On how PhDs become human evil

"Hmm, this is a bit tricky." Bai Jie scratched his head. "I don't know why, but I don't feel like I can hit them. Although it looks like I hit them, it feels like it didn't work."

Bai Jie had encountered this situation before. In the past, when he fought against the Gods of Disobedience using magic, he often struggled because his magic was ineffective against them.

That's not because magic isn't powerful enough—while that's partly true—but more importantly, the mystical level of magic is significantly lower than that of the mystical level of the gods. Just as light loses its brilliance in the face of stronger light, the same applies to mystery.

The current situation is somewhat similar to that time; in other words, those two masked parasites are already showing signs of surpassing this world in terms of mystical level.

"Wings of light, angels...?"

"Senior, look over there!"

Just as Bai Jie was pondering, Himeragi Yukina suddenly pointed in a direction and shouted. After turning his head to look in that direction, Bai Jie's eyes trembled violently.

The silver-haired masked parasite pounced on the black-haired masked parasite, mercilessly tearing through its wounded kin's body with its claw-like arms. Ribs were broken, exposed skin was ripped open, and its distorted wings were torn off.

"Crack!"

Under the shocked gazes of Bai Jie and Himeragi Yukina, the silver-haired girl buried her head in the abdomen of the black-haired girl she had dissected, and began to devour the black-haired girl's internal organs like a wild dog gnawing on a corpse.

The silver-haired girl's shark-tooth easily tore apart the black-haired girl's body, ripping off her muscles like strips of cloth, chewing and swallowing them. Bright red blood splattered on the silver-haired girl's cheeks, making her face look miserable.

Upon seeing the silver-haired girl's face, Himeragi Yukina froze as if struck by lightning.

"How could this be...Yase-san?"

Section 404, Chapter 36: Give them a beating first, then talk to them nicely.

Natsune Haze.

This name was completely unfamiliar to Bai Jie; he had never even heard of it, let alone recognized it.

However, Himeragi Yukina is different; she and Yase Natsune were classmates in the junior high school division of Ayami Academy.

"That silver-haired girl last night...is she a student at our school?"

At Bai Jie's home, Bai Jie, Himeragi Yukina, Akatsuki Kojo, and Kirisaka Sayaka sat around the dining table, discussing what happened last night.

After devouring another masked parasite last night, Natsumi Yase immediately flew away. Although Bai Jie immediately gave chase, he couldn't fly, even though he could move at high speed. In the end, Natsumi Yase escaped.

Today, because of Natsune Yase's situation, Yukina Himeragi called everyone to Hakuge's house.

Nodding in agreement, Yukina Himeragi said, "Yase-san was in the same class as Nagisa until last year. Because of her poor health, she often took leave to rest at home, but recently she has started coming to school again. The reason I know her is because of Nagisa."

“A while ago, Nagisa asked me to find someone who could adopt a stray kitten. That’s when I met Yase. She’s a very introverted and shy person.”

Introverted? Shy?

Recalling her ferocious fighting style during her battle with Natsume Yase last night, and her bloody act of cannibalism at the end, Bai Jie simply couldn't associate those two words with Natsume Yase.

"Well, let's put that aside for now. The other party could just be someone else who looks a lot like Natsumi Yase. I'm more concerned about another issue." Bai Jie tapped the table. "Let me be blunt: we can't deal with those masked parasites at this stage."

Bai Jie's words stunned all three of them.

Xiao Gucheng was the first to ask, "How could this be? Didn't you suppress them quite well last night? How come you couldn't handle them?"

"Didn't you manage to merge with the Fourth Progenitor's familiar? How could you still lose?" Sayaka Kirasaka asked.

"Ah... it's not that I can't beat them. If it really came down to it, I could beat them so badly they couldn't fight back, but that's about it." Bai Jie sighed. "I can completely suppress them, and capturing them isn't impossible, but I can't inflict any effective damage on them. To use a game analogy, it's like [I can control the opponent, but I can't break their defense].

The Masked Parasite is very powerful, comparable to vampires of the old era, and can even fight against the familiars of the Fourth Progenitor. But in the end, it's just so-so. Bai Jie has dealt with countless opponents of that level so far. If it were only this level, Bai Jie would have killed the Masked Parasite long ago.

However, the masked parasites have begun to transcend this world and transform into higher-dimensional life forms. Just as the two-dimensional world cannot interfere with the three-dimensional world, Bai Jie, who is in this dimension, cannot attack the masked parasites who are in another dimension.

(If magic were used, we could just manipulate dimensions to pull them all out, but Yin-Yang magic alone isn't enough... Should we have Kuroto change my and Kojou's settings again?)

Hearing Bai Jie's words, Xiao Gucheng and the others fell silent. Bai Jie, who possessed the Fourth True Ancestor's Familiar, was already their strongest fighter. If even he was helpless, then they were truly helpless.

"So what do we do now?" Akatsuki asked.

"Well, let's wait until the next masked parasite appears. I'll do a divination later. Also, I need to prepare some spatial spells. I don't know if they'll work, but I'll have to try," Bai Jie said. "By the way, Kojo, since your sister knows Yase Natsune, could you ask her where she lives?"

"Huh? Why are you asking that?"

"Yase Natsune appears at night as a masked parasite, which means she is probably normal during the day. If we could find out her address, we might be able to control her before she becomes a masked parasite."

This is what they call striking while the iron is hot. If you're not in good shape, you have to keep attacking, otherwise it'll be another tough battle once you recover.

“I understand. Nagisa should be at home. I’ll go back and ask her now.”

"If you find out, don't act on your own. Tell me or Teacher Nangong immediately. Huangsaka, keep a close eye on him."

"I'll do it even if you don't tell me."

Akatsuki Kojo and Kirisaka Sayaka left the apartment.

As Bai Jie stood up from the dining table, intending to return to his room to prepare, he glanced at Himeragi Yukina and couldn't help but sigh.

For Himeragi Yukina, who is in her adolescence and going through a sensitive period, it must have been a blow for her friends to suddenly become enemies who are disrupting the peace of Itogami Island.

"Snapped..."

"senior?"

Himeragi Yukina was stunned when she saw Shiro suddenly put his hand on her hair.

"Don't overthink it. What we need to consider now is how to deal with Natsumi Yase. Even if you have a lot of things you want to know, you have to wait until she can communicate with us normally."

Last night, Natsune Yase was clearly unable to communicate. Even if Yukina Himeragi asked her why she was like this, she probably wouldn't be able to answer. Therefore, before knowing the truth, the only thing that can be done is to resolve the strange condition of Natsune Yase.

“I’ve been in the same situation as you before. A friend who was drinking and laughing with me not long ago suddenly became an enemy. That kind of contrast is really hard to bear.”

SilverAsh, Bai Jie's ally, and Bai Jie hit it off immediately when they first met in Kjerag. They negotiated various matters smoothly. However, not long after, SilverAsh began to betray him and became his enemy, clashing with him on the battlefield, in politics, and in the business world.

At that time, Bai Jie really wanted to grab Silver Grey by the collar and beat him up, even though he couldn't beat Silver Grey at the time.

However, after experiencing various clashes, SilverAsh and Whitebeard remained allies. In fact, during the later Kjerag coup, Whitebeard and SilverAsh went through thick and thin together, taking each other's hits and bullets countless times.

and so--

"Yukina, what you should be doing now is not thinking about why Natsune Yase became a masked parasite, but beating Natsune Yase to the point of being unable to get up again, and then making her vomit everything out."

This is Bai Jie's advice as someone who has been through it.

Coming back to her senses, Himeragi Yukina gave a wry smile: "That's very senior-like of you—I understand. Next time I see Yase-san, I'll do my best to deal with her."

"Well, by the way, Setsuna, are you all set now?"

"It's alright now... What happened?"

"Then sleep with me."

P.S.: If the other person won't listen to you, beat them up first, beat them until they can't talk properly anymore—proof of human evil.

Chapter 405, Section 37: The Princess Arrives

Sleep with me.

Himeragi Yukina's spirit completely collapsed in the face of Bai Jie's words. Her rationality and sensibility as a young girl were utterly destroyed without any resistance in the face of these words.

(Sleeping with my senior? Doesn't that mean he...wait, wait? Is that really okay? Hmm?)

Yukina Himeragi has hinted to Haku many times, intentionally or unintentionally, that she is indeed Haku's monitor and has a mission given to her by the Lion King Organization. However, in addition to that, as a junior and roommate, Yukina Himeragi believes that she has fallen in love with Haku.

Logically speaking, with the advantage of timing and location, Yukina Himeragi should have gotten together with Shiro long ago. However, the fact is that the two are still just senior and junior classmates with a good relationship, at most living together. This is not only because of Asagi Aiba, a rival in love, but also because Shiro has been rejecting Yukina Himeragi.

Many times, Yukina Himeragi sensed Bai Jie's resistance to dating her in his words and actions... No, to be more precise, Bai Jie's attitude towards Yukina Himeragi was like that of an older man towards a young girl. Of course, that was indeed the case. How could a nearly 100-year-old man fall in love with a teenage girl?

But now, Himeragi Yukina felt that her chance had come. Since Bai Jie himself had said so, it meant that he had finally figured it out!

"Um... senior, may I go take a shower first?"

"Huh? Why take a shower? It's just a nap."

"No, this is an important purification ritual."

"...I feel like you've misunderstood something. This is what I meant by 'sleeping'."

Suddenly, Bai Jie reached out and placed his hand on Himejiro Yukina's brow. A wisp of spiritual energy transformed into a thin thread and entered her brain. The gentle spiritual energy immediately caused Himejiro Yukina's mind to fall into a state of lethargy.

Her body swayed suddenly, and the mental lethargy made Himeragi Yukina lose all her strength in an instant. Like someone who had been staying up for several days and nights in a row, she didn't even have time to say a word before her head lolled to the side and she fell asleep.

"I was originally planning to let you fall asleep naturally, but seeing how you were just now, I felt like it was going to escalate into something terrible, so I'm sorry, get some sleep, Setsuna."

Himeragi Yukina herself did not realize that after learning that Yase Natsune was the Mask Parasite, her mind had been severely impacted. Although she had slept when she got back last night, she had not recovered much from that mental state, which is why Bai Jie suggested that she go to sleep again.

The most fundamental human desire for sleep, triggered by spiritual power, put her into a very deep sleep. She will probably wake up tomorrow. In the meantime, Bai Jie will be able to take care of his own affairs.

After moving Himeragi Yukina into her room, Bai Jie sat down and took out nine talismans of different colors from his pocket.

These are all shikigami talismans, sealing the familiars of the Fourth Progenitor. Although it's unclear why there should only be nine familiars within Akatsuki Kojou's body, there are no other than twelve.

Looking at the nine shikigami talismans in his hand, Bai Jie said to them, "I'm telling you guys, you won't work unless I give you blood, huh? It's not like I brought you out of the hands of the Fourth True Ancestor."

"Awoo!"

With a flash of golden light, the adorable, chibi-style lion sprang out of the shikigami talisman and perched on Bai Jie's crossed legs.

"Awoo, awoo awoo, awoo."

"You mean it's not that these guys don't want to work? But they're locked up?"

"Awoo awoo".

"The moment I extracted it and sealed it into the shikigami talisman, it was locked? I don't remember locking you up at all."

"Awoo."

"You said a man locked you up? And you even claim to be a god?"

"Awoo!"

Bai Jie finally understood that Dan Kuroto, that bastard, locked up all the familiars except for Lion Gold in order to prevent him from having too much of a comfortable life and using the power of familiars at will. He wouldn't let them use them unless they drank blood in a proper manner.

That damn privilege hog! Just because you have privileges doesn't mean you're all that, you bastard!

"Forget it, I'll beat that bastard up when I get out, and ask Emu to bring me the Fearful Iron Chicken."

After deciding to give Dan Kuroto a good beating, Bai Jie patted Lion Gold's little head: "Speaking of Lion Gold, do you know which of these familiars can affect space?"