Disgusting!
Several tens of thousands of years old—and you're calling her a "little girl"?
The moment Liang Bing heard those words, a wave of goosebumps rippled over her skin.
But under Keisha's wounded, resentful gaze, Ronn finally released his hand from her mouth.
And in that instant, everyone understood what it meant when people said you couldn't hide the look of wanting to stab someone.
A faint red gleam flashed in Keisha's eyes as killing intent radiated from her whole body.
"'Stopped menstruating,' you say?" Her voice dropped to ice.
"You witch—do you realize that if I pass divine judgment right now,
you won't just stop bleeding, you'll lose every trace of womanhood you ever had!"
Liang Bing shot to her feet, snapping back with a sneer.
"Justice's judgment? Please."
"You've spent eons chasing me across the universe for crimes you fabricated just to defend your own rotting order!"
Keisha's tone stayed calm, cutting like glass.
"You're still the same.
When you lose the argument, you retreat into your blasphemous philosophy.
Pathetic."
"If we weren't in this tavern," she added coldly, "you wouldn't even be qualified to speak to me as an equal."
Liang Bing's face flushed red.
Her lips trembled with the retort she wanted to make—
but the tavern's no-violence rule chained her hands.
She could only grind her teeth and swallow her fury.
"Enough," Ronn said mildly, reaching for the shelf behind him.
"Drink instead of fighting."
He set a bottle on the bar and slid it toward Keisha.
She glanced at it, raised a perfect brow. "Do you have red wine? Or coffee—hand-brewed, through paper filters?"
I can hand-brew it all right, Ronn thought wryly, but the only paper I've got isn't meant for coffee filters.
Out loud, he said, "Only white wine and fruit liquor. The one in your hand's called Jianlan Spring."
Keisha didn't argue.
She opened the bottle; the rich aroma rolled out immediately.
Before she even drank, a soft blush rose on her flawless cheeks.
Then she poured a glass and took a sip.
The warmth of it bloomed over her tongue—mellow, smooth, fragrant.
"Not bad," she murmured, "better than most of what I've had."
"Glad you like it." Ronn smiled, then glanced toward Liang Bing.
Her expression was complicated: brow furrowed, eyes glinting faint amusement, thoughts unreadable.
For a while, silence held the room—until Liang Bing's lazy voice broke it.
"You've always thought my philosophy was a lie.
That 'Ultimate Fear' doesn't exist."
She swirled her drink.
"But now you've stepped into this place. You've seen a real god.
You've seen a tavern even your sacred knowledge base can't analyze."
She lifted her eyes.
"Tell me, sister—do you still think I'm wrong?"
"Different worlds or not, this one is real.
Your angel civilization isn't the pinnacle, nor the only one favored by creation.
The day will come when Ultimate Fear truly descends."
Keisha said nothing for a long time, her starlit eyes half-closed in thought.
She wanted to refute it, but no evidence came.
She couldn't exactly claim "It's another universe, so it doesn't count, witch!"
This wasn't a playground argument; it was a challenge to her entire doctrine.
Until now, Keisha had believed the Angels were "primary lifeforms"—the main axis of reality.
Everything else—the void, the so-called ultimate terrors—were "secondary lifeforms," unseen, unknowable, irrelevant.
Not part of the visible cosmos.
But this tavern… cracked that certainty open like an egg.
At length, Keisha exhaled softly.
"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I'm wrong."
"If you can find a civilization older than a hundred thousand years in the known universe,
I'll accept my death."
She paused, then added,
"But even if you do, your philosophy remains evil.
Without righteous order, all that's left is chaos."
This time, Liang Bing didn't argue.
Instead, she smiled faintly.
"Your stale, outdated ideals will drag the Angel Civilization into extinction.
When Ultimate Fear arrives, I'll be the one to take your head."
She stood, the motion smooth and unhurried.
"I'm leaving. Hopefully, I'll still see your self-righteous face tomorrow."
As she reached the door, she called back with a grin,
"Put it on my tab again, boss. I'll pay tomorrow."
And she was gone—light steps, almost skipping.
After fourteen thousand years of debate, her theory had finally shaken Keisha's faith.
For Liang Bing, that was victory enough.
She looked… happy.
Gone was the heavy, cold aura of a demon queen; in its place, the easy grace of a woman pleased with her day.
Still, Ronn could tell—
in her heart, she was already planning how best to stab her sister next time.
"Same as ever," Keisha murmured, watching Liang Bing's retreating figure.
"Giddy just because she thinks she won something."
Then her eyes softened.
"If Ultimate Fear truly exists… then before it comes,
I must make sure my universe and my people don't live under its shadow."
Ronn understood then.
Keisha already knew the truth.
That the "secondary lifeforms" she'd dismissed were real.
Why else would she have studied void matter
and forged three warriors powered by secondary-life engines?
"If you could," Ronn asked quietly, "would you kill her?"
"I don't know." Keisha's voice lowered.
"Maybe."
Her right hand drifted to her lower abdomen.
"Even after ten thousand years, even with this fourth-generation body…
that wound still aches."
"She really… broke my heart."
Back then, Keisha would never have believed it—
that betrayal would come not from an enemy, but her own sister.
To her, Liang Bing was still the rebellious child who wouldn't listen—
not the knife that had pierced her through.
The Holy Master, halfway through pouring another drink, had been about to boast
about his and his son's miraculous reconciliation.
He reconsidered.
Forget it. Angels wouldn't understand.
Passing by, Lucoa murmured gently,
"It happens. My sister and I fought for years over something small."
"But we made up in the end~"
Ronn and Tohru both winced.
Small?
Wasn't that the fight that got your divinity stripped in the first place?
Keisha sighed. "We've fought and argued for ten thousand years.
Countless lives lost between us.
It won't end easily."
Her words had barely faded when the tavern door creaked open again.
Akainu strode in, face dark as a thundercloud.
Rayleigh immediately turned away, hand over his face.
"Didn't see me, didn't see me…" he muttered.
Keisha's eyes, however, lit up.
"A fine specimen," she said, smiling faintly.
"Truly… a man of justice."
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