But now that someone was taking care of it for him, he was naturally happy to spare himself the trouble.
So he looked away and aimed the light at his fingertip at Kamishiro Seian once more.
"Two."
The illusory pages behind him rustled as they turned.
The moonlight at his fingertip suddenly blazed brighter.
"Three."
The final number left his lips.
"Hummm-!!!"
Compressed to its utmost limit, the moonlight transformed into a slender yet extraordinarily solid pillar of pure white light, seemingly capable of piercing space and time, and shot forth!
Just as the killing blow was about to strike, Yuejian suddenly gave a quiet exclamation.
The surrounding air rippled violently, like the surface of water into which a stone had been thrown!
At the same time, the boundary between reality and the Sea of Consciousness overlapped in an instant!
Immediately afterward, an enormous dog's head thrust out of it!
It opened its bloody maw and swallowed Kamishiro Seian whole.
The next instant, the dog's head withdrew and vanished.
The distorted space quickly settled, as though the terrifying scene just now had been an illusion.
"Boom-!!!"
Having lost its target, Yuejian's attack struck the mountainside head-on.
The earthshaking roar made the entire rift tremble.
"Tch."
After watching Kamishiro Seian escape his killing blow, Yuejian unequipped the God of the Moon Scroll and opened the romance novel in his hand again.
It wasn't that he couldn't pursue his opponent into the Sea of Consciousness and kill him for good. It was just that he was off the clock now.
Yuejian stretched and said with a hint of complaint:
"This is... exhausting."
"I probably... never want to work overtime again for the rest of my life."
The earthshaking noise from the distant cliff made everyone in Class Eight instinctively look in that direction.
But before they could figure out what had happened, a streak of blood-red light shot toward them from the horizon.
It was so fast that they couldn't make it out until it drew close.
It was an arrow formed from blood!
Its target was precisely locked onto someone in the crowd-
Liuli!
Perhaps because she had overexerted her Echo just now, Liuli stood there in a daze, doing nothing.
In another moment, she would lose her life-
"Liuli, look out-!!"
A startled cry suddenly rang out from the side.
It was Bai Lili!
Bai Lili, who was closest, was the first to act.
Liuli, don't worry! As long as I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you!
The words Bai Lili had just spoken flashed through her mind.
Before she even had time to think, her body had already reacted.
Bai Lili shoved Liuli away hard.
But Bai Lili herself was left completely exposed to the blood arrow.
Liuli fell to the ground and looked up in disbelief at the figure standing in death's path in her place.
She didn't understand.
Why would this girl...
Did she not care about her own life?
They could hardly even be called friends, could they?
In fact, someone like Bai Lili was exactly the type Liuli hated most.
She had been born into a so-called "great family," just like Liuli.
But Bai Lili's childhood seemed to have been steeped in a jar of honey.
That was also directly reflected in Bai Lili's personality-
She was adorably ditzy, gentle, and kind, treating everyone with goodwill, as though she had never seen the darkness of this world.
They had only been at school for two weeks, and Liuli had already seen Bai Lili's parents come to the academy gates to pick her up in person several times.
And every time, undisguised happiness would spread across Bai Lili's face as she rushed into her mother's arms like a bird returning to its nest.
She would act spoiled as much as she liked and chatter away to her family about the little things that had happened that day...
Whenever Liuli saw that scene, she couldn't suppress the sharp pang in her heart, or the malice that made her want to curse Bai Lili.
She didn't understand. Bai Lili was the next generation of a great family and had already been admitted to Echo Academy. She wasn't a child anymore!
How could her parents still dote on her like a flower in a greenhouse?
Weren't all families supposed to be like the Kamishiro Family?
Cold, cruel, and intent on making use of everything.
Weren't all fathers supposed to be like her bastard father?
Treating their children as tools, bargaining chips, and pieces that could be sacrificed at any time.
Why should Bai Lili be the exception?
Why could she have that "happiness," so glaring it made Liuli sick?
Why?!!!
That was why, in this class, Bai Lili was the person Liuli hated most.
Chapter 40: When He Removed His Mask
To Liuli-
Bai Lili was like her exact opposite, the "bright version" she longed for most and yet loathed most deep down.
Although Liuli could always deal with Bai Lili appropriately, wearing that model student's smile, deep down, she had never stopped hating her for a moment.
So why...
At this life-or-death moment, why had the girl she hated most, the one who looked weakest and most in need of protection, rushed out without regard for her life, pushed Liuli aside, and put herself in mortal danger?
Liuli couldn't understand.
She stared blankly at Bai Lili's figure, exposed to the blood arrow.
She saw Bai Lili's face in profile, terrified beyond measure, even frightened to tears.
It was as though something had slammed hard into the high wall she had built in her heart with hatred and false smiles.
Are you... an idiot?
She even wanted to rush over and demand an answer.
If you're so afraid of dying...
Why save someone...
Someone like me, who wants to die?
In that instant just now, when she had faced death, two thoughts had actually risen in Liuli's heart at once, beyond her control.
One was relief-
She could finally bring an end to everything that made her sick.
How wonderful...
The other was a hope that even she felt a little ashamed of-
She really had hoped someone would save her at that moment.
But it shouldn't have been Bai Lili.
That person should have been wearing a pure white mask and a black trench coat.
He would hold her protectively in his arms and deliberately try to sound cool by telling her something like, "The safest place is by my side"-
The kind of utterly chuunibyou line she just couldn't bring herself to hate.
So why was it Bai Lili?
Bai Lili, you really are the person I hate most...
Meanwhile, the barrage was also startled by what it saw:
"Holy shit! A new ship?!"
"No way, people ship these two too?"
"I ship it, I ship it, I ship it!"
"Yuri is the best!!!"
"Bai Lili, don't! If you do this, you'll disappear!!"
"Relax, commenter above~ Don't you understand how reliable Prisoner Ji is yet?"
"With Qiji here, nothing can go wrong (lol)"
Just as the barrage said, Qiji had actually reacted the moment the blood arrow appeared far off on the horizon.
But he had sensed Echo fluctuations far beyond the norm from that blood arrow, and a premonition had vaguely arisen in him-
Even with his "3Max" body, he couldn't withstand this attack through physical strength alone.
After all, this was ultimately a world belonging to Echoers.
Echoes were the most powerful force in this world.
The body had its limits!
So the instant the blood arrow appeared, Qiji raised one hand without hesitation and placed it directly over his mask.
When in doubt-
[Blurring of Illusion and Reality]!
But just as he made his move, Bai Lili pushed Liuli aside.
Qiji froze for a moment, but had no time to dwell on it.
He immediately flashed forward and swept Bai Lili into his arms. She had lost her balance after using all her strength to push Liuli away!
A soft, warm body fell into his arms, carrying a young woman's distinctive fragrance and trembling slightly with fear.
In the blink of an eye, the blood arrow arrived!
It came with a piercing whistle that tore through the air and a terrifying pressure that distorted space!