Time rewound to when Nightingale was entrusted with a mission by Broken-winged Butterfly—
“Nightingale, if something’s bothering you, you can tell me. There’s no one else here.”
Seeing that she still hadn’t moved, Broken-winged Butterfly roughly understood.
Her younger sister had a heavy burden on her heart, and it was something concerning herself.
It was also her responsibility as the elder sister to comfort her. Broken-winged Butterfly smiled gently and asked, “Is there really anything between us that you can’t say?”
Nightingale wasn’t sure where to begin.
After glancing around for a while, she twisted her legs tightly together.
“Elder Sister, you’ve been paying a lot of attention to that Ariel lately.”
The smile on Broken-winged Butterfly’s face dimmed slightly.
She admitted it.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m very concerned about her because of what she’s done… you know, I can’t tolerate those rumors targeting me.”
“I know that, but…”
“But what?”
“Is it really just because of that?”
“I want to ask you the same—what else could it be?”
Nightingale averted her gaze, saying nothing, yet as if she had said everything.
Suddenly, a sharp glint appeared in Broken-winged Butterfly’s eyes.
“Did someone say something to you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you suddenly asking me these questions? I know you well—there’s no smoke without fire.”
“But I don’t know you!”
Nightingale abruptly shouted.
Broken-winged Butterfly’s pupils shrank; she hadn’t expected to be yelled at by her own sister.
The perfect smile showed a crack.
“I still… don’t really understand you, Elder Sister. Why won’t you talk to me?”
“What exactly do you want to say?”
Broken-winged Butterfly furrowed her brows slightly, walked around the table, cupped Nightingale’s chin in her palm, and lifted her face up.
“Tell me, what don’t you understand about me?”
“Elder Sister, you’re the same with me.”
“Same how?”
“You never show any emotion, always maintaining that perfect image to the outside world.”
Nightingale’s eyes were filled with bitterness. “But you act so differently with Eleira and Ariel…”
Broken-winged Butterfly finally lost control. Her lips moved twice, but her voice remained calm, “That’s because they anger me.”
“Is that all?”
Nightingale lowered her eyes in disappointment, then after a moment, raised them again and changed the subject.
“Elder Sister, if you manage to defeat Ariel as you wish, what will you do afterward?”
Broken-winged Butterfly didn’t want to continue on this topic, so she went along: “Of course, focus on dealing with the Boundary Sea Tides.”
She added, “You should do the same.”
“I understand… I’ll definitely make sure you win, Elder Sister.”
Having said that, her steps faltered slightly as she left the room.
Her delicate face gradually revealed determination.
This battle, Elder Sister must win.
Her relationship with Eleira and Elder Sister must be severed as soon as possible!
***
When Luo You returned to Flower Sea City, the city was under attack by a dimensional beast.
“Alert, alert! Dimensional beast invasion! Please evacuate in an orderly manner! Please evacuate in an orderly manner.”
People were nervously evacuating, but Luo You stood in the middle of the road with a confused expression.
[What’s going on? Dimensional beasts aren’t afraid of Xue’s presence?]
Luo You immediately called Xue.
“Ц4?”
“Xue, turn on your location. Don’t say you don’t know how, I taught you.”
“Oh, I’ve had it on all along.”
Luo You checked; no issues.
Xue was right there in the vacant house she kept for her—her adopted illegitimate daughter, er, rather, just her empty house.
“Why would a dimensional beast come here?”
“Beats me.”
“Where on earth did you learn that weird phrase? I’m going to restrict your internet access.”
Hanging up, Luo You felt puzzled.
Could it be a very powerful dimensional beast, one that could ignore Xue’s oppressive power as a former Light-class predator?
Azure Authority—Piercing the Illusion!
“Found it… right there!”
It was effortless to locate the dimensional beast’s position, but—
“It looks like it just barely broke through Ghost-level. And it dares to come here?”
Luo You began to suspect her initial judgment might be wrong.
When Xue was at Jiuwang Sea, the sea hadn’t experienced a dimensional beast invasion in four years. Back then, she credited Xue for that.
But since Xue became humanoid with the help of the Benevolent Saintess Litia and started staying by her side, did she lose her ability to deter dimensional beasts? Was it just luck that Flower Sea City hadn’t been invaded recently?
“Well… doesn’t seem all that bad.”
After thinking it over, Luo You didn’t care much.
She was actually worried that Xue’s presence might attract powerful dimensional beasts and cause trouble—like the Rage Devouring Colossus.
Losing that deterrence might even be a blessing.
At this moment, most of the civilians had evacuated. The streets were deserted except for Luo You, who stood out as she walked alone.
And right then!
Luo Zining happened to see her.
“Little Red Riding Hood? What’s going on? Your heart rate suddenly spiked.”
Zhao Xin’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Uh, nothing. I just saw a silly kid wandering on the roadside, didn’t have time to evacuate.”
“Let the auxiliary police handle it, you—”
“I’m going myself!”
Ignoring Zhao Xin’s advice, Luo Zining propelled herself with magic and landed with a ‘bang’ right in front of Luo You.
“Hey! You over there!”
“Hm?” Luo You recognized Luo Zining and naturally nodded to her.
Just as she was about to call the unfilial girl’s name, she realized Luo Zining had transformed and she couldn’t be so casual.
A crooked smile appeared on Luo Zining’s lips.
She bent slightly and affectionately ruffled Luo You’s head, saying, “Kid, where are your parents? Come, Sister will take you to safety.”
Wha—!
Luo You was stunned, frozen for a long time as Luo Zining continued patting her head.
It felt like something important was being rubbed raw.
Seeing no reaction, Luo Zining became bolder.
“So pitiful, are you too scared to move? Come, Sister will carry you.”
She reached to pick Luo You up.
Luo You’s hand shot up like lightning, grabbing the unfilial girl’s wrist, placing it beneath her head, and with a forceful hop on her tiptoes, she used her whole body weight to twist Luo Zining’s arm behind her back and pin it to the ground.
“Hey, hey, hey?! W-what are you doing, kid?!”
Luo Zining struggled frantically but couldn’t use magic against this old brat. She could only shout in panic, “Sister knows she was wrong! L-let go! Someone’s watching!”
At the same time, Luo Zining was fuming.
How dare she not show me any face? It was just a few pats on your head, not your breasts or butt!
“Hmph!”
Luo You slapped the unfilial girl hard on the butt before letting go.
“Little Red Riding Hood? What are you doing?” her teammate’s voice came through the earpiece. They all saw Luo Zining pinned down by a kid about middle school age, and were dumbfounded. Luo Zining awkwardly said, “Uh, nothing, nothing. This spot is too slippery, I just slipped and fell. I’m definitely going to complain to the road administration!”
Her teammates were speechless.
You’re standing on asphalt, and you’re not Master Luo. What’s slippery about that?