Chapter 609: So Pleasant

The moment the song began, the whole world seemed to have been pressed on a subtle pause button.

Robin stood at the edge of the ruins, her lake‑green eyes gently closed, her eyelashes casting fine shadows in the moonlight.

The night wind blew from behind her, curling her blue‑purple hair; the strands drifted and gathered in the air, each filament rimmed with a silvery edge by the lingering distant light.

The ribbons on her skirt floated like a jellyfish's tentacles drifting slowly in the deep sea.

She stood there like a flower that had sprouted from the ruins, so fragile that one dared not touch it, yet so stubborn that one could not look away.

When that voice flowed from deep within her throat, the wildly dancing violet‑black tubes in the air seemed to be brushed by an invisible hand.

The tubes' surfaces, originally covered with snarling barbs and crimson patterns, now had the barbs soften, their edges blur, and the crimson patterns fade like diluted blood, losing color bit by bit.

The tips of the tubes trembled slightly, then slowly drooped, as if a tamed venomous snake finally retracted its fangs.

Mendyourpace, swaytothebeat——

The voice was soft.

It was neither as powerful as the chants commonly heard on battlefields, nor as deafening as the roars that try to crush opponents with magic.

It was merely gentle, like a breeze drifting from a far‑away place, bearing an irresistible tenderness that seeped inch by inch into every inch of air scorched by war.

Beams of light rose around her, like countless tiny fireflies dancing in the night sky.

They swirled and converged in midair, then fell like a silent drizzle onto the battlefield shrouded in violet‑black.

The moment the beams touched the violet‑black tubes, the tubes' surfaces instantly rippled with fine waves.

The ripples spread outward from the point of contact, like stones dropped into water, concentric circles churning the dark‑red patterns into fragments.

The patterns twisted within the ripples, like snakes trapped in a vortex, futilely trying to grasp something, only to be torn apart piece by piece, finally shattering into countless tiny specks of light that flickered in the air a few times before vanishing without a trace.

Invasive Lawgiver stood on the high platform woven from the tubes, lowered its head, and watched the beams surge toward it.

They crawled up the thickest tube at her feet, spreading upward along its wall, and wherever they passed the dark‑red patterns turned to ash‑like paper burned by fire, scattering away.

She neither fled nor used the tubes to block; she simply tilted her head, watching the beams nibble away at her "territory" bit by bit, her smile at the corner of her mouth deepening a few more degrees.

"So pleasant to hear."

She said, and there was no sarcasm in that voice, only sincere admiration that made one want to applaud.

She raised her hand, and the tubes being eroded by the beams suddenly ceased trembling, as if infused with new power, snapping rigidly; the dark‑red patterns on their surfaces reignited, more dazzling and more frantic than before.

They surged like giant serpents breaking free of shackles, roaring with the wind as they lunged toward Robin!

Robin did not dodge.

Her eyes remained closed, the song continued, as if she had not seen the overwhelming tide of tubes at all.

Her eyelashes quivered faintly in the moonlight, like the fine scales on a butterfly's wing, and the voice that flowed from her lips was clearer and more resolute than before.

The beams suddenly brightened.

They no longer drifted passively; they surged forward, weaving in front of Robin into a massive light curtain.

The curtain was as thin as cicada wings, yet it solidly blocked the overwhelming tubes.

The tips of the tubes pierced the curtain, emitting a "sizzle," the dark‑red patterns on the curtain's surface flailed wildly, yet could not pierce the thin moon‑white layer.

Invasive Lawgiver raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

She lifted her other hand, and more tubes surged from behind her like a tide, crashing into the light curtain.

The first wave made the curtain sway.

The second wave produced fine cracks on the curtain.

The third wave—

The curtain shattered.

Robin's body jolted, the song paused for a heartbeat, but she quickly steadied herself, and the voice rose again, softer than before yet bearing a heart‑breaking stubbornness.

New beams rose around her, more numerous than before; they no longer tried to block the tubes but bypassed them, surging straight toward Invasive Lawgiver.

Invasive Lawgiver's smile finally showed a hint of change.

The beams were too fast and too many; her tubes could not intercept them in time.

They slipped through the tubes' gaps, climbed the platform, coiled around her ankles, spreading up her calves, and wherever they passed the dark‑red patterns seemed frozen, unable to flow any longer.

She lowered her head to watch the beams, her expression turning subtle.

"How troublesome,"

She whispered, then raised her hand, and the tubes suddenly reversed direction, no longer attacking Robin but surging toward herself, tearing the layer of beams from her body piece by piece.

The beams fractured into countless specks of light under the tubes' pull, drifting in the night sky like a silent snowfall.

Robin's complexion turned pale, her song began to tremble, yet she did not stop, merely clenching her teeth and continuing to sing.

At that moment, a gray figure burst out from the ruins on the side.

A Xing gripped the deep‑red Flame Gun, the flames on its barrel trailing long streaks in the night wind; those flames were not the dazzling gold before, but a deep, almost dark‑red hue, like coagulated blood reigniting under high heat.

The tubes sensed her presence, surged from all directions, attempting to block her.

A Xing did not dodge nor slow; she simply held the Flame Gun horizontally before her, and then—

rammed forward.

"Boom——!!!"

The tubes before her were like paper, torn open by the deep‑red Flame Gun into a huge gap.

Flames spewed from the gap, burning the shattered tubes to ash that drifted in the night sky.

A Xing burst out of the gap, her body coated in ash, a few strands of gray hair falling across her forehead, clinging to her skin with sweat.

Her face remained expressionless, but something was shattering within those eyes.

She landed on the platform, less than ten meters from Invasive Lawgiver.

Invasive Lawgiver looked at her, the smile at the corner of its mouth returning.

A Xing said nothing.

She only gripped the Flame Gun tightly, stepping step by step toward the Invasive Lawgiver.

Pipes surged from all directions, trying to block her, but she didn't even look, merely swinging the Flame Gun—one shot, two shots, three shots—each shot tore those pipes into fragments, Flame burned around her, turning the fragments to ash, laying a gray‑white road beneath her feet.