Chapter 50: Past Life and Present Life (Bonus chapter dedicated to Alliance Leader Shenlun Shengge)

Chen Zi'ang was completely numb.

The voice coming from behind the door was evidently the final recording of Takano Seiji—Takano Seiko's son—before his death, essentially his last words.

The Federation's intention in broadcasting this recording was practically transparent.

One must know that a witch's obsession was the driving force of her existence, the anchor fixing her to this world. Therefore, someone had seized this recording, attempting to use it as the most lethal blade to sever Takano Seiko's remaining will to live at a critical juncture.

Yet... was this not despicable?

Not only did you kill her son, but you were now going to use a mother's longing and guilt for her deceased child to hound this pitiful mother to her death?!

The two finally rushed out through the Glimmer Door, only to see Takano Seiko kneeling and hunched over her desk, where the audio player had just finished playing.

A figure had already silently materialized behind Takano Seiko, swinging the blade in its hand directly toward her fragile neck—while she seemed utterly oblivious.

"Stop!" Chen Zi'ang roared, trying to snap Takano Seiko out of her trance, even as he lunged forward.

He drew the Sickle of Chill, slashing directly at the assailant's back to force the figure to turn and defend.

Indeed, the mysterious figure did not dare to trade blows with Takano Seiko's life, instead spinning around to parry with its blade.

As their weapons collided, Chen Zi'ang saw that the blade was forged from a dark golden material, not a product of some supernatural authority, but rather equipment manufactured in reality. It even managed to withstand the strike of the Sickle of Chill without being affected by its extreme sub-zero temperatures.

The attacking figure was a robust individual wearing a tight bodysuit, entirely wrapped in an unknown material with a distinct high-tech aesthetic.

More figures quickly materialized around them, seemingly equipped with optical camouflage. One of them stepped forward to assist its teammate, forcing Chen Zi'ang toward the corner of the room, while another two lunged at Takano Seiko once again.

"Xia Qingyu!" Chen Zi'ang's maneuvering space was compressed, leaving him no choice but to shout loudly.

Xia Qingyu had already extended her right hand, drawing the silver key from the void, but a concealed blade materialized beside her, slashing swiftly toward her wrist.

Her wrist flicked with delicate agility, the silver key instantly blocking the blade. She then sank into a left-side step and delivered a heavy elbow strike, sending the invisible assailant stumbling backward.

Chen Zi'ang had no time to mind her; he rapidly summoned the Tentacles of the Abyss to entangle the two figures lunging at Takano Seiko. However, letting his guard down for a fraction of a second, his shoulder was pierced by the mysterious opponent opposite him, apparently damaging the tendons within and instantly rendering his entire right arm weak and numb.

Blood-stained brooch, bind!

Utilizing the blood-stained brooch to lock down the injury, he managed to prevent the wound on his right shoulder from worsening. Chen Zi'ang swiftly switched to holding his sword in his left hand, barely maintaining his defense from collapsing, feeling that the battle's situation had turned thoroughly disadvantageous.

There were simply too many mysterious scholars lurking in the room, and coupled with the fact that he and Xia Qingyu had rushed in blindly without any prior intelligence on the enemy, they had been caught completely off guard.

If this continued, let alone preventing Takano Seiko from being killed, even holding onto their own lives would be exceptionally difficult.

He had no choice but to fight and retreat simultaneously, returning to Xia Qingyu's side to help share some of the pressure—every time she attempted to use that miraculous skeleton key, her movements were interrupted by surrounding attacks. The tactical acumen of these elves was truly vicious.

"Chen Zi'ang," Xia Qingyu's voice suddenly rang in his earpiece. "Cover me."

"What?" Chen Zi'ang asked in astonishment.

Though he questioned her verbally, his actions did not hesitate for a fraction of a second. He first struck the enemy closest to Xia Qingyu with the Entangling Tentacles.

The opponent instantly clutched their head and collapsed to the floor, yet without starting to writhe with tentacles—seeming to possess some level of resistance against mental corruption—they were nevertheless completely incapacitated in combat.

Chen Zi'ang swung the Sickle of Chill, forcing the other two adversaries back and finally buying Xia Qingyu a precious window of time.

The latter swiftly inserted the key into the void, gave it a rapid twist, and uttered:

"Takano Seiko, return to death."

The slumped figure of Takano Seiko ahead shuddered violently, then suddenly bloated like an overinflated balloon and burst apart.

An endless torrent of water surged from within her body, instantly flooding the entire room and breaking down the walls the very next second, spilling outward in all directions.

Chen Zi'ang was submerged by the water, at a loss, holding his breath as he attempted to swim toward the surface, when he suddenly felt someone grab his hand.

Through the chaotic currents and bubbles, he saw Xia Qingyu's face draw close to his, her lips moving as if speaking. Translated by his lip-reading implant, he heard a crisp synthesized voice:

"You can breathe here."

Chen Zi'ang promptly opened his mouth, a massive volume of water rushing into his respiratory tract. The foreign sensation felt intensely uncomfortable, but the original feeling of suffocation vanished without a trace... Sure enough, Xia Qingyu had once again utilized the skeleton key, granting his lungs the ability to extract oxygen directly from the water.

Yet Chen Zi'ang felt no gratitude whatsoever; he merely grabbed the collar of Xia Qingyu's outfit tightly, staring straight into those pitch-black eyes just inches away, and asked coldly:

"Why did you kill her?"

I risked my damn life to cover you and buy us time, and it was for *you* to personally kill Takano Seiko?

Xia Qingyu fell silent for a moment, then responded with an equally frigid tone:

"Takano Seiko brazenly attacked the Federal Embassy. Neither Takamagahara nor the Federation could possibly allow her to live, so her only fate was death, and her internal divine kingdom was bound to manifest."

"The difference is that if the Federation tampered with her execution, the expanding divine kingdom could spiral wildly out of control, thereby endangering the entire North Pole City. Taking matters into our own hands eliminates this risk. If your intellect is too low to understand this principle, then kindly shut your mouth and follow my orders."

Chen Zi'ang glared intently at Xia Qingyu, while she returned his gaze without a hint of fear.

The two stared at one another for an indeterminate duration until Chen Zi'ang finally released her collar, stating expressionlessly:

"Let's resolve the divine kingdom issue first; we'll settle accounts afterward."

Xia Qingyu gave no reply, merely smoothing out the wrinkles on her collar with a slow motion.

Her hair drifted languidly in the water like tangled seaweed, and her complexion appeared rather pale under the refraction of the watery light. She produced the small, exquisite key, twirled it between her fingers a few times, and then said:

"That direction. Follow me."

————————

The terrorist attack at the Tianyuan District embassy had done nothing to disrupt the Shinjuku District tour.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the concert finally drew to a flawless close. Exhausted, Xia Zili returned to the backstage, letting her assistants strip away her performance gown before sitting down in front of the vanity mirror to let the makeup artist remove her cosmetics.

She had seen her sister and Chen Zi'ang leave in a hurry midway through the show, knowing that some emergency must have arisen regarding their work, but a sense of loss remained inevitable.

Enveloped in fatigue, exhaustion, and loneliness, Xia Zili slowly drifted off to sleep in the makeup chair.

In a vague, emerging dream, she saw herself wearing a magnificent wedding dress, standing before a full-length mirror as she turned around and around to admire the most radiant version of herself in this lifetime.

Her sister was busy beside her, pinning the floral headpiece in place, fluffing and smoothing the collar, and straightening the train of the gown before gazing intently at the younger sister in the mirror, a pleased and satisfied smile blooming on her face.

"Sister?" Xia Zili suddenly felt a trace of panic. "What's wrong?"

Because she noticed that although Xia Qingyu in the mirror wore a gentle smile, two lines of clear tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"It's nothing. Perhaps I'm just too happy," Xia Qingyu said, forcefully wiping away the tears with her sleeve and striving to maintain a smile. "Thinking that my dearest sister is finally getting married to him today, my emotions feel... simply beyond words."

"It's alright, Sister," Xia Zili said, quickly wrapping her arms around her waist. "It's not like I won't care about you anymore just because I'm married, right? We'll definitely come to visit you often."

"It's a promise, then," Xia Qingyu said softly, pressing her hands on her younger sister's shoulders. "You aren't allowed to leave me behind."

"Mm, it's a promise," Xia Zili replied innocently.

Xia Qingyu said no more, merely lowering her head once again to tidy her wedding dress.

Yet on her smiling face, the tears never once stopped flowing.

(End of this chapter)