The Creatures that We Are

Fat Jun's body moved before his mind could process it, tackling White Rabbit aside. Even through the life monster's overwhelming cleansing energy, he could move—a fact that surprised him as much as anyone.

His level 6 Healing had jumped to level 7 at that crucial moment. The power surge through his energy pathways had broken the monster's psychic hold, though ignorant to the fact, Fat Jun had attributed it to something simpler: love.

As the golden energy bore down on him, he closed his eyes, at peace. If death came for everyone, this felt like the happiest way to go.

But death didn't claim him.

An arm wrapped around his waist, yanking him sideways. The world spun violently as he tumbled onto the riverbank. When he tried to stand, his legs wouldn't respond. Horror dawned as he realized why: his calves had melted away in Azure Dragon's energy wave.

"Aghh!!"

His delayed scream of agony was cut short at an even more terrible sight.

White Rabbit lay a few meters away, her baseball cap gone, hair splayed across her burned face. Tears glinted in her calm eyes as her chest rose and fell weakly. She would look like she was stargazing if not for the horrifying state she was in: her body ended at the chest, river waves washing over her repeatedly, each surge carrying away more of her blood.

Five seconds ago, Fat Jun had tackled White Rabbit. That wouldn’t have protected her, of course, but at most delayed her melting into the energy wave by a second.

White Rabbit’s Talent reached level 7 at that moment, too. Breaking out of the hold of the cleansing energy for a moment, she Jumped without thinking and jumped off the bridge with Fat Jun.

However, Jump could never reach Teleportation’s speed, and White Rabbit was late. The moment she made the leap, her body was already sliced off from the chest down.

“No!!”

Fat Jun struggled to crawl toward White Rabbit, but he couldn’t. The life monster continued to shriek, and the cleansing energy was in effect once more.

“Why saved me? Why, you idiot!”

“I’m not worth it…I’m not worth you saving me…”

“Rabbit! You’ll be fine, you’ll be… I’ll…I’ll protect you! I’ll save you! Just hold on! Hold…”

Losing his legs, Fat Jun lay prone on the shoal shouting and scratching the sand and stones on the ground, like he was getting closer to White Rabbit. But he remained unmoving. Even his despair and heartbreak were getting washed away by the life monster’s power.

White Rabbit, dying, had slipped beyond the creature's power. She stared up at it with fading vision, her consciousness ebbing like the bloody tide around her.

She'd grown afraid of death lately, watching Qilin's descent into madness. Not of dying itself—she'd have welcomed death in Captain's arms, or at least by his side, dying before him. Then he'd remember her as the girl who had loved him completely, who had given him everything.

But Captain remained in hibernation.

So each night, White Rabbit had prayed. She'd thanked the Heavenly Way, Lord, God, whatever power might be listening, for another day of life. She'd begged Their blessing for just one more sunrise.

Perhaps the Heavenly Way had heard her after all, granting her Intangibility in response.

Intangibility was truly a remarkable Talent. With it, death should have been nearly impossible unless she sought it out deliberately.

Since receiving it, White Rabbit had stopped worrying about surviving until Captain's awakening. Instead, she'd worried about losing her newfound family among the Twelve Zodiac Signs. Yet a selfish thought had always coiled in her heart like a viper: if sacrifice was necessary, let it be another. She desperately wanted to live until Captain opened the Gates, to help fulfill his dream.

So why had she made such a foolish choice? Why save Fat Jun when she could have escaped alone? Half a second's difference, and none of this would have happened.

How stupid. She'd gotten herself killed just like that. She would never see Captain again, never get to admire him from afar.

Perhaps this is karma for all those spicy rabbit heads I ate.

Heartbroken, White Rabbit had the strangest urge to paint her toenails. Her bloodied hand twitched, trying to reach for the nail polish in her shirt pocket.

Oh, right.

I don't have a pocket now. Don't have legs either. Haha, what an idiot.

Fat Jun's anguished cries pierced her ears like a pig at slaughter. She frowned in irritation, summoning what little strength remained.

"Shut up!"

"********!"

Fat Jun froze, staring at her through blood and tears, speechless.

White Rabbit's gaze remained fixed on the sky, her chest now still. The river lapped gently at her severed torso, scattering reflected moonlight across her pale face. Her messy hair swayed in the current as her lifeless eyes mirrored the tapestry of stars above.

…

Puppet Azure Dragon had barely launched his pursuit of Raven Shark and Zhong He when his targets vanished from the river's surface.

Qilin started, then quickly assessed the situation. He released control of the puppet, reclaiming its remaining energy for himself.

Thud.

He leaped from the life monster's head toward Wang Zikai's prone form on the levee. In the two-second descent, Qilin stretched his psychic senses to their limit. Though invisible to the naked eye, he detected a spectral form approaching Wang Zikai at supersonic speed.

"Statues!"

His control skill expanded to its maximum reach. Half a second later, Waking Insects materialized and froze twenty meters from Wang Zikai, his shocked expression trapped in place.

Qilin wasn’t surprised by Waking Insects’ appearance, but he was surprised that the Spectre seemed immune to the cleansing energy.

Qilin utilized momentum to fall right beside Wang Zikai.

He immediately deactivated Statues in favor of a regular psychic dominance with a large range, effectively restraining Waking Insects. Qilin decided to kill him later. The priority was to kill the biggest threat to Qilin and make him into a powerful puppet.

Qilin jumped into the crater Wang Zikai’s crash had created.

Wang Zikai, depleted and injured, lay helpless against the combined assault of Eidos and the life monster's psychic invasion.

Golden energy surged through Qilin's Black Gold cane, transforming it into a gleaming broadsword. The blade plunged into Wang Zikai's chest, painting half of Qilin's face in a spray of crimson.

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