Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Evil Prank

"..." "Wow..."

Sin Annihilation and Moon gaze at each other across the rekindled campfire.

"... Take your time chatting."

Nid wisely stepped back, knowing that given his current physical condition, he was lucky he hadn't been caught in the crossfire and died. He walked to a large tree, wrapped himself in the large banana leaf again, and closed his eyes to rest.

Only Haoyue and Sin Annihilation remained, staring at each other blankly.

"... well."

Haoyue seemed to have given up on something, smoothed her hair, and asked, "Alright, anyway, thank you for rescuing our leader. Come on..."

Haoyue reached out her hand.

"... oh."

Sin Annihilation watched Haoyue's hand hovering in front of her warily, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to shake her hand.

Haoyue wore a mask-like social smile, but inwardly she was constantly analyzing and thinking.

You can get a preliminary understanding of a person you've just met by looking at their palms.

In that brief two-second handshake, Haoyue carefully observed and felt.

(Pale complexion... devoid of color... Is it anemia? Or severe malnutrition?)

(So cold, almost no heat, it feels like a dead person's hand...)

(However, her skin is quite smooth, without wounds or calluses. Does this mean she rarely fights or does heavy work? But judging from her skills, it's more likely that she has a strong self-healing ability.)

It was roughly the same as the fleeting glimpse I had in Sadington City.

It's not good to be on guard like this all the time; let's ease the tension a bit.

"My name is Haoyue, Haoyue Tartaglia. What's yours?"

"... Sin Annihilation."

Although she was a little unsure, Sin Annihilation still gave her real name.

"Quite a unique name. Could you reveal your identity? If I'm not mistaken, you're probably someone from within the Holy See, right?"

"..."

Revealing one's identity?

Upon hearing these words, Sin Annihilation almost launched another attack on Bright Moon. After all, for so many years she had strictly adhered to the ironclad rule of "not letting the outside world know of her existence." But now she had actually rescued the Rebel Army leader and even led him to the Revolutionary Army. This behavior was undoubtedly a complete betrayal of the Holy See. The Inquisition must also want to capture her and destroy her completely, so as to transfer the power of Sin Annihilation to the next successor ahead of time.

In that case, it won't matter if people tell anyone.

"My name is Sin Annihilation, I don't have a real name, I'm female, I'm 15 years, 7 months, 22 days, and 23 hours old, I'm 158cm tall, weigh 43.7kg, and my measurements are 82.7, 57.7, 83.2..."

"You don't need to go into such detail. Let's just get along well."

"Well..."

Haoyue smiled warmly at her, her gaze and the angle of her upturned lips perfectly controlled. It was a perfect smile that anyone who saw it would instantly fall in love with. However, Sin Annihilation... frowned.

Because she sensed a subtle sense of unreality.

Compared to the Qipao Woman in front of her, Xiao Wu, although always cold and sarcastic and almost never smiling, somehow felt very comfortable being with her.

Why is that?

"I feel like... it's a bit fake, nowhere near as good as Xiao Wu."

"--!!"

Haoyue's face twitched suddenly.

"Judging from your tone, you seem to be quite familiar with those delinquent girls?"

Swish!!!

Sin Annihilation's hand suddenly shot out, transforming into a sharp blade pressed against Haoyue's throat; a mere step forward would sever her carotid artery.

"You delinquent... you're not allowed... to insult Xiao Wu!!!"

"... Oh, okay, I know, don't get so worked up..."

Haoyue raised her hands in surrender with a strange smile on her face, while Sin Annihilation snorted and withdrew her hand.

"If you speak ill of Xiao Wu again, I'll kill you."

"What an adorably childish threat! Ah... don't look at me like that, it was just a little joke."

Although she said that, Haoyue was secretly complaining.

When Xiao Wu and Sin Annihilation met in Sadington City, both were extremely shocked. They then seemed to have engaged in a bloody and violent exchange. When Haoyue saw Xiao Wu again, Sin Annihilation was gone. And now...

(Well done, you delinquent girl! You always claim to be straight, but you secretly managed to win over this uniquely quirky, emotionless girl. You really can't judge a book by its cover...)

Haoyue seemed to have misunderstood something.

"Sins are extinguished, sins are extinguished, I'm asking you this~"

"?"

Do you like Xiao Wu?

"Uh..." Sin Annihilation scratched his head and replied, "There's no reason to dislike it, nor is it lukewarm, so it should be that I like it."

"So... do you want to deepen your relationship with her?" A hint of cunning appeared in Haoyue's eyes, but Sin Annihilation didn't notice.

"Deepen the relationship?" Sin Annihilation blinked.

"That's right! First of all, do you know what two people who aren't very familiar with each other should do to show friendliness when they meet?"

Uh... say hello?

"No, no, no~"

"Then... shake hands?"

"Wrong, wrong, wrong~"

"Then... a hug?"

"Wrong~~~ What we should actually do is--kiss!"

"Wait, wait, wait? But shouldn't that be between lovers or relatives—"

"Hmph, judging from your surprised look, you really lack common sense! I just asked 'What should two people who aren't very familiar with each other do to show friendliness when they meet?' You've completely got it backwards!"

"Rebellion!?"

"Actually, kissing is a basic courtesy when meeting someone you're not very familiar with. The closer you get to each other, the more you gradually move on to things like hugging and shaking hands!"

"But... but... wait a minute? Kissing is supposed to be a more intimate act..."

"It's precisely because we're not familiar with each other that we need to use intimate gestures to make up for it. But when the relationship gets good enough, we don't need those methods anymore, so it's simplified to hugs, handshakes, and greetings!"

"Oh, I see!?"

The Sin Annihilation, and he suddenly realized the truth.

Sure enough, I've been out of touch with society all this time. I even thought kissing was something only lovers and married couples did. It seems that blindly following outdated knowledge is no good!

"Uh... so, I'm close to Xiao Wu, so--"

"So when you see her, all you need to do is say hello—no, you don't even need to say anything, just give her a fleeting glance! That way she'll understand how friendly you are to her!"

"And what about you?"

"Of course, it's about kissing passionately!"

"It's disgusting, but it really makes sense... So what should we do after saying hello?"

"Hmm... let me think... that's it! The popular way now is—to make your beloved realize your love, you must use a super-heavy straight punch to knock your love into her heart!"

Specifically, it is --

"--Use the force to shatter your entire upper body to deliver a powerful punch to her chest!"

(The author couldn't stop chuckling as they typed this.)

"We're here, this should be the vicinity..."

Following the direction of the beam of light, Xiao Wu arrived at her destination without much trouble.

"So, where are they? Nid, the Qipao Woman, and that unknown rescuer... hmm?"

I could see the light of the campfire, and the trees ahead were a mess.

That's it, it's over there.

Xiao Wu parted the bushes and called out towards the direction of the firelight, "Hey, everyone, you guys—"

Then she froze.

The man they were trying to save— Nid —was sitting under a tree, wrapped in banana leaves, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.

The Qipao Woman who arrived first was standing by the campfire, smiling at her.

Everything is normal up to this point.

However, there was an unexpected element.

Beside the Qipao Woman was a slender, gray-haired girl.

An angelic face obscured by horrific marks, skin as pale as wax, beautiful yet strangely alluring silver-white eyes—undoubtedly—

"Sin Annihilation!?"

Xiao Wu was struck dumb, staggering back two steps before her chaotic mind began to process what had happened.

Where does the Sin Annihilation appear?

Could it be that she rescued Nid from the Cathedral of the True God!?

To be honest, ever since they parted ways that day, Xiao Wu had been secretly thinking about this girl.

Xiao Wu knew that the girl's mission in Sadington had ended in failure, largely because of her. The thought of how Sin Annihilation would be treated after being taken back because of her failure made her feel irritated.

And now, not only has the girl appeared here safely, but she has also brought back the captured Nid. What could be more delightful than this?

"Sin Annihilation! So you're alright..."

After gathering her thoughts, Xiao Wu immediately went to greet Sin Annihilation, expecting him to Sin Annihilation and acknowledge her as well.

However, she only glanced at Xiao Wu indifferently.

There was no hug, no handshake, not even a greeting; they just glanced at each other.

"... That, Sin Annihilation?"

The sudden cold reception left Xiao Wu somewhat bewildered. She tentatively called out again softly, then walked towards Sin Annihilation—

"Offer my right arm!"

Boom!!!!

Suddenly, Sin Annihilation's right fist slammed towards her with astonishing speed. Her once slender hand was now encased in massive amounts of overgrown muscle and bone, making the air vibrate like a cannonball! Sharp teeth and acid covered it, and the writhing tentacles could crush a spine in an instant; an ordinary person would surely die if they were touched by it!

And the fist landed precisely on Xiao Wu's heart!

"--Hello!?"

At the critical moment, Xiao Wu dodged the attack with a beautiful fish leap into the air. She knew that she could not rely on her strong self-healing ability to take the hit head-on when facing the Sin Annihilation!

"Hey! Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly—"

The remaining half of the sentence was stuck in Xiao Wu's throat, and she couldn't say it no matter what she tried.

Sin Annihilation stopped in front of Hao Yue, squinted, and tilted his head back as if expecting something.

With a bewitching smile, Haoyue lowered his head towards the girl's pale but incredibly soft lips—

Xiao Wu felt like something inside her head had snapped.

"Ghost transformation·100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rumble rumble rumble!!!

"..."

Nid opened his eyes a crack, looked at the trio who were shouting and jumping around, sighed helplessly, and gave a wry smile.

How fortunate are these people!

In that sense... whether it's implementing benevolent governance or liberating the people, isn't it all ultimately about creating happiness?

And now...

"... How ironic."

Nid closed his eyes again.

Now, the large force hastily assembled by the Revolutionary Army to rescue him should be arriving soon, right? Where should they be now? In a forest four kilometers away?

However, the Papacy's pursuers were getting closer and closer, and if the two sides were to engage in a skirmish...

"It seems like an opportunity..."

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I can't believe it, Yue-chan is too good at this! 23333