What Each Holds Dear

"All right," Qinna said, pushing away the dazed Yaxiu. She lightly brushed her fingernail across her lip and declared in a clear voice, "I don't know any Yaxiu Heath. All I know is that I will not permit you to take away my clansman, Yaxiu Sennheiser!" Wright turned to the other patriarchs. "Is that your stance as well?" "The Six Emblems advance and retreat together, united in our interests," the man with glasses repeated. "Sennheiser would never take action harmful to the Six Emblems. Her will is the will of Fanmula's eight million citizens." "Fine," Wright said. "Cleios, our contract is torn up." "Huh?" Cleios couldn't help opening her eyes to glance at the Deadshot Red Hat, only to see Wright taking off his Red Hat uniform. "What do you mean?" "I mean I forfeit my share of the profits. As long as you capture Yaxiu Heath, you will be rank one on the National Red Hat Board." "Then why don't you—" Before Cleios could finish, Wright gave his answer through action. The Sanctuary sniper aimed directly at Yaxiu, who was hiding behind rows of gaming pods, multiple sorcery spirits manifesting along his gun barrel. In the line of aim, Yaxiu felt only a chill seeping from his spinal cord through his entire body. Yet even with his hair standing on end and Feral Intuition operating at one hundred and twenty percent, his body simply could not move. The air seemed to turn into a crushing wall, locking him fast within Qinna's embrace! Miracle: Target-Kill Bullet! Pinning a target in place as an immobilized target before shooting—that was target-kill! Bang! Even though the Six Emblem patriarchs reacted with extreme swiftness, the Sanctuary bullet still blew two gaming pods apart, blasting gaping holes through the Sennheiser clansmen inside. The bullet halted in front of the third pod, spinning and releasing all its kinetic energy within six invisible air walls. Had the Six Emblem patriarchs not swiftly pleaded for Gospel barriers, everyone along the line of aim would have met the grim fate of being pierced through. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" Yaxiu, having regained his mobility, looked up to see all trace of amusement gone from Qinna's eyes. Holding her Book of Gospel, she strode forward, her cold voice unable to conceal her fury as she enunciated each word: "You dare murder ordinary Sennheiser clansmen right in front of us?" "More will die next," Wright said calmly, showing no emotional fluctuation after killing. "Yaxiu must be taken. I will stop at nothing—actually, there's hardly any cost left anyway, since I've already lost my qualification as a Red Hat and will soon become a target hunted by Red Hats myself." "Cleios, and the rest of you, fight with everything you have, even if only for your Gospel rankings." The Sanctuary sniper uttered dangerous words that a Red Hat should never speak: "Any innocent people standing in your way, I'll take care of them for you." When Yaxiu looked over, Wright immediately shut his eyes. Though Yaxiu couldn't exchange glances with this Sanctuary Sorcerer, he knew that within those eyes remained only the determination of someone with no way back. Though he had become someone's must-kill target for no apparent reason, Yaxiu didn't feel particularly aggrieved. He was, after all, a cult leader who had started out in prison, long accustomed to fate's ups and downs-downs-downs-downs-downs-downs-downs-downs. Ever since the Weaving Ceremony began, 'Everlasting Walker' had been flexing its muscles in full force: first, he ended up on the Art Board out of nowhere and became notorious; then, he ran into the ruthless Empress's Heroic Spirit in the Void Realm. Compared to the first two, being targeted by a Sanctuary Sorcerer could at most be considered an after-dinner dessert. Oddly enough, had an ordinary person met with such constant malice, even if they didn't turn edgy, dark, and cynical, they would at least point at the heavens and swear, 'I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me.' Yet Yaxiu felt nothing of the sort. He simply helped Igola up in silence, slapping a 'Joy Sword' against Igola's chest to treat his broken ribs. Igola coughed up a mouthful of stale blood. "Gentler!" "Do you want me to carry you bridal-style while I'm at it?" Yaxiu snapped crossly. "Sister Qinna, we'll take our leave first so we don't get in your way! Banjie, let's go!" "Don't even think about it!" With a screech from Wright, the Red Hats scattered rapidly to find cover and attack the native patriarchs, but every attack was blocked by invisible barriers. Cleios's twin guns played an aria, all bullets striking the ground. In an instant, the entire floor beneath the patriarchs disintegrated into fine particles, sending these prominent figures—who squandered family assets—plunging into the night sky along with the rubble! At the same time, Wright aimed at Yaxiu once more with another miracle bullet! Bang! Less than a meter from the muzzle, the bullet came to a dead halt in midair, spinning loudly in place as if throwing a tantrum of impotent rage. The five patriarchs hadn't fallen. Though the floor was gone, they still walked as if on solid ground. This was perhaps the most wanton squandering of Gospel points—trampling Gospel points beneath their feet, paving a ladder to the heavens with wealth. "Do you have a grudge against him?" Qinna walked out holding her Book of Gospel, asking calmly. "No. I'm actually pretty familiar with him. His gaming skills aren't great, but his character is decent," Wright said. "Then why do this?" Qinna asked. "You can't even remain a Red Hat now." "For the Gospel." ...... ... Yaxiu, Igola, and Banjie ran down to the 71st floor, where they saw Harvey lying inside a coffin and Alice just about to close the lid on him. "What in the world are you... forget it, pretend I didn't ask." "This is another miracle of mine." When it came to the necromancy faction, Harvey always had a strong urge to share: "It temporarily corpse-ifies me, allowing most of my miracles to apply to myself as well. It boosts my combat strength by at least double." "Then why didn't you use it earlier?" Igola asked. "It requires some prep time, and it has a slight side effect, so I avoid using it unless necessary." "What side effect?" "If used for too long, temporary corpse-ification might become permanent corpse-ification." "Enough," Banjie exhaled a deep, turbid breath, forcing down the anxiety in his heart. "We should go rescue the young miss." Click. The young butler pointed the Twin Frostcurse Guns at the Swindler and flicked off the safeties. "—Why don't we hurry and find her?" Perhaps due to his broken ribs, Igola's face was rather pale. "Otherwise it'll be too late!" "That was my intention as well." Banjie lowered his twin guns. Harvey shrugged and climbed out of the coffin. "Then I won't turn into a corpse." "Wait." Yaxiu raised a hand, looking around at them, and asked with confusion: "Where's Lisi?" ...... ... In Room 5603 on the 56th floor of the Sennheiser Building, knocking echoed in the dark room. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. After three sets, a green light suddenly illuminated on the automatic door, and the door slid back into its recessed pocket with a whir. Clack. A steel boot stepped into the room. Ball of the foot landing, rolling to the toes, center of gravity shifting forward, repeated with the other foot. Uniform stride, crisp steps. Clack. Clack. Clack. The owner of the steel boots walked to the center of the room and stopped. Neither turning on the light nor uttering a word. Inside the wardrobe, the Substitute clamped a hand tightly over Lisi's mouth, binding her like concrete and suppressing her trembling to the absolute minimum. After an unknown stretch of time, the sound of steel-booted footsteps echoed outside, followed by the hum of the automatic door sliding shut. The Substitute released Lisi, and the white-haired little girl collapsed against the clothes, panting heavily as she released all the tension pent up inside her. Having finally caught her breath, Lisi found her legs weak beneath her: "Carry me out to look in the mirror." Carrying Lisi, the Substitute stepped out of the wardrobe and over to the dressing table. The Little Witch switched on the nearby lamp, eager to confer with her sisters on a countermeasure— The instant the light went on, Lisi saw in the mirror herself, the Substitute, and, standing in the shadows, the Black Knight.