After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: The Coliseum

◎ The System Encounters an Unknown Attack ◎

The next moment after Jiao Qingyin placed the military saber on the table, the servants standing on either side of the Emperor suddenly moved. They each took a step forward, surrounding Jiao Qingyin in an encircling formation.

In addition to these two, Jiao Qingyin heard several steady footsteps approaching from behind. In this relatively small room, every person except herself was the Emperor’s subordinate.

Seeing the situation tilt entirely in her favor, the Emperor—who had been startled by Jiao Qingyin’s previous action—suddenly regained her spirits. Hiding behind the crowd, she finally dropped all pretense, revealing a frantic smile. “Oli, it’s high time you suffered a bit.”

As if providing a soundtrack for her, the shouting outside the room grew louder and closer, causing the Emperor’s sanity to evaporate. She even felt an urge to step forward personally and throw a punch at Jiao Qingyin’s face.

She’s just a failure who lost the race for the throne to me! Why does she act so superior every day? Why does she have the gall to embarrass me repeatedly? And why… why does she live better than me?!

The Emperor lived perpetually under the thumb of the Mage Tower, her actions restricted, holding power yet unable to make her own decisions. If she, the Emperor, could not do as she pleased, then Ottilia had to live a life even more miserable than hers!

Watching Jiao Qingyin trapped, the Emperor’s face twisted with excitement; she couldn’t wait to see her drenched in blood. Convinced that Jiao Qingyin’s display of the saber was a mere bluff, and emboldened by her guards, the Emperor stepped closer and raised her voice:

“Oli, for the sake of us being born from the same mother, if you kneel and beg for mercy, and say something pleasing, I might give you a quick death—” The Emperor burst into a loud laugh.

Seeing the distance close, Jiao Qingyin raised a brow slightly, remaining seated. “I do indeed have something to say.”

In the heat of her triumph, the Emperor assumed Jiao Qingyin was merely putting up a front. She waved her hand happily. “Speak then. I grant you permission to say a few extra last words.”

Jiao Qingyin met her gaze and, under the wary eyes of the guards, asked leisurely, “Did you happen to forget to tell the people at the Mage Tower that you were coming here to see me today?”

“…” The Emperor froze.

It was the truth. She hadn’t breathed a word of today’s itinerary to the Mage Tower. The entire plan to lure and kill Jiao Qingyin was concocted between her and a few radical Royalists. The Mage Tower believed she had simply left the palace for her usual amusements.

She hadn’t told them because, over the past year, she had requested the Mage Tower to kill Jiao Qingyin multiple times, only to be rejected every time. Claiming the Prince has a hidden trump card and that we shouldn’t act rashly… Every time the Emperor thought of it, she ground her teeth. To her, it was a clear hint from those people: if she didn’t obey the Mage Tower completely, they could replace her at any time with Ottilia!

Now, hearing Jiao Qingyin mention the Mage Tower before her “death,” the Emperor became even more convinced of her theory. She recovered from her rigidity, her cheek twitching. “What? Are you waiting for them to save you? Stop dreaming—”

“No.” Jiao Qingyin interrupted her, a slight smile playing on her lips. “I am waiting for them to save you.”

With a loud thump, the door to the room was kicked open from the outside. A white boot stepped in.

Before the visitor could be clearly seen, several well-trained guards quickly shielded the Emperor. Others either focused on Jiao Qingyin’s movements or faced the door in a defensive stance.

“White” walked in.

She wore a voluminous cloak, her hood concealing her hair entirely. Her face was covered by a pure white, faceless mask. Her fitted riding attire traced the lines of her legs, combining strength and beauty. Two tassels hanging from the side of the cloak dangled at the level of her boots, swaying gently with her movements.

Mmm, those are all clothes I picked out, Jiao Qingyin thought, lowering her eyelashes to hide the way her eyes brightened at the sight of Al.

The guards, who were already alert upon recognizing “White,” suddenly felt the pressure double for some unknown reason. Sweat broke out on their foreheads. There were many rumors about “White” in the Capital, rendered miraculous by hearsay. To these top-tier guards, she might be strong, but she couldn’t possibly be as absurd as the legends claimed.

Now, facing her directly, they realized the only thing “absurd” was the person herself. Her strength existed in a different dimension; the aura naturally radiating from her made it nearly impossible for them to breathe. Forget fighting her—they could barely stay standing.

The Emperor saw the snowy hem of the newcomer’s clothes through the crowd and let out a sound like a duck being strangled. Even though she had lured the person here on purpose, now that her wish was granted, her legs wouldn’t stop shaking.

Don’t look at me, don’t look at me—hurry and kill Ottilia, hurry—

Blood flowed along the patterns of the floorboards toward their feet. The captain of the guards looked up stiffly and saw the gruesome background behind “White”—countless corpses piled in the hallway, coating the polished marble floor in a thick layer of gore. At that moment, everyone in the room realized what those approaching screams had been about.

“Afraid of me?”

Breaking the dead silence was a soft question from “White.” No one dared answer. Behind that jade-like mask, they couldn’t tell who she was addressing. Everyone prayed it wasn’t them.

Receiving no answer, “White” showed no anger, but before anyone could relax, her left hand moved to the hilt of the saber at her waist. The guard captain’s pupils shrank; her survival instinct was screaming. As the strongest person there, she bit her lip and stepped forward. “Excellency, could you…”

“You want to kill her.”

What? The guard captain didn’t have time to react. Soon, she didn’t need to. She felt as if wind were pouring into her body. She looked down in confusion and saw a massive hole in her chest.

The room remained eerily quiet, save for a series of thuds as bodies hit the ground. In the blink of an eye, every guard shielding the Emperor had fallen. Exposed to “White’s” gaze, the Emperor turned deathly pale, looking as though she might faint from terror.

“—Don’t kill her yet.”

The blade stopped a hair’s breadth from the Emperor’s face. The Emperor’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted from fright.

“Host, do you know her?”

“I don’t.” Jiao Qingyin lied to the System without blinking.

She had long discovered that the System identified characters through iris recognition. When Al wore a mask and clothes completely different from the original work, the System couldn’t determine her identity. This used to make tasks harder for Jiao Qingyin, but now it made it convenient for her and Al to… carry on a secret affair.

“…” The System was silent for a second, its data stream flying wildly. [Calculating escape route for Host…]

“Good luck, I’m counting on you”, Jiao Qingyin encouraged it insincerely.

The System’s data flew even faster. It was a partner bound to the Host; if the Host’s body died prematurely, its database would be damaged. Meanwhile, the mysterious person it viewed as an unknown threat had stepped up to its Host.

Despite the mask, Jiao Qingyin felt as though she and Al were locked in a gaze. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something as an opening line after their long separation, but the words felt inadequate. In the next second, she didn’t need to worry about it because Al spoke first, her tone both cold and fierce:

“Were you just commanding me?”

Jiao Qingyin: “…”

She looked away expressionlessly, kicked her nervous feelings into a corner, and urged the System: “Hurry, she’s going to kill me.”

If the System had a physical body, it would be drenched in sweat. It frantically analyzed “White’s” abilities, scanning everything from ventilation shafts to mouse holes, but still couldn’t find an escape route.

Seeing Jiao Qingyin ignore her, the impulsive Al wanted to take back her words, but the resentment of being abandoned for a year made her say something unpleasant: “In what capacity are you commanding me?”

When Jiao Qingyin took back the collar, they were no longer Master and Slave. Unless the other returned the collar or established a new relationship, she was—

“…A stranger?”

“This is our first time meeting,” Jiao Qingyin said with a degree of sincerity that made Al stare in disbelief. “I don’t know you.”

Al’s head buzzed. She almost blurted out a confrontation. How does Jiao Qingyin dare say we don’t know each other? She did so many excessive things to me and then abandoned me immediately after. Al still relives those events in her dreams—

And she claims this is their first meeting! Would a stranger pin someone to a bed and repeatedly force them to make the sounds they wanted to hear? Would they?!

Al was fuming. To make matters worse, Jiao Qingyin added fuel to the fire: “Your clothes are quite nice, though, and you have good taste in accessories.”

The System, in its desperate busyness, couldn’t help but comment: “Host, I think it’s too late to flatter her.” It saw the hand at her side clench into a fist, looking like it wanted to smash something. It asked: “Host, would you like to spend 100 points to exchange for five minutes of pain-masking?”

Jiao Qingyin rejected the System’s wasteful proposal. She looked up and was about to speak when she saw the exasperated Al reach to remove her mask. Not wanting the System to detect Al’s identity, she immediately said, “Don’t take it off!”

Al’s hand stopped, but the pressure around her dropped even lower. Even without seeing her face, Jiao Qingyin could guess how gloomy her expression was.

“Why?” Al asked. “You don’t want to see me?”

What does Jiao Qingyin mean? Is she really tired of me? Is that why she never contacted me once after that day, and now won’t even look at me?

“Because I won’t be the only one seeing you,” Jiao Qingyin said.

The System looked at the unconscious Emperor on the floor, while Al realized who the other was referring to. Ottilia Hughes, the dual soul inhabiting that body…!

Of course— no wonder she felt Jiao Qingyin’s gaze was drifting earlier and caught a fluctuation of an abnormal frequency. Al immediately imagined a scenario where Jiao Qingyin was being oppressed by the other soul in her body. Her heart felt heavy, and anger burned in her eyes.

During this past year, while taking her revenge, she had also found a way to separate souls and eliminate the parasitic one. She had intended to take Jiao Qingyin away and perform… in the other’s words, “surgery.” But now, it seemed this couldn’t be delayed.

Jiao Qingyin saw that the System wasn’t suspicious. Relieved, she took a risk and added one more thing: “Don’t let it see your eyes.”

“…” Al was silent for a long time before removing her hand from her saber. “Is it enough as long as my eyes aren’t seen?”

Theoretically, yes, but Jiao Qingyin didn’t want to linger on the topic lest the System notice something wrong. Just as the System was about to ask what prompted the Host’s sudden remark, it saw “White” move forward. It immediately issued a warning to Jiao Qingyin, but she, usually so quick to react, seemed stunned. She didn’t move an inch, nor did she pick up the weapon right next to her.

“Hos—”

Al partially lifted her mask and kissed Jiao Qingyin.

She hooked her index finger on the surface of the mask, revealing only her chin. As their lips met, the pale red of her lips deepened, like a flower slowly blooming. Jiao Qingyin’s pupils shrank to tiny points. She hadn’t expected this sudden move and became the prey in an undefended state.

Al’s kissing technique was no different from a year ago—clumsy yet filled with possessive ferociousness—but this time, she knew how to use her tongue. Lightly biting the Jiao Qingyin who tried to retreat, Al’s eyes beneath the mask shimmered with startling light. “Don’t move.”

As she spoke, a large, snowy-white tail emerged from behind her waist and coiled around Jiao Qingyin’s calf. The fluffy sensation startled Jiao Qingyin. From her angle, she couldn’t see what it was, but she almost immediately remembered Al’s black tentacles. The psychological shadow of being completely controlled by those appendages resurfaced. Jiao Qingyin wanted Al to stop, but Al, having not seen her for a year, couldn’t listen to reason; she was like a wolf ready to devour its prey.

The System stopped its data calculations. According to its analysis, the Host no longer needed an escape route. Clearly, this mysterious person didn’t want to kill the Host; she wanted something else. For example… the System opened the Point Shop and filtered for the most highly-rated finger cots, incense, pain-relieving ointments, and… Huh?

Since it started working with Jiao Qingyin, she had never spent points in the shop. But now, in the previously empty purchase history, a record had appeared out of nowhere.

[Cuffs/Rose Gold/Playful/Human-Dog Dual Use/Adjustable/Couple Interaction Chain]

This single record hung there alone, but the shock it brought the System was no less than an earthquake or tsunami.

Slap.

Al’s head tilted, her mask slightly knocked askew. On the exposed skin, a red handprint was clearly visible.

“Are you sober now?” Jiao Qingyin’s voice suppressed her fury. She pushed against Al’s chest, breaking the embrace that felt like it would snap her waist, and retreated to a safe distance.

But she soon calmed down. Seeing Al standing motionless in place, Jiao Qingyin felt regret. She shouldn’t have hit Al; the girl must be heartbroken, and she had failed her before…

“If I get hit, can I get another kiss?”

Jiao Qingyin was about to apologize when she was choked by Al’s startling remark. “…” She realized Al was actually serious.

The System finally recovered from the shock of the “Host secretly buying toys behind its back.” Seeing the confrontation, its data processed, and in the next second, it reached the most likely conclusion:

“Host, is this person your ex-girlfriend?” The kind that looks like they were used and thrown away the next morning.

“…” Jiao Qingyin ignored it.

At that moment, chaotic noises came from outside the room. Corpses couldn’t speak, and those daring to rush here now could only be people sent by the Mage Tower to rescue the Emperor.

“Put your mask on, I’m taking you away.”

“You are my captive, I’m taking you away.”

Jiao Qingyin and Al spoke simultaneously. Al was very moved by Jiao Qingyin’s words—her beloved wanting to take her away, what a romantic proposal! But then she realized she couldn’t always be led by the nose; if the other could take her back, she could throw her away again.

Thus, Al straightened her mask and strode to Jiao Qingyin’s side, wanting to pick her up and carry her away. But the moment she reached out, the lessons she had recited countless times appeared in her mind.

Ask for consent first…

Her movement toward Jiao Qingyin’s arm shifted slightly; her palm faced upward, offering her hand. It was like a gesture inviting someone to dance.

Jiao Qingyin was stunned. A strange warmth rose from her heart. She stared at Al’s hand, her heart rate accelerating, a fluttering emotion urging her to place her hand on it.

But in the end, she didn’t. She even took a step back, shaking her head. “No, I…”

Al’s polite, knightly attitude shifted instantly. She revealed her hidden fangs and yanked Jiao Qingyin into her arms. Even the well-bred Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but curse under her breath. She should have known Al wasn’t the type to take “no” for an answer.

Holding Jiao Qingyin firmly, Al used a fireball to blast open the room’s wall and flew into the air with her—not forgetting to take Jiao Qingyin’s saber and throwing a curse spell at the Emperor on her way out. The curse was simple and fast but vicious; it would make the victim feel the itch of ten thousand ants eating their heart every half hour, causing them to claw at their own skin uncontrollably. This was the curse the Emperor most enjoyed using on others.

The people from the Mage Tower were easy to spot, wearing uniform grey robes and carrying various casting tools. They immediately locked onto Al in the sky. Private soldiers raised by the Mage Tower charged at the front, firing enchanted arrows of various colors into the sky, weaving a dense net to catch the two “birds.”

Al easily dodged every attack, finding time to worry about Jiao Qingyin. She feared she would be angry—though she was beautiful when angry, the consequences…

“Are you afraid of heights?” Finding an excuse first, Al dared to look at Jiao Qingyin’s expression, only to receive a sharp glare. She had tried hard to learn the things Jiao Qingyin taught, but even the best students get a question wrong sometimes, Al thought guiltily under that stare.

“Is this how you ask for consent?” Jiao Qingyin grabbed Al’s ear and tugged hard. “Doing whatever you want regardless of whether I agree, hmm?” She hadn’t taught her this way at all!

Al couldn’t argue. Knowing that saying more would lead to more mistakes, she kept her mouth shut obediently, letting Jiao Qingyin pull her ear.

The people below couldn’t see them clearly, but recognizing Jiao Qingyin by her iconic black hair was no problem. The High Priest standing in the crowd had a dark face, his wrinkles bunched together like tree bark. “Arrows aren’t enough. Use instant-cast spells and open the ground formation.”

Seconds later, a spell trailing fire shot into the sky. Unlike the arrows, it could turn and had a homing function. Al, distracted by stealing glances at Jiao Qingyin, almost had her hem singed.

Jiao Qingyin activated her elemental power, wrapping her arm around Al’s waist to dispel the spell that had turned back toward them. “What are you daydreaming about?” Jiao Qingyin said coldly.

Seeing her use magic, the System grew anxious. “Host, mind the persona—”

“You can check if anyone thinks my persona has collapsed.”

The System stalled for a moment then did as she said. Just then, a massive lightning ball approached. Jiao Qingyin drew her blade with one hand and cut a wind blade. The seemingly gentle spell exploded with startling elemental power upon contact, grinding the lightning ball into powder.

The detection result came back: even witnessing Jiao Qingyin effortlessly suppress the field, no one thought she wasn’t herself. The System found it incredible. Over the past year, it had watched her stay indoors, never stepping past the castle gates; she couldn’t have established a strong image before these people.

Jiao Qingyin explained: “Mystery, confidence, plus having a… helper nearby. That’s enough for them to imagine countless backstories for me.”

Neither she nor the System noticed that during their conversation, Al’s gaze remained fixed on Jiao Qingyin’s slightly distant eyes. Her expression beneath the mask turned cold. The abnormal fluctuation in the air is the same as before, Al thought. By observing Jiao Qingyin’s micro-expressions, she had basically determined the frequency of that fluctuation. If it appeared one more time…

Jiao Qingyin used wind to trap a cluster of arrows and flicked them back the way they came. Seeing a group fall, she felt no emotion. If not for the task of bringing Al to the Coliseum, she would have blown the whole place up. Before today ended, she had to guide the unmasked Al back here to complete the task in a way the System wouldn’t suspect.

The two coordinated perfectly. Dangerous spells exploded into flows of light in their hands; for a time, the sky was lit with brilliant colors. Jiao Qingyin thought: Like smoke…

“Like fireworks.” “Hmm?” Hearing the familiar word, Jiao Qingyin was stunned. How did Al know it? There shouldn’t be fireworks in this world.

Realizing she had slipped up, Al remembered she had only heard Jiao Qingyin mention “fireworks” and other novel things while telling the wolf pup bedtime stories. She didn’t want the other to find out she was the pup yet, so she pretended she hadn’t said it. Jiao Qingyin didn’t care much, assuming she had mentioned it to Al before.

Al’s hold on Jiao Qingyin tightened. Being able to see Jiao Qingyin by her side with just a turn of her head filled the void that had been in her soul for a year. she wanted to be with her forever, and the “Ottilia Hughes” hidden in her body was undoubtedly a time bomb. But it wouldn’t be for much longer.

Jiao Qingyin was looking elsewhere and didn’t notice that Al had removed her mask. With snowy, curled lashes and translucent blue-green eyes, the System was triggered into an automatic broadcast before it even fully realized who it was:

[Iris recognition successful. Target World Protagonist (Al) detected. Main Task 5 judged as complete.]

[Now issuing Main Task 6: Be captured by the Protagonist (Al) and imprisoned—crackle—]

“What’s wrong?” Hearing the strange static from the System, Jiao Qingyin realized something was off and called out to it.

[Main Task… crackle… encountering… unknown attack… crackle… reporting to Headquarters…]

Jiao Qingyin remembered something and snapped her head up—

Al was looking down at her, her beautiful eyes filled with light.