The sweet fragrance suddenly grew overpoweringly rich.
If the earlier paralyzing poison mist was merely the natural seepage of Kefulu’s power like the faint aroma wafting off a freshly baked doughnut, just enough to stir one’s appetite—
Then now, it was as if the doughnut had been pressed right up to Wu Yi’s nose, forcing her to breathe in the thick, creamy scent of baked milk and sugar.
“Why… Did you hide it from me?”
In a fit of rage, Kefulu no longer suppressed her power.
In an instant, her tendrils wrapped around Wu Yi’s limbs, pinning her tightly in place.
Wu Yi struggled weakly, only to feel her waist and chest soon ensnared as well.
“Lady Kefulu…” she managed to say through clenched teeth. “What are you talking about…”
“Don’t play dumb. You hid it—deliberately. Hide the fact that you know Wu Yi. Blocked me from fulfilling my purpose… Why?”
What?
Wu Yi froze.
“I saw everything,” Kefulu’s clenched-teeth fury gave way to a wild, possessive kind of control. “You gathered Wu Yi’s old followers. The Starborne—the legendary organization directly under her command. Even if the whole world lost track of Wu Yi… you’d still know where she is.”
Crap.
Crap, crap, crap.
The moment the lie was pierced, her heartbeat spiked like locking eyes with a lover at the wrong time.
Then came the panic. Mind blanking. Pure survival instinct. Especially in this strange fog.
Her defenses were crumbling fast.
The mist dulled resistance, made one want to submit, to spill every secret and beg for mercy.
Fortunately, her Prophet state still boosted her cognitive ability—barely enough to hold half the line.
“P-Please… let me explain. Just—wait, listen…”
Like a scene from a dream, Kefulu’s tendrils brushed against her lips, seeking entry.
Wu Yi had never tasted the venom directly before, but she instinctively knew—it had to be far more potent than the ambient mist.
And as Kefulu’s rage flared, so did her venom.
Her body excreted more and more paralyzing fluids, soaking through Wu Yi’s stockings until her legs were slick with it.
“Wait! I—I do know Wu Yi!”
Just as the last of her will was about to break, Wu Yi yielded.
It was the only way to keep from falling completely.
Only then did the crushing grip ease slightly.
“Where is she?” Kefulu asked at once.
“As a Starborne, even if I die, I won’t betray Wu Yi. So you tell me first—what do you want with her?”
If Kefulu wanted to see Wu Yi so badly, then fine—let her. Just once.
But she had to know the truth. Was Kefulu friend or foe?
Why was she—newly born and never having met Wu Yi—so obsessed with finding her?
This had always been the mystery Wu Yi couldn’t solve.
“Die? In my embrace, you’ll find neither death nor release,” Kefulu murmured playfully, brushing Wu Yi’s hair away from her neck. “But… fine. I’ll tell you. It’s not a big deal.”
“What is it?”
“To repay a debt.”
“…Eh?”
Eh???
All this drama… just to repay a favor?
Then why the hell were we playing hide-and-seek? Just show yourself and say so!
But no matter how good her memory was, Wu Yi couldn’t recall ever saving Kefulu or any kind of eldritch being…
“How exactly do you plan to repay her?” Wu Yi asked, growing bolder now.
“In the final battle against the God-King, Wu Yi was gravely wounded. We intend to heal her—our way,” Kefulu explained with patience, eager to see Wu Yi again.
Oh, just healing? Why didn’t you say so? Most of my physical injuries are already mostly healed.
Only her spiritual core remained fractured—not a problem for combat, but it did affect her ability to shift forms.
“Wu Yi’s core shares the same origin as ours. We can help her restore it. And once we do, she’ll become complete.”
“Complete? What does that mean?”
“She’ll fully integrate with the power of her spiritual core.”
Oh… wait. Hold on.
Fully integrated?!
Are you kidding me?! That would mean Wu Yi becomes permanently Wu Yi!
No more Wu Ye!
“So… where is she?”
The girl, who had just been on the verge of confessing everything, suddenly felt a wave of dread surge through her.
The truth that had risen to the tip of her tongue was forcefully swallowed back down.
“I… don’t know.”
Even in total darkness, Wu Yi could feel Kefulu’s burning gaze—now doubled in intensity—piercing through the shadows.
The tendrils coiled around her limbs, which had briefly loosened, suddenly constricted with brutal force.
“Ugh—!”
A cry of pain escaped the girl’s lips.
“You’re still lying.”
Kefulu stared down at the girl’s weakened but flawless face with growing disappointment.
And the wickedness she had kept suppressed until now—finally snapped loose.
“I’ve had enough… of your lies.”
Her patience was gone.
She was never the type of eldritch god who would sit down for a heart-to-heart, talking things through gently and rationally.
No, she was a true dark god.
If she wanted something, she took it.
With her tendrils, she would pry open the mouths of the unyielding, break the wills of ants who dared defy her, and make them submit that was the way of a true deity of corruption.
“Tch—”
Kefulu’s venomous sweat soaked into Wu Yi’s skin, merging into her bloodstream.
Under the influence of the increasingly potent toxin, Wu Yi’s reason began to blur.
If her mental clarity was normally a full ten points, she was down to three now.
A faint madness began to surface.
“I’m not telling you! What, you think you can force me? Hah! You—”
Chomp—
Suddenly, her whole body seemed to lift off the ground.
In a flash, Kefulu had tackled her onto something soft.
A bed.
Wu Yi hadn’t noticed before—maybe because she couldn’t see but there was an enormous, luxurious bed deep inside the temple.
The sensation was painfully familiar. Just like in her dreams.
In an instant, her limbs were splayed out, bound in a spread-eagle position.
With the Prophet’s hyper-attuned hearing, Wu Yi could even hear the faint sound of cicadas buzzing far beyond the temple walls.
Cicadas.
Oh no.
And in that moment, she understood.
She understood everything.
This wasn’t supposed to happen today.
She hadn’t prepared. She hadn’t even finished negotiating with Kefulu…
Which meant—
The vision she’d seen in her dream wasn’t some symbolic premonition.
It was real.
She’s serious?!
“Do you know something?”
Kefulu curled herself around the girl from behind, insectile limbs encircling her like a cage.
She undid the buttons at Wu Yi’s chest, peeled back the cloth from her shoulders—ensuring her venom would have the most direct contact with the soft, trembling body in her embrace.
“My venom,” she murmured with a reverent, feverish smile, “especially loves girls like you… those pure, proud little martyrs who refuse to yield…”
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