The two of them talked as they made their way deeper into the medical examination room.
Xiao Yi was already tightly bound to the bed, struggling helplessly as Monice, eyes gleaming with a fierce light, examined her thoroughly.
After completing a series of tests, Monice came to a conclusion.
“Definitely not human, but very similar to humans. I even suspect she is a species that evolved alongside us on this planet.” Holding a fresh batch of test reports, Monice shared the results with Luo Xiangyue and Xia Mo.
Xiao Yi had many ambiguous traits that resembled humans.
At first glance, they appeared almost the same, but once you peeled back the skin and looked deeper, the differences became clear immediately.
She was definitely not human but a mysterious, highly intelligent life form. Calling her an alien was no exaggeration.
“But why would an alien look human?” Xia Mo looked at Xiao Yi lying on the bed with a completely despondent expression and asked, filled with confusion.
Although Xia Mo didn’t know much about such matters, she found it utterly strange that aliens would look almost exactly like humans.
Xia Mo never thought there was anything particularly special about humans and assumed that if intelligent life existed on other planets, those beings would most likely not look human.
But Xiao Yi’s appearance shattered that notion.
The fact that intelligent life from another planet looked almost identical to humans was simply bizarre.
“I don’t know. Maybe there’s some deeper, more unfathomable reason behind it,” Monice shook her head.
“A long time ago, scientists might have debated what this meant — whether humans were created by other life forms and where those beings were.”
“But humans today don’t have the luxury to argue about that. Surviving and eliminating Demons is what matters most.”
The appearance of an alien, especially one that could communicate, was a huge blessing for humanity.
‘Humans were no longer fighting alone. In the vast, infinite cosmos, countless lives could exist — potential allies!’
“Her current mental state is unstable. I’ll arrange for professionals to come and help calm her down. For now, she’ll stay here,” Monice said to Xia Mo.
“You can report this to the Magic Department, but I’m not letting this person go.”
“Alright, it’s getting late. Mingdie, see the guests out.”
With that, Monice impatiently waved her hand, signaling Luo Shuangyue to escort Xia Mo away.
From her attitude, it seemed Monice had no intention of turning Xiao Yi into alien meat for dumplings anytime soon.
Covering Xia Mo’s eyes once again, Luo Shuangyue led her out of the Eternal Night Base. After circling east and west a couple of times, they flew back to their home.
“Want to come in for a bit?” Standing at the door, Xia Mo smiled sweetly at Luo Xiangyue, her expression laced with warmth and invitation.
“Shuang Xing should already be asleep; she won’t know you stayed out late.”
There was no need for Xia Mo to say what this meant explicitly.
“Come in for a bit?” Once inside, Luo Shuangyue would probably be tied to the bed by Xia Mo, waiting for the sun to shine on her backside before she could get up.
“No, no.” Luo Shuangyue immediately crossed her arms emphatically.
Even though Xia Mo had tried to seduce her many times, she still couldn’t fully get used to this kind of life.
Sleeping in the same bed as the girl she liked, as a girl herself, was something Luo Shuangyue needed time to adjust to.
Seeing Luo Shuangyue decline her invitation, Xia Mo didn’t insist but sighed with regret and gently closed the door.
“Sigh…” Luo Shuangyue let out a breath of relief and opened the door next door.
The room was completely silent, not a sound to be heard. Luo Shuangxing seemed to have already finished washing and gone to bed.
Thinking so, Luo Shuangyue slipped off her shoes quietly and returned to her own room.
It was late, so she decided not to disturb her sister with a shower and would wash up the next morning instead.
With this in mind, she began changing into her pajamas. As she took off her outerwear, a pendant slipped from her pocket and fell onto the floor.
Hmm? Luo Shuangyue looked at the pendant on the floor. No wonder she felt something was off earlier. This was the problem.
She was supposed to give this pendant to Monice as well but had forgotten in the rush to send people away!
What to do? Fly back and give it to Monice now?
The thought flashed in Luo Shuangyue’s mind briefly but was quickly dismissed. It was too late, and she didn’t want to make the trip now.
It could wait until tomorrow.
Picking up the pendant, she placed it on the bedside table, changed into her pajamas, snuggled into bed, and closed her eyes to sleep.
She didn’t notice that after her breathing calmed, a faint wisp of black smoke drifted out from the pendant on her bedside table, slowly seeping into her body.
“Yijie, I’ve found you~”
When Luo Shuangyue regained consciousness, she found herself standing amid ruins.
Several enormous beasts, so large they seemed to blot out the sky, spewed streams of pitch-black Demon energy, destroying everything on the ground.
Screaming people fled around her, while a few blurry figures in golden uniforms stood beside her, shouting something urgently.
Something like “Hurry and leave?”
“You only think about yourself~”
“You abandoned everyone, trading their lives for your own fragile survival. Sister, you truly are…”
A faint, small figure emerged from the fierce explosions.
She slowly approached Luo Shuangyue and cupped her face with both hands.
This girl looked a lot like Xiao Yi, except her body seemed partially assimilated by Demons.
Black threads sprouted from her ears, and bulging veins—typical signs of a modified human—appeared on her skin.
There was intense conflict between her body and Demon energy.
“Um… are you sure you have the right person? I’m not Yi, and my sister doesn’t look like you,” Luo Shuangyue raised her hand and grabbed the girl’s wrist, her voice filled with helplessness.
“Eh?” The girl was stunned by Luo Shuangyue’s reaction. Her unfocused blue eyes stared at her for a long moment before hesitantly coming to a conclusion.
It seemed… she had made a mistake?
Crack!
At the same time, the space beside her suddenly tore open. Several thorn-covered black vines slithered out like snakes, binding her tightly.
A mass of black mist poured in through the rift. Seeing the colossal beasts above, the mist cheered happily and pounced on them, devouring the monsters completely in the blink of an eye.
With those creatures gone, the space began to collapse rapidly.
In what felt like a moment, everything before Luo Shuangyue vanished, and she returned to a familiar place deep in her consciousness—a small house.
Calling it a small house wasn’t quite right.
Thanks to persistent power theft over the past few days, Phantom Thorn had transformed the original small house into a sizable manor.
Now, several of them sat in the garden of the manor, with several steaming cups of black tea placed before them.
Phantom Thorn, dressed as a noble maiden, dragged the thorn-bound girl in front of her, scowling. “Who gave you the courage to come here and cause trouble?”
The vines binding the girl tightened little by little, piercing her skin and creating numerous cracks.
Instead of blood, black mist oozed from the cracks, revealing the girl’s non-human nature.
Phantom Scythe, seated in her usual spot, eyes gleaming, transformed into black mist and devoured the black mist flowing from the girl.
After finishing, she looked greedily at the girl’s body, as if wanting to devour that too.
This blatant hunger finally broke the calm facade of the usually composed Phantom Thorn. Her expression darkened.
“What exactly are you?” she asked.
The three before her exuded strange auras—somehow similar yet utterly alien.
If Demon energy was like a cup of black tea, then Phantom Thorn emitted the scent of black tea without actually being tea.
Luo Shuangyue seemed like she wasn’t tea at all, but gave the girl the feeling that black tea lay hidden in her very essence.
As for Phantom Scythe, she had both the appearance and fragrance of black tea, yet still felt strange.
“You trespass in our territory and dare to question our identity first? You don’t know how to write the word ‘death,’ do you!” Phantom Thorn’s eyes flashed with cruelty, and the black thorns twisted the girl’s right arm until it broke.
“Even if you kill me here, it won’t harm me,” the girl said coldly, unfazed by the threat.
This was only a spiritual space; she was nothing but a wisp of spirit energy, so death held no real meaning.
“I’m very curious about you. On this ordinary planet, there seem to be many interesting things like you,” the girl grinned, revealing numerous black tendrils writhing in her mouth.
“I will destroy you and make you witness the arrival of annihilation. Their today will be your planet’s tomorrow!”
A mad voice poured from her mouth as she laughed wildly, seemingly already envisioning the destruction of this planet beneath her army’s assault.
The mighty civilization that once claimed to be the spirit of all things, leaving countless marks across the stars, had fallen before her.
Now, how could this tiny planet, unable even to venture beyond its own borders, resist her attack?
“Is that so? Then I’ll send you to meet Death Itself first.”
Phantom Thorn stood, like playing with a sling, grabbing one end of the thorn whip and spinning it rapidly.
The speed was so dizzying that even Luo Shuangyue felt a chill on her scalp.
Then, Phantom Thorn released her grip, sending the thorn-bound girl flying toward the enormous Butterfly of Netherworld looming in the sky like a backdrop, a malicious smile spreading across her face.
Sensing the girl’s approach, the Butterfly of Netherworld lifted its head slightly and locked eyes with her.
Immediately, the once arrogant girl cried out in panic, “What is that? What is that thing? Don’t come near me!”
Her struggles and resistance were futile.
With a gentle inhale, the Butterfly completely swallowed her.
Her shrill screams echoed through the dark space, making Luo Shuangyue uneasy.
That Butterfly felt truly terrifying.
“Just let the Butterfly devour her like that? Won’t that cause problems?” Luo Shuangyue asked doubtfully.
“If Phantom Scythe can’t have problems eating, you can be more concerned about that Royal-Class friend of ours,” Phantom Thorn said coldly, pulling the reluctant Phantom Scythe closer to her side as she glanced skyward.
If the girl had yet to recognize the true identities of the three, Phantom Thorn certainly knew who this visitor was.
She was a Royal-Class Magical Beast, one that had survived for a long time and was much stronger than before.
“You’ve been targeted by her — no, you humans have been targeted by her. This time, it’s not just child’s play.”
Phantom Thorn stroked Phantom Scythe’s head as she spoke to Luo Shuangyue.
“What you saw in the dream was most likely not an illusion but something that really happened. This Demon Emperor commands a Demon army that can cross the stars. Can humans handle such an enemy?”
A cruel smile reappeared on Phantom Thorn’s face, as if she delighted in the idea of seeing Luo Shuangyue panic.
But unfortunately for her, Luo Shuangyue did not.
Instead of fear, Luo Shuangyue wanted to know just how powerful this Royal-Class Magical Beast really was. How strong was her army?
Fear and dread? Such emotions only hindered progress.
“Phantom Thorn, tell me. How strong is she at her peak? Stronger than White Night?”
Hearing Luo Shuangyue’s question, Phantom Thorn couldn’t help but snort.
She realized Luo Shuangyue had no accurate understanding of White Night’s power.
Yes, the Royal-Class Magical Beast was formidable, but even she had limits.
White Night was the one who had broken those limits.
If Luo Shuangyue hadn’t held back and unleashed her ultimate move at the start, Phantom Thorn wouldn’t have lasted half a minute.
In the face of White Night’s terrifying power, a Royal-Class Magical Beast was barely different from other Demons, lasting only a few seconds longer.
Trying to withstand White Night’s ultimate attack? Foolish.
“You can rest assured — White Night is invincible.”
“Then why did she disappear? If she’s invincible, what could possibly stop her?”
“Who knows? I’m just a Demon living on this small planet. I only faintly saw her and felt her power when I was born.” Phantom Thorn shrugged.
She had never met White Night face to face; after all, White Night disappeared before she was born.
But she did know where White Night was — at least where she was a few years ago.
“I call that place Hell. And we are the fiends crawling out of Hell.” Phantom Thorn smiled darkly.