Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 557: The Nameless Actor

"Ah..."

I'm still rising.

"Aaaaaah..."

The missile is about to explode.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

But this time it's different.

Strength!

Power surges within me!

The scorching heat of Blood Flame!

The Blood Beast's chance of survival!

Enhanced physique!

This is exactly what I want!!!

Boom!!!!

A deafening roar echoed through the sky. The explosion caused by this missile far exceeded its apparent size. Could this be a case of appearances not being everything? But in any case—it didn't matter anymore, it didn't matter at all. The instantaneous high temperature, the shock of the explosion, the torn outer shell—everything seemed so fragile!

Have I regained my strength? No, not yet. This feeling is probably... equivalent to when I first left the Central United Academy and arrived in the West Saint Continent.

That is equivalent to the level of Special Class Combatant in an organization.

As for Julia's combat strength... based on my current feeling, she should be at the level of Special Class Combatant, but because of the attribute bonus of being a mechanical girl and a mad scientist, it's hard to be sure.

But no matter what, I now have the strength to fight!

"Flame Wings!"

Thick blood gushed from his back, transforming into surging Blood Flame that formed a pair of dazzling, enormous Flame Wings. It was a move he hadn't used properly in a long time, and he truly missed it.

So, what needs to be done now is--

"Get ready, Julia, I'm going to beat you so badly you'll be spitting oil everywhere!"

Whoosh--!!!

"Haa... haa... I... what... is it...?"

Haoyue, panting heavily, frowned as she looked at the silver-white runes covering her entire body.

She didn't remember when she used the Healing Moon technique, nor did she know when these rapidly healing wounds had appeared. She only remembered that she had just been lying on the ground, and that a casual strike had possessed immense power, seemingly restoring a significant amount of her strength. Then she realized she was seriously injured, so she used the Healing Moon technique, which resulted in her collapsing to the ground. Her casual strike had possessed tremendous power, and her strength seemed to have recovered considerably...

... Huh? Why did my thoughts keep circling back to the same point?

But who exactly are these two unfamiliar women in front of me...?

"..."

Haoyue stared warily at the woman with purple-blue hair and the woman with black hair.

His eyes were like those of a wild beast, ready to devour anyone at any moment.

"You..."

"Are you Miss Haoyue Tartaglia? You didn't escape either?"

Just as she was wondering, the older woman with purple-blue hair suddenly came up to her. At first, she looked very anxious and panicked, but when she saw Haoyue, her face lit up with joy. However, she was startled when she saw the bloodstains all over Haoyue's body.

"My God! How come you're covered in so much blood!"

"I'd also like to know... who are you?"

"My name is Philasel, and she is my friend--"

The blue-haired woman who called herself "Philasel" pulled her black-haired companion along.

"--Her name is Valanna. We came to see the concert, but we ended up running into this huge mess!"

The dark-haired woman, known as "Valanna," bowed somewhat awkwardly, seemingly hesitant to meet Haoyue's gaze, but continued to nod as Philasel explained.

"'Such a big deal'? You mean...?"

Haoyue looked around. The once beautifully constructed racetrack was now a mess. It should have been perfectly smooth when she first arrived. Back then, she and Xiao Ye were in the lounge when they saw the smooth racetrack, and then they rested in the lounge Xiao Ye...

"... Tsk!"

Haoyue shook her head, forcibly cutting off her memories.

"What's wrong, Miss Haoyue?"

"Nothing... Tell me quickly, what happened?"

"Hey hey hey~~ Miss Haoyue, don't you know? It's a terrorist attack! A terrorist attack!"

... terrorist attack?

"Valanna and I were really looking forward to seeing Nighteluveitie's performance, but suddenly there was a really scary explosion coming from backstage!"

"That's right... the broadcast said there was a terrorist attack, so everyone panicked and evacuated. Unfortunately, Philasel and I were pushed to the back and ended up being left behind!"

Valanna added that she seemed to have lost the nervousness she felt when she first met Haoyue, but her tone was still a little flustered. Was it because she was afraid of falling behind and being caught up in a terrorist attack?

"You guys really have worked hard..."

Haoyue casually agreed, but a sense of unease rose in her heart.

Yes, something felt off. For some reason, she felt that all of this was a little unnatural, but now that her memories were becoming strange, she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.

Damn it... I can't remember anything.

(Don't be nervous, Valentina...)

(I know, thankfully you reacted quickly...)

Valentina's heart was pounding, though she pretended to be quite calm on the surface.

Yu Xun, on the other hand, was much more natural. Her performance of "being terrified by a terrorist attack and running around when she suddenly bumped into her favorite celebrity" was flawless, with no trace of a mistake.

When Haoyue's light strike destroyed one side of the racetrack wall, Valentina immediately understood—Ye's group had accumulated enough funds to reach a certain level, and Haoyue's strength had recovered considerably.

At that moment, her first instinct was to randomly drop a few marbles and then run as far away as possible. Although the Memory Loop was still active, and Haoyue still couldn't recognize them, who could guarantee what Haoyue, with her greatly increased strength, might do?

However, Yu Xun stopped her.

After giving herself a wink, Yu Xun began her performance, and Valentina quickly realized what was going on. She had to admire Yu Xun's strong ability to adapt to changing circumstances; if they had attacked immediately or run away, Haoyue would have known that "these two are enemies."

Her powerful strike now would be enough to kill them.

So Yu Xun used the Memory Loop to make the two of them pretend to be innocent victims. Although Hao Yue's eyes were still full of suspicion, at least she did not launch an attack immediately.

Let's keep acting, let's keep acting.

Don't reveal any weaknesses. Seize the moment when Haoyue lowers his guard and strike decisively!

(Author: Yu Xun, this year's Oscars, Golden Globes, Golden Bears, Palme d'Or, and Best Actor awards are all yours!)

No matter what you try to recall, you will get no results; only fragmented memories will form a ring.

No, I need to write this down.

The previous attempts all showed that she "could not recall" anything outside the ring.

In other words, her conclusion that "fragmented memories form a ring" could be forgotten at any time, leaving her completely confused again.

I need to write it down, but there's no paper or pen. In that case...

(I guess I'll just have to carve it on my body, there's no other way...)

With a wave of her hand, a beam of moonlight condensed into a thin needle. She looked at her own body—

"Ah..."

The black-haired woman suddenly let out a soft "Ah!" Although it was a very soft sound, Haoyue's keen hearing still picked it up.

"How?"

"I'm sorry... but I was startled when I saw you holding the needle as if you were about to prick yourself..."

"..."

Haoyue didn't reply. In the shortest amount of time, she decided where she wanted it engraved on her body.

But,

(... There are already words?)

There were Blood Script on her leg.

Because the serious injuries were mainly the pierced side of the upper body, the torn arm, and the shattered right leg, Haoyue's healing runes mainly covered those areas. Only the faint silver light emitted was gently nourishing the minor injury in the middle of the leg, which was recovering more slowly.

On the middle of the thigh, there was a line of Blood Script that were almost completely healed and barely visible.

"The Memory Loop"

Upon closer inspection, there were also Blood Script on the knee that were about to heal.

Don't try to remember.

This is exactly the conclusion I just reached.

So that's how it is. I've done something similar before, which is to use my body as a memo pad.

...? Wait a moment.

I felt there was something off about the black-haired woman's "Ah" earlier.

The timing was too perfect; just as Haoyue was looking at her body, the black-haired woman spoke up.

Is it really as she said, because "I was startled when I saw you holding a needle as if you were going to prick yourself"?

Or perhaps... because she was afraid of seeing the Blood Script carved on her leg, that's why she...

"Whispering sound--!!"

The moonlight needle pierced the newly grown sword-wielding arm! A line of large, conspicuous characters was instantly inscribed—

"Black-haired woman and purple-blue-haired woman"

"Ugh, I really am. Why didn't I just cut it the moment I felt something was off? Why make it so complicated!"

"Wait, Miss Haoyue, you've misunderstood—"

"Enough with the nonsense, Jin Yue!"

Runes instantly appeared on the Golden Moon Wheel Spear, bursting forth with incredibly sharp spears of light! Seeing their performance exposed, Yu Xun and Valentina realized the situation was dire and turned to flee—

"--Well?"

Haoyue's gaze suddenly became blank. She looked at the light spikes with a puzzled expression, muttering, "Strange, what was I... about to do? What are they...?"

At the crucial moment, the Memory Loop kicked in! Taking advantage of the instant Haoyue's attention was distracted, Valentina immediately deployed her compressed space to envelop the two of them. "Acting" was definitely out of the question, because Haoyue had already carved "Black-haired Woman and Purple-blue-haired Woman" on her arm.

With the word "kill" on it, their lies will be exposed immediately!

The spear of light slashed through the air, but the two had already been encased in marbles and escaped, their whereabouts unknown.

At the last second, Haoyue caught a glimpse of the words carved on her arm and immediately launched an attack, but it was still a beat too late.

She then looked at her thighs.

"Of memory, circular..."

Have I been afflicted with such a supernatural power?

As long as this incredibly annoying negative state persists, she will never be able to fight normally. Although carving words on her body can help her to some extent, it's impossible for her to kill those two people with that alone.

We absolutely have to find and eliminate the guy who put himself in this negative state.

"Find out the people who are interfering with you"

"Kill"—Haoyue thought to herself as the light needles carved new Blood Script into her body. She had to record them constantly, because she didn't know when she would "forget" her current thoughts. She didn't care about this level of pain at all; the crimson blood adorned her fair skin, both cruel and alluring.

"I can't do this alone; I need help..."

With a single swing of her sword, Haoyue cleaved the entire audience seating area in two with a beam of light. She leaped down through the massive crack and entered the backstage area.

Then—I bumped into someone.

"Huh?" "Eh?"

Haoyue and the Sick Spider, who had stumbled and fallen to this spot, stared at each other, wide-eyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, finally a turning point has arrived!

The battle with the Extra Weapon has four major twists. The first is that Sin Annihilation suddenly appears to take the kill; the second is that the funds from the previous chapter have been accumulated; the third and fourth... whew whew, they're almost here!