After parting ways, the next few days were noticeably calmer.
What truly surprised Ningguang and Diluc, however, was this—
no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find any trace of Alhaitham.
"Just where did Alhaitham disappear to?"
Wandering the streets yet again, Ningguang was close to despair.
Blade was actively hunting down players everywhere. If he happened to run into Alhaitham, who knew nothing about the internal chaos, he would almost certainly fall into a trap.
What was worse—Blade had already found Silver Branch's client yesterday and even fought him.
By all accounts, the commotion had been huge.
And yet… Alhaitham still hadn't shown himself.
[Keqing: This is tragic. Ningguang probably won't find Alhaitham even when the game ends.]
Watching Ningguang search day after day, Keqing felt secondhand suffering. She honestly wanted to jump in and tell her—stop looking, you'll never find him.
[Dehya: If this keeps up, won't Alhaitham just win?]
[Candace: Very possible.]
[Faruzan: Hehe, this junior really does have absurd luck.]
[Jing Yuan: At this point… Yunli's client was kidnapped by Ningguang, Silver Branch's client was attacked by Blade. If the final scoring happens—Alhaitham, who's been completely untouched, will probably score higher.]
[Ganyu: A hollow victory. A hollow victory.]
[Silver Wolf: Honestly, I should be that guy's bodyguard…]
Silver Wolf was watching with pure envy.
No other reason—Alhaitham's client was a hardcore shut-in.
She spent her days gaming and ordering takeout. The only time she opened the door was to pick up food. She almost never left her room.
And the reason she hired a bodyguard in the first place?
She just wanted someone to play games with her.
Silver Wolf desperately wanted to rush in and swap places with Alhaitham.
[Kafka: Babe, I think you just want to play games.]
[Silver Wolf: Just tell me—am I suitable or not?]
[Firefly: You are~]
[Jean: Mmm… the game she's playing does look more interesting than Tetris.]
[Kuki Shinobu: Agreed.]
The two gamers unanimously agreed—
any game was better than Tetris.
[Valerius: Hmph, this game isn't meant to be played like that. She's way too bad.]
The woman was playing Black Myth, and watching the monkey jump around nonstop, Valerius clicked his tongue.
No soul. Absolutely no soul.
[Jean: I think she's pretty good though.]
[Valerius: Hmph. She spends one copy of money and only experiences one of the Four Great Classics. I spend one copy of money and experience two.]
[Jing Yuan: Four Great Classics? Do explain.]
[Yae Miko: I'm interested.]
[Valerius: When I first played, I was playing Journey to the West. But every time I meet the Tiger Vanguard, I evolve into Romance of the Three Kingdoms.]
[Seele: What does that mean?]
[Valerius: From Sun Wukong to Sun Shangxiang, obviously.]
[Bronya: As expected of Valerius—amazing!]
Even though she had no idea what he meant,
"amazing" was enough. Could Valerius ever be wrong?
[Valerius: Calm down, basic operations—don't make a fuss.]
[Silver Wolf: I'll just give you a look. You can figure it out yourself.]
Silver Wolf understood perfectly.
"Sun Shangxiang" just meant dying to the Tiger Vanguard and respawning at the shrine to offer incense.
Over the next few days, one thing became clear—
Except for Alhaitham, everyone had been attacked by Blade at least once.
Silver Branch and Yunli had both had enough.
At school, the two gathered together.
"Silver Branch, tonight we gather our clients together—then we take Blade out."
After being kidnapped once already, Yunli decided she was done being patient.
This Stellaron Hunter was absolutely inhuman.
You keep coming after me? Fine—let's see who cleans up whom.
"But… if the clients are alone, I'm worried they'll be attacked," Silver Branch said hesitantly.
He still had concerns.
Sure, only Blade was acting now—but who knew whether Ningguang and Diluc might suddenly make a move while they were dealing with Blade?
"They won't," Yunli said firmly.
"They couldn't even bring themselves to kill someone after kidnapping them last time."
"…I see."
After thinking for a moment, Silver Branch agreed.
To be honest, even he was getting angry.
Blade really wasn't acting like a person anymore.
Eliminating him might be the best option.
You may be a famous Stellaron Hunter,
but I, a cosmic street drifter, am no pushover either.
Tonight, I'll clash with Blade head-on.
Once the plan was settled, they waited for their clients to finish school, then immediately moved them to a hidden location.
"You two stay here for a bit. We'll go deal with that inhuman killer."
"Dark Knight, go without worry. If he appears here, I—the Pitch-Black Magus—shall handle him."
Silver Branch's client waved her hand dismissively, completely unconcerned.
Yunli's client, though timid, had gained some courage after the kidnapping incident. She nodded at Yunli.
"Alright. Let's go."
After securing their clients, the two moved to an area where Blade was known to appear and lay in wait.
Even though Blade had been attacking them, they hadn't been idle—they'd been gathering intelligence too.
It didn't take long.
Blade appeared.
No words were exchanged.
Today, this menace had to be removed.
The two charged forward at full speed, fists already flying.
"Hmph."
Facing both of them at once, Blade showed no fear.
Fighting one against two, he actually didn't fall behind.
[Yanqing: Huh~~~ Is Blade really this strong?]
Yanqing was baffled. One versus two, and he still had the advantage?
[Jingliu: As it should be.]
[Boothill: Damn it all, this Stellaron Hunter is that strong?!]
[Silver Wolf: Naturally.]
[Kafka: No… Blade's about to fall for it.]
[Firefly: Why?]
Firefly was confused. Everything seemed fine so far—how was this a trap?
Bang!
The gunshot answered her question.
A bullet pierced straight through Blade's body.
[Silver Wolf: ...…]
[Kafka: I knew it.]
[Topaz: He didn't even dodge?]
[Dan Heng: He probably still thinks he's immortal.]
Dan Heng saw it clearly—Blade hadn't even tried to evade.
He'd charged in head-on, as if death didn't matter.
But this was a game.
Did he really think he could revive here?
[Player Blade: Eliminated.]
As the system announcement rang out, Blade vanished on the spot.
"Hmph."
Blowing gently on the gun barrel, Yunli called out to the still-stunned Silver Branch.
"Let's go. We're heading back."
"Uh… Miss Yunli. Using a gun to ambush someone mid-fight—isn't that a bit much?"
As a knight, Silver Branch valued principles.
If Blade hadn't gone too far, he wouldn't have joined Yunli in the first place.
"I'm not a knight."
[Jing Yuan: Absolutely correct. Not a single flaw.]
Jing Yuan thought Yunli was excellent right now.
He himself believed that as long as the enemy was defeated, anything went.
For this move, Yunli earned his highest praise.
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