Chapter Eighty-Seven: Desperate Straits, the Blonde Beauty, Yukari Yakumo

Mikoto Misaka felt the broad back beneath her abruptly jolt. Before the recoil force could even reach her spine, she was already reeling as though the world had spun itself upside down, followed by yet another series of violent shocks.

Her eyes were whirling. Just as a wave of nausea threatened to rise, the spinning at last ceased. Through her dizziness, she vaguely made out the ground.

Had they landed? So soon?

"To think the younger generation could slip away right under my nose, after all these seven hundred years, I’d be living for nothing."

Qi wiped the traces of blood from the corner of his mouth. He had been flung back by a technique he had seen before: a giant hand formed of spiritual energy. It was a move only an ancient soul-stage monster could unleash; even a cultivator in the late or mid stage of the golden core realm could not escape it.

Qi had only suffered a minor injury, and even that was mostly due to the pride of an ancient soul-stage monster deigning to strike at juniors.

Almost at the same time, two more figures crashed down beside Qi. One was the slender woman in black gauze. The other was naturally... Who the hell are you?

This woman was not the silver-haired woman Qi had imagined, but a tiny girl with long orange-red hair, orange-red eyes, a cute face, and a height of not even five feet three.

What was going on? Had the silver-haired woman escaped, and this one merely wandered in by mistake?

Judging by the expression on that ancient soul-stage monster’s face, he did not seem the least bit irritated that anyone had gotten away.

"So that’s how it is. I was wondering why you had no affection whatsoever for the demonic sect. Turns out you’re a fake. The one capable of such a thing must be the Ever-Changing Fairy among the Six Wonders, yes? I’ve heard no one has ever known your true appearance. I wonder whether this one is the real you?"

"Heh, take a guess. You’ve already been caught and sealed of your cultivation, yet you don’t seem worried at all," the Ever-Changing Fairy replied lightly to the seductive woman.

"This one should likewise be the Assassin Spirit among the Six Wonders, yes? Truly elusive. I nearly died beneath your dagger myself!"

Ignoring the other woman’s mockery, the seductive woman went on.

The woman in black gauze said nothing, not even blinking.

"Jiejiejie, for the Spirit-Splitting Sect to send two cultivators comparable to ordinary golden core cultivators to deal with me, Young Master Tong is truly flattered. Or perhaps you knew from the start that Young Master Tong had already formed his golden core?"

"I already gave you a chance. You failed to seize it yourselves. In that case, do not blame this old man. Little Nine, give them a quick death. As for the infant girl, do with her as you please," the short, stooped old man said calmly. To make a move personally, he naturally could not lower himself to it, but this matter could not be allowed to spread, so they had to die.

"Jiejiejie, many thanks, Ancestor. How dare you destroy my body? Originally, Young Master Tong intended to torment you properly, but since Ancestor has given the order, I’ll grant you a swift death instead. Gahahaha!"

The three of them wanted to resist, but the heavy spiritual pressure had pinned them so firmly that they could not move an inch. They could only watch helplessly as the large-headed infant grinned wickedly and approached slowly, deliberately increasing their psychological pressure and ensuring they would not be able to close their eyes peacefully before death.

The first person he came to was Qi. Reaching out, he intended to seize the little beauty on Qi’s back first, but Mikoto was still dazed and unable to resist. Veins bulged on Qi’s forehead. Even after exploding with seven times his strength, he could only slowly turn his body under the crushing pressure.

Annoying little pest.

Muttering, the large-headed infant stretched out a filthy foot and kicked toward his head.

Qi had already summoned the Treasure Record, and at the next instant he halted his preparations to leave, because another change had occurred.

A pitch-black crack suddenly appeared before Qi, blocking the large-headed infant’s filthy kick.

The black fissure grew larger and larger, filling with countless dreadful eyes and blood-red pupils. Stranger still, both ends of the bizarre rift were tied with bows—red ones, no less.

Then a tall blonde beauty stepped out of the裂缝 and leaned languidly against its edge. On her head she wore a white nightcap, fastened with a red ribbon bow. She wore a white pleated long dress, over which were layered front and back purple trailing panels marked with yin-yang, trigrams, taiji, and other designs; at the very bottom of the front panel was a blaze of crimson flame. There were also two red bows in her blonde hair at her chest. She certainly loved bows.

In addition, she rested her left hand on a white lace parasol and held in her right a folding fan with a black base and blood-red butterfly patterns.

"May I ask who you are, fellow Daoist?" The short, stooped old man’s expression changed drastically. He spat out a purple-black broadsword and a begging bowl, then shouted sharply, on guard.

The blonde beauty tilted her head to glance at him, then lazily looked toward the great sun that was nearly setting. "Honestly, the sky isn’t even dark yet, and you’re already up this early, making me lose all my energy."

"......"

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence. The short, stooped old man’s face darkened as he spoke again. "Who exactly are you, fellow Daoist? It would be best if you did not meddle in my demonic sect’s affairs."

The seductive woman, who had originally been about to speak, was directly knocked unconscious by the plain young man. At this moment he too sensed that the situation had changed. Though he did not know what level of power that woman possessed, judging by their ancestor’s demeanor, it was absolutely at the soul-stage level.

"Ah, little fellow, from your eyes I can already tell that you seem to know who I am. Then I’ve indeed come to the right person," the blonde beauty said with a smile to the strangely pale Qi.

"It seems, fellow Daoist, that you do not place my demonic sect in your eyes and insist on wading into this muddy water. Very well then, this old man shall test your methods and see whether you truly have the qualifications to look down on my demonic sect."

The instant the short, stooped old man’s low voice fell, the attack had already arrived, enveloping the four juniors as well—naturally including Mikoto Misaka. The large-headed infant had long since retreated to the side of the soul-stage monster.

"The humans of this world are really quite noisy. You don’t seem to know how to play spell cards yet, so let me teach you," the blonde beauty said with a smile as she opened her fan. "Second Sign: Evil Spirits, Double Black Death Butterfly."

The blood-colored butterflies on the fan seemed to come alive, beating their wings as they flew into reality in dense clusters and filled a swath of sky. Though crimson, they carried an air of utter death.

The short, stooped old man’s attack was a heaven-splitting blade light, cleaved out from the broadsword in his hand and hurtling toward the blonde beauty on the rift.

The instant the blade light met the blood-colored butterflies, it was swallowed whole, leaving not the slightest trace behind. And the blood-red deathly swarm continued dancing toward the short, stooped old man.

Seeing that his attack had achieved nothing, he did not care at all. With renewed spiritual power, he slashed out another blade light, only now the color had turned gray, and its aura was several times stronger than before.

(Offer your worship to Lady Yukari, believers, and present your recommendation votes.)