Volume Four: Withering in This World, Chapter 341: A Little Bizarre

"... Xiao Wu?"

The gray-haired girl, looking at us with a shocked expression, called out my companion's name.

"... Sin Annihilation?"

My companion and the gray-haired girl looked at each other across the distance and called out a name I had never heard before.

This development is beyond my wildest imagination.

What's going on?

Do these two know each other?

"Why..."

Xiao Wu's voice trembled.

This is the first time I've ever seen her like this.

I feel utterly lost.

"How could this be...?"

The gray-haired girl— Sin Annihilation's voice trembled as well.

The initial cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness seemed to vanish without a trace, leaving only a vulnerable girl at a loss.

The air was still and stagnant with uncertainty.

Time stood still because of the bewilderment.

Then,

Confusion turned into anger.

Vulnerability transformed into murderous intent.

The two acted simultaneously, even their words overlapping.

"Why? It's you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Confused.

This was Xiao Wu's first impression.

Then, this confusion turned into anger.

Just as they reunited with their companions, they encountered assassins from the Papacy. They thought that this would allow them to fight alongside their two reliable companions, who were only good at combat, and eliminate this major threat in one fell swoop.

When the assassin revealed his true identity, the surging fighting spirit in his heart deflated like a punctured balloon.

Confusion and bewilderment left her at a loss.

Why does the assassin's clothing look so familiar?

Why does the assassin's hair color look so familiar?

Why does the assassin's face look so familiar?

Why is it that everything about her is exactly the same as that of a certain girl?

The girl with terrible marks on her body had clearly experienced extremely cruel treatment.

Looking back now, why was I so careless?

In the midst of an important operation, how could he have so carelessly approached a girl of unknown origin? And even spent two and a half days with her? He hadn't even suspected her abnormal healing abilities?

This quiet, expressionless, and introverted girl, who makes one wonder if she has any feelings at all, is actually—the enemy?

A burning pain shot through my chest, as if someone had set my heart on fire.

Anger.

By the time she noticed, anger had already engulfed her.

He was angry at himself for failing to recognize that it was the enemy.

And—the fury at the fact that this girl, with whom he had spent so much time and even developed feelings, was actually an enemy.

Was it all a scheme? Or acting? Or something else entirely? Or did she really meet him without her knowledge?

Before the thought process even begins, the body has already acted.

"Ghost transformation--70%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Shock.

This is the first feeling of Sin Annihilation.

Then, this shock turned into murderous intent.

Following Xiao Wu's scent, they found themselves unexpectedly encountering their assassination target.

Just when I was thinking, "My sense of smell can be wrong sometimes," I found that the person I was looking for was right there.

He was right in the camp of his assassination target.

Just now, I was preparing for battle with the pink-haired girl.

There was no room for self-deception; the truth was simply forced into my mind.

It can't be wrong.

This was the first person I'd ever met who approached me, helped me, protected me, and stayed with me purely out of kindness— Xiao Wu.

They are the enemy. They are the enemy.

They are the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy.

Every brain cell was screaming this fact, my body, in battle mode, throbbed, urging me to kill her. Why, why, why, why it had to be you? Only you, only you, alone, just you. No matter what, no matter what, I didn't want to be against you, didn't want to hurt you, didn't want to be your enemy, didn't want to, didn't want to, didn't want to, didn't want to, didn't want to, didn't want to, didn't want to! But you are the enemy, the opponent, the target's ally. From the beginning, you were on the other side, from the beginning, you were an obstacle, from the beginning, you were destined to be eliminated, from the beginning, you were destined to not get along, from the beginning, it was all fake, all a lie, all unreal. Did you really approach me with pure goodwill? Did you really care about me from the bottom of your heart? Did you really not know I was the enemy all along? Did you really, really, really not approach me with the intention of ambushing me, making me careless? Confirmed, certain, target locked, no need for explanations. You are the enemy, you are the Revolutionary Army, you are the Blood Blade Knights, and I am the killer, I am the assassin, I am the conqueror in the darkness, I am the darkness of the Church, I am the Fourth Goddess of Sin Annihilation. Therefore, you must be eliminated, you must be annihilated, you must take your life, you must die until you can't die anymore!

Never before had he felt such emptiness, never before had he felt such despair. Before Sin Annihilation could realize that this feeling was actually "self-abandonment," the battle-hardened monster's body had already pounced on its opponent!

"Dedicated to -- the spine!!!!!!!!!"

The ornate gothic black dress on Sin Annihilation's body instantly shattered into pieces, her spine bursting open to reveal her white, bloody spine! She grabbed the top of the spine and pulled it out like a sword! As the spine was pulled out, it began to mutate violently, not only growing longer but also sprouting red and black metallic blades from its sides! When the spine was fully pulled out, it had become a gigantic serpentine sword that was already six meters long before it was fully extended. This process took less than a second, and by then, the new spine had already regenerated completely!

However, this less than one second was far more than enough time for Xiao Wu, who was deeply transformed into a demon.

A powerful punch, already faintly crackling with purple lightning, shook the void as it hurtled towards Sin Annihilation's face! However, Sin Annihilation did not dodge or flinch, but faced Xiao Wu- on!

Pfft!!!

The incredibly fast punch smashed through Sin Annihilation's skull! Xiao Wu's right arm pierced through from about the bridge of her nose and out from the back of her head, bringing with it fragments of skull and brain matter!

"... Huh?"

Xiao Wu was stunned. Dead?

Did he really just take her life like that?

Did she take the life of the girl who gave her that unique feeling?

Is this... really a good idea?

"Idiot! Get out of the way!!"

Upon hearing her companion's shout, Xiao Wu immediately retreated. However, she then realized that her right arm was embedded in the head of the Sin Annihilation and she couldn't move at all! It was as if countless tiny tentacles were tightly gripping her right arm!

No matter how strong her life force and self-healing ability are, once the brain, the body's highest control tower, is damaged, she will lose her ability to move, and there's no way she can recover while her arm is still embedded in it. But what exactly is going on with her—

Hiss hiss hiss--

Xiao Wu, and the snake-belly sword in Sin Annihilation's hand began to move! The serrated edge, emitting a strong bloody smell, slashed towards Xiao Wu. Normally, Xiao Wu wouldn't be afraid of this kind of cutting attack, but this time she sensed an extremely dangerous aura from the snake-belly sword! This was a warning from her biological instincts!

"Tsk--Ryaku-shiki: Rising Sun!!!"

With a sudden burst of power from his right arm, while still trapped inside his head, he unleashed a powerful uppercut!

Click!

A tooth-grinding sound rang out, followed by splattered blood and clumps of spinal cord. A powerful uppercut ripped Sin Annihilation's head off his neck! The punch didn't stop there, but went straight for the Serpent's Belly Sword! With a dull thud, the Serpent's Belly Sword was barely deflected, and Sin Annihilation's head finally shattered under the intense impact!

"We won," Xiao Wu Mai thought.

But she had no time for joy, sorrow, or self-reproach.

"--Ooh!"

A sudden, sharp pain shot through her right arm. In the previous exchange, her right arm was covered in blood and brain matter. Now, those red and white things were automatically gathering together, forming countless pieces of flesh of varying sizes that were gnawing at Xiao Wu's arm, like countless tiny leeches burrowing into her skin! Not only her right forearm, but the flesh was rapidly multiplying by the flesh it was Xiao Wu, and had already covered her upper arm!

Although shocked by this extremely bizarre sight, Xiao Wu is Xiao Wu after all, and she made the most efficient choice in the face of this crisis!

"Break it off!"

With her left hand, Xiao Wu grabbed the unaffected part of her right arm and yanked it off, throwing it away! But the gruesome tear stopped bleeding immediately, and a new right arm grew back after two breaths.

Haoyue and I stood there watching their fierce battle—if that bizarre confrontation could be called "attack and defense."

When Xiao Wu ripped off Sin Annihilation's head, the noise was so loud that blood and brain matter even splattered onto our side.

Pulling out the spine, punching through the cheek, tearing off the head, ripping off the arm—the bizarre fighting style left us no way to intervene.

But now they've separated.

This is the perfect time to join the battle!

"Go, Haoyue!"

"Ugh... Ugh..."

"... Bright Moon?"

On the other side, the Sin Annihilation had long since been restored to its original state.

The fragments of the head quickly gathered above the neck, and in the next instant, it regenerated into a new head, without a single hair missing. Sin Annihilation's silver eyes stared intently at Xiao Wu, devoid of any emotion, like two empty silver holes.

The gruesome marks on her face and legs seemed to writhe slowly like living creatures.

"..." "..."

Monster.

His attacks are incredibly bloody and mutated, and he possesses a self-healing ability that allows him to instantly recover even if his head is blown off. He is also utterly devoid of any human-like cold-blooded killing intent.

No one could possibly mistake this creature, which appears to be a young girl, for a human being.

A monster in human skin—no, not even a monster, she was merely an extremely dangerous humanoid weapon.

No wonder she was able to put Ye and Haoyue in danger all by herself; just seeing her would make people want to stay away.

"... So this is your true face, Sin Annihilation."

"..."

"Was I too careless? I actually foolishly accompanied the papacy's assassins to the festival..."

"... Enemy, annihilate!"

"Is that all you... wanted to say?"

Without a doubt, Ye and the Qipao Woman will join the fray next.

With three against one, Sin Annihilation has no chance of winning.

But Sin Annihilation tilted his head, his eyes growing even colder.

"... Don't even think about it, it's three against one."

Huh?

Don't even think about three against one?

What does this mean?

"I deliberately let my spinal cord fall over there."

"--!!!"

At this moment, something unusual happened on the other side.

"Haoyue! Ugh--What the hell is going on?!"

"Oops... I was careless..."

Haoyue knelt on the ground, clutching her head in pain. Something dark red had somehow become firmly attached to the back of her neck, its tip even embedded in her flesh, and neither she nor I had noticed it before!

"Cheer up, I'm coming right now—"

Large amounts of blood coalesced into countless tentacles that reached towards the dark red thing, however—

Clang!!!

The white longsword flashed, nearly slicing through my throat.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... Guh... Ughh..."

Excessive pain distorted Haoyue's features. She stood up stiffly like a marionette, pointing the Snow Moon in her hand at me.