No, no, I can't!
Damn heart! Stop beating already!
No, wait, no, no, no...
If my heart stopped beating, I'd die, wouldn't I?
Anyway... please, just slow down!
Don't let him hear it! Don't let anyone notice!!
Bai Lili's mind was in chaos, and her face was so hot she could almost have fried an egg on it.
She rested stiffly in Qiji's arms, not daring to move a muscle for fear he would notice her pounding heartbeat.
The blood arrow struck!
It felt like a long time had passed, but it had all happened in an instant.
Qiji had no idea what kind of drama was playing out in the mind of the girl in his arms at that moment.
He knew only that he had to activate the mask's ability as quickly as possible to save her.
[Blurring of Illusion and Reality]!
This was an Echo engraved on the mask. It allowed the wearer to enter a state of superposition, "both existing and not existing," for a very short time, thereby evading the vast majority of attacks.
It was extremely useful, and the first way Qiji thought of to save the girl was to use it.
But [Blurring of Illusion and Reality] also had a restriction: only someone wearing the mask could activate and use it.
So he split the mask in two.
He pressed the lower half of the mask against Bai Lili's face, covering the girl's small chin and soft lips.
Qiji's action left Bai Lili stunned for a moment.
The mask felt cool against her skin, its inner surface fitting snugly against her face. It even seemed to carry a faint, pleasant scent that belonged to Qiji...
The preparations for the technique were complete!
Without the slightest hesitation, Qiji activated the Echo!
[Blurring of Illusion and Reality]!
Twice in succession!
Once on himself, wearing the upper half of the mask.
And once on Bai Lili in his arms, through the lower half of the mask touching her.
Almost the instant Qiji activated the ability, the immensely powerful blood arrow pierced them both!
"Watch out――!!"
"No――!!"
Cries of alarm, screams, and desperate shouts rang out one after another!
Everyone watched as the blood arrow that meant death passed unimpeded through Qiji's back and then through Bai Lili's chest in his arms!
Then, without losing momentum, it slammed into the ground behind them!
"Boom――!!!"
The earth shook and the mountains trembled! Dust and smoke shot into the sky!
The hard ground was blasted open, leaving a pit several meters wide and so deep its bottom could not be seen. Spiderweb-like cracks spread in every direction!
A violent blast of air, mixed with broken rocks and dirt, sent the people standing a little closer stumbling backward.
Was it over?
Please, no...
Setsuna shut her eyes, unable to watch. Huomu anxiously rushed forward, while Liuli dug the fingertips she had braced against the ground into it.
Chapter 42: The Girl's Blush Says It All
However――
The next second.
A breeze blew the dust and smoke away.
Two figures reappeared, completely unharmed.
Everyone was stunned at first, then collectively breathed a sigh of relief, a wild joy of thank goodness rising in their hearts.
Qiji was still holding Bai Lili in his arms, his back to the others. Only the hem of his white shirt was slightly dirty.
It was as though that world-shattering strike just now had been an illusion.
And Bai Lili, in his arms, was safe and sound too.
But on the girl's face...
There was something new.
Only then did everyone notice in surprise――
Why was Bai Lili wearing Qiji's mask?!
Even if it was only half of it.
The half-mask, pure white, covered the girl's small chin and lips, leaving visible a pair of misty eyes, wide with shock and shyness.
"..."
A strange silence fell over the scene.
Immediately afterward, endless curiosity erupted, impossible to suppress!
At this point, no one cared how Qiji had saved Bai Lili from the blood arrow that possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth.
After all, he was Qiji!
Was there anything he couldn't do?
Although a moment ago, everyone had been worried sick...
In any case, countless questions and a blazing fire of gossip suddenly filled everyone's minds――
Wow, wow, wow! Qiji's mask... can actually come apart?!
In other words, doesn't that mean Qiji now has... half his face exposed?!
What... does his face actually look like?
I'm so curious!
I want to see, I want to see, I want to see!!!
Wait! Why is Bai Lili's face... so red?!
Yeah! It's ridiculously red! She looks like a boiled shrimp!
Could it be... she saw Qiji's face without the mask, and he was so handsome that she blushed and her heart raced, and now she can't get enough?!
Damn it... Qiji has his back to us. Right now, only Bai Lili, in his arms, can see his face!
Ahhh, I'm so envious! So jealous!
That's not fair! Let me see too!!!
Just as everyone was itching to circle around to Qiji's front and satisfy their curiosity――
In the next moment, Qiji put his mask back on.
The curious onlookers all groaned in dismay.
After saving Bai Lili, Qiji looked in the direction the blood arrow had come from. Once he confirmed that no threatening aura was coming from that direction anymore――
He reached out, making to take back his mask.
But as soon as his hand touched the edge of the mask, Bai Lili's body trembled slightly, as though she had received an electric shock.
Then, unexpectedly, she also raised her hand and pressed it against the mask, seemingly without thinking.
As if she didn't want Qiji to take the mask away...
The girl's unconscious action left them both stunned for a moment.
Qiji: "?"
Only when Qiji applied a little force did Bai Lili seem to snap out of some sort of daze.
"S-sorry!!"
The girl quickly let go as if she had been burned, the blush on her cheeks spreading to her neck in an instant.
For a moment, she was so embarrassed she wanted to die, unable to understand what had come over her.
Did I actually want to keep Qiji's mask for myself?!
What are you thinking, Bai Lili?!
Qiji simply assumed she had been badly frightened. He smiled and thought nothing of it.
He removed the mask from Bai Lili's face, his fingers inevitably brushing lightly against the girl's burning cheek once more.
"Mm..." Bai Lili trembled all over and let out a barely audible whimper.
Qiji put the lower half of the mask back on his face.
With a "click," the two halves joined seamlessly.
The pure white mask covered his entire handsome face once again.
The moment he put the mask back on, Qiji could clearly feel that [Lie], "become the perfect version of oneself," engraved on the mask, was still in effect and had not been interrupted.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Sure enough, taking off only half the mask did not count as interrupting [Lie].
Otherwise, he would have had to have a good talk with Young Miss Bai about how she should compensate him for his losses.
To save Bai Lili, Qiji had gambled on the risk that his "looks might develop a slight flaw."
It was probably the sort of thing where his looks, originally a perfect 100 out of 100, had a chance of dropping to 99.9991.
Although the impact wasn't great, Qiji was a perfectionist, after all.
Fortunately, he had won the gamble once again.
And in a little over half a month, his [Lie] passive would reach its full effect.
When that time came, the most handsome man in the entire anime would take off his mask and make a grand entrance!
Just thinking about it, Qiji was already having a little trouble keeping the corners of his mouth from turning up.
Who could understand the feeling of having a face so handsome even the gods would feel inferior, yet wearing a mask all day? It was like walking around in fine clothes at night.
Qiji's act of taking off his mask just now had shocked not only the people at the scene; the viewers in front of their screens were even more excited, flooding the screen with comments.
The volume of bullet comments reached its highest peak since the broadcast began:
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!! Could it be happening today?!"
"Let me see!!!"
"Huh? He's only taking off half the mask? I can live with that!"
"Wait! Why aren't they showing us a shot of Prisoner Ji's face?!"
"Close-up! We want a close-up!"