This is not the date I wanted.

After leaving the command room, Niya did not return to her room to rest like everyone else, but came to the life support cabin that housed everyone and started complaining to Kotori who was sleeping.

"..."

"I know! The boy is not here, and you haven't woken up yet. Now the only one who can support Bilijiang is me - but Bilijiang is too capable! She is very thoughtful, can communicate with others patiently, lead others, and is very powerful. There are no flaws in any aspect, and there is absolutely no need for my help!"

"..."

"Ah! I know. Bilijiang must be hiding something from me. But she disguised herself so well that I can't see anything wrong. What should I do?"

"..."

Of course, it was impossible for Kotori in the culture tank to answer Niya's questions.

"What do you think, Xiaoqi?"

Niya turned his attention to the Seven Sins.

"..."

"What do you think, Yoshino-chan?"

Nia turned her gaze to Yoshino again.

"..."

"Xu Xian-san, Yakuya-san. As classmates of Bili-chan, what do you think?"

"..."

"..."

"Rokuko?"

"..."

"Miku?"

"..."

"Origami Master, could you please give me some pointers?"

"..."

The only answer from the room was silence. This was only natural, since everyone was still in a coma.

"What on earth am I doing..."

After a long time, Erya drooped his shoulders exhaustedly and muttered to himself with a tired look on his face.

(Could it be that the problem is not with Bilijiang... but with me? Is it the kind of routine where a partner is too good and the self-esteem of those close to him is hurt?)

For a moment, this thought emerged in Erya's mind.

"No, no, no—how could it be possible."

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Erya denied it with a dry laugh.

"Really? Everyone please wake up quickly."

Putting aside all distracting thoughts for the moment, Erya returned his gaze to the life support cabin and said in distress.

Since being rescued by Mengyue, everyone has been in a deep sleep state similar to that of a vegetative state. Although Mengyue said that it was a normal symptom after losing the spiritual crystal and that they would wake up naturally after a while, it has been almost two months since Qinli first woke up, and there is still no sign of waking up, which makes Erya somewhat anxious.

Perhaps, they were all instinctively rejecting the reality that Shidao was dead, so they didn't wake up.

"Well, it was almost a miracle that I woke up after my soul crystal was taken away. Now I can only wait patiently."

After sighing helplessly, Erya turned around and prepared to go back to his room to rest.

However, at this moment, Erya suddenly felt his feet slip and his body fell backwards involuntarily.

"Ah? Ka——"

Before Erya could react to what was happening, she felt something hard hit the back of her head. Her eyes turned white and she passed out.

——Crack.

[Sister... Miss Nia... fainted...]

[Huh? What a useless guy... Never mind... I hope she can notice it...]

……

"Ha~"

After an unknown amount of time, Erya got up from the floor and yawned lazily.

"This doesn't look like my room...wait, I'm not going to fall asleep here, am I?!"

After staring blankly at his surroundings for a long time, Erya suddenly reacted.

"No wonder the bed felt so hard today. But why did I fall asleep directly on the floor?"

Erya dusted himself off and stood up, looking around in confusion.

"Ah...what is this?"

Erya was surprised to find that, unlike what he remembered, a secret door had appeared deep in the room.

"Did I accidentally press a switch last night?"

Erya couldn't help but feel confused about the current situation, but after hesitating for a moment, she mustered up the courage to walk into the secret door.

"This is……"

The space inside the secret door was not large, about the size of an ordinary bedroom. Inside was a life-support capsule of similar size to the one outside, and inside the capsule was a strange girl.

The girl was petite and looked about the same age as Kotori. Her shoulder-length blue hair floated slowly in the nutrient solution, and the teardrop mole under her left eye was a very eye-catching feature.

"Strange... do I know this person?"

Erya touched her chin in confusion. Although it was the first time she saw this girl, she looked familiar for some reason.

(Hmm? Looking closely, he looks somewhat similar to the boy...)

Suddenly, Erya seemed to think of something and clapped his hands and shouted.

"Ah! Come to think of it, besides my sister, I have another real sister! Her name is... Mana... Yes! Takamiya Mana!"

Although this was actually the first time he had seen it, when Nia still possessed the "Kissho-henchi", he had investigated Gokawa Shido's background information and naturally knew his family members.

"But...if I remember correctly, Shimei-chan should be out hunting down San San, why is she here?"

Erya couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. With a little curiosity, he clicked on the information note next to the life support capsule.

"Over-processing of magic power... lifespan shortened... angels have been used for treatment... what's going on?"

Erya frowned in surprise.

However, before she could figure out the significance of this dark room and why Somiya Mana was here, the assembly bell rang in the airship, urging her to go to the command room.

11 The Tyrannical Swordsman (Part )

==============================

From the moment she gained consciousness, she was surrounded by endless darkness.

All you can see is darkness.

All the hearing sense receives is always silence.

Can’t touch, taste, smell—everything is so ambiguous and vague, making people feel painful and numb. It’s like boiling a frog in warm water. If you relax a little, the “self” will dissipate and collapse like a melting snowman.

That's true. Rather than "darkness", perhaps "nothingness" would be a more appropriate description.

"who am I?"

She began to think about this question unconsciously.

She has fewer memories than a newborn baby. Who is she? Why does she exist? What is the purpose of her existence? She tries to find the answers to these questions.

However, without an "other" to compare with, how can one define "self"? In this void, it is absolutely impossible to find an answer to her question.

If this continues, one day she will be eroded by loneliness and laziness and disappear into the wind and dust.

However, at some point, a little life appeared in this world.

So warm, so soft, so dazzling.

Compared with this dead world, this life is so out of place.

Unexpectedly, she did not feel repulsed by the sudden appearance of the "foreign object". The feeling of the unknown filled her heart, allowing her to choose to quietly observe the changes in life.

The will of this life was very fragile, so fragile that it seemed that it would be shattered if she moved even a little. She originally thought that it would not be long before the cruel environment would crush this life.

However, unexpectedly, the will of life was not defeated, but began to give the world all kinds of emotions.

Sadness, confusion, dissatisfaction, happiness, love... Life is like an innocent child, filling a piece of pure white drawing paper with colorful colors.

Each time, she would just quietly watch what the other person described, constantly trying to experience and understand the meaning in order to fill in the gaps in herself.

At a certain moment, the questions that had been bothering her suddenly had an answer.

"She" is myself, but not myself.

"She" and I have the same origin, but were born a little later. "She" and I are inseparable like light and shadow. Only when we have each other can we judge what we are from the similarities like looking in the mirror, and understand who we are from the differences.

When she understood this, she finally understood that the feeling that filled her heart when they first met was a feeling called "joy".

However, one day, something unexpected suddenly disrupted her daily routine.

The colorful world was dyed dark by dirty ink, and "she" seemed to be escaping from something and fell into a deep coma.

She understood that what was eroding her heart was a negative emotion called "despair".

At that moment, a feeling called "anger" was deeply engraved in her heart.

————————————I am the dividing line of reality——————————————

After arriving above the Sahara Desert, Mengyue left the airship and landed on the ground alone.

The scorching sun, dry air, and scorching sand make up this lifeless reddish-brown land.

A strong wind blew up, and the raised dust turned into a thick gauze window, blocking Mengyue's vision.

Using spiritual power to block out the wind and sand, Meng Yue squinted her eyes and looked into the distance through the sand fog. The first thing she saw was dozens of shriveled and skinny corpses with their heads and bodies separated.

"..."

Looking at this horrific picture of hell, Meng Yue's expression did not change at all. She just took a step calmly and slowly moved forward in the direction indicated by the corpse.

Soon, she found the target she was looking for on a sand dune less than fifty meters away from her.

She was a beautiful girl wearing a deep dark purple spiritual outfit and had long hair as black as the night sky.

The violent sand and dust were separated by the spiritual power, leaving no trace of dust on her. The girl closed her eyes and stood there quietly like a statue, and in front of her, a huge black sword was inserted into the ground, emitting a terrifying murderous aura that made people shudder.

"...Tohka."

Meng Yue let out a light breath and called the other person's name.

As if hearing Mengyue's voice, "Shixiang" slowly opened her eyes and stared at Mengyue with cold eyes.

"…It's you. I thought it was another group of humans who didn't know their own limits."

"long time no see."

"Hmph, I'm not interested in seeing you." "Tohka" snorted coldly and asked, "Gokawa Shidao, where is that man now?"

"Shidou..."

Meng Yue couldn't help but clench her fists and answered slowly,

"Dead. Just a few months ago..."

"what?"

Hearing Mengyue's words, "Shixiang" frowned in surprise, then seemed to understand something, and deep disappointment appeared in her eyes.

"I see... Tsk, useless guy."

Clicking his lips unhappily, Tohka turned his gaze towards Mengyue again and asked coldly.

"So Liangyi Mengyue, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"I'm here to save Tohka in place of Shidou."