Volume Three: The Academy Goes on a Rampage - vs. Ling Ye

Like floating up through a layer of sludge, Xiao Wu finally returned to the outside world.

My body felt so light, and my mood was incredibly relaxed, as if all the filth that had been accumulating in my heart had suddenly vanished.

I haven't felt this good in a long time.

After confirming that she was in good condition, Xiao Wu looked around.

Then I was surprised.

"Ugh... cough cough... you... traitor!"

Soya knelt on one knee, coughing incessantly, large gushes of blood flowing from his mouth and nose. He barely supported himself with one hand using a sickle, while the other hand clutched his blood-soaked abdomen.

The person he was glaring at was now looking at him with amusement.

It was Ling Ye.

He was still holding a bloodstained knife in one hand, and he wasn't wearing an Enforcement Team uniform, but rather a dark blue casual outfit.

"Traitor? Wrong, wrong, wrong. I never intended to submit to anyone in the first place. I had my own plans rather than obeying the organization. As for you... I can only say sorry and thank you. Without your ability, Xiao Wu wouldn't have been able to truly let go of the past, right, Xiao Wu?"

Ling Ye suddenly looked at Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu slightly startled, and Soya also noticed her presence.

"She's already out!? And judging from her condition... Damn it! Ling Ye, you actually used me!?"

"Use? Don't put it so harshly. I'm just asking for your help. But then again, you really are useless now."

"You bastard!"

Soya swung his rune-covered arm violently, and numerous runes immediately spread into the surrounding environment.

Click!

However, before that, the dagger, which had transformed into a flash of silver light, had already pierced a bloody hole in his neck. Soya struggled a few times, frantically scratching his neck, and collapsed to the ground a few seconds later, dying instantly.

Xiao Wu was completely bewildered by the scene before her. Ling Ye didn't glance at Soya's corpse again; he smiled, turned around, and bowed to Xiao Wu.

"You've worked hard, Xiao Wu. Please forgive me for using Soya to put you in such a difficult situation, but without some drastic measures, you'll probably never be able to escape the past. In fact, I hope you can stand before me in your best condition."

"..."

"If you find my betrayal of my comrades despicable, please don't misunderstand. Soya and I just happened to be sent to the same place as undercover agents to monitor the situation of the Boundary Breaking Armor. Although we were comrades in name, we were actually scheming against each other, not in reality. Besides, I never intended to be loyal to the organization in the first place."

"... Stop talking nonsense, you should know where Monet and Evelynths are!"

"Please rest assured, I have brought them out and handed them over to someone trustworthy. Monet was injured but should have been taken to the hospital by that person and should be fine. However, Evelynths' condition is not optimistic."

"Tell me where Evelynths is!"

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"..."

Xiao Wu silently drew her gun and pointed it at Ling Ye's forehead.

"Even pointing a dangerous toy at me won't help. The thing inside Evelynths is on the verge of exploding. The most important thing right now isn't to find her, but to keep her away from people as much as possible."

Even so, I must confirm her safety!

Because they are family.

But Ling Ye refused to back down.

"Impossible, Xiao Wu, give up on her. You don't know how powerful the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire is. Although your body has strong regenerative abilities, you will be reduced to ashes in an instant if you encounter it head-on. Even Gustav, the strongest high-ranking member, would not withstand the Karmic Flame."

Ling Ye's attitude was very firm, and seeing this, Xiao Wu calmed down a bit.

"You mentioned 'Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire'... Could it be the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, one of the nine divine Divine Item? Is something like that residing within Evelynths's body?"

"That's right. The Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire has a very peculiar property: it selects suitable creatures as hosts and passes on its power among different creatures. In this respect, it is probably the most difficult Divine Item to find."

"And you... are a member of the organization."

"Givinia and Miss Ye must have told you about the organization, which saved me a lot of trouble."

Why did you join the organization?

"There's no reason why. I just kept getting stronger and building up my reputation in the underworld. Strong people always gather together, and over time I naturally came into contact with the organization. When I was invited—or rather, forced—to join, I thought, 'It's all the same no matter where I am,' and that's how I joined."

"--And then he became a spy?"

"Don't put it so harshly," Ling Ye shrugged. "After joining, I also became interested in the organization, so I started investigating and finding out a lot of things. I learned a lot... Of course, it's very difficult for me to do it on my own without any reconnaissance or detection abilities, but that's precisely why I'm less likely to be suspected."

"... Why do you do this?"

"Who knows? Dogs will chase cars, but they can't really do anything when they catch up. I'm just that dog chasing the car, without any plan or purpose."

"..."

The two fell silent again.

Then, Xiao Wu made up her mind and looked at Ling Ye with an extremely serious gaze.

"Anyway, thank you for reminding me, and thank you for saving Monet, but—I'm sorry, I still want to go find Evelynths, even if it's dangerous, even if it's fatal, I don't want to leave her to suffer alone!"

"... Hey."

I thought Ling Ye would continue to argue, but instead he smiled happily.

"As expected, if you could be stopped by a few words, you wouldn't be Xiao Wu. I understand how you feel, because I've always been watching you... Do you remember what I told you when we were working together?"

With a snap,

Ling Ye gripped the knife in a reverse grip, assuming a fighting stance.

"I was once an incurable Fallen One, born in darkness, living in darkness. I should have been buried in darkness as well, but I was redeemed because of the fact that I 'fell in love with you'... From that moment on, I have been looking forward to this day."

He beckoned with his finger.

"Try to defeat me, Xiao Wu."

"... What did you say?"

"Fight me, then defeat me, isn't that simple enough? I'm a greedy person. Although your soul has been redeemed, I'm still not satisfied. I want to go further, I want to continue moving forward..."

You said, "Move forward..."

Without realizing it, Xiao Wu's hands clenched into fists.

An inexplicable fighting spirit surged within him.

"Not bad, that's it. My heart was resurrected because I fell in love with you, and because I was given a second life, I have ambition. I deliberately let you meet Soya, hoping that you can break free from the entanglements of the past with your own strength and fight me in your most perfect state!"

"... What benefit would I gain from fighting you?"

"I want to move forward, and so do you, don't you? You're not the same person you used to be. You value your family more, and you confront your own kindness more... But you won't kill, not under any circumstances. You know that in your heart, right? Facing the coming storm, we can't afford not to overcome this hurdle..."

"You..."

"So, things become much easier."

Ling Ye curled her lips into a smile.

"This is both a battle and a ritual. If I win, this victory will be proof that I can live even without you; conversely—if you win, it means I have no power to interfere with your judgment, your heart... At that time, I will give up all my pursuit of you and offer my life for you."

"So you're saying that if I take you down, I can go after Evelynths? But... why are you offering your life to me?"

"Is there even a question? If I lose, there's no point in me continuing to exist. If I can squeeze out the last bit of value from myself and help you overcome the hurdle of 'not being able to kill,' then I guess I'll consider myself lucky."

"..."

No further explanation is needed.

It's good news that Monet received timely medical attention and is not in mortal danger.

Only Evelynths is someone I can't let go of.

Ling Ye is serious.

Xiao Wu also became serious.

In the end, he still relied on violence.

But as Lucy said, 'using violence for oneself' and 'using violence for others' are not the same.

They have already realized the significance of this battle.

Therefore, she unusually followed the rules of martial arts and announced her name.

"The 265th generation successor of the Night Nether Style Fighting Technique, the 7th generation successor of the Morsilis Gun Fu, the head of the World's Little Corner Department, 'Oni' — Urahara Sakura Dance —issues this challenge to you!"

The same goes for Ling Ye.

"The 128th successor of the Extreme Night Assassination Style and the 277th successor of the Demon Slaying Sword Art, the Commander of the organization's Special Class Combatant Stone Strike, 'The Murderous Ghost' — Ling Ye, accepts your challenge!"

Then, without any further words, the battle was about to begin.

"Form 107-1-- "

"Flash Step!"

In a mere split second, the two, who were nearing their limits, launched their attacks simultaneously!

"--Wai Crooked Sky!!"

"--Snake!!"

A deafening roar erupted as the two flying kicks collided violently in mid-air! Although it was a physical clash, the force of the impact was earth-shattering! A sharp pain shot through her toes, Xiao Wu grimaced in agony.

"Okay, you..."

"You're the one who's Mai Xiao Wu, but--"

While suspended in mid-air, with no foothold, Ling Ye suddenly kicked out with his other leg!

"Sound speed five times faster!"

With a cracking sound of bones breaking, Xiao Wu was thrown backward and landed heavily! She finally stopped after carving a furrow more than ten meters long in the ground!

"Tsk!"

A crackling sound emanated from my body; the broken bones were healing rapidly, however—

"It's too slow!"

Ling Ye appeared before her like a ghost, his small knife slashing down at more than four times the speed of sound! Xiao Wu's entire body tensed instantly, using a reverse application of the "inch-crushing" technique to dodge the fatal blow. The vacuum created by the slash carved a smooth, narrow gash where she had stood moments before! Before she could even adjust her stance—

"Flash Sheath - Piercing the Muzzle!"

The second knife!

The lightning-fast thrust aimed straight for Xiao Wu's chest, but Xiao Wu bare hands. However, this left both of her hands occupied, while Ling Ye also had a small knife in his other hand!

"Is this the general, my love?"

Ling Ye's knife, held in one hand, was caught by Xiao Wu, while his other hand slashed directly at her torso, and at the same time, his feet moved towards Xiao Wu's feet.

Since her hands were immobilized, she would definitely use her feet to counterattack, that's Ling Ye judged. And indeed, that was the correct judgment—if her opponent wasn't Xiao Wu.

"Style 206 - Undercurrent!"

"How--!"

An extremely powerful energy surged from Xiao Wu's hands, traveling along the blade directly to Ling Ye's hand! His hand was immediately thrown back as if it had hit something extremely solid, creating a momentary opening in his body! Xiao Wu, of course, did not let this opportunity pass, throwing out an extremely fierce straight punch, but Ling Ye's body moved strangely, performing a beautiful backflip to create distance between himself and Xiao Wu.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Ling Ye crackled and moved its hands, looking completely convinced.

"What a superb technique of Internal Force! You must have suffered a lot during your childhood training. Someone as impatient as me could never have mastered it..."

"Stop pretending. If it weren't for my self-healing ability, that kick of yours would have finished me off."

As she spoke, Xiao Wu raised her twin pistols this time.

"Perhaps," Ling Ye shrugged. "Well then, that's enough warm-up. Now it's time to get serious."