“Huh? Huh? Huh? What’s going on?”
Panicking, Luo Shuangyue frantically felt her now-empty chest, her voice trembling in utter confusion.
Beside her, Anxing and Manzhu were working together to restrain the Silver Butterfly that had burst out from Luo Shuangyue’s burned-through chest.
Judging from their strained expressions, they seemed to be struggling to suppress it.
Worse still, the two White Beads that Manzhu had just put away for Luo Shuangyue had also broken free from her containment.
One after the other, they shot toward the center of the Dark Vortex, rapidly orbiting its core.
A dire sense of foreboding washed over Luo Shuangyue—she felt that the Holy Sovereign’s next attack wouldn’t bother distinguishing between friend or foe.
The coordinates had already been given, so the Holy Sovereign’s strike was surely on its way. This was bad!
“Manzhu, look at what you’ve done!” Anxing glared furiously at Manzhu, itching to tear her apart on the spot.
Just now, Manzhu had claimed all the blame herself.
It was her idea for Luo Shuangyue to swallow the Silver Butterfly, she was the one who snatched the bead transformed from the Silver Butterfly from Anxing—and now, all of this was entirely Manzhu’s doing!
What else was there to say? Who else could bear this blame but Manzhu? Was it Luo Shuangyue’s or Anxing’s fault? One was a pitiful victim bullied by Manzhu, the other was a steadfast but clueless teammate—what did either of them have to do with this mess?
Manzhu herself was at a loss for words; thinking it over again and again, she realized this really was her own fault.
It was her bad idea for Luo Shuangyue to eat the Silver Butterfly, and those two Silver Beads were also her attempt at petty revenge.
Things turned out this way all because of her—she was definitely the main culprit.
If the seniors asked about this later, Anxing wouldn’t even need to embellish; just stating the facts would be enough to doom her.
And the punishment from the seniors… Just thinking of those Organization members who had made grave mistakes and been punished by the seniors, Manzhu couldn’t help but shudder.
She absolutely didn’t want to end up like that! That fate, worse than death, was something she could never accept!
The mounting sense of impending doom made Manzhu keenly aware that everything she was doing now was futile.
At most, she and Anxing could control a single Silver Butterfly, but thanks to her carelessness, there were now three Butterflies to deal with!
That was simply impossible.
What now? Should they keep trying?
“Anxing, we have to leave right now!” she shouted at Anxing. “It’s already over!”
“We’re just going to stand by and watch her die because of your mistake?!” Anxing snapped, glancing at their now vaguely humanoid kin, her voice filled with rage.
“Is this really the time to argue about blame? If we stay here, we’ll all die!”
“How do you know if we don’t try? Maybe if we join forces, we can hold out!”
“Tch.”
Seeing she couldn’t talk sense into Anxing, Manzhu immediately chose to sever the Magic Energy Link controlling the Silver Butterfly.
With her withdrawal, all the pressure fell on Anxing alone, and she clearly wasn’t ready to give up.
She was still desperately trying to restrain the Silver Butterfly, refusing to let it fly toward the center of the vortex.
Until a hand pierced through her chest from behind.
A faint numbness spread from her chest, forcibly halting her actions, leaving her no choice but to watch helplessly as the Silver Butterfly turned into a streak of light and shot toward the vortex’s center.
The attacker wasn’t Manzhu—Manzhu was staring at her in shock, as was the true perpetrator behind her.
“Why?” Looking down at the slender, pale hand protruding from her own chest, Anxing asked in a low voice.
Her tone was calm, but anyone could hear the raging storm beneath that calm.
She needed an explanation.
“Because Manzhu-senpai is right.” Yanking her hand back forcefully, Luo Shuangyue spoke in a flat, robotic tone, “I don’t know how you seniors feel, but my instincts tell me that staying here is a road to certain death.”
A pierced chest was no big deal for a demon—Anxing’s chest writhed and quickly returned to normal.
“So, we just let her die?”
“Mm. In every sense, she’s not really alive right now. Since she never lived, she can’t exactly die, either.” Luo Shuangyue shrugged. “For the sake of an as-yet-unborn kin, to put you two—already powerful and living—at risk, is hardly the right choice.”
“That’s right, the senior entrusted me with the task of taking this fool away at a time like this,” Manzhu chimed in.
Had she kept quiet, it would have been better; but at her words, Anxing’s temper flared again. Whose fault was this, really? How could the true culprit speak so righteously now? Shameless!
“I’ll tell the seniors everything that happened here, without leaving out a single detail,” Anxing said coldly.
A shadow flickered in Manzhu’s eyes as she considered—maybe it would be better if Anxing were silenced here, once and for all.
If Anxing returned to the Organization alive, there’d be no good outcome for Manzhu after this failure. But if Anxing never spoke another word…
Even if the mission failed, the reason could be easily shifted to Anxing—or someone else, like the little one Anxing seemed so fond of.
Clenching her fists, Manzhu took a deep breath and said to the others, “Let’s leave first. What happens next will depend on this little one’s own fate.”
If she could endure what was coming, then all would be fine; if not, then she’d just have to send a few more people down to accompany her.
Anxing shot Manzhu a frosty glare, then turned and flew off into the distance.
“Anxing-senpai, wait for me!” Luo Shuangyue hurried to catch up, feeling that Manzhu was a little scary right now.
Even the Thorn Root that had just burrowed into the Core Region had, at her command, quickly withdrawn.
Her instincts screamed that Manzhu was definitely plotting something, and likely something very sinister.
Could it be that, to shirk responsibility for this failed mission, she’d stoop so low as to silence them forever?
Given what she knew of Manzhu, Luo Shuangyue felt that was entirely possible.
She glanced back at Manzhu’s face, hidden entirely in shadow, and her heart skipped a beat.
She’d have to be extra careful around this one from now on.
A Demon Emperor ready to strike at any moment was truly a Damocles Sword hanging over her head—one misstep and she’d be doomed.
“Anxing-senpai, there’s something I want to tell you…” So, Luo Shuangyue decided to cozy up to the slightly more upright Anxing first.
Silver light poured from the sky.
Before this pillar of heavenly radiance, the Dark Vortex seemed frail and powerless. It struggled, howled, but disaster was destined for utter annihilation.
A single strike from the mightiest being in this world was enough to destroy the not-yet-formed Demon Emperor within.
The White Light came fast and vanished just as quickly. In a mere blink, the sky returned to calm, leaving only the now-windowed, barely stable Dark Vortex as silent testament to the terrifying events that had just transpired.
Silver Butterflies flew out from the darkness, their wings dusted with countless glittering motes that turned the black mire beneath them a shining silver, erasing any possibility of birthing a Demon Emperor anew.
Seeing this, Anxing knew it was all over. That yet-unborn kin would never come into being.
The Black Calamity might still be ongoing, but it was now a dying struggle—at most, half a day more and it would all end, with not a single kin born from this Black Calamity.
Even the Demonic Energy here had lost its value; the Holy Sovereign’s power had saturated the darkness, making it too foul and indigestible for any demon to absorb.
Except… Luo Shuangyue.
“Well, things have come to this—might as well make use of what’s left, right?” With those words, she began directing her little butterflies to transport the tainted Demonic Energy onto herself.
“Whatever makes you happy.” Manzhu shot her a sidelong glance, thinking it was a good way to keep this kid too busy for anything else.
“Although the core’s been utterly destroyed by the Holy Sovereign, you should still find some scraps left over in there.”
As long as Luo Shuangyue left, Manzhu could easily fool that thickheaded Anxing.
And once Anxing was taken care of, Luo Shuangyue would be nothing more than an ant—crushable at her leisure.
So, she decided to lure Luo Shuangyue away.
“Then… I’ll go take a look?” Luo Shuangyue looked to Anxing for approval.
Given the situation, what else could Anxing say?
“Go ahead.”