Utia’s final words fell.
Shiluo stood frozen in place.
Her pupils dilated slightly from extreme shock and instinctive revulsion.
She had guessed the Trial might be cruel.
But she never imagined it would be such a systematized process—one that reduced the girls’ flesh and even their souls to the utmost degree of objectification in a screening and recycling system.
The girls who had vanished, their fates… drained dry, erased, remade into soulless puppets to slaughter their own kind, turned into food, tools, or… another form of their own species?
So… all this time, they had been fighting their own kind…
“Think it over carefully, human.” Utia’s voice pulled her back from the shock.
The playful glint in her crimson eyes had faded, leaving only indifference.
“Think about the kind of enemy you’re facing. Think about how laughable your so-called hopes and sacrifices truly are.”
With that, to Shiluo’s surprise, Utia actually released the syringe from her fingertips.
It traced an arc through the air as she tossed it toward her.
Shiluo instinctively reached out and caught it.
Then she immediately checked whether the liquid inside was still present and if the tube was undamaged.
Her first instinct was to check the indicator light for the target.
It was… completely dark.
Shiluo’s heart plummeted.
She shook the syringe hard and wiped the indicator area with her fingers in case of dirt, but there was no reaction.
She jerked her head up toward Utia, her eyes filled with shock and accusation.
Utia offered no explanation, merely shrugging lazily.
“Transaction complete. Information for information, and the item has been returned to you.”
Her tone was nonchalantly light.
“As for whether this thing can still be used or how to use it… that’s your problem now.”
Then, as if something had occurred to her, a malicious smile curved her lips.
“Since you’re so pretty, I’ll give you one more piece of information. Your ‘little companions’ over in the Eastern District Penned District have already had their locations exposed. Their syringe has been taken by the Queen, so your plan failed ages ago.”
Upon hearing this, Shiluo was utterly stunned.
Then boundless fury surged through her chest.
Since the syringe had already been exposed! Didn’t that make her entire trip here pointless?! She had been toyed with! And this woman had waited until after she finished speaking to tell her.
“You—”
“It’s not my fault.” Utia cut off the curse that was about to burst from her lips, speaking in a mock-reproachful tone.
“It was your own people who couldn’t hide it properly. They were spotted by others, and they obediently confessed everything about the syringe. You should be cursing them, hehehe.”
With that, she leaped upward.
Her tall, graceful figure landed silently on the rooftop.
She smiled teasingly from above, looking down at the furious and humiliated Shiluo below.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Her pale face gradually took on a colder shade as she spoke with a warning edge.
“You’ve seen her, right… that little black-haired, green-eyed girl.”
Utia’s voice floated down from the roof, clear yet icy, carrying a strange undertone.
Shiluo’s anger was sharply interrupted by the words, replaced by deeper vigilance and confusion.
She knew the woman meant Sylvie.
“So what if I have?” Shiluo replied lowly.
“That little one…” Utia drew out her words as if savoring something amusing.
“She never learns her lesson. She’s as fragile as a candle in the wind, could be snuffed out at any moment, yet she keeps… time and again, recklessly trying to save others. It’s really… both troublesome and… a quality that makes one unable to look away.”
Her crimson eyes flickered faintly in the shadows.
“She saved you, didn’t she? In that alley earlier. It was clumsy, maybe just instinct… but she did try to draw away the patrol, giving you a chance to escape.” The corners of Utia’s mouth lifted in a smile devoid of warmth.
“She’s foolishly adorable, and foolish enough… to make one want to lock her away completely, so she stops getting herself battered and bruised for people who have nothing to do with her.”
Shiluo’s heart thudded.
She hadn’t seen Sylvie these past few days. Could this woman have…
“So listen up, human.” Utia’s voice suddenly grew cold.
All previous laziness and playfulness vanished, replaced by a declarative pressure.
“You can interact with her, use her to relay messages, or even get a tiny bit of insignificant sympathy from her. I’ve seen it all, but for now I can’t be bothered to deal with it.”
She leaned forward slightly, shadows flowing with the motion.
“But mark my words on this one point…”
“That little girl is mine.”
“From her soul to her body, from her past to her future—she belongs only to me. I watched her grow up, and I watched her become this pitiful ‘blank sheet.’ So don’t scheme against her. Don’t drag her into your humans’ ridiculous hopes. Don’t think of making her your tool, and don’t even dream… of taking her away from Eternal Night City.”
Facing the vampire she loathed with every fiber of her being, Shiluo naturally refused to yield.
She opened her mouth to spit out the next provocative words.
“What if I insist on doing it anyway?”
The instant the words left her mouth, the light in Utia’s eyes dimmed rapidly, leaving only icy chill and unmasked killing intent.
She tilted her head slightly.
Her dark pupils emitted an eerie crimson glow under the moonlight, looking utterly terrifying.
Her voice carried a bone-chilling calm.
“You’re welcome to try, human.”
“You can try touching her, try contacting her, try taking her out of this city with all your might. However…”
“I promise you this: the moment you bring her to the gates of Eternal Night City, before your leg even crosses the threshold, I’ll make sure you get to see firsthand how your own body turns into a limp pile of mush collapsing helplessly on the ground.”
That horrifying gaze sent chills crawling through Shiluo’s heart, as if awakening primal fear from the depths of her soul.
“Finally, I’ll tell you something… that might interest you even more.” She turned her head slightly.
Moonlight perfectly outlined the side of her pale face as she spoke of that meddlesome little girl, Sylvie… If I remember correctly, next month she’ll turn eighteen.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The cold night wind of Eternal Night City seemed to forget how to howl.
The alley fell into deathly silence.
“It’s really… something to look forward to.” Utia’s voice carried a nearly cruel satisfaction.
“So, human, she’ll soon… be attending that grand coming-of-age ceremony.” She finished, her tone returning to its initial lazy coldness.
“Cherish the little contact time you might have left.”
“After all, after the Trial—”
She didn’t finish the sentence, leaving only a meaningful pause and a smile that slowly curved in the shadows, sending a shiver down the spine.
Then, like a ghost melting into the night, she stepped back and vanished completely behind the rooftop, leaving no trace.