Chapter 560: The Innocent

What about San Yue Qi?

She sensed her Command Spell for a moment—previously she couldn't sense it at all, as if something had cut her off.

But this time—

She felt it.

Right in that direction.

San Yue Qi is there!

Lin's eyes flashed for an instant, but before she could speak—

Lixiang suddenly lunged at her!

"Watch out—!"

A massive force shoved Lin back; she was thrown backward, her back slamming into the wall!

At the same time, a black, sharp object sliced through the air, heading straight for the spot where she had just stood!

But the thing didn't hit her.

It struck the person who had pushed her.

"Puff—!"

A muffled piercing sound.

Lin sat on the ground, staring blankly at the scene before her.

Tengcun Lixiang stood where she had just been, her body frozen.

A black object pierced her body, entering through the back and exiting the chest; blood streamed down the wound, spreading a shocking splash of red across her school uniform.

Lixiang lowered her head, looking at the black thing in her chest, her eyes full of bewilderment.

"Eh…?"

Her legs gave way, she fell forward, kneeling on the ground, then toppled to her side.

Blood gushed from the wound, spreading across the floor.

"Fujimura—!!!"

Lin's scream ripped through the street.

She scrambled and crawled to Lixiang's side, pressing both hands onto the wound.

But the blood was too much to stop; it kept gushing out of her fingertips, the warm fluid soaking her hands.

"Fujimura! Fujimura, look at me! Look at me!"

Lixiang's eyes were half-open, her pupils already beginning to dilate.

Her lips moved as if to speak, but only vague breath sounds emerged.

Lin's mind went completely blank.

She had never seen so much blood.

She had never seen anyone collapse before her.

She—

"Tap. Tap. Tap."

Footsteps echoed from deep within the alley.

Lin jerked her head up, looking toward that direction.

In the backlight of the setting sun, a black silhouette was slowly approaching.

Tall stature, black priest's robes, an expressionless face.

Yan Feng Qili.

He walked like that, step by step, neither hurried nor slow.

In his hand he still held another Black Key, its blade shimmering with a cold light.

Lin's eyes were instantly ignited with Rage.

"Yan Feng—!!!"

She stood up, trembling all over.

Her fingers, strained from overexertion, turned white, nails nearly digging into the flesh.

"You— you madman—!"

Yan Feng stopped, looking at her.

Those eyes still showed no emotion, as if the one he had just killed wasn't a person, just a fly he swatted away.

Lin's voice trembled, unsure whether it was Rage or fear:

"You came straight at me! Why kill her?! She's innocent!"

Yan Feng said nothing.

He simply raised the Black Key in his hand.

Lin clenched her teeth and raised her right hand.

The Command Spell on the back of her hand glowed with a dazzling red under the sunset.

"In the name of the Command Spell—!"

Mana surged wildly!

"San Yue Qi, come to my side—!"

Another Command Spell lit up simultaneously:

"In the name of the Command Spell—!"

"Kill him—!"

Pink light burst around Lin!

A figure appeared out of nowhere!

San Yue Qi staggered when she landed, almost falling.

She still held an Ice Bow in her hand, her face full of bewilderment.

"Eh? Lin? This is—Sakura? She—"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Lixiang on the ground.

That pool of blood.

That motionless orange‑haired girl.

San Yue Qi's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Fujimura... Miss?"

Lin's voice came from beside her, hoarse enough that she was almost unrecognizable:

"San Yue Jie... kill him."

San Yue Qi lifted her head and looked ahead.

Yan Feng Qili stood in the sunset, his black priest's robe spotless, holding the Black Key in his hand, expressionless as he stared at them.

San Yue Qi asked nothing.

She raised the Ice Bow and drew the string.

Ice Arrows gathered on the bow, the tips pointing straight at Yan Feng.

Perspective shift.

A Xing walked down the corridor, her heels clicking on the floor with a crisp echo.

The building looked fairly ordinary, but inside it resembled a maze, with identical room doors lining both sides of the hallway.

She casually pushed a few more; they were locked.

A combination lock, its electronic display glowing faintly.

A Xing tilted her head for two seconds, then silently drew a Flame Gun from behind.

—Rule? Rules are meant to be broken.

"Bang—!"

Flames sprayed everywhere; the lock area melted into a charred gaping hole, the whole door pitifully flung inward, slamming into the wall with a huge crash.

A Xing, unflinching, sheathed the gun, brushed nonexistent dust from her hand, and stepped through.

This room was interesting.

Directly opposite the door was a platform resembling a lab table, with a person lying on it.

Short orange hair, wearing a school uniform of unknown origin, eyes closed and motionless, chest rising slightly—still alive, sleeping peacefully.

A Xing took two steps forward, lowered her head to glance at the face.

Somewhat familiar.

She furrowed her brows, thought for three seconds, and a scene flashed in her mind: the previous Holy Grail War, the fourth one, there seemed to be an intruder with the same hair color?

The situation was too chaotic then; she was busy fighting and didn't look closely.

Forget it, she didn't know.

A Xing decisively gave up thinking and began to wander around the room.

There were some buttons on the wall, red and green; she pressed a few at random, with no response.

In the corner were some devices; she poked them with the Flame Gun, and a sizzle sparked out—quite fun.

She smashed it twice more, and it was completely dead.

A few scattered documents lay on the table; A Xing picked them up and flipped through, all the characters reversed.

She held them up, read left to right, then right to left, and finally gave up—she really wasn't familiar with this world's script.

She sighed silently.

What a pity, if this were a trash can she would have already gotten to work.

At that moment, footsteps came from the other end of the hallway.

They were light, but more than one, rustling as if something was moving this way.

A Xing froze, turned to look at the doorway—the door had already been blown apart, a huge charred opening, visible to anyone passing by.

"..."

A Xing was silent for a second.

Then she suddenly recalled that among the job cards she had just fused, there seemed to be... a horse.

She tried to wield that newly emerged power; with a thought, a pink mist materialized before her.

The light spread, and a... horse appeared.

A Xing raised her hand and pointed at the blown‑out doorway: "Can you fix it?"

Pink Horse followed the direction of her finger, stared at the charred hole for a full five seconds, then slowly turned its head, its foolish‑looking face meeting A Xing's, and nodded.

"... Really?"

Pink Horse opened its mouth and shouted: "Mi—!"

As the sound faded, the edge of the hole began to glow pink.

Like time reversing, the charred doorframe gradually restored, the metal re‑fused, the door panels snapped back from fragments, and with a "clack" the whole door sealed perfectly, even the lock's screen lighting up again.

A Xing leaned back slightly and sincerely exclaimed, "Good horse, I'll call you Mysterious Star Call!!!!!!!"