Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Sudden

So what should we do?

No matter how you look at it... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If we could take care of these two now--

--No.

Calm down, I know.

This is not the time to rush in. We already know about "Feather's" abilities, but what about that girl who broke the egg? Who knows what her abilities are? What if this is actually a trap to lure someone in?

Sure enough, forget it.

Suppress this impulse; don't let short-term gains cloud your judgment. It's essential to consider the risks involved.

Let's try another route to leave, see if we can find other Extra Weapon, and then reunite with Sin Annihilation.

Kill!... Huh?

Kill them!

How?

I think I heard something?

Hallucination? Kill! Immediately!

It's not a hallucination!

However... it wasn't that I actually heard anything. It was more like a kind of consciousness, a sudden thought, almost like telepathy! It was ethereal and intangible, yet an undeniable command!

Instructions...? Yes.

That should be done.

What is there to hesitate about?

Right now, right here, eliminating these two major threats wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?

I was so timid and hesitant just now, I looked like an idiot.

"Inhale--exhale--"

Take a deep breath, calm your racing heart, and approach from behind quietly, being careful not to touch the giant megaphone or other stage equipment on the ground.

It's getting closer.

You can hear them talking quietly.

"... Are you alright, Valentina?"

"To be honest... I'm afraid there might be some... but it's alright for now, Yu Xun."

So that's how it is. The black-haired girl is Valentina, and "Feiser's" real name is Yu Xun?

So, I finally know the name of the enemy I'm about to kill before I even make my move? But whatever his name is, it doesn't matter anymore.

Anyway, you'll all be corpses soon.

I licked my dry lips, letting the blood rush through my veins, ready to attack at any moment.

It was incredibly easy.

Upon closer inspection, Valentina appeared to be in poor condition under the light of a small searchlight. Although I could only see her back as I approached from behind, I could still clearly see her sadly holding her head and hunching over. Yu Xun was looking at her with a frown.

If my strength weren't restricted, I would have drained their blood from a hundred meters away.

Unfortunately, I need to play it safe right now.

Okay, this distance is now foolproof.

If we can't use Blood Beast or Blood Flame, then let's use Blood Crystals, which evoke a sense of nostalgia.

Blood seeped from his arm, congealing into a sharp, long blade, silent and still—of course, this was merely preparation for any potential close combat.

The main attack method is of course--

Blood Crystal Barrage!

Large drops of blood splattered through their skin, instantly solidifying into countless sharp Crystal Spike that shot towards them!

Success!

"What?! Enemy attack!"

Yu Xun suddenly cried out in surprise, and at the same time, Valentina reacted instantly! She quickly turned around, stretched out her hands, and compressed a space about two meters in diameter around her hands—the space where the Blood Crystal Barrage had just arrived! It turned into two small balls like marbles, and the blood crystals disappeared without a trace!

Tch... failed? But I wasn't stupid enough to think I could win in one fell swoop.

"It's him!"

"How did she get through that?!"

Both of them were utterly shocked by my appearance, as if they had seen something unbelievable. Surprised? Of course! You thought I would sit idly by and wait for my doom, but instead, I've come straight to your doorstep. Please accept this surprise wholeheartedly!

"Yu Xun, you retreat first! I—gulp"

Valentina's beautiful face was contorted, seemingly from intense exhaustion and pain. What happened to her? She looked perfectly fine just ten minutes ago. What had happened in those few minutes? Had she been attacked by Sin Annihilation? Or was she having menstrual cramps?

Valentina--

"I told you to leave first!"

Valentina waved her hand, and several marbles shot towards me at an astonishing speed. I met them with my own Blood Crystal Barrage. To my surprise, the marbles she created using spatial compression were incredibly hard and powerful. In the collision, I was actually at a disadvantage!

Is this her ability? To compress a small portion of space into a tiny marble, while simultaneously storing everything within that space inside the marble, and then manipulating the marble to launch attacks?

"But—that's all there is to it!"

This isn't a particularly impressive ability, and Valentina is clearly not in good form. To lose to an opponent like this would be embarrassing enough, even with my current limited abilities!

With a wave of her hand, several enormous Crystal Spike, each several meters in diameter, erupted from the ground. Valentina hurriedly compressed the space beneath her, and although she managed to cut off the tips of the Crystal Spike, the remaining shafts still slammed straight into her! A mouthful of blood spurted from her mouth, and her already gloomy face turned even worse. Gritting her teeth, she waved her hand again, and several marbles rained down from the sky!

Rumble rumble rumble!!!

The marble suddenly exploded, and a raging fire, carried by a hurricane, hurtled towards me! So that's how it is—can intangible things like wind and fire be contained within a marble? What a pity—

"I have an extremely heat-resistant constitution!"

With a whoosh, the flames that obscured my vision were slashed open by the crystal blade. I accelerated to the limit and rushed towards Valentina, while simultaneously raising my hand to shoot out more than a dozen blood crystal spears! She used one hand to block in front of her, compressing the space and retracting the first few crystal spears. At the same time, she flicked her other hand upwards, and several marbles immediately shot out from the ground towards me!

But having anticipated her move, I dodged the attack with a side roll. We were now only a few meters apart. Panicked, she tried to compress the space around me with both hands, but I was faster—

Click!

The exhilarating sensation of the blade slicing through flesh traveled through the crystal blade to my fingertips. Her arms were cleaved open by a horizontal slash of my blade, and before she could scream, I slammed my knee into her abdomen, forcibly silencing her scream.

"Gulp... cough cough... Damn it..."

She looked up at me fiercely, her delicate face splattered with blood, making her appear exceptionally ferocious.

"I don't know... how you did it... but... if it weren't for me..."

"Sorry, I have no interest in hearing the villain finish their last words."

With the next stroke, he severed her head.

It's been a while since I've killed anyone... I think the last time was during the final battle in Gloria, when I killed a lot of weaklings, right? I didn't even kill the final boss's wife with my own hands.

I left Valentina's headless body where it was and looked at the other person.

"It's been a while, Miss Fiser."

She stared at me in astonishment, her body struggling, but she was still far from breaking free of the blood membrane.

"Or... should I call you 'Yu Xun'?"

Of course, I wouldn't be foolish enough to neglect one aspect for another. While attacking Valentina, I also released a stream of liquid blood that chased after Yu Xun along the ground. Once it caught up, it would turn into a membrane and envelop her. The result was extremely successful.

As a result, her only ability is "returning to the origin," which is indeed extremely dangerous if used well, but once it becomes a direct confrontation, she has no fighting power whatsoever.

They are at my mercy.

"What... what happened... where... did something go wrong? Why would you...?"

She muttered incredulously, "What? She cares more about why I'm here than the fact that I'm about to kill her?"

"I simply sneaked in through the maintenance passage, casually discovered you, and thought I could take advantage of the opportunity to kill you. Can't you even figure out something this simple?"

"Just like that... sneaking in? That's... impossible!"

I could faintly hear crackling sounds coming from afar, but my attention remained focused on her.

I felt like her reaction was... a little off.

A subtle feeling arose within me, and I blinked in surprise. The sense of unease quickly vanished.

But I always feel...

--kill!

"... No, there's nothing to hesitate about."

It was just a matter of swiftly cutting down a knife.

"Goodbye, Yu Xun Sang. If there's an afterlife, please help us repair the ship again!"

Click!

The sharp blade tore through her throat; her eyes widened, she convulsed once, and collapsed limply to the ground, her face the last expression of resentment.

Valentina - Killed.

Yu Xun -- Killed.

"..."

Is that all?

The two people in the Extra Weapon, the murder weapon—I just took them out so easily? And without any dramatic twists or turns?

This is... way too easy! It's like studying like crazy for a final exam, only to have the exam date suddenly moved up, and the questions are as simple as elementary school arithmetic.

But... no matter what, I won, right?

That's not good--

Pfft!!!

"... ah?"

A warm sensation spread through my chest.

The viscous, excruciating pain slowly spread.

My body suddenly lost all strength.

Looking down, the heart...

Held in one's hand

A slender, pale hand emerged from my left chest, stained with blood, and clutched my heart in its hand.

But I will not die.

There is still life within me, many, many more lives. Even bound by the contract with Yu He, I should still be able to—

However, my expectations were not met.

I could clearly feel life slipping away, irreversibly.

Puff!!

With a squeeze of that fair hand, my heart was instantly crushed into a pulp.

As if signaling this, my vision went dark, and a large amount of warm liquid flowed from my mouth and nose, carrying a metallic taste.

"Why?"

Before my consciousness completely faded, I mustered all my strength to turn my head and look behind me—

"--Well!"

I opened my eyes.

What came into view was the ceiling of our temporary hotel room.

"..."

I slowly sat up in bed, my head aching a little. Was it because I couldn't resist having a few drinks last night after scouting the racetrack? I need to reflect on that.

"You're awake, Xiao Ye?"

The door opened, and Haoyue, who had gotten up earlier than me, was wearing an apron and had her hair tied up, looking like a married woman. She was also holding the breakfast she had made for me.

"You and Sin Annihilation- chan worked hard scouting the venue yesterday, come on, this is my lovingly prepared breakfast!"

"Thank you... Oh? Breakfast?"

"That's right! It was me, overflowing with love—"

"What kind of virtuous wife are you pretending to be by using someone else's homemade breakfast?!"

Bang! Suddenly, Xiao Wu appeared and smashed Haoyue on the head with a frying pan. I couldn't help but laugh at their antics.

Everyone looks so energetic! That's great!

The Gray Starling Song Festival begin this evening. Judging from yesterday's investigation, the Extra Weapon should be ready to be unleashed soon. It's time to show our true colors and get ready to pounce!