Chapter 74: Treachery (2)

“You’re not Gray at all…”

Su Xiaoli’s voice trembled faintly in the wide, echoing space.

And standing before her, the “Lin Yu” wearing that innocent, adorable face… was smiling with a wicked curl of the lips.

“Whether I am or am not,”
“Lin Yu’s” voice chimed clearly, her tone unhurried,
“From an existential perspective, we recognize the world through our perceptions. So tell me — at this moment, why can’t I be Gray Crystal?”

“Cut the nonsense!”

Su Xiaoli’s golden eyes hardened.
But “Lin Yu” merely tilted her head slightly and continued:

“From a physical perspective, I’m using this body, experiencing this world. So… why can’t I be Gray Crystal?”

She showed a playful smile, as if delighted by her own philosophical game.

“The smell on you already sold you out!”
Su Xiaoli snapped, her face turning cold.
“That stench of Tzeentch-lineage corruption is so strong, I could smell it even from three streets away!”

She stopped probing with words — her combat instincts surged to the forefront.

She moved.

Without a hint of warning, her small figure became a golden streak, gliding ghost-fast across the floor.

【Shikigami Dance: Flashing Talismans】

With her rapid movements, talismans burst from her sleeves — fluttering like butterflies granted life — attacking from every angle with deadly precision!

The golden Seeing Talismans, glowing with the power to pierce illusions, shot toward the target’s psychic core.

The scarlet Binding Talismans twined forward like spiritual serpents, aiming to seal her joints.

The linen-colored Phantom Talismans split into multiple illusions identical to Su Xiaoli herself, confusing perception.

An elite magical girl’s technique — a perfect blend of speed and tactical deception.

Yet despite this barrage that would normally overwhelm a peer…

“Lin Yu” didn’t even move.

She simply lifted one slender finger —
and tapped the air.

“Too noisy.”

At that gesture, all talismans halted half a meter before touching her.

Then, impossibly, their colors, shapes, even the spiritual power infused within them began dissolving.

Gold turned to drifting motes of light.
Scarlet evaporated into mist.
Linen-hued illusions vanished like breath on glass.

In a single breath, the spectacular talisman storm became nothing more than a flurry of plain white paper butterflies falling to the ground.

“—?!”

Su Xiaoli’s pupils shrank violently as she forced herself to stop mid-dash.

“How… is that… possible…”

Her whisper trembled with shock.

“Cute little trick,”
“Lin Yu” said with a gentle smile,
“Truly. Like admiring a child’s drawing.”

“Your company… Puppet Masters, was it?”
“That’s how they teach you — stacking spiritual power like building blocks? How… unimaginative.”

Su Xiaoli’s heart sank like a stone.

She forced herself to stay calm, keeping her distance.

“You’re not the Mirror Man’s remains,” she said, tone flat.
“That level of pollutant can’t block communications across an entire sector. What are you? Class S? SS? Or… something even higher?”

“Hehehe…”

“Lin Yu” let out a musical laugh, as though she had just heard the funniest joke.

“Little fox… levels?”

“Using human sand to measure the stars… don’t you think that’s terribly foolish?”

The cryptic reply made Su Xiaoli’s brows knit tighter.

“Then why pretend to be the Mirror Man? Was all of this your plan? What is your purpose?”

“Purpose?”

“Lin Yu” tapped her temple lightly, a sly expression appearing.

“I’m just a humble gardener who discovered a one-of-a-kind seed. I water it, feed it, chase away pests… eagerly awaiting it to bloom.”
“Isn’t that… perfectly reasonable?”

Before the words faded, her figure flickered — like a TV losing signal.

Su Xiaoli caught it instantly. Her breath hitched.

Could it be…?
You mean the Voidborn constitution?!

Her voice trembled with exhaustion, as though she had predicted this outcome.

“I… I’m sorry, big brother…”
Her voice rasped painfully.
“I couldn’t… succeed…”

But then — she inhaled deeply.

In her golden fox eyes, a fierce resolve ignited.

She pressed her feet together and raised her arms solemnly.

She was going to perform a true Divine Kagura Dance.

“Oh?”

“Lin Yu’s” brows lifted with interest.
She smiled, lips rosy and amused.

“So the conversation is over, hm?”
“I thought you’d last longer.”

“I’ve already seen the next part of your script. In the next thirty seconds, you’ll burn nearly half your spiritual power and release a gorgeous, utterly meaningless firework show.”

“Still going through with it? You’re such a smart child.”

Su Xiaoli’s heart seized.

(…No way… Is she— that?!)

Behind her, nine golden fox tails burst aflame — brilliant as the sun.

“【Foxfire Feast: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons】!”

“Stubbornness is the quickest road to destruction,”
“Lin Yu” sighed softly.

But Su Xiaoli heard nothing anymore.

“In the name of the Celestial Fox, I command—
All phenomena… obey me!”

With a sweep of her arms, hundreds of talismans erupted from her body like a volcanic explosion.

And under the foxfire’s blessing, those talismans became shikigami — hundreds, of all shapes and mythic forms:

White-robed shrine maidens wielding naginata,
Snow women breathing frost,
One-eyed monks swinging massive hammers—

A mythical army assembled behind her.

“Go!”

At her command, the bizarre hundred-demon army surged forward with earth-shattering spiritual force.

The entire Gamma Zone trembled.
The air screamed under energy overload.

Facing this apocalyptic onslaught—

“Lin Yu” looked… delighted.

“Amazing. Truly amazing… Your spiritual manipulation barely reaches the entry level of ‘magic’. But only barely.”

Then, slowly, she raised her right hand.

Five fingers spread, palm upward.

Black, violet, azure currents swirled in her hand, glowing faintly like starlight.

No declaration.
No roar.

In a soft, dreamlike murmur, she began chanting:

(All glory of the mortal realm… returns here.)

Ancient syllables spilled from her lips.

(Mirror, mirror— become mine to command.)

Sacred.
Monumental.
Inevitable.

(What was once a creation of gods, now becomes my reflection.)

The swirling mass expanded outward.

Like ink dropped into clear water — silent, inevitable, devouring reality itself.

This was magic.

Not spiritual power.
Not a technique.
But the act of deceiving the world’s underlying rules themselves.

Elegant, exquisite, terrifying, divine—

As the final syllable fell, the world froze for an instant.

Then Su Xiaoli witnessed something she would never forget.

Her roaring army—
Her overwhelming flood of spiritual power—
Her blazing foxfire—
Her dancing talismans—

All of it was changed.

First, the shrine maiden’s naginata turned — impossibly — and slashed the snow woman beside her.

Splurt—!

The snow woman’s head flew, expression frozen in shock before dissolving into specks of light.

It was only the beginning.

Like the first pebble cast into a still lake, a chain reaction detonated.

The one-eyed monk smashed his comrades to pulp.
Shikigami foxes tore open their allies’ throats.
Fire and frost ravaged their own ranks.
Blades plunged into the backs they once defended.

The mighty army Su Xiaoli had created became a grotesque battlefield of blood and betrayal.

Some shikigami even laughed — shrieking with manic delight at the carnage.

Within seconds, the last shikigami was devoured, bursting into motes of light.

Hundreds of torn, scorched talisman scraps drifted down like war-torn banners onto the cold ground.

Splurt—!

Su Xiaoli coughed a mouthful of blood.
Her nine fox tails dimmed instantly.

The spiritual backlash nearly tore her soul apart.

(Spiritual Anchor Depletion… I’m done for…)

“Good attempt. Nothing more.”

“Lin Yu” smiled warmly, as if praising a child.

“No matter what cultivation manuals Sky Dome Group gives you magical girls, or what Concept-Bound Armament teaches you—
None of it compares to true magic.”

“That is the gulf between us, little fox.”

Terror — pure, suffocating terror — seized Su Xiaoli’s heart.

She staggered back, half kneeling, gasping raggedly.

Every breath tugged at sharp pain deep within.

She glanced down at her brass bell — the black-violet rust spreading like a virus.

Cold, maddening energy crawled through her soul along her link with the Celestial Fox Kagura.

The countdown to Witchification had begun.

(I have to run.)

It was the first thought in her mind.

(I can’t win. We’re not even on the same plane of existence. If I stay… I’ll turn into a monster.)

But the moment she thought of escaping,
Lin Xue’s tearful, pleading face flashed before her.

“Your big sister will bring back our cute Gray Crystal-chan… even from the deepest hell~”

“…Damn it!”

Su Xiaoli bit her lip until she tasted blood.

(Why did I make that stupid promise!?)

If I survive this, I’ll never make such speeches again!
(Never!)

She forced herself to breathe.

(But realistically… even if I run, I won’t get away. Turning my back might kill me faster…)

(In that case… gamble!)

Youthful recklessness, elite pride, and desperation aligned.

Su Xiaoli wiped the blood from her lips, pushed off the ground, and stood.

Her golden fox eyes locked sharply onto the enemy.
Her mind raced faster than ever.

There must be a flaw.
There has to be one.

She analyzed furiously.

(First question: If she’s this strong, why hasn’t she killed me already?)

(Is she toying with me?)
(A cat-and-mouse game?)

No.
Wrong.

A spark lit in her mind.

(If she wanted me dead, I’d have been dead in second one.)

(She kept me alive because— I am part of her plan.)

(Second question — the critical one: Why hasn’t Gray Crystal’s body collapsed?)

(That monster is clearly an ultra-high-tier pollutant. Displaying this much power should place an unimaginable load on a host.)

(But this body — Lin Yu’s body — is holding together perfectly. Not a single crack.)

(Whereas Lu Ze’s body already exploded under that same power.)

(Not logical in terms of spirit OR magic.)

Wait—

The Voidborn! Lin Yu’s “Void” soul trait!

A horrifying inference formed in Su Xiaoli’s mind.

(She isn’t fighting.)
(She’s… tempering.)

(She’s using Lin Yu’s body as a unique “container.” She’s forging a “Grail.”)

(All of this… was just using my power to hammer the container into shape.)

A cold shiver shot up her spine.

Her proud trump card—
To that monster, it was nothing more than a polishing tool?

But that also meant—

Her goal was a perfect container. Not a damaged one.

Therefore:
She was holding back.
Her actions had constraints.

She couldn’t apply too much force, or she’d destroy her cherished vessel.

That was the only chance at survival.

“I see…”

Su Xiaoli suddenly laughed — soft, bitter, yet clear with understanding.

“Oh?”

The creature watched her, amused.

“So you finally figured it out?”

“Pretending to be the Mirror Man — that was to match the difficulty of the ‘promotion exam,’ to make everything appear natural.”

Su Xiaoli lifted her head.

Her golden eyes shone with cunning, sharp intelligence.

The true nature of a Nine-Tailed Fox returned.

“Fighting me was never the point.
You were tempering your vessel.”

“……”

She paused, then spat out:

“Scheming, deception, manipulation, twisting people into puppets—”

“And that disgusting arrogance of treating everything like a script.”

“……”

“If the legends in the company’s classified archives are real…”

Her voice turned dry, hoarse with terror and clarity.

“Then you… can only be that theoretical apex of the Tzeentch-lineage pollutants—”

“—the never-observed, S-class catastrophe—”

“The Ever-Changing Demon Lord!”