Before word reached the Kingdom of Pymeshire, the Hualan government received confirmation that Lolita and Isaac had been located.
“Do you need me to go?” Qiu Fa asked.
Madam President shook her head. “Too many eyes are watching you. It would draw far too much attention. We sent the absolute best of our younger generation. Have faith in them.”
Qiu Fa recalled the results of his recent special training sessions with Jing Pei and knit his brows, a look of dissatisfaction settling over his handsome face. Still, rationally speaking, very few people could pose a genuine threat to her life, and with so many capable companions at her side, it should not be a major issue.
He needed to give the little dragon some confidence. A child had to face storms to grow strong.
Besides, that information broker was involved too.
At the thought of her, Qiu Fa let out a quiet huff. She had been so busy lately that she stopped replying to his text messages altogether. He wondered what clever scheme she was concocting this time.
A moment later, the Chief of Staff entered the room.
“The royal palace of Pymeshire requests a direct line with you, Madam President.”
The President took the call. On the other end was Emperor Orpheus. Their conversation lasted nearly ten minutes before concluding.
“Emperor Orpheus wants us to play our part in this performance as quickly as possible—starting tomorrow morning at the latest. He truly cannot wait to have Queen Cecilia back by his side.”
Qiu Fa’s lips curled into a cold sneer, his amber eyes flashing with contempt and mockery.
“Well, at least it gives us an opportunity,” Madam President said with a faint smile. She could have sworn she heard Qiu Fa quietly cursing Emperor Orpheus under his breath.
The government quickly convened a meeting to set the stage for the upcoming performance with Pymeshire.
Meanwhile, the illegal organization received the news as well.
“Our intelligence was actually accurate this time. Setting a trap there actually paid off.”
“After all, he is the successor chosen by the Leader,” someone remarked.
The others immediately perked up their ears. “Wait, is that person among the elite team from Twelve Zodiac Academy?”
“You said that, not me,” the speaker replied with a sly grin, acting like a pro. “Anyway, what really matters now is Lolita and her boyfriend.”
The crowd’s attention shifted instantly. “Should we send more people over? They might clash with government forces.”
“We already sent Jiang Chaoyu. Qiu Fa isn’t there, and neither is Mei Yanlan. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Then let us wait for good news.”
“Halt!”
The heavy command of Spoken Command echoed through the air. Lolita’s fleeing figure froze mid-stride. In the next instant, a ruthless blade thrust straight toward her chest.
Just as the steel was about to pierce her heart, Isaac lunged forward at blinding speed, wrapping his arms around Lolita as they rolled across the ground. The blade missed her heart and plunged deep into Isaac’s arm instead, slicing open a severe wound. Crimson blood instantly stained his sharp three-piece suit.
“Darling!” Lolita cried out in panic.
“I’ll hold him off. You run,” Isaac whispered in her ear, his eyes watching Jiang Chaoyu carefully. He knew how dangerous this night was. The Pymeshire royal guards and Hualan forces were probably close, and his friends were doing everything they could to buy time.
This was a desperate corner.
“But—”
“His target is you. If I’m captured, I might live. If you’re captured, you will die,” Isaac repeated the very words Lolita had once told him. “As long as you live, we still have a chance.”
His dark green eyes shone with gentle warmth and deep devotion. Lolita looked at him, then glanced at Jiang Chaoyu stepping toward them. She bit her lip hard. “You are my sun, my heart. I can’t live without you—you must survive!”
Isaac’s eyes softened like clear water. “All right. Run ahead and don’t look back. I will catch up.”
Lolita scrambled to her feet and ran. Jiang Chaoyu opened his mouth to give another order, but Isaac suddenly transformed, fully shifting into his Atavist form. Countless clear tentacles shot forward like a storm of bullets, kicking up dust and broken stones toward Jiang Chaoyu, forcing him to dodge nonstop and stopping him from giving any commands.
“Such touching devotion,” Jiang Chaoyu said, his voice laced with mild disappointment as he dodged. “Unfortunately, this is dry land. For an ocean-type magical Atavist to fully unleash their complete Atavist form on land is no different from draining a pond to catch a fish. How long can you possibly hold out?”
These tentacles had tens of thousands of sensors, picking up his every move right away. Since Jiang Chaoyu wasn’t a sky-type Atavist and couldn’t fly, he was basically stuck in place.
Still, just as he said—how long could Isaac last? He had originally wanted a clever, mentally stable subordinate like Isaac. Now it seemed impossible. The man was completely blinded by love.
Those dark green eyes clearly carried a resolve to die.
Compared to someone blinded by love, Jiang Chaoyu found his slightly stupid, mentally unstable subordinates much more endearing.
“Hey, you two! Are you two a damn couple as well?” A man with wild purple hair blocked the path in front of Tao Ying and Liu Yin, his face twisted in annoyance.
“We aren’t dog-type Atavists,” Tao Ying corrected him earnestly.
Liu Yin tilted his head and added calmly, “I don’t think he was saying we’re canine Atavists. He was just calling us dogs.”
Tao Ying looked surprised. “Why use ‘dog’ as an insult? Dogs are so cute and loyal!”
“Yeah, why?” Liu Yin tilted his head further, genuinely confused.
The purple-haired man’s expression twisted even more as he clawed at his face in fury. “Damn it! I hate couples! I’m going to kill you both—no, I’ll chop off your limbs first, keep you alive, and make you watch while I have my way with your girl!”
Spitting out those nasty words, his body quickly grew into a half-beast form. As a beast-type Atavist, his full form reached three meters tall and one meter wide, giving him sharp senses, incredible speed, and strength far beyond humans, along with nearly unbreakable defense. With one swipe of his claws, he could tear human flesh like paper.
He lunged straight at Liu Yin and Tao Ying.
Liu Yin held Tao Ying’s hand with one arm while raising his other arm toward the attacker. The youth wore a short-sleeved shirt, his lean arm covered in a light layer of muscle, his wrist decorated with colorful hair ties—looking completely harmless.
Yet that harmless hand suddenly echoed with the faint click of mechanical gears. The flesh transformed, reshaping from a human hand into a heavy cannon barrel.
BOOM!
A explosive shell struck the airborne beastman head-on, blasting a massive shower of blood across his chest.
He crashed heavily to the ground. Furious, he prepared to spring back up, only for thick tree roots—as wide as pythons—to burst from the earth and bind his limbs tight.
What?!
“You’re all alone. How pathetic,” a young man wearing headphones muttered, eyeing Wu Ying with a mix of pity and intense excitement, his pupils trembling.
Wu Ying’s team partner was Jiang Qing, but as an ordinary human without Atavist powers, Jiang Qing had fallen behind near the cliff. Wu Ying was currently operating alone.
Wu Ying crossed her arms, looking down at him as if inspecting a bug. “Aren’t you all alone too?”
“That’s because I can take on a hundred single-handedly.”
“What a coincidence. I can take on a thousand.”
“You—”
Before he could finish, Wu Ying descended from above. Her massive, heavy tortoise shell slammed down onto his head. With a deafening crash, a deep crater burst into the ground, shattering several large boulders nearby.
The gamer boy dodged just in time, landing nearby with a pale face.
“So much useless talk. Do you think I have time to waste on you?” Wu Ying swung her giant shell and charged again.
The gamer boy looked like a typical scrawny gamer—skinny limbs devoid of muscle, thick glasses, and awkward movements.
Under Wu Ying’s relentless assault, he dodged frantically until he finally caught a brief opening. His fingers tapped rapidly in thin air as if an invisible keyboard rested before him. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “I’m a strategic player! Defeat me in my domain if you have the guts!”
His finger slammed down on an invisible enter key.
A bright white flash blinded Wu Ying. When her vision came back, she was flattened into a 2D sprite, like a classic Mario game character. Bombs, turtles, and spiked balls kept rolling toward her. She had to jump high while running forward to dodge traps, leaping over flaming pits and pools of deadly poison.
“Hahaha! Try clearing this game!” The gamer boy sat outside, holding a controller as he operated the giant arcade machine spawned by his ability. “Die ten times in the game, and you die in real life! But if you somehow clear it, I’ll become a game character for you to play with! Hahaha…”
It was rare for an Atavist to risk being killed by their own ability. Specialized powers like this were rarely innate; they were custom-developed at great personal cost.
Yet the greater the cost, the stronger the power. Wu Ying had been pulled directly into his game realm.
High above, Wind Rider surveyed the battlefield from her flying carpet. Anxiety burned within her chest. The elite team from Twelve Zodiac Academy was tied down, her three companions were held back by enemies, and she herself faced a frustrating obstacle.
An unseen enemy lurked in the shadows. Whenever she advanced a short distance, a green ring of light flared beneath her feet, instantly teleporting her ten kilometers backward. She was trapped in a endless loop, chasing a destination she could never reach.
Meanwhile, on the ground below, Isaac had fully transformed into his Atavist form. Driven by instinct, he fought wildly to hold back Jiang Chaoyu. Lolita had disappeared into the distance, seemingly safe for now. But if this went on, they would lose her trail again.
“Coward rat! Come out and face me!” Wind Rider yelled from her flying carpet. The wind whipped her feather earrings and hair wildly. Countless currents of information swirled around her, yet it was nearly impossible to pinpoint the enemy’s location.
Her wind-tracking ability required prior information about a target to locate them precisely.
The hidden enemy offered no reply.
What alarmed Wind Rider even more was that she suddenly spotted Lolita’s figure again—she was running back!
Why?! Wind Rider gasped in shock. She would rather lose track of Lolita again than watch her walk back into danger.
Isaac had bought her precious time. As long as she ran with all her might and never looked back, she could have escaped this disaster.
Yet she had turned back.
From a distance, Lolita saw Isaac’s wildly thrashing tentacles and his massive, near-transparent complete form. Her breath hitched. Her feet stopped instantly, and she turned back without hesitation.
Once an ocean-type Atavist entered their complete form, their body demanded vast amounts of water. Without it, they would perish quickly. Yet there was not even a proper lake nearby.
“Isaac, you liar! Turn back right now!” Lolita screamed as she sprinted, the moonlight casting a pale, sickly glow over her golden hair and making her face look paper-white.
Anyone in a complete Atavist form gained immense physical power at the cost of their sanity, acting entirely on instinct and obsession. At this moment, Isaac’s mind held a single thought: kill the enemy in front of him to buy his beloved more time to escape. He could hear nothing else.
His head throbbed with excruciating pain as intense dehydration set in. The feeling of suffocating and drying up drove him wilder. Every time he struck out, his skin split open into fresh wounds. Had he been in human form, he would already be covered in blood.
His survival instinct screamed at him to revert to human form, yet a deeper instinct overruled his desire to survive, forcing him to maintain his complete form.
That instinct was love—a love that mattered more than his own life.
A terrifying scorpion tail pierced straight through a human body, blood dripping from its curved tip.
“If you’re eager to die, go ahead,” Chu Xusheng muttered in a chilling tone. With a flick of his tail, he tossed the corpse onto another body.
Behind him lay a path of destruction—a one-sided slaughter. People often underestimated the King Insect, failing to grasp the sheer combat prowess of the ultimate warrior of the Insect race. After strict instruction and harsh training under Mei Yanlan and Wen Yuxian, Chu Xusheng’s combat strength had grown terrifying formidable.
Before those two enemies could even finish their taunts, they had been trapped in Chu Xusheng’s insect illusions, stepping straight onto his landmines. The raw martial power of a berserker was not something ordinary Atavists could handle.
The surrounding forest was a complete wreck, blood staining almost every fallen leaf. Yet Jing Pei stood calmly on a tree branch, gazing at the distant battlefield.
Isaac had reached his limit, and Lolita was running back. What a tragic pair of lovers.
“Head of the Family,” Chu Xusheng called out.
“All done?” Jing Pei asked without turning around, her eyes fixed on the distance as if calculating something.
“Yes.”
“Well done. I knew you could handle it.”
The dark gloom on Chu Xusheng’s face vanished instantly. His bloodstained scorpion tail swung side to side like a happy dog’s tail. His academic performance was mediocre, leaving his points only high enough for the second-year class at Twelve Zodiac Academy, so he couldn’t stay by Jing Pei’s side at school. He had trained relentlessly to make up for it, and now he had finally performed well in front of his master.
The targets ahead were near death, yet Chu Xusheng asked no questions, standing quietly beside Jing Pei without asking why she hadn’t moved to save them yet.
He possessed absolute trust in Jing Pei, much like a devoted believer. Like most employees of the Puzzle Intelligence Agency, even if Jing Pei killed someone right in front of them, they would convince themselves it was for the victim’s own good.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions and smoke filled the air, the artillery fire echoing for several minutes. When the smoke finally cleared, the heavily built beastman lay twitched on the ground, his body riddles with holes, his front teeth blasted away.
Standard firearms were useless against most Atavists unless delivered in a concentrated, point-blank barrage so intense that their self-healing could not keep up with the physical damage.
The beastman had suffered precisely that. The roots binding his limbs were blasted away with each shell, only to sprout back from the earth a moment later, trapping him again for another round of cannon fire.
It was a simple, brutal, yet remarkably effective tactic.
Liu Yin lowered his arm as the mechanical parts shifted back into place with a quiet metallic click. By the time his arm rested against his leg, it had returned to a normal human hand. Veins showed naturally across his skin, and the colorful hair ties on his wrist made him look completely gentle and harmless.
The thick tree roots binding the purple-haired beastman slowly released their grip and receded into the soil.
Tao Ying opened her eyes, feeling exhausted, and leaned softly against her fiancé.
“The mission is almost over. We can go back and sleep soon,” Liu Yin said, holding her hand tight while glancing at the distant battle.
“Mm.”
Meanwhile, Wu Ying had breached every obstacle in her path and reached the final stage of the game.
“Fool. You call yourself a strategic player? A game like this is for toddlers!” Wu Ying mocked.
She bore a few light injuries herself, as clearing the stages hadn’t been entirely effortless. Since it was a game operated by a player outside, strange traps fell without logical pattern. Anyone else would have died dozens of times over.
If this game existed in the real world, players would probably rush to challenge it out of curiosity, only to break down in rage after dying thirty times in a single minute. This wasn’t playing a game—it was being tortured by one!
Yet Wu Ying was the young leader of the Wu family, one of the Four Great Families of Hualan. As a Black Tortoise Atavist with 90% purity, her physical defense was absolute. Even if the planet crumbled, her tortoise shell would float intact through space.
Combined with years of rigorous training, her strength far exceeded almost nine-tenths of all Atavists, even as a student at Twelve Zodiac Academy.
She was allowed ten deaths before dying for real, yet she cleared the entire game without losing a single life, at remarkable speed too.
The gamer boy’s hands drenched the controller in cold sweat. Only now did he realize he had picked the wrong opponent. Why had he been unlucky enough to target her?
As the words “GAME CLEARED” flashed on the screen alongside cheerful victory music, Wu Ying leaped out of the game world. Her flat two-dimensional figure expanded back into three dimensions. She swung her massive shell like a baseball bat, aiming to crush the gamer boy’s skull.
The gamer boy dove into the arcade machine, transforming into a digital character and causing Wu Ying’s swing to hit empty air.
Though terrified a moment ago, he quickly smirked again. “You cleared it, so now it’s my turn! Defeat me if you can. If you can’t kill me within five minutes, I win!”
At that point, he would emerge completely unharmed. As the creator of the ability, he enjoyed special privileges inside his domain. He knew Wu Ying was in a rush to save people and had no time to play with him, so he was confident he would survive.
Inside the game screen, his character did a taunting dance.
Wu Ying clenched her fists in fury, wanting nothing more than to smash the arcade machine to pieces. But since it was his spatial ability, physical attacks couldn’t reach him inside. With Isaac and Lolita in grave danger, she truly had no time to waste here.
“Leave him to me. Go ahead,” a voice suddenly echoed.
Jiang Qing arrived alongside a Tribunal Division officer sent to supervise. Thanks to this officer’s Atavist ability, Jiang Qing, an ordinary human, had managed to catch up so quickly.
“Kill him,” Wu Ying said, tossing the game controller to Jiang Qing before sprinting forward.
Jiang Qing looked down at the blood-stained controller. A few drops of blood marked the ground where Wu Ying had been standing. Wu Ying was exceptionally strong; over the past two years, she had rarely bled during missions.
“Very well,” Jiang Qing murmured, holding the controller as his sharp eyes glared darkly at the panicked character inside the screen. “Let us continue the game.”
From high above, Wind Rider saw her companions and the elite squad members break through their obstacles one by one. Yet she felt little joy, knowing their speed was still too slow. Ground-type Atavists simply could not match sky-type Atavists in raw speed.
Lolita had returned, while Isaac had reached his absolute limit. His tentacles were severed one by one by Jiang Chaoyu. His faint tremors reflected his agonizing despair over Lolita’s return, though he could no longer speak.
“You bastard! I said we live or die together!” Lolita stood in front of Isaac, her eyes red and filled with rage and sorrow. “Look at what you’ve done to yourself!”
“How touching,” Jiang Chaoyu said, clapping his hands twice. A expression of solemn respect—whether genuine or mocking—appeared on his face as he said, “Out of respect, I will grant you a quick death. I promise it won’t hurt too much.”
“Do you think I’ll just stand here and let you kill us after what you did to him?” Lolita raised her blade and charged. She refused to surrender without a fight; even landing a single strike was better than nothing.
Blood vessels webbed her eyes, a fierce flame burning in her chest. The more Jiang Chaoyu slammed her to the ground, the more blood she shed, the hotter her fury burned.
Noriana, why? I already left! That bastard of a man is all yours—why keep hunting us? I was merciful to you once, and this is how you repay me!
Jiang Chaoyu noticed the elite squad and royal guards closing in and knew he had to finish this quickly. His strikes, backed by Spoken Command, were ruthless and lethal. Lolita had no power to fight back, soon lying battered on the ground, unable to rise.
“Time to go,” Jiang Chaoyu picked up Lolita’s fallen blade and swung it down toward her slender neck.
Lolita looked at Isaac in the distance, who was thrashing violently in a desperate attempt to reach her. Fine. Let it end here. Dying together is enough. I’ve been happy enough.
“STOP!”
A furious roar echoed from the sky, accompanied by a massive wind blade that threatened to slice Jiang Chaoyu in two.
Jiang Chaoyu dodged barely in time as Wind Rider’s flying carpet swept down.
Seeing Lolita in mortal danger had pushed Wind Rider’s fury to its absolute limit. Countless wind blades swirled like a meat grinder in all directions, slicing the hidden enemy concealed in the clouds into several pieces. The endless loop binding her finally broke.
The others arrived shortly after Wind Rider. Seeing the situation, Jiang Chaoyu knew the mission had failed. Being pragmatic, he immediately retreated and fled the scene.
“Your Highness!” Wind Rider leaped off her carpet, kneeling nervously beside Lolita to support her.
Lolita grabbed Wind Rider’s hand tightly, her breath ragged. “I’ll go back with you! Just save Isaac—please, save him!”
Wind Rider turned toward Isaac. Unable to maintain his complete Atavist form any longer, he had reverted to human shape, lying in a pool of blood. It was not a good sign—it meant his life was rapidly fading away.
