Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Beyond Expectations

"You've got it, you've really got it, Haoyue Tartaglia!"

Even the Sick Spider couldn't help but admire Haoyue.

"Although I've always harbored resentment towards Ye because of that bastard, I have to admit that thanks to you and me... Anyway, leave those two guys to me!"

Therefore, Haoyue stopped attacking.

"...?"

At that moment, she felt disconnected from the world.

What happened?

What happened?

What am I doing?

Where is this place?

Why am I attacking indiscriminately?

Was the tragedy here my fault?

But what happened?

What happened?

What am I doing?...

What should I do next?

Continue the attack?

Should we call it quits for now?

Why are there words on the retina?

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

So, should we do as instructed?

Continue the attack?

Should we call it quits for now?

Why are there words on the retina?

The content is--...

Something has disappeared.

Those are memories; they still exist, but I just can't recall them.

It's like a chain that's tied in a knot.

Ring of Memory

--?? Disappeared?

What disappeared?

It's probably -- --??

No, don't worry about that.

The question is, what should we do next?

In short, let's try attacking first?

Silver Moon-- Sea Moon Rise--

Now that I'm going to use this skill, what should I do next?

In short, let's try attacking first?

Silver Moon--

Silver Moon... what was that again?

What skills should I use?

Are you still hesitating?

Either one will do, Silver Moon--

In short, let's try attacking first?

Attack--

What exactly...?

What happened? Memories--

Thinking -- Circular --

The Qipao Woman, who had been darting around in the air and randomly throwing out skills, suddenly stopped moving.

Her face contorted as she fell from the sky, clutching her head in pain with both hands.

"The attack has stopped!"

"It's a success!"

Yeah~ Valentina was about to Yu Xun a high five when she was startled by the severe pain in her arm.

"Don't move, Valentina!"

"I'm okay... well, actually I'm not so good, I'm still bleeding..."

"Let's find a secluded space quickly, I'll use Return to Primordial to heal your wounds!"

"But... do you have my original state before I was injured?"

"Yes! When I came to scout the location yesterday, I set 'the entire racetrack from last night' to its initial state! As long as now... ah!"

Yu Xun startled. Indeed, the only thing that preserved "Valentina who was not yet injured" was "the entire racetrack last night." In other words, to heal Valentina and his own injuries, the "entire racetrack" had to be used as the object to return to its original state.

However, one of the major limitations of Yu Xun's ability is that "the place where she returns to her original location must be a space with clear boundaries," which is a closed space in a broad sense.

After Haoyue's rampage, the racetrack is now in a state of near destruction; most of the walls have collapsed, and the condition of "having clear boundaries" is no longer met.

What should we do?

No, in any case, now that Qipao Woman is finally completely subdued, killing her is the most important thing!

Let's inform the Fais sisters first.

"Hello? Tia? It's activated! Tartaglia is now completely unprepared--"

--!?

At this point, Yu Xun a chill run down her spine.

A very ominous premonition spread through her mind.

In less than a second, countless thoughts raced through her mind.

Why?

Even though the troublesome opponent has lost their fighting ability, I still feel uneasy?

Something's not right.

Tartaglia completely blocked out her memories and went on a rampage, attacking relentlessly.

If we let her run wild, we, Valentina, and the two sisters will all be affected.

Therefore, with no time to escape, they had to find a way to suppress Tartaglia.

The best way to achieve this goal is to ask Di Fei'er Fais.

The original target of the "Thought Loop," that young girl, had never shown any threat and had no fighting ability.

So it's okay to remove this shackle from her.

After removing it, it was put back on Tartaglia.

Therefore, the result of doing this is--

Haoyue Tartaglia was unable to recall the past or think forward, and had completely lost the ability to act.

He, Valentina, and the two sisters escaped the frenzied attack.

And,

Incidentally, the young girl was finally freed as well.

It's not a big deal for someone who can't fight to regain their freedom.

But, but...

Who can guarantee with absolute certainty that this young girl truly has no fighting ability?

"...!!!!!!"

As if struck by lightning, Yu Xun's expression changed instantly, and she roared into the small walkie-talkie—

"Stop right Di Fei'er! That little girl is a trap— Di Fei'er!?"

There was no response, only a rustling sound.

"Answer me! Answer me now, you two!"

A new sound mixed in with the rustling sound.

Thump, it sounded like something falling down.

It sounded like liquid being spilled on the ground.

Then it fell silent again.

"No way...?"

(Author's note: My heart aches for Yu Xun and Valentina. They are rare villains with relatively normal personalities and good intelligence, especially Yu Xun. It's a pity they were just one step away from being together.)

Hiss hiss hiss...

Tia felt nothing as the silver thread traced across her body.

She only felt pain when her upper and lower body separated and she rolled limply to the ground.

An irregularly shaped object rolled past her eyes.

That was my sister Di Fei'er's head, but half of it was missing, and blood and brain matter had spilled out.

He died.

This younger sister, who always cursed during their bickering that "it would be better if my older sister just died sooner," died before her.

That's too much.

In that case, isn't it yourself who is forced to endure the pain of loss?

I clearly wanted to get along well, I clearly wanted to be honest with each other, and I clearly thought that we could have a proper talk after this mission was over, but for some reason, as soon as the conversation started, the topic would uncontrollably turn into childish sarcasm.

"Di Fei'er ..."

I regret it so much.

If only everyone knew when they would die.

In that case, there would certainly be far fewer regrets in life.

"I..."

"What do you mean, 'you'? Don't put on a tragic act in front of me!"

Click!

"Phew... all done..."

Outside the racetrack--

The Sick Spider stood before the two sisters' mangled remains—so shattered they could only be described as mangled remains, not corpses—and let out a long sigh of relief.

Once the Thought Loop is broken and the side effects disappear, the Sick Spider unleashes its widest range of hunting silver threads, using the same method: utilizing the sounds of the Extra Weapon "stored" in the silver threads in the form of vibrations to search for matching targets.

Since the audience had already been evacuated, the only people left besides the Sick Spider and Bright Moon were a few Extra Weapon. So the Sick Spider quickly found the twin sisters who had just escaped to the racetrack, and the battle was naturally a swift victory, since they had no close combat ability whatsoever.

"Next... with those two troublesome sources of interference gone, let's quickly turn back and take care of the others we've detected in the arena!"

Besides the two sisters, the Sick Spider also detected other sounds.

For example, the duo who were trembling with Haoyue, including the so-called "Feiser".

Apart from them--

There was also a man panting heavily, whose name seemed to be... Casey?

"Speaking of which, what is Casey's ability?"

"Waaah... cough cough cough..."

Amidst the rubble, Haoyue clutched her head and swayed as she stood up, her consciousness a blur, as if she had inhaled an overdose of hallucinogenic drugs.

(Both rings... should be removed... but this feeling... is it a side effect?)

I feel so dizzy, nauseous, and want to throw up.

The intoxication and confusion one feels when a ring is released is enough to make anyone suffer, let alone when two rings are released simultaneously on Haoyue.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

But at least I'm finally free from that damn negative state.

"Target spotted... Target spotted... Hahahaha..."

These side effects don't seem to last long.

"I'm all alone! I, Casey... have finally... found some lone prey!"

My senses were all in a mess, and I had no idea what was going on around me.

"Anyway, Fisher is just... using me as a pawn... whatever, at least I..."

Running into those two women in this state would be a bit troublesome, but it's okay, the uncomfortable feeling is subsiding, and I'll be fine soon--

"... I'll kill one of them, even if it kills me!!!"

"... ah?"

The moment the confusion in my mind dissipated,

Something appeared in front of me.

That was a man covered in blood, his face contorted with madness.

And the enormous vortex that appeared above his head,

Buzz buzz buzz--

Yu Xun and Valentina were dumbfounded.

They rushed over as soon as they realized the new situation, running towards the spot where the moon had fallen.

Yu Xun was covered in wounds, large and small, while Valentina was still pale and dragging her badly injured arm.

But none of that matters anymore.

This new situation was completely unexpected for both of them.

Due to the side effects of simultaneously releasing the two loops, the Qipao Woman, whose consciousness was not yet clear and who could not accurately grasp the situation,

As well as,

"Target spotted... Target spotted... Hahahaha..."

"I'm all alone! I, Casey... have finally... found some lone prey!"

"Anyway, Fisher is just... using me as a pawn... whatever, at least I..."

"... I'll kill one of them, even if it kills me!!!"

The man, who had survived the attack by the Sin Annihilation, was covered in blood and looked crazed.

The two met by chance.

Then, without warning or any planning, before the Qipao Woman could react normally, Casey Sedria used her powers.

A huge vortex appeared above his head.

Then, he swallowed the Qipao Woman whole.

"Haha... hahaha... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Casey knelt on the ground, laughing maniacally, and the vortex that had swallowed the Qipao Woman slowly closed.

As the vortex closed, Casey's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

He fell into a side effect of using his superpowers—feigning death.

In exchange for being at someone's mercy for less than ten minutes, you can deliver a fatal blow to a single person; it's all worth it.

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Mysterious Reversal