..."I thought it would be more impressive, but it turns out to be just a small fry. I was looking forward to it a little."
Sparkle's mischievous voice echoed on the rooftop, but no one responded. Meanwhile, the two culprits stood numbly in place, their empty pupils surrounded by faint red light. It turned out that as soon as their gazes collectively turned towards her, they had already fallen into Lord Sparkle's illusion. Poor them, still completely unaware.
At this moment, Lord Sparkle took a few steps towards the Scarred Man, her gaze observing him with interest.
"So that's how it is. Fantasizing about successfully reaching the heavens in one step, yet never realizing that everything was just a fleeting moment. How pathetic."
Sparkle had roughly figured out his condition. And she really did discover something interesting. This made the smile on her pretty face even more excited. This so-called ritual of gaining power through a seemingly equivalent exchange was, in essence, no different from signing a contract with a devil. And devils are not synonymous with generosity.
"Hehe, it seems like sacrificing others' lives to gain power for oneself, but in reality, it's just a one-way ticket. The so-called increase in power is merely the devil helping you to guide and overdraw your own life. How ironic—such a heinous person, whose actions are actually for the purpose of digging their own grave."
Sparkle shook her head, having completely lost interest in him. Her gaze quickly turned to the other Man in Black. However, just as she was about to step forward, she suddenly noticed a change in him. She simply found a random spot and sat down elegantly.
Sure enough, about half a minute later, the Man in Black actually regained consciousness. He fell to the ground in a sorry state, seemingly still not having reacted. Sparkle, seeing this, clapped her hands gleefully.
"How impressive! I thought it would take you about five minutes to wake up."
The Man in Black's body stiffened instantly upon hearing the familiar voice. Only then did he notice Sparkle in front of him and the dazed Scarred Man beside him. Seeing that he seemed to be awake, Sparkle immediately asked with great interest.
"Hey, can I join the organization behind you?"
Man in Black: ??!
The Man in Black, who had originally expected the other party to ask about his identity or purpose, could imagine the surprise on her face even if he couldn't see her true appearance. He suspiciously sized up the "strong one" in front of him. He tentatively asked, "You're not from the Ability Bureau?"
"No," Sparkle replied casually.
The Man in Black carefully observed her expression, trying to find a flaw. But Sparkle's face always wore an inscrutable smile, and he felt he couldn't see through her at all. So he asked again, "Do you know the organization behind me? And for what purpose do you want to join?"
Both questions were very sharp. But Sparkle answered without thinking. "How would I know what your organization is on our first meeting?"
"Then why do you want to join?!" The Man in Black stared intently at her, curious as to what this girl wanted to gain by joining, even though she didn't know where he came from.
And Sparkle excitedly stated, "Of course, I'm interested in the guy behind you, the so-called... God!"
Man in Black: !!!
Yes, this was what piqued Lord Sparkle's interest. The so-called devil was just a metaphor, but the aura of a god was real. It felt different from a Star God, more like a god from another world. This greatly interested Sparkle.
However, the Man in Black's answer was just as Sparkle had guessed. He sternly shouted, "You dare not blaspheme the existence of my God."
"As expected, he refused. I didn't plan on joining directly anyway." With that, Sparkle turned her head without surprise. Then she slowly raised her right hand and snapped her fingers.
Click!
The Scarred Man, who had been staring blankly, suddenly woke up, roaring, "Die, die..."
Having just woken up, his eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body exuded killing intent. But now, to his surprise, all the Sparkles had long since vanished. It turned out that in the illusion, the hot-headed Scarred Man directly activated his berserk mode, wantonly slaughtering illusions. Now, he's probably not in his right mind.
"What a pity, little doggy! I hope we'll have a chance to meet again. Remember to live well!"
Sparkle completely ignored the Scarred Man's madness, smiling and waving at the Man in Black. Then she elegantly spread her arms and leaped down from the edge.
"Stop right there!!!" The Scarred Man, finally breaking free from the illusion, his eyes blood-red, let out a deafening roar, like an enraged beast. He lunged forward, his sharp claws flashing like lightning towards Sparkle, trying to tear her to shreds.
The Man in Black also came over to check, curious. Sparkle's figure plummeted from high in the sky, yet seemed to vanish just before touching the ground, leaving not a single trace, as if she had never existed.
However, they witnessed another scene—the once peaceful and harmonious Residential Complex had long since become a ruin. Amidst the crumbling walls, the remains of wild Extraterritorial Creatures were everywhere, emitting a pungent stench. The air was filled with the scent of death.
"Did these Extraterritorial Creatures perish on their own?" The Man in Black whispered in confusion. Although the scene before him could only be explained this way, he still felt something was off.
"Damn it! Damn it! How dare she humiliate me like this!" The Scarred Man fully sobered up, his eyes blood-red, watching Sparkle escape, now only able to futilely wave his fists. Having been played by Sparkle like this, he let out a deafening roar of deep resentment. The sound roared like a beast, carrying endless anger and unwillingness, echoing across the empty battlefield, as if it would tear the entire sky apart.
"Damn it, only capable of such useless dirty tricks. Don't let me see you again!" The Scarred Man's own mental resistance was not low, so he believed that if he hadn't been careless, she wouldn't have had a chance to escape.
The Man in Black remained silent, not sure how powerful Sparkle truly was. But he knew that under Sparkle's provocation, this guy was a step closer to his predetermined end. 'Anyway, the experiment has generally been successful.'
"Hmm? Wait a minute! There's still a living person here, and an Ability User!" The Scarred Man, who thought he could only suffer in silence, suddenly sensed something, and a sinister smile unconsciously curled at the corner of his mouth.
The Man in Black also became interested; an Ability User who survived in this environment might make a good sacrifice. The two, full of themselves, had no idea where they were about to go...
"Hmm, there are still surviving beasts, and this one's even angry?"
An angry roar, not surprisingly, reached Yunli's ears. She frowned slightly, but decided to let it go for now.
"Yunli, what are you doing?! Isn't it disgusting?" Mo Xin, lying down, couldn't bear to look at the scene before her. A petite and cute little loli was actually rummaging through the corpse of a giant beast at this moment. Especially with her body covered in blood, it was even more of an eyesore. Mo Xin only felt her eyes were tainted.
Mo Xin (┯_┯): 'I still prefer the cute and adorable Yunli!'
At this moment, Yunli also finished her task, and asked in confusion, "Mo Xin, look quickly, there really is something!"
Although Mo Xin was very reluctant, she still glanced at what Yunli had pulled out of the beast's corpse. It was a red sphere the size of a basketball. It wasn't flesh and blood, but rather resembled a crystal-clear glass sphere, and seemed to faintly emit a bloody aura. After seeing it clearly, Mo Xin couldn't help but ask, "Ah, what is this thing?"
"I don't know either, that's why I dug it out to confirm." It turned out that Yunli had vaguely noticed earlier that the feel of hitting these beasts was a bit off. And this black wolf corpse in front of them was the one Yunli had pierced through its abdomen with a single blow earlier. Yunli just happened to glimpse a crystal-clear object vaguely beneath the remains.
The two looked left and right for a long time but couldn't figure out anything, but Mo Xin suddenly came up with a bold idea. "Do you think this could be a Golden Core from novels? After all, this wolf has grown so big, maybe it's a so-called demonic beast?"
Yunli T_T: Do you even hear what you're saying? Ability Users are one thing, but now you're talking about Cultivators? Are these two even in the same league?
Thinking this, Yunli glanced at the ball in her hand again. The ball seemed to have a self-cleaning function; the blood on its surface seemed to have been absorbed cleanly.
Yunli Ծ‸Ծ: Don't say it, don't say it! It really does look like it. If she couldn't figure it out, then she wouldn't think about it. "This looks quite clean, why don't you keep it as a souvenir?"
"Okay!"
Yunli: ??! "No, sister, you actually want it?!" Yunli looked at Mo Xin in disbelief, wondering if she had some strange collecting habit.
The latter quickly explained, "No, no, no! You misunderstood! I think this thing is quite exquisite, and maybe it's quite valuable in the Ability Bureau, like you said, and it's also our spoils of war! In short, please don't misunderstand!"
Yunli: 눈_눈
Mo Xin looked at her anxiously, her eyes very sincere. After a long while, Yunli spoke first. "I understand, what you said makes a lot of sense, but you probably misunderstood one thing."
Seeing that the other party understood her, Mo Xin could only breathe a sigh of relief. But then she suddenly became curious about what she had misunderstood. "What did I misunderstand?"
Then, Yunli naturally placed the "Golden Core" behind her and said, "This is 'my' spoil of war, not 'ours'."
Mo Xin (●—●):...Well, no wonder there's a saying, 'Even brothers must settle accounts clearly.'
Grrr... "Speaking of which, I'm so hungry... I wasn't full to begin with, and now I've been fighting for so long... Mo Xin, do you have anything to eat?" At this moment, Yunli suddenly wailed, her face troubled.
"How could I have... Wait, I think I actually do." Mo Xin, who was initially speechless, reacted. The candied hawthorn she had left earlier seemed to still be on her. Thinking of Yunli's hard work, she handed it to her casually.
"It's a skewer!!!" Yunli's face immediately lit up with a smile, completely ignoring why only one was left. But just as she was about to savor it, her expression suddenly changed dramatically. She quickly turned around and grabbed Mo Xin, pulling her away from the spot.
And the next moment after they left, an enormous figure crashed down with a thud. A deep, steady, and extremely authoritative voice came through. "I didn't expect that besides an Ability User, there's actually an ordinary person still alive."
The one who arrived was none other than the Scarred Man, transformed into his werewolf form. However, this time his stature had reached seven or eight meters tall, like a small giant. Mo Xin successfully escaped a disaster with Yunli's help. But she looked at the towering figure in front of her with terror, her mouth involuntarily widening.
"Hey, keep that Ability User alive." At this moment, another Man in Black also arrived.
The Scarred Man curled his lip in disdain upon hearing this. "Stop ordering me around, I'm in a very bad mood right now!"
Facing the two sudden arrivals, Mo Xin instantly understood that they were Ability Users. They might even be the culprits behind all of this! She subtly tugged at Yunli's sleeve, silently signaling her to run away and not worry about her. After all, the imposing and magnificent figure of the opponent formed a stark contrast with Yunli's petite body; it was clear that Yunli couldn't contend with them.
However, Yunli's face was gloomy at this moment, showing no reaction, as if she had already completely given up.
"Hahaha, you still want to escape from me? Are you trying to take the opportunity to run and call for help? Let me tell you the truth, this place has long been isolated from the outside world. No one outside knows what happens here. Besides, whoever comes, I'll kill them. You can only blame your bad luck!"
The Scarred Man naturally noticed her small movements. In his eyes, that weak woman probably meant the Ability Bureau was coming to rescue the other little girl. It was just their misfortune to meet him when he was in a bad mood. The Man in Black beside him thought the same. They clearly believed they had the two people in front of them cornered.
Just as Mo Xin attempted to secretly use her Supernatural Ability to escape, a cute voice, filled with deep resentment, came from Yunli's mouth.
"You just said... no one outside knows what happens here?"
Listening to her desperate question, the Scarred Man was stunned, then laughed loudly and affirmed, "That's right, so just calmly wait to die!"
"Is that so..."
At this moment, Yunli's expression was uncertain. Even Mo Xin didn't understand what was wrong with her. However, what the three of them didn't know was that Yunli's gaze had been fixed on the candied hawthorn—which had been stepped on by the werewolf when he landed—the entire time.
Yunli went from initial petrification to calmness, then to a ceaseless cold smirk.
"...Heh heh, then I don't need to hold back anymore."