Bai Zhiqiu narrowed her eyes slightly, her teasing voice reaching Tulip’s ears.
“Alright, my little consort! Why haven’t you let go yet? Do you miss me?”
“Who misses you?” Tulip scoffed, then coughed twice, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of her lips. “Truly… *cough, cough*… so conceited!”
“Be careful,” she urged. “It’s a Luminous Moon-tier… you can’t beat it…”
“Is my little consort worried about me?” Bai Zhiqiu chuckled. “No need to worry, you know. After all, I’ve killed Luminous Moon-tier beings before!”
[Hey! That was when I fought Jasmine, and do you really think if I hadn’t gone easy, you wouldn’t have been completely thrashed?]
Yin’s voice echoed in Bai Zhiqiu’s mind, a voice Bai Zhiqiu promptly and selectively ignored.
“Who… who’s worried about you?”
“Aren’t you worried?” Bai Zhiqiu gently set Tulip down. “Alright! Close your eyes quickly! It’ll be over in a moment. After all…”
“I can be quite messy when I fight!”
No sooner had the words left her lips than a black longsword materialized in Bai Zhiqiu’s hand.
She then raised the blade, pointing it directly at the Twilight Giant.
“In Higanbana’s name, I shall grant you eternal slumber!”
The moment she finished speaking, black flames erupted along the longsword.
Witnessing the ant-like human daring to snatch its prey and even brandish a sword at it, the Twilight Giant roared with uncontrollable fury.
The flames covering its body surged, burning even more intensely.
‘Setting yourself on fire, aren’t you afraid of turning yourself into a steak!’
“Higanbana—Styx!”
As Bai Zhiqiu’s command rang out, a long, murky river surged forth from beneath the ground, flowing against its natural course.
It lifted Bai Zhiqiu, propelling her towards the inferno-engulfed giant.
“Ants! You seek death!” The giant’s rough, deep voice rumbled, like a lion that had finished its ambush, ready to pounce on its prey. “Disintegrate!”
The runes on the colossal sword, now glowing like ignited flames, pulsed with dazzling red light.
They exuded a power that seemed capable of disintegrating everything in its path.
‘Ants? Don’t you know that concentrated things are always the essence!’
The River Styx collided with the colossal sword, generating a torrent of steam that enveloped the surroundings in a thick white mist.
The unleashed energy blast sent a wide swathe of surrounding demonic beasts flying, and even Tulip was forced to press herself to the ground, battered by the fierce winds.
Ultimately, the River Styx shattered, the longsword fractured, and nothing remained on the entire battlefield save for the pervasive white smoke.
‘Did the little witch win…?’
Tulip struggled to her feet, gazing at the area shrouded in white smoke.
Although her body remained exceedingly weak, the brief respite had allowed her to recover some strength.
The surrounding demonic beasts formed a dense encirclement, yet none dared to launch an attack.
Both sides waited.
Tulip waited for Bai Zhiqiu to emerge from the white smoke, ready to playfully tease her.
The demonic beasts waited for the Twilight Giant to step forth and crush Tulip into a pulp.
Finally, to Tulip’s horror, the white smoke gradually dispersed.
The Twilight Giant, dragging its broken sword, advanced.
Even though the flames dancing in its eyes had dimmed considerably, it was still alive… which meant the other party surely must be…
“Little Witch!” Tulip cried out mournfully, the pain numbing her mind, leaving her no time to think.
She only knew that the teasing, mischievous, adorable figure would forever be buried in this desolate wasteland.
“How foolish… to possess power from the abyss… yet choose to aid you weak ants!”
“She’s no ant! She’s the bravest person!”
Tears welled in Tulip’s eyes as memories flooded her mind: the pranks Bai Zhiqiu had played on her that night, their training session yesterday, and their playful bickering just moments ago.
“Brave! A word of self-consolation for the weak! Utterly worthless before the strong!”
The next moment, the Twilight Giant swung its sword, intent on crushing Tulip along with it.
The mere residual shockwave from its power accumulation was enough to leave Tulip gasping for breath, and many demonic beasts were instantly crushed.
Tulip’s hands trembled as she gripped her long saber, her eyes filled with resolute determination.
Yet, a voice that should not have been there suddenly echoed across the battlefield.
“Hey! You didn’t actually think I was dead, did you?”
‘It’s the little witch’s voice!’ Tulip’s heart swelled with joy.
The Twilight Giant, however, froze in place.
“You didn’t actually think I couldn’t beat you, did you? I told you, concentrated things are always the essence!” The voice came from behind, yet the Twilight Giant remained utterly motionless.
Bai Zhiqiu’s slightly playful voice rang out again: “The reason I deliberately let you live during our clash was because, when you kill a giant, cutting its nape looks incredibly cool!”
“Qi Pengshang—Fleeting Bloom!”
As her words faded, Bai Zhiqiu’s figure descended from high above.
Just as she neared the giant, the small demon wings on her back expanded several times their original size.
The weapon in her hand also transformed from the longsword named Higanbana into the colossal scythe called Pengshang.
The instant she grasped the colossal scythe, Bai Zhiqiu’s aura surged dramatically, breaking through its previous limits.
The Gate of Higanbana materialized behind Bai Zhiqiu, from which Higanbana petals drifted outwards.
These petals floated down with the wind, and upon touching some of the low-level demonic beasts on the ground, they transformed the beasts into piles of withered bones, from which several swaying flowers bloomed.
Bai Zhiqiu spun a full circle in the air, the long scythe in her hand moving as swiftly as a meteor.
It rotated around her body before arcing down towards the giant’s nape.
The Twilight Giant desperately tried to construct armor for itself.
However, before Pengshang’s characteristic of ‘impenetrable,’ these armors were nothing more than a joke.
The long scythe plunged into its neck, first slicing through layer after layer of armor as if cutting through melons and vegetables.
It then cut into the skin, tore through flesh, and severed the head!
*Swish!*
Accompanied by a loud slicing and shattering sound, the giant’s head rolled to the ground.
Following this, its mountain-like body collapsed, crushing a large number of demonic beasts.
“The little witch… she won… she won!” Tulip exclaimed, gazing excitedly at Bai Zhiqiu.
The greatest threat to the gateway had now been eliminated.
Bai Zhiqiu, standing on the giant’s massive body, looked like a tiny ant.
“Yin, it should be right here, shouldn’t it?”
[Mm, about ten centimeters to the right… This spot is also good, dig!]
Bai Zhiqiu retrieved Pengshang, and after a bit of digging, she unearthed an orange-red crystal core.
[This is the Twilight Giant’s demon core. Once you absorb it, you should be able to break through to the Luminous Moon-tier.]
[Then, when my demon core completely fuses with yours, it should instantly propel you to the mid- or even late-stage Luminous Moon-tier… and don’t forget our agreement…]
“I won’t forget, I won’t forget! It’s just about giving you control of my body for a while after I break through to the Luminous Moon-tier, right?”
[Not ‘a while’~ it’s twelve hours a week! Not a minute less!]
“I know, I know! Besides, since we’re fused, aren’t you just helping yourself when you help me? Charging for that is truly stingy!”
[How about we switch places then? You stay inside me, and I’ll go around attracting attention every day?]
“Let’s just forget about that… By the way, should I consume this crystal core now?”
Realizing she couldn’t win against Yin, Bai Zhiqiu hastily changed the subject.
[Let’s wait until everything is over! It’s too dangerous down here, and breaking through requires a certain amount of preparation time.]
[Moreover, we still need to figure out how to find *that thing*…]
“What exactly is that thing?”
[It’s a secret!]
“Fine, don’t tell me then!”
****
Having concluded her bickering with Yin, Bai Zhiqiu entrusted the crystal core to Yin for safekeeping.
Subsequently, the crystal core, accompanied by Yin’s phantom image, vanished into Bai Zhiqiu’s mind.
No sooner had Bai Zhiqiu leaped off the Twilight Giant’s body than a blonde girl, moving with surprising speed, collided with her.
“Foul! Charging!”
Bai Zhiqiu’s sudden nonsensical remark left Tulip bewildered.
Just as she was trying to figure out what the little rascal was saying…
Tulip’s pretty face flushed, and she delivered a sharp rap to Bai Zhiqiu’s forehead.
“Pervert!”
“Thank you for the compliment!”
“Shameless… By the way, Little Witch, how did you suddenly become so strong? You weren’t this powerful just yesterday…”
“That’s because I was hiding my strength. I originally intended to interact with you all as an ordinary person, but instead, I got ganged up on.
Now, the ten-year agreement has arrived, and I’m going to reclaim everything that belongs to me!”
Unexpectedly, Tulip merely chuckled and playfully rapped her on the head again.
“What was that for!” Bai Zhiqiu clutched her head, tears welling in her eyes.
“Is ‘doing you’ alright, then? And a ten-year agreement… you should really read fewer novels in the future!”
‘You’re so clear on it, you must have read plenty yourself!’
Bai Zhiqiu grumbled internally.
After all, she had promised to give up six hours of control time each week, and had endured two thorough beatings before Yin finally lent her this power.
“What a truly heartwarming scene~ Higanbana-jie… Miss… long time no see…”
Not far away, a plant symbolizing decay blossomed with flowers of death.
The black-haired, red-eyed girl appeared beside the two of them.