Chapter 457: Probe

Huo Huo stopped in front of a heavy double wooden door, swiping the door card lightly.

"Ka‑da" sounded lightly, and the Lock released.

Huo Huo pushed the door open and entered.

What came into view was a luxuriously decorated suite living room.

Beyond the massive floor‑to‑ceiling windows lay Dongmu City's nightscape, dazzling like a river of stars, traffic weaving like a tapestry, and Nihong flickering.

The indoor lighting was set dim, further highlighting the outside splendor.

On the sofa, a tiny figure wrapped in a pristine bathrobe curled up there.

The green hair was still a bit damp, clinging to the forehead.

Huo Huo faced the window, motionless.

The bathrobe was a bit large for Huo Huo's petite frame, hanging loosely, revealing only a strip of fair, slender calf and bare feet.

She wore no shoes, standing that way on the soft long‑pile carpet.

The room was very quiet.

"I'm back~ Xiao Huo Huo?"

Ailixiya broke the silence with an overly sweet voice, placed the paper bag and magazine on the bar at the entrance, her crimson eyes curved into a crescent, "Look what sister brought you to eat? Freshly baked croissant, and very sweet strawberry milk~ The outside night view is nice, but you need to replenish energy, otherwise how will you have strength?"

Ailixiya said while stepping lightly toward the sofa, as if unaware of the odd low pressure in the room.

Huo Huo still did not turn, nor gave any response.

Ailixiya walked to the side of the sofa, leaned slightly, her smile unchanged: "Why so silent? Did you fall asleep while bathing? Or… are you angry at sister, blaming me for not crushing those little bugs completely earlier?"

Finally, Huo Huo moved.

She did not turn, only tilted her head slightly, and with those claw‑shaped green eyes gave Ailixiya a sidelong glance.

That gaze held no emotion, like two polished jade stones, yet sent a chill to the heart.

"Why not eliminate them directly."

Huo Huo spoke, her voice as flat as her demeanor, as straight as a line: "You have that power."

It was not a question, but a statement.

She had seen the earlier courtyard battle; Ailixiya was clearly in control, those attacks were bizarre and powerful, yet always eased at crucial moments, more like play‑acting than genuine killing.

"Aiya~"

Ailixiya straightened up, hands clasped behind her back, feigning contemplation, then a classic villainous smile appeared on her face: "Eliminate directly? How boring~ Xiao Huo Huo. The Holy Grail War is a rare grand stage, isn't it? Clearing the field at once would betray the audience's expectations. We must play slowly, let the Plot rise and fall, let the participants fully display their struggles… That way, the fruit harvested at the end will be especially sweet."

She paced, her dark‑blue long hair swaying lightly with each step.

"If we accidentally lose a few key characters… then the subsequent acts couldn't continue. You agree, right, my dear Master~?"

She leaned close to Huo Huo, her voice lowered, carrying a seductive tremor.

Huo Huo listened in silence, her face still expressionless.

She slowly sat upright from the sofa.

Then, she extended her bare feet, still faintly pink from the bath, stepped onto the soft carpet, and stood up.

She turned, facing Ailixiya directly.

The height difference forced Huo Huo to tilt her head upward to meet Ailixiya's gaze.

But at this moment, the aura emanating from the petite girl formed a striking contrast with her small stature.

A heavy pressure, centered on Huo Huo, spread silently.

The light seemed to dim a few degrees.

Immediately after, space behind Huo Huo began to warp.

A massive transparent silhouette rose slowly, as if from deep water!

It was a fox.

Its size was enormous; even forced to slightly crouch due to the hotel's ceiling limit, its silhouette almost filled half of the spacious living room!

Lapis Flame burned silently among the silhouette's fur, outlining a smooth, powerful contour.

The silhouette's head hung low, its huge hollow Lapis‑colored eyes gazed down at Ailixiya without emotion.

One forepaw lifted slightly, its massive claw tip encircled by Lapis‑colored flame, hovering less than half a meter above Ailixiya's head, as if ready to crush down like a mountain!

The terrifying pressure struck the room like a solid wave!

If an ordinary person were here, their heart would have stopped, liver and gallbladder would rupture, and they would instantly collapse.

But Ailixiya— or rather, Heimu, who was remotely controlling everything— merely raised an eyebrow slightly.

In her "view," this resembled a fully rendered 3D animation, grand in momentum, but… just that.

After all, Heimu now is like a wooden player stuck in a corner.

Huo Huo, hands clasped behind her back, squinted her cold green eyes, looking up at the still smiling Ailixiya.

The Lapis‑colored giant fox silhouette behind also narrowed its huge eyes, the claw‑tip Lapis Flame flared more intensely, and the room's temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

"Don't keep testing my limits."

Huo Huo's voice remained flat, but each word sounded as if pulled from an ice cellar, bearing undeniable chill: "If there's another time, I will handle it personally."

Having said that, she no longer looked at Ailixiya, and walked straight to the bar.

The massive Lapis‑colored fox silhouette dissolved with her movement, like smoke, and the suffocating pressure receded like a tide, as if everything just now had been an illusion.

Huo Huo rose onto tiptoe, took the box of strawberry milk and a small bag of croissants from the paper bag, then without looking back walked toward the suite's bedroom, "Ka‑da" and closed the door.

In the living room, only Ailixiya remained, along with the unchanged night view outside.

Ailixiya's smile gradually faded.

She walked to the bar, picked up the magazine and flipped through it casually.

（Heimu let out a soft "tsk", and stroked his chin. ）

It's very abnormal, but... also quite cute.

Heimu mutters softly, a hint of smile flashing in his violet‑black eyes, "You clearly try to act fierce and wild, your words are pretty harsh... but how unfortunate, Xiao Huo Huo."

In her mind, Huo Huo's earlier appearance seems to replay: a petite figure, just out of the bath wearing a large bathrobe, barefoot, tilting the little face upward, straining to make a cold threatening expression, with an enormous light‑shadow effect looming behind...

"That image, and that voice trying hard to hold back but really lacking any deterrent power... it's just impossible to be scared!"

Heimu can't help but laugh out loud, shaking his head, "Deterrent power relies entirely on special effects to prop up the scene... However, being able to manifest Tail's power in this form suggests that the Fusion mutation of that pill is even deeper than what she displayed... interesting."

Unlike the standoff on the hotel rooftop, inside Qiesi's old residence in the residential area, the atmosphere is... much more chaotic.

Warm yellow light fills the living room.

The traditional Japanese‑style room is simple and cozy, but the little storage in the corner with a skylight silently recounts the extraordinary incident that occurred not long ago.

Ilya sits upright on one side of the low table, the pink dress still stained with bits of grass she brushed against while rolling in the courtyard, making her look a bit disheveled.

Her red, large eyes occasionally glance across, her little face full of embarrassment.

Sitting opposite her is Tengcun Lixiang, who has just endured a worldview collapse yet is forcing herself to stay composed.

She changed into an old shirt she found in the house, wraps a blanket around her lower half, her nose has stopped bleeding, but her eye sockets are still a bit red.

She cradles a cup of hot tea in both hands, her gaze filled with bewilderment and the vague feeling of "Who am I... where am I... is this even a dream?"