Li Yue slowly stood up amidst a haze of blood. She gradually retracted the aura of death that was constantly spilling from her and took several potions out of her bag—these were the only healing-related items she possessed.
“The frost wolves ran away again. What am I going to do about my points... Sigh.” Li Yue let out a small sigh, completely ignoring the black-robed magic users surrounding her. Given her current reaction speed, if any of them even attempted to charge a spell, her twin guns could blow through twelve heads in a single instant.
“Does your wound still hurt?” Li Yue leaned down, her voice devoid of any particular inflection. She glanced at the group and noticed that no one seemed to have any intention of making a move, and then there was Zijing, who was standing to the side, completely stunned.
“You're here too... I didn't expect you to look after her. That doesn't quite fit the stereotype I had of you.” Li Yue smiled faintly. The blood-red mist slowly dissipated, and the deathly illusions around her faded away. The biological instinct to fear death also began to subside in those nearby.
Aside from darkness, Li Yue didn't know if anything was more terrifying than death.
“Was that magic just now... ‘Death’?” Carter stepped forward slowly. The woman before him felt incredibly alien. Among all the trainees in the academy who studied the magic of those three deities, he had never seen this person.
“I suppose so... I used it without thinking.” Li Yue let out a yawn. She glanced at the people around her; they all seemed to carry aura of destruction and death to some degree. Seeing magic users who utilized the same type of magic as her for the first time gave Li Yue an indescribable, strange feeling.
“No wonder those guys call their followers things like ‘children’ or ‘lambs’... But I don't need any of that. I'm not so weak that I can't survive without followers.” Li Yue didn't pay much attention to the others. She leaned down and looked at Xiao Lin, whose injuries were slowly recovering, feeling a sense of relief.
“Is the crisis over?” Li Yue asked indifferently. “Or do I need to deal with these bystanders?”
“Hello. We are trainees from a club—we are all people who were chosen by ‘that’ kind of magic.” Carter stepped a bit closer and produced a badge from beneath his cloak. He noticed that Li Yue's pupils constricted slightly when she saw the badge, as if she were somewhat surprised.
“From your reaction, have you seen this crest before?”
“This?” Li Yue pulled an identical emblem from her ring, featuring the icon of a blood claw and a python.
“Where did you get that?”
“From an attacker. He's dead now,” Li Yue said flatly. “Did you order him to attack me?”
She drew Death and Rebirth, instantly locking onto everyone in front of her. Her pupils had unconsciously transformed into vertical slits, giving her a look that was both terrifying and demonic.
These were the genuine eyes of a death god.
“I believe... it was the Church that ordered him. We are just a club made up of oppressed students, mainly for mutual aid.” Carter was the first to sheath his longsword, signaling the others behind him to put away their weapons.
He slowly recounted Jero's story—how he had been chosen by magic, how the Church had discovered him after a mistake, and how they had seized his family, forcing him to do their bidding. It was a story woven from Zijing's words, filled with a certain tragic, fantastical color.
“That's quite pitiful. But I'm the one who killed him. My bullet pierced his skull, and his brain shattered like tofu,” Li Yue said plainly. There was no emotional rise or fall in her voice; she spoke as if discussing what she had eaten for breakfast.
Should I feel guilty? But among the people I've killed in the past, there was no shortage of people like him. They all had their own families or their own difficulties.
Because she couldn't feel emotions like sadness or guilt, Li Yue instead felt a sense of complexity—a feeling akin to being at a loss.
“...I figured as much... After all, if you didn't kill him, he would have killed you.” Carter clenched his fist. “I just... I just hate my own powerlessness. I hate that I can't use my own strength to force the Church to make concessions...”
“Are you finished? Time is tight; I'm leaving.” Li Yue interrupted Carter's internal struggle. She checked Xiao Lin's injuries one last time and stood up, preparing to head deeper into the valley.
“Sister Li Yue, aren't we going together?” Xiao Lin grabbed Li Yue's sleeve.
“No. I'm afraid that if my mental state slips, I might accidentally kill you.” Li Yue didn't bother making up an excuse. Interacting with people was making her feel mentally exhausted. Especially interaction that didn't involve bloodshed; it forced her to use her rationality to suppress her hungry desires. She hadn't consumed fresh food in quite some time.
“The kind of death that even the academy's magic can't protect you from. So, for your own safety, stay away from me.” Li Yue smiled slightly, revealing a hint of her sharp teeth.
“As for the Church... I really don't want to deal with them.” Li Yue turned her back to them. Her figure moved rapidly through the snow, leaving behind several blood-red silhouettes that flickered across the white expanse.
“Who on earth is she... and why does she look so much like the rulers of the Royal Court?” Carter looked at Zijing, who shrank back, indicating she knew nothing either.
“Her magic... the aura of death is so heavy. I've never seen magic like that... it's extremely pure ‘Death.’” The white-haired woman thought for a moment. “Could it be the legendary forbidden magic that only the ruling clan of the Royal Court can master?”
“You mean that lady just now is some kind of exiled princess from the Royal Court?” Carter felt like he was making a joke, but looking at everyone's expressions, they all seemed inclined to believe it.
“I heard there have been major upheavals within the Royal Court. The seats in the cabinet, and even the head seat chosen this time...”
“With such a massive upheaval... the Academy won't just sit idly by. The Five Staves and the principal must have their own considerations...”
Under the shadow of such a great transformation, even if someone wished to remain uninvolved, fate had likely already placed its bets for everyone in secret.
Li Yue, however, didn't care at all. She simply walked silently through the blizzard, her face devoid of any expression.
Rate on N.U.
