True and False Slaughter

"Weise," Yaxiu said apologetically, "could you perhaps for a moment—" "Of course, Leader." Weise put on a surprised expression, pushed open the door, and walked into another room. Yet deep down, she had long anticipated tonight's turn of events—or rather, this was her original plan. From the moment they met, Weise had known that the Sword Princess and the Witch could never peaceably coexist... Previously, it was only because Yaxiu had been in dire danger that they had acted as though afflicted with a "more than friends, less than lovers" affix, drawing closer to Yaxiu without picking fights so as not to burden him. If everyone were purely rational beings, perhaps this dynamic could have continued indefinitely. After all, beyond romantic feelings, they had pursuits capable of fulfilling their lives far more—sorcery, the future, power—and their Void Realm team was the strongest link of shared interests between them. In the best-case scenario, the Sword Princess and the Witch would maintain ambiguous flirtations with Yaxiu, keeping the team's atmosphere contentious yet unbroken, while Yaxiu shamelessly enjoyed this sweet agony, gradually becoming the king of the team. However, the Sword Princess and the Witch were not purely rational beings. More importantly, Yaxiu was incapable of doing such a thing. When leaving Nightfall, Weise had already foreseen tonight's upheaval, only she hadn't expected it to arrive so much sooner than imagined—she thought Yaxiu, the Sword Princess, and the Witch could endure for about a month, but it had only taken five days to reach the final stage. Even without witnessing the scene firsthand, Weise knew what kind of conflict and confrontation was about to erupt. After all, this was the trap she had planned countless times from the start, and the most crucial step in tearing the team apart. Whatever the outcome, it would inevitably destroy this team, stripping Yaxiu of the Void Realm party that was his most vital pillar of emotional support. Only... She sat down by the door, gently biting the back of her fingers. Even though she was about to torture Yaxiu further, for some reason, she felt a trace of unease—and a twinge of heartache. Yaxiu sat in the corner, with Sonia on his left and Diya on his right. Even the normally rambunctious Diya was sitting quietly now. She was merely naive, not stupid; and even if she were, the White Queen and the Black Butler were there to make up for it. Thus, the moment Yaxiu calmly said he wanted to talk, she knew trouble was brewing, growing so nervous that streaks of mismatched colors appeared in her hair. If anyone in the whole team wanted to maintain the current atmosphere the most, it was undoubtedly Diya. That way, she could continue acting spoiled toward Yaxiu without restraint. More importantly, she knew Yaxiu's feelings for her were not as deep as those for the Sword Princess—meaning that if it came down to a showdown and a choice between the two, she would most likely be the one cast aside. And so she looked pitifully at Yaxiu, her eyes brimming with a layer of mist, her fingers gently grazing his fingertips in a final desperate plea. Sonia, on the other hand, was very calm—not with the arrogance of having victory in hand, but rather like someone who had resolved herself for whatever came next. "Do you remember Annan?" Unexpectedly, Yaxiu brought up someone who wasn't here. Diya hesitated for a moment, while Sonia said, "The woman who controlled you in Gospel Country?" Yaxiu nodded. "Although our initial meeting was like a slave meeting a slave master, over the course of our adventures, as our mutual understanding deepened, our relationship gradually grew closer. "Before we prepared to assassinate the Gospel Princess, we stayed in Nabistin's underground city gathering intelligence. One night, while discussing the future, she wanted to imitate the Gospel Board and paint a portrait of me." Yaxiu briefly recounted what happened that night. "...Because of the contract, I couldn't control my body at all and could only comply with her—" "Did you two do it?" Sonia asked calmly. "No." Yaxiu shook his head. "Because we were interrupted." Diya blinked. Yet Yaxiu continued, "But if I hadn't been forcibly transported to the Senluo Wasteland, perhaps..." He paused, then added, "A few days ago, during the final trial with Silver Lantern, we triggered a special mechanism inside and were engulfed by the Flowing Gold River... Because the Blood Seed had nearly turned me into her food, I lost almost all ability to resist her..." Although Yaxiu only gave a brief summary of what happened in the Flowing Gold River, he didn't leave out the important details—nor that bloody kiss. Listening to it made Diya blush scarlet. Sonia listened in silence, then asked, "And then?" "There are a few other things." Yaxiu hesitated. "But nothing on the scale of those two." "Neither of those two matters is really your fault." Sonia lowered her eyelids. "You had no choice. You weren't in control of yourself." "Yeah, exactly!" Diya nodded repeatedly. "Reasonably speaking, isn't it all the fault of those two bad women?" "Yeah. Reasonably speaking, I'm not at fault." Yaxiu nodded along, then looked at them. "But why should you have to be reasonable?" Sonia stared at him, her right hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword. Diya also wiped away her smile and pressed her lips tight, the colors in her hair growing increasingly chaotic. The corners of Yaxiu's mouth curved up slightly, yet the light in his eyes slowly dimmed. He chuckled softly. "The Sword Princess and Witch I know aren't people who care about being reasonable. "Besides, even if those incidents were helplessness under physical control, right now I'm entirely free to move." Yaxiu took their hands, gently working his fingers between theirs until their hands were tightly interlaced. "I should have given you an answer as soon as possible, all the way back on that night. "Instead of dragging it out like this, still unable to give an answer even now." Diya clutched Yaxiu's hand against her chest, the mist in her eyes about to spill over into tears. "It doesn't matter," she said. "No matter what happens, I'm willing to accept everything. I won't be angry. Just like... even if you don't choose me, I'll never give up." "Well, I am angry." The red-haired Sword Princess led his hand to rest with hers on her sword hilt, as though seeking to use his hand to suppress her urge to draw the blade. "Especially seeing you still willing to hold the Witch's hand right now—I've already killed both of you thousands of times in my mind. I thought I could endure this sight for your sake, but it turns out I still can't bear it." Diya immediately said, "Sword Princess, I'm sorry." Though Diya spoke with utter sincerity and anxiety, as if the apology had been buried in her heart for a long time, she still did not let go of Yaxiu's hand, demonstrating her stance through her actions. "Do you have any idea what I gave up for you?" Sonia said, her hand on the hilt trembling. "Do you have any idea what went through my head every time I saw the Witch being intimate with you these past few nights? Do you have any idea—" "I don't," Yaxiu could still smile. "Which is why I know I can't keep putting this off. "I kept wondering if there was a way not to hurt either of you. But Silver Lantern made me realize that the ones I hurt might not just be the two of you. "I promised Annan that I would go back. When that time comes, how am I supposed to face her? With warmth? With joy? And how am I supposed to face you two? With anxiety? With guilt? "I've felt so uneasy these past few days precisely because of this overwhelming sense of guilt. "Yesterday, I even went out of my way to seek psychological counseling from a mind sorcerer. I thought I had hidden it well, yet he still saw through me—otherwise, he wouldn't have suddenly suggested changing our schedule today." Yaxiu sighed. "My problem is actually very simple. "Because I've lost too much, whenever someone is willing to genuinely love me, I return it passionately. Because I have nowhere I belong, whenever someone is willing to become my home, I cling to them and refuse to let go. "Because if I lose you, I will become a person with nothing all over again." Yaxiu said dejectedly, "I can't bring myself to hurt someone who is willing to love me." The vulnerability Yaxiu exposed at this moment momentarily stunned both Sonia and Diya. In Diya's eyes, Yaxiu had always been that lazy, cheerful kin, the knight who led her charging out of the imperial palace; while in Sonia's eyes, the Watcher was a powerhouse who disregarded life and death, breaking out of prison, fighting to the death, and facing mortal danger without so much as batting an eye. Beneath their daze, an odd thought couldn't help but surface in their minds: If he truly had nowhere he belonged and were left with nothing, what would become of him? Sonia asked, "You don't dare hurt us, so do you want us to hurt you?" Diya answered immediately, "I won't." "I will, though." Sonia said softly, "Do you know how scared I've been lately? I'm afraid of seeing you being intimate with the Witch, I'm afraid that what I've given won't be returned, I'm afraid... that I will hate you. "You know I'm the type to blame everyone and everything when I don't get what I want," she said. "I know full well that all my current achievements are inseparable from your help, and I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have met you. But as I watch myself lose more and more opportunities, as I remember what I've sacrificed for you, I'm terrified that a thought will creep in: *Would it have been better if I had only treated you as a teammate?*" "I know," Yaxiu smiled. "Even though those things had nothing to do with me... you're just unreasonable like that." "That's right, I am that unreasonable." Sonia looked at him. "Even if you've already given me a hundred percent, if I give you a hundred and ten percent, you have to repay me a thousand percent for it to count. "And that thousand percent must be your everything. Even if you have any left over, you cannot give it to anyone else. Not to the Witch, not to Annan, and not to anyone you meet in the future." Mist gathered in the red-haired Sword Princess's eyes as she gripped Yaxiu's hand tightly, her heart overflowing with bitterness. "But you can't promise that, can you?" Yaxiu didn't speak. He only squeezed her hand in return, a look of readiness on his face. Sonia pressed her lips together and tilted her head back slightly before saying, "Why couldn't you just pretend to be dense? Pretend you didn't notice how the Witch and I felt, pretend you knew nothing at all, and drag it out until we become legends, drag it out until we're trapped so deep we can never pull ourselves out, drag it out until both of us become yours? "Why couldn't you just deceive us for the rest of our lives?" Yaxiu blinked, an astonished expression dawning on his face as if thinking, *Wait, that was an option?* Yet he immediately smiled. "Because I can't pretend not to see that you're hurting." Tears spilled over from the country girl's eyes, but she took a deep breath, an expression of resolve settling over her face. And then— *Click!* At the farthest reaches, the gears of fate turned once more. The room began to melt, scents began to twist, light began to dance, and all things began to reassemble. "[True and False Slaughter: A gaze casts down from the summit of Ruby Mountain, seeking to shatter the touch of the Four Pillar Gods. The positions of all outsiders are scrambled, and sorcerer projections identical to the outsiders will randomly spawn, consciously disguising themselves. If an outsider dies, they will suffer severe soul trauma. To leave this bubble, one must kill over ten sorcerer projections and survive for thirty minutes.]" Yaxiu jumped to his feet immediately, but no one else was left in the room. *Clack!* The door swung open abruptly. Yaxiu turned his head and saw "Sword Princess" walk in. "Display the collection item I equipped you with!" Yaxiu said immediately. Sword Princess extended her hand, projecting the image of a pair of crystal shoes: "['Gold Collection: Frost Crystal Shoes': Each stomp creates a patch of frost; lingering in the frost for more than three seconds inflicts a freezing strike.]" Was it real? Or could this curse affix even replicate collection items? Countless thoughts flashed through Yaxiu's mind. He secretly opened the Void Realm map, only to find that it was shifting every second. The curse affix's effect wasn't necessarily targeting the Void Realm map; it was likely an integrated defense designed to counter prophecy-type miracles. Yaxiu said, "Alright, your turn to verify me." "No need." Sword Princess drew her blade. "Whether you're real or fake, since a curse affix that makes us kill each other just happened to appear..." "...then let me kill you to vent my anger."