"Because you're Lin Yue. It's as simple as that."
"No matter how well you disguise yourself, I can still sense those unconscious little gestures you make behind the scenes."
Chen Xi gripped Sovereign's Wrath with both hands. "You never intended to kill me. Otherwise, you could've done it as soon as you detonated the threads."
"Perhaps." Lin Yue dispelled her shadow armor, revealing her true appearance.
Her face was expressionless, giving nothing away.
"Once you kill the me that exists now, the foolish version of me will return. 'Erosion'—the negative curse you were expecting—will also be reset to zero."
"The curse on my status panel changes into a new one every time I regress."
"Once my Erosion State reaches its limit, I'll return to this state again."
Chen Xi pondered for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Will you remember this regression the next time you go back in time?"
"Of course. It's just that these memories will be distorted and blurred from the park onward," Lin Yue replied in a low voice.
"She'll probably only remember that, for some reason, she stabbed you at the end."
"And some actions that clearly go against her will will be censored, too."
The blonde girl spread her hands. "But what's the point? There's no way you could accept a monster like me anymore, right?"
"Even if you kill me this time, I'll hide away, and during some future loop, while we're happily celebrating..."
"I'll kill you."
The night was pitch-black, and the blonde girl's eyes were captivating.
A faint smile tugged at Chen Xi's lips. "All talk."
"You!" Lin Yue frowned, her voice urgent.
Chen Xi raised Sovereign's Wrath high. A torrent of water unlike any she had summoned before gathered in her palm. "After all that, what you really want to