Yiruo turned around, her expression now completely cold.
The pink beam of light was still locked onto her chest, like an inescapable mark.
The blue gem necklace, originally hidden beneath her clothes, now pulsed violently like a heartbeat.
Yiruo raised her hand to press against her chest. The gem’s heat radiated through her skin, causing a tremor to seep into her voice.
“What… are you people trying to do?”
Yilena didn’t answer immediately.
She gently rotated the mechanism on the side of the compass, and the spreading pink detection beam gradually converged and vanished.
She looked up, her eyes carrying a complex emotion—both joy and a veiled heaviness.
“The compass never points to inanimate objects…”
She spoke softly.
“It tracks the magic of the ‘gem’s’ origin.”
Her pink hair drifted gently in the residual magical waves.
“What it’s pointing to now isn’t the gem itself. It’s the source of magic and will.”
Her gaze fell on Yiruo’s eyes.
“And that source… is you, little Yiruo.”
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
“That is your will—named Jealousy .”
The word fell like a cold nail, silently piercing, yet shaking the hearts of everyone present.
Elliana and Reya both froze for a moment.
The former’s eyes flickered with contemplation, while the latter tilted her head in confusion.
“So… little Yiruo is a being born from the gem?”
Reya asked cautiously.
“Like the kind Miss Witch mentioned before?”
Elliana didn’t speak, but she slowly looked toward Yilena, her expression shifting to shock and understanding.
She lowered her voice. “Miss Yilena… could that be—”
Before she could finish,
a voice filled with intense disgust and anger interrupted her.
“Greedy people.”
Yiruo’s voice was ice-cold.
She looked at the three of them, her eyes devoid of tears, only pure rejection and disgust.
“So you… are also after the gem’s power.”
The moment the words fell—
without any warning,
her pupils suddenly ignited with azure flames!
The ground beneath her feet erupted with several azure flame pillars!
The flames had no heat, yet carried a nearly insane burning sensation, as if they wanted to devour everything.
Her dark blue hair traced sharp arcs through the air.
The next second—
she turned and ran.
Her movements were light yet swift, like a shadow slipping through the darkness.
Rabi, held tightly against her, also made a provocative face at them before leaving.
“Wait! Yiruo!”
Elliana instinctively spread her wings and chased forward two steps.
“You’ve misunderstood Miss Yilena! We really don’t mean any harm—!”
But the fleeing figure didn’t pause at all.
Yilena stood still, staring blankly at the compass in her hand, then looking in the direction Yiruo had disappeared.
She remained in that position, like a frozen statue.
Two seconds later.
“…Oh dear.”
She slowly raised her hand to her forehead, pink hair slipping through her fingers.
“It seems… I’ve messed up a bit.”
She tried to mask her annoyance with a light tone.
Thump.
A crisp tapping sound rang out.
“Ouch!”
Yilena clutched her head and looked up, meeting Elliana’s clearly angry eyes.
The silver-haired girl’s expression was elegant, but her attack was merciless.
Reya silently took a step back.
“It’s all Sister Yilena’s fault!”
Elliana’s face darkened, her tone carrying obvious pressure.
“From the very beginning, you were touching her and saying strange things. And now you reveal her secret in such a direct way!”
She paused, her tone turning serious.
“I think anyone would hate you for that… including me.”
Yilena guiltily averted her gaze, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, muttering softly.
“Well… it’s not entirely my fault…”
Reya watched the pair of “teacher and student” and couldn’t help but laugh.
“This isn’t the first time.”
Elliana retorted mercilessly.
“Alright, alright, little Elliana… a beautiful witch can make a small mistake every now and then~”
She laughed dryly, her voice trailing off.
But soon—
the two exchanged glances and, without further delay, immediately chased after Yiruo.
***
Yiruo was running.
She didn’t know how long she had been running, nor where she was heading.
The ruins, once so familiar, now felt strange and empty.
Her mind was a chaotic mess.
Fear? Anger? Or some other emotion?
“That is your will—named Jealousy .”
“So you… are also after the gem’s power.”
Those words kept echoing in her mind.
What would they do to her?
Be captured? Have her will stripped away? Then, like a dying stray dog, be discarded in this endless darkness?
She recalled fragments from her dream—
in another, never-triggered fate, the three would take the treasure and leave the ruins.
No one would discover her secret.
She would continue sleeping, continue waiting, like a rotting black coffin, forever imprisoned here.
That… might be better.
“…Master.”
A worried voice came from within her arms.
Yiruo dazedly looked down, meeting Rabi’s deep purple glass eyes.
“Master! What’s wrong with you… your heartbeat, magical flow… they’re all in chaos! You’ll collapse!”
Yiruo opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Just then—
a sound of breaking air came from behind.
“Wait, Yiruo!”
Elliana spread her wings, trying to intercept her from above.
“We need to talk! You’ve really misunderstood—”
“Don’t come near Master!!!”
A roar that almost tore the air apart exploded!
Rabi suddenly shot out from Yiruo’s arms!
BOOM!!!
Wild magic erupted instantly!
The originally less-than-half-meter doll body rapidly expanded, twisted, and reconstructed in the torrent of magic—
The next moment.
A giant beast over two meters tall crashed to the ground!
It stood in front of Yiruo, its body burning with azure flames, its eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Elliana in the air.
“You damn intruders!!!”
The low, inhuman roar was like molten lava.
A giant pair of scissors condensed in its hand, radiating violent magical energy.
Rabi swung the massive blade fiercely, sweeping toward Elliana in the air!
“———!!!”
A piercing metallic tearing sound exploded!
At the last moment, Elliana folded her wings and protected herself.
Layer upon layer of glowing feathers shattered inch by inch under the giant blade, like a broken hymn.
The impact was too powerful—
she was sent flying!
“Elliana!”
Reya gasped.
Elliana landed hard, kneeling on one knee, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.
She looked up at the giant beast guarding Yiruo, her expression solemn.
***
Yiruo slowly turned around.
Her eyes were completely different now.
Azure flames spilled from the depths of her pupils, sliding down her cheeks like liquid, burning into sparks in the air.
The magic around her began to run wild, spreading madly.
She raised her hand.
BOOM!!
Dozens of azure flame pillars shot up from the ground, like tentacles extending from the abyss, indiscriminately striking at Yilena and the others!
The flames were mixed with magic, along with even darker, twisted power.
Everything touched was instantly devoured.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Reya swung her warhammer, shattering one flame pillar, her arm numb.
Just then—
Hum.
An ancient vibration came from the deepest part of the ruins.
Everyone stopped instantly.
In the distance.
The massive black door slowly cracked open.
Azure runes appeared on its surface, resonating with the power inside Yiruo.
At the same time—
Rabi’s form swelled again!
It let out a pained roar.
Scorching patterns spread from its chest to its limbs, its body constantly expanding, nearly touching the ceiling, like a guardian god possessed by an ancient will.
And Yiruo—
she clutched her chest.
The blue gem flickered wildly, its light mixed with crimson and darkness, like a polluted star.
Something was struggling to break free from the depths of her body.
An instinct that had never been satisfied—
“Hunger.”
The will of Jealousy had finally fully awakened.
She slowly opened her mouth.
Two sharp fangs pierced through her lips, gleaming coldly in the crimson light.
Her pupils were completely eroded.
In their place burned blood-red.
Behind her—
a pair of black wings suddenly spread from her waist!
She slowly raised her head.
Her blood-red gaze swept over the three, pure predatory instinct.
“I’m going to… eat you all.”
***
On the other side.
Yilena watched the girl being consumed by out-of-control power and slowly stepped forward.
The witch, who had always been composed, finally showed a serious expression.
“Stay back.”
She said calmly.
Raising her magic wand, a pink crystal condensed, radiating powerful magical fluctuations.
“Now—it’s the witch’s time.”