A heart about the size of a fist beat weakly but powerfully within a suspended, milky-white crystal. Li Yue stared at this heart, which could only be described as youthful, and rested one hand against the side of the crystal. She stood there in a daze for several minutes, feeling as if a sudden wave of emptiness had struck the left side of her own chest.
She felt something soft press against her back. Two hands, supple as water snakes, slid from her slender waist up toward her left breast, and she felt hot breaths against her ear.
“What’s wrong? Do you want one too? I can make one for you,” the nun said with a faint smile. “A heart begins to form at the twenty-first minute. It starts beating at thirty minutes and doesn’t stop until death.”
“Until I met you, I didn’t realize that statement wasn’t entirely true.” The nun’s voice trailed off. In the silence, they could only hear the heartbeat of one person.
Li Yue’s pupils constricted violently. she quickly wrenched herself out of the embrace.
“You showed me this on purpose?” Li Yue’s gaze darkened, and her voice turned cold. She pointed her mithril short blade at the tip of the nun’s nose, and the atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
The nun’s lips remained curled in a kind, joyful smile. She didn’t seem the least bit afraid of the blade at her nose. Li Yue couldn’t quite place the expression; it didn’t seem like a facade or a habitual mask, but rather a genuine, heartfelt delight.
“I know you read ‘my’ old experimental records, but those things have already happened. They’re irreversible.” The nun raised her hands in a playful gesture of surrender.
“But think about it. With my current techniques, I can grow human organs individually. Organs that once required begging a Great Mage to repair can now be ‘replaced with new ones’ in just a few days.”
The nun smiled faintly, staring into Li Yue’s eyes.
“Men who lose their legs in war spend the rest of their lives in misery, afraid to face their families. Musicians who lose their hearing to illness retire in bitterness, leaving behind countless unfinished drafts. People without eyes live their entire lives in darkness, imagining a light they can never see... But now, all of those endings can be changed!”
The blade at the tip of her nose trembled slightly, as if the person holding it had wavered for a moment.
“And because of that, you’re certain I won’t kill you?” Li Yue frowned. “You will pay the price for your crimes.”
“Furthermore...” Li Yue lifted her blood-red eyes, the vertical pupils within radiating a sharp killing intent. “The organs in these crystals... they all belong to blood demons, don't they?”
“You’re lying to me. These things can’t grow organs that ordinary people can use.”
The nun’s smile grew even more radiant. Her eyes turned blood-red and widened slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably into a manic grin.
“You really are sensitive to things and magic related to blood demons, aren't you? To think you could tell.”
She leaned her body back, slightly tilting her chin up to dodge Li Yue’s strike aimed at her throat. Then, she leaped, putting distance between them with a backflip.
With a flick of her wrist, a weapon resembling a long steel spike appeared in her hand, its golden glow hiding a lethal intent.
“I didn’t originally intend to kill you, but now, you’ve gained the value of dying.” The nun shook the weapon in her hands, as if she had already foreseen the outcome of the battle.
Though she didn't know the other woman’s magic, Li Yue still felt a sense of threat. She decisively sliced her arm, allowing her crystalline blood to flow into the air. There wasn't a hint of fear in her opponent’s eyes—only surprise and joy.
The battle was about to erupt. Short blade and steel spike clashed in the air, sparks flying. For a moment, Li Yue realized her strength and reaction speed had progressed rapidly over the past few days. She could even distract herself to manipulate the blood in the air, shaping it into several blood blades to attack her opponent.
In the face of her opponent’s struggle to respond, she could seize an opening to counterattack.
“Speaking of which, you aren't exactly human anymore, are you?” Though the nun was covered in wounds, she still seemed to have room to maneuver, and the smile in her voice hadn't faded at all.
“Shut up!”
“I originally thought you were just a demon hunter and only planned to use you. If you had just taken the diary and left, I don't think anyone would have stopped you.”
“However...” The nun’s tone shifted, her voice turning cold and instantly filling with killing intent. “Your eyes, your blood, your ‘heart’... You’re not just from the Royal Court; you’re royalty there, aren't you? No, that’s not right! You’re not that simple!”
“It’s unbelievable, but what a wonderful surprise. A figure from myth, a monster among monsters, the perfect experimental subject!”
“Shut up!”
Li Yue’s blade swung down heavily, severing the nun’s right hand. Dark red blood splattered into the air. She clenched her right hand, and the dark red blood in the air immediately transformed into countless blood crystals that flew toward the nun, piercing straight through her body. She collapsed heavily into a pool of blood.
“Just how many more... surprises can you bring me?”
“Go find your fun in hell.” She raised her short blade, preparing to stab downward.
Suddenly, she felt a series of sharp pains in her chest. She looked down to see a golden steel needle had pierced through her chest. She coughed up a mouthful of blood as hot breath brushed against her ear.
“Without a heart, this shouldn't be a fatal wound, right?” a cold voice whispered in her ear.
Li Yue took a step forward, forcing herself free.
She turned back and looked at the cold, expressionless nun opposite her, momentarily shocked.
“The game is over. Don't resist, and we will let you pass away without pain.”
“Does she have that right?” A frowning figure stepped out from the shadows.
“Poor child, she shouldn't have to suffer this pain.”
“This is your magic?” Li Yue wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. “Splitting your original self and turning into this ghostly state... how pathetic.”
“It’s not just that, but unfortunately, after I died once, many of my spells became unusable. Still, it’s more than enough to deal with you.” The nun smiled, seemingly completely indifferent to the injuries on her body.
“It’s not exactly splitting myself; I just wanted everyone to be a little different. It’s too boring when everyone looks the same,” the cold nun said flatly. “My magic is my own invention. As for yours, it’s just the prototype of a monster. Now, I’m going to strangle ‘Him’ in the cradle.”
“You’re quite confident.” The wound on Li Yue’s chest slowly healed, her gaze becoming sharper.
“Maybe if I gave you another month or two, and you moved closer to being a blood demon—learning to kill and drink blood like them—I would have died at your hands.”
“How truly sentimental.”
“In this city, aside from Roland, the Lord, and that Great Mage who is as close to the grave as you, no one can completely kill me.” The smiling nun struggled to her feet, her wounds healing rapidly.
More identical nuns stepped out from the shadows. They wore various expressions, but they lacked any spark of life, like a collection of stringed puppets.
“These are mass-produced ones from daily operations. I didn't bestow souls upon them, so I can only control their bodies,” the smiling nun continued. “We don't lack flesh and blood here anyway; they’re just failed experimental subjects being put to use.”
“Madwoman.” Li Yue didn't intend to waste more words. The more people there were, the more blood there was on the scene, and the stronger she became. She gripped her sword, ready for a fierce battle.
She adjusted her stance, and the blood that had been at her feet condensed into another short blade in her hand.
“The game is over. I don't want to waste any more time.” The cold nun clapped her hands, and the soulless shells surged forward. A sharp pain radiated from Li Yue’s heart, and her body froze, her movements as if paused. She turned her head with difficulty to look at the expressionless, cold nun.
“It was poisoned. It’s only taking effect now. Your resistance is quite high; that dosage would have been enough to kill two people at the Magician stage instantly.” The cold nun spoke slowly, showing no hint of shame for her actions.
“Despicable...”
Steel spikes stabbed into Li Yue’s abdomen. She struggled to dodge the ensuing storm of attacks, as more and more blood filled the air, barely holding off the onslaught of the shells.
Li Yue’s consciousness began to blur. she still couldn't heal fast enough from the massive amount of attacks piercing her body.
Wait...
No souls...
That means...
She pressed one hand against the abdomen of a nun closing in on her. The latter’s movements stopped instantly, as if her entire body had been filled with cement.
In an instant, hard blood crystals pierced through the shell's body. Blood crystals shaped like spears erupted from all over her. Li Yue turned her hand toward several nearby nuns; without needing physical contact, the blood inside them also instantly transformed into sharp spears, impaling them.
“Truly impressive. To think of this method at a time like this. If you were really allowed to learn ‘Blood Moon’ and ‘Death Abyss,’ even the Lord in his perfected form would die. What a shame.”
“What are those...?”
“Abilities recorded in myth. An art even bloodier than my research, a magic that makes all living things tremble.” The nun closed her eyes.
At some point, the nuns merged back into one person.
“Alright, that’s enough.” The nun flicked her hand gently. Under Li Yue’s gaze, a steel spike impaled her body. A hand reached into her chest and violently wrenched the blood crystal out. Everything happened in a flash, so fast that Li Yue’s body didn't even have time to react.
The last thing she saw was the blood crystal being forcibly gouged from her chest, bringing with it a large spray of flesh and blood.
The blood circling in the air crashed heavily to the ground, splashing blood blossoms half a person high.
After an unknown amount of time, she slowly regained a sliver of consciousness amidst a haze.
Where am I?
Outside a giant milky-white crystal, a girl sat with her knees hugged to her chest, her eyes half-open as if her consciousness was still blurred. A blood-red hole had appeared in her chest, and a strange object was beating inside it.
“Not a hint of rejection. It’s perfect. It’s as if it belonged to her all along.” The nun couldn't hide the fanaticism in her eyes.
As long as I have this!
She looked at the strange, beating heart before her, a complex expression crossing her face.
Rate on N.U.
