At First Glance

"Albert, I never thought you'd be this lucky! With me here, I won't let you bear this alone—consider it payback for saving my life last time!" "Professor, we get to fight shoulder to shoulder again!" "Sister, anyone who wants to hurt you will have to step over my dead body first!" "You have to claim the Rainbow Holy Grail! This is our only chance at revenge! Even if I break my virtual wings, I'll see you through safely!" Igola fired off sound sorcery to counter the pursuers behind them while staring dumbfoundedly at Yinzhi ahead. Cradling the holy grail in both hands, Yinzhi had her appearance reshaped by starlight and was rendered entirely unable to speak. By rights, aside from running fast, she shouldn't have possessed any other capabilities; even trying to kick someone would probably split her backside. Yet Igola watched one sorcerer after another step forward of their own accord to shield Yinzhi—some treating her as a dearest friend, some as immediate kin, some as an intimate confidant. Not only did they protect Yinzhi, they were even willing to break their virtual wings just to cut down more pursuers, all to buy Yinzhi precious time. It was precisely because of their "righteous acts" that Igola could keep Yinzhi safe amid the encirclement of thousands of sorcerers! Yet there was no joy in Igola's heart, only a creeping chill of dread. Igola had always assumed demons were called demons because "only a demon can slay an angel"—it sounded more like a rallying cry declaring their resolve than an actual title. Now, however, Igola truly felt that Yinzhi was a demon walking upon the earth. Without sorcery spirits, unable to speak—how on earth was she controlling other people?! Keep in mind, these weren't ignorant fools; every single one was a Sanctuary sorcerer who had braved the Void Realm for years! "I didn't control them." Yinzhi looked back and gave him a wink, her eyes brimming with amusement. "They just mistook me for someone else." "Mistook you for someone they'd protect at any cost?" Igola countered. "How could you pull that off? It's your first time meeting them, and most of the time you interact for under five seconds. How do you make them mistake who you are?" "Astrology, blood types, divination, ritualism—ever looked into those?" "Those psychological scams?" Though they were scams, plenty of sorcerers believed in them. Yinzhi continued: "Especially once sorcerers reach middle age, they quickly throw themselves into these bizarre hobbies. Do you know why? Aside from a declining sex drive—Igola, don't go saying such vulgar things in front of a pretty girl!" "...Their careers hit a wall?" "Bingo. Once people discover the limits of their talent, they hole up in their comfort zone and refuse to push forward. They seek out other pastimes to squander their days, and before long, every drop of burning passion is ground away, turning them into conventional, conservative middle-aged folks." "Yet deep down, they still yearn for an adventure, a miracle, an opportunity that could completely rewrite their destiny. Those psychological scams cater to that very desire. You can think of it as mental masturbation—Igola, does me saying 'masturbation' get you excited?" Igola couldn't be bothered to entertain her teasing. "So, you're exploiting their greed?" "Greed? No, no, no. Greed won't make them risk everything." Yinzhi smiled faintly. "It's dreams." "At the end of the day, sorcerers are remarkably simple creatures. You don't even have to deceive them; they deceive themselves. All I have to do is signal that I know them, and they'll find their own reasons to fight desperately, draping a magnificent cloak over their march toward death." "Sanctuary sorcerers are basically all middle-aged people who have hit the ceiling of their talent. They're sick of dull reality, yet bound by social ties and crushed under heavy responsibilities. They're exhausted—exhausted enough to use hobbies to escape reality. They want their blood to boil too; they want to gamble their lives for something too, but they usually can't even find a reason to fight." "I simply give them a chance to realize their dreams." Yinzhi gave the holy grail in her hands a gentle tilt. "The Divine Lord of Stars thought blurring our appearances with starlight bodies would turn us into 'non-humans,' but lacking an appearance also means we can be 'anyone.'" "You probably thought I used some miraculous technique to hypnotize them, but I really didn't. First, I can't speak; second, I have no face; third, our contact lasts only a few seconds. Even a Divine Lord couldn't pull off a miracle under those conditions." Yinzhi offered a light laugh. "I just greet everyone with supreme confidence. There will always be a few who fool themselves. But you only see the dozen-odd people fighting desperately for me; you don't see the thousands still hunting us down." "See? I'm just an innocent, pretty girl. You're the one overcomplicating things. If I knew how to hypnotize people, I would've turned you into my devotee long ago, making you coax me to sleep every night!" Even while exchanging glances with Igola, Yinzhi didn't forget to greet nearby sorcerers. She kept running without pause, cradling the grail in both hands. She could only tilt her head, wink, or wave a hand, but just those small gestures made three or four sorcerers hesitate, and one even revealed a look of pleasant surprise—clearly deceiving himself. It was indeed a simple trick, but the essence lay not in the execution, but in understanding why it worked. Igola had always considered deception a noble art, an intricate mastery and exploitation of human nature. Yet Yinzhi's crude method was wildly effective, capable of tricking Sanctuary sorcerers into throwing their lives away! Behind that simple, blunt approach lay a razor-sharp grasp of crowd psychology and decisive execution. Igola faintly sensed that Yinzhi's methods could refine the architecture of his mind faction, perhaps even help him step into the legendary realm! "...Why are you explaining this to me in such detail?" "Do you really need me to say it out loud?" Yinzhi winked. "Turns out you're that kind of bad boy who loves seeing girls get embarrassed, Igola!" Igola suddenly realized that Yinzhi's reason for summoning him rather than Amilo was most likely because she hadn't given up on winning him over. And instead of laying her cards on the table to negotiate, she was tempting him bit by bit like this. The deceiver had never imagined that a day would come when he would be completely outplayed in social dynamics! The skill gap between him and Yinzhi was like the vast chasm between Yaxiu and devoted, pure-hearted romance! Just then, Yinzhi abruptly veered into a grand theater. Baffled, Igola hurried after her. "Escaping from here won't be easy, will it?" "I can't run anymore!" Anger flared in Yinzhi's eyes. "The holy grail has finished congealing. Next, when generating the decolorizing nectar, neither the grail nor I can move!" Igola's pupils shrank. "We can't run?" "Our running battle is turning into a siege! Igola, we can't rely on tricks anymore." Yinzhi's expression darkened severely. "Right here, we have to face thousands of sorcerers head-on." *** Yaxiu burst into the bank lobby, backhanding a slash that severed the arm of a pursuing sorcerer, followed by a clean decapitation. Once Feili slipped inside, he pulled down the security shutter and asked, "Can you really not move? Even if I carry you?" "No!" Feili paced frantically in place. "And it's mandatory! In a few dozen seconds, I'll probably be frozen solid. If I move, the decolorizing nectar will slosh out and 'strip away my color'—I have no idea what that means, but it sounds terrifying!" Without hesitation, Yaxiu led Feili toward the inner vault. Finding the door locked, he sliced an opening through the wall connected to the lock mechanism, shoved Feili inside, shut the door, took a deep breath, and strode back toward the lobby. Crash! The shutter was blown open, and sorcerers poured into the lobby like a tidal wave. They caught sight of the Rainbow Holy Grail's blinding radiance blazing from within the vault, while guarding the sole corridor leading to it stood a starlight body wielding twin swords. "They have nowhere left to run!" "Now is the ultimate moment!" "Don't let anyone else claim the holy grail!" The instant the first sorcerer stepped into Yaxiu's sword perimeter, all emotion drained from his mind. He was not Weixi; there was no malice in his heart. He was not the Sword Princess; there was no thrill in his heart. He was not the Witch; there were no whispers in his heart. He was not Weise; there was no faith in his heart. Any emotion would corrupt the precision of his movements; only a bystander could slaughter all creation with meticulous detachment. Severing spinal cords, slitting throats, piercing skulls, cleaving waists, slicing bodies in two, thrusting through mouths into brains, gouging through eyes... Twin swords sketched cruel trajectories through the air. What he wielded could no longer be called swordplay—devoid of all elegance, it was more like a butcher's cleaver forged of scrap iron. His body contorted to impossible degrees. He always knew which enemies would anticipate his first layer and which would see through to his second. The clever died perplexed; the foolish died bewildered. Yaxiu was a man who leaned heavily on others, yet whenever a task truly rested on his shoulders, he had never once let anyone down. Corpses piled up on both sides, narrowing the corridor until the clean lobby turned into an abattoir. It wasn't just Yaxiu killing; the other sorcerers were slaughtering one another too. The Rainbow Holy Grail wasn't going anywhere; now was the time to clear out rivals. Yet endless waves of sorcerers continued flooding into the lobby. Unlike Yaxiu, death was not the end for them. Bored for so long, these Sanctuary sorcerers had long craved a chance to squander their lives. Four grand inheritances, the angel hunt—event after event unfolded in rapid succession. Even a dog could tell that a monumental upheaval unseen in a millennium was on the horizon. How could they let an opportunity to ascend to the heavens in a single bound slip through their fingers? Right then, someone leaped straight onto the mound of corpses, trying to vault over Yaxiu. Yaxiu had to kick off the wall and pin him firmly against it, but others seized that split second to breach the defensive line. Yaxiu leaped backward, stomping down onto the backs of the charging sorcerers while severing their heads in the same motion. Yet many things in this world are like a symphony: once the rhythm breaks, all that remains is noise. A second and third wall-scaler surged forward. Yaxiu had to throw one sword to the left and swing at the right. However, the scaler on the right had anticipated it, blocking Yaxiu's blow. In that moment, several more sorcerers broke through the line. Gunfire roared, swords clanged, spears wailed, and blades fell like a thunderstorm of executions crashing onto Yaxiu's back. Yaxiu calmly dispatched the wall-scaler, clamped down on the spear shaft behind him with his left hand, stomped on it, and deflected an incoming bullet's trajectory with his remaining blade. His response was flawless, but he could only protect himself. A sorcerer leaped overhead, aiming to bypass the bottleneck through the air. Pinned down, Yaxiu had no hands free to stop the intruder, leaving him no choice but to throw his final sword. Yet the blade failed to kill the intruder; the sorcerer parried in time with a metal gauntlet, knocking the sword aside. Yaxiu's desperate strike produced only sparks against metal. The sorcerer then kicked hard off the ceiling, completely clearing Yaxiu's defensive wall of corpses. It was over. Looking at the blades, spears, and halberds about to rain down upon him, Yaxiu could barely swat them aside bare-handed, but his body was pinned. Even though his chest could sense a gun barrel locked onto his heart, he could not dodge. If he didn't have to protect someone, if he could maneuver freely, Yaxiu was confident he could face thousands of sorcerers; even the Star Sorcerer Legion couldn't hope to break him. But the Prime Angel seemed to know what this group was capable of. It forced them to guard someone, forbade them from running around, making them taste the fires of purgatory. Yaxiu couldn't even blame the Prime Angel. After all, it was about to be carved up and devoured by sorcerers—even Yaxiu had eaten a few pieces of its flesh. It was only laying down terms for its own preparation, which was entirely fair. It was just... *I made so many promises, yet I won't have time to keep a single one.* He couldn't even utter a parting word, only blinking at the lightbulb on the ceiling. "You owe me—how are you going to pay it back?!" A hand caught the sword that had been deflected into the air. It was slender and fair, yet brimming with strength. A red-haired figure swept through the crowd like a vivid crimson battle standard. The gun sorcerers had no time to fire; the spear sorcerers had no time to thrust. Everyone was mowed down like dry wheat. If Yaxiu's slaughter was a swift, clean poison, hers was a raging tsunami, a natural catastrophe. Paying no heed to anatomical weaknesses, wherever she passed, severed heads and shattered limbs flew! The red-haired figure landed before him, flipped his sword around, and hurled it with all her might! The sorcerer who had nearly reached the vault, despite spinning around to defend himself, had his metal gauntlet shattered and his throat impaled by the ferocious power driving the blade! Yaxiu stared blankly at the figure before him, waves rippling across his once-placid mind. He had no idea how he had been exposed. Why— "At first glance." Sonia seemed to know what he was thinking. "I recognized you at first glance." "Though I didn't know it was you, I was indeed hunting you down as an enemy earlier. I apologize. Right, you can't speak right now, can you?" Yaxiu shook his head, then nodded. Shaking his head meant "no need to apologize," while nodding admitted he couldn't speak. Understanding his meaning, Sonia stepped forward and hugged him, and then— *Oof!* Yaxiu took a savage blow to the gut. Instinctively bending forward, he rested against Sonia's body, looking for all the world as if he were snuggling up to the Sword Princess. "Reunited after so long, and your first reaction was to run away! Do you have any idea how I felt?" The Claw-Extending Sword Saint gritted her teeth. "Just as well that you can't talk. Keep every single excuse bottled up in your stomach! You'd better think long and hard about how to make amends, or I'll nurse this grudge until the end of time!" Yaxiu's eyes went wide. *You nearly hacked me to pieces and brushed it off with a breezy apology; I only ran away, and not only did you punch me in the gut, you want me to make amends?!* "What, not happy? Bite me if you dare!" Sonia tilted her chin proudly, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Is this your first day liking me? Haven't gotten used to it yet?" Just then, Yaxiu suddenly stepped back to retrieve his sword. Sonia glanced at the sorcerers flooding in once more, holding up two fingers toward him. "Breaking out of a long-awaited hug—that's an added offense." *Boom!* A deafening crash erupted from an adjacent wall—someone was smashing right through it. Yaxiu's face darkened. If it were just him and the Sword Princess, holding this corridor would be more than manageable. But the sorcerers weren't fools; they wouldn't fight on their terms. The sorcerers intended to smash through the bank walls, bypassing them entirely to break into the vault! With just the two of them, they couldn't possibly guard every opening! "Haven't they caught up yet?" Yaxiu heard Sonia mutter under her breath. His heart gave a jolt—could the Witch be here too? "Wait for me!" A sudden commotion broke out in the lobby. Sonia charged into the fray on her own initiative, and Yaxiu quickly followed. Amid the crowd, they saw two female sorcerers surrounded on all sides. Seeing the Sword Princess, Freya bounced with excitement. As soon as they met up, the Veela threw her arms around Sonia, complaining like a close friend: "Sonia, you ran way too fast! We got ambushed again along the way—they're just trying to steal my fragments!" Tamashi stood beside them, giving Yaxiu a polite, well-mannered nod. Yaxiu rubbed his eyes, a massive question mark popping into his head. How on earth had the three of them ended up together?