TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
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A moment later.
Tap tap tap…
The sound of leather shoes striking the ground approached, and Yiji, who had been resting with her eyes closed, slowly opened them.
"Hu…sband…?"
However, Yiji soon realized that the person standing before her and Belle was not Arden, but Miyabi.
"Miss Miyabi, why are you here?"
Yiji remembered clearly that in the car there had only been herself, Belle, her husband, Piper, and Perlman—Miyabi had not been there.
Then, without hesitation, Yiji decisively chose to hug Miyabi's thigh before reuniting with Arden.
"Phew… now we're safe!"
Clearly, Belle was thinking the same thing as Yiji.
"When I caught up, I just happened to see you fall off the highway and into a Hollow, so I followed you in."
Miyabi had originally intended to seize Perlman, but the first ones she encountered were Belle and Yiji. It made little difference, so she prepared for the three of them to move together.
"Where are the others?"
Miyabi looked around. Seeing no one else nearby, she asked.
"We got separated when we entered the Hollow," Yiji answered honestly.
"Then… please follow me, Proxy. If we leave safely, we'll have some tea at the HAND headquarters."
"Li… listen, could you put your sword away first? I'm scared!"
Sensing that Miyabi was not joking, Belle involuntarily recalled how Miyabi had once tried to arrest her. Who knew—she might suddenly slash at her… it wasn't impossible.
Zeng!
After scanning the surroundings once more and confirming there were no Ethereals nearby, Miyabi sheathed her blade.
"!?"
However, when the cursed blade Tailless was only halfway into its sheath, it suddenly sprang back out on its own.
At the same time, the blade ignited with crimson flames, transforming from its former frost-like sorrow into blazing joy.
"Tailless… mm…"
Before she could finish speaking, Miyabi was affected by the abnormality of the cursed blade Tailless, falling into hallucination and temptation.
["Slash slash slash"]
["Kill kill kill"]
["Cut them down and be free!"]
["Soothe…"]
["..."]
Countless voices echoed in her mind, urging her to strike—to cut down everything before her.
Miyabi used all her strength to suppress the voices in her head, gripping Tailless tightly, but she had no spare hand to force it back into its sheath.
"Miss Miyabi!"
Yiji picked up the sheath, intending to help her restrain Tailless, but the crimson flames surging from the blade were too scorching for her to approach.
"Tailless… is breaking free… You… hurry and go!"
Just as Miyabi was about to lose control and Tailless was about to slash downward, an even deeper crimson light emerged from the horizon.
"Sword of Red Heaven, draw!"
Clang—dang!
Blade and sword collided with a crisp, ringing sound.
Miyabi and the cursed blade were both knocked back several steps.
Dang!
The cursed blade slipped from her grasp, spinning several times in midair before falling to the ground.
"Is this… a heart demon eruption?"
Arden spoke as he bent down to pick up the cursed blade Tailless.
Cultivators often faced heart demons; when they flared up, it resembled Miyabi's condition just now.
Miyabi stared blankly at Arden—and at the cursed blade Tailless in his hand, which had returned to its original state.
"No. It was the blade."
"Oh, so the cursed blade lost control."
Arden nodded in understanding. "Catch!" He tossed Tailless back to Miyabi.
"How did it lose control?"
"I'm not sure. This has never happened before. It was very sudden…"
Miyabi caught Tailless and inspected it carefully, but found nothing unusual.
This was her first time experiencing the blade's loss of control. She had no idea how to handle it. Fortunately, Arden had intervened in time. If she hadn't been able to restrain it just now… if she had cut down Yiji and Belle, she would have carried that guilt for the rest of her life.
"I see. I suggest that when you have time, send Tailless to Yunkui Summit. I'll help you examine it thoroughly."
He was not coveting the cursed blade—Arden genuinely wanted to help Miyabi.
Building a good relationship with her and the Hoshimi family behind her would bring nothing but benefits.
"Mm, thank you!"
"Alright, now isn't the time to talk about this. We need to leave as soon as possible!"
Arden gently patted Yiji, who had thrown herself into his arms.
"Husband… you're here."
"Mm, I'm here."
Their blatant display of affection made Miyabi and Belle, the two single women present, twitch at the corners of their mouths.
"Oh right, Belle is injured. Husband, help her take a look."
"Alright."
Arden walked over to Belle. "Excuse me."
Rip—!
He tore open Belle's skirt. In an instant, a large expanse of pale skin along with the wound was exposed.
The wound was at the root of her thigh. Treatment was urgent—this was not the time to fuss over such details.
At least, that was Arden's thought. Judging by Belle's rapidly reddening face, she clearly minded quite a bit.
"Mm… the wound isn't serious… it's just ether corrosion…"
Though the injury looked frightening, it wasn't deep. However, the edges had already taken on a dark, iridescent hue, indicating that ether corrosion had begun.
"Bear with it."
He applied topical medicine to the wound and had her swallow anti-corrosion pills.
"Yiji, take care of Belle… We must leave the Hollow as quickly as possible."
The anti-corrosion pills could only slow the corrosion. Given enough time, lingering aftereffects would still be inevitable.
Arden had already noticed several Ethereals sensing the disturbance and drawing closer.
The Ethereals themselves were not much of a threat—he and Miyabi could handle them easily. The key to leaving quickly was finding the way out.
As for Perlman… that would be left to fate.
"Sorry, I can't get in touch with Fairy for now. This unfamiliar Hollow needs some data collected before we can map it."
Belle took the coat Yiji handed her and tied it around her waist as a makeshift skirt to avoid accidental exposure while moving. She surveyed the surroundings and rubbed her eyes.
The implant in her eyes allowed her to connect to Fairy at any time, but for some reason it seemed to be malfunctioning—she didn't know whether it was caused by the crash or the corrosion.
"Yiji, you lead the way!"
As a Proxy, Yiji could also navigate. Though she too needed to collect Hollow data, using talismans and spells was far faster than relying on data terminals.
"Mm."
Yiji nodded and began casting her technique.
"Miss Miyabi, in case Tailless loses control again, this Sword of Red Heaven… I'll lend it to you for now."
As he spoke, Arden tossed the Sword of Red Heaven to Miyabi.
He could fight with spells even without a sword, but without a weapon, Miyabi's strength would be greatly reduced.
"Thank you!"
Miyabi caught the Sword of Red Heaven.
Is this… Arden's warmth?
His warmth had passed through his hand to the sword's hilt, and from there into her palm.
Shaking her head, Miyabi forcibly cast aside the thoughts that should not have surfaced in her mind.
She tested the Sword of Red Heaven with a few swings.
"Good sword!"
A gleam flashed in her eyes as she praised it sincerely.
"Mm… let me say this in advance—the Sword of Red Heaven is my weapon. It's not for gifting, selling, or trading!"
Arden was genuinely afraid she might suddenly propose exchanging the cursed blade Tailless for the Sword of Red Heaven.
"Mm…"
The words Miyabi had been about to say were forcibly swallowed back down.
With the cursed blade Tailless showing abnormalities, she really had been considering acquiring a backup weapon—just in case.
===BREAK===
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