Under the gaze of the blonde "girl" before her, Chu Lian suddenly realized that her body, which had been restrained by Nastaryel, could move again. The corners of her delicate lips curled into a flattering smile as she waved enthusiastically.
"(????)?? Hi, beautiful and peerless Sister Yukari, what brings you here?"
"Oh? So you do know who I am." Yukari Yakumo first let out a soft chuckle, then her smile faded. She raised her right hand, clad in a long white glove, and used the fan of silence to lift Chu Lian's chin, locking eyes with her. "I thought you didn't know who I was, which is why you dared to sell my H-doujin right in front of me. Do you know how terrible my mood was when I went back and saw those books?"
As she spoke, it seemed she recalled something unpleasant. Her brows furrowed slightly as she muttered, "You actually let those men... do H things to me. That's utterly unacceptable. And I also heard you call me 'old hag Yukari.' Such an unpleasant nickname."
"Pfft..." Hearing this, Chu Lian immediately understood where the problem lay. So it had been her who bought those doujin at Origin Land. But back then, she wasn't holding that parasol! If she had been, Chu Lian would have recognized her instantly and never would have done something so suicidal—letting the other party track her down directly.
At the same time, she finally understood why that fan—clearly something on the level of a demi-artifact—had only cost 200 crystal coins. Damn it, its original price was obviously 2,000,000 crystal coins, but it came with a curse: "Gaze of the Realm's Great Youkai—once you take out the fan, it will immediately allow the owner to locate you and teleport over instantly. Therefore, it is sold at one ten-thousandth of the price—200 coins, saving you 1,999,800 crystal coins." What an incredibly 'valuable' item. Truly a fair trade—the hatred of a great youkai really does cost that much...
The problem is, I don't want this scam item at all! I'll never greedily take cheap deals again!
"Sister Yukari, you have to understand—that was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..." With an awkward laugh, Chu Lian cautiously glanced at Nastaryel, who was still being stepped on by Yukari Yakumo. Seeing that she made no movement, she continued, "I didn't know it was you at the time! If I had known, I would never have sold your books. And when did I ever call you 'old hag Yukari'? I clearly said you were the righteous and peerless Sister Yukari, right?"
"Oh?" The fan lifted her chin a little higher so their eyes aligned. Yukari Yakumo smiled faintly. "So what you're saying is, as long as you don't know it's me, you can casually sell my books? However... that latter statement is indeed true, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes, of course—righteous, peerless, and the most beautiful Sister Yukari." Chu Lian nodded rapidly before adding, "It was a misunderstanding! I originally wanted to keep your books for my own collection—how could I bear to sell them?"
Hearing this, Yukari Yakumo chuckled softly again, her violet eyes brimming with danger.
Seeing her smile, Chu Lian's entire body tensed, her hair standing on end. She immediately began firing off compliments like a machine gun.
"You're so young, elegant, lovely, charming, beautiful, gentle, kind, generous, moving, tolerant, friendly—like a celestial fairy descended to the mortal world, unparalleled in beauty both in heaven and earth—"
"Mm, that's right." "I am indeed that young and beautiful." "Oh my, so generous and gentle—how embarrassing, describing me like that." "A fairy descending from the heavens? Isn't that only natural?"
No matter how much Chu Lian said, no matter how Yukari responded, the fan remained pressed beneath her chin. Chu Lian knew—it was completely useless.
"I only wanted to sell some books back then to earn crystal coins for moving around in Origin Land. That was the lowest-cost, highest-return method I had at the time, so I sold them. I never expected you to see them—let alone buy them yourself."
"All the fault lies with me. My greatest mistake in this life was failing to recognize the beautiful Sister Yukari. I was blind, unable to see that the person standing before me was the most beautiful girl in the entire macrocosm."
"If I could spend my entire life making up for this regret, correcting this mistake, I would gladly do so. But unfortunately, I no longer have that chance. Being punished by Sister Yukari is only right."
As she spoke, Chu Lian closed her eyes and spread her arms, looking as though she were ready to face death with dignity.
"That's all I have to say. Sister Yukari, do as you please."
"My, not bad, girl..." Yukari Yakumo looked at her and couldn't help but feel surprised. Was she really not afraid of being killed?
But just as she was about to say something more, the so-called invading general of Tyrael beneath her—Nastaryel—finally moved.
She planted her hands on the ground and pushed forcefully, flinging Yukari Yakumo off her back.
Clenching her fist, she glared angrily at Yukari Yakumo, who now floated in midair with her white-stockinged legs crossed. "Who exactly are you, daring to ruin my plans?"
Yukari Yakumo opened her fan, covering the lower half of her face. Her violet eyes fixed on Nastaryel as she spoke faintly, "To break free from my seal in just one minute... you're quite strong, girl."
"What a joke. A feeble seal like yours could never restrain me." A rapier appeared in her hand as she scoffed. "If not for this body being unfamiliar—limiting me to at most eighty percent of my power—I wouldn't have needed even a minute to break it. But without borrowing this body, I wouldn't be able to enter this world. What a pity."
Yukari Yakumo narrowed her eyes slightly, put away her parasol, and a yellow talisman appeared in her left hand.
"Then try this..."
"Spectral Double Black Death Butterfly"
Countless purple-black butterflies materialized in the air, surrounding Nastaryel from all directions. A flicker of fear passed through her eyes.
Endless deathly energy emanated from the butterflies. Nastaryel could feel the life force of the body she occupied rapidly draining away. She knew she couldn't let this continue—she had to destroy the spell immediately.
"You're using forbidden arts..." she gritted out. Her rapier traced a strange pattern in the air, releasing gray energy that exploded into a massive turbulent vortex, engulfing everything around it.
"Two Transcendence Realm powerhouses fighting—I, just a peak Spirit-tier, won't join the fun."
However, Chu Lian could sense that every move they made carried traces she simply could not perceive. The surrounding space-time seemed to instantly transform into an entirely different domain with each of their attacks. Within that domain, they were like gods in absolute control. Even trying to get a little closer gave her the terrifying feeling that her soul would be crushed. Such power was truly horrifying.
"Nabe, come with me..." With Yukari Yakumo and Nastaryel locked in battle and unable to pay attention to her for the moment, Chu Lian seized the chance to grab Narberal—who had remained silent the entire time—and retreat far away.
Seeing this, Ainz Ooal Gown also wanted to leave. However, two presences remained locked onto him, preventing him from moving at all. He understood—they were wary that he, the strongest one present aside from the two of them, might suddenly interfere in the battle. Both sides were on guard, leaving him unable to take any unnecessary action.
Where did these two even come from? With strength like this, it's definitely not something players could possess. If this keeps up, I'll definitely get caught in the crossfire... Ah, Deloris, you can't just leave me behind and run!
On the verge of tears inside, Ainz had no choice but to pray that they wouldn't pay attention to him. Fight, fight—best if both sides end up severely injured.
"Phew... no need to worry about big brother. He's much safer than we are." After pulling Narberal to a hiding spot and no longer seeing Yukari Yakumo or Nastaryel, Chu Lian finally let out a sigh of relief. Noticing Narberal's worried expression, she knew she was concerned about Ainz, so she reassured her.
"Lady Deloris, who are those two? Looking at them... it felt like witnessing the descent of gods. I couldn't resist, couldn't even move. All I could do was stare blankly. That feeling... it was terrifying." Narberal clenched her fists as she muttered, recalling their overwhelming presence.
Chu Lian understood—this was the deepest instinctive fear born from having one's soul suppressed by an existence far too powerful. It was like a human watching a planet slowly crash toward Earth—utter helplessness, with nothing to do but pray for survival.
"Those are not opponents we can face. Worlds can be created or destroyed at a single thought of theirs. Traveling across countless space-times is effortless for them. What I didn't expect, though, is that this world's energy limit is actually at the Transcendence Realm. That's quite surprising." The first half she spoke aloud to Narberal, while the latter half she murmured silently in her heart.
"This world is not that simple. The reason it can withstand such high-level beings is because the arrival of the cosmic storm has raised the upper limit of energy containment. That's why Transcendence Realm experts can exist here. Otherwise, upon entering, they would have been sealed at the peak of Heaven-tier."
Ayase also let out a breath of relief at this moment. Chu Lian managing to escape, even temporarily, was at least a good thing. Although once a victor emerged, Chu Lian would still become someone at the mercy of the winner, for now, they at least had time to find a solution.
"Lady Deloris... are they from another world?" Narberal hesitated for a moment before finally asking.
"Yes. That's why you couldn't understand what they were saying. Those are words that can only be comprehended when one's minds resonate on the same spiritual frequency." Chu Lian didn't explain further. For now, it wasn't appropriate to reveal too much—this was enough.
Meanwhile, the liches and undead that had come from the Source of Mutation had initially been excited when Nastaryel appeared. But once Yukari Yakumo showed up, they all fled in terror, hovering in the sky, unsure of where to go.
Their target was Chu Lian. But since she had concealed herself, they couldn't locate her. Just as they grew increasingly restless, a sudden consciousness transmitted into their souls, pointing out Chu Lian's position.
Thus, having found their target again, they abandoned their circling and charged directly toward her. She was the very reason they had appeared here in the first place.
The battle between Yukari Yakumo and Nastaryel had reached a white-hot stage. Although the latter was a battle-hardened undead general, before Yukari Yakumo—the seventeen-year-old boundary youkai who had lived for who knew how many years—she was still outmatched.
Most of the time, Yukari Yakumo forced her to use numerous life-saving abilities, yet her own attacks were repeatedly evaded as Yukari tore open gaps filled with eyes and escaped through them. There was simply no way to harm her.
Back and forth like this, the longer the fight dragged on, the more powerless Nastaryel became. The arrogance she had at the beginning had completely vanished.
Her rapier thrust forward, carving out a six-pointed star. A shield resembling absolute defense unfolded before her, blocking the barrage of energy bullets fired by Yukari Yakumo.
But a danmaku barrage was still a barrage—how could it be so easily blocked completely? She could defend the front, but not the sides or the rear.
A series of corrosive energy bullets struck her body. Already pushed to its limits, the body could no longer endure and burst into a spray of blood.
Half-kneeling on the ground, she supported herself with her rapier and looked at Yukari Yakumo, who still floated leisurely in the air, parasol raised once more, one white-stockinged leg elegantly crossed.
"If not for this body being too fragile, if not for me being limited to only eighty percent of my strength, if not for this world restricting so many of my abilities—how could I possibly lose to you?"
Hearing this, Yukari Yakumo glanced at her with interest and smiled. "A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. Why so many excuses?"
"Hah... by helping her, you've made an enemy of our End Legion... cough... cough... You won't have it easy in the future either. I'll abandon this body—even if it means suffering heavy injuries, I can still return... cough... cough... When that time comes, your world will await the arrival of the End Legion... cough cough cough..." Nastaryel laughed darkly between coughs of blood. She had never been a righteous person—doing whatever she pleased was the creed of the End Legion. Making threats at a time like this was only natural.
"Oh? Are you threatening me, girl?" Yukari Yakumo's smile vanished. Closing her fan, she said lightly, "Then I'll be waiting for your arrival. Hopefully, you'll be at least a little interesting. Gensokyo hasn't been this lively in a long time..."
"Hahaha, Gensokyo? Just you wait..." As she spoke, her body was suddenly enveloped in gray energy. A terrifying power gathered within it, as if it could destroy the world itself.
Yukari Yakumo narrowed her eyes, tore open a gap, and stepped through it, emerging on the other side.
Then, she condensed the dimensional micro-world formed during their battle into a transparent sphere. Within it, gray mist churned, exuding a deadly aura that even she found somewhat troublesome.
"Goodbye..."
She tore open another gap. This one led far beyond the planet—millions of kilometers away.
The explosion erupted instantly. Gray energy spilled outward, blotting out the moonlight. At that moment, the entire world seemed to fall into an endless gray haze.
"That's one taken care of. Now then, the other girl who dared to sell my books... have you prepared to pay the price?" Having dealt with the somewhat troublesome enemy, Yukari Yakumo turned her gaze toward Chu Lian's position and slowly walked forward, parasol in hand.