Angel Qian Huanyue

Even though Qian Huanyue had promised not to hurt her, Feiyi Xiang's legs still could not help going a little weak.

"So the Quasi-Spirit who attacked me earlier was a contestant participating in some kind of competition?"

"Mm, yes." Feiyi Xiang replied softly, her voice still carrying a lingering tremor, though she quickly regained her composure. "Quasi-Spirits who accidentally enter this area, even if they have not received an invitation, will be attacked by the contestants here."

Seeing how vast and sparsely populated this place was, Qian Huanyue had always mistaken it for somewhere like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. So she had entered the wrong area?

"But why are you here?" Qian Huanyue keenly caught the flaw in her words, tilting her head slightly. "Could it be that you're a contestant too?"

"...!" Feiyi Xiang shook her head, desperately defending herself. "No, no, no! My best friend was chosen to participate in this. I just wanted to come and take a look... After all, only one person can survive this competition, and the winner obtains the Soul Crystal."

"Maybe I could help her somehow..." Feiyi Xiang gave a somewhat helpless chuckle.

"What an absurd competition." Qian Huanyue frowned.

What was this, some Holy Grail War?

"My, it certainly is." Kurumi frowned as well. Having used [Tenth Bullet] to read this place's past, she had already grasped the situation. "It is rather unpleasant."

"What is a Soul Crystal? Is it something similar to a Spirit Crystal?"

"Huh?! Huanyue doesn't know?" Feiyi Xiang let out a brief cry of surprise before immediately adding,

"A Soul Crystal is equivalent to a Spirit's heart. No, it is the heart! We produce spiritual power from that tiny crystal."

Hearing that, Qian Huanyue lifted her chin and remarked, "It really does sound like a Spirit Crystal."

"And once a Soul Crystal shatters—"

"You die!" Feiyi Xiang said as she drew her index finger across her throat.

"Oh, so it seems to have rules similar to a Spirit Crystal."

"They are probably similar things." Kurumi answered. "As Spirits, ours are more comprehensive and complete."

"Spirits?! Huh? Huh? Huh?!!!" Feiyi Xiang's voice gradually rose, sounding utterly stunned.

"You... are Spirits?!"

Qian Huanyue smiled as if to say, You're so interesting, and leaned closer. "Mm, that's right."

Kurumi snickered as well. The memories conveyed by [Tenth Bullet] had let her understand what the Quasi-Spirit girl before them was currently facing.

If their positions were reversed, and Huanyue had been dragged into a place full of certain death, Kurumi would surely force her way in at all costs, just to avoid leaving behind any regrets.

Those who made friends suffer separation by life and death—were simply the most detestable! Unforgivable!!!

Perhaps because their experiences were somewhat alike and they were on the same wavelength, Kurumi unexpectedly thought of the First Spirit, her thoughts carrying a faint fury.

"So, your Angels...?!" Feiyi Xiang's mouth fell slightly open. "They aren't 'Unnamed' Angels, right??"

Feiyi Xiang's eyes glimmered.

Her heart pounded relentlessly as hope reignited within that faint, tiny expectation.

—The power of Spirits was worlds apart from that of Quasi-Spirits living in the Neighboring World, and Feiyi Xiang truly could feel how different they were from herself.

If she could do her best to meet their demands...

Perhaps they could defeat the "Puppeteer."

Defeat—the cowardly yet arrogant ruler of the Tenth Domain.

If she did not act soon, her dearest friend Xiying, the Xiying who had lately been covered in wounds,

probably truly would not be able to hold on until the very end and obtain the Soul Crystal.

She absolutely could not stand by and watch her friend become nourishment for someone else's growth.

In fact, she had recently been seeking out powerful people, intending to use her "Unnamed" Angel, [King Killing].

It could exchange bodies with a target and directly seize the target's abilities.

When seizing an ability, she would exchange personalities with the other party. Once activated, she herself would become the one being seized. Unless the other party abandoned what they had obtained from her, this state could not be undone.

That was why she had hidden in the grass and carefully observed Qian Huanyue and Kurumi earlier—she had been judging whether they were suitable targets for her ability.

"Hey, hey, hey—" Qian Huanyue leaned close to the daydreaming girl's ear and softly breathed out.

"Eek—" Feiyi Xiang shuddered all over in fright.

From the faint expression Kurumi revealed, Qian Huanyue could already sense the anger in her eyes.

Wanting to befriend this Quasi-Spirit girl while also soothing Kurumi's mood, Qian Huanyue decided to help Feiyi Xiang.

But now, it seemed the other girl had plans of her own as well.

"Need some help, little one?"

At first, Feiyi Xiang had clearly been terrified of her, afraid that she would ruthlessly attack her like the Quasi-Spirit from before.

But now, the words coming from her mouth were like a handful of water offered to someone dying in the desert.

Qian Huanyue's image as a teasing little devil rapidly dispersed like mist. In Feiyi Xiang's eyes, her entire body seemed to be enveloped in holy light, as though she had become an angel.

"...Why?" Feiyi Xiang felt her heart violently tremble. "Why did you choose to help me? I have nothing to do with you. We're complete strangers."

Qian Huanyue lightly tapped her lips with a finger, pretending to think while her mind was actually blank.

In the end, she gave a casual answer, folding her arms and smiling lightly.

"I want to see just how strong I really am—does that count?"

"Oh my." Kurumi looked at Huanyue with her red eyes, unsurprised, a knowing smile curling at the corner of her lips.

After all, this person had always been such a strange "good person."

She was just sometimes too soft-hearted, too kind, and too careless. In certain matters, she was especially prone to suffering losses—something the younger Kurumi clones understood all too deeply.

But Kurumi did not dislike it.

"Huh?!" The surprise on Feiyi Xiang's face deepened.

What a far-fetched reason...

Was she helping her out of pity?

But in a moment of helplessness and powerlessness, someone had extended a hand to her.

At that moment,

Feiyi Xiang felt that the Qian Huanyue before her—was incredibly cool.

"Then let's add one more reason—" Qian Huanyue revealed an incomparably adorable smile. "What if I said I want to be friends with you?"

After all, she was a silver-haired beauty like herself.

And she seemed to have frightened her earlier. If she acted a little gentler now, perhaps she could improve the terrible impression she had left on her?