Chapter 364: Disposing of Xiandumu Aye

"Yuejiang? You are Yuejiang, aren't you?" Xiao Gucheng looked at Nangong Nayue with an astonished expression.

With a "bang," a lace fan appeared out of thin air and struck Xiao Gucheng heavily on the forehead, causing him to cry out in pain.

"You are not allowed to add 'jiang' to a teacher's name!"

Nangong Nayue extended her hand, and the falling lace fan instantly dropped into a Space Array, appearing in her hand a moment later.

Xiao Gucheng rubbed his forehead and looked at Nangong Nayue with some surprise: "Are you really... Teacher Nayue?"

Nangong Nayue glanced at Xiao Gucheng; the long sword in her hand instantly dissipated, and her body began to shrink rapidly, returning to her original young girl appearance.

"It seems this state can only be maintained for a short time," Nangong Nayue muttered.

Just at this moment, a Grimoire flew out from Xiandumu Aye's sleeve.

"This is... the No. 014 Grimoire? How did it come out on its own?" A trace of doubt appeared in Xiandumu Aye's eyes.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz"—the Grimoire suddenly began to vibrate, and then countless cracks appeared on the cover, finally shattering directly into specks of light and vanishing. As the Grimoire disappeared, Nangong Nayue's magic power and time returned to her, allowing her to recover into her loli form once again.

"How can this be?" Xiandumu Aye stared at the shattered Grimoire, somewhat dazed.

"As for this, I suppose it was burst by my time," Lingyun said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Burst by your time?" Nangong Nayue looked at Lingyun with suspicion.

The method Lingyun had used to suppress the Grimoire and seize Nangong Nayue's time and memories was to transfer that effect onto himself. However, the amount of time within Lingyun was truly vast, and with the suppression of the Cloud Realm, a World Embryo, the Grimoire, which was constantly absorbing Lingyun's time, was ultimately burst from the overload.

"Lingyun, what should we do about Xiandumu Aye now?" Nangong Nayue's voice suddenly rang out in Lingyun's heart.

Lingyun frowned slightly; this was indeed a difficult problem. After all, what Xiandumu Aye had committed this time was no small matter. She had plotted the collapse of Itogami Island, thereby putting all the island's residents in crisis. As the mastermind, Aye's crimes were extremely grave. The incident at Oistah was the fault of Xianshen Shi, but the nature of this incident was completely different. What awaited her was likely a harsh punishment so severe that even a death sentence would feel too light.

If it were in the past, Nangong Nayue could have simply locked Xiandumu Aye directly into the Prison Barrier. As long as she was sealed within the Prison Barrier, the Artificial Island Management Corporation would be unable to take action against Aye. It could be said that locking her in the Prison Barrier was the only thing Nayue could do for Aye as a friend.

Although Xiandumu Aye and Nangong Nayue appeared to be at odds, in reality, the two were extremely close friends, only standing in opposition due to their respective positions. After Xiandumu Aye escaped the Prison Barrier, she never had any intention of killing Nangong Nayue, who had captured her and thrown her into the Prison Barrier years ago; and after defeating Xiandumu Aye, the first thing Nangong Nayue thought of was how to protect her.

However, the Prison Barrier had now been directly destroyed by Lingyun and had vanished. Without the shield of the Prison Barrier, it was simply impossible for Nangong Nayue to protect Xiandumu Aye. Most importantly, the disappearance of the Prison Barrier meant that Nangong Nayue no longer needed to sleep in another dimension, which was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for those who had schemed against her. They were all terrified in their hearts, fearing that Nangong Nayue would settle scores with them later.

Those capable of scheming against Nangong Nayue certainly held no simple status on Itogami Island. If Nangong Nayue were to go head-to-head with them now, she might not necessarily gain any advantage. If one added the matter of Xiandumu Aye, Nangong Nayue would fall into a very passive position. But watching her close friend fall into a fate worse than death was not something Nangong Nayue could do.

Lingyun frowned; he also felt this matter was quite thorny. If it were just him alone, Lingyun could simply rescue Xiandumu Aye. But Nangong Nayue was different; she still had many attachments at Caihai Academy, and if those people in the shadows could not deal with them, they might target those around Nangong Nayue. This was not Lingyun's malicious speculation; from the investigations he had been conducting in secret during this time, most of those so-called high-level officials were not good people.

"Am I now... isolated and without help?" Xiandumu Aye struggled to prop up her body.

After obtaining the Dark Oath Book, Xiandumu Aye had voluntarily abandoned the Library organization that wanted to obtain the Dark Oath Book from her. Now that her operation had failed, she had also lost the chance to turn the tables. The only path left for Xiandumu Aye now was to surrender.

"Nayue, you don't need to rack your brains to catch me again. The Prison Barrier is already destroyed, and those guys in the upper echelons of Itogami Island definitely hate me to the bone. They must be planning how to torture me right now. Let me tell you, even if I die, I will not let myself fall into their hands!" Xiandumu Aye struggled to stand up and said coldly to Nangong Nayue.

"Brother, I have a way to save Xiandumu Aye!" Ruoxi suddenly said to Lingyun from within the Cloud Realm.

"You have a way?" Lingyun was taken aback.

"That's right. When Kirito went to the Traveler Alliance to carry out a mission a while ago, she obtained an extremely rare Traveler Alliance Invitation Token," Ruoxi said.

"You mean to let Xiandumu Aye go to the Traveler Alliance? Will that work?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow. "Her wish has always been to eliminate the supernatural powers in the world. If she enters a world like the Traveler Alliance where all kinds of people exist, wouldn't she go on a rampage?"

"Don't worry. Speaking of going on a rampage, there are quite a few experts in the Traveler Alliance; suppressing her is not a difficult task," Ruoxi said. "Moreover, among the missions of the Traveler Alliance, there are many worlds without supernatural powers. If Xiandumu Aye goes to those worlds for a while, it might change her extreme way of thinking."

"That's fine. Just in time, Kirito, Asuna, and the others have also gone to the Traveler Alliance recently; it's a good opportunity for them to look after Xiandumu Aye in secret," Lingyun nodded imperceptibly. "By the way, did they run into any trouble in the Traveler Alliance?"

"They are World Guardians. In the Traveler Alliance, anyone with a bit of discernment wouldn't dare to provoke them. After all, provoking a World Guardian could potentially invite the hostility of the World Consciousness," Ruoxi said with a relaxed expression.

"Then, let's do it now!" A sharp glint flashed in Lingyun's eyes, and wisps of golden light flickered in his hand and vanished.

Just at this moment, Nangong Nayue keenly sensed a flash of astonishment in Xiandumu Aye's eyes, followed by a smile of interest curling at the corners of her mouth.

"Nayue, I've already said it, you can't catch me!" Xiandumu Aye suddenly spoke.

"You..." Watching Xiandumu Aye, Himeragi Yukina couldn't help but grip the Sekkarou in her hand tightly.

Lingyun's Divine Sense expanded rapidly, discovering that quite a few people were already watching this place from the shadows, keeping a close eye on every move of those present.

"Nayue, I will return again. By then, things won't be so simple!" As Xiandumu Aye spoke, a strange black hole suddenly appeared behind her.

Seeing Xiandumu Aye's body flash into the black hole, Nangong Nayue became anxious; the Precept Chains suddenly shot out from a Magic Array, enveloping the direction of Xiandumu Aye. At the same time, a long dragon suddenly surged from beside Lingyun, also charging toward Xiandumu Aye's direction.

With two "bangs," an invisible barrier suddenly appeared around Xiandumu Aye. Nangong Nayue's Precept Chains were directly bounced off, and the long dragon crashed into the barrier and shattered, but it failed to shake the barrier in the slightest.

Watching Xiandumu Aye disappear into the black hole, Nangong Nayue couldn't help but grit her teeth.

"Don't worry, I'm here for everything!" Lingyun's voice rang out quietly in her heart.

A trace of surprise flashed in Nangong Nayue's eyes, and then she understood that this was Lingyun's doing, and her heart settled down.

"Transfer student, Xiandumu Aye has already escaped. We must find her quickly to avoid further trouble. Let's search separately!" Nangong Nayue said to Himeragi Yukina.

Himeragi Yukina also knew the severity of the situation; she greeted the others present and then hurried away from the place. Nangong Nayue and Lingyun chose to go and meet up with Luo Yexi and the others first, and then discuss the next plan.