Chapter 86: Crimson Halo

“This girl’s got guts, huh? Switching sides right on the spot?”

“Damn, that charm of little Xi!”

“Succubus Xi, is it?”

“You…” Yun Ruoxi’s mouth parted slightly, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d just heard.

But the footsteps closing in behind her left no time for hesitation.

Those trainees, seeing her pause to talk to 319, saw it as the perfect opportunity.

So, all of them crossed that Life and Death Line, charging to kill.

After all.

To them, as long as they killed Yun Ruoxi, it didn’t matter if they died sooner or later—they were dead either way!

Yun Ruoxi gave 319 another long, searching look, as if trying to see straight through her heart.

319 met her gaze without flinching, looking back with open, unguarded eyes.

In the end, Yun Ruoxi chose to trust her.

She reached out her hand to 319, and the two of them clasped their palms tightly together.

“Pick up a weapon.”

Turning, she placed herself between 319 and the oncoming crowd, exposing her unguarded back to 319.

“Fight at my side—friend!”

The camera froze at just the right moment, capturing Yun Ruoxi’s determined profile, and 319’s figure just behind her right shoulder.

“Alright!”

319 bent down and picked up that Poisoned Dagger.

But as she straightened up again, a strange flush colored her cheeks, her mouth stretching into a wild, exaggerated grin.

She was smiling!

She fixed Yun Ruoxi’s completely defenseless back with a greedy, unwavering stare!

At this instant, even the dullest viewers realized—this roommate, who seemed to get along so well with Yun Ruoxi, had a serious problem.

***

And in the next second.

The recently shown flashback struck again.

But this time, the tone changed dramatically.

In the dorm, deep into the night.

Yun Ruoxi slept soundly, clutching her blanket, her collar a little loose.

A twisted shadow slithered down along the bed rail, and, like a fanatic worshiper, crouched over her.

It groped and licked greedily at her body, her cheek.

Every now and then, with its hands and a piece of iron it had found who-knows-where, it would gently trace across Yun Ruoxi’s delicate neck.

Though its face was indistinct, every viewer recognized—that was 319!

At night, she unleashed her malice freely on Yun Ruoxi’s body, nothing like her gentle self by day.

Many viewers instantly got goosebumps; the comment stream exploded in that moment.

“Look behind you!”

“Holy crap, something’s off, this girl’s a yandere!”

“Stop licking, that’s my wife!”

“I got chills down my spine!”

“What kind of horror movie plot is this?!”

“She’s been lying all along, little Xi’s way too innocent, she actually believed her—this is gonna go so wrong!”

Under the horrified gazes of the viewers, Yun Ruoxi gripped her dagger, charging at the trainees who had crossed the line.

319 also raised a dagger and charged—but her target was the blue-haired girl who trusted her completely.

The instant the frantic footsteps sounded behind her, Yun Ruoxi didn’t react at all.

Her senses were sealed by that gray-black mist; she couldn’t use her powerful sensory world.

She could only judge the situation by vague sight, and so she thought 319 was still fighting by her side.

Until those footsteps came within reach.

Then she finally realized something was wrong, shock flickering across her face as she tried to turn—but it was too late.

Her exhausted body responded sluggishly, and with her senses blocked, she was completely undefended against attacks from her blind spot.

Thud!

The Poisoned Dagger stabbed precisely into her lower back, agony and numbness surging through her like an electric shock.

Through her drifting blue hair, the blue-haired girl’s ruby eyes reflected the crazed grin on the attacker’s face.

Yun Ruoxi’s pupils contracted; shock froze her face—she couldn’t believe 319 would stab her so decisively in the back.

In the episode’s slow motion, blood sprayed like ink. Yun Ruoxi, struck by 319, lost her balance.

As she toppled toward the ground,

Her gaze strained to find Aili.

In those red eyes, losing their focus, there was only shattered sorrow and despair.

And a silent apology.

I’m sorry, Sister…

I still couldn’t keep my promise in the end.

Bang!

The blue-haired girl’s petite body crashed heavily to the floor.

319 immediately rolled over and pinned her down, dagger stabbing madly at the blue-haired girl’s back.

But her strength was no match for Yun Ruoxi’s. Even on the brink of death, Yun Ruoxi erupted with astonishing force.

Not only did Yun Ruoxi fling the dagger aside, but she almost threw off 319’s entire body with her desperate resistance.

319 simply reached out and strangled Yun Ruoxi’s throat.

“What are you standing there for?!”

Veins bulged in her neck as she screamed at the frozen trainees.

“This is our only chance!”

“Hurry up and kill her, she’s too strong—I can’t hold—her much longer—!”

She howled through gritted teeth.

Blood oozed from the wounds in Yun Ruoxi’s waist, staining the hand that had just clasped hers, staining her clothes, pooling on the floor.

Her shout snapped everyone out of it.

At last, they swarmed in, some pinning arms, some pinning legs, and others joined 319 in choking Yun Ruoxi’s throat.

Some even hardened their hearts and stabbed their weapons into the trembling body on the ground.

This kind of victory was base and despicable.

But thinking of all those Yun Ruoxi had already taken down one by one—this really was their only shot.

Don’t blame them—blame the instructors of the battle camp!

“Sis—!”

Aili’s scream tore through the air.

She scrambled to her feet and lunged forward, only to be blocked by the shield deployed by Yun Ruoxi’s spherical drone.

Bang bang bang!

She pounded frantically at the energy shield, her nails screeching against the barrier, tears streaming uncontrollably.

Why am I so weak, why?!

Why didn’t Sis just kill her and spare her from this cruel sight?

Sis, you lied to me, how could you be so heartless!

Hatred wound like poison ivy around Aili’s heart.

She hated her own weakness, hated Yun Ruoxi’s promise, and hated every enemy before her.

And when she saw blade after blade stabbing into the blue-haired girl, yet still unable to finish her, her tears dried up, replaced by twin streams of blood.

The world before her flooded in crimson, as a surge of immense power erupted from within her body.

“How is she so tough?! Her heart’s been pierced and she still won’t die!”

“Cut off her head! Chop it off!”

Even 319 and the other trainees were stunned by Yun Ruoxi’s tenacity.

She was a monster!

“Let me do it!”

A trainee hefting a massive axe walked over, gazing complicatedly at the still-breathing Yun Ruoxi.

“I’m sorry… but this is an order!”

He raised the axe high, about to strike, when he heard Yun Ruoxi mumble something through her bloodied lips.

“Sister… sister…I can’t die yet, I have to bring you…”

Blood kept pouring from Yun Ruoxi’s mouth.

Her gray eyes saw no light, but she still crawled toward the exit of the maze, repeating that phrase over and over.

“Why won’t you die?! Just die already!”

319 shrieked, yanking at her blue hair and screaming at the axe-bearer, “Do it!”

“I… can’t!” The man slumped, letting his axe fall, only for a companion to snatch it away.

“Coward, I’ll do it!”

Another raised the axe high, roaring as he swung down at Yun Ruoxi.

But the instant the blade fell, an earth-shaking roar thundered through the maze.

“I said, STOP right there!”

Boom!

The pool of blood beneath Yun Ruoxi suddenly boiled.

Thick blood droplets floated up, defying gravity, condensing into a dark red ripple around her.

With Aili’s heart-wrenching scream, the Crimson Halo erupted in a blinding burst.