Things rarely go as planned. Monsters are perverse creatures that never listen to reason. It seemed to have realized that the three of them were out of ammunition and were simply circling to buy time. Like an unstoppable juggernaut, it charged straight toward Yi Shiyue.
Six hundred sixty-six. I haven’t even scratched its skin, and it’s already entering its second phase.
“Shi… give that to me. I’ll buy some time. Take that magical girl and get out of here, and hurry up and call your Senior Kira!”
Seeing the worried look in Yi Shiyue’s eyes, Ye Xingyao grew anxious.
“Don’t worry about me. If things go south, I can run much faster than you! Also, can that Magic Shield of yours be used on others?”
“…Okay.”
“Tsk, I’m definitely going to question you thoroughly once this is over! You’d better stay alive!”
Glancing at the awkward magical girl beside her, Yi Shiyue knew this wasn’t the time for hesitation. She opened her palm, and a star-blue gemstone appeared out of thin air. It pulsed rhythmically, bright one moment and dim the next, as if she truly held a star from the heavens in her hand.
It wasn’t cold like a common stone on the side of the road; instead, it possessed a faint, ethereal warmth. It truly lived up to its name as a Star Spirit Stone.
Then, the two girls each cast their own Magic Shield for him—one layer of cyan-blue and one layer of pale white.
Ye Xingyao gave the two girls behind him a deep look, urging them to leave with his eyes. He turned back, stepped forward a few paces, and weighed the Star Spirit Stone in his hand.
‘Hey, if this Star Spirit Stone could explode, it would surely release one hell of an attack.’
‘The only problem is, I don’t know what the corresponding Elvish word would be.’
Watching the approaching monster, he didn’t know what to feel. His mind even drifted to a vague comparison between the ice-blue magical girl and his own sister. Both of them seemed a bit dim-witted.
‘Why can’t they stay calm when facing a strong enemy…’
Ye Xingyao forced his attention back to the monster in front of him. Its massive fist hung in mid-air, fully charged and ready to smash down.
Two stones flew into the air. One erupted with violent arcs of electricity, while the other dissolved into the night as if swallowed by the lightning.
“Shadow, Thunder!”
For dark-attribute magic, shadows were the best medium for casting and the perfect tool.
However, given the amount of mana in the magic stones, it wasn’t enough for Ye Xingyao to pull off any high-end maneuvers. Of course, he had explored whether there were words beyond the standard vocabulary that could increase the efficiency, lethality, or functionality of the mana within the stones.
He was lucky, for he had succeeded.
He was also unlucky, because the “price” was rather high.
Furthermore…
“Now that the uninvolved parties are gone, I can use this move without any reservations.”
Having lost its targets, the humanoid monster began to rampagingly destroy the surrounding environment. Even though the item it craved was nearby, it could not see or touch it.
Suddenly, a hand appeared out of thin air from the shadow beneath the monster’s feet, violently throwing several objects into the sky.
They were several crimson magic stones.
“Combustion!”
In an instant, the magic stones seemed unable to contain their terrifying heat and exploded one after another. Countless clouds of dust and sand outlined the silhouette of the horrific shockwave.
“Not done yet. Burst Combustion! Thunder!”
As soon as he spoke, the heat remaining on the monster—which was already reeling from the multiple simultaneous explosions—seemed to be triggered by his words once again. It began to burn violently across its entire body!
At the same time, a spear made of lightning struck its head with a thunderous impact.
“Roar—!”
The monster let out a pained howl.
Ye Xingyao’s figure emerged from the shadows not far away. The fire from the explosion had created plenty of shadows, which was the only reason he had survived the terrifying blast.
The two girls’ Magic Shields had shattered under the weight of the explosion. Fortunately, they had successfully blocked the majority of the aftershocks. Otherwise, Ye Xingyao, who lacked superpowers, would be in a much worse state than the monster right now.
‘Please, please don’t let the Smoke-without-damage Law apply here!’
Reality met his expectations. The monster had indeed been wounded, but for such a creature, pain only brought rage, never fear.
“Roar—!”
Facing the monster charging headlong toward him, Ye Xingyao took stock of his last few magic stones and pulled out the only pure black one.
One last hit, then it was time to retreat.
“Shadow!”
Unlike what he had imagined, he failed to dive into the shadows this time. He realized then that, at some point, numerous vines had climbed up his legs.
From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Lin Li’s disgusting, sinister smile.
Watching the monster’s fist grow larger in his vision—appearing as tall as a building as it swung toward him—Ye Xingyao’s heart, which had been racing from the excitement of battle, actually calmed down.
It wasn’t because he had another trump card. He didn’t think for a second that his physical body was sturdier than high-tech construction materials.
No miracle seemed to occur. The blow landed solidly against his body. Yet, there was no imagined pain, only a certain sense of peace as everything went quiet.
‘My little sister and Shiyue… they’ll be sad, won’t they?’
…
“Ye Xin!!!”
A red figure was approaching rapidly, but she was still too late.
Hongye Qiu watched with her own eyes as Ye Xingyao’s figure was crushed.
She wasn’t entirely sure what her feelings were for this “good sister,” but in her short and regretful life, Ye Xin’s intrusion felt as if she truly had a sister she could tease and joke with.
And now, that sister—who was a bit too smart and a bit of a “green tea” girl—had been heavily injured by an enemy right before her eyes.
A terrifying killing intent filled her beautiful eyes.
How long had it been since she had completely surrendered herself to this murderous urge?
She didn’t have an answer.
A single, sorrowful cherry blossom petal drifted through the air. The world seemed to focus on this one petal, and everything came to a standstill for a brief moment.
In an instant, that petal turned into a lead bird, drawing more and more petals behind it until they fell like a blizzard—a vessel for endless killing intent and resentment.
Her pale fingers pressed against the scabbard of the Odachi. In the next second, a scarlet blade-light flashed.
With a single strike, the mountain-sized monster in its state of rage lost all signs of life. It transformed into a pitch-black mark, suspended in mid-air.
Seeing this, Lin Li, who had been about to seize the star-blue stone, turned pale. He reacted quickly, using Plantification to try and hide among the surrounding greenery to escape.
He didn’t expect that several cherry blossom fragments would land on his body.
In Satellite City, there was no such thing as cherry blossoms.
Those few fragmented petals turned into a merciless meat grinder.
“Aaaaaagh—!”
Lin Li screamed in agony as he collapsed into a pool of blood.
Nice