Jiang Jian Yue was still crying.
She cried until her voice was hoarse and her eyes were more swollen than they had ever been, completely immersed in a manipulated state of grief she could not escape.
“Waaaah…”
Just then, a hand gently rested on top of her head.
That familiar touch caused Jiang Jian Yue’s sobbing to come to an abrupt halt.
She snapped her head up. Through her blurred, tear-filled eyes, she saw the boy who had been unconscious now opening his eyes.
Those golden pupils were shining with startling intensity.
The previous confusion and fear were gone, replaced by a gaze of clear, pure tenderness.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting… Yue.”
Yuki Asahi’s voice carried a faint sense of guilt and a hint of heartache.
“Darling…” Jiang Jian Yue looked at him blankly.
Yuki Asahi couldn’t help but chuckle. He reached out and used his thumb to gently wipe away the tear stains from her face.
“Crying like this… you don’t look like a Missy at all.”
“Shut up! You idiot!”
Jiang Jian Yue’s face instantly flushed crimson. In her embarrassment and rage, she raised her fist and hammered it against his chest.
Thump!
“Pffft!”
“Ah… I’m sorry…” Jiang Jian Yue immediately lowered her gaze, apologizing meekly.
Yuki Asahi raised his hand and wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, I am an idiot.” Yuki Asahi pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.
“Just now… I heard everything,” he whispered into her ear. “Thank you, Yue.”
“Thank you… for needing me.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s body stiffened momentarily before she went completely limp in his embrace.
‘Stupid. It doesn’t matter if I show you my weakness anymore.’
The moment Yuki Asahi woke up, all the negative emotions seemed to be purified by some sort of power.
In their place was an unprecedentedly powerful aura.
Hum—
The air began to vibrate.
The previously formless golden light began to condense within Yuki Asahi’s body.
The layer of the “Dormant Shell” that had been as fragile as a cicada’s pupa was undergoing a qualitative change.
It became more solid, harder, and filled with a metallic texture, yet it flowed with the brilliance of life.
This was not a simple defensive layer.
This was evolution.
‘This feeling…’
Yuki Asahi gently released Jiang Jian Yue and looked down at his hands.
He could feel that the negative emotions permeating the surroundings—even the killing intent from the distant battlefield—were no longer a poison eroding him.
They had become fuel.
“You’re… glowing.”
Jiang Jian Yue sniffled. Although her eyes were still red, her cold composure had returned significantly.
She watched the radiance flowing over Yuki Asahi, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes.
“Are you… going to turn into light?”
“Yeah.”
Yuki Asahi clenched his fist and turned around, looking toward the sky outside the alley that was being ravaged by purple flames.
In the distance, Pluto’s violent purple fire was raging while the Dark Crows and Ability Users struggled to hold their ground.
“Leave the rest to me.”
Yuki Asahi reached out his hand, palm upward, and closed his fingers into a loose grip.
“Come,” he whispered.
In an instant, the stray emotional energy within the Vision World—the resentment of the dying Espers, Pluto’s overwhelming killing intent, and Jiang Jian Yue’s heart-wrenching sadness and love from moments ago—all surged toward him like rivers flowing into the sea.
Golden light particles swirled frantically in his hand.
Clang—
A clear, stirring ring of a sword echoed through the cybernetic rainy night.
A magnificent, ancient-styled greatsword appeared out of thin air in Yuki Asahi’s hand.
The blade was a translucent platinum-gold, swirling with a brilliant, rainbow-like aura. A red gemstone pulsed like a beating heart at the hilt.
There were no other redundant decorations, only pure sharpness and holiness.
“Is that…” Jiang Jian Yue’s eyes widened in shock. “A Manifested Heart Weapon?”
“The Sword of Severing Illusions.”
Yuki Asahi softly spoke the name of the sword—a name he had come up with himself.
“No matter what kind of illusion, lie, or inner weakness it is… I will cut through it all.”
He turned back and gave Jiang Jian Yue a bright smile.
“Wait for me here, Yue.”
“I’m going to end that annoying guy and this damn nightmare once and for all.”
Boom!
In the next second, the ground cracked.
Yuki Asahi’s figure transformed into a streak of golden light, instantly piercing through the curtain of rain and aiming directly at the arrogant figure in the sky.
“That’s so… edgy.”
Jiang Jian Yue knelt on the spot, looking up and murmuring to herself.
‘Wait? Why can Yuki fly too?’
……
At the center of the battlefield.
“Is this your limit? You ants!”
Pluto hovered in mid-air, her purple bone-spike armor without a single scratch.
With a casual wave of her hand, purple flames swallowed several Ability Users who tried to get close.
Although Shadow Girl had rejoined the combat, she was clearly not exerting her full strength. she merely hovered on the edges to restrain the enemy, her expression grave.
‘Too strong… she’s on a completely different dimension…’
Hiding behind the wall of a building, Saori Saiyonji was constantly cycling through trade options in her mind to make the battle more favorable.
Beside her, a Terror Bird ran over. Saori Saiyonji glanced at it and continued picking trade contents before realizing something was wrong and snapping her head around.
“Coo-coo-ka-ka!” the Terror Bird made a strange cry.
Saori Saiyonji asked blankly, “Endo?”
The Terror Bird nodded, then bumped its head against the wall before looking back at Saori Saiyonji.
“You want me to send you out?” Saori Saiyonji was clever and understood immediately.
The Terror Bird continued to nod.
Soon, the Terror Bird became a roasted bird.
Saori Saiyonji turned her head and looked through the glass at the purple figure floating in the distance.
‘Damn it! Even with the Backup Rollback System buffing me, I’m still so worthless!’
On the other side, Koji Hattori was crossing the battlefield in his Combat Suit, constantly searching for the young Missy.
‘Damn it!’
‘Why can’t I see her!?’
Regardless of what the Missy had planned, getting her out was the most important thing!
Pluto sneered, her gaze sweeping across the field before settling on the mouth of a nearby alley.
“Yuki Asahi… I know you’re there.”
“Is the game of crying behind a woman’s back over?”
“Since you won’t come out, I’ll level this place to the ground and dig you out!”
She raised her right hand high. A massive purple energy ball expanded rapidly, emitting a suffocating aura of destruction.
“Die!”
In the instant before the energy ball was about to drop.
“The one who should die is you.”
A calm voice pierced through the roar of the battlefield.
Following that was a light.
A platinum-gold sword light of indescribable speed and sharpness.
Swish—
Pluto, who was about to hurl the energy ball, suddenly had her pupils contract.
She only had enough time to cross her arms in front of her chest.
Boom—
The sword light slashed heavily against her arms.
That indestructible biological shell actually shattered in an instant, and purple blood sprayed out.
Pluto was sent flying several hundred meters like she had been hit by a cannonball, smashing straight through a skyscraper.
“What!?” A dead silence fell over the area.
All the Superpower Users stared dumbfounded at the figure that had suddenly appeared in the sky.
The boy holding the radiant greatsword stepped through the air, his entire body emitting a golden glow like a judging angel.
“Is that… Yuki!?”
Koji Hattori rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
At the edge of the battlefield, Nikolai looked up, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “Oh? A newborn Emergent Body… Haha… Interesting, truly interesting!”
Amidst the ruins, Pluto pushed aside the concrete blocks and stood up disheveled.
She looked at the deep, bone-exposing wound on her arm. The residual golden light was preventing the wound from Healing and was even searing her nerves.
“This power…” Pluto looked up.
“This is the ‘main course’ I’ve been waiting to eat!” she roared, soaring into the sky again with her entire body wreathed in purple flames.
Yuki Asahi watched the approaching Pluto, the Sword of Severing Illusions vibrating slightly in his hand.
He could feel the greatest emotion surging from the blade.
It was the fear of everyone on the battlefield.
“Are you afraid?” Yuki Asahi whispered.
“Then I’ll turn that fear into a blade to slay the monster.”
With Yuki Asahi’s declaration, the greatsword exploded with dazzling brilliance once more.
But this time, the radiance was no longer just a holy gold.
Deep within that brilliant golden light, a strand of heart-palpitating pale gray emerged.
It was an enchantment of the [Fear] attribute.
It could directly attack the soul, making the enemy experience the deepest tremors of their heart.
Pluto roared as she charged, the purple bone spikes around her body firing out like a storm.
However, facing an attack that could tear through the air, Yuki Asahi did not retreat; he advanced.
Moreover, he was not fighting alone.
Without needing any verbal communication, a pitch-black shadow darted out from beneath Pluto’s feet.
Shadow Girl’s figure emerged from the shadows, her hands forming seals.
Several silver-white chains lunged out from the void, tightly binding Pluto’s limbs.
“This kind of little trick!” Pluto roared, her purple flames exploding as she tried to snap the chains.
“It’s enough.”
Yuki Asahi’s figure had already flashed in front of Pluto.
He held the greatsword high with both hands, the red gem at the crossguard flashing frantically.
Yuki Asahi swung the sword down.
This time, there was no earth-shaking explosion or deafening roar.
The blade sliced through the air, leaving a pale gray trail.
The color was not vivid; it was actually somewhat dull, like ash burning out in a furnace.
The moment this gray flame touched Pluto’s purple fire—
Sizzle—
There was no blockage, no collision.
The purple flames melted away instantly, like a fire being extinguished by water.
“What is this!?” Pluto screamed in terror.
What she felt was not physical pain, but a burning sensation from the depths of her soul.
“Aaaaah! My… my Heart Worm!? Why won’t it regenerate?”
The Azure Flame clung to her wound. It didn’t spread outward but instead burrowed inward like a maggot in the bone.
“Wanhua!”
Shadow Girl saw that the somewhat familiar flames were effective. She jerked her hands back and shouted, and the same Azure Flame gushed forth!
Down at the alley mouth.
Jiang Jian Yue, who was about to rush out to help, slowed her pace.
Shadow Girl? Azure Flame?
‘Isn’t that my ability?’
Just as she was feeling confused, Shadow Girl transformed into a bolt of electricity to pull away and dodge Pluto’s counterattack.
“Huh!?”