Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 524 – She Lives Inside My Body

On the battlefield within the city.

Yuzuru cleaved through the ice dragon’s skull with a single stroke of her blade, the beast still blowing bubbles even as it died.

She raised a hand and wiped the dragon blood from her face.

Behind her, Long Yan hefted his spear, directing the city guards as they surrounded and slaughtered the two black dragons whose claws had turned into something resembling pickled chicken feet.

“Yuzuru, the east street is clear. Take the third squad to the north…”

Long Yan’s words died halfway out of his mouth.

Yuzuru hadn’t heard a single word he said.

She stood frozen in place, her curved blade clattering to the ground with a sharp ring.

At the end of the main street, a girl was strolling toward her at a leisurely pace.

A white sailor uniform, a pleated skirt in red-and-black plaid.

Long black hime-cut hair fell to her waist, and beneath her blunt bangs was a face so delicate it seemed almost unreal.

Yuzuru’s eyes flew wide.

That face…

That face was one she knew all too well.

It was the face of the girl who had grown up beside her, who always called out “Big Sister” in a soft voice from behind.

The face of the girl who had died utterly beneath Long Ye’s strike…

“Yu… Yui?”

Yuzuru’s voice trembled.

She didn’t dare blink, terrified that this was nothing more than an illusion.

The girl stopped, tilting her head. Those large, clear black-and-white eyes curved into crescents as she broke into a sweet, bright smile.

But when she spoke, her tone was nothing like the timid little sister Yuzuru remembered.

“Little Yuzuru, you and Long Yan seem pretty close.”

Yuzuru’s body swayed.

That intonation.

That tone, laced with teasing and scrutiny.

She had heard it the first time she met the Lady in Sakura Island.

She had heard it in Border Dragon City, when the Lady pressed a finger to her forehead and helped her suppress the collapse within her.

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“L… Lady?”

Her lips trembled as her gaze flickered back and forth between the JK girl’s face and the white-haired goddess in her memory.

This was Yui’s face.

But this was the Lady’s presence.

Yui had truly become a part of the Lady.

Long Yan caught up, looking from Yuzuru to the girl in the strange school uniform, his face a mass of question marks.

“Yuzuru, do you know her?”

Yuzuru didn’t answer him.

Her knees gave way, and she slowly sank to the ground.

She was only remembering what Yui had said to her in Border Dragon City: Big Sister, my dream is to stay by the Lady’s side forever.

“Don’t kneel. The ground’s dirty.”

Lin Fan walked up to Yuzuru and looked down at her.

Making that expression with Yui’s face lost the lofty, untouchable air of her true form, and instead carried a hint of sisterly closeness.

But the words that came out were anything but close.

“If you have the energy to kneel, you might as well go deal with that earth dragon still struggling over there.”

Yuzuru looked up, tears streaming down her face, yet she forced the sobs back down her throat.

“Lady… is Yui still… there?”

Lin Fan didn’t answer right away.

She twirled the unlit menthol cigarette between her fingers twice, thought for a moment, then tucked it back into her System Space.

Smoking while wearing a JK uniform really would have been a bit off.

“Her talent is there. Her memories are there. Her body is there, too.”

“She says she’s happy now.”

Yuzuru’s whole body jolted.

Long Yan, completely unable to get a word in edgewise, wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and turned to resume directing the city guards in mopping up the remaining enemies.

“Get up.”

Lin Fan bent down and extended her hand.

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Yui’s fair, slender fingers closed around Yuzuru’s hand—calloused and stained with blood and grime—and pulled her up from the ground.

Yuzuru could feel the warmth of that hand.

Exactly the same as Yui’s.

“Lady.”

“Hm?”

“Yui said her dream was to always be with Master.”

Yuzuru wiped his face roughly with his sleeve, his voice steadying again.

“Now, she’s fulfilled her dream.”

Lin Fan nodded.

She released Yuzuru’s hand and looked up at the sky.

Three beams of golden light and one pillar of purple-gold light were still colliding violently, shockwaves radiating outward, tearing the roofs off several nearby streets.

“How long have they been fighting up there?”

Yuzuru looked up as well.

“Almost half an hour now. Lord Long Teng and the other two have been keeping Long Zhan occupied.”

Lin Fan narrowed her eyes.

The Omniscient Domain expanded silently.

Long Yan’s vital signs jumped into her mind.

Heart rate over 180, blood oxygen steadily dropping.

The energy fluctuations of that golden Domain were already showing obvious signs of decay.

Long Teng was worse.

Seven broken ribs, multiple internal organs displaced—he was holding on purely through the Combat Domain’s pain suppression.

Long Yi was in the best condition of the three, but even his Five-Clawed Golden Dragon form was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

And Long Zhan was still brimming with energy.

That man had one foot already through the door to Rank Nine—even Long Yi, also at the peak of Rank Eight, was no match for him.

At this rate, within at most a quarter of an hour, Long Teng would fall first.

“Yuzuru.”

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“Here.”

“How many dragons are still alive in the city?”

Yuzuru quickly calculated in his head.

“After you entered the city, most were crippled. The city guard is besieging the rest—the dozen or so remaining pose no real threat.”

“That’s enough.”

Lin Fan smoothed out the pleats of her skirt.

The gesture, combined with Yui’s face, made her look like a well-behaved girl getting ready for school.

But what she said next had nothing to do with “well-behaved.”

“Tell Su Yue that matters in the city are in your hands.”

Yuzuru’s heart skipped a beat.

“Master is going up?”

“Yeah.”

Lin Fan rose onto her toes, her brown leather shoes making soft crunching sounds against the rubble.

“That man Long Zhan—I’ve got a tab running for him in my little notebook.”

Her tone was feather-light.

Yuzuru looked at the JK girl before him, barely 162 centimeters tall, opened his mouth to say “Master, be careful.”

The words died on his lips.

When had Master ever needed anyone to remind her to be careful?

“Master.”

“Something else?”

Yuzuru took a deep breath.

“…Hit him once for Yui too.”

Lin Fan smiled.

Yui’s face was beautiful when she smiled—sweet.

But deep within those clear black-and-white eyes, a trace of swirling nebulae flickered past.

“Don’t worry.”

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Her shoes tapped lightly against the ground.

The rubble exploded outward.

A figure in a white sailor uniform shot into the sky, skirt fluttering in the air currents, long black hair spreading out at altitude.

Yuzuru tilted his head back, watching the figure grow smaller and smaller, and suddenly smiled.

Tears fell along with it.

“Yui, can you see this?”

She whispered.

“You really are with Master forever now.”

High above.

Long Zhan punched Long Teng through a third building.

One of Long Yi’s dragon wings was torn clean off, sending him tumbling helplessly through the air.

Long Yan’s mouth was full of blood, the light on his Runic Longblade dimmed by half, his Combat Domain beginning to contract.

“Can’t hold on much longer…”

Long Yan clenched his sword hilt.

Long Zhan rolled his wrist, his purple-gold Domain pressing forward in full force.

“Long Teng, the time I gave you ends here.”

Just then.

Long Zhan’s purple-gold dragon horns suddenly trembled.

He sensed an extremely faint presence—so faint, yet it made every hair on his body stand on end—rapidly approaching from below.

Long Zhan jerked his head down.

He saw a girl in a white sailor uniform and black skirt rising straight up from the city at an unbelievable speed.

The wind whipped her pleated skirt, sending it fluttering noisily.

The girl tilted her face up, meeting Long Zhan’s gaze.

Then she spoke.

Her voice was soft, her tone cloyingly sweet.

“So this time, you came alone?”