The little butterfly was entirely focused on her other half, while the Holy Sovereign hesitated, unsure of how to continue the fight.
The battlefield fell into an eerie silence until Xia Mo held up the broken half of the magic stone and shouted her reason for being there.
“It’s actually like that?” The Holy Sovereign felt a headache coming on.
If killing the little butterfly would cause Luo Shuangyue to die as well, what should she do? The collection of evil intent had to be dealt with, yet she was unwilling to let her eldest daughter be buried with it.
It was an impossible choice.
The Holy Sovereign was troubled, but the little butterfly was not.
She only wanted to become one with Luo Shuangyue.
Taking advantage of the Holy Sovereign’s distraction, she appeared outside Xia Mo’s domain and forcibly tore it open.
Even though Xia Mo now possessed Full Bloom-class power, her domain still fell into a state of retreat against the little butterfly’s direct attack.
Fortunately, the Holy Sovereign did not stand idly by.
She immediately gave chase and resumed the battle.
Compared to before, however, her attacks were clearly restrained, and she found herself unable to gain the upper hand for a time.
“What do we do now?” Xia Mo asked, watching the two resume their fight.
She had used all her strength just to get here; she had no idea what to do next.
Persuade the little butterfly to stand still and accept the Holy Sovereign’s purification? How could she? The little butterfly didn’t look like someone who would listen to reason.
“Talking won’t work. Throw me over!” Luo Shuangyue offered her suggestion decisively.
This was the plan she had formed long ago.
Since the little butterfly could compete with her for control of the body before, then once they were reunited, she could naturally compete with the little butterfly for control in return.
She didn’t need to seize much—just enough to interfere with the fight a few times, allowing the Holy
Sovereign to beat her until she lost the ability to resist and had to accept purification.
“Throw you over? But…”
“There are no ‘buts.’ This is our only chance,” Luo Shuangyue interrupted.
The little butterfly’s current state couldn’t be solved with words.
Only she could do this; only she had the ability to save the little butterfly from the desire for destruction.
Not long ago, the little butterfly had saved her from the evil intent; now, it was time for her to return the favor.
“Quickly, the faster the better. We don’t have much time.”
Luo Shuangyue’s urgency caused the hesitation on Xia Mo’s face to fade.
She knew Luo Shuangyue was right; this was the only way.
“Then you must bring her back alive.”
“Don’t worry, I will do my best.”
“If you get controlled just like her, I’ll kill you even if I have to blow myself up.”
“That’s for the best. That way, I’ll have no worries.”
“Shouldn’t you call me heartless at a time like this?”
“I’m not the type to be unreasonably difficult.”
Xia Mo clenched her fist. Before throwing the stone in her hand, she whispered one last thing.
“You must come back alive.”
“I will definitely come back alive.”
“A gentleman’s word.”
“We aren’t exactly gentlemen, but… it’s a promise.”
“Then go!”
A dark purple light leaped from the purple domain, flying toward the little butterfly.
Feeling her long-awaited other half suddenly flying toward her, the little butterfly stopped caring about anything else.
She took a direct hit from the Holy Sovereign’s sword and opened her arms toward the incoming stone.
At the same time, Xia Mo shouted Luo Shuangyue’s plan to the Holy Sovereign.
A moment later, the stone was swallowed by the little butterfly.
Her expression became one of satisfaction, and then her body turned stiff.
A beam of pure white light surged from behind her, slamming her into the ground and stripping away the evil intent bit by bit.
Faced with such an attack, the previous little butterfly could have simply flown away through the light, suffering minor injuries at most.
But now, she could not, because her body was no longer her own to command alone.
The satisfaction of her soul being filled once again had not yet faded before Little Butterfly discovered that her body was beginning to slip from her control.
Her vision plunged into darkness, and by the time she regained her sight, she had arrived in a Corroded Arena that had been distorted beyond recognition by black and red sludge.
Standing across from her was a pale maiden — her other half, whom she had been longing for not long ago.
And now, they were to engage in a battle here where only one survivor could remain.
The winner would swallow the loser and become the only one left.
Scarlet light poured from her eyes. Following the impulse deep within her heart, she pounced toward the person in front of her.
*Bang!*
A tightly clenched fist struck Luo Shuangyue in the face, sending her flying several meters away.
‘So weak.’
Little Butterfly closed the distance, continuing her pursuit of Luo Shuangyue.
‘So weak, so weak, so weak.’
‘Weak enough to be disgusting!’
“Why are you so weak?” she asked in a frenzied voice, clutching Luo Shuangyue’s neck and pinning her to the ground.
She could clearly kill this person with just a gentle touch, absorb her, and truly become whole. Yet, why was she unable to strike during this final step?
‘Did she… go soft?’
Luo Shuangyue did not answer. She merely reached out and put her arms around Little Butterfly’s neck, slowly pulling the child into her embrace.
Little Butterfly’s red eyes widened instantly. For a moment, she did not know what to do.
That was until a piercing pain shot through her soul, and the black-red sludge in the Corroded Arena transformed into a blade that pierced through her back.
Scarlet patterns appeared on her face. Her confusion vanished in an instant, replaced by cold indifference. Driven by that endless Evil Intent, her sanity sank once more into the depths of a freezing sea.
She shoved Luo Shuangyue away and rolled backward to her feet. Then, the Evil Intent transformed into a Scythe in her hand. She intended to use this Blade of Malice to complete the fusion of the two.
Luo Shuangyue, having been pushed away, wore a regretful expression. ‘Was a simple attempt at reform really not going to work?’
The Evil Intent would not stand by and watch her awaken Little Butterfly’s consciousness to steer the story toward a perfect ending.
‘In that case, I’ll wait until your power is no longer enough to interfere with Little Butterfly’s thoughts before I try to reach her again!’
Luo Shuangyue slowly stood up from the ground. Pitch-black Magic Power transformed into fluttering Butterflies that landed on her body, becoming a magnificent Long Dress and a weapon that felt natural in her hand.
Yes, her soul was indeed in a terrible state, but was Little Butterfly’s condition any better than hers?
The two of them were identical — even their conditions were exactly the same.
If Little Butterfly could obtain the blessing of the Evil Intent within this body, then why couldn’t Luo Shuangyue take some Demonic Energy from the body and transform into her most familiar combat state?
One purple and one red butterfly stared at each other for several seconds. Then, they performed identical movements.
The sharp blades in their hands followed the same trajectories and collided in the center.
*Bang!*
In this clash, no one succeeded, and no one failed.
The purple and red, both tainted by pitch-black, began a desperate struggle within this Corroded Arena that belonged solely to them.
They were so familiar with one another that with every move the opponent made, they knew exactly what the next two steps would be.
This was one person fighting against themselves — a battle that was almost impossible to conclude in a short amount of time.
However, the Evil Intent could not afford to waste time. Outside this Corroded Arena, Little Butterfly’s body had lost its controller and entered a state of stillness.
She was bathed in pure white Holy Light, and the Demonic Energy and Evil Intent within her body were slowly vanishing into nothingness.
If this dragged on, even if the two inside the body decided a winner and produced the ending it wanted, it would still face true failure.
It was anxious, but anxiety was useless.
At the end of the day, Evil Intent was just Evil Intent; it needed a consciousness it could influence to exert its power.
Little Butterfly had completely become its Puppet, and this Puppet was loyally executing its orders to win this battle.
But when it tried to use a similar method on Luo Shuangyue, it quickly discovered something that made it so frustrated it wanted to cough up blood.
The moment the Evil Intent touched Luo Shuangyue, it would flow into Little Butterfly’s body through the unique connection between the two of them.
It caused almost no impact on Luo Shuangyue whatsoever.
This was truly unreasonable. Since Little Butterfly had already become its Puppet, why was this Puppet still instinctively sharing the corrosion of the Evil Intent for Luo Shuangyue?
Could this be an unalterable nature?
The Evil Intent furiously ordered Little Butterfly to kill Luo Shuangyue as quickly as possible and regain control of the body outside.
But Little Butterfly truly could not do it.
She had the exact same abilities as Luo Shuangyue.
She was dueling herself.
Unless the other version of her sought death, she could not quickly defeat herself.
‘Wait… seeking death?’
The limited intelligence of the Evil Intent produced a thought at that moment.
What it needed was not necessarily Little Butterfly; it needed a consciousness it could control.
As for who that consciousness actually was, it didn’t really matter.
It could be Little Butterfly who killed Luo Shuangyue, or it could be Luo Shuangyue who killed Little Butterfly.
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