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

In a certain tunnel--

"Let's retreat for now..."

"I thought we had it in the bag, but this unexpected thing happened!"

"Damn it! "Valentina, who had just come out of the marbles, slammed her fist against the wall. Yu Xun sighed and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't be discouraged, we haven't lost yet. The Memory Loop is still effective, and its effectiveness will only grow stronger."

"But she had words carved on her body! So—"

"--In that case, it won't have any impact! The fact that 'the message is engraved on her body' will be gradually forgotten by her. From 'coming back to her senses and not knowing anything' to 'discovering the message on her body' to 'understanding its contents and taking action,' it will take at least a few seconds. During this gap, she cannot confirm our threat from her memory and can only rely on instinct to defend against our attacks!"

"Ah... that's true..."

"Your marbles are relatively easy to detect, but my 'Return to the Origin' takes time from start to finish before it's discovered! At worst, I'll increase the burden on myself and forcibly speed up the process of her limbs disappearing. That way, even if I can't defeat her, I can at least weaken her!"

"Let's do it this way! First—"

Rumble... Splash...

"Wait, what's that sound?"

Rumble rumble rumble... Swish swish swish--

"The sound of vibration and... water...?"

"Oh no, run!!!"

The moment they ran away, a surging wave of silvery-white light destroyed the top of the tunnel, completely filling the spot where they had just stood! The wave of light appeared beautiful, but the power it contained was beyond imagination!

"What is this?! Tartaglia's attack?"

"It must be! How could she—"

Valentina gritted her teeth and collected all the approaching light waves into the marbles, but this was only a drop in the bucket. After resisting for a few seconds, the two had no choice but to flee along the passage!

Something new has appeared.

A golden spear of light suddenly pierced through the top of the passage and landed right in front of them, almost piercing Yu Xun through the heart!

How did she know where we were?!

"No, it's not that I know, but rather..."

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh! More and more bayonets pierced through the thick concrete top, sticking out haphazardly into the ground.

"... She had no idea where we were; she was just attacking randomly!"

(Attack, attack, attack!)

"Silver Moon - Moonstorm!"

The shattered silver-white runes transformed into an indestructible storm of light, tearing apart the entire audience seating area like a ferocious beast in the procession! Scattered fragments danced in the air, some even scratching her, but she paid no heed!

(Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't think about anything else! And don't recall anything!)

"Void Moon Blade! Moonquake! Moon Wheel Spear!!!"

A massive blade of light cleaved through the roof, silvery shockwaves shook the earth, and a torrential downpour of Light Gun pierced the ground. The enormous racetrack was instantly reduced to a mangled mess.

(Don't worry about accuracy, don't worry about what you're hitting, just don't stop the attack!)

"Moonbow! Thunderous Moon!"

With the two powerful attacks, the massive Moon Rainbow, like an inverted Milky Way, instantly crushed half of the racetrack, while the golden lightning descending from the sky directly blasted through the foundation.

(Wait--What am I doing? Why am I doing this--)

Coming to my senses, a question suddenly arose: What was I doing? Why was I launching such an inefficient, indiscriminate attack? What exactly had just happened?

"Ah..."

I saw the words.

It wasn't the Blood Script on the body, but on the eyes.

The clear, cold light adhered to the retina, forming tiny, intricate characters.

The message was. "Don't recall, don't stop attacking, kill anyone you see."

The technique of directly attaching light to the retina is unique to Haoyue, meaning that only the person who left these words can be themselves, leaving extremely important information from their past self to their present self.

Should we do as instructed?

Of course, you should do as instructed.

This had nothing to do with memory; it was as if a voice, an instinct, was constantly urging her on.

Keep attacking!

"Lightning Spirit Moon!"

Rumble rumble rumble rumble!!!

"That bastard, that bastard! He actually pulled this stunt!!!"

Valentina screamed frantically as she tried to use her compressed space to block the falling concrete blocks and steel bars, but even so, she still suffered numerous abrasions and scratches all over her body!

"Can you still put us into the compressed space?"

"It's possible, but we could still be buried alive inside a marble! We'd be trapped and unable to get out!"

"Then get to the ground quickly! Staying here will only get you crushed to death sooner or later!"

"Good--"

Valentina used her spatial manipulation technique to create countless holes in the still-intact ceiling above them, propelling them towards the surface at top speed! Finally, they saw the racetrack and the night sky. They watched as a colossal wave of light swept past beneath them, destroying the entire underground passage, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, a huge golden moonbow crashed down less than ten meters away from them.

"..."

Half of the racetrack floor collapsed, cleanly and efficiently.

The Qipao Woman darted about in the sky on light, unleashing her skills in every direction within sight.

"... Why do I feel like it's more dangerous on the ground?"

"Same here... Lie down!"

Three or four enormous blades of light simultaneously slashed across their heads, the terrifying shockwaves almost ripping their scalps off! Valentina screamed in agony as the aftershocks of the blades grazed her side, tearing a large chunk of flesh from her shoulder to her fingertips, revealing the stark white bone beneath the bloody, mangled flesh!

"Valentina!!!"

"I... I... hurry, have the Fais sisters completely shut her down! If she continues to act so recklessly, everyone will die!"

"That woman is completely insane! She's even more annoying than my sister!"

"You're the only one more annoying than me! She—tsk!"

Two sisters who look exactly alike, except for the length of their hair, are frantically fleeing for their lives, as beams of light sweep around them, getting closer and closer!

"My dear sister, can't you offer yourself in exchange for my life?"

"Why aren't you going, you idiot sister! Go die!"

While bickering, the Fais sisters lifted their skirts and ran as fast as they could along the passage closest to the outermost wall. They could no longer stay in this racetrack and had to leave the safe position they had been holding for hours to find a way to escape!

"We did underestimate our enemy! Whether in life or in battle, people often have to 'recall the past' to understand the present situation by confirming their memories. In other words, 'frequent recall' is one of the human instincts!"

"But she completely 'blocked out' her memories! She completely severed herself from the past, focusing solely on 'thinking forward regardless of the consequences'! It sounds simple, but it's the first time I've ever seen someone who can do that completely!"

"What should we do?"

Beep beep beep...

The small walkie-talkies (Julia products) hanging on their ears suddenly rang; it was Yu Xun.

"Yu Xun? What's wrong?"

"What are you two doing?! That woman is going crazy everywhere, quickly find a way to subdue her!"

"She has completely rejected memories, and if she insists on doing so, there's nothing we can do, unless—ah!"

The older sister, Tia, suddenly paused and looked at her younger sister, Di Fei'er had clearly thought of it as well.

"Hey, Yu Xun, are you saying... we should use our abilities on her 'at the same time'?"

That would definitely work.

The "Memory Loop" blocks a person's ability to retrieve memories, while the "Thought Loop" blocks a person's ability to consider future actions.

If it is applied to one person at the same time, it is equivalent to blocking both their path forward and their path back. Not to mention Haoyue, even if a high-ranking person is hit by two rings at the same time, they will completely lose all ability to act.

"It definitely works... although I've never tried it before."

It's unnecessary. Usually, a person is already at the mercy of others after being hit by just one ring debuff. There's no need to apply two debuffs to one person at the same time; that would be a waste.

But in that case--

"Di Fei'er, your 'Thought Loop' is working on that young girl, isn't it?"

"Yes! It only applies to one object at a time. If you want to change the object, you have to cancel the original one!"

In that case, the young girl would be free.

The information is blank; she's a black-haired little girl of unknown origin who has never launched an attack, only running around. It's unclear whether she has any special abilities. The reason for putting a debuff on her is out of caution, to ensure nothing goes wrong.

But after observing for so long, the little girl never showed the slightest threat; she was just... a little follower running around in circles in a panic.

If it's confirmed that she poses no threat, then using the Thought Loop on her would be a waste.

And now, with Haoyue Tartaglia going on a rampage—

"Understood, understood! I'll immediately dispel the Thought Loop and apply it to Tartaglia instead!"

"--!?"

The Sick Spider, which had been hiding at the base of the outer wall, felt a chill run down its spine.

"Snap"—it sounded like something had come loose somewhere in my brain.

In that instant, the headache intensified, and the Sick Spider's consciousness completely sank into a state of confusion, as if she had inhaled a large amount of hallucinogenic drugs. The sudden intoxication made her unsteady on her feet, her legs gave way, and she fell to the ground, her whole body trembling.

But this was merely a side effect of breaking the Thought Loop; this state lasted for less than twenty seconds.

After the side effects disappeared, her consciousness became incredibly clear, and all the previous pain seemed like a lie.

"... It's off? Really off? It worked!?"

The Sick Spider was immediately overjoyed. She started thinking, her mind wandering to all sorts of random things—Ye's breasts, Haoyue's hips, Xiao Wu's legs, and so on. No matter how her thoughts progressed, there was no sign of her "circling back to the starting point"!

"Yay!!!!" she couldn't help but raise her arms and shout.

But she immediately remembered the task she was assigned.

"Alright, alright, leave the rest to me. Those two bastards who were hiding in the shadows and playing tricks on others!"

Countless silver threads shot out from her hands, scattering along the ground and walls in all directions, and began voiceprint comparison using the still-recorded "sound vibrations".

In her hand she held the piece of cloth with the Blood Script on it, Haoyue's.

"Continue to pretend you're completely incapable of fighting. If the mental loop is broken, immediately use your threads to find and kill the opponent!"