"So that's pretty much the plan!" Jieris leaned her arm against Lin Fan, dark circles like bruised moons; he feared if he eased up, she'd drop like a felled reed.
"Effective or not, we have to try!" His whole body tightened like a drawn bow; his eyes locked on Xiao Qianxue floating midair. "I'm going in!"
"Don't make me take point; I can't beat that kind of top-tier." "Honestly, almost no one alive can." Jieris frowned. "Her state is probably timed," she said, turning to Lin Fan. "Same as yours."
"All the better—power that strong is never a good thing." With that, Lin Fan flared into a body of fire and surged forward like a comet.
"Back to die again?" Xiao Qianxue's eyes opened slow, twin pits of hell-red; she watched him charge like storm surf. The blood-mist around her woke like a spirit, roaring in a tornado toward the boy.
"Hold it!" Seeing the ferocity, Lin Fan raised his shield. Under his will, the shield of flame swelled into a blazing wall.
Boom—the clash at last. "Damn, that's heavy." His breath was nearly crushed away, like wind trapped under stone. His right-hand flame-sword chopped forward, cleaving the blood tornado clean in two.
"Hm?" Sensing something off, the red-haired girl turned. A white light bloomed at her back; Jieris's strike followed like a crescent blade.
Knowing she had zero advantage head-on, Jieris drew a slender blade from her cane and lunged for Xiao Qianxue's vitals.
"Courting death!" A blood-red aura blasted Jieris away in an instant. Then speed spiked—a blood shadow swept past, and a jagged feral claw arced to cut the blue-haired girl in half.
"Shift!" At the hair’s-breadth moment, white light flooded Jieris's body. Xiao Qianxue's slash split only air, clean at the waist like a blade through mist.
Thump—a man-shaped blaze shot in, scooped up the red-haired girl, and the two crashed hard to the ground like falling meteors.
"Damn you." With a whoosh, Xiao Qianxue whirled, ready to carve the one holding her into slices with the Bloodgod Claw.
"Xiaoxue!!!" Lin Fan shouted, tightening his hold. The Bloodgod Claw halted a hair’s breadth from his face, trembling like a stopped blade.
It wasn't a sudden memory that stopped her. Not far off, Jieris froze Xiao Qianxue again with her left eye, frost pinning a hawk mid-flight.
"Give me two seconds!" the blue-haired girl cried, and the light dimmed ash-gray, like dusk pouring in.
"Wood element, Thorn Bind!" Slats of wood sprouted from Lin Fan like growing vines. He pinned her tight while she was just starting to move.
"You despicable lot!" Rage flared, but it did nothing. Wood bands locked her from throat to ankle, power ebbing like water drawn into hungry roots.
"I added a drain to the wood—no matter how strong, you can't recover from that in a snap." Lin Fan stepped back, watching Xiao Qianxue thrash; his heart ached like a bruised peach, especially seeing her red-black wings twisted by the binds.
"Psychic Shock!" Blue light from Jieris's right eye met those scarlet irises, and the struggle ebbed like tide. "Uu..." In an instant, Xiao Qianxue's pupils dissolved, and her body went limp.
"Now, Lin Fan!" the blue-haired girl shouted, seeing he'd dropped the elemental form.
"Okay!" Nerves spiked; Lin Fan clenched and unclenched his fists, his face flaring red like sunrise. He bent down and set his mouth on the red-haired girl's lips.
"Mm." After a few seconds, light returned to Xiao Qianxue's eyes. She focused, and saw someone so familiar... kissing her; warmth nudged her tongue, clumsy as a fledgling bird.
She stared at the boy's face, and memories both familiar and strange burst in like a door kicked open. The surge pounded her mind like storm surf; she fainted again.
"Alright, stop kissing. Not ashamed to do that while she's out?" Jieris teased, sunlight in her grin. Lin Fan rose reluctantly, then dropped beside her, feigning solemn, satisfaction leaking through like light under a door.
"So the plan is: you restrain her, and I find a chance to strip away that will—the one that made her like this." Jieris rubbed her chin, eyes like river stones. "But you need a big jolt for it to work."
"What kind of jolt? Like what?" Lin Fan blinked, lost in fog.
"For example, a kiss." "A kiss???" Lin Fan almost yelped, like a cat splashed with cold water. "Yeah, it works," Jieris said, playful smile curling. "Good for you and your girlfriend. You don't lose out."
"Fi—fine."
"Looking like that—was that your first kiss?" Jieris couldn't resist teasing. "Jieris, focus. My girlfr—Xiaoxue... when will she wake?" Lin Fan gathered the now ordinary-looking girl. Her once-golden hair was half turned blood-red, like autumn leaves dipped in wine.
"Damn it, it's my fault—damn!" He stroked the hair at the back of Xiao Qianxue's head, and tears fell heavy like summer rain. Lin Fan, calm in any storm, wept with raw grief.
"Hey... alright, I'll find a way. Don't be like this." Jieris sighed and sat beside him, like a willow bowing. She'd known Lin Fan for years; first time she'd seen him break, and she knew how deep the cut ran.
Silence settled like snow, and they both knew it was the medicine they needed.
After a little while, Jieris spoke. "Take her back and treat her body properly. I need to rest; I'll come tomorrow." The blue-haired girl stood and brushed dust from her coat, like ash off a wing. "Right now she's in deep coma—vegetative-level. You can't wake her."
"Alright. I'll wait for you tomorrow." Lin Fan wiped his eyes and rose, cradling her. The golden-haired girl's body felt light as a feather, as always.
"I'll take you out." White light flashed, and the three vanished from the war-torn underground base like stars snuffed at dawn.
