Chapter 448: Chase

Turn a corner, then walk a bit further, and you'll reach the second‑year classroom where she is.

At that moment, her steps faltered slightly.

Ahead, at the end of the hallway near the window, a solitary silhouette stood quietly.

The figure faced away from her, looking out at the night beyond the window.

Moonlight traced a delicate female outline, her hair cascading like a dark‑blue waterfall.

She wore an oddly designed outfit, dominated by dark blue and black, accented with ominous crimson patterns; even from behind it gave an impression of cold, splendid yet eerie.

(Is… a teacher? Or a classmate? So late…)

Lixiang's overly nice personality kicked in immediately.

She hesitated briefly, then spoke up, her voice unusually clear in the silent hallway: "Um... may I ask, do you need help? Are you lost? Or have you forgotten something?"

The back‑facing silhouette seemed to shift slightly.

Then, with an extremely graceful and slow rhythm, she turned around.

Lixiang saw her face.

It was a face so beautiful it bordered on illusion, features as delicate as the most perfect doll.

Dark‑blue hair, crimson eyes, and a corner of her mouth holding a half‑smile.

Yet, in stark contrast to that beauty, a cold seeped from her very marrow.

She seemed an exquisite yet dangerous phantom, utterly out of place in this world.

Her crimson eyes fell on Lixiang, the gaze curious, scrutinizing, and also…

as if she were eyeing some amusing toy.

"Eh?"

She spoke, her voice sweet and pleasant, "Found a... very lively little bird?"

The sound reached Lixiang's ears, and every hair on her body instantly stood on end!

A primal, instinctive fear, like icy water poured from the crown of her head, instantly swept over her whole body!

Her heart suddenly tightened, as if the blood had frozen!

(Danger!)

Before the brain could analyze, the body had already reacted.

Almost as a reflex, Lixiang lunged forward and fell to the ground!

"Swoosh—!!"

An invisible slash, razor‑sharp to the extreme, skimmed just above her scalp!

The gust from the slash made her cheek ache, a few strands of orange hair were severed and drifted down slowly.

"Boom!!!"

From behind came a teeth‑gnawing tearing sound and a massive crash of bricks shattering!

Lixiang turned back in horror, seeing the wall behind where she had stood torn open as if by the claws of an invisible beast, leaving three deep fissures whose edges flickered with ominous dark‑red energy!

The material around the cracks showed a bizarre, corroded state.

If she hadn't lunged down just now…

Now it would be her body that shatters.

(Run!)

The instinct to survive overrode everything!

Lixiang didn't even have time to wonder who the other was or why they attacked her.

She scrambled up using hands and feet, bursting into the fastest speed of her life, sprinting back toward the direction she came from without looking back!

"Tap tap tap tap!!"

The rapid footfalls echoed wildly through the hallway.

Behind her, the beautiful yet terrifying figure did not chase immediately.

She simply stood still, her crimson eyes watching Lixiang's frantic retreat with amused interest, the curve of her mouth deepening, bearing a cruel, cat‑and‑mouse delight.

"Not a bad reaction, huh?"

She laughed softly, fingers lightly brushing her dark‑blue hair, "Then... Game Start, let me see how far you can fly."

She stepped away gracefully, neither hurried nor slow, walking toward the direction of Lixiang's escape.

The sound of high heels striking the floor echoed in the silent hallway like Death's countdown, each tap hammering on Lixiang's wildly beating heart.

Lixiang ran desperately, her lungs burning, her heart pounding as if it would burst out of her throat.

She dared not look back; only one thought remained in her mind:

(Leave here! Must leave the school!)

Perspective shift: inside the carriage.

Heimu lounged lazily on a soft sofa, a cola in one hand, sipping slowly.

Carbonated bubbles burst on her tongue.

Among the floating Light Screens before her, the central one clearly displayed a first‑person view—real‑time footage transmitted via Ailixiya.

In the footage, Fujimura Lixiang ran frantically like a startled fawn on a deserted night street, occasionally glancing back in panic, her orange short hair tangled by the night wind.

Heimu's other hand rested casually on a minimalist floating keyboard.

Occasionally her fingertips tapped lightly, causing the movement path in the footage to adjust slightly, always maintaining an unhurried pursuit rhythm.

(Fujimura Lixiang…)

A hint of playfulness flickered in Heimu's violet‑black eyes.

The girl who took the place of the original 'Shirou Emiya' is far from merely the 'model student with excellent conduct and grades' on the surface.

Although there is currently no overt display of magic or special abilities, she… definitely has a problem.

So she manipulates Ailixiya, like the most skillful hunter driving away prey, guiding the panicked Lixiang from the academy along a specific direction.

The attack is sufficiently fierce to pose a real threat, yet precisely restrained to merely cause continual scratches.

In the scene, Lixiang's figure staggered briefly, as if tripped by a roadside stone, nearly falling, but she quickly steadied herself and kept sprinting, though her breathing grew heavier and her steps showed fatigue.

Dust stained her face, and her school uniform had several rips; she indeed looked rather miserable.

Soon, Lixiang in the scene rushed into a relatively quiet residential area, turned down a familiar alley, and stopped in front of a traditional Japanese‑style house with a spacious courtyard.

Lixiang hesitated hardly at all, using some unknown strength to vault over the modest courtyard wall, staggered to the ground, glanced around, then charged toward a small storage shed piled with junk in a corner of the courtyard, flung the door open, dove inside, and slammed the door shut.

The camera angle lingered at the center of the courtyard.

Heimu's mouth curved into an arc.

(She hid in here…)

She did not immediately force the door open.

Instead, she controlled the Corrosion entity, stepping gracefully, slowly pacing through the moonlit courtyard, her crimson eyes scanning the surroundings.

She even softly hummed a song—a ethereal, pleasant yet subtly oppressive melody; the voice was low, yet clear enough to pierce the door and reach the ears of the hidden one inside the shed.

Inside the small shed were some old gardening tools, the space cramped.

Fujimura Lixiang pressed her back against the cold wall, tightly covering her mouth and nose, desperately suppressing her heavy breathing and racing heart.

Sweat soaked her forehead, hair, and back; her body beneath the school uniform trembled involuntarily from fear and intense exertion.

The woman's voice outside, like a poisonous snake, slithered into her ears; each sweet syllable made her scalp tingle.

(Why… why are they chasing me?)

(Who is she really? What is that power? The wall… it tore like paper…)

(What did I do? I don't even know her!)