“Sister, I missed you so much, waaaaah~” Lilith jumped out of Xue Ji’s shadow and rushed towards her.
Xue Ji opened her arms as if to welcome her.
Seeing this, Lilith couldn’t hide the smile on her face, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Xue Ji felt a little strange. Hadn’t they only been apart for just over ten minutes? Why this kind of reaction?
But she didn’t have time to ponder the reason because the situation on Sha Ya’s side was dire. The ground forces had almost completely withdrawn, and Sha Ya was shouldering most of the pressure alone.
“Okay, let’s go help Sha Ya.”
She stuffed the onrushing Lilith into her body, completely missing the annoyed expression on Lilith’s face.
“Stupid, good-for-nothing sister! So biased!” The newly returned Lilith complained to Yukī within the consciousness space, growing more aggrieved as she spoke. “I was gone for so long, and all I wanted when I came back was for her to hold me, but she wouldn’t even do that.”
The white-clad Yukī held her, letting her cry in her embrace. The consciousness space was promptly flooded by the little one’s tears.
“It’s not like that,” Yukī comforted her in a soft, gentle voice, softly stroking her back. “It’s just that Sha Ya’s situation is too dangerous. She can’t help but worry.”
“Then… then I’m still unhappy!” Lilith puffed out her cheeks, leaning against the girl in the ruqun dress.
Thinking of the several girls around Xue Ji, the corners of the ruqun-clad girl’s mouth turned up involuntarily.
Living a long time certainly has its perks. You get to watch dramas like this.
But considering her relationship with Xue Ji, she felt she should still give Xue Ji a heads-up.
‘Xiao Ji, prepare yourself. The days ahead won’t be peaceful.’
As Xue Ji rushed towards Sha Ya’s location, she heard this message but had no time to ponder its deeper meaning. She simply replied.
“Mm, I know.”
‘I mean, uh… regarding matters of the heart.’
Hearing this, Xue Ji fell silent for a moment. In the end, she replied stiffly.
“I know.”
Back in the consciousness space, Yukī, floating in the water, wrinkled her brow helplessly and thought, “No, you don’t know. You have no idea~”
Since that’s the case, Xiao Ji, you can experience it for yourself firsthand. Experience the feeling of being troubled by love. It would also serve as entertainment for her, in her boredom.
In the real world, nearly half of the vampires pierced by Hino’s blood spikes still remained, despite everyone’s efforts—roughly estimated, over twenty thousand. When Xue Ji looked over, their bodies were already beginning to dry up and turn to ash, wisps of black energy continuously gathering from them onto Hino, who was long since no longer human in form.
Streaks of blue sword light shot tirelessly from the city towards Hino. But compared to the behemoth that now almost covered the sky above the city, Sha Ya’s slashes were a drop in the bucket.
Sha Ya couldn’t maintain her full control over the Fenrir’s Winter state for too long. She had already shifted from offense to passive defense.
“Sha Ya! Behind you!”
Hearing Xue Ji’s warning, Sha Ya decisively leaped away. Almost the instant she jumped, a cluster of blood spikes erupted from the ground.
Even with Xue Ji’s immediate warning, the sudden, wide-ranging attack still left Sha Ya wounded. An extremely fine blood needle had pierced through her shoulder.
“Retreat first, let me treat your wound!” Xue Ji emerged from Sha Ya’s shadow and used shadows to carry her away. Not long after, the place where Sha Ya had been standing was once again assaulted by a overwhelming wave of blood spikes.
As the combat personnel withdrew, the holy magic that had originally covered City A gradually crumbled.
The power of the curse began to envelop the entire city. The blood thorns started converging towards the center. Within the blood mist, eerie, enchanting crimson roses began to bloom.
Cain’s faintly visible figure was a sting to every operative. This battle was the most frustrating one the special forces had experienced since their establishment.
Even though they hadn’t made a single misstep, their opponent could still effortlessly dissolve the advantage they had accumulated.
The first rays of the morning sun shone down. Sunlight can dispel darkness, but it could not pierce this rolling, thick blood mist.
Cain’s deep voice resounded across the sky.
[Warriors of China, your performance in this battle was quite commendable. But unfortunately, I am the victor.]
He gazed haughtily towards the location of the Canglong Hao. Under his gaze, the Canglong Hao shook violently, but after only three seconds, the tremors ceased along with the disappearance of Cain’s illusion.
“Dammit!”
Chen Shijie angrily slammed the table in the command center. He wished he could personally punch that Cain in the face.
“It’s alright, Brother Chen. You all fought beautifully enough in this battle.”
A familiar voice restored Chen Shijie to his usual calm.
He turned around in surprise. A tall figure met his eyes.
The overall commander of the special forces, the man who had established the unit together with Ling Xiaoxiao, had now also arrived on the Canglong Hao.
…
In the current situation, they could only buy time with conventional firepower strikes. After Xue Ji also retreated, the Canglong Hao directly launched specialized nuclear weapons at the thorny mass that had devoured the city, temporarily suppressing the spread of the blood thorns.
Although City A’s defensive forces didn’t suffer heavy losses in this battle, they ultimately failed to hold the city. This result left everyone who participated with mixed feelings—some were resentful, some felt helpless, and a sense of belated fear also began to spread.
This time, even with multiple sources of assistance and ample preparation, they were still forcibly pushed into this state by Cain. The situation was not optimistic. If the opponent could influence the battle to this extent from such a distance, then he truly was a being powerful as a god.
Xue Ji brought Sha Ya outside the city and called for the Canglong Hao to assist in their evacuation. During the ascent, Sha Ya recognized Xue Ji’s house. It too had been destroyed by the aftermath of the battle, left in a precarious, crumbling state.
Seeing this, Sha Ya gritted her teeth in frustration. The bitterness in her heart even made her forget the pain of her wound.
“If I were just a little stronger, would the outcome have been different? If I had seized the chance and killed that Progenitor immediately, would we have truly won?”
Sha Ya looked at Xue Ji like a child who had done something wrong, filled with immense self-reproach.
Bathed in the morning sun, Xue Ji pulled her into an embrace. The two of them hung in the air together, tethered to the Canglong Hao.
“You know, Sha Ya,” Xue Ji said, “even someone as powerful as Ling Xiaoxiao isn’t confident she can defeat Cain.”
“How can that be? She’s so strong…” Sha Ya’s voice trailed off, her own conviction wavering. The methods Cain had displayed were no less impressive than Ling Xiaoxiao’s.
“But she didn’t hesitate, did she? She’s probably already engaged that guy in battle. Just like you did.” Xue Ji looked at her, her gaze firm.
“Like me?” Sha Ya was puzzled.
“You clearly knew how strong Ling Xiaoxiao is, yet you still dared to challenge her, didn’t you?”
“I… I don’t understand.” Sha Ya widened her eyes, listening intently to Xue Ji’s words.
“You both possess the heart of a true powerhouse. But you need time. You need to grow.”
The sunlight fell on Xue Ji’s snow-white hair. A blend of gentleness and determination emanated from her, making Sha Ya pause for a moment, imprinting this scene firmly in her heart.
“On your path of growth, you will inevitably encounter situations like this. You don’t need to blame yourself. You’ve already done well enough.”
Having said that, she held Sha Ya tightly in her arms, gentle as a mother comforting her child.
Holding each other like that, the two of them fell into a deep sleep, not even knowing when they returned to the Canglong Hao.