Chapter 96 (2/2): The Price of Awakening

The ground beneath her feet caved in a hemispherical pit.

0001’s fist froze in front of Yun Ruoxi’s chest, and before his incredulous eyes, was pushed back inch by inch by an invisible force.

Swoosh!

Yun Ruoxi slowly stood up, her right hand closing in the air, hoisting the bloodied 0001 aloft.

He tried to switch powers to fight back, but his body had reached its limit.

“Ugh!” A mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments spewed out; he lost all strength and returned to his normal form.

Yun Ruoxi raised her right hand, lifting him higher and higher.

“Handsome! The tide has turned!”

“Acting cool? I’ll make you fly!”

“It’s over—Yun Ruoxi’s beaten not just him but the whole camp’s trainees!”

“She… she’s going to kill 0001!” 0003 cried in terror, turning to 0002 and the others. “Hurry up and save 0001! Don’t they have a mission too?”

0002 clicked his tongue, stood and flexed his wrists: “0003, I can’t tell if you’re a power worshipper or just a masochist, actually hanging out with that violet-eyed freak.”

“But you’re right—I should act. Not because of Behemoth’s mission, though.”

“Because 0001’s position belongs to me!”

He charged at Yun Ruoxi. A splendid stage projection thundered down behind him.

Light flashed—

On stage, floating words appeared in the air one by one:

[The great, mighty, invincible Mr. 0002 is about to defeat the equally mighty—but not invincible—Ms. 0219!]

[The new era’s protagonist is crowned here!]

The words and stage seemed to have some buffing effect.

The moment they appeared, 0002’s aura soared, battle armor phantoms flickering around him.

He leapt over twenty meters, his heavy punch wrapped in a Sound Burst as he dove down.

However—

Yun Ruoxi merely lifted her left hand, blood-red eyes sweeping the stage.

Instantly—

The floating words on stage twisted violently.

All of 0002’s prefixes shattered bit by bit.

The word “defeat” was instantly swallowed by red light.

The second line transformed before their eyes:

[Ms. 0219’s victory is unquestionable!]

Bang!

0002 slammed to the ground in utter defiance of physics, collapsing to his knees. His battle armor phantoms vanished like smoke.

“Totally… can’t win…”

He muttered, utterly dejected.

“Ha, the words can change? I actually thought 0002’s power was strong!”

“Maybe it’s not that 0002’s weak—maybe Xiaoxi’s just too strong now!”

“You’re giving up just like that?” 0008 shook his head helplessly, then in a flash was covered in white fur, transforming into a darting black shadow before Yun Ruoxi.

“I haven’t settled our grudge from the arena!”

Swoosh!

A giant psychic hand brushed him aside.

0008 was struck several times by invisible force and the next second was blasted back like a cannonball, crashing down beside 0002.

“Damn it!” He pounded the ground, “Still can’t beat a beautiful woman!”

Even though 0002 and 0008 failed to stop Yun Ruoxi, they still had some effect—they’d managed to draw her attention.

Crack!

Yun Ruoxi snapped 0001’s neck with one hand, tossing him back through the door.

Then she suddenly charged at the crowd.

“Not good, she’s coming for us! 219’s state is off—she’s starting to kill!”

0002’s expression turned serious.

The stage projection appeared again, words rapidly condensing:

[No matter how strong 219 is, as the Chosen One, 0002 will surely survive—]

[Right?]

That final question mark appeared uncontrollably.

0002’s hair stood on end, drenched in sweat, and he bolted to the very back of the crowd.

As Yun Ruoxi flew toward them, 0008’s fur stood on end, cat ears straight up, a powerful sense of death making him snarl and bolt without looking back.

“This cat is already hissing, just leave him alone.”

“Cat-eared boy is getting hissed at again—Luo Xi is so bad!”

“Luo Xi is hissing too, she’s completely blackened!”

Bang!

A trainee was thrown out, limbs broken.

Zi Jiu’s pupils shrank. “What do we do? Xiaoxi looks totally out of control!”

“We have to stop her! If she kills too many, even if the camp forgives her later, she’ll never forgive herself!” Lin Zhen’s face was grave.

Killing 0001—that could be counted as closure, not killing the innocent.

But if she started killing others…

That’d be too much!

Many here had been holding back against Yun Ruoxi.

Otherwise, no matter how strong she was, she couldn’t have lasted this long.

“But how do we stop her?” Zi Jiu asked anxiously. “Even with both of us together, I doubt we’re her match.”

Lin Zhen was silent for a moment.

Then he suddenly raised his right hand toward Yun Ruoxi, a look of surprise flickering in his eyes. “Emotions…”

“And Xiaoxi probably foresaw she’d lose control and already left us a way to defeat her!”

“You mean…?”

Zi Jiu followed his gaze, suddenly understanding.

“That!”

Lin Zhen stood. “No time to waste, let’s go! I need you to buy me five seconds!”

“Got it!”

Zi Jiu hesitated for a second, nodded, and then two more voices rang out.

“Count us in… we’ll buy you two extra seconds!”

Kaiaos and Yun Che stepped forward, finally recovered from the paralysis of the electric shock.

Lin Zhen nodded, saying nothing more.

The four sprang into action.

Zi Jiu grabbed the Flaming Long Blade and charged at Yun Ruoxi, only to be caught and levitated in the air.

Yun Ruoxi tilted her head, staring at Zi Jiu’s face.

She seemed to recognize her, and her right hand, ready to crush, hesitated in the air.

Just then, Kaiaos and Yun Che attacked from both sides!

A psychic barrier blocked all attacks, suspending them both as well.

Assaulted from all sides, the red light in Yun Ruoxi’s eyes burned brighter, confusion turning to rage.

Just as she was about to crush all three with her mind—

She suddenly screamed, falling straight out of the air.

As she fell—

The weapon stabbed in her back instantly melted, turning into a flowing stream of Liquid Metal.

Some of it became steel chains, threading through her wounds and binding her limbs tight.

The rest formed a mass of iron sand, surging into her mouth and nose, solidifying into a metal mask blocking her breathing.

The girl writhed in agony, wild psychic power pulverizing the alloy ground, but she couldn’t break free from the metal restraints.

Lin Zhen closed his right hand in the air, walking closer, Laser Gun Fragments swirling around him to form a makeshift suit of armor.

Astonishingly, even psychic force strong enough to shatter steel had no effect on him.

No, not ineffective—

Yun Ruoxi’s power was deliberately avoiding all alloy weapons.

It turned out, before losing control—

She had implanted a psychological suggestion, forcing her berserk psychic power to instinctively avoid all weapons and gear.

“So that was part of your plan too, Luo Xi.”

“She’s making me cry! She actually left a backdoor for herself to avoid harming her boyfriend.”

“Luo Xi’s move is genius!”

“Why didn’t 0001 use weapon control on Yun Ruoxi? That part was a little much.”

“Maybe 0001 tried, but it didn’t work—and this suggestion was something Luo Xi planted just before she lost control.”

“Then it all makes sense. Luo Xi really covers all the bases!”

“She used to be scheming Xiaoxi, now she’s demon Xiaoxi!”

Step, step…

The footsteps echoed in the silence.

Lin Zhen finally reached the girl’s side, gently pulling her head into his arms.

“Sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine.”

The familiar voice sounded in her ear.

The pain faded from the girl’s face.

Her body gradually relaxed, clenched fingers releasing one by one, and finally she fell into slumber.

Lin Zhen let out a long breath, using his powers to extract most of the metal from her body.

He left some to seal the wounds and prevent massive bleeding.

But her fierce struggle had torn open many injuries, and warm blood quickly soaked his clothes.

With the girl unconscious, the battlefield fell silent.

Trainees hiding far away began to gather cautiously, still unsure if the crisis was truly over.

Lin Zhen looked at his blood-soaked hands and, noticing Yun Ruoxi’s breath and heartbeat growing weaker and weaker, shouted:

“It’s over! It’s all over! The assessment is finished! Instructor Behemoth, Instructor Glimmer, come save her!”

Swoosh!

The instant he finished—

A lithe figure flashed before Lin Zhen.

“No need to tell me!”

Glimmer shot him a look, then took the fading blue-haired girl from his arms.

She spread her wings and vanished into the maze.

Thud, thud!

Instructor Li Yue of Class One also appeared suddenly in a distant compartment.

He scooped up the barely breathing, broken-necked 0001 and with a leap vanished from everyone’s sight.

Soon, more and more instructors appeared in the maze, systematically transporting wounded trainees to treatment rooms outside.

Crack!

The maze began to transform, walls shifting as an exit slowly opened before Lin Zhen.

But he still knelt there, staring dazed at his bloodied hands.

The annual assessment was over.

Finally over.

But was this nightmare truly at an end?

He had nearly killed his own roommate, almost watched his friend become a killer and then killed her himself.

No—as long as they stayed in the camp, this kind of day would never, ever end!

Lin Zhen slowly stood, his gaze burning.

He had to get everyone out of this hell, and soon.

He walked toward the exit.

As he stepped out of the maze, bright white lights poured down like water.

Lin Zhen turned to look back.

Inside the passage, one lamp after another went out, darkness flooding in like a tide.

The camera lingered at the end of the tunnel.

“Starfall” Season One, Episode Five—End!

“Throwing flowers for the finale!”

“Amazing episode, so satisfying!”

“Yeah, but now you have to wait a week.”

“Ahhh, Heavenly Creation, hurry up! I want to see episode six right now!”