“No!”
Theresa felt as though her words had stepped directly onto some invisible landmine.
The petite black-haired girl abruptly raised her head.
There was even a faint glimmer of tears in her eyes.
“I can fight.”
“I’m fighting with you!”
The girl clutched Theresa’s sleeve with both hands.
Her expression practically declared—
I am not letting go until you agree.
“All right, all right.”
“Then stay close to me.”
Theresa sighed.
“Her abilities involve vines and highly poisonous toxins carried by them.”
“But don’t worry.”
“Judah will protect you.”
Looking at Xia Ling’s reaction, combined with the fact she had called Theresa’s name the instant she appeared—
Theresa had already formed certain suspicions.
Xia Ling pressed both palms together.
A pale golden shield formed around Theresa as well.
[By the way, why did Host choose pale gold for your materialized Honkai energy?]
“To pay tribute to a certain old man who enjoys wandering around.”
Xia Ling answered internally.
“My dream is to become like him one day and throw up a peace sign in front of my own tombstone.”
[You’re still thinking about killing yourself?!]
[Your life goal is making everybody regret you forever or something?]
[As expected of Host.]
On the athletic field—
Theresa, now reinforced by Xia Ling’s barrier, rushed forward again.
Oath of Judah fully unfolded.
Twelve radiant spears launched outward.
Some remained near Xia Ling as protection.
The rest followed Theresa into battle, intercepting vines around her.
Xia Ling did not recklessly join the melee.
Theresa fought comfortably because—
At the end of the day—
She was still S-rank.
Bullying a pseudo-Herrscher was supposed to be easy.
Xia Ling, meanwhile, had roughly B-rank Valkyrie physical capabilities.
If she got too close, it was genuinely questionable who would end up hitting whom.
So Xia Ling folded Crescent Rose’s scythe blade away and began sniping the roots of vines approaching Theresa.
The vines were enormous.
At this distance, even Xia Ling’s mediocre marksmanship could hit them reliably.
The battle tilted increasingly in Theresa’s favor.
Vines could not penetrate the combined blockade of radiant spears and sniper fire.
Meanwhile Yuna, who had only been an ordinary student before awakening—
Was completely outclassed by Theresa in close combat.
Unfortunately—
Yuna did not appear to agree.
“I admit it.”
“You really are strong.”
“I suppose without ambushing you last time, I genuinely couldn’t have won.”
Yuna supported herself against the ground with one hand.
Her vines drooped around her.
Theresa’s attacks had clearly inflicted substantial damage.
“But today…”
“I’m no longer the same as before!”
“With that interference gone…”
“No one in this area can stop me from absorbing Honkai energy anymore.”
“My ability has evolved beyond anything you can imagine.”
“Haven’t you noticed?”
“You’re already poisoned!”
A flash of panic appeared in Theresa’s eyes.
“Could it be…”
“That floral scent earlier—”
“But…”
“I noticed that already.”
“?”
Theresa and Yuna both turned toward the black-haired girl standing behind them.
Feeling their gazes, Xia Ling tilted her head innocently.
“Why wouldn’t I notice?”
“Don’t you think an unusual floral fragrance is rather conspicuous inside a city that has already been reduced to ruins?”
“And Theresa literally told me your abilities involve toxins and vines.”
“At that point, failing to connect those two facts would be stranger than noticing them.”
Xia Ling deliberately ignored Theresa’s rapidly reddening face.
“You didn’t realize?”
“Oh, right.”
“You never actually touched Theresa during the entire fight.”
“So of course you wouldn’t.”
Xia Ling poked the pale golden barrier before herself.
It flexed slightly beneath her finger.
“This isn’t a force-field shield.”
“It’s a physical filtration membrane.”
“Your airborne toxin.”
“The toxic Honkai energy mixed into the environment.”
“If I simply isolate both from us, isn’t that enough?”
“You…”
“You bastard!”
If looks could kill—
Yuna’s expression would have shredded Xia Ling several hundred times.
Her trump card had been casually seen through.
“Then even if I die…”
“I’ll take both of you with me!”
Yuna screamed.
Her body began dissolving—
Returning to raw Honkai energy.
After all, pseudo-Herrschers were fundamentally phenomena formed when Honkai energy accumulated beyond a certain threshold.
As Yuna disappeared—
Her vines went berserk.
Despite her rage, Yuna had not completely lost reason.
Knowing her poison was useless—
She redirected everything into the vines themselves.
Under the final catalysis of her life, they exploded with growth as though somebody had force-fed them industrial fertilizer.
The mass of vines lunged toward Xia Ling.
But Theresa reacted even faster.
She had already noticed something was wrong with Yuna.
Theresa returned to Xia Ling’s side and immediately opened Judah.
Then she shoved Xia Ling toward the interior.
“Theresa?”
“What are you doing?!”
“Get inside!”
But Kaslana hereditary superhuman strength made Xia Ling completely incapable of resisting.
“These vines can’t break through Soulium!”
“Hide inside Oath of Judah!”
“I’m an S-rank Valkyrie!”
“A few lousy vines can’t do anything to me!”
“LIKE HELL I BELIEVE YOU!”
Xia Ling instantly activated the speed Talent she had gained at Elite 1.
She twisted her body—
Slipped past Theresa—
Then kicked her squarely into Judah.
“I have my own way to avoid these vines!”
“Take care of yourself!”
“Stop thinking about self-sacrifice every five minutes!”
Xia Ling’s voice cracked slightly.
She genuinely sounded furious.
Then—
A familiar blue light flashed.
The girl vanished before Theresa’s eyes.
“Crap…”
“Did I step on another landmine…?”
Theresa recalled Xia Ling’s enraged expression.
Guilt rose in her heart.
“I’ll apologize after these vines stop…”
“I don’t even know her name yet…”
Meanwhile—
Inside System Space.
“Perfect!”
“I knew it.”
“The more experienced someone is, the more they trust their own knowledge and judgment.”
Xia Ling pumped one fist triumphantly.
“See?”
“Exactly like I predicted.”
“Theresa is already filling in my backstory based entirely on her understanding of the Sea of Quanta and bubble universes.”
“Did you see that guilty look?”
[Boss Xia Ling is so fun.]
[So what next?]
[Are you going to beat yourself within an inch of your life and dump your dying body in front of Theresa so she’ll regret it forever?]
Xia Ling stared at the System with an indescribable expression.
“You called me fun.”
“You understand this套路 pretty damn well yourself.”
“But no.”
“That would be too deliberate.”
“With the current situation, I just need to go outside, explain things to Theresa, then casually reveal that I’m homeless.”
“Getting myself a position at St. Freya should be easy.”
“The only issue…”
“Is avoiding Otto’s attention as much as possible.”
“Unlike Theresa or Anti-Entropy…”
“Otto’s research into the Imaginary Tree and Sea of Quanta is far beyond anything I can bluff past.”
[But once Host interacts with the main trio, eventually entering Otto’s field of vision will be unavoidable.]
[Especially during this period, when Fu Hua is still one of Otto’s informants.]
“That part…”
“I have some preliminary ideas.”
“But the exact plan depends on which Operator I recruit as my first character card after entering the academy.”
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