Volume 6, Chapter 78 – A Transformation With a Time Limit — How Mortifying

―――――― “Moon Mercy Soul Requiem!” ――――――

Though Bai Xingwu’s mastery still fell short of Bai Lianyue’s, the power behind her swordsmanship was nothing to be dismissed lightly.

With the release of Xing Wu’s full strength, the violet mist-blade net swept forward like a tide — carrying with it a sacred power that purified all Corruption — and crashed into Renoval’s curse-power blades and black-mist tornado with overwhelming, unstoppable force. Those dark-green blades that had once shredded mountain peaks and corroded everything they touched crumbled like paper before the soul-binding power, snapping and dissolving one after another. The black-mist tornado ground to a complete halt, and the twisted, contorted faces writhing within it let out one final anguished wail before dissolving into black powder and scattering on the wind.

“Damn you……damn you, damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU――――――!!!”

Renoval’s crimson eyes were filled with disbelief. He frantically pushed the putrid curse power within him to its limits, straining to resist the net’s impact — but it was all for nothing. The mist-blade net pierced through his curse power barrier without the slightest resistance, like countless fine blades of light, shredding the dark-green curse power surrounding him completely in an instant. Even the sinister smiling shadow behind him let out a crackling hiss under the erosion of the soul-binding power, gradually fading, blurring away.

“Bang!!!”

A thunderous collision of energy rang out as the mist-blade net slammed squarely into Renoval’s body. His bat wings shattered in an instant, and the better half of his body simply ceased to exist. What remained of him was sent flying backward like a kite with a severed string, crashing hard into the scorched earth and sending clouds of ash and debris billowing into the sky. Dark-green curse power hemorrhaged wildly from within him. The crimson in his eyes gradually recovered a flicker of clarity — yet the madness and defiance there refused to fully depart.

The shockwaves of the energy collision slowly dissipated, and the world fell still once more. Over the scorched earth, the dark-green curse power aura had vanished entirely. Renoval’s presence dwindled to something so faint it was nearly imperceptible — as though he had ceased to exist altogether.

“Damn it……damn it, damn it, damn it……”

On the other side, Xing Wu hovered in midair. The violet Augury Force around her gradually receded, and her severed arm had already fully regenerated. The mist-form longsword had reconvened into her hand. Though her sword technique had landed squarely on Renoval, Xing Wu still kept her eyes locked unblinkingly in the direction he had fallen.

She could sense it clearly — that man’s soul aura was still there. Faint, but not fully extinguished.

He wasn’t dead. Gravely wounded and in flight.

What a tenacious wretch.

Was it his resilience from having received her foul mother’s power?

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Same as a cockroach. Infuriating.

“Don’t think you’re escaping……”

Xing Wu let out a cold snort.

Faced with a being who had his eyes set on her mother, Xing Wu had absolutely no intention of letting him walk away freely.

However, just as she was about to pour what remained of her Augury Force into pursuit — her entire body suddenly went limp. The violet Augury Force within her drained away with terrifying speed, like a retreating tide. The body that had maintained its Divine Graced Realm form began shrinking beyond her control, and the radiance around her dimmed at a visible rate.

“Oh no…… The transformation is running out……”

Xing Wu cursed inwardly. Was the time limit on this “drink milk and transform” business really this short?!

She hadn’t even finished dealing with Renoval, and her body was already reverting.

On pure instinct, Xing Wu reached back for another sip of milk!

Her small hand groped behind her — and found nothing……The little backpack she’d stowed the milk in had been blasted away by her own Augury Force when she first transformed……

Oh, come on!!

Was it really going to be like this?!

Little Xing Wu fumed and raged internally.

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Of course, raging changed nothing about the deeply embarrassing reality. The girl’s form rapidly shrank — her long silver-white hair receding into a short crop of fine infant wisps, her sharp and elegant dress-armor reverting to a pink onesie, her slender limbs rounding back into pudgy little arms and stubby legs. In the span of a few short seconds, the silver-haired girl of the Divine Graced Realm was gone, replaced by a chubby, perfectly adorable baby dressed in a pink onesie, who was now flailing her little fat legs with an expression of utter bewilderment and mortification in midair — and plummeting straight down.

“Gah!!” (Oh, COME ON!!)

Baby Xing Wu let out a short, sharp squawk, her pudgy little hands waving uselessly through the air. She stared at the ground rushing up to meet her with the pure unadulterated despair of complete social annihilation — of all the times to revert to a baby, it had to be now, in freefall from this height. The humiliation was unbearable!

Just as Xing Wu braced herself to faceplant into the dirt, a familiar figure came sprinting up from below, catching her smoothly and pulling her securely into his arms.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got a transformation time limit like Ultraman. Give me a break.”

That slightly crude, thoroughly sarcastic voice sounded beside Xing Wu’s ear. The little baby tilted her head up and found herself looking straight into Xi Xuan’s eyes — clear and rational once more. The putrid aura that had clung to him had completely vanished, and aside from his face still being a spectacular landscape of bruises and swelling, he’d more or less recovered.

Having come back to himself, Xi Xuan had immediately rushed over to catch this falling acquaintance’s daughter.

“Bai Xingwu……I didn’t think you’d actually come back to life.”

Xi Xuan looked down at the baby in his arms — round purple eyes glaring up at him, face a perfect portrait of tsundere indignation and mortification — and his eyes filled with shock.

The shock passed, and his gaze narrowed slightly, an unmistakably stern expression crossing his face:

“But you, young lady……you clearly had the ability to restrain me. Why did you still have to land that many punches on my face? You got a personal grudge with my good looks or something?”

Faced with Xi Xuan’s reproach, Xing Wu’s little cheeks instantly flushed scarlet. She instinctively buried her face in his chest, playing the role of a genuine, helpless infant — she couldn’t talk in this state anyway, so she might as well commit to the bit and save herself from being interrogated.

In response, Xi Xuan raised an eyebrow with pure disdain:

“Alright, drop it. Who are you fooling? I came back to my senses a while ago and watched you fight.”

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Called out so directly, Xing Wu abandoned her baby act and scratched her head with an awkward little hand.

Truth be told, her reason for punching Xi Xuan in the face was simple enough — it was payback against this particular terrible uncle who had once tried to set her mother up with Aunt Alice……

Well.

As for why he’d been punched, Xi Xuan had a perfectly good idea. He made his sarcastic comment and then couldn’t be bothered to squabble further with the younger generation. Instead, he carried the now-powerless Xing Wu and descended slowly onto the scorched earth.

“You should count yourself lucky……you managed to run out of power after dealing with that monster, not before. Otherwise the consequences would have been catastrophic. If your transformation has a time limit, you’d better keep better track of it.”

As if I knew how long it would last!

Terrible uncle! Learning to lecture me from my foul mother, are you……hmph.

Who do you think you are!

Xing Wu grumbled to herself in silent dissatisfaction.

But once she realized she had no real counterargument to Xi Xuan’s point, Baby Xing Wu could only puff out her little cheeks and refuse to engage further. At the same time, her expression grew serious, her gaze sweeping across the devastation surrounding them, a flicker of gravity passing through her eyes:

“That man……has he already gotten away……”

――――――

At the same time, inside the VIP Suites of Clavino’s capital.

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After taking a direct hit from Xing Wu’s powerful purifying force, Renoval had sustained severe injuries — but his consciousness had also cleared. Riding the residual shockwave of the Moon Mercy Soul Requiem’s impact, he had spent the very last shred of his strength to activate a flash-step and flee the battlefield.

After that, the miraculously still-living Renoval stumbled and lurched into his hotel suite. His dark-green hair hung in tangled disarray, his clothes were riddled with holes and drenched in blood, and purple-black froth continued to seep from the corner of his mouth. The curse power within him was almost completely depleted, and his soul ached in sharp, recurring waves from the excessive expenditure of power.

“Damn Bai Xingwu……mark my words, you little wretch — this isn’t over……”

Gasping for breath, he staggered over to his equipment storage, intent on grabbing some critical documents and equipment and getting out of Clavino as fast as possible. With Ulutiel and Polarvitan gone, Master’s people would absolutely come after him.

While Bai Xingwu was still in no state to give chase, he had to escape immediately!

He appeared to have been chosen by Corruption now.

As long as he could get away — find somewhere to lie low, recover, and rebuild — he could restore his power, grow even stronger. Then he would come back and make Bai Xingwu pay……

“Master……one day, you will succeed……”

A glint of obsessive fervor flashed through Renoval’s crimson eyes. He gathered his things quickly. And just as he turned to leave, a light, unhurried laugh drifted in from the suite’s living room — carrying with it a faint, inexplicable edge:

―――――― “My, my, Mr. Renoval — in such a hurry to leave?” ――――――

Renoval’s brow snapped together. He whipped around.

There on the living room sofa sat a golden-haired young man, lounging with perfect ease, leisurely turning a crystal glass between his fingers, a lazy, carefree smile on his face — entirely at odds with the panic gripping every other soul in the building and all of Clavino beyond.

“You……Ryan?! You’re still here?! Hang on……wait — weren’t you dead?!”