“I won’t let you harm those ordinary people anymore.”
Holding several small stones she had picked up from the ground, Yan Qi coldly spoke to the Confusion Demon in front of her—a creature with a large head and a small body, much like her current form, lacking combat prowess.
After saying this, Yan Qi resumed her singing while hurling the stones in her hand at the demon at an astonishing speed.
Seeing this, the Confusion Demon—who knew it lacked the Silver Zombie’s tough skin to shrug off most physical attacks—immediately abandoned its pursuit of the college students and dodged the incoming projectiles.
While Yan Qi and Yan Yu were separately entangled with the Confusion Demon and the Silver Zombie, the group of eleven students, led by Sun Zhengning and including Xu Ziqi, finally arrived before the Abyss Rift.
Seeing the real world on the other side of the rift, Sun Zhengning, the class monitor, took a deep breath. Aware of the hesitation still lingering on his classmates’ faces after their earlier ordeal, he knew exactly what he had to do. Without another word, he stepped forward, becoming the first to cross through the Abyss Rift.
Inspired by their monitor’s lead, the other students—who had been uncertain whether to trust the rift after what they’d been through—quickly cast aside their doubts. One by one, they followed Sun Zhengning through the rift and returned to the real world.
Watching her classmates leave, Xu Ziqi turned back for a final glance at Yan Yu, who was busy pummeling the Silver Zombie in the distance. Relieved, she turned away and stepped through the rift herself.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Relentlessly slashing at the Silver Zombie with her Bloodthirsty Sword, Yan Yu had already managed to pierce its supposedly impenetrable skin over a dozen times. She scoffed at the creature with disdain.
The Silver Zombie, far too unintelligent to comprehend human speech, said nothing in return. It merely focused on dodging Yan Yu’s potentially fatal strikes while searching for any opening to counterattack.
“Alright, little girl’s time is running out. Time to end this.”
Thanks to her superior combat skills, Yan Yu had effortlessly evaded every one of the zombie’s attacks. Now, noticing that the number of wounds on its body had reached the threshold for a certain skill, she muttered under her breath—then activated Blood Curse.
[Blood Curse: As the signature weapon of the Bloodthirsty Empress, the Bloodthirsty Sword contains traces of her essence. Each strike injects a portion of this essence into the enemy. Once enough accumulates, the Bloodthirsty Empress can seize control of the target’s movements and decide their fate at will. (Note: This effect only works on supernatural beings and Abyss creatures of the same or lower level.)]
The moment Yan Yu activated the skill, the Silver Zombie—which had been frantically evading her attacks—suddenly froze in place, completely immobilized.
Though not particularly intelligent, the zombie understood the danger it was in. It struggled desperately to regain control of its body.
Sensing its resistance, Yan Yu said nothing. She simply raised a finger and snapped.
BOOM!
In the next instant, the Silver Zombie—a three-star late-stage Abyss creature—exploded into a cloud of ash, leaving nothing behind.
“This side’s done. Gotta hurry and help the little girl.”
Confirming the zombie’s demise, Yan Yu immediately thought of Yan Qi, still locked in battle with the Confusion Demon. Without wasting another second, she rushed to her side.
But the moment she arrived, before she could even raise her sword to target the demon, she noticed something alarming—Yan Qi’s body was gradually fading, as if turning translucent for some unknown reason.
Startled, Yan Yu bit back her questions for now. She locked onto the fleeing Confusion Demon, dashed forward, and with a single swing, lopped off its oversized head.
Only after the demon dissolved into ash and her Bloodthirsty Sword grew noticeably heavier did Yan Yu turn back to Yan Qi, urgently asking:
“Hey, little girl, are you okay?”
Having witnessed her sister slay the Confusion Demon, Yan Qi finally relaxed. She stopped singing, cutting off the enchanting melody that had been enhancing everyone’s abilities—though it hardly mattered now.
Hearing Yan Yu’s voice, she looked up and replied:
“I’m fine. It’s just… time’s up.”
“Time? What do you mean, ‘time’s up’?”
Yan Yu blinked, clearly confused.
Not wanting to explain further, Yan Qi simply said:
“It’s complicated. Also… could you stop calling me ‘little girl’? I do have a name, you know.”
“Ah, sorry! You never told me your name, so I didn’t know what else to call you.” Yan Yu ran a hand through her long white hair, smiling sheepishly. “So, what should I call you?”
Unwilling to reveal her true identity, Yan Qi gave the alias she had prepared for her virtual idol persona:
“My name is Ji Zige. ‘Ji’ as in songstress, ‘Zi’ as in digital, ‘Ge’ as in song.”
Hearing this, Yan Yu nodded, committing the name to memory.
“Ji Zige… Got it.”
Seeing her smile, Yan Qi—aware that this avatar couldn’t hold on much longer—quickly added:
“Alright, enough chatter. You need to leave through the Abyss Rift now.”
“Right. But… what about the powers you gave me? What happens to them?”
Though Yan Qi refused to explain why her body was fading, Yan Yu had already guessed that she was about to disappear—returning to wherever she truly belonged.
Still, there was one thing she needed to know.
“The supernatural abilities I got from you… What’s going to happen to them?”