The motorcycle, its throttle pinned wide open, rapidly approached their destination.
"Yinbing, slow down!"
Ethel spotted people waving at them in the distance—it had to be the First Squad. Judging by their speed, he warned her early so she would have enough room to brake.
"Hold on tight!"
Yinbing slammed on the brakes.
The tires let out a piercing screech, but somehow the motorcycle came to a stop just before crashing into them.
Without wasting a second, Yinbing jumped off the seat and hurried toward the others.
A moment later, Ethel followed behind her and immediately noticed that all four of them were covered in injuries.
Quent's right palm dripped with blood. Not a single patch of skin remained intact.
Cypher's palm had a gaping hole through it.
Caesar's fingers were charred black, and a long wound stretched across his chest.
Muzhen's left arm had suffered a complete fracture, the broken bone piercing through his skin.
On top of that, every one of them bore burns of varying severity.
"Senpai, what's the situation?"
Rather than expressing concern, Yinbing got straight to the point.
That was exactly what the four of them wanted.
"The demon reflects any damage it receives onto us."
After a brief explanation of the situation, along with Tia's discoveries, both Yinbing and Ethel immediately understood their roles.
"Where's Wanzhu?"
"Behind that large boulder over there."
"Alright. Let's go, Ethel."
They ran toward the battlefield.
Before long, they spotted Tia locked in a grueling war of attrition with the demon.
To avoid being noticed, they made a wide detour before finally reaching Wanzhu's hiding place.
The moment they approached—
the demon noticed them.
It let out a series of noises that sounded disturbingly like laughter.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
"You've been spotted."
Tia's voice came through the communicator.
"What? ...Whatever."
More important than that was Wanzhu's condition.
He looked terrible.
Numerous bullet-like wounds across his body continued to bleed. His left calf had been severely burned, and an identical burn scar marked the right side of his face.
As they watched—
another perfectly round hole suddenly appeared in his right forearm.
Behind the stone wall, the demon, still trading blows with Tia, developed an identical wound in the exact same location.
Yinbing immediately began emergency treatment, at least stopping the bleeding.
Meanwhile, Ethel focused entirely on receiving Tia's instructions.
"Ethel, can you see a red line on his left arm?"
He lowered his gaze toward Wanzhu's arm.
"There isn't anything."
"Urgh!"
Before Ethel had even finished speaking, a long gash suddenly split open across Yinbing's arm.
The demon opened its mouth wide.
It almost looked like it was mocking them.
"It switched to Yinbing."
"Good."
"The three of you put your right feet together so Ethel can observe."
"The instant you see anything, Yinbing, remove it."
"Tell me when you're ready."
"We're ready."
The three of them extended their right legs until they nearly touched.
Ethel stared intently while Yinbing hovered a hand above them, prepared to activate her Concept.
Then—
a tiny red dot appeared on the tip of Ethel's shoe.
"Mine."
"Annihilation."
Yinbing clasped both hands together.
The instant her Concept activated, the red dot vanished completely instead of transferring to someone else.
"Ah?"
The demon froze in confusion as it realized the connection had been severed.
At that exact moment—
its right foot was pierced by one of Tia's beams.
Sensing disaster, the demon immediately sprinted toward Ethel and the others, trying to establish another connection.
Without hostages—
it was nothing more than a lump of flesh waiting to be incinerated.
"Solar Pillar."
Countless spears of light crashed into the ground before the demon, blocking its path.
Faced with no better option, the creature made what it believed to be the correct choice.
"Ethel."
"Look at me."
Holding a spear of light, Tia rose higher into the air until she entered Ethel's field of vision.
The moment she appeared—
Ethel immediately saw the red mark appear on Tia's right shoulder.
"Captain! It's on your right shoulder!"
The spear of light flew from Tia's hand, piercing straight through the demon's right shoulder and pinning it firmly to the ground.
An identical wound instantly appeared on Tia's shoulder.
"AAARGH!"
The demon roared at her.
Its gestures were almost taunting.
Before it died, Tia herself would succumb to the reflected injuries.
As long as it still had a breath left, it could continue regenerating.
It believed victory was already assured.
"Do you know..."
Tia spoke calmly.
"...why I went to such lengths to make you link your Concept to me?"
The moment Yinbing removed everyone else's connection—
Tia had been waiting.
Waiting for the demon to choose her as its final target.
Once she knew the link belonged solely to her...
her teammates were safe.
Which also meant—
she could finally kill the demon without holding back.
"Let's enjoy a little sunbath."
"Concept Release: Radiance Unbound. Supernova."
Tia transformed into a living sun.
An overwhelming torrent of light and heat erupted from her body, engulfing the demon that remained pinned helplessly in place.
Even as its body burned into ashes, it continued reflecting every injury back onto Tia.
But—
when had the sun itself ever feared its own light?
The blinding radiance slowly faded.
Nothing remained where the demon had stood except a pile of gray ash.
"I guess... if I'd fought it alone from the start, this wouldn't have been nearly so troublesome."
Returning to the group, Tia forced a small joke.
Leaning against the rock wall, she panted heavily.
Having dragged the battle out for so long while deliberately avoiding fatal damage had exhausted even her.
"We should head back."
"Wanzhu can't wait any longer."
Ethel carried Wanzhu back to where the vehicles were waiting.
Emergency treatment had bought them some time, but he still needed immediate medical attention.
Since everyone else was either injured or exhausted, Ethel took the wheel for the return trip.
"Eyes of the Heart Wide Open."
He had accidentally discovered that crashing the vehicle counted as "being attacked" in the eyes of his Concept.
So he simply pushed the accelerator to its limit, relying entirely on his Concept to avoid every obstacle perfectly.
Under his driving—
the return journey took only a third of the time it had taken to get there.
The convoy rushed into the underground garage.
The waiting medical staff immediately loaded the four most seriously injured members onto stretchers and rushed them away.
Tia and Yinbing, whose conditions were less critical, headed toward the infirmary on their own.
"...Ugh..."
Supporting herself against a wall with one hand, Yinbing dropped to her knees—
and vomited up everything she had eaten for lunch.
The four who had already been taken away were fading in and out of consciousness and hadn't reacted much.
Tia, on the other hand, appeared completely unaffected.
She simply stood beside Yinbing, gently patting her back.
"Next time..."
Yinbing gasped between breaths.
"...before you drive..."
"...I'm taking motion sickness pills..."
Once her stomach was finally empty, she collapsed flat onto the floor.
Her left arm had already received simple bandaging.
Compared to the injury, however—
the dizziness made her feel far worse.
"Captain..."
"...how are you completely fine?"
"Compared to Solar Flare..."
Tia answered matter-of-factly.
"...that speed was nothing."
Compared to the speed of light—
a giant bumper car traveling at nearly two hundred kilometers per hour might as well have been a snail crawling across the ground.
Before setting out, Yinbing had never imagined—
that the thing capable of defeating her wouldn't be the demon...
but Ethel's driving.
"You owe me dinner..."
"Sure."
Ethel reached down and pulled her to her feet.
There wasn't the slightest trace of guilt on his face.
Only the smug grin of someone thoroughly enjoying his best friend's misery.
Tia watched the scene quietly.
Oenone had already told her about Ethel's problems.
All they knew was that Yinbing had been the one helping him.
When they later asked Yinbing about it, however, her answer had remained deliberately vague.
"He'd been carrying far too much on his shoulders."
"He just needed someone willing to listen."
"I happened to be there."
"So he told me everything."
His condition had indeed improved dramatically afterward.
Even so, neither Tia nor Oenone had any idea what demons haunted his heart.
Out of respect for Ethel's privacy, neither of them had pressed further.
"...It's fine."
Tia watched as Ethel helped Yinbing walk while the two of them bickered and laughed together.
"He's found someone to lean on."
"Maybe..."
"...letting him heal at his own pace is the best choice after all."
ns216.73.216.67da2
and then Add to home screen.