“By the way, that idiot has always believed you would come to keep her company. She specifically sat in the room facing the entrance to brew black tea, and she sat blankly on the bed the whole night!”
“She truly thought Alice would go back if she didn’t show up, thought she wouldn’t keep waiting anymore.”
But when she heard Shadow say that Alice had been waiting for her in the snow the whole time, her heart ached as if someone had crushed it in their grip.
“Hesitant, clinging to wishful thinking about everything, arrogantly betraying someone’s sincere feelings. Selena Haxus, did I say anything wrong?”
Shadow’s words were like the sharpest blade, slicing open the bloody memories the girl didn’t want to face, one cut at a time.
Suddenly, Selena shoved Shadow Alice with all her strength, slamming her heavily against the wall on one side.
Alice barely registered what had happened when she realized a black scythe had already pierced through the spot where she had been standing.
The failed assassin seemed to have no hesitation at all. From the walls, from the ground—anywhere shadows existed—several sharp spikes violently burst out.
“What are you standing there for? Run!”
Selena spread her wings and soared into the air, firing off several flares to pinpoint the assassin’s position while shouting at the top of her lungs to warn Alice.
In the alley lit up by the flares, Selena’s draconic pupils finally locked onto the dark figure rapidly moving across the ground.
The assassin’s entire lower half was submerged in the shadows as if swimming, leaving only a burly upper body dripping with black sludge exposed to the air, along with a face shrouded in darkness.
This opponent was clearly unlike anyone she had faced before—he had already locked onto her in advance. His eyes gleamed with the cold light of a seasoned hunter, dripping with murderous intent.
Black sludge shot a massive net from his chest, spreading open right before her eyes.
She was about to dive forward when she only caught the assassin’s amused, calculating gaze.
Selena barely dodged the black net’s obstruction, only for a shadow spike that had been deliberately thrust out to strike her wing directly, piercing through her flesh.
Then, like a triggered trap, the shadow-woven net wrapped tightly around her, rendering her completely immobile.
“Alright, let me show you the power of my Shadow Arrow!”
Black shadows continuously flowed out of him, turning into pools of writhing sludge, layering onto Selena’s struggling body bit by bit.
“I did my homework beforehand. I know your flames are formidable, but I’d advise you not to use them—otherwise, the one falling first won’t be me~”
After temporarily dealing with Selena, Number Ten flashed a cruel smile and turned to chase after the “Alice” who was desperately running toward the exit.
“Tsk tsk tsk, what’s the matter, Shadow? Why do you keep running?”
“Don’t tell me that after wearing a human skin for a few days, you filthy thing actually started believing you’re Her Highness the Princess?”
“Alice” could only keep her head down while dodging Number Ten’s sneak attacks.
She had to get out of this alley quickly, to a place where Star Light could reach.
Number Ten’s special ability was manipulating the shadows of all inanimate objects around him—this pitch-black night was practically his home turf.
“Or is it that, after betraying Lady Qingyu, you’ve used up every last bit of magic power just to maintain this face?”
A teasing voice suddenly appeared behind “Alice,” and the black shadow in his hand morphed into a curved blade, slamming heavily onto the girl’s back.
In the pitch-black alley, the sound of a scythe scraping through flesh and clashing against bone suddenly rang out, black blood splattering everywhere like blooming flowers.
“Tsk, how does that feel~ Traitor Miss? This move of mine hurts especially badly for shadows, doesn’t it!”
Number Ten shook the scythe in his hand with smug satisfaction. On the gleaming, cold blade, drops of black blood gathered at the tip before dripping onto the freezing ground.
“Alice” could no longer move at all. The back of her gown had been sliced open, revealing the bloody wound beneath.
The intense pain made her curl up on the ground, helplessly reaching out a hand, gazing at the starry sky at the alley’s entrance.
“Honestly, I really can’t understand a low-class shadow like you. You became a Nine Heavens Person, and now you’ve forgotten what you even are?”
“You don’t actually think you can become human, do you? Take a good look at what you are.”
“See this black blood? Even if you keep up the act for ten thousand years, it’s never going to turn red!”
Number Ten’s twisted voice grew closer and closer, until he finally fully surfaced above the ground, lifting his foot to slam down hard onto the “Shadow’s” badly wounded back.
“Ruomu Huangyi!”
A golden phoenix tore through the darkness, carrying furious flames, sending the cult assassin and the wall behind him crashing down in an instant.
Without bothering to pursue the assassin, Selena hurriedly extinguished the flames on her body, then gently pressed her hand against Alice’s wound, applying cold frost little by little over that terrifying gash.
“Hold on, Alice! I’ll get us both out of here!”
She heaved the battered Alice onto her shoulder, her small frame slowly carrying her forward.
“Tsk, Miss Silver Dragon, are you acting like I don’t exist?”
The Reaper’s voice echoed once more in the silent night. Number Ten raised his scorched right hand and continued commanding the shadows to attack.
Shadows couldn’t shed tears, but “Alice’s” blood dripped onto the ground, drop by drop.
“Big Stupid Dragon, let me go now, or you won’t make it out either!”
Selena spread her wings to block this surprise attack from behind, but Number Ten’s strikes came from every direction like a phantom.
“You idiot, why are you worrying about me? Look clearly, I’m not her at all! What heroics are you trying to pull!”
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you burning me with your fire anymore?”
“It just so happens you’re someone Lady Qingyu wants eliminated too—I might as well take you out along with her!”
A relentless storm of shadow blades came pouring in.
She couldn’t keep using Ruomu Huangyi. By the time she burned Number Ten to death, the holy fire’s residual blaze would incinerate the frail “Alice” as well.
Selena said nothing, only continuing to raise her wings to block the assassin’s attacks.
Her pristine white feathers quickly became stained with crimson blood.
Number Ten was right—in a dark night full of shadows, this was his territory.
A Selena too restricted to use her flames, and a Shadow who had lost nearly all her magic power after betraying Qingyu—how could they possibly be a match for him?
What he failed to notice was that, as Selena’s blood kept flowing, blood-red ice crystals were gradually spreading over the black shadows.
“Alright, this melodrama ends now!”
He was a shadow demon born to live in darkness. He couldn’t understand why Shadow Alice would rather give up her life just to prove herself.
He didn’t want to think about it. He only found the sniveling little girl in front of him noisy, irritating him to the point of wanting to destroy them outright.
“Die!”