Soul fusion failed… Nuo Ai’er’s Soul Space closed shut. The consciousness of Leinata, Emilia, and Hui Mei returned to their bodies.
Before them was still that milk tea shop, wrapped layer upon layer in pink tentacles.
“Hui Mei, Leinata, are you two okay?”
Emilia was the first to snap back to reality, turning to check on the other two.
But Leinata and Hui Mei both stood frozen in place, pale-faced, hollow-eyed, on the verge of collapse.
“It was me who sent her away… It was me…”
Leinata had witnessed every reincarnation cycle of the Little Red Riding Hood Forest.
Besides the agony of watching Nuo Ai’er die again and again, what Leinata couldn’t accept most was that she herself had sent Nuo Ai’er out of the forest, letting her meet Kui Mu…
The moment she saw Kui Mu bite off Nuo Ai’er’s head, Leinata went completely mad, swinging her blade wildly at Kui Mu.
She suddenly felt that letting Kui Mu die under the sun back then had been far too merciful. If she could do it again, she would slice that bastard into a thousand pieces.
But no amount of words could change anything now…
“Big Sister Nuo Ai’er… I’m sorry…”
Hui Mei’s eyes were even redder, her entire being shrouded in guilt.
In the Little Sister’s Room Dungeon, those buried dark cycles had all been exposed. She had seen it clearly—several times, it was her own berserk self who had killed the gentle Big Sister Nuo Ai’er who had saved her.
Maybe Nuo Ai’er could let bygones be bygones. Their main bodies had no memory of those cruel pasts.
But they couldn’t let it go.
“Just as I thought…”
Emilia looked at the two’s dejected figures, having already anticipated this outcome.
The path Nuo Ai’er took to save them must have been anything but easy. She must have died many times, perhaps even at their own hands.
But…
Emilia took a gentle step forward.
“I know you’re sad, and you blame yourselves… but for Nuo Ai’er’s sake, okay? Stay strong!
“Even if she was hurt by you again and again, even if she died at your hands, Nuo Ai’er still chose to save you.”
Emilia gently raised her hand and patted both their shoulders.
“She’s in danger right now. Only we can save her now!”
Hearing this, the two began to recover.
“You’re right.”
“We must rescue Big Sister Nuo Ai’er!”
The sharp light returned to Leinata’s eyes, and Hui Mei wiped away the dampness at the corners of her eyes, nodding firmly.
They would make up for all of this with their own hands.
This time, it was their turn to protect Nuo Ai’er.
Emilia: “That’s the spirit”
Leinata: “I’ll apologize to her properly afterward… I owe her too much.”
Hui Mei: “Right. Even if Big Sister Nuo Ai’er wants revenge afterward, that’s fine.”
Emilia: “Right, right. We’ll deal with apologies afterward.”
Hui Mei: “This humble one has no objections”
Emilia: “Right, right… wait? What about me then?”
Leinata: “…”
“Huh?”
Both of them turned to look at Hui Mei at the same time.
Emilia: “Nuo Ai’er… what exactly did you go through in Hui Mei’s dungeon?”
“Alright, let’s set that aside for now.” Emilia said. “Next, let’s think about how to break through these tentacles.”
Just as the three were regrouping and thinking about how to save Nuo Ai’er—
“Hnnnghaaa—×___×”
A weak, muffled groan came from the ground nearby.
The three looked down and saw Ka Fei collapsed on the floor, both hands clutching her head, body twitching slightly, letting out agonized screams from her mouth.
“Ughaaaa… You damned Weiran, don’t kiss me… Hnnnghaaa!”
The mighty High Green Witch Ka Fei had completely shattered mentally at this moment, utterly pathetic.
“Curing her would just be wasting medicine.” Emilia understood instantly and said.
Leinata: “Indeed.”
Hui Mei: “Serves her right.”
All three of them knew that in the memory flashbacks just now, they had merely been bystanders watching Nuo Ai’er’s reincarnation cycles.
But Ka Fei was different.
She had undergone soul fusion to obtain Nuo Ai’er’s abilities, so she had fully experienced every single one of Nuo Ai’er’s gruesome deaths firsthand.
Hmm…
She experienced, in first person, being kissed on the lips by the woman she hated most.
And Nuo Ai’er’s first time reversal happened precisely because Weiran had kissed her.
So Ka Fei had already broken at the first hurdle.
After that came that series of deaths—countless despairing, brutal death images continuously grinding down her psyche.
Ka Fei simply couldn’t take it. Her mind collapsed, and the soul fusion failed.
“Hmph, it seems the great witch’s mental fortitude is far inferior to our Nuo Ai’er’s.” Emilia said.
Ka Fei, who had schemed against them for so long, was now tormented beyond recognition.
She had schemed against Nuo Ai’er, tried to plunder Nuo Ai’er’s talent, hurt so many people—and in the end, was crushed by the very truths she had dug up herself.
This, too, was punishment for all her misdeeds, so the three didn’t spare her another glance.
Emilia picked up Nuo Ai’er’s soul crystal ball, which had been restored to its original state beside Ka Fei.
Next was to rescue Nuo Ai’er.
But—
Hui Mei: “These tentacles are terrifying.”
The milk tea shop ahead was still tightly wrapped in pink tentacles, completely airtight.
“Let me try.”
Leinata stepped forward first, unleashing consecutive slashes of blood-colored sword Qi.
But a bizarre sight appeared—the severed tentacle stumps regenerated almost instantly.
These tentacles simply couldn’t be cut down.
The only way to save Nuo Ai’er was to find her physical body trapped deep within the barrier and reunite the soul crystal ball with her body.
Emilia looked at the crystal ball in her hand and said.
“But there’s no way in right now.”
Just as the three were at a loss, thinking of a way to break the deadlock—
“Looks like it’s this big sister’s time to shine~”
A faint tremor of magic suddenly echoed from midair.
An elegant, composed black figure descended from the air.
It was the Witch Weiran.
“That Ka Fei really gave me a hard time.”
She had finally broken through the barrier Ka Fei had set up, rushing to the scene as fast as she could.
And she had come specifically to rescue Nuo Ai’er as well.
But the moment they saw Weiran—
Whoosh!
A red sword Qi swung toward Weiran.
“Ehh?” Weiran was startled. “Miss Leinata, what are you doing?”
Leinata and Hui Mei, who had just pulled themselves together, instantly felt a fresh surge of anger, their eyes filled with obvious displeasure.
Although Leinata and the others had no memory of what happened before Nuo Ai’er came to the Inner World.
Leinata felt that no matter how Nuo Ai’er had offended Weiran, it didn’t justify persecuting her like this!
If it weren’t for this woman insisting on some thousand-point contract, how could Nuo Ai’er have died so many times!
Leinata and Hui Mei stared at Weiran, holding back their grievances and fury.
“Exactly…”
Weiran looked at the resentful eyes of the two young girls, instantly at a loss.
“What do you mean, Nuo Ai’er… died many times?”
She had no idea at all.
“Um, everyone, this isn’t the time to argue! Saving her is what matters! Let’s focus on breaking through the tentacle barrier, okay!” Emilia’s words snapped everyone back to reality—the situation couldn’t afford any internal conflict.
“That’s exactly why I’m here.”
Weiran immediately set aside her confusion and focused on the pink tentacle barrier before her.
“These aren’t ordinary tentacles. If my memory serves, they come from a high-ranking deity—the Tentacle God Flo’s rule-based authority. Their status far exceeds us witches and you players. They can’t be destroyed…”
As she spoke, Weiran mobilized all the magic power in her body, preparing to unleash everything she had.
“I’m going to pour all my magic power into this, but I can only forcibly restrain them at best—opening the tentacle barrier for three minutes at most.”
The moment her words fell, Weiran’s purple eyes blazed, and a dazzling torrent of magic power forcibly surged into the layers upon layers of pink tentacles.
The next second, countless intertwined pink tentacles were forcibly pried apart, stretching open a narrow passage.
“You only have three minutes. Find Nuo Ai’er’s body as quickly as possible. Don’t waste any time.”
“Go now!!”
Weiran gritted her teeth and held on.
The three didn’t hesitate, immediately leaping into the tentacle barrier.
They quickly split up, searching for Nuo Ai’er’s presence and figure.
“Is that Nuo Ai’er?”
During the search, Emilia accidentally spotted a figure wrapped in layers of tentacles in a corner.
Emilia walked over and pulled the person out of the tentacles…
Then—
“Oh, never mind.”
It was Camilla.
Seeing that familiar face, Emilia looked disgusted and couldn’t be bothered to give her another glance.
She simply tossed Camilla back into the pile of tentacles and continued focusing on finding Nuo Ai’er.
“There!”
Soon, Leinata was the first to catch that faint, familiar presence, and the three rushed forward.
At the very center of the tentacle mass, a petite figure hung bound in midair.
It was Nuo Ai’er!
“Big Sister Nuo Ai’er!” Hui Mei shouted.
But the moment the three touched Nuo Ai’er’s body…
The magic power supporting them from outside had finally reached its limit.
“Damn it…”
Outside the milk tea shop, Weiran’s body went limp, her magic power completely exhausted. She could no longer hold open the gap in the barrier.
The next second, the forcibly pried pink tentacles surged back and closed in an instant.
The entire milk tea shop returned to its sealed tentacle state.
Emilia: “Not good!”
The three knew they couldn’t escape, but they still reached out their arms together and tightly embraced Nuo Ai’er.
Soon, the tentacles wrapped Emilia, Leinata, Hui Mei, and Nuo Ai’er—who was at the very center—all together.
The moment the four held each other tightly…
The transparent crystal ball containing all of Nuo Ai’er’s soul slowly lit up with a soft glow.
The gentle light softly enveloped Nuo Ai’er’s body, beginning to merge with her physical form…