Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

"Hiss-ha-"

In this way, breathe the air that belongs to the wilderness.

ps: Please comment and read~

Chapter 30 The Wind Rises

When Araki disappeared from sight, Marina turned around and proudly showed the things in her hand to the others: it was a small plastic bag. Only by looking closely could you see a short purple hair inside.

"Huh?" The sad atmosphere of parting was easily dispelled. After realizing what Marina had done, everyone stood a little further away from her.

"I used to think you were a senior worthy of respect." Hong Xia was heartbroken, "Even my sister wouldn't do such a thing!"

"What kind of image do you have of the store manager?" In Yili's eyes, the Starry store manager is still a strict person.

Contrary to the fear of others, Shizi's eyes lit up.

"My previous understanding of Ms. Marina was too superficial..." She held her face to prevent her expression from being distorted by excitement, "I didn't expect there would be such gravity... Even if it's in a good place, I can at least make it to the top 16..."

The others also moved away from Shizi.

"How are you, everyone?" Marina didn't notice anything unusual and approached them unsteadily.

“What…what?! Even if you’re interested in this kind of thing, Ms. Marina, please keep it to yourself!”

“Huh?” Ms. Marina tilted her head cutely. “What I mean is, with this, I can force Yuki to accept CiRCLE’s bonus.”

That's it.

Shizi's expression fell in an instant, and he was very dissatisfied.

The few of them felt relieved and naturally had no objection to letting Miss Araki also benefit from CiRCLE's buff.

"But... this will take away the strength of your buff..." It was for this reason that Marina came to seek the opinions of others.

Of course, no one would object. Although Miss Araki is very strong, it would be great if we could help her a little.

They didn't know the specific operation process of Marina, anyway, they felt the state of Miss Araki. In their perception, if their own spiritual power is a dim starlight, Miss Araki's spiritual power is the brightest first-class star in the night sky. Marina told Shizi that she used a trick, and Miss Araki would definitely not see the help from CiRCLE on the panel, which saved her from thinking about this and that.

Two days passed after that.

The five of them walked into a canyon. There was no river at the bottom of the valley, but there were a lot of prey. Today's harvest was very bad. It was clearly night, but the density of monsters was the same as during the day.

"Ha... I wonder where Miss Araki is now." The monster in front of him fell, and Kita relaxed a little, lying on the ground to admire the remaining starry sky. There were few clouds and no moonlight here, and the magnificent Milky Way could be seen every night. The five of them were now accustomed to fighting at night, so the hunting time was changed to night to achieve higher efficiency. Now, there was more free time during the day.

Shizi sat down on a stone and wiped her sweat. Looking back, she realized that Miss Xinmu rarely told them how she lived alone. They knew that with her ability, she could survive without food and even give up sleep when necessary. But where would she live? Where would she want to go? Shizi found it difficult to imagine such a life.

Now, was Miss Xinmu looking at the same starry sky with them? Or was she asleep? She calmed down and sensed carefully.

The star in her mind that represented Miss Araki was still stable and unchanged. According to her exploration, when the mental power was depleted, the starlight would begin to flicker and dim, and slowly recover after the opponent left the battle. In the past two days, the frequency of the starlight flickering was very high. It was flickering as soon as they got up yesterday morning, and it kept flickering until they finished breakfast. It flickered from time to time throughout the whole day to try to make sense of its existence, and it was still flickering until Shizi went to bed. Obviously, Araki had just left not long ago. I really don’t know where there are so many monsters near CiRCLE for her to fight.

"(By the way, the density of monsters tonight is obviously lower than before. Could this be the reason?)"

The wind started to blow. Shizi opened her eyes. On both sides were huge shadows thousands of feet high, which reminded her of the gods in some myths and legends who supported the heaven and earth, and the starry sky moved majestically between them. The wind blew through the valley, making a humming sound. With this natural music, even the scenery that she saw every day seemed different. Everyone was silent, silently praising the moment. Shizi suddenly had the urge to take a video. It was a pity that Shizi did not bring a camera, but she had her own way.

She held a piece of white paper and concentrated her energy. The scenery she saw was slowly reproduced on the paper. It was not as accurate as a photo, but she could add her own inspiration as compensation. This work made Shizi quite satisfied.

"What a great painting~" a voice suddenly came from beside his ear. Shizi was startled and almost dropped the painting in his hand. He turned around and saw that it was Kita.

"Can you let me see it again?"

Shizi handed over the work with a bit of pride. Others also gathered around.

The wind did not stop, but instead grew stronger and stronger, and Kita almost couldn't hold the paper in his hand.

"I feel uncomfortable." Hong Xia frowned.

"Is it a bit cold?" Kita lit a fire.

"Thank you... But I don't think that's the reason."

Shizi also had a bad feeling. She looked up at the exit on the other side of the canyon.

She seemed to see a flash of light.

No, it wasn't an illusion! She saw a piece of the sky missing!

"Look!" She stood up and pointed in that direction. Then, there was another flash, and this time she could see clearly: it was a flash of lightning, a flash she had never seen in this world! With that flash of light, she saw the shape of the sky.

It was as if the gods had drawn a line in the sky with thick ink, and then swept it downward capriciously, leaving wisps of flying white in the darkness - that was the angry cumulonimbus clouds pouring down on the earth. Shizi had witnessed this spectacular scene across a river before, and now seeing the familiar scene here again, Shizi felt more and more uneasy.

There has never been any rain here - although it is possible that there will be heavy rain in the Gobi Desert, but - Shizi vaguely felt that the color of the dark clouds was bloody.

"What's wrong with Miss Xinmu!" Hongxia screamed. Only then did Shizi realize that the star in his mind that had just been calm about Miss Xinmu was now blooming strangely and blood red!

Something happened! In that rainstorm!

Shizi immediately ran back.

"Xiao Shizi, where are you going?!"

"Go back to CiRCLE! Quick!"

Her intuition told her that they could not enter the rainstorm now, but Ms. Marina must be monitoring everyone in the secret room, including Ms. Araki! Only by going back could they know what happened!

In my mind, the star that belonged to Miss Araki was becoming brighter and brighter, and more and more dangerous, just like... just like...

The moment of a supernova explosion.

When a supernova explodes, the entire universe lights up. But after that magnificent moment -

Just as Shizi stepped into the door of CiRCLE with a breath, the star suddenly went out, as if it had never existed. Shizi tried hard to find it, and seemed to see a faint afterimage, just like the illusion left in the eyes after looking directly at a light bulb.

Without waiting for anyone else, she rushed underground, broke into the warehouse, stumbled into several shelves, and finally pushed open the secret door.

Miss Marina knelt on the ground.

Shiko had never seen Marina like this before. No matter in the animations and games in her previous life, Marina always had a kind smile. In funny animations like Pico, she would also show her lively side and participate in games between girls. In this life, Shiko also saw what a drunk Marina looked like.

Now, Marina was kneeling on the ground, staring blankly ahead. There was no smile on her face anymore, only two lines of tears.

Only five of the screens on the wall were lit.

ps: There will be another update in the evening~ Please comment and read~

Chapter 31: Cloud Returns

When the members of the End Band chased Shizi to a secret room deep underground, this was what they saw.

Marina was still kneeling, her head lowered, her expression invisible. Shiko hugged her tightly from behind, and she could hear her sobbing buried deep in her clothes.

"Ms. Marina..."

Hearing the voice, Marina suddenly woke up and stood up: "Shizi-san, please show them Yuki's last video."

She ignored everyone and strode out of the secret room. No one could see her expression. But Shizi found that she turned the wrong way.

Shizi wiped his face and waved to the people at the door.

She started playing.

Xinmu wanders freely in the wilderness. She has no purpose, and she doesn't need one. Sometimes she climbs up the hills, sometimes she goes deep into the canyons, jumps between rocks, fights with all kinds of enemies, and never fails. It doesn't matter if she fails, as she can fully recover by staying in the same place for a while, and continue on her journey without a purpose and without the need for a purpose.

This night was different. Her experienced nose could sense danger. There was nothing around, no familiar enemies.

There was a towering mountain in front of him, a height that was quite rare in this plateau-dominated area. There was a cave about ten stories up on the mountain, and if it wasn't too deep, it could be used as a place to stay tonight. As Xinmu walked toward the mountain, the sense of disharmony in his heart grew stronger.

No, you can't live there!

She suddenly stopped and looked at the mountain again. There was nothing unusual, and no monsters wandering around. But her intuition was still warning her. As an experienced traveler, she chose to trust her intuition. She still looked at the mountain and took a step back.

The next second, she knew the source of the discomfort.

The mountain moved.

At first, only a few pieces of rubble rolled down, and soon, misty smoke and dust spewed out from deep in the earth.

earthquake?

No, Arata was standing firmly on the ground. But she did feel a tremor—because the mountain in front of her had grown legs and started walking.

That was not a mountain at all; it was clearly the body of a giant creature. There were countless legs extending from its body, and each one was as thick as a pillar in an ancient Greek temple.

Is there really such a huge creature? Or is she dreaming? In an instant, Xinmu was suffocated.

She remembered the "huge black shadow as big as a mountain" that Marina and the others had mentioned before. Was it this? It had been lurking here all along, and was it awakened by her now?

The mountain may have been awakened by the new tree. But is it really so? Compared with its huge body, the new tree is just an ant on the ground.

Will people be awakened by passing ants?

Xinmu hoped that it would not notice her. Shanfeng took the first step, and its thousands of legs moved in a psychedelic way, causing a tremor like an earthquake. Xinmu did not fall down because of her super high reaction. Only then did she react and knew that she should evade as soon as possible. Facing such a creature, even a belligerent woman could not muster the slightest desire to fight.

Before Shanfeng took the next step, Xinmu moved. Her legs seemed to not belong to her, and she even limped. She forced herself to look forward, and then she recovered a little. The ground was shaking, which was a sign that "that thing" was getting closer.

Run! Just run to the front, and in a little while you will be able to...

In order to confirm the movement route of the mountain, Xinmu turned his head and looked to the right. There was a canyon over there.

There seemed to be a fire in the canyon.

Fire?

Her heart skipped a beat. There was indeed fire in the canyon. With her extraordinary vision of more than 300 [flesh], she could indeed see the sparks in the canyon. She also saw the faint starlight.

There is only one group of people around here who can emit this kind of light.

And she knew this canyon.

Now, the five people are fighting in the canyon, and CiRCLE is a little beyond the exit on the other side of the canyon.

I kept wandering around and found myself still wandering around CiRCLE!

The speed of the mountain was completely disproportionate to its size. During the moment Xinmu was stunned, the dust it raised was almost swallowing her.

Xinmu stood still instead.

The mountain was now heading towards the canyon. It would never be able to enter there, but with its terrifying mass it would definitely cause the rock wall to collapse.

Fire a warning shot? Given the location of the fire and the speed of the mountain's movement, even if the five people started running now, it would be difficult for them to escape before the canyon collapsed. And a little further away was CiRCLE. For such a huge creature, this distance was almost nothing.

"Marina, turn off the [Imaginary Force Field]." She turned around and whispered to the air.

no respond.

"I don't know if you can really hear me." Xinmu pulled out his double guns, but didn't load them. He just played with them in his hands. "I'll hold them here for a while. Try to get them to escape as soon as possible. Be prepared and evacuate if necessary. Go to the left of the tower, cross the mountains, and leave the plateau. You will find a small settlement by the river. There are five people in it. They are also girls in a band. The band's name is Roselia. The conditions are not as good as here, but at least you can live there."

The two guns in her hands turned into two balls of light, one black and one white, circling around her body.

"call……"

The strong wind from the mountain blew her long hair.

"Marina,"

The dust that was several times taller than her had already reached her.

"Goodbye."

A blood-red light burst out from the darkness.

"Sacrifice my flesh and blood, and call upon the gods above."

"Ancient and great being, please forgive the mortal's usurpation."

"Heart goes to the jaguar, Tezcatlipoca!"

Then a gigantic jaguar descended from the night sky, and because of the wrath of the First Sun, the thousand-foot-high mountain came to rest.

Xinmu spat out a mouthful of blood and she continued speaking.

"The long hair returns to the ever-changing smoke and mirror, the impermanent wind!" The long hair and scalp left Xinmu's body.

A hurricane that destroyed an era blew in from the myth, the smoke and dust rising into the sky cut off the starlight, and monsters and rocks wailed together.

"Flesh and blood—for the Last Rain, Tlaloc!"

Thunder roared. Xinmu's body turned into a torch that connected heaven and earth - this flame was so sacred that even the gravel on the ground and the sand in the air were ignited. Her perception drifted towards the sky - her five senses seemed to be mixed together, she saw the sky, saw the ground, saw every leg of the mountain, and saw the people fleeing in the valley.

She felt freer than ever before, controlling the destruction of three eras and happily hindering the progress of the gods.

The jaguar roared, the wind howled, and the skyfire burned everything - the new wood burned wantonly - she tore off the beast's thousands of legs and melted its skin into boiling magma.

Her consciousness became increasingly dizzy, and her perception became increasingly blurred. But she continued to dance...