Luna’s fingers trembled slightly, the towel almost slipping from her grasp. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
“Luna, let’s go rest over there! I bought drinks!”
A classmate enthusiastically approached, holding two bottles of chilled juice.
“Ah… sorry,”
Luna forced a smile, but her tone couldn’t hide its urgency.
“I suddenly have something urgent to do. You all go ahead and rest, don’t wait for me.”
After saying this, she didn’t even wait for her classmate’s reaction before quickly walking toward the edge of the Training Field, her steps getting faster and faster until she was almost jogging.
“Luna? Luna, where are you going?”
Confused calls came from behind her.
Luna didn’t look back.
She ran out of the Training Field and onto the Tree-lined Path leading to the Teaching Building. Students passed by in small groups, some chatting, some heading toward the Training Field.
Luna stopped a passing male student, trying hard to make her voice sound normal.
“Sorry to bother you, but have you seen a boy with black hair? Wearing the same uniform as us, looks very… um, very pale?”
The boy was taken aback for a moment, then showed an understanding expression.
“You mean that Hell? Yeah, I saw him. He went toward the back of the Teaching Building, in the direction of that Small Grove.”
He paused, as if remembering something, and hurriedly added.
“But you’d better not—”
“Thank you!”
Luna cut him off, not even waiting for him to finish his warning like “stay away from him,” before quickly running toward the Teaching Building.
The boy stood there, watching the pink-haired girl’s hurriedly disappearing figure, and scratched his head in confusion.
“What’s going on…”
He muttered to himself and turned to leave.
And Luna, at this moment, was running swiftly toward that secluded Small Grove behind the Teaching Building.
The wind lifted her pink hair and fluttered the hem of her school uniform skirt. Her pale golden eyes were filled with anxiety and worry.
When Luna, panting heavily, arrived at the rarely visited Small Grove behind the Teaching Building, her heart was beating so fast it felt like it might jump out of her chest.
It was quiet all around, only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the faint shouts from the distant practical training class.
Luna slowed her steps, held her breath, and quickly scanned her surroundings.
Then, she saw.
Right around the corner not far away—there was an abandoned flower bed at the back of the Teaching Building, hidden by a few tall plane trees—a familiar figure was standing there.
Black hair, pale skin, thin build.
Hell.
Luna’s heart leapt with joy, and she was just about to call out his name—
Wait.
Her steps halted abruptly, her pale golden eyes widening slightly.
Because she realized Hell wasn’t just “standing there.” He was standing at the corner, and in front of him, hidden by the corner, there seemed to be another person.
That person was obscured by the wall and tree shadows. Luna couldn’t see them clearly, only vaguely making out a blurry silhouette—black, slender, like a shadow merging into the darkness.
Luna’s heart clenched violently.
Could it be…
Arbiter V?
The girl instinctively wanted to rush over, but reason made her restrain her impulse for now. She hid behind a thick tree trunk, holding her breath and pricking up her ears.
And at this moment, Hell, standing at the corner, had already caught sight of the pink-haired figure hurrying over out of the corner of his eye.
She’s here.
He smiled inwardly.
But on the surface, he still maintained that oblivious appearance, facing the empty air before him, beginning his carefully orchestrated “one-man show.” He lowered his head slightly, his shoulders trembling a little, as if bearing enormous pressure.
His voice carried a trace of suppressed, almost desperate tremor.
“As long as… as long as I agree to be your Sacrifice…”
Hell paused, his voice becoming even more hoarse.
“Will you let the people around me go?”
Luna, hiding behind the tree, heard this, and her pupils contracted sharply.
Sacrifice?
Let people go?
That V… is really here! He’s really targeting Hell!
Her fingers tightly gripped the tree trunk, her knuckles turning white from the force.
And Hell continued his “act” toward the empty air. He slowly raised his head, his pale face now etched with helplessness and resolve.
“If that’s the case…”
The boy’s voice trembled slightly, yet carried a kind of calmness ready for death.
“Then I agree—”
“Don’t—!!!”
A sharp cry suddenly came from behind.
Hell’s body trembled violently, as if startled by this sudden voice. He whirled around, his pale eyes widening abruptly, a flash of perfectly timed horror deep in his pupils.
What met his gaze was a figure floating in the air.
A high pink ponytail fluttered in the wind, a pure white form-fitting combat suit outlined the girl’s graceful figure, six Floating Turrets orbited her like loyal satellites.
The circle of pink light above her head emitted a soft glow, appearing especially sacred in the dim grove.
Luna—no, it was Artemis—was floating in mid-air, her pale golden eyes fixed intently on Hell, and on the empty corner behind him.
The girl’s chest heaved violently, as if that cry had almost drained all her strength.
“You… you are… Goddess Angel Artemis…”
Hell looked at Luna, the expression on his face shifting from horror to disbelief. His lips moved, his voice hoarse and trembling.
“Why… are you here?”
His gaze lingered on Luna for a moment, then shifted to the empty corner behind her, his eyes filled with confusion and suspicion.
Luna didn’t answer his question immediately.
She floated in the air, her gaze sweeping like a torch over the area behind Hell—where V should have been standing just moments ago.
But now, it was empty, only dappled tree shadows and ground covered with fallen leaves.
“Where did he go…”
The girl bit her lower lip, her voice tinged with frustration.
“Did he escape?”
Luna looked around, trying to detect any suspicious aura or energy fluctuations. But everything around was quiet, only the rustling of leaves in the wind, as if everything just now had been an illusion.
Seeing her vigilant demeanor, the expression on Hell’s face grew even more horrified.
His gaze moved back and forth between Luna and that empty corner, his lips trembling slightly, as if trying hard to comprehend everything happening before him.
Then he spoke, his voice trembling with disbelief.
“You… you’re looking for… that person with the white mask from just now?”
Luna finally snapped out of her vigilant state, turned around, and looked at Hell standing not far away.
The boy was still standing there, his thin figure appearing especially lonely amidst the dappled shadows. The horror on his face hadn’t completely faded, his pale eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment, as if he hadn’t yet recovered from the sudden change.
Luna slowly descended to the ground, retracting her halo and Floating Turrets. She walked up to Hell, her pale golden eyes looking directly at him with an undeniable seriousness.
“Don’t just casually agree to sacrifice yourself for others.”
The girl’s voice carried a trace of reproach, but more so, a heartfelt concern.
“People who care about you… would be hurt.”
Hearing this, Hell’s expression stiffened slightly. Then, he lowered his head, the corner of his mouth twisting into a bitter curve.
“Someone like me…”
His voice was very soft, so soft it was almost scattered by the wind.
“No one would care if I died.”
As he spoke, Hell raised his head and looked at Luna. Those eyes, always tinged with weariness, now flickered with a complex, almost self-mocking light.
“If sacrificing just me could save everyone…”
“What are you saying?!”
Luna interrupted him, her tone carrying a note of urgency and incomprehension.
“What ‘sacrificing yourself for others’? Have you ever asked for others’ opinions?”
The girl took a step forward, looking directly into Hell’s eyes.
“It’s just a selfish act of self-satisfaction—never asking if others are willing to be saved by you, never thinking about whether the people you ‘save’ might suffer because of it.”
Then, Luna’s voice softened a little, but grew even firmer.
“You might think you’re being a hero, but… the people who value you just want you to live.”