Chapter 464: Go Quickly

Huo Huo opened her eyes.

What came into view wasn't a strange ceiling—though the ceiling was indeed strange—but another overly close face bearing a sweet smile.

Dark blue long hair spread across the pillow, crimson eyes curved into two crescents, so delicate that the features, less than twenty centimeters from Huo Huo's face, seemed not human.

The other seemed to have been awake for a while, lying on her side, propping her head with one hand, appraising the newly awakened little fox girl with an art‑appreciating, focused gaze.

"Good morning~ Xiao Huo Huo?"

Ailixiya's voice was, as always, sweet enough to squeeze out three jin of honey, with the tail of the sentence dancing with cheerful musical notes.

Huo Huo stared back at her expressionlessly for three seconds.

Within those three seconds, she completed a series of thoughts: "Who am I, where am I", "This person is in my bed", "Why could she come in", "Did I lock the door last night", "It doesn't matter".

Then she spoke:

"Why are you in my bed."

It's not a question.

It's a statement.

Stating a puzzling fact.

"Oh~"

Ailixiya, far from feeling guilty, smiled even brighter, leaning forward, "Because Xiao Huo Huo slept especially soundly last night, like a little curled‑up kitten; I just couldn't bear to leave~ And look, this bed is so big, what's wrong with sharing half with me? Two people sleeping together is warmer, right?"

As she spoke, she extended a finger, trying to poke Huo Huo's cheek.

Huo Huo turned her head to dodge.

"Don't you have a bed?"

"I do."

"Then go back to your own bed."

"But Xiao Huo Huo's bed smells nicer~"

Ailixiya, self‑righteous, even buried her face into the pillow, making a blissful expression, "It smells like Xiao Huo Huo, calming and sleep‑inducing; I slept so well last night, didn't I?"

Huo Huo silently watched her performance.

Three seconds later, Huo Huo lifted the blanket and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.

She was still wearing the loose bathrobe from last night, the belt tied loosely, revealing a small strip of pale collarbone.

She walked toward the bathroom.

"Eh? Xiao Huo Huo going to wash up?"

Ailixiya instantly sprang from the bed, trailing like a tail, "Let me squeeze your toothpaste, sis! My hair‑combing skills are great too! Want to try twin ponytails? Or a bun? With Xiao Huo Huo's temperament, I think—"

Huo Huo stopped at the bathroom doorway and turned back.

Those claw‑shaped green eyes remained as ever calm and unruffled, like two jade stones frozen for millennia.

She watched Ailixiya that way, calmly, neither angry nor impatient, without any extra emotion.

Then she spoke:

"By the Master's name, I command you."

Ailixiya's steps halted.

Huo Huo's voice remained flat:

"At all costs, win the Holy Grail War."

"Bring me victory."

As the words fell—

"Swoosh—!"

A force of compulsion from the contract itself suddenly activated!

Ailixiya didn't even have time to react; her whole body was seized as if by an invisible giant hand and, defying physics, whooshed away!

She traced a graceful parabola, precisely passing through the bedroom door, the living room, and straight toward the tightly shut suite door!

"Clack."

The lock sprang open automatically.

"Plick."

Ailixiya flailed and crashed onto the carpeted hallway outside the door, her bottom hitting first with a rather resonant thud.

—Then, an object sliced through the air and struck her forehead precisely.

It was a bar of soap.

The standard white hotel soap, still in its wrapper, faintly scented with jasmine.

Huo Huo's cold voice came from the room, piercing the half‑open door, without any emotional fluctuation:

"Go quickly."

"Bang!"

The door closed.

Ailixiya sat on the carpet, maintaining the pose of having a soap smashed into her face, motionless.

Three seconds later, she slowly raised her hand, removed the soap from her forehead, and examined it back and forth.

"... truly lacking in romance."

She sighed, braced against the floor to pull herself up, and brushed imagined dust off her skirt hem.

No hint of anger glimmered in her crimson eyes.

"But this is what Xiao Huo Huo is, right?"

She slipped the soap into her waist, adjusted her collar, and stretched her neck.

"At any cost, win the Holy Grail and bring victory…"

Ailixiya repeats Huo Huo's command, the curve of her mouth deepening.

"Received, received~?"

Ailixiya turns and walks toward the elevator.

The sound of high heels striking the carpet fades away.

The elevator doors slide open silently before Ailixiya.

Ailixiya steps into the cabin and presses the button for floor "1".

The metal cabin's inner wall reflects her figure—dark‑blue long hair, crimson eyes, and that face bearing a dangerously sweet smile.

She seems pleased with her makeup today, winking her left eye at the mirror.

The elevator descends smoothly.

"Ding."

The doors open.

Ailixiya steps out of the elevator.

Then she stops.

The hotel lobby is still the same hotel lobby—splendid crystal chandeliers, soft lounge sofas, mirror‑like marble floor, and a reception desk adorned with fresh bouquets.

Yet there isn't a single person.

No receptionist at the front desk.

No guests in the lounge area.

No pedestrians pass by the revolving door.

Even the indicator light on the vending machine in the corner is dark.

Quiet.

Absolute silence.

Even the sound of one's own breathing—

…cannot be heard at all.

Ailixiya stands in the center of the lobby, her crimson eyes scanning the surroundings.

She shows no surprise.

No panic.

Not even a frown.

She merely lifts her chin slightly, like a lead who has finally stepped onto a long‑awaited stage, a satisfied smile on her face.

"…Game Start?"

Her voice is soft, yet clearly audible amid the utter stillness.

The moment the words fall—

It seems an invisible "switch" has been flipped.

The world's colors change.

It is still that hotel lobby, still those familiar furnishings—but everything appears covered by a translucent filter.

The edges blur, the shadows grow dense.

Deep within the lobby, in a corner that was once empty, something faintly coalesces, and several silhouettes gradually emerge.

Ailixiya does not look back.

She simply raises her hand and gently wiggles her finger toward that direction.

"Don't be in a hurry~?"

She says softly, her voice tinged with a coquettish petulance:

"The stage is so big, the audience so many, come one by one, taking it slow is more fun~?"

The writhing behind her stops.

Ailixiya strides forward toward the hotel entrance.

Her silhouette is elegant and composed, like strolling in her own garden.

The sound of high heels striking the marble floor, in the absolute silence, tap, tap, tap…

Echoes far, far away.