Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Overwhelmed by the joy, Lingyi's fragile rationality evaporated, and she was about to respond to Chris's dazed request.

Then... a cold feeling welled up in her heart.

Is this really a good idea?

A question suddenly arose in her mind, a feeling as cold as winter, which instantly spread throughout Lingyi's body. As her rationality shattered, a certain thought that she had suppressed surged into her heart.

"Zero clothing?"

Chris, blushing, was somewhat at a loss when she saw the girl's actions beside her.

However, Zero was no longer able to answer Chris's questions. Ignoring her own situation, she indulged in a dreamlike world of pleasure. In the end, Zero paid the price for her choice.

Can I protect her?

Another question arose, and a phantom pain, as if tormenting my entire body, spread through me. Several black shadows appeared before my eyes, but then vanished like flying sand.

These memories are bad. This is terrible. We can't stay here.

Feeling her current situation, Lingyi's shattered rationality realized what was about to happen—something she had experienced before and had always tried to avoid.

Am I capable of protecting myself?

Another question arose, followed by the feeling of her soul being pierced. Some unknown malice condensed in the shadows, forming a hidden arrow that pierced her body.

You must leave and go to an open space.

Lingyi wanted to control her body, but the pain and sorrow emanating from her heart prevented her from moving.

Whom can I still trust? Whom can I still place my trust in? Are humans truly worthy of our trust?

It was a question, but more than just a question; it was more like an outpouring of indescribable emotions, something that erupted within Lingyi at that moment.

[I can't hold back anymore.]

A violent emotion surged within him, and red specks of light danced in his hazy pupils.

"Ugh-ahhh."

A painful roar escaped from his throat, and the look of agony could no longer be concealed. The guitar case that Lingyi had placed to the side began to tremble slightly, and thin black smoke slowly dissipated from his body.

"This, this is!?"

Upon noticing the scene before her, Chris came to her full senses. A certain intense emotion subsided, replaced by a feeling of concern for her friend.

Then, not understanding what had happened, Xueyin Chris took her most instinctive action: she couldn't let her important friend suffer any longer, and at least she had to share the burden to some extent.

P.S. Good morning.

Chapter Eighty-Eight Change

I could not see any light, nor hear any sound. The only thing I could truly feel was the phantom pain that spread throughout my body and the very clear hallucinations.

Lingyi couldn't remember the last time she had felt this way. She had been trying to think as rationally as possible and had suppressed her impulses with reason for so long that she had almost forgotten what kind of person she was.

But it's too late to think about it now. Under the influence of memories that surfaced due to the stimulation, the most primal emotions have completely suppressed reason. Lingyi can no longer do it on her own. The only way to solve the current problem is to wait for the emotions to be vented.

"Well-

As her reason faded, the wisps of smoke emanating from Lingyi grew thicker, and faintly, one could see some enormous object emerging from the illusion and being constructed in reality. At the same time, she briefly lost the ability to think normally.

[Phew... I need to do something, though I don't know what happened.]

Chris realized this as she observed Zero's current state.

Whether it was out of concern for preventing information leaks or out of an irresistible bond with her friend, she couldn't ignore everything that Zero was exuding right now.

But even so, what should I do now? I'm not a doctor; I only have a little experience in combat.

However, as cannot be ignored, having no clue is having no clue, and no matter how hard Chris tries to think, she cannot come up with a seemingly reasonable solution out of thin air.

While she was thinking, Zero's condition continued to deteriorate under Chris's watchful gaze, and was evolving in a terrible direction that Chris was equally unaware of.

The dissipating black smoke began to obscure Lingyi's body. The colossal object, which had previously existed only as a phantom, could now be clearly perceived by people in reality, and seemed to be about to descend into reality.

Ah, as expected, the way of thinking things through perfectly and then making the right choice is completely not for me. If this continues, things might get worse before I even have a chance to figure things out.

The only thing Chris could think of right now was that the current situation was indeed terrible.

Something happened to Lingyi that she didn't understand, something that anyone could sense was not going well, and she couldn't think of a solution.

To be honest, Chris thinks the most sensible thing to do right now is to leave, observe the situation, and stand by and watch.

After observing how things develop, at the appropriate time, take away Zero's body, which may no longer be in this state over time, and whose fate may change in unknown ways.

But that's impossible, isn't it? Even if I don't know what exactly happened to Lingyi, I can't just leave her like this.

Chris took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and a potentially effective approach came to mind.

[Lingyi, I don't know what happened to you, I completely don't understand why you always give me the cold shoulder, but I absolutely believe that the person I know, no matter what becomes of you, will always be my friend.]

Chris thought for a moment, then stood up, stepped forward, ignored the swirling wisps of thin black smoke, and grasped the hand of the person she could barely see.

Please, if there is a god, please don't let anything happen to Lingyi. If even Lingyi disappears... I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose anything important anymore.

This was all she could think of. She didn't know what effect this foolish approach would have, but holding the other person's hand and praying to the gods was the only thing she could do.

[Hoo... What exactly is this feeling? The temperature hasn't changed, but when I touch it, a bone-chilling coldness rises from the depths of my heart. Even though there's no injury anywhere on my body, the feeling of being hurt by something comes from all over. Is this some kind of heretical technology?]

As Chris tightened her grip on Zero's hand, this strange feeling rose within her, almost causing her to let go of the other's hand.

What exactly have you been through...? I must ask you properly after this.

Despite the discomfort throughout her body, Chris hardened her gaze and began to make plans for the future after this incident.

“.笼〞翏棋II?捌? yue漪.

In order to better present the film, the screening room is often dark and the visual effects are blurry. In such an environment, people's vision becomes less sensitive, and this is especially true for Lingyi, who only has one eye that works normally.

On the other hand, due to various terrible events in the past, Lingyi's hearing had already suffered irreparable or unrecoverable trauma, meaning that sound is not very useful to her in the present moment.

"Chris?"

A faint, murmuring sound escaped from Lingyi's lips.

With both sight and hearing somewhat impaired, Lingyi's only particularly sensitive sensation at that moment was touch, which permeated her entire body.

This also means that she can quickly sense when someone's soft hand touches her highly sensitive hand.

For Lingyi, whose mind was currently in a state of frenzy, this level of stimulation was enough to slightly change the direction of her thinking, preventing her from being completely overwhelmed by darkness and giving her a chance to catch her breath.

There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Statistically speaking, such an extreme scenario has only a very small chance of happening, and I don't need to worry about such a low-probability event.

Having acquired sufficient power, at least for now, it's difficult for anyone to easily harm me. As long as I continue according to my plan, once successful, nothing on this planet will be able to threaten me anymore.

【besides………】

Seizing this rare moment of respite, Lingyi quickly shifted her focus to reason.

Then, as usual, she used countless rational thoughts to rein in the impulses that had made her heart sensitive and vulnerable because of certain things.

"Phew... This is really, really bad."

After using the shackles of reason to restrain her troubled heart, Lingyi let out a long breath and murmured this sentiment.

"Lingyi, you're awake now?"

On the other side, Chris, who had heard the other person's murmur, said in a slightly excited voice.

After Chris asked, Zero didn't answer immediately. She simply raised her hand and rubbed her right eye.

"Ah, that's right, I'm fully awake now. Anyway, thank you this time. What you did earlier was very helpful. And now, you don't need to hold my hand anymore, Chris."

Then, in the dim light, Chris heard the person in front of her say this.

"That's great. I understand about the hand. By the way, Lingyi, what happened to you just now? You suddenly stopped talking and then your whole body started emitting that strange black smoke."

Noticing that Lingyi's tone had become as calm as usual, Chris breathed a sigh of relief. Then, with a slightly flushed face and some reluctance, she let go of Lingyi's slender and soft hand and began to ask Lingyi about the specifics of her previous state.

"It's a bit complicated to explain in detail, Chris..."

In response to Chris's question, Lingyi raised her hand and covered her lips, remaining silent for a moment as if she were thinking about something.

"In short, you can think of it as powerful strength often comes at a price, and what I just did was the price I had to pay for using the power of the Flash Blade. It's an old problem of mine, so Chris, you don't need to worry."

Soon, seemingly having figured out what to say, Zero offered this explanation to Chris: everything that had just happened was merely the price to pay for power... or something like that.

"The price of power... does it refer to the corrosive effects like those on the Bronze Serpent Armor? No wonder, so that sword had such a side effect."

Hearing Zero's explanation, Chris had a slight understanding. She realized that while holy relics possess great power, they often come with some side effects.

For example, the bronze serpent armor she used would, to some extent, corrode the user's body during the repair process.

Therefore, it's quite reasonable for a powerful artifact like the Sky Blade in Zero's hand to have strange side effects.

"Ah, that's it. The whole thing is a side effect of the Flash Blade. However, in some ways, it's also related to my recent fatigue and high mental stress."

Lingyi spoke calmly and confidently, as if that were the truth of the matter.

bang bang-

As soon as Lingyi finished speaking, a strange sound suddenly came from the guitar case she had placed to the side.

"Hey, Zero, did your guitar case make a noise just now?"

Startled by the unusual movement of the guitar case, Chris asked with some concern.

"Hmm, it's nothing. My Flash Blade is in there. After what just happened, it's normal for it to be behaving this way. I'll just go back and readjust it."

Lingyi remained unfazed and attributed all the recent changes in her body to the Flash Blade she wielded.

[Yes, to some extent, that's true. The situation just now was indeed related to the power of the Flash Blade, but it wasn't a side effect; it was simply an excessive protective instinct.]

Lingyi thought to herself.

She understood that rather than saying that Flashblade went berserk because of her emotions, it was more accurate to say that Flashblade spontaneously unleashed that power to protect her from her rampaging emotions.

This is the underlying mechanism of Sky Blade, a mechanism that she cannot change no matter what she does. Whenever her state, whether emotional or physical, falls into a depression, the power that destroys everything around her just to protect her will manifest uncontrollably.

【!!!】

At that moment, a certain feeling came from within her heart through a certain channel, and Lingyi quickly understood the emotions conveyed within it.

Okay, okay, I know. I'll make it up to you later, so don't throw a tantrum like a child.

Feeling the dissatisfaction emanating from the weapon that felt like half of her own body, Lingyi felt somewhat helpless and tried to reassure herself in this way.

【~~~】

After she calmed it down, the guitar case, which had been making strange noises from time to time as if in protest, finally quieted down, and Chris was no longer distracted by it.

"Is that so? Now that you've recovered, Rei, you should continue to rest well. You just said that you experienced that situation because of too much mental stress, right? If that's the case, then you need to rest even more."

Seeing that Lingyi was indeed alright, Chris, who had been worried, said this happily.

......

After Chris said that, Zero hesitated slightly.

"Rest? Yes, I should rest, but not now. Now is not the time to do this."

Afterwards, she composed herself, stood up, and pulled Yukine Chris up as well.

"Ah, what are you doing?"

Chris, for a moment, didn't understand what Zero wanted to do.

"Let's go back, back to our base."

Lingyi said calmly, just like when she first met Chris.

“Going back is not an option, but our 'date' isn't over yet. Wouldn't it be alright to stay a little longer?”

Chris found Lingyi's words hard to accept and wanted to stay a little longer.

"...It's over. I said, now is not the time to do this."

Seeing Chris's pleading expression, Zero's expression stiffened slightly, but in the end, as if she had made up her mind, she said firmly.

Although I'm reluctant, I really can't stay with Chris any longer. I can't always stay calm in front of her. If I fall into that state again, Chris... I'm afraid she'll be hurt by my outburst.

Zero thought to herself as she used her skills to forcefully pull Chris up.

After rationally bringing her thoughts back to the present, she also rationally realized that she couldn't play house with Chris in the moment.

Forcing a closer relationship between two people will only lead to the worst possible outcome, where one or even both parties are destined to get hurt.

I was aware of this situation long ago, but my hesitation led to it turning out this way. I managed to control it this time, but what about next time? So, I can't let this continue.