

"You, coming from a wealthy family, couldn't possibly understand this, could you? My hair and eyebrows were frozen solid, my ears, hands, and feet were covered in frostbite, and pebbles cut my skin, causing the blood to freeze my skin and clothes together... Once you've experienced it, you never want to go through it again."

"You..."

"And do you know how it feels to discover that the kind person who took you in is actually a scumbag who forces a young girl into prostitution?"

"I have no idea."

"Then I'll tell you... I thought I was finally going to live a good life, my heart was full of hope for the future, but I was thrown to a fat, greasy customer right after taking a bath, and my hope immediately turned into despair. That's true despair."

"..."

"This is the life of that cowardly idiot from childhood to adulthood: her family fell into poverty, she slept on the streets, was forced into prostitution, became addicted to drugs, and attempted suicide multiple times. She was always abused and trampled upon. She clearly had powerful superpowers but couldn't realize them, and she didn't even have the will to resist. Do you think such a piece of trash deserves to be called a human being? Then, under excessive mental pressure, she finally had a small outburst, and that was—my birth."

Its wings fluttered gently, and it grew even larger.

"She dumped all the unpleasant memories she wanted to get rid of onto me, and I bore all the negative emotions. As a result, I grew stronger day by day, while she, having forgotten her past, became more and more like an ordinary girl. Although I despise her, she is, after all, the primary personality. Without me, she would disappear as well. So when I was first born, I could only seize the occasional opportunities to surface, steal gun money, kill enemies, forge a resume, and come to the Central United Academy... Why do you think I created Black Crow while carrying the primary personality, and tirelessly fought against the Enforcement Team, the Scavengers, and the authorities? Why is all this?"

"... have no idea."

"It's about order!"

The volume suddenly increased, startling Xiao.

"It's precisely because this society has this bullshit order of survival of the fittest and the winner takes all that she and I have lived such a miserable life! What suits me is neither a warm home nor a dutiful shelter, but rather—extreme chaos and disorder!"

"So you assassinated the General Council... just to bring down the order of the Central United Academy!?"

That's right.

The Black Crystal quickly returned to normal, but the countless feathers trembled and aimed at Xiao.

"Alright, having said all that, consider this a eulogy for 'her' only friend. Are you—ready to die?"