"Are we going to kill tonight? Are you coming?" When Chu Lian saw the white-haired girl walking down, she suddenly withdrew all expression from her face and asked.
"Kill? Kill who?" The white-haired girl frowned slightly, clearly not expecting such an answer from Chu Lian.
"Those who deserve to be killed." Chu Lian didn't elaborate, remaining deliberately mysterious.
"What counts as someone who deserves to be killed?" Barefoot, the white-haired girl walked up to her and tilted her head as she asked.
"Those who are meant to be killed, those who should be killed, those who will be killed." Chu Lian gazed into her eyes, still not answering directly. Her words only made things sound even more cryptic.
"Then let's kill." Kurosaki Satsuki was never someone who liked to hesitate. After asking so much and still receiving no clear answer, she stopped caring. If they were going to kill, then they would kill.
"We leave at eight. Come with us. Just do as I say, is that alright?" Chu Lian turned her head slightly to glance at the other girls. Seeing no strange expressions on their faces, she quietly let out a breath of relief.
"Fine." Since Chu Lian had decided, she only needed to follow.
Although she no longer needed to live as her weapon, and now had to begin living independently as the wielder of the blade, she still cared deeply about Chu Lian's words.
Now that Chu Lian said they were going to kill and had asked her to join, it didn't matter who the target was. She would go.
"That's settled." Chu Lian relaxed slightly. Explaining this matter to her would have been simple, but in that case, being this direct was better.
Simply put, for the girl, killing was far easier than saving.
"Dinner's ready. What are you still chatting about?" While they were talking, they hadn't noticed how quickly time had passed. Before they realized it, it was already 7:20.
Li Mingxue had finished preparing dinner and called them over to eat.
The girls who were already used to coming here didn't stand on ceremony. They washed their hands and returned to their seats. Only the white-haired girl remained somewhat shy, until Li Mingxue pulled her over to sit beside her together with Tina.
Only Hiyori, the Umbral Knight who didn't need food to replenish energy, stood alone in the living room. Watching them eat felt awkward, yet staying there without doing anything was equally uncomfortable.
"Humans... such a distant identity. And yet now I'm encountering it again, watching the way they live. Even when the Umbral Knights gathered, there was never this kind of liveliness."
After watching for a while, Hiyori simply turned away from them. She switched on the television and, with her large armored fingers, carefully pressed the buttons on the remote, searching for something she wanted to watch.
"This technology that puts moving images into a small box is truly incredible. Magic has similar techniques, but at most they allow real-time projection or fixed-point transmission. It's impossible to achieve this—being able to watch anything you want at will, and with such clarity. If this could be replicated with magic, it would surely cause a sensation in the outside world."
One was an Umbral Knight who had lived her entire life—even through death and rebirth—in a world of magic. The other was the brilliance of modern technology, so different from magic. The collision of these two civilizations sparked faint, intriguing thoughts in the female knight's mind.
Of course, without a powerful team to carry such ideas out, they would remain nothing more than fantasies. As for whether they would ever come to fruition—no one knew.
After dinner, once everything had been tidied up, aside from Liu Yanran and Cai Ya who would remain behind, Chu Lian, Chu Chu, Inori, Kurosaki Satsuki, Tina, and Hiyori were all set to go.
Chu Lian wasn't worried about Tina's catgirl identity or Hiyori's identity as an Umbral Knight being exposed. She knew that in this world, many who appeared to be human were actually other races.
Previously, her strength had been too low, and Ayase—as the system—had not deliberately told her about things that posed no threat to her life. That was why she hadn't known.
But recently, not only on the streets, even within her own school, Chu Lian had discovered many non-human beings hiding their identities.
Perhaps it was because living as a human felt good. Even though these "people" possessed considerable strength, they never revealed it, choosing instead to live as ordinary humans.
Since such beings existed, a major family like the Li family must certainly be aware of it. Even if Tina and Hiyori were more unusual than those hiding in plain sight, as long as they posed no threat to ordinary humans, no one had the right to condemn them.
Were the Li family ordinary humans? Even if Chu Lian asked them directly, they likely wouldn't admit it. To admit it would be to declare themselves weak, hiding behind the identity of "ordinary humans" to protect themselves from stronger non-human beings.
If the Li family were truly like that, Chu Lian wouldn't need to go to such lengths. She might even be able to scare them into opening their doors with a simple threat.
"Although I'd like them to surrender that easily... unfortunately, they won't." Chu Lian changed into a fitted long-sleeved outfit. She still wore a skirt, but this time she abandoned her high heels in favor of flat boots.
At her current level, the impact of high heels was practically negligible. Wearing them into battle even gave her a strange sense of enjoyment.
But this time, she was preparing for a real fight—and to rescue Li Xiu'er. Wearing high heels would feel out of place, so she switched them out.
"Even if they surrendered, Chu Chu wouldn't forgive those bastards for what they did." Chu Chu wore a matching outfit, except hers was black while Chu Lian's was white.
"You girls... I won't stop you from doing whatever you plan at the Li family, but remember—do not approach the backyard. That is not something you can handle right now." Li Mingxue lounged sideways on the sofa, her long legs crossed elegantly. Gently blowing on her tea, she spoke in a soft tone.
"Mom, why are you letting us do this? Isn't the Li family your family? Won't this affect you?" Chu Lian still couldn't understand her mother's thoughts. Logically, as a member of the Li family, Li Mingxue should be stopping them—but instead, she supported them.
Her hand paused slightly as she toyed with the lid of her teacup. Li Mingxue's voice turned distant.
"The Li family... is no longer the Li family it once was. I have no connection with them anymore, and they cannot restrain me. I return once a month only because of that promise—it is something I have no choice but to fulfill."
Her words made Chu Lian think of many things, but none of them were suitable to be spoken aloud. So she simply nodded and replied, "Alright, Mom. Since you don't intend to stop us, we won't concern ourselves with it. But don't worry—if we can avoid killing, we won't kill."
"As for those people in the Li family, killing them makes no difference—even Xiuer's father is the same. They... are no longer part of the Li family." Li Mingxue's voice grew low as she spoke. No one knew what she was thinking. Perhaps there were countless secrets that Chu Lian and the others had no way of knowing.
"Then we're heading out." Chu Lian and the others turned back, waved to Li Mingxue, Cai Ya, Liu Yanran, and Anna—who was quietly lost in thought—then opened the door and walked out. Tonight, some things were destined to change.
"They've left." Liu Yanran let out a soft breath. She truly wanted to follow them, and she was confident she wouldn't hold them back. But if she went, what about Cai Ya? Leaving her alone was something she simply couldn't do.
"Yeah, they've gone. Thanks for staying with me." Cai Ya wasn't foolish. Earlier, Chu Lian had already told her about Liu Yanran: "Even though Yanran doesn't seem to have much ability on the surface, anyone who underestimates her will be in for a big surprise."
That meant she was fully capable of going along. The fact that she stayed behind was because she was worried that Cai Ya would be left alone and start overthinking.
"It's nothing. After all, I don't have any strength either." Liu Yanran lightly brushed past the implication in her words, carefully protecting the girl's pride.
"I'm not that fragile. Strength isn't something that can be gained overnight." Cai Ya smiled and shook her head. She truly wouldn't be hurt by something like this. If she lacked strength, she could cultivate it step by step.
What worried her was that even if one day she caught up in strength, she might still end up as a burden. That would be what truly hurt.
"Xiao Ya's mindset is quite good. For cultivation, that's undoubtedly an excellent trait." Liu Yanran and Cai Ya hadn't tried to hide their conversation from Li Mingxue. Of course, she understood their intentions.
For someone of her level, helping with such matters was effortless. She had no reason to refuse. Moreover, she quite liked this girl—the pride she carried was very similar to her own in her younger days.
"Since you want to cultivate, Auntie will give you a hand. Close your eyes." Li Mingxue extended a finger and pressed it gently against the center of Cai Ya's forehead as she spoke.
Obediently, Cai Ya closed her eyes. She felt a mysterious energy flow from her forehead into her body, circulating within, coiling and probing, as if searching for the root of her being.
She didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour. When the energy completed a full cycle through her body and returned to her forehead, she seemed to hear the sound of glass shattering.
When Li Mingxue looked at her again, her gaze carried both admiration and surprise. This girl's talent far exceeded her expectations.
"Hmm~" At the moment Li Mingxue withdrew her hand, an icy blue light burst from Cai Ya's body. Her hair instantly transformed into the same icy hue, and a thick layer of frost rapidly formed over her, freezing her in place.
"Ya..." Liu Yanran looked at Cai Ya with concern, then turned to Li Mingxue and softly asked, "She'll be alright, right?"
"Don't worry. When this layer of ice melts, her transformation may surprise you." Li Mingxue shook her head, signaling her not to worry. She gazed quietly at the ice encasing Cai Ya. After a long while, she asked, "Yanran, you can control your own ability, right?"
"I can. My ability is something only I can control—no one else can help me." Liu Yanran understood her own situation well. Her ability had already awakened, and she didn't need Li Mingxue's assistance.
Moreover, given the unique nature of her ability, there truly was no one else who could help her anyway.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how dazzling you'll be once you've grown." After saying this, Li Mingxue fixed her gaze on Cai Ya, who remained encased in profound ice without harming anything around her. Her eyes were filled with anticipation.
"They look... delicious..." On the other side, Anna quietly withdrew her gaze from Cai Ya and Liu Yanran, murmuring to herself in her heart.