"Hahaha, is that all? Don't tell me you thought this was enough to—"
Sato Yuno cried and laughed at the same time, clearly not in a beautiful state of mind. Her twisted face smiled as though she could barely breathe. Covering her face with her right hand, she revealed one eye through her fingers and glanced sideways at him.
"You fooled me."
Retreat, retreat, retreat!
Sato Yuno shot backward. Swinging with far more agility than Tarzan, she launched herself away. As lightning burst from his legs, he lunged forward again, his right hand like a black vortex that shredded every obstacle around it—yet it caught only air.
"Huh? Big brother, you really tried to fool me again? See? I didn't fall for it at all, did I?"
Her mocking tone was remarkably good at provoking people. When did you become so nasty?
"Tch."
Fang Jie clicked his tongue irritably. The vines below, like a receding tide, shrank back in all directions. They had no intention of serving as his foothold, leaving him to fall helplessly toward the ground.
So he fell.
The instant he landed, the ground writhed as though it were about to explode.
But nothing followed. Fang Jie merely stood there, the lightning around his legs concealed, and suppressed the turmoil beneath the earth.
Everything was suppressed with unreasonable force. Even just inches away, amid deafening explosions, everything touched by those dragon-and-python-like vines snapped like cucumbers and twisted into grotesque spirals.
A cage was being woven. More vines burst from the ground, mixing countless wreckages and ruins together, grinding and piling them up as they wove an airtight prison that continued to squeeze inward...
"Pop."
After that strange soft sound, it could do nothing.
Because an open left hand stood before the descending cage.
Without Honkai energy supporting them, they were nothing but rotten wood, easily broken with one slash.
Lightning reappeared around his legs, and Fang Jie burst out from the decay.
Unfortunately, when I use this, the energy in the parts of my body acting as the medium nearly comes to a halt as well, cutting off its flow. If I use my whole body as the medium, I can't move at all. I can only use it flexibly in parts.
This meant Fang Jie had to leave intervals between using his ability. A real expert would never miss such openings, which was why he valued developing combat strength that did not rely on instant kills.
Fortunately, Sato Yuno was not an expert.
Well, that was not quite right. She was very strong. Her casual attacks could shake the heavens and earth. Sweeping broadly with overwhelming force, the strangling vines were not something just anyone could withstand, let alone the fact that she could evolve toxic properties.
But her control was indeed rather poor. It lacked finesse, and once her ability failed, she had almost no other options.
"Why are you avoiding me? Stop running!"
He no longer restrained his ferocity. The core would indeed take time to destroy, but these offshoots collapsed at a touch. The balance between offense and defense had changed.
Fang Jie pursued the fleeing Sato Yuno. "I'm here to help you wake up!"
Slash!
With a single blade of sword energy, he could cleave apart everything blocking his path within ten meters, breaking through obstacles as he pursued relentlessly.
"It's useless, useless. You can't catch me. I already understand your ability. It's dangerous, and it hurts, but as long as I don't let you get close, you're no threat at all."
Sato Yuno swung about nimbly. Though she was not as swift as Fang Jie wrapped in lightning, she could still summon vines to continuously hinder his acceleration.
Then time would be on her side!
On the vines that had not joined the obstruction or pursuit, flower buds had appeared at some point. Small white flowers quietly bloomed in the clamorous night, hidden inconspicuously in every corner.
Did she get beaten back to her senses?
Continuing to increase his efforts cautiously, Fang Jie narrowed his eyes. Then Sato Yuno, dressed scantily, suddenly spoke in a sweet voice. "So scary, so scary. A terrifying big brother like you broke into my home, and now I don't even dare go home. Mommy said good children should go home at times like this. How can they stay out all night? So—big brother, you're really bad."
Fang Jie had no response. From Sato Yuno's perspective, he really did not look like a good person.
But he would not get caught up in mental self-torment. This girl was obviously not mentally sound. She had been so withdrawn before, yet now she was so... manic.
The harmful effects brought by Honkai energy were incalculable. He was not qualified to hold back either. If this continued, he could only run away.
"Answer me, big brother?" Sato Yuno continued babbling. "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you like it? You even had the nerve to say you wanted to help me..."
Her tone inexplicably turned furious.
"Liar, it's all lies!"
"You didn't come to help me at all. You never even came to look at me once. You're the murderer!"
"Mommy, ah, Mommy... someone like Mommy must already be dead. After all, she wasn't me. I'm the one chosen by God. She's probably dead, right? It hurts so much, I'm so sad, so miserable. Whenever I think that I'll never see that face again, never hear her scold me just for making the tiniest mistake... I never got the chance to kill her myself!"
"And those people, you saw them too, right? Among the people I... got rid of earlier, there were people I knew. I worked so hard to find them. Good thing you didn't come, or you would have killed them. Isn't that nice? Those people used to think I was quiet, that I was a weirdo. They picked on me everywhere, so I killed them. I couldn't find a lot of them, but that's okay. I'll just kill more."
"Don't you think this new world is wonderful? Those of us chosen by God will overcome this trial. No, not us. Me. You're a liar, a thief, a robber... a trash fish!"
Sato Yuno's sudden outburst left Fang Jie...
"?"
He had finally learned just how absurdly talkative a girl could be, like a machine gun. A clumsy-tongued boy like him really had it rough.
Fang Jie said nothing and continued charging forward.
As long as he got one chance, one chance to touch her, he could increase the force and eventually exhaust her Honkai energy. It would be difficult, but possible.
"Hey, hey, say something. I actually like you quite a bit. Don't mind how very, very, very much I want to kill you. I'm only following God's instructions. I really like you."
Was this the first girl in the new world to confess to him? Fang Jie idly considered it, and she had indeed distracted him.
At that instant, he suddenly felt weak all over. His rapidly moving body swayed, and his speed slowed by several degrees.
Then he suddenly accelerated, chasing Sato Yuno even faster.
I got her!
The light in Sato Yuno's eyes shone brightly. Her other ability, another ability that required time to take effect, had worked!
She could not let him escape. She needed to keep stalling for time...
Provoke him, anger him, wear him down!
"Big brother, unfortunately, my mommy is already dead. What about you? Where's your mommy?"
Fang Jie drew in a deep breath. This was no longer something a friendship punch to the face could wake up.
"My mom isn't in this world."
As though angered, he remained expressionless and suddenly threw a knife.
Cloudpiercer never left his hand, but this was not Cloudpiercer. He had used his trump card.
The whistling blade cut through everything as it flew toward the girl swinging through the air, locking onto her landing point and trajectory.
Sato Yuno was startled. Having relaxed a little, she nearly took the blade head-on. She used the many-handed, many-footed vines to yank herself away, only to... have her abdomen sliced open.
The lingering sword energy tore through flesh and her school uniform, awakening her fear of a sharp blade passing by her body.
She feared pain. She feared it terribly.
She also feared being hurt.
After all, one could not expect someone who relied on her ability to wreak havoc to possess much determination. When a blade drew blood on her, the feeling of strength born from her inflated confidence burst as easily as a pufferfish.
A Herrscher with humanity also possessed human weaknesses.
Her wound healed in an instant. It was undoubtedly cellular reconstruction!
"You... That hurts! My clothes!"
Sato Yuno flew into another rage, but she restrained herself. She did not lose her mind and rush toward Fang Jie, nor did she allow him to get close. She did not even spare a thought for retrieving the knife he had thrown, accelerating away from Fang Jie, who was still charging after her.
Keeping her distance was her way of fighting.
Then she suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, you're angry, you're angry! I'm so sorry. I didn't know you didn't have a mommy. Then what about your daddy?"
"He's not in this world either. Satisfied now?"
Fang Jie was so angry he laughed. He seemed to erupt again, increasing his speed as he tore apart the vines and retrieved Composite Blade: Willow Leaf. He glared viciously at Sato Yuno, looking ready to unleash another blade at any moment.
She became even more cautious and... waited.
Finally, Fang Jie's speed inevitably slowed. He needed more strength to resist the ceaseless vine attacks, became entangled among them, and the cage took shape once more.
This time, Sato Yuno stopped concealing anything. She revealed her hidden trump card. Flowers bloomed inside the cage, scattering highly toxic pollen.
Victory was at hand!
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said such excessive things." Her expression turned apologetic, then suddenly blank. "I was pretending."
"My body... is poisoned? Despicable!" Fang Jie seemed to suddenly realize, letting out the wail of a defeated man.
It was an act.
A sneak attack!
As if he had not been shaken at all, he threw another knife. It pierced through layers upon layers of vines that had not let down their guard—or rather, had cowardly shielded her—but it could not break through her defenses.
It finally halted, its entangling vines transmitting it into a pair of pale hands.
Gripping the knife, Sato Yuno...
Increased the poison.
Fang Jie was not truly at the end of the road yet. He was still devouring God's power.
But he could not escape. This way, she would obtain the immense Honkai energy he had devoured as well. Then she could repay God even better, right?
"You brought this upon yourself, sinner."
Sato Yuno's tone finally returned to her true self. No emotion showed on her face, displaying an unhealthy indifference.
How had she become like this? She did not know.
But after everything changed, she had huddled alone in a corner, trembling. Her gaze was vacant, just as it had been whenever her mother beat her, whenever she was bullied at school, whenever Fang Jie broke into her home. She had not screamed, nor had she fled. She had simply waited in silence.
What was she waiting for? She did not know either.
During that time, she saw Classmate Kiana save Raiden Mei and take that young lady away from Chiyu Academy. She also saw Fang Jie charge into Chiyu Academy, searching everywhere for something.
Watching them, she had thought of asking for help, but... she had been terrified. Before the cry for help she did not dare voice could leave her lips, they had both already gone.
Whether it was Classmate Kiana or Fang Jie, no one had ever cared about her. They left her here among these monsters.
Yes, Classmate Kiana only cared about Raiden Mei, and Fang Jie was not searching for her either.
They had left. They had all left.
No one. There would be no one. Even Mommy... she must already be dead, right?
Only monsters. Monsters...
No, don't!!!!
When she came back to herself, those monsters that had never attacked her, those monsters that had frightened her into trembling, had been torn apart. It was so easy, so simple, so... exhilarating!
She felt power.
This feeling was wonderful.
But why did you come back!
She had clearly gone to that shelter. There had been no one inside. Fang Jie had walked in and simply vanished, so why had he come back?
Kill you, kill you, kill you...
"Finally, I've caught you, bug."
Outside the cage of grass and wood, feeling that the "power" that had no longer been devoured had disappeared, Sato Yuno did not feel happy or exhilarated. But she still had to continue.
Otherwise, what else could she do?
She had already become a monster. She had been chosen by God. She could only...
She raised her head and looked at the gloomy sky. The arena around her had changed shape once again without her noticing. One massive hammer after another, held high by vines, stood ready to strike.
"It's over."
Aiming at the motionless cage, she gave a gentle wave of her hand as though doing crafts.
Smash!
Smash again!
Before you continue