Moze and Jiaoqiu were fleeing in desperation.
"Awoo—!"
"Awoo—!"
The cries of the Borisin rang out, echoing one after another. Through their howls, they were ceaselessly communicating.
Until, from the alley ahead, several Borisin emerged, stepping slowly into the street, blocking the escape route.
Moze's face twisted in frustration. He muttered under his breath:
"Still short… just a little more distance."
"Or is it just me…? Why do I feel like these Borisin are faster than they were back in the Shackling Prison?"
Jiaoqiu cracked open his tightly shut eyes, the golden pupils fixing on the pawtip of one Borisin.
There—a thread of black flame seeped from its toes. The burnt, ruined digit, with the passing of time, had fully regrown under Abundance's power.
Jiaoqiu spoke:
"It's not your imagination. They've borrowed outside power—their speed really has increased."
"I shouldn't have come along with you. My slowness is dragging you down."
If Moze had acted alone, with his stealth and speed, even enhanced Borisin couldn't have caught him. He couldn't beat them, but escape was certain.
"But… we have to act together."
Jiaoqiu sighed helplessly.
For credibility's sake.
If Moze alone drew the Borisin, they—mindless though they were—weren't outright stupid. They'd find it suspicious.
And now, with a warleader, they carried far more cunning. No way would they pursue a top-tier shadow guard whose whole specialty was vanishing.
But add a medic like Jiaoqiu, mediocre in physique? Then the chase seemed real, a genuine chance encounter rather than bait.
Of course, even then, with Hoolay at their head, the Borisin wouldn't chase forever. Moze and Jiaoqiu's motives were still too obvious.
That's why they'd prepared an anchor—a lure with real weight.
Namely: their "escape destination" contained a star skiff. The only visible skiff in Borisin eyes.
And Jiaoqiu carried the jade token that could control it.
Thus, even knowing it was a trap, if they wanted to leave the Luofu, they had to come.
Only—the Borisin's newfound speed had thrown off the plan. Moze and Jiaoqiu hadn't led them far enough. They were still too close to critical Luofu districts, and worse—closer to the skiff than planned.
The risk had multiplied.
Boom!
A heavy step echoed. Moze and Jiaoqiu turned to see the dark tide of Borisin part, opening a road.
A hulking frame advanced, impossible to mistake.
Hoolay stood tall.
At his side shadowed Modo, eyes flashing a fleeting emerald gleam as he spoke:
"Great Khan Hoolay, our intel was true—the jade token is on that wretch. Once we seize it, we return to our tribe, restore our glory!"
"Then the angels of the Eternal Sky will aid us, and the Xianzhou will be destroyed utterly!"
Behind his mask, Hoolay's vertical pupil shifted slightly, casting one look down at Modo, silent.
In his battle against that mouse, he had blacked out completely.
When he awoke, only Modo remained. By Modo's word, their hidden fallback had activated—methods of the Eternal Sky's angels, sacrificing every hand to rescue him.
And yet…
Hoolay sensed something wrong.
Deep in his body, besides his own strength, lingered faint traces of something else.
Yet when he probed, the sensation slipped away—no foreign energy, no overt abnormality.
Still, unease gnawed.
He didn't know Phantylia's hand had reached in. She was a Yaoshi; her trick was buried not in the flesh but the soul. Even as Borisin warleader, with all his raw strength, Hoolay had no way to sense it.
All he had was instinct—and scraps of anomaly.
No more.
But instinct alone, under siege from all sides, wasn't enough. Hoolay could only press forward with his plan.
If it succeeded—if even his hunch proved true and cost him his life—so be it.
For the Borisin, that was the best outcome.
His mind sharpened. His gaze shifted from Modo to Moze and Jiaoqiu. His rasping growl split the air:
"Cubs of Dolan—rip them to pieces."
At once the Borisin surged, charging like a flood.
Moze swung his weapon, cutting down several; Jiaoqiu immolated a few with flame. But the endless tide closed in again.
They couldn't hold.
And then—
A clarion call rang out:
"Toot-toot-toot—TOOT—!"
"Moose, deploy!"
From the sky dove Super Moose, headbutting a charging Borisin clear away.
"T-Girl has arrived!"
"Behold the power of the talismans!!"
Jade Chan descended, shielding the wounded Moze and Jiaoqiu. The laser talisman flared, her eyes bursting with stormlight, spinning like twin tornados.
Lances of searing beams spun out, shredding the nearest Borisin.
Then she touched both men's shoulders—the [Horse Talisman]'s healing washed over them, knitting wounds whole.
Yanqing and Yunli arrived late, but quickly joined the fray.
Jiaoqiu watched them cutting down Borisin, yet the numbers hardly thinned. His gaze slid back to Hoolay, unmoving. He understood at once.
He shouted:
"Don't waste yourselves on the Borisin! They're only here to drain our strength—the real fight is Hoolay!"
His pupils locked on the warleader. Feixiao had to be lurking nearby, waiting for the right moment.
But if Hoolay wasn't lured to the proper ground, if he clashed here with Feixiao, the devastation would be catastrophic.
The Luofu, already bled of too many lives, would suffer yet another blow.
Perhaps that was why Feixiao hadn't shown himself yet—forcing Hoolay to hesitate, to hang back.
Jade, hearing Jiaoqiu's call, immediately realized: Hoolay was the true boss.
She rubbed her nose with a thumb, arms folded, floating in midair, eyes closed in confidence.
"Hmph."
"Soldiers face soldiers. Kings face kings."
"I'm not just T-Girl of Section 13—I'm Queen of the Shadowkhan!"
"Come forth, endless ninja legion!"
Her small shadow sprawled immense, swelling until it covered the entire district, the rooftops, the streets.
Her skin began tinting faintly blue, eyes glowing red—
—but the [Tiger Talisman] shone, balancing the conflicting powers within her, restoring her flesh and eyes to normal.
Within the engulfing shadows, movement churned. Ninja after ninja clawed free, obeying Jade's will—hurling shuriken, grappling Borisin in hand-to-hand.
The battlefield dissolved into chaos.
Jade drew the [Dragon Talisman]—an overwhelming torrent of fire burst forth, lashing toward Hoolay.
His pupil contracted; he raised his warblade and cleaved straight through.
BOOOOM—!
The clash thundered. Smoke billowed. Hoolay's fur, grown back since Jerry had shaved him bare, was charred anew.
Jiaoqiu stared at Jade, shocked. Then quickly regained himself, shouting to her:
"Lead Hoolay that way!"
He pointed east. Jade nodded sharply.
Meanwhile Hoolay fixed on her, and for a heartbeat, saw not a girl—but that brown mouse.
The Luofu seethed with bizarre phenomena. He had lost to the mouse—and now even a human child wielded such power.
He was warleader of the Borisin. He was Hoolay. How could he be so humiliated?
Killing intent roared out of him. His pupils flushed red. His legs struck the ground.
BOOM—!
The earth split, a crater blasted wide.
Hoolay rocketed forward like a cannonball, straight at Jade!
She grinned, shouting:
"Watch my power!"
She dove straight down at him. His blade slashed—she invoked the [Rabbit Talisman], slipping past.
But his assault wasn't done. His left claw clenched into a fist, muscles bulging, arm swelling with strength. He drove a savage punch for her.
Jade did not dodge. The [Ox Talisman] gleamed. She punched back with her small fist.
Big fist, little fist—slammed together.
BANG—!!!!
A hurricane tore loose, blasting the field.
From his hiding corner, Modo's eyes gleamed green, lips curving.
...
Lunarescent Depths, pocket-realm.
From Phantylia's skull sprouted curved horns. Her body dropped to hands and knees.
Terror flickered across her face, golden pupils darting wildly. She tried to rise—her body only trembled.
The breach to the outside lay a single step away. Yet her head was twisted back, vision full of that burning scarlet matador's cloth.
"Mooo~"
She had become a cow, letting out a husky, helpless low, charging straight for Tiga's red cape.
Seeing her barrel forward, Tiga's salted-egg eyes curved in mirth, his lips tugging into Agul's sly smile.
The sacred giant's bearing warped into something uncanny, sinister.
A chill ran through Phantylia. She wanted to stop.
But the compulsion was absolute. Her limbs thundered forward. She slammed into the cape—Tiga twirled gracefully, and she went sprawling past. In a blink, the cape rolled back into a bat, which he swung down—
SMACK—!
A vivid red welt bloomed across her rump. The blow blasted her through the air.
But… her body was hers again. Even drowning in humiliation and fury, she no longer wished to fight Tiga.
There was no chance of victory. She was being toyed with.
She scrambled upright, desperate to flee the pocket-realm.
But as she half-rose, the bat swept again—unraveling once more into the red cape. Forced back down, she snarled, face twisted, and charged once more.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!"
She rushed—and froze.
The cape this time hung dead center, unmoving.
Shock crossed her face. Then, sudden joy.
A mistake. Her one chance!
She gathered everything, Destruction and Abundance blazing in her horns, flooding them with crushing might. She lowered her head, aimed to smash through Tiga himself.
The cape was behind her. She would strike true—
But in the next second—
Tiga's legs stretched tall.
Her charge slipped cleanly under his groin.
Her ultimate strike missed, a gut-wrenching void opening inside. The shame burned worse than pain.
Were it not for how much she'd invested—were it not for the Arbor-root body she couldn't abandon—she would have cut her losses and fled.
But she had poured too much of her true self in. To go back empty-handed would demote her from mid-tier envoy to the lowest.
Why—why did the Luofu harbor such absurd creatures?!
She could only fall back on her second plan. If she couldn't beat the cat and mouse, she'd avoid them.
Even as her mind turned, Tiga moved again.
While half her body was still beneath him, his legs snapped back to normal. He straddled her, torso twisting rubber-like in a full turn—
His hands seized her horns.
And the horn-breaking fiend within Tiga awoke.
He gripped. He wrenched. He tore.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH——!!!!"
Phantylia's scream of anguish split the sky.