Luo Shuangyue was currently unaffected by the Evil Intent because Little Butterfly was absorbing it from her.
But if Little Butterfly died and they fused once more, would that shared burden still be effective?
It was bound to be impossible.
The Evil Intent felt its plan was sound.
Thus, it issued a command to its Puppet.
At the most intense moment of the battle, right before their blades were about to clash, Little Butterfly’s movements suddenly jerked to a halt.
The Scythe in her hand vanished into black smoke.
‘Oh no, the Evil Intent is trying to—’ Luo Shuangyue quickly tried to pull back her strength, retracting her weapon in an instant.
Then, she saw a malicious smirk of a successful scheme appear on the face in front of her that looked exactly like her own.
Forcing back an attack she had already launched left her with a massive opening. Little Butterfly’s actions, however, had been premeditated.
Without even a second of hesitation, she turned into a cannonball and crashed into Luo Shuangyue’s embrace.
*Boom!*
Luo Shuangyue was slammed heavily onto the ground. Little Butterfly’s hand pierced her chest at the same time. The heart-wrenching pain told her that she had failed this battle.
The moment the Evil Intent realized that it would win regardless of whether Luo Shuangyue or Little Butterfly won, the battle was already over.
The stalemate between two evenly matched sides could not be maintained if one side actively sought death.
She didn’t want to and couldn’t strike a killing blow, while the opponent could not only seek death but also strike to kill her without hesitation.
How could she fight that?
She couldn’t.
“You lost. Become a part of me,” Little Butterfly said coldly.
The scarlet light in her eyes remained strong.
As her hand, which had pierced through Luo Shuangyue’s chest, slowly stirred within her body, Luo Shuangyue felt that she had completely lost the strength to resist.
Her power was flowing out of her body bit by bit, pouring into the body of the maiden who looked exactly like her.
Everything belonging to her was slowly falling into a deep slumber.
‘Is this the end?’
She looked weakly at the hand pierced into her chest, a bitter smile hanging at the corner of her mouth.
However, the time she had stalled should have been long enough for Dad to win the actual battle, right?
At the very least, nothing would happen to The World, and Little Butterfly might be able to live on.
In her daze, Luo Shuangyue seemed to feel a droplet hit her face.
The droplet that landed on her face slid slowly down her cheek and eventually reached the corner of her mouth.
Subconsciously, Luo Shuangyue opened her mouth slightly and touched the mysterious droplet with the tip of her tongue.
It was salty and bitter — it seemed to be a tear.
She endured the pain and took a deep breath, looking up at the maiden pressing down on her.
The scarlet light in those eyes had already faded. Large tears were constantly pouring from the girl’s eyes.
At this moment, when everything was already irreversible, the controlled Puppet had regained her consciousness.
Or perhaps, the one behind the scenes had released her consciousness just to let her fall into the deepest despair.
“How did it turn out like this…” Little Butterfly cried as she pulled her hand out of Luo Shuangyue’s chest. She clumsily used Magic Power to fill Luo Shuangyue’s mangled chest cavity, trying to stop her demise.
But the process of Assimilation had already begun.
Even if she no longer wanted to kill Luo Shuangyue and take everything that belonged to her, it was already too late.
The two split parts would eventually become one. This was a fact that could not be changed.
Before, they were evenly matched, so the consumption could never proceed. But now that the gap in strength was clear, Little Butterfly, as the stronger party, would naturally begin to swallow Luo Shuangyue.
Memories belonging to Luo Shuangyue began to appear in her mind. She was thoroughly becoming the same person as Luo Shuangyue.
But this wasn’t what she wanted. If only one of the two could survive, she would rather it be Luo Shuangyue.
“Don’t cry. It’s all the same.” Seeing Little Butterfly crying so pitifully in front of her, Luo Shuangyue felt a pang of heartache.
“If you can survive this Great Crisis alive, then say sorry to those people for me.”
After the fusion, her memories would become Little Butterfly’s property, so she knew Little Butterfly would understand what she was saying.
“But you aren’t allowed to use my Identity to flirt with Xia Mo, do you hear me?”
Although she didn’t mind being swallowed, Luo Shuangyue was still a bit petty. At the very least, she wasn’t willing to give up Xia Mo; that was her own unique treasure.
Little Butterfly didn’t respond to Luo Shuangyue’s final words. She just sniffled hard and placed her trembling hand over her own chest.
“You should say that kind of thing to them yourself!”
“Wait, don’t do anything stupid—” Luo Shuangyue’s pupils constricted. She suddenly realized what Little Butterfly wanted to do.
‘No, you’ll completely disappear if you do that!’
But she had already lost the ability to stop Little Butterfly. She could only watch as Little Butterfly thrust her hand into her own chest without hesitation, crushing her own heart right before her eyes.
In this way, their injuries were roughly the same. Yet, Little Butterfly’s actions did not stop there. While she self-mutilated her chest, the scarlet spikes she summoned pierced through her abdomen from her back, causing her aura to weaken even further.
Almost in an instant, the balance of power between the two shifted once again.
The fusion had already begun; the strong would swallow the weak.
And now, Luo Shuangyue had become the strong one — a strong one who was powerless to resist.
Her originally blurred memories became clear again. The pain of her shattered soul was gradually replaced by the satisfaction of her deficiencies being filled.
This feeling was heart-felt and comfortable, but Luo Shuangyue could only feel heart-wrenching agony.
She was clearly the one who had come to save the person; why did things turn out this way?
‘Why?’
“I shouldn’t have existed in the first place. I was always meant to be a part of you. This is the way it should be,” Little Butterfly said as she fell weakly into Luo Shuangyue’s arms, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
“Don’t be sad for me. You have more of a right to live than I do.”
Her voice was very, very light — as light as a dandelion swaying in the wind.
Luo Shuangyue raised her hand, wanting to hold the child. But before her hand could touch Little Butterfly, the girl’s body shattered silently like foam.
She turned into countless tiny black butterflies that flew into Luo Shuangyue’s body, mending the wound in her chest and delivering the last bit of her strength.
Her memories were few — so few that Luo Shuangyue could scan them all in a single glance.
And this was the only trace that child left behind in the world.
With Little Butterfly’s disappearance, the Evil Intent that had just been driven away by Little Butterfly’s consciousness came surging back, wanting to repeat its old trick and turn Luo Shuangyue into its puppet.
But this time, it could no longer achieve its goal.
Watching the Evil Intent pouncing toward her like a tide, Luo Shuangyue slowly stood up.
She stared coldly at the culprit behind all of this with vacant eyes.
Consciousness existed within the Evil Intent as well. And now, she only wanted to kill that consciousness and make it join Little Butterfly in death.
The black Scythe reappeared in her hand. This time, she would not fail again.
Seeing Luo Shuangyue’s refusal to be taken without a fight, the Evil Intent let out a contemptuous laugh.
It was so powerful. It was impossible for Luo Shuangyue to defeat it!
Here, in this home field that belonged to it, no one could defeat it!
Even that powerful Holy Sovereign had ultimately been forced to flee in panic by it, hadn’t they?
In this battle, the advantage was theirs!
A black-red wave smashed the Corroded Arena and crashed down heavily toward the maiden standing in the center.
In the Evil Intent’s view, this one blow was enough to shatter Luo Shuangyue’s consciousness and make her its new puppet.
‘Hmph, just a tiny ant.’
“Is this… all you’ve got!”
Pitch-black light tore through the black-red wave. Luo Shuangyue looked coldly at the churning black-red sludge and spoke in an icy tone.
She didn’t know if she was currently being influenced by the Evil Intent.
She only knew that right now, she really wanted to kill.
She really wanted to kill that so-called Evil Intent!
The surging Evil Intent felt the killing intent. Instead of being afraid, they actually bowed down in worship toward Luo Shuangyue.
Only killing intent like this was worthy of being called their Master.